April 2013.....we're halfway there! (Part 5)

[bunnygirl80]

Our newest home!

Old thread here

Stats thread here

Jaqueline that's a punishing work placement schedule, you be careful and get as much rest as you can, I'm sure there's something you are entitled too.

Thanks for the NCT advice, very helpful and reassuring.

Jaqueline make sure you don't over do it! Take care of yourself that sounds a very scary prospect to me only having 2 weeks off to have a baby! X

empress I've had the strange thing with ears too! Seems like my ears jst won't tolerate anything in them since pregnant n get really sore!

Re cot bed, we had them for both dc's but have the room. Went for a more expensive mattress with washable cover (great for 'accidents' and sick!) From mama & papa's. Expensive but dd's have been in them since about 12-16 wks n eldest is nearly 6 with plenty of room.

trish u r goin to b very busy! Combining 3 of the most stressful things in a few months, take my hat off to u! Same for those doin uni stuff, I cldnt do it with dc's, working and pregnant!

Re mat leave, I took 2 wks a/l before dd1 was born term+1, jst over a wk a/l before dd2 was born term and plan to take 3wks+ a/l (more if I have enough left) before this one is due 19th April as I'm knackered! Plan to take as much mat leave as we can afford but 6mths minimum. Can go bk reduced hrs for 6 mths then.jac not sure what u do sorry but can't u get smp? Sounds like its goin to be tough goin bk afta 2 wks!

Had a lovely lie in 2day (awake with kids in our bed tho) n only jst gettin up! Makes a rare occurrence but nice change

Hope u all enjoy ur Sunday! X

Hi everyone. FlaminNora here with a new name now that I'm beginning to adjust to actually being pregnant. We've been very busy over Christmas so I've not been able to keep up with MN. Hope you are all doing well and progressing with your baby plans. My husband has started to go a bit mad. Every time he goes out he comes back with something else 'to entertain the baby'. Looks like it's his credit card that'll end up being confiscated. We never saw that one coming. :)

its good to hear about maternity leave plans. I plan to work to 38 wks (have a v short commute, parking on site, office chair based) plus my manager has already said I can work from home at the end if I need to. the annual leave idea before mat leave seems a good one though as want to save as much mat leave as possible!
after name talk on here the other day DH and I have decided - Sylvia Faye. first one we have both loved and goes with awkward surnames!
loving the celtic names - so beautiful.
kelle you have my sympathy - fed up with family dumping on us without any regard for the fact we might have our own preoccupations at the moment!

jacqueline are you on an NHS placement? I was in the middle of a therapy MSc and was actively encouraged to take the year off - which I am, but was also told that I was entitled to postpone placement an complete at the end of the year, and that my bursary would cover maternity leave as well as increase because I had a baby afterwards. It's worth looking into properly - if you are on placement there should be a funding stream somewhere to support maternity. You have rights! :) ha!

Sorry to hear the insomnia chat! I've been getting 3 hours per night, but had a really good night last night. I think it wa new maternity pjs (soooo comfy) and new fluffy pillows. Try it!

Xx

enjay I think I will wait until baby is born and see whether my ears sort themselves out. It would be weird to have them re-pierced as they've been fine for 20 years!

Thanks for all the advice about cots/vote beds. I think mattress is worth spending the money on. Not sure about which cot or bed to get but will for some measurements in the bedroom. Question of whether we'd be having another DC is to be decided in the future. I def want a second child but DH is not so sure!

Jac That sounds rubbish. You should definitely be entitled to more.

I haven't finalised mat leave yet but prob going to finish at 37 and a half weeks but already fed up with work and I have a train commute. Asked whether I can work from home towards the end but told 'no'. Was Ok about it until boss worked from home for a couple of days while she had a plumber round!

Also suffering the insomnia. All very odd as I'm usually a good sleeper. And another nasty cold has arrived. But I am aware I have generally escaped the bad stuff. Fingers crossed for all of you with ailments. Hopefully we can all recover and just enjoy awaiting our babies.

Jaqueline it sounds incredibly demanding going back 2 weeks after baby arrives. Hope you might be allowed to take some more time but understand that it must be difficult as you're on a placement. Make sure you get the rest you need.

A little freaked out as haven't felt baby move in 24 hours. About to have a very cold drink and a lay down, really hope I feel something as considering calling the mat unit if not.

Teapig I hope you feel something soon. Definitely go in ASAP if you don't though. I think sometimes if you're busy you just done realise you've felt movements, even if the baby has been active.

I went in on Thursday as I hadn't felt anything all day. The MW was lovely and said she was glad I'd come in. It's good to have a record of it too as if you have a few episodes they may do a scan.

Hi All, just catching up after Christmas - have been reading but not had much chance to post.

Thrilled to hear that Mama and Alexander are doing OK and welcome to the new April ladies.

