March 2013 VIII: feeling kicks, comparing knits and halfway there

[theTramp]

Old thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1588951-March-2013-VII-Our-little-pumpkins-are-getting-fatter?msgid=35174657#thread

Happy Sunday evening all!
em you can loan MrLanny any time, he comes with very reasonable rates, just throw him some cake and coffee at regular intervals and the odd pint of cider and he is very happy! Is your ariel fixed? Hats off to you for crawling around in the loft, I don't think I'd fit through the hatch any more!!!
egi did you survive the rest of the in-law visit? Why are some people so blooming difficult??
Sounds like a lovely Saturday tramp, my kind of day!
How did the rest if the weekend go manda? Sounds like you had the house full! I will post pics of orangery on FB once totally finished, prommise!
Huge hurrah oc for finding clothes, what a relief that must have been. Are you ,ore comfortable now in matty clothes?
Did you get your kitchen cleaned stormy if not I'll come and do it, I perversely love cleaning!
How lovely that your mobile arrived jojo you are being very restrained! I wouldn't be able to not have a peek somehow. (And then get very upset when i damaged something in transit!)
Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit blue sundae. I have periods of feeling a bit low and anxious, I know I'll come out of it, but doesn't always feel like it at the time. Flipping hormones, grrrrr. Hope you feel more like yourself soon x

I have had a very nice weekend, cinema and dinner with friends yesterday and today was spent cleaning my kitchen cupboards and unpacking my kitchen equipment. I now have a nearly fully functioning kitchen including a dishwasher, oh how I have missed that! DH has been glossing and boxing in pipes and generally working like a Trojan! We have just had fajitas for which I am sure I will pay for in the heart burn stakes later, but I don't care! Yummy, yummy!

Love to all xxx

Lanny - appreciate the offer but the man's already done it. He is an excellent dishwasher. Just the drying up for me to do while stirring stew. Of course there's still the great big clean to do when we move out, but as the damp downstairs is so bad that the place will need to be gutted before it can be fixed, there's not much point.

Hello lovelies!

Well, I'm sat in bed whilst DH snores gently beside me after a cracking weekend with our mates. I like this hibernation business! DH's bessie mate and his lovely wife and their two gorgeous kids came down and brought a bunch of amazing baby things to add to the collection - lucky us! We didn't do anything ambitious - rolled around the house on Sat, DHs taking kids to park for a few hours whilst we stayed and read and I had a big nap. Low-key birthday-supper-for-DH in the evening, then walked to lovely local for Sunday lunch, then another half a mile to the river to feed the geese and another favourite pub, and it took me about 40 mins to walk the mile back with my silly sore hips. Oh, and I fell on my arse at one point on some slippy, wet leaves (let that be a lesson to you!) I fell quite 'well' though, if you know what I mean - don't think babies will have felt much. DHs were really toasty drunk - v. funny to watch in the afternoon. Have been lying on sofa since and then thought it would just be more comfy to lie in bed. Thus DH sleeping and me tapping away on the laptop!

In other news, babies this morning were super active. Lay in bed with music on the radio and I kept talking to the babies and wobbling the bump around, and they seemed to respond really energetically with teeny tiny limbs rippling across my stomach. Called DH to come watch and our eyes were popping out of our heads! But after a few minutes and a really big ripple we just couldn't watch anymore - too, too freaky!

Oh and we heard that the money my FiL generously left us in his will has come through which is a massive, massive relief as we really want to get the 2/3 of the house which is suffering with 25-year-old drafty, aluminium double-glazing replaced before the babies arrive. Absolutely fantastic. The only thing now is that we have to decide which company. Got about five quotes to choose from with about 10K between the lowest and the highest!! It's not such a trial if we immediately take expensive Everest out of the equation. The question boils down to whether we trust the job to the cheapest (two lovely young blokes down the road without much of a reputation behind them) or one of the middling price local companies who have been going for years?

Right, going to spend some time catching up with everyone's news xx

Quick question:
Is it ok to pick a boys name that is the same as a work colleagues sons name? What's the etiquette for these things?! We've complied a list of boys names, all of them I like, however the OH is really taken with 'Charlie' which I love as well but my work colleague has an 18 month old called Charlie! I feel its a bit wrong almost to consider!

