Due in October part 8- still plodding along, this time with copious amounts of raspberry leaf tea

[Londonmrss]

Surely this'll be the last one before moving to the postnatal section?

Due Dates:

Sept. 24: Lisbethsopposite DS2 by planned induction
Sept. 25: Squidkid DC1
Sept. 26: Elpis DC2 by ELCS
Sept. 27: Planktonette DC1
Oct. 1: FjordMor DD1 by planned induction, Gigglewhizz DC1(?)
Oct. 2: Firstbubba DC1, Milk DC2
Oct. 5: Yomping DC1
Oct. 7: Crazypaving DC2
Oct. 10: WantAnOrange DC2, MrsConfusion DC1, MidgetM if induced
Oct. 11: Smileyhappymummy DC2 by ELCS
Oct. 14: Hufflepuffle DC1.
Oct. 17: Smorgs, DC1
Oct. 18: Bella2012 DC2, Beccus DC1
Oct. 19: Shellwedance DC1
Oct. 20: Beeblebear DC1, MidgetM if ELCS DC2
Oct. 21: Dosomethingmutley DC1
Oct. 26: Londonmrss, DC1, Zara1984 DS1, Liege07 DS1
Oct. 28: Kyyria DC1, Loopyla, DC1
Oct. 30: Cherrychopsticks, DC1
Nov. 1: Londonlivvy DC1
Nov. 8: Mickey DC1

Actual babies:

Sept. 20: Velo - Max 2.35kg
Sept. 25: Angelico - Mini Angelico, CWest30 - Naomi Louise, 4lb 10oz

Anyway?.Morning everyone!!

I FINALLY FINISHED WORK!!!! YAY! This had to be done in caps lock as I'm one of the few ladies still working yes, we?re also low down on the list but it was enough to get me sulky

Had a fab few last days & received lots of pampering gifts for me & lovely things for baby too. Now looking forward to relaxing to the max and I might think about cleaning & cooking...or not

Actually quite excited that I?ll be able to keep up with everyone now & post daily, lol!

Brilliant birth story crazy, really made me chuckle!

I do want to send special hugs to CWest (hope you get a break soon!), due date buddy Kyrria (please don?t cut your legs off before baby comes), huffle (hope your baby doesn?t arrive while you?re at work!! ) and Beeble (can?t believe what you?re going through at the moment ).

After feeling quite organised throughout this pregnancy, I?ve now suddenly got a list as long as my arm to do while on my maternity leave, I?m not sure how that?s happened . And excellent idea Beccus, I love the idea of a ?dress? rehearsal!

Hope everyone has restful Sundays x

morning friends!

Glad we are finally on a new page-we seemed to have stalled there for ages! I guess we were bound to slow down once all the new babies arrived, but I am missing the craic! Where is yomping? Hope she is ok? Maybe baby yomping has got things going?

Thank you so much for the support crazy, elpis and midget. DS and I had a lovely day together in the house yesterday while DH played rugby-we made cakes and made puppets and did puzzles and things like that and for once I didn't try and clear up or do jobs etc as well. I took lots of ohotos and will just treasure that as a perfect afternoon full of lovely giggles and fun. I know it isn't like I will never do those things again, it is just the end of one chapter of our family. As you say elpis a sibling is a gift to them really. Before long they will have a little playmate to love and enjoy.

kyria I am so sorry you are so fed up. It sounds like you have totally hideous symptoms, you poor thing! How did you sleep last night?

midget please tell me you are nearly finished work??? You sound so busy and stressed, I hope you have a bit of relaxing planned? For me the nesting thing comes and goes depending on how knackered I feel! I feel for you on your big decision, it must be hard to decide. Hopefully you will get some guidance at your next appointment.

cwest you poor thing, I am not surprised that you are completely fed up now. You have been so brave through all of this, keep being strong through this next challenging time, knowing you have two amazing children and a fantastic family to come home to. I can't imagine how sick you must be, but keep telling yourself that it is only temporary and it won't be long before your lovely little family are all home together for good.

mickey glad baby hasn't made an appearance yet! Hope you manage to enjoy the rest of your holiday without feeling too tired and uncomfortable.

october hugs to you. That must be frustrating! I bet people are asking you every five minutes if you have felt anything? It gets so annoying! I hope things get going for you soon.

