December 2013 part 2.

[TakingTheStairs]

Just starting a new thread as we're starting to run out of room on the first. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/a1716486-December-2013#38680515

mumoftwoboysS

I used a twin bed nest (I call it a co-sleeper) for the twins until they grew out of it at about 7 months.

I used the twinsuk bed nest/co sleeper.

Mumoftwo, that bed nest looks really good, I'd definitely consider hiring one for £99 as it lasts for 6 months, much longer than I believe most Moses baskets last. Also, the fact we can return in when we've finished and not have it cluttering up our tiny house is appealing! I just need to measure our bedroom to see if it would fit.

queenofwhispers labs are bouncy hounds aren't they?! Don't worry, there's lots you can do. How are you training him? Is he a treat/balls/sticks/verbal commands -responsive dog? I've a daft German Shepherd, totally disinterested in food and treats, but mental about balls and sticks. When I took him on at 18 months he had been taught to "high-five", which would flatten anyone. I had to break him of that very fast, a) because it's dangerous and b) because my MIL had just had a full mastectomy and wouldn't visit until I could be certain he wouldn't touch her.
Every time he attempted to jump or "high-five" he would get a sharp smack on the nose, a loud verbal "No!" And be removed from the situation (ie shut out for 1 minute). Then I let him in, give him the opportunity to do/not do the behaviour again - repeated behaviour resulted in a repeated isolation, not doing the behaviour got him a big cuddle on his level and a fuss and a ball to play with. It took about 6 weeks to completely stop, but I would trust him not to hurt anyone by knocking them over now. If you're really struggling see if you can find a dog-whisperer to come out and see you two in action.

Had my booking in appointment today, got moaned at for being underweight, sigh...

queen I have 2 Labradors, you would never have guessed!
My youngest lab we had from a pup, she's 5 now, and I remember her well at 8 months. Still a puppy but in a full grown lab body! We took her to obedience classes weekly and both she and I loved them, they were great for her. We used a halti when walking her back then as she was such a puller. We took her to classes until she was about 18 months old.

Regarding the jumping up, ignoring is the best advice we were given. When she jumped up we turned away from her and ignored her, she hates being ignored. It took time but it does truly work.
My children were 3 years and 16 months when we got her as a pup too so it's totally possible to have a jumpy lab and little ones, we had baby gates everywhere and she had a crate which she went off to when she wanted peace from the kids.
We have no baby gates or crate now, plus we also have a rescue lab too who's just gorgeous. She just followed everything our 1st did.

Guess we will have baby gates up again though next year

Multiplemama that twin sleeper looks great- I'll look it up if I find out I'm having twins ;-) So this isn't your 2nd set of twins is it?? You said you 'used' it ....

Pistachio yep I'm keen on it due to it lasting so long and some reviewers on the website say they used it up to 8 months. We borrowed a moses basket from a friend the last 2 times (she's sold it now) so if we have to get something I think this is great, and like you say, it won't clutter up the place afterwards, you just send it back. Not sure what they do about a mattress- whether you have to buy one?

Yeah, we'd need to move a bedside table to fit it in I think but then I think we did that for the moses basket last time anyway. I ended up having the moses basket towards my feet at the side of the bed and it was a pain as i couldn't see DC properly without getting out of bed.

I feel more sick today on the crisps and sprite to try and curb it. MW booking in appointment was looong. She did my DD as 24th Dec. NOOOO!!! But I've done it online (using first day of last period) and got 22nd. Also did it from date of conception and got 19th. REALLY hope it's earlier rather than later. Feeling pretty crap that I've done this to our poor child just because we 'thought' we wouldn't get preggers that quickly..

mumoftwoboysS Yup, 2nd set. Even if you're only having one, the larger co-sleeper may be nice.

Just had 12 week scan and Harmony test results. Harmony was 1/10,000 and combined test was 1/1000, which I thought was pretty good going at nearly 40. DS, 10 years ago had a 1/90 chance of DS when I was 30 so I was very nervous about the tests.

Told DS, who didn't believe me, even though I showed him the pics, then announced he wanted a brother Think he was quite shocked. He was being rather concerned, though and thought I should be taking it easy while he cleaned out his own lunchbox.Hopefully such care and consideration will continue. Am enjoying the attention from DH so a double-dose would be nice.

Not looking forward to telling boss at work, career was showing signs of getting a bit of a boost with working on high profile projects so not great timing, but no timing is great when you're 39 I suppose.

I'm having the nuchal screen Harry. Tbh we've discussed it and we're not 100% what we would do with a high risk result but we know we'd rather be able to make an informed choice..

It's such a personal decision isn't it and highly influenced by your life experiences..