Sorry for quick post. Manda, hope you're ok after your slip?! Sounds like you had a great weekend! I personally would go with the window companies that are well known with a good client base and reviews.

Sundae can totally understand your feelings - it's very scary isn't it?! Hope these feelings leave you soon so that you can get back to the exciting feelings!

JoJo your mobile sounds lovely! Did your friend make it?! I've got four little different coloured owl soft toys from work (left over from our Barcelona event), however it was quickly pointed out to me that they aren't suitable for any child under 3 so windowsill it is for them then!

Sorry not to name check anyone else, I'm on my phone!

JoJo 27 weeks!!! That's amazing I am having such difficulty with pants and socks now. Pants I have to dangle down with one hand low enough so I can step into one (not too bad as they are the size of a bloomin' sail! Socks take a lot of concerted effort and yoga bending. By the evening I'm so stiff and sometimes sore that DH has to oblige - not too sexy! I tell him we're practising for when we're 80!

October so glad you found the maternity and baby clothes! Yippee!

Stormy did you make it into town to collect your new trews? Hope they are a good fit!

Possom good luck with the marking! Hope you had a productive afternoon with pockets of relaxation

Sundae sorry you're feeling both pants in the ear department and a bit flat to boot. I think the latter is only to be expected and I go through phases (often accompanied by lots of dramatic sobbing!) It is a terrifying leap into the unknown. We'll do it though! And I have no doubt that on many levels it will be unexpectedly amazing.

Lexi it's so depressing to wake and look at the clock and only an hour or two has passed, isn't it? Great news re architect. So happy for you. FX for the money side of things now. I''m 25 weeks on Tues ? amazing, isn't it? I think once we hit 28 it's going to feel like the home straight.

Yippee re orangery pics, Lanny! And what a relief and a joy it must be to have your kitchen almost fully functional! Bit jealous. We have realised we don't have the time to design ours and get a builder in to do it. But nor do we have the extra ££ to get a company in either. DH will not countenance getting interest-free credit for the extra we haven't got saved up, even though we are v. lucky and have no debt beside the mortgage and are both in secure jobs. I really want it done before babies and think an interest-free deal is a sensible option. Saga t.b.c.

Emus Xposted!

Oh that's a tricky one. How close are you with colleague? If not close then I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if colleague is a friend then that's a bit different. Hmm...!

Thanks for window companies recommendation. I think you are right. But I might leave it up to DH to make final decision as it's his Dad's money at the end of the day.

The slip was a bit of a shock tbh, but apart from my wrist hurting slightly for 10 mins and my left hip getting a bit of a bang I was absolutely fine! But I think my lovely knee-high soft leather black winter boots from last year will need either re-soling with something a bit more robust or putting away till next winter!

Manda - do any of them offer guarantees? A 10 year guarantee on double glazing and a company you think will last, even if fitters don't, and thats a big decision helper I find.
Sounds like a lovely weekend and v exciting/weird/freaky to see limbs rippling stomach. I'm not there yet with Socs but am sure it'll arrive soon enough.

Love sound of all these productive DIY weekends. Ours has been so lazy in comparison. But I'm increasingly finding that if I try and cram too much in at the weekend then I just crash and burn in the week - when I really do have work to do. That said, frankly some cleaning and DIY wouldn't have done us much damage. :)

JoJo; mobile sounds lovely. I haven't bought much at all as yet, bar a pirate mobile, and it's still in box. I know if I take it out it'll be ruined.

I've been researching nursery furniture - well cots & bedding - a bit more this weekend. Gees they take the Michael with pricing. I'm quite enamoured by the idea of a cot bed that can become a bench - as it seems like a sensible use. But so many of them don't have drop sides so useless. Bah. Of course this is back up only. If friends can bring their old cot over with them from Holland that's one thing we won't have to worry about. We're grand for wardrobe and cupboard space, so no worries there at least.

Have also been looking at nursery essentials. List is a wee bit longer than I'd first figured but all doable. Id missed a few things out - thermometer, nail scissors etc for babies. Nothing big has been missed though, so my planning remains on track - January set to e a big shopping month.

