Loopy, aw, thank you, and you're very welcome. That makes me feel better 
Planktonette, as far as I know yes, you can have pethidine then an epidural. According to my NCT classes, optimum window for pethidine is when you are between 4 and 6cm dilated as it takes 4hrs to get through your system and at a dilation rate of 1cm per hour it should be out of there by the time you are 10cm and ready to push, so it will also be mostly out of baby's system and baby will be as alert as possible when born. The thing to bear in mind though is that if you have pethidine at 6cm then wait till 10cm for pethidine to wear off it will be too late for epidural.
More NCT wisdom: Pethidine basically gives you a break if you are getting stressed and getting nowhere, I think - takes the pain away so you (and consequently baby) can relax and rest, which means you calm down and your body is able to get on with things again, so it's a good option if you have been stuck at a certain dilation for hours and are getting tired.
Very glad your DH is being such a star - exactly what you needed. And if you don't check in again until tomorrow - happy due date!
My DH has also been great today, we have gone over the birth plan and adapted it so he is happy, have unpacked and repacked bags so he knows what is where, what everything is ("Ah, so they are the sexy Tena pants 
"), and what else would need to go in at the last minute if something goes awry and we are rushed to hospital, have worked out how baby is going to sleep for first couple of nights while we get the cot into the bedroom (don't want it in there beforehand as it will be massively in the way). We also fitted the carseat base so the carseat just clicks into place, and DH got Big Ted (baby surroqate for practising using slings etc) and we pretended we were leaving the house to go for a drive, and made sure we could put Big Ted in the seat, and the seat in the car. Success! Big Ted seemed unimpressed but he's a Bear of the World and has probably seen it all before .
I went to have a massage and facial yesterday, was nervous as a bit out of comfort zone (what? girly stuff? me? run away!) but it was lovely - the massage hurt but I guess my muscles needed it and it gave me a chance to practise hypno techniques (was trying to imagine distancing myself from the pain and turning the dial down to make it more bearable - I got through it so maybe it worked?). But the trouble was that it meant I spent a good couple of hours on my back (with bed in a V-shape rather than flat, so I was comfy) and baby got the wrong idea and turned back to back, leading to barrages of uncomfortable kicks and punches and gougy movements for the rest of the day as small arms and feet swept across my stomach, and a hopeless night's sleep - as soon as I lay down, the gouging started again, like it was trying to claw its way out 
. When the hands move across just under the surface of the bump and the bump is against the mattress, it's a really horrible feeling. I went into the spare room, threw a load of towels on the floor and got on hands and knees and swayed for ages, trying to get the bugger to move but it wouldn't.
So not very much sleep last night and today I ache like buggery all over from the massage plus feel a bit generally weird (probably from all the toxins flushed into my lymphatic system) and the worst thing is that (TMI alert) my fanjo has ached for 2 solid days now. What's that all about? Has anyone else had the aching fanjo of doom? Had a very teary morning as I poured out my woes and general fed-up-ness-with-being-pregnant to DH, accompanied by cups of tea in bed, but started to feel better when we did lots of productive stuff.
Anyway, that's enough moaning. Off to see Stomp tonight, got lots planned in for next few days, so it's all good.
Come on Lisbethsopposite and Elpis, post soon, I want to hear your news!!!