October 2013- Constantly hungry and counting down to maternity leave.

[GTbaby]

Right off to finish the last thread

Didn't sleep and throat much worse today, painful to drink/swallow. Taking the day off work as usually I would just dose up on paracetamol and gargle hydrogen peroxide mouthwash but both those are not a good idea now I am pregnant. Will try to get a drs appointment today as have to be in school for important tests the next 3 days. I am not sure if school have got my messages as no reply. Hopefully someone will arrange to cover my class... I find it stressful, not used to being off!

I'm scanning tomorrow, so I think our spreadsheet will then be complete!

LPP, people are getting maternity clothes from all over, from hand-me-downs and ebay to high street shops. THere seems to be an agreement that there's a gap in the market for quality, affordable stuff though! I was lucky, I went with a jumble sale yesterday with a friend of mine (I love a good jumble sale) and came away with a bag full of summer maternity wear at a euro a piece. Not to mention a pair of never-been-worn Dries van Noten heels that are filling me with joy

Hi there!!! I missed the last two threads but here I am 21 weeks and expecting a boy!!! Ds is very happy and so are we....
Right... Off to read the older posts and to the statistics...
Have a great Monday!!

Congrats notsoold!

LLP - firstly, huge congratulations and glad you got onto another bus. As cuille said, there hasn't been unanimous agreement about great places to buy things. I wear a mix of stretchy non-maternity stuff, a couple of maternity dresses, and some basics such as maternity tops (gap) and jeans (topshop). My biggest regret was that I bought a belly bump band from topshop far too late, and would have used it loads if I'd bought it earlier.

orangeblossom - hope you feel better. According to my doctor, paracetamol is fine. (Don't know about the mouthwash)

i got loads of maternity clothes from New Look (on line) and it had been very comfy so far and washes well.

i also have a couple of cheap maxi dresses from primark that will be fine over summer.

Just thought I'd pop in and say hello before walking the dog...

Smitten - I thought you were going to wait for the bugaboo buffalo? I was rather selfishly hoping you'd get one first so that you could report back on whether it was any good off-road! Was the wait just too long? I can't decide what to do on the pushchair front. Lots of people nearby seem to have one of the mountain buggies but I'm just don't know how important having a parent-facing option is to me.

I'd be really interested to know what pushchair other dog-owners on the thread are going for?

Good luck for tomorrow Soupe - I hope it is a lovely experience with a friendly sonographer and co-operative baby. Congratulations on the little boy notsoold.

No crusty nipples here but lots of other delightful bits and bobs happening. Yesterday's joy was terrible wind! Poor DD didn't even want me come into her room to say goodnight (DP was on bedtime stories duty) in case I stank her room out

LittlePea - no maternity clothes advice from me I'm afraid - I'm just making do with a few items from Next. Glad to hear you are on the Jan thread and all is going well. I hope you are not feeling too anxious. This is my fourth pregnancy after DD, a miscarriage and a chemical pregnancy, and it's been hard not to worry.

Flyer i really like Abel & Cole as a company. There is a scheme at DD's school whereby, if you order and collect your fruit/veg box through the school, the school gets to keep a proportion of the money. I help out at the school's Eco Club every week and over the years it has raised a fair bit of money for our gardening equipment etc.

Well, after that epic post, time to tackle a walk. Hope everyone has a good Monday..

Hello everyone! Have you all had good weekends? My sister and Dd came to visit bringing maternity goodies from the UK! So, swimwear aside, my summer maternity wardrobe is now complete! Jeans wise, I LOVE my zara maternity jeans, they are really comfortable and flattering and fashionable.

Spain doesn't seem to do maternity and I wonder where all the pregnant ladies go! I found one specialist maternity shop in town, it was all cheap t shirts with awkward logos on like "I love mummy" etc, costing just shy of £100 each!!!

Lovely to hear from you littlepea and so glad you're travelling smoothly on the January bus! Have you tried asos for maternity wear?