Sausage casserole was delicious. I could eat it all over again.. But will wait til tomorrow as that's our Monday night tea. Chocolate cake, cream & a cup of tea beckon. Still have tons of reading to do because we went for a walk after all (oops) and LOADS to do tomorrow to prep for week ahead. Gulp. I'm starting to think that our cunning plan to visit friends next weekend might need revising. (sigh).

Hope everyone is OK - zoey, have you been good and put your feet up?

Thanks for the kick up the bum, jojo, I've just finished my marking... So much for teachers working 9-3 Mon-fri huh?

manda we have Everest windows. Dh bought them pre me and they are good about fixing them/seeding new keys when I lose them they usually offer big discounts on the original price so worth haggling not like dh

Manda She is a friend as well as a colleague in that I would keep in touch with her via Facebook and the odd visit every now and again I'm sure! We aren't close buddies though but I think I already know the answer to this one and said as much to the OH but he dies t see what the fuss is about! Damn it!

Actually, her Charlie is much younger, he's probably about six months now if that! Her first son is 18 months!

Thanks Lanny, I survived the weekend. Have to try and be nice to dh, not his fault and make mental note never to be like that if I am ever lucky enough to be the MIL!

Emus, I wouldnt rule the name out. One of my friends from uni called me as she was thinking of naming her little boy the same as mine. I had no issue with that, not like I own the name! Bit weird when we meet up but it sent that often. If I had to rule out all the office names in my place I might be a bit stuck!

Manda , I would go with the reputable company even if a bit expensive. Will be worth it.

Evening all- lovely to hear about everyone's nice weekends it's just a shame Monday comes round so fast :(
Can't remember who said about the baby moov changing bag- I fell in love and ordered a twin size one as DS2 is not 2 till Jan so can see a few years of loads of stuff still to come!

In other news DH moved DS1 into the smaller room today so the younger 2 can have the bigger room because of the age gaps- looks so much better and DS1 is loving his new room even though it is smaller its not really a 'box' room- meant I was relegated to downstairs with DS2 and my iPad was in my room and I couldn't get to it because the hall way was full of stuff! We watched dumbo and played trains was lovely :)

Was meant to be working tonigh but in all honestly am tired and can't be arsed so am not so after the freak out of a quiet baby am laid in bed enjoying the kicks and relaxing

Hello everyone! Just a quick pop in to say hello as I am dotting in and out and all about, it's my 30th birthday today and we have a week of lovely things planned. Mind you we are looking at nurseries near us so might need some advice as to what to look for other than good Ofsted report and recommendation for current attendees parents?

Will be on FB and looking forward to meeting some of you next Sunday!

tramp I had my black tie event last week - was amazing and loved every minute, my dress was exactly right for the occasion and was comfy too so I'm very glad I went for the type of dress you recommended. It's a Seraphine dress too so hoping it'll sell on eBay so I can get some Christmas present money together!

Hope all of you are doing well xx

Hermione - Happy Birthday! 30, crikey, it is gonna be a memorable year for you ;) Pleased black tie event was a blast, and your Christmas plans sound grand too.

Gees is it meet up time already, where have the weeks gone? I think I may have managed a diary fck up.. Will have to try to see what I can do.

Zoey - new bedrooms are always exciting, even if they're smaller. How fab for your little one.

Eig - I can't believe you'd ever be like that. But if in doubt write a list of signs that I'm an evil MIL, post it to yourself for arrival in 18 years time and make sure :)

Gnight all.

Just a quick one - saw there was a meet up next weekend. Where is it? I've been AWOL but if it'd london would love to come.

Had too much caffeine yesterday and paid for it with a super active baby. Peppermint tea today methinks, to give the poor sod a chance to sleep!

mand. Hope you are doing ok after your fall

emus. If you love Charlie I would use it. You never know where life will take you and you may not be friends with your friend in 2 years time. I know someone who did not give her baby a name because a colleague had used it. Se doesn't see the person now as they have both changed jobs and always thinks her daughter should have had the name. DH really wanted Max for DS1 though he has a nephew with the name. I ruled it out because they would be cousins though if it was a granddads name I would have considered more as I feel that just because you have the first grandson you should not get dibs on a name if that makes sense? Have two close friends who are friends with each other who both have Michaels - Mikeys - born within 3 months of each other Really makes no difference. And It is a name on our list too as it is a family name.

hermonine. Happy birthday!