Can totally relate to the insomnia. Am completely zombiefied. I keep getting up to pee in the night (about 5 times!), but as our bathroom is downstairs, by the time I get back to bed I'm wide awake. And DH is always snoring and making me stabby

Have completely and utterly lost any motivation at work, which seeing as they're being complete gits at the moment makes it all a bit meh. I have no cover, no support, no team and a completely disinterested line manager who works at a different site, so I'm out of sight, out of mind. Am leaving on 8 March (less than 9 weeks to go!!! Whoop!) taking two weeks hols and two weeks ML before baby hopefully arrives bang on time on 5 April

Teapig I'd definitely get in touch with your midwife or maternity unit if you need reassurance. Hope you feel bubs soon.

Jacq hope you manage to sort out some more leave - just doesn't seem enough time to physically recover. Hope you get some time sorted out x

Can I just ask you all about names? Baby Magic is a surprise. Girls names are sorted. In No.1 position is Georgia Mary Ann, with runners up being Lucy Mary Ann or Imogen Mary Ann. Boys however are a sticking point and I have a strong inkling little one is a blue bump.

I have bought name books - DH refuses to look at them. I have given a long-list of around 30 names I like - he hates them all, saying they're 'too Irish' (I'm half Irish!) or 'too gay' . When I've pressed him for a suggestion, he says stoopid things like 'Killer' or the name of his football team. Boy would have our fathers' names as middle names - Nigel John. Names I like include: Frederick, William, Oliver, Ethan, Miles, etc - fairly classic names. Then the other day, DH suggested Alfred, with Alfie (or maybe Freddie) for short - I don't mind this at all - but was wondering if this was maybe a bit too 'old man' with the middle names he'll have? What do you think? Am not yet brave enough for baby names board!!!

27 + 2

I'm having a boy, we've decided on Louie.

Am also not motivated at work at all, planning to work until 38 weeks so about 11 weeks left and counting!

magic - I love the name Georgia- it's our choice for a girl too. It's so pretty!
teapig - any movements yet? I'd give triage a ring if you haven't felt anything. My mw was v. clear that if I hadn't felt anything for 8 hours then I should go in. Not to worry you, am sure it's fine, but peace of mind shouldn't be overlooked. Hope you're ok x

I am planning to work until 36 weeks, 2 weeks as A/L then starting mat leave. I am on my feet quite a lot (work with children and families) and my body is just starting to complain, hopefully I will be ok until then. That means I have about 8 weeks left at work. It's all getting very real now!

We had the 4d scan yesterday, it was amazing!! Baby was constantly trying to eat her hands, feet and at one point her wrist. I think I am going to have one hungry baby! Got some lovely pics of her yawning, doing the thumbs up and one gorgeous pic of her with her hand spread accross her cheek where you can see all her little fingers, so sweet!

The ladies doing the scan were lovely, they were convinced they could get me a better (clearer?) pic so they have invited me back next week for free. One more extra peek at baby before we get to meet her, not complaining at all!

I can't remember who was talking about the bugaboo chameleon 3, but that's the buggy we have recently bought. Got it from John Lewis (£200.00 off so I can now treat myself to glider chair!) I drive a vauxhall corsa at the mo, me and my friend couldn't even fit a maclaren in the boot.. Turns out the bugaboo's wheels are very easy to remove (one click of a button) so seemed the perfect choice. I am also very keen to use a pram for the baby, it seems sturdy and I like the fact I can change the colours if I like! It's nice and light too which is a bonus.

Hope everyone has had a nice relaxing sunday :-)

Aw jh that sounds like too much to me, how do you get money now? I believe bursary can be paid for maternity leave, although I suspect I remember you had other reasons to not defer? I'm not entitled to anything either, so just going on income support for a while, also look into employment support allowance.
Teapig I hope you are reassured soon, mine seems to respond fast to full fat cold fizzy drinks if that helps.
I feel worse today, hoping to improve overnight as have busy week planned, worried about hurting baby with all the coughing and up and down temp but sure am not first women to have a cold
26+2

teapig I've had a couple of days where I didn't feel it move for hours even with all the trick, but then the next day was okay. I read in my pregnancy books that you shouldn't monitor the movement too closely till 28 weeks as it's movement pattern still changes and it could be having a lazy day. Having said that I hope you've got yourself sorted now and baby is okay.

Any tips for sleeping better?! I'm not having a problem falling asleep, the problem is I'm so uncomfortable when I'm sleeping that I toss and turn all night and wake up really tired. I've tried having a bath, pillows in every possible place, different p.js and nothing seems to help, poor DH is a bit fed up of me disturbing him all night and I'm exhausted! The only way to be comfortable is on my back but apparently it's not healthy to lie on your back for long at this stage of pregnancy....

27+0

I'm sleeping a lot better since I got a proper maternity support pillow. I also use a sleep spray from Avon that helps me relax. I've been following Paul Mckenna's I can make you thin for a year now and the CD is a hypnotherapy relaxation CD so I listen to that if I can't unwind. He's done an 'I can make you sleep' which might help?

jacq 2 weeks then back on the ward? Ouch! Have you talked to your personal tutor?

user pop some Vicks on your feet tonight, see if it helps the cough. It's taken me a good 10 days to shift this virus - I'm still snuffly now! - so take it easy. Are you taking regular paracetamol?