Love to you all! Looking forward to hearing all your news xx

Well that was another night in paradise?! Completely sympathise with all of you with insomnia and hip pain. Mine felt like they went into spasm every 30 mins last night. Weird because things have been a bit better recently. I started taking one or two paracetamol before bed just as a preemptive strike which seemed to work. Forgot last night and obviously paid for it.

The insomnia thing is weird too - I was bad last weekend (think that was partly to blame for the mini meltdowns) then started having a chamomile tea before bed and listening to the hypnobirth cd a bit more and it got better. However, woke up the other night after the oddest dream - went to the supermarket to buy dinner, bought bacon at the meat counter and the man then sliced open my arm, put the bacon inside and stitched me back up. Said that's how they do it in France?! Same thing happened at the fish counter. My very basic dream analysis suggests to me I'm afraid of having an episiotomy/c section?! Anyway, found it tricky to nod back off after that.

Have been experiencing some nesting instinct - I cleaned the bathroom very thoroughly the other day. But it's DH who's gone into overdrive - stand still too long in this house and you get painted. It's very sweet though. The nursery is now a very sunny but peaceful shade of yellow. Hope the fumes disappear before the baby arrived though. It'll be in our room for the first few months anyway.

Just been to the market to buy some nice fresh veggies and some illicit in pasteurised cheese and saucisson then going for a walk around a forest nearby and to see a film in our little Cinema Paradiso-style cinema tonight. Have a nice Sunday everyone x

Morning all! Haven't forgotten you and have been reading lots but takes forever to post from phone hence the one liners!
Well, baby smiley was born on 4th October at 12.24pm by elective section. Was very nervous in the morning and seemed to spend ages sitting around on the ward waiting to go down to theatre. Got called at about midday and changed into gown and dressing gown then walked down there. Midwife and anaesthetist came to say hello and then we got on with it! Was very lucky - I did have the same obstetrician as last time who did an amazing job and he was fantastic again - seemed quite relaxed but also very careful and understood completely why I was so worried and said he would be very cautious. Drip and spinal went in with no problems, felt quite poorly when my blood pressure dropped with spinal (70/29 bit on the low side!) but came up with fluids. Didn't really feel a thing once they got started though did find myself watching the anaesthetic monitor in a slightly paranoid fashion! So relieved when baby smiley came out pink and cried straight away, checked her really fast and then we spent the rest of the operation cuddling our beautiful baby girl (who carried right on crying!).
Skin to skin and first mammoth breast feed (2 hrs!) in recovery then back to postnatal ward for dd to meet her - lovely moment. No sleep overnight, she wouldn't go into her crib and although the midwives were lovely and tried to settle her too she just wanted to feed.
Was desperate to get home so next day got up as soon as catheter was out and showered etc. it worked too, was allowed home 24 hrs post section!
So different to last time, although its still hard I feel a million times better than before - though today milk has come in and I feel like a porn star!
So that's the story of how melissa rose arrived, weighed exactly 3 kg.
Back for more later, love to you all.

Angelico ooh great to hear Nuk are good too, I can get them out here.
Beeble massive sympathies on DH's work situation, but glad to hear things are starting to get sorted out. It's a sign of the times how reactive some parents are sadly. Really hope I don't turn into one of them!
Bella I've never been told my measurements, which annoyed me for a while but then again means I've never had anything to worry about. Your afternoon with your ds sounded like lots of fun, I'm sure he'll be fine in the end. There are always a few problems to begin with I've heard but then they realise they can help mummy or play with their new sibling and see the benefits. I've said before on this thread that I grew up as an only child (my siblings are much older and lived with their mum) and longed for a brother or sister.
Cwest sending you a massive hug, it all sounds so difficult. Try not to worry and just concentrate on getting better - I know that's easy for me to say
midgetm and kyyria I'm with you both on the im over pregnancy and just want the baby out now! So impressed with how much you're doing though midget, don't push yourself though.
Hufflepuffle I've heard tea trea oil in a squeezy bottle of water is good for your bits post birth. Here they recommend a gynaecological liquid soap.
Mickey glad baby's staying put for your break! Enjoy Wales, its my fatherland and I love it. Very jealous.
Smorgs, 32, 38+5, DC1

smiley cross posted! That's a wonderful story! Glad it went so well and you're feeling ok - minus the porn star boobs!! Melissa is a beautiful name, I love it. Did you know it's the word for the herb Lemon Balm in French?