SO Tricky though. I actually haven't worried too much about this.. Adopting a one worry at a time policy and at the moment just hoping to see that little heartbeat again

I had the nuchal today, good news. Both babies are healthy and fine but I was more concerned about keeping T1 alive than I was about more things being wrong. I

I had mine to cover all bases, did it with other dc too, my view was; why not? If something is wrong, I have time to prepare, work things out and decide what was best and if everything is fine, I have that peace of mind and won't be on edge near the end of pregnancy.

I think ultimately it's a personal decision.

Hello. I can't remember if I've posted here, totally confused!
Multi, congrats on your second set of twins! I'm getting slightly nervous about my 12 wk scan, as my last preg was twins. Hopefully highly unlikely as my girls are id. But as this will be my fifth child, I hope it shall remain as such, no 5 ;-). Are yours non id?

Ps I still cannot face telling my parents or mil. Aaaaargh

Harry, whether you have the nuchal scan is very much personal choice. I was absolutely sure I wanted it and what I would do if I had a bad result.

I had the Harmony test as well, which the sonographer said was more accurate.

I had a low score for the nuchal scan 10 years ago, when it was a new test and went on to have the CVS test. All was fine but it was a rather horrific experience as I hadn't been expecting the result, hadn't appreciated that I could get a result like that and was completely unprepared. Add to that some lost CVS results, resulting in a retest and it was horrible.

I suppose it helped me with my thinking this time around. DH and I had already discussed it, 10 years ago and my feelings and our circumstances were much the same. I was much calmer about it and more prepared, which was a good thing given that, ay my age, statistically, the odds had moved on a bit.

Whenever anyone has ever asked me, I have (gently) reminded people that while scans are usually lovely and it's great to see baby, they are a medical test in a medical environment and an unexpected result is a possibility. I started off, this time, with a rather hardened heart, but softened as time went on and things looked more and more positive and saw baby bouncing around.

Welcome Tamof4 (nearly Tamof5?! )

mumoftwo, I had a look on the FAQs, and a new mattress and new fabric side panel are included in the £99 hire charge. It is £20 for delivery though though they will pick it up again for that price. I liked the look of the arms reach co-sleeper mini too, but it seems to be difficult to get hold of and expensive too.

Harry we are also having combined screening, like the others I'm not sure what we'd do with the result and whether we'd go for further diagnostic testing, but it's something we'll think about if we get to that point. It is a very personal decision though.

Bedside cribs are fabulous. I'm not sure how well one will fit in our new room so we may look at one of the ones that goes on the bed between us though...

As for tests I'll take everything offered but it wouldn't change my decision to keep the baby. I accept that for us as a family religion plays a big part in that but I also think that we would want to know do we could prepare both ourselves and our families, and so the delivery staff are prepared too. I've known other strongly Christian families here eh have been discouraged from having the tests because they know what they would do but I always think just 'knowing' or 'not knowing' what you would do isn't really a valid reason for not finding out by itself. If it's more 'I know that if I didn't find out and there was a problem we'd be okay with it but I don't know if I would if I didn't' then that's fair enough because you'd have that certainty ahead and presumably be mentally preparing for that. But a fear of what your reaction would be to a result or knowing that you'd keep the baby anyway isn't IMO justification for not having a complete picture. I don't know. I'm not making much sense!

Tamof4 my last set was identical so you never know! Haha. Congratulations btw :)

Hi Izchaz
I was in trouble at my 1st MW app for being under weight too.

I didn't considor it to be a problem I eat healthy & I'm only 5.2 so was happy with my weight. Since my app I have been hungry like never before & have put some weight on for the 1st time
In years. The MW has referred me to a consultant though to monitor how the baby grows, I'm hoping that the consultant will discharge me after one visit though. Have you been referred too? When is your EDD? Mine is 10th Dec x

Frenelder, I'm glad I'm not alone and that you've not struggled to put weight on, that is something of a relief... My BMI is low, but it's been low all my life because I've either been chasing around after livestock or dangling off a climbing wall since I was 5, all that said, it's probably lower than she thinks it is because I'm really bunged up and full of water in an effort to battle the nausea...
I've been referred to a consultant and will have to have extra growth scans, which isn't disasterous I suppose, just miffed at how abrupt she was, and given how much lighter I was in feb/march (when my entire life shredded to pieces infront of my eyes) I dread to think what she would have made of me then! Still, hopefully I'll be moving soon, so will be able to switch midwifery teams to someone who doesn't bash women for something they can't control. She didn't even want to discus exercise with me, just ticked the box saying "informed", so now I'm stuck going out of my hoop because I'm not allowed to go climbing and I can't do weight bearing exercise due to a pre-existing joint problem. Someone find me something to do with all the energy I'm told is going to hit me in a few weeks time!
She and I can't agree on an EDD, I figured it to be 26th Dec, she says 28th Dec, but then I have little faith in actual due dates.