Hi all,
Is anyone else thinking about a short holiday before the babies arrive?
Lots of people have recommended to us to take a 'babymoon' to get some sleep, relax and spend some time together before the mayhem. So I'd started looking at cheap weeks in the sun (eg canary islands- short flight) for about the 32 /33 week point before I get to the point where I can't fly - thinking sunshine as we don't really relax very well unless it's warm!
But then we were with friends this weekend who completely freaked out saying that was too late to be away from the uk (translation - very far from the hospital) and that I won't want to travel that late on. They recommended a spa break in Wales!

Anyone else thinking about getting away? Any experience from those of you with DCs already?

There's a chance I may have to do a business trip that late anyway so the travel point is a bit moot (and I commute an hour each way on the tube everyday so a four hour flight is luxury in comparison!) and as much as I love Wales (married to a Welshman) a week in the rain with a spa that I can't use half of (sauna, jacuzzi) doesn't really appeal . Any ideas?!

Thanks for all the advice ladies. After numerous cold drinks, laying very still, moving about, eating etc. still felt nothing and couldn't take the worry so called antenatal triage. They were really understanding and said to come straight in.

All good - we listed to baby's heart beat for a full five minutes with a lovely MW and she pointed out that baby was kicking a lot although I couldn't feel it. MW said she wasn't worried at all, probably the anterior placenta cushioning things, and as DH pointed out 'the fat also acts as a cushion', thanks DH I feel so much more relaxed. I don't think I'd have been able to sleep had we not gone in so very pleased we did.
It was quite weird sitting in the delivery room in the hospital, hopefully I won't see one of those again for a few months.

magic I think Alfie is a very sweet name but my favourites are from your list: William and Ethan.

bext, a babymoon sounds lovely! We're going to be saving hard for maternity leave so I don't think we'll make it out of the UK but I'd love to go away for a long-weekend somewhere before baby arrives. There are some lovely luxury hotels that do special mum-to-spa treatments.

Hope all those who have had insomnia get a good night's sleep tonight.

Teapig glad you got reassurance. These little ones worry us so much already!

I got a Doppler when I was about 13 weeks (I know you shouldn't rely on them and you need to go by movements too) but I'm glad we bought it! Lovely to listen to little man whenever! ESP nice since where I am MW refuses to listen til 24w onwards!!

I have a MW appt tomorrow. Be nice to let a professional find it! I find it within seconds usually.

Can you believe it, after about 2 hours sleep last night, I'm still going, wide awake! Been in bed since 9, this is getting ridiculous, first day back at school tomorrow is going to be so much fun!!!

Yay had an addition to the family tonight my very close cousin had a little girl at 8.49pm ruby Louise 6lb6.5 all is well with mum and baby but she got to stay in until wed because of gestational diabetes I got a pic sent to me she is of course bloody gorgeous! I can't wait to meet her I just know I'm gonna bawl like a baby!!

missmuffet lovely news! Congrats to your cousin!

I only have 4 weeks left at work, I worked until 39 weeks last time but I would be due to rotate to A&E in early feb (Dr in GP training) & I just can't summon up the energy! Plus I'd have to repeat those 4 weeks anyway so I'm having feb to feb off. We will probably be moving house & I feel that DD (20 months) needs some stability and want to get her settled into her new nursery routine prior to the new baby arriving. She currently goes 3.5 days a week & we are planning to cut it to 1.5 days a week. I have almost saved enough childcare vouchers to pay for the whole year. She has learnt to say 'baby' this week, I still think it's going to be an awful shock!

Magic
Lucy, Georgia and Imogen are all lovely. Imogen probay just has it for me but all three are gorgeous.
Love your boys names suggestions, all of them. Alfred is lovely with nn Freddie. I don't like Alfie at all I'm afraid, think its quite trendy, will date and too twee for a grown man, but that's just me!

Interesting hearing people talk about Elizabeth, we are expecting DD2 & have pretty much decided on Celeste. I'm dithering on middle names, I'd really like a family name so:
Celeste Margaret - after MIL
Celeste Elizabeth- my middle name & the one I think flows best
Celeste Susannah- after my mother.
I have this feeling that Will & Kate will name their baby (if it's a girl!) Elizabeth and that this might see it surge in popularity and my biggest concern about a name is that it will date. I'm over thinking this aren't I??

Trishstar I think I saw your baby name thread, I LOVE your boys name. Don't listen to the doubters! Such a strong, unusual yet classic name.

Thanks toobreathless!

That's what we think about the name too!

Love Celeste! Might have to add that to the list for any possible future DD's!

teapig so glad you got to listen to the heartbeat and everything's ok.
I have an anterior placenta too and find some movements feel harder than others. Mainly the hard kicks to my bladder that make me run to the loo lol.

Some lovely names mentioned. Celeste is beautiful and I'm slightly biased as my friends gorgeous little boy has the same name - Alfie, he's adorable :).

I've given up on proper sleep, our bathroom is on the first floor and the bedrooms on the second so I can relate to being wide awake after getting up for the loo. I tend to make a warm drink and watch the news channel until I'm falling asleep again.