Hmmm, getting very suspicious of yomping's absence...

I?m having a lovely Sunday, pottering about our house, cooking and preparing stuff for my sister & kids who are coming to stay today. I haven?t seen her since June as she lives abroad so it?ll be fab to see her and the kids. I am SO delighted to finally have a house where I can cook and have people to stay (our flat was way too small) and the sun is shining and DF is being fab and yay.

Less yay was my post-natal yoga lesson yesterday? my first lesson that I?ve taught to an actual post-natal mum, and I needed to video it and send it in as part of my coursework to (hopefully), pass the course. It didn?t go remotely to plan as the baby wasn?t asleep so I ended up holding her and trying to teach her whilst holding a baby in one arm. I was a smidge distracted and, frankly, it wasn?t the best demonstration. So I?m now working out when I?m going to teach another lesson (and to whom) so that I can get this recorded and sent off before this baby arrives.

However all my professional (well, future professional) worries are nothing compared to yours, huffle. I am full of admiration at your management of all that. You?ve done so well to sort replacements and replacements for replacements and not collapse in a sobbing mess. I would have! Re essential oils for healing, I?ve heard tea tree and lavender. I?ve bought both ? we?ll see!

Smorgs I agree re yomping absence? intriguing.
Glad to hear you?re enjoying your new house too and DH is being a painting star. DF?s forte is not DIY so I may ask my brother in law tonight to have a go at a couple of things. Or find a handyman!

Smiley that?s a lovely story. So glad it all went properly smoothly and oh MY a two hour breastfeed? Cripes.

Cwest sorry to hear you?re back in ? this is certainly a tough period for you. Hugs.

Loopy Caps absolutely merited. I can?t wait to finish. Next Friday. Bring it on!! I want to sit on the sofa, read trashy novels, take naps and watch rubbish films. I?m told this will be the last time in years so I hope I get the chance.

beeble glad your hubby?s work situation is getting sorted. Lucky you on having a replacement. I?m just briefing my boss on critical stuff (as though I were going on hols) and then leaving a pile of printed handover notes for the bloke who turns up at the end of October. Not ideal. I am trying not to stress as frankly, I can?t control it.

bella hope you?re enjoying a lovely family weekend in the sun?

Sympathy and tea to anyone who?s feeling huge and miserable. Particular sympathy to kyyria and lizzietow with the restless legs too. That must be beyond frustrating. My bump is quite medium sized and my hips seem (for the moment) not to be moaning too much. I was GUTTED though not to be out cycling with DF in the sun this morning. Boo.
Off to a friend?s for tea this afternoon ? she?s lending us a moses basket and a sling. Once we have that I?ll really feel like we?re ready for this young lady to arrive. Bit excited and a bit daunted that I?ll never have any time to myself again. Ah well.. bit late to worry about that.

Sorry for monster post.

bella2012 Since DS was born, DD and I have had an hour of 'mummy and DD time' every couple of days, when DH holds DS for about an hour after he's finished a feed. It'll be more difficult after his paternity leave but for the moment it's really helped.

Bah, still here, still pregnant [bored emoticon] . Feel like I have been pregnant forever and will remain pregnant forever. In darker moments, start to like this idea as it neatly avoids having to actually give birth Didn't have much to say over that last few days that wasn't moaning so thought I'd give you a break. Stupidly pleased to have been missed though, thank you Mickey, Bella, Smorgs and Livvy and sorry to disappoint you with total lack of news!

