April 2013 part six...what does the third trimester have in store?

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mama great to hear of your hour snuggle, sounds blissful. Your DD shopping shall be fun for her, I envisage her coming back with lots of cute little things for Alex :)

bext don't panic about position, you'll feel sick/dizzy and LO will be kicking about if you are in the wrong position. I sleep however I can get it, MW confirmed it's an 'Old Wives Tale'.

I've got the 1stT exhaustion back and the nausea seems to be returning too :( felt a bit ill the last few days and just shattered.

DD is off with MiL this afternoon as BT man fixing our internet was done in 20 minutes, so cleared out some of the items that are too small for her now [she's 2] but some of the tops and jumpers are 3-6 months... it's bewildering the sizes that vary from store to store. I know she fits Gap 18-24 months at the moment, yet next 6-9 months are too wide but too short... you'll find what brands suit you and you'll look out for bargains. Lucky that Clarks Village is not far away and they have a gap outlet that has some cracking deals.

It's felt a bit like ML this afternoon, I had a coffee [decaf] a slice of cake and did some knitting whilst listening to loud music and no toddler demanding to be entertained. Bliss :)

essexwelsh pudding clubs are ace, especially good when expecting/breastfeeding :)

In agreement about work. I still have 6 weeks left but am thoroughly fed up and unmotivated. Suddenly 6 weeks feels like such a long time. I have also found tiredness has returned which was quite a shock as the last couple of weeks I've really felt pretty good.

Anyone know about cot mattresses? I''ve bought a cot from eBay and need to buy a new mattress for it. On boots online the costs vary from £20 to over £100. They all seem decent and have positive reviews. I am thinking I might as well go for the cheapest as the reviews are good but I can't help wondering wwhether there is something crucial I am missing.

empress I'm in exactly the same position here. Cot from eBay, no idea about mattresses! I think I want spring rather than foam (harder there for less SIDS risk? Or at least that's my logic!)
Hopefully someone will come along with some expertise! I was gjuat oing to go to ikea (their range is £15-£100) and squeeze them all!!

Wow fat preggo fingers alert!
There for = therefore
gjuat oing = just going!

Thanks for the welcomes! Lovely! I'm actually looking foward to leaving work and quite sad all at the same time. We are off to our nct class tonight (minus the homework) , but will check back in tomorrow when I can read properly (not on my silly phone!)

I am also struggling with tiredness today. I was in an upstairs classroom today and it was such an effort to get up the stairs. We were doing art, so I had to move the tables/get the stuff out/put out the clothes and then tidy afterwards (doesn't sound like much but I'm done in now)!

Luckily the children are gorgeous. If I drop something, they run to get it. They carry my stuff without being asked. I'll really miss them!

I finish two weeks tomorrow and even that seems too far away. Can't believe I considered (briefly) working until 38 weeks and the Easter hols!

Thanks for the comments about TENS machines - my immediate feeling is that I will not bother as we have never used them before. But then, maybe this time is going to be all different.

I finally got back in touch with my HV who called a couple of weeks ago to arrange to come round. Nothing serious - I thought perhaps she was going to chase me about DD2's pre-school booster bust actually she just wants to meet before the baby arrives to fill in paper work so we don't need to do it with the baby. I arranged to meet her on 21.3.13 although she reminded me that that is only a month before my due date so the baby might already be here! (In which case she will see me earlier!)

We have 2 HVs attached to the clinic here and they are both lovely. The one I am 'linked' to is especially lovely, very relaxed but she used to be a NICU nurse so was great with my two preemies. She also runs free baby massage classes at the surestart centre which I love going to too.

And I just have to work out which days I want to work from home in the next couple of weeks. The children in my classes are already in a state of excitement/worry about when I leave and are eager to know who is going to take over teaching them.

Aaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!

I'm exhausted, struggling to get through a day without snoozing, we are completly broke and it's my birthday on Saturday. Yet the whole family has decided to invite themselves round for a party lunch which I now have to buy everything for and organise.

Happy fucking birthday!

28+6

Yes to not having a clue about cot mattresses, we went with the one on offer in kiddicare!
I read the manual (yes I am one of those strange beings ) for the Angelcare movement cot monitor. Do be aware you can't use it with memory foam mattresses, btw. And if the cot has slats you need a flat bit of plywood to put the monitor pad on. Patent unit takes 16 hrs to charge the batteries on first go.
Basically this is not just, get home from hospital, plug & play! Serious amount of faffing!

Pudding club is such an excellent idea, I would be there, but husband bought us tickets to go see Top Hat musical this sat matinee. Is the club on each sat?
V looking fwd to top hat!

It's great to know everyone else is also stressing about visitors staying. 3 sisters & mum all want to stay! 2 of the sisters yes, mum & other one no way Jose.
Have decided am going to tell ALL of them we will play it by ear on whether we are ok with visitors.