Unfortunately DS has winter vomiting bug and I am not feeling too great so was a long night and think it will be a long day. Second wash of the morning on. Fingers crossed it will pass quickly.

Hope Everyone is doing well.

Oc x

Happy birthday, Hermione! Have some flowers! :)
Manda glad no harm done with your fall. I nearly went over on wet leaves at the weekend, guess our balance just isn't what it was!
Emus I wouldn't worry about the same name unless the colleague is a really close friend of yours. I have similar with one of the boys' names on our list and I think will go for it if needed as it's DH's favourite too.
Feeling very sorry for myself as having awful mid back pain and woke up every 40mins in the night with it - also guilty as woke DH up at 4:30 as I was crying with frustration because I could not sleep! Feeling pathetic and struggling at work this morning. Seeing MW on Wednesday and will see what she can suggest.

Happy birthday Hermione!

manda hope you're ok after your fall...

Emus if you like the name, then use it!

October I hope your DS is better soon, poor wee dude.

Lexi hope your back isn't giving you too much gip. Would a hot water bottle help at all?

As for me... it's a wild and miserable day in the north east of Scotland so DS and I will not be leaving the house apart from to go to Tesco at some point. DH is off to Inverness for work and when he does get home, he's going to some council meeting tonight so DS wont see him all day and that usually causes a strop at bedtime - me and DS . I'm going to try to finish knitting the vest I've been making if DS will let me. I also need to try and get a hold of my midwife as she's still not got back to me about the MATB1 and I'm 25 weeks on Friday so my employers might need it...!!

Morning! Hope you are all ok, sounds like there were some lovely things on this weekend :)

Have just come home from work, feel so lame lasting for the first hour 1/2 but the groggy/achy feeling I woke up with is worsening. Wondering if my iron is low so going to call midwife in a minute to see if I can have my 28 week bloods done early. I turned 24 weeks on Saturday, was pretty excited by that.

DD has hand foot and mouth :( She is with my sister today rather than her childminder so think dsis will bring her back at my normal after work time. DD doesn't seem too bad in herself at least.

Happy Birthday for yesterday Hermione! Hope you have a lovely lovely week and feel totally spoiled.

Emus the only name ettiquete I would consider would be for a close relative who minded, or a bff who I was pretty sure would definetly be in my life for at least the next 10 years! Other than that as long as I didn't mind I would use the name I loved :)

Owl mobile *Jojo :)

Glad you're ok from slippy leaves manda!

Tramp I think my reasons for turning down Twighlight premiere would be different to yours, I am a total baby, even with fantasy that couldn't even remotely be called horror so the idea of sitting in the dark with people who I have know as vampires would possibly freak me out a little bit! How pathetic is that?

Glad DS likes his new room Zoey

Three I hope you feel better soon!

Awww sorry to hear so many are feeling pants

Wow Tramp I'm amazed with the detail of your prep so far! I think I will leave thinking about stuff till xmas hols / new year - I don't have room in my head for the detail of another 'project' at the moment! I seriously think my head would explode as I'm so focused on work and DIY at the moment!

Hope you had a lovely, lovely birthday Hermione

Sarah Brum meet-up on Sunday but have we finalised plans, ladies? There was lots of FB chatter about it.

I was supposed to be in Hertfordshire today, but couldn't face the four hours there and four hours back on public transport. Just too achey and knackered, so I cancelled. Altho I'm delaying a bunch of work I would have got done there, it wasn't urgent and I feel like I've gained a day which is really valuable this week.

Hurray for your eldest getting his own room, Zoey. Bet he feels v. grown up!

Am fine after the fall, but thanks so much for the kind thoughts It was shock more than anything. But I'm glad I'm at home today. Yes, Lexi think it must be to do with balance - bit belly heavy at the mo, hehe! About your back - can you stretch to seeing a chiropractor or osteopath, or having a pregnancy massage? (Sorry if I've said this before!) MW can refer you to NHS physio but may take a while for appt to come through.