In a nutshell, got midwife to agree due date a bit iffy and so to not talk about induction yet (think may have said that already), met ex hubby and his 2-year old daughter for lunch - probably sounds like a weird thing to do, but we parted on good terms and have both met our soulmates since so all good, strange to see him with a mini-him though and be given advice on parenting .

After a thoroughly shit night's sleep, spent yesterday with DH giving our house a SERIOUS clean - kitchen and bathroom cleaned to within an inch of their lives, windows done, patio jet-washed, spiders evicted, carpets hoovered, things tidied, freezewr sorted, out od date food binned and tupperware meals labelled up - Yomping & MrYomping knackered but house looking good . Then had dinner with bro & sis in law who told us all sorts of tales of naughty children and the things they get up to . So not ready for this!

Actually slept well last night, probably due to glass of wine, but feel cold coming on, yuk. And feels weird telling people baby is due end of this week when I was saying that last week - but less frustrating than saying baby is overdue. DH bought me pineapple juice this morning, think he wants baby out even more than I do!

So yeah, that's me. Still finding night the hardest time - agree than you have to mentally prepare to turn over in bed, and I'm SO over that! It's a crap state of affairs when a good night's sleep is one of your biggest achievements

huffle, re the oils - I have also been told that tea tree and lavender are good - I wouldn't combine them, I don't think the two smells would work together, but you could put a few drops of your chosen one in a jug of warm water and use to pour over bits when weeing, or put some drops in the bath, and you could alternate the two - that's what I plan to do. You don't need a carrier oil unless you are going to use them for massage as they are too strong to go straight on the skin. Since you're putting them in water, no carrier oil needed. I have also read that clary sage oil can encourage contractions, I have a bottle of it waiting in the bathroom so I can have some in baths next week.

LondonLivvy, sorry your video wasn't what you wanted but it sounds like a pretty realistic scenario if you're going to be teaching post natal yoga and women will bring their babies, so it sounds to me like you did great! My gym teacher who does the pre-and post-natal exercise class often ends up holding the babies too.

smiley, love your birth story, sounds so calm. Wowser to the 2hr feed, she must have been hungry! Welcome to Melissa Rose :-)

Bella, your day with DS sounds lovely! I'm really looking forward to experiences like that just not so much to labour and the first year when baby eats, sleeps, poohs and is not very interesting

smorgs, eek at strange dreams! Maybe you're craving meat and fish?

LoopyLa, Have a , well done for getting to the end of work! Bet you feel great to finally be on maternity leave

CWest, hope you're back home again.

Beeble, sounds like a really stressful time, hope things are continuing to get sorted. Hate how quickly people can spread rumours and jump on bandwagons when they should actually be minding their own business.

Kyyria, how are the legs? I read that caffeine (from coffee, tea or chocolate) can make restless legs worse, and that pressure, eg from compression stockings, may help.

waves to anyone I missed, hope you are all having a chilled weekend.

Yomping, 37, 39+2 (again!)

Oh my, bh like crazy this morning. Must have overdid it yesterday. Had parents, in-laws and grandma over for thanksgiving weekend dinner. Spent yesterday morning cleaning.dh was great and he'll
Ed lots. Moms did the majority of the cooking and cleaning which was great! Whoops he helped lots. Silly phone.

Thanks loopy and smorbs for the sympathy on the dh work parent nobber front. Things are much calmer now.

Smiley thank you for sharing your birth story. Hope to hear more updates once you are settled with the wee one.

Well folks are up now, mom is going to hell with the nesting. Whoops going to help with. Sstupid phone.

Ttfn

bella, yomping, londonlivvy thanks for the thoughts - got about 4 hours sleep last night (which is a good night) and didn't have too many problems with restless legs - it was more the sore pelvis/fanjo of doom!
Have been for a tour of the maternity ward this afternoon and feel refreshingly un-freaked out Nothing unsurprising and the staff seemed lovely.