And some amazing news from me- saw the counsellor today. Googled her & it turns out she is a phd Dr who really knows her stuff- so am not surprised she helped me so much. Feeling a bit better already

Funny comment from BIL- looked at tens machine, looked at me, said no way you are going to want more pain! Forget it!
Will defo give it a tryout in case he's right!

Msbluesky welcome :)

milktraylady, LikeCandy & empress I remember agonising over cot mattresses the first time round. MIL made it fairly obvious she thought we were mad! Our budget was fairly tight so we went for not the cheapest one, but a couple up. I was fine, as far as I can tell anyway! Although I would say that when DS was not sleeping, I did wonder if a more comfortable mattress might have made a difference. However I suppose he slept fine in the buggy (and in our bed) so maybe that was my imagination! Who knows?! This time we will again just pick the one which suits our budget. But in under 10 minutes instead of 45!

Jaqueline Happy fucking birthday

What are people putting in your hospital bags in the way of baby clothes?
And how much?

I can't remember but I'm pretty sure I changed DS a few times a day when he was that little (lots of baby puke!) Does that mean I need to bring in a selection baby grows & vests for an overnight? I don't remember doing this last time.

Feeling really unprepared atm. I haven't sorted anything yet! We're doing up our new house and moving before the baby. Just packing up our current house is daunting - we have so much tat stuff!

That seems like such a massive hurdle to get over before the baby, the birth and bringing a new baby home seems like ages away, but it isn't really is it?

*It was fine, not I!!

jacq ask everyone to bring a dish? Makes for nice selection of food and reduces cost.

We're travelling quite some distance today (so tired already) and I'm going to meet my in laws for the first time! Only been married 4 1/2 years! DH had distanced himself from that side of the family but they're back in touch so I finally get to meet them!

I did go to Asda yesterday and picked up quite a few more bits for baby. Had a look at everything we've got and feel a bit more prepared now. Just need to have the Moses basket off my sister and get a mattress for it. Big thing left to choose/buy is the travel system!

28+2 (seems to be running away now)

Morning ladies!

Busy day today for me so DP is having to do the grocery shopping inbetween driving me around. He did ok last time, just bought 2 big bags of onions though because they were on offer. We've had onions in everything this week haha!
Ante natal class this afternoon and were having a class visit from the health visitor so it should be interesting. Although the class is so busy I'm hoping the smaller numbers at the nct classes will be easier to cope with and glean information from. They start early feb.

Welcome nottinghill, kitkat and msbluesky. This thread is great, I'm sure you'll find it a great source of advice and support.

empress I am also clueless on mattresses, the prices vary hugely. I have cot and moses basket from my sister but need to get the mattresses and sheets. Think I'll do what aufaniae said and buy one a couple up from the cheapest as our budget is quite tight.

faith good luck meeting the in laws, hope it goes well.

Went to the hospital last night as I hadn't felt LO move in over 24 hours whereas I usually feel her a couple of times a day. They monitored the heart rate for ages and unbeknown to me LO moved to the other side so there's obviously a lot of movement going on that I can't feel. Think I may have an iron clad anterior placenta.

Got home and LO started to move so much I could see my bump moving, wish she'd done that before the cheeky monkey!

As I've been in twice for reduced movement they're sending me for a scan today or tomorrow. Can't believe I get to see baby again, hopefully the scan will put my mind at rest as I've been imagining all sorts with the lack of movement.

29+1, time is really flying now.

Morning all and welcome to the newbies.
teapig very glad all is well and you get to see baby again, hope it puts your mind at rest.
jacqueline that sounds crap but happy fucking birthday! :)
Sorry I can't remember who said what after that but I love reading all the updates.
More cuddles for me this morning! Alex is hungry, all the time, you know I said how it was making him rest better well now its just making him hungry- drs say its normal he is now getting enough 'fuel' to grow and move more but he nearly ripped out his ng tube yesterday. They're discussing increasing the amount today to 1.5 mls and every two hours instead of every 3.
my dd went shopping and has bought some really lovely things including every prem baby outfit mc and mamas and papas do I think she's trying to decide on a baby gym for him now, she's taking it so seriously. I feel so bad at 15 she should be out and about but she refuses to leave ds and comes here every night I am going to make it up to her somehow.
Ds has finally got to see Alex as well, he was really interested in everything and asked Alex if he wanted to play dinosaurs! He is being so brave I promised him I would take him to the natural history museum as soon as I can and the first thing he said was can Alex and coco come too? I nearly cried!

Hey all been a while since I posted on here I'm still reading tho! Just find Facebook easier to post on than here (I really like the mn iPhone app for some reason!)

Glad all is going great mama!!!

Welcome to all the new people I can't believe how many are on this thread its crazy! But a lovely kind of crazy!

Love the Facebook grp so thank you for setting that up its just soooo nice to put faces to names and share pictures!! (And the app is easier to use hehe!!)