I was very active before PG but had no energy to carry on with it. I worked out usually 5 times a week mostly roller blading & bike riding.
The past week or so I've started to feel a little more like myself & not falling asleep straight after work so hoping to get back into some exercise. Not going to go back to roller blading though just bike riding & swimming. I think I will go crazy doing nothing. Hope you get your energy back soon & a better/nicer MW when you move.
Have you put any weight on yet? I've gone up a full size & after eating look so bloated I look PG already.

Morning. After a massive kerfuffle at work over too many teachers not enough jobs, I went and told the deputy head in charge of our school. My exact words were "We're not telling anyone yet, I haven't even told my sisters, but we are pregnant. I'm due in November and I think I'll finish work at the end of the holidays at the end of October" She was wonderfully discreet (we were in the lunch hall at the end of an all staff meeting. I only told because I thought it might save someone's job. But the next day, DH was getting a lift to a conference with the head (we work together) and he said congratulations. So much for not telling anyone.

Scan tomorrow. Then I think I will tell people at work, since I'm already huge. Then no medical contact until between 18 and 20 weeks when I'll have my next scan. And Friday next week we get our new house. Luckily we then have 3 1/2 weeks before we have to move out of this place.

Izchaz and Frenelder I'm not underweight but have been borderline for years- putting on weight has always been a struggle (except when pregnant!) and it can be just as big a problem as being overweight so I sympathise- and it's not easy as I always felt I couldn't talk to friends about it in case they felt miffed that I was worried about putting on weight (people sometimes think, you're slim, oh what a problem you poor thing!) but I always feel a bit scrawny (unfortunately my weight doesn't distribute evenly so I end up looking scrawny on top ands slightly pear shaped) as soon as I put on weight I just get a bigger bum-lol!

I've put on 3-4lbs already and feel better for it. I'm only moderately active though (a bit lazy!) Going to keep cycling and swimming tho. Izchaz maybe you can find some other form of exercise that is safer and gentler during pregnancy until you can take up your climbing again when you've had your baby?

Pistachio that's good that mattress and side bit is included- annoying about delivery (there's always hidden extras) but if it includes picking it up too, I guess its not too bad

Harry I'm getting the nuchal test done- did it with both my others. Kind of burying my head in the sand about it- don't really want to think about it and just hope it'll be ok. Always nerve wracking waiting for the results....Not sure what I'd do if it was low either -though I've heard a lot of people go for Harmony tests as they're so much more accurate and many come back with results that are fine after that.

Hi all, I got a call from the midwife yesterday booking my 16 week appointment! I've not had my scan yet (it's next week) but I'm glad it's booked, I like to be prepared :)

Bedside cribs are a lovely idea, I think we'll probably go that way.

Does anyone already have kids and cats? I'm not particularly worried as I suspect my cats will just stay well clear of bambino as they're not very sociable with most people apart from DF and I. Just curious to hear about other people's experiences of cats and babies. I'm sure they know I'm pg, they've been much friendlier of late and one in particular insists on sitting right on top of me which she didn't used to.

I'm having all the tests, best to be informed I think. I'm also not thinking about the possible outcomes until I have to, I figure there's no point really.

Congrats to those of you who've had your scans and good news already, well jel! ;-)

My symptoms are up and down too. Boobs have finally stopped growing (for now!) so they don't hurt any more. Treated myself to some nice new underwear yesterday, feel much better for having a choice now rather than the one tatty old bra that fitted me. Also splashed out on some clothes from Primarni and charity shops, mainly longer tops to cover up my unbuttoned jeans and fat belly! Nose is blocked up today and there's been a bit of blood when I blow it, though this is normal apparently. Constipation is much better, energy levels are improving and mood swings are settling down. Which I gather is all right on schedule for this stage. I do have brief moments of panic when I think about the possible outcomes at the scan but just push them to the back of my mind. I certainly bloody feel pg so am sure I still am!

Those of you who already have sproglets, when do you start feeling them move around?

Mumoftwoboyss and Frenelder: I don't know, I suppose I probably have gained a few pounds, I was markedly underweight a few months back, but worked really hard to get some extra chow into me (I looked like skeletor and was constantly cold) so was probably about my normal weight when I fell pregnant. Like I said though, when weighed yesterday I was fairly sure a good couple of kilos was water and poop... Still, I'll just have to keep ramming food in and hoping some of it sticks to the sides on the way through. This baby is doomed to be a beanpole, both DH and I have insanely high metabolisms and are considered "underweight" by BMI, the fact that pre-morning sickness I could put away 4000 cals a day and not gain weight never seems to stop people muttering "eating disorder". Ramble ramble ramble...

I've no idea what sports to even look at to be honest - before my knees got damaged I used to run and walk and play competitive sports to a high level, when I discovered climbing it sort of became my crack, because I could burn the energy I have without making my joints worse. I'm loathe to even think about it, but I think it'll have to be yoga or pilates (I say loathe because the idea of sedentary exercise doesn't really make sense to me). However beggers/choosers etc, I shall have to do something!