Getting stressed out about names again though. We're.not telling people what we've chosen until he's born (and we want to see what he looks like first) but nearly everyone I know outside MN who are having babies are calling them the name I like. It's really frustrating - I didn't want anything too popular (which I didn't think it was when I chose it) and I know that I'm not going to get anything completely unique, but feel like my thunder is being stolen and that i'll be seen as copying others if I go with it. Argh! So frustrating!

ew, feeling urghh today. TMI, but have had about 5 bouts of dioreah which started in the middle of the nite and continued today. Went out for a very rich lunch yesterday, but my friend ordered the same as me and is fine,and i normally have guts of steel....wonder if it's bubs making space for an immintent journey out, or just a bug. No spewing, but just general loss of apetite and feeling a bit ropey and sorry for myself.

Hugs to huffle - cannot believe your work dramas at 39 weeks, but your mum's comment made me laugh at the image of a little bespeckled new born :) Hugs too to grumpy midget and impatient oneofmyturns. cwest, u poor love, hope your bp sorts itself out asap. kyrria,have been thinking of you and your ongoing crappy sleep. R u having daytime naps, too? They r quite good as hips/pelvis dont get as sore in 2 hrs as they do overnite. I have found paracetamol, lying on a duvet and sleeping with pillow between legs all helpful, but turning in bed still hurts. Another thing i have found useful for FOD is to stand and sway before starting to walk - it lets my pelvis get used to weightbeaaring before i take my 1st step....not easy over nite though when u get up busting for the loo and it has taken u an age just to get out of the bed.
yay to loppyla starting mat leave - i've had the best week i've had in ages, kind of hoping bubs doesnt come early as i could do with another couple of weeks like the last one :)

Hey folks. Had a good read, as ever I'm on phone and not going to name check and feel hideously guilty for it...... You are all so dedicated!!! Smiley, hav to give a mention tho, glad ur section went well and gobsmacked at your 24 hr return home!!! Well done you!

Love and support to all those struggling, cheers and delight to all those feeling ok!!! Thanks for replies on the essential oils. Great to kno that if diluting don't need oil, thank you!!!!!

Oh one point to share on sore pelvis and moving in bed. Physio told me not to try and move in bed using arms or torso or bottom. Bend legs and push with FEET against bed, be it flat on mattress or side of bed to help out. Makes significant difference I found!

Thanks for all support re work issues. It is very kind. Strangely nowhere near as stressed as should be, considering. Especially as hav emergency cover now. So pathetic, my work is such a big part of my life I was struggling to leave anyhow!!! If one more person tells me my priorities will change..... Well yes, obviously they will, but the business cannot be ignited either or we're all in trouble!!

Ciao for now, hope to keep up better next week when I'm sitting comfortably and relaxed at home!! Xx

yomping are we the same due date? Wishing you happy on time vibes if so! Oct 12th?

smileyhappymummy So pleased your section went well - I had a fall in BP too and it was terrifying, but soon came up again. And discharged after 24 hours! Thought no one would beat my 27h discharge, but then you are a doctor.

Your typo made me chuckle Beeble ?mom is going to hell with the nesting?

And Yomping, absolutely understand where you?re coming from Feel like I have been pregnant forever and will remain pregnant forever. In darker moments, start to like this idea as it neatly avoids having to actually give birth - yes, when we all suffer for so long, why is the worst bit at the end? Why can?t be it be like toothpaste coming out of a tube???

huffle I both sympathise & understand the work issues, especially feeling it?s such a big part of your life. I don?t own my business, nor do I do anything important but I just enjoy my job (which a lot of people always look at me when I say this) and yes, I?m overjoyed to being having a baby after TTC for 2 years but doesn?t stop leaving my job in the hands of someone else really quite hard. Whether I go back afterwards depends a lot on things out of my hands ? restructure, relocation, etc ? but not something I can afford to worry about at the moment. Sorry, I?ve gone a bit off topic but I just wanted to shout my support for you and ignore nobbers who are not understanding!!

First day of mat leave & it?s a grey old day so seems perfect to just mooch around and stay in my jim jams!! Anyone fancy a & a or 3?

35, 37+1, dc#1, and very happily lazing on the sofa

Ooof! Not a helpful start when you hav to turn the hypnotherapy off again cos cannot relax enough to listen to it!!! Switch off mind, switch OFF!!!!!!