Here's a random question sorry if its tmi but I have one leaky boob? My right boob seems to be oozing like a clear/cloudy liquid only a tiny bit but still enough to make me paranoid at work and at home there's no touching now!! It's normal right? Don't remember it with ds1 but then I don't remember much!!! Hoping someone can put my mind at rest and say yes 1 leaky boob is fine lol!

Otherwise all quiet here struggle to go for a wee, movements really strong make me go ooof all the time! And spd getting progressively worst :( I am however still upbeat at the mo I wonder if/when that will change

Really dislike the mn app doh!! Proof read bad muffet!!

mama it sounds like you have a lovely DD! You've obviously done a good job bringing her up. And it's so good that Alex is growing and guzzling more milk. You'll be taking him home before you know it!

Glad to hear everyone is doing well!

I got myself into a bit of a fluster, seems like I have so much to do that my mind is rebelling & I'm just ending up staring into space instead. Might have to write a list, I hate lists but my brain is just fluff.

Hopefully moving 2 weeks on Monday. I was very relaxed about how I have pretty much no stuff, but now I look at it I think I have a tiny bit more than expected. Hopefully my mum won't mind things going in loft. Stuff like my PC can just go in loft until someone happens to drive up as we have a spare.

29+6

mama it's fantastic to hear that Alex's appetite is getting bigger, you'll be home in no time. How lovely that you can start looking forward to things like a family day to the Natural History Museum. Your kids are such a credit to you, they sound amazing and have an incredible mum.

username I literally couldn't exist without lists. My mind has also turned to fluff, really my memory is getting bad a total case of baby brain. Hope your packing and move goes well.

I have a half day holiday today so I'm going baby shopping, yay. We have a lot of stuff but still quite a few things to get. Hospital reckon the scan will be tomorrow so nervously looking forward to that.

Hi everyone!

Hi Aufaniae - ooo we did this in our NCT class night. Our course teacher suggested three to four outfits for baby for hospital bag. So i guess thats four bodysuits, four sleep suits and outdoor wear or blanket for when you carry baby to car. I've bought up to one month clothes and 0-3month clothes so might take three sets of each just incase (but hoping very much she comes out small enough for 1month clothes). What sizes have you gone for?

Hey teapig glad to hear you've heard your little one. That must have been very stressful for you.

I opened our Moses basket yesterday to check the mattress would fit in a pillow case (top tip I read on here - apparently you can use a pillowcase instead of a sheet by putting the whole mattress in the pillowcase and folding the corners underneath - just make sure the foldy bit is at the end) and the mattress is so thin - it's like a wafer! Am I alone in wondering the mattress is going to support a baby?

Hi everyone! Only one day till the weekend .

Top tip indeed Msbluesky32 I bought several packets of cheap pillowcases in the Jan sales which I plan to use. I also got some lovely but seriously reduced flanelette sheets which I plan to cut in half and use as cot sheets. We are going to use our pram cot as a moses basket and will def get a new mattress, they are not expensive and will be much more comfortable.

Everyone with issues about people coming to stay you have my sympathy. My MIL has cuased nothing but stress. First she was coming on my due day (aaaarrrgggghhhhhh!), then she wasn't coming at all 'for at least a year' as it was 'too difficult' (read she has a lot of issues). Now she might come at the end of May. Whatever happens she is staying with my parents who, bless them, have said they are leaving us to it but are only a phone call away.

I definitely feel the 3rd trimester looming now - feeling tired again and the bump is starting to get in the way! Panic has set in about my hospital bag too - need to get organised.

Finally (apologies for the long post) anyone got any advice on reuseable nappies (my current reserach obsession) or flying after 28 weeks? Its only a 1/2hr flight but do I book before I get my doctors note? There have been no issues to date.

I'm sorry but I've been reading backwards (!! Maybe something to do with me being left handed?!)

novia yes, I'm also falling asleep listening to hypnobirthing relaxation CD! Apparently it's ok and you will still absorb it. Lucky really because I fall asleep almost every time!

I'm sorry to hear too about your stress with family coming to stay. My MIL wanted to come and stay when our baby is born too but I just felt it was too much. At the moment I wish we could have at least a week with no visitors at all, but I don't think that is feasible. DP suggested we don't tell people immediately but his mother would go through the roof if we withheld information like that. Even when we announced we were expecting after our twelve week scan she was demanding to know why we hadn't informed her when we'd done a test at five weeks

missmuffett28 sorry to read you are having trouble with SPD -I hope you are taking it easy and avoiding the Hoover, ironing board and shopping bags

I see there are a few verbaudet fans on here, I have just finished unwrapping all the baby clothes I ordered from them a couple of weeks ago. Their designs are so fab, especially if you want neutral but fun looking things. I read the sizing is quite small and I'd agree after comparing the sleepsuits with some of the m&s ones I bought.

Just a quickie to say Tk maxx have some seriously cheap gro bags! We picked up a couple today for £12 each. They have cheaper ones of other brands but I loved the bright colour of the ones we bought. Hopefully I'll be able to spot baby in them when they contrast the white sheets.