Thanks for the tips re double glazing. Yes, I think all the companies offer guarantees - but will have to look at the small print and then what happens if a company goes out of business? Ood, there's no way Everest is even getting onto our shortlist. I hated the way the sales bloke cornered me in the kitchen and said 'You know if you sign today I can give you 20% off'. I told him in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't be agreeing to anything during our appointment and that he was simply there to provide me with a quotation which I'd assess along with all the others I was gathering. He was visibly pissed off and asked when my husband would be home. Knob! Also, the price came down from 15K to something like 10K during the appt and in desperation, at the door, he said, what could you afford? 9K? 8K? I think any company that has such a high profit margin that they can almost half the original quotation in the course of a single meeting isn't one I'm comfortable with. I worry about those poor people who aren't hard bargainers and who sign away thousands more than they need to so that the company exec can get a new Jaguar every year. But, then, I'm really cynical about big business!

Think we will go local, rather than national, and I'd be tempted to follow the advice here to go with a reputable company ? but I know DH would prefer the cheapest (=blokes down the road) and it is his late dad's money after all. Will try to put to him the case for going with longer-established peeps, though.

3fortea - oh you big wuss! :)

Manda- how you feeling today? No aches from fall I hope.

Lexi - go see a chiropractor? Sounds painful my dear.

Afternoon All,

Really sorry to hear that some of you are feeling crook! Not fun, hope you all can wrap up with duvets and hot choccies and wishing you well soon!

Manda interesting to hear about your dg dilemma. I rang a few companies last week to get quotations to replace some of the windows and doors in our house and no one has called back so I guess they aren't desperate for the business! Shame as our french windows are literally falling apart! Like you I can't decide between a large national or a reputable regional. I think i'm going to ask around my friends and see who they've used. Glad you're feeling ok after your fall and yay for wriggly twins!

Hermione Happy Birthday for yesterday!! Hope you had a fab day! My advice for looking around nurseries is a bit fluffy but you will know when you find the right one. I looked around loads and I just didn't feel comfortable and then I looked around the one that DS now goes to and it felt so right. I immediately felt at home both with the physical surroundings and also the nursery's values etc

Emus you can definitely use Charlie. It's a popular name and your colleague will know hers won't be the only one in the world. My DS has a top ten name and I expect others to use it because I think it is a very nice, normal name. In fact if one of my friends decided to use it I would be flattered and think they had good taste!

Another crap night's sleep here too. Off for my monthly reflexology appointment on Thursday and can't wait, definitely need a 're-set' at the moment! I've got to work 4 days this week and it's stressing me out! I don't know how you all cope with full time jobs. Total respect to you all! Think i've also lost my MATB1 form which needs to be handed in this week. Oops...!

Manda - def check small print. Often local firms are working on behalf of a larger company, so see who they are and how they're doing. Guarantees are only good if the company is there to adhere to them.

Everest and pushy sales men in general - idiots. Sadly I think these techniques work on lots of women, or why use them? My response when I encounter anyone like that is to call up and make an official complaint. Might take a bit of effort but man it feels good when you do. I'd ignore the issue of rubbish salesman though and think through bet value - which does not necessarily mean cheapest. With double glazing knowing any mistakes, if they happen, will get fixed and you have a guarantee that counts is important. After all it's usually after a few seasons that problems reveal themselves rather than before. Doesn't mean cheapest & local guys aren't best of course, but you don't want to pay £6k rather than £7k only to discover a year later that you have to go elsewhere and pay out again to fix a prob that may have revealed itself. This applies equally to central heating btw - lesson learnt hardway :)

Funny I don't feel v organised. I was saying to MrM at weekend that I'm a bit worried we're being too lassiez faire because based on other pregnant ladies I know and comments on here, well apart from names and my research we've not done a thing. He's suggested we can cross bridges when we face them and that I'm not the sort of person to be unprepared so not to stress. I can't say I'm stressing, more just wondering if we're being a bit too relaxed? Hey Ho, we'll know soon enough I'm sure.