Thank you Loopy, your work sentiments are reassuring. It's the battle of modern life, isn't it?? Women give themselves such hard times and high hurdles, study, work, career and the hope to be an earth mother at the same time!! I'd not change anything for the world but I sometimes wonder how I hav got myself here and what advice I'd give my younger self. Tbh I'm more afraid that I'll be a shit mummy and my children will resent me and daddy will be the home maker..... This is pre-guilt and totally unproductive!!!! The next few years will be a whole new experience in balance, organisation and control!!! It has only just begun........

God, any wonder I can't feckin relax.......

Hey loopy, what a great day for mat leave, I'll have a and a with you :) I have a load of chores, such as going to post office, reviewing breastfeeding clinic notes, that i'm supposed to be doing, but shall we read my giant pile of Grazias, closers and vogues that i've had no time to read whilst at work and then watch homeland on 4hd instead? I think we should invite huffle, too, and help her relax :) Enjoy x

Thank you Beccus I shall accept your invite!! Hav sky +d homeland but if watch without DH he might cry, same as for Boardwalk Empire!! But I hav a silly teen show called The Lying Game that I found on 5USA a few months back, ridiculously excited it is back..... Oh and Sopranos from the start, DH swears it will change my life.........

Never bought a Grazia. Such a bore I am. Top Sante is my indulgence......(?!) Throw some over here and get my mind filled with distraction!!!!!

Going to the nearest outlet centre later. There's a Thorntons outlet....... Shall I bring u all a box of half price chocolates or 2?? Can only help.....!

Lizzie, we could be, I have had about 4 different due dates - currently going with 12th as it's 40 weeks from LMP minus 3 days for a 25 day cycle! Have come to conclusion that due dates are all bollocks anyway, am so fed up with not knowing when this will all happen! Seems stupid being given a "date" when it's highly unlikely that nothing will happen on that date or even a few days either side anyway.

Ah. Bitter, much? Sorry, and "yes, hey due date buddy" would have been a nicer answer!

Well, apparently sleeping in 2-hour chunks is the new thing for me, then waking to go to toilet/try to turn over/notice how much various parts of my body hurt/all three. It could be worse I know, I could still be working, or be ill, or have other stresses, so I should be very grateful for these things not being the case - and I am. But I still feel shit. And I have a cold. And I want to curl up and cry lots today.

Ooh, can I come over for and too? Just what I need today. I can bring... some dates and prunes?

I'm having a wobble.
I'm crap with kids. My life used to be defined by having a career. I love drinking, I love smoking and I used to love smoking weed (still love it, just haven't done it in a couple of years...). I love being spontaneous with my husband- popping to the pub or just going off on a road trip with the tent.
What am I doing???! Who is this person in the mirror with the massive belly?

londonmrs everything will be ok! Yes, things will change and yes the newborn bit makes you feel like you have no life but.... You will still be able to do things with your husband (maybe a bit more planning but that can be part of the fun too!), still be able to drink, career can still be important.... It'll be fine! I had a wobble the night before dd2 was born - a kind of oh shit, why am I having another baby we have such a lovely family I don't want to do this any more moment. But once she arrived, well, it's bloody hard work but I KNOW its going to be great.
So everything will be fine.
Hugs for all you ladies plodding on, if it's any comfort my painful pelvis and hips have completely vanished and did so immediately she was out, also stopped feeling so dizzy and getting palpitations immediately. There is an end in sight (and a very cool beginning too...)

Hey Londonmrsss I think you are being perfectly reasonable and normal...... No idea how the hell we are all going to cope! Despite lots of tears at TTC was there anything wrong with life before??? How will we manage when we still feel like not ready yet?? We love being a couple and we love and rely on each other dearly, where does another person fit in??????!!! I hear ya. We hav had several episodes of just looking at each other wondering what the hell we do with a baby?????

But hey, no going back now and from what everyone else says we will never look back. Bring on the babies, we're as ready as we will ever be!!!!

Hugs ((((())))))

Nice to see u Yomping hope the mood improving. Hugs to you too ((((())))

Think I might consider getting dressed, if anything fits.......