Its my last week at work and I'm feeling sad! I changed career completely in September going from crappy office work to teaching english and I love my job so much!! Feeling gutted!!

bridget i have a dog and will be buying the baby jogger city mini gt, as it is good for off road it also folds compact so great for our small car.

littlepea lovely to see you back again. I'm trying not to buy too many maternity clothes as I feel like it will be a waste, but my formerly pregnant friend said she wore maternity clothes for a while after pregnancy so it is probably a good investment. My budget permits: Asos new look and next at a push. I'm trying to find long non maternity tops that can be worn after pregnancy without making me look to frumpy. Leggings are good too.

Morning not checked in for a few days.

Nice to see you again LPP I have not bought much mat wear I have a dress and leggings that I wear most of the time. Really need to buy more leggings they are a God send

25+1 now times flying in but I really can't wait to meet her im so impatient

morning all. just back from my 24 wk mw appointment. all good with me and baby. Heard heartbeat briefly, but have one very active baby so was squirming all over the place!! mw was very pleased with that though!! bump measuring 25cm, no idea what that means really, but mw said it was good!!

we're going to put off buggy buying for now as we aren't getting a car until august when dps shares come in so won't know what we're working with there yet!! but I do want a parent facing option as I feel its important for baby to have as much interaction as possible!! but that's just me!!

I'm another that loves new look maternity, but it is pretty casual and young. I live in jersey dresses and leggings anyway so its perfect for me!!

umlauf I don't think Southern Europe does maternity or newborns... which is ironic when you consider how amazing they are with children otherwise. When I lived in Italy, pregnant women were nowhere to be seen and neither were small babies. I really think they tend to stay in. My Italian friends say it's not really "normal" to go out a lot with newborns. I remember when we went to visit my in laws when DS was 2 months old - how much attention he got and how surprised people were when we walked with him around Florence. Florence - this very dangerous and highly contagious place? And, apart from one single department store in the main square, there was nowhere, absolutely nowhere with baby changing facilities... is Spain better in this department? And then there is this "recommended weight gain" obsession - you are not supposed to put more than 9kg... my friend was put on diet when she crossed the 10kg mark. I put on 19kg by the time I gave birth so they would probably put me on starvation diet! I was happy to have DS in the UK and he went everywhere with us, including a smart restaurant when he was only 3 weeks old and we wanted to celebrate. He slept happily through most of it in his car seat as I fed him a lot before we went in. Unthinkable in Italy. Saying this, they are absolutely amazing with him now that he is almost 5. I still don't understand why these countries are like this...

congrats on another boy "notsoold'!

just looked it up out of interest if anyone else is interested; according to the tommy's website your fundal height measurement (bump measurement) should be within 3cm of the number of weeks you are. so at 24 weeks it should measure between 21 and 27cm. so 25cm sounds about right!!

cross-post - good news roofio! From this point in your pregnancy, the cm measurement of your bump should correspond with the number of pregnancy weeks (or thereabouts). Ie. 24 weeks pregnant - about 24cm bump, 25 weeks pregnant - about 25cm bump. I completely forgot about it actually - you reminded me!

and yes, slippy - most people wear pregnancy clothes for a while after giving birth as your tummy doesn't disappear overnight. I'm ashamed to say I wore mine for about 6 months... ... mainly because they were so comfy... ...

another cross-post roofio - you found it yourslef! :-)

Hehe, thanks clampham!!

Blimey clapham no thankfully its not quite like in Italy then. They do like to parade their newborns here (which is useful for me as I'm staring at all the new mummies' flat tummies and hoping ill look that good with that small a baby!) but they are very unhelpful in pregnancy. They have the weight gain obsession too (I've had a horrible time over that!) so perhaps they don't need maternity wear due to being so slim?!! I've seen a few heavily pregnant ladies but the rest of them is so tiny!

Its a great country for babies so I'm looking forward to having him here and being able to meet DHs workmates at the pub with baby there and no-one caring at all.

Stupid question alert, but where do you measure the bump from? And how?!

umlauf, the midwife measured mine, but I think its from the top of ur bump where the top of ur uterus is to your pubic bone (when she was trying to find mine I swear she nearly felt far too low done!! ) not sure how easy it is to do it yourself!!

Bridget I was going to get the Buffalo, but once I started thinking about how I would use they buggy it seemed a bit silly to get something so rugged when I'll probably only end up using it on pavements and in shops.

I made the woman in the shop do a full demo on the Cameleon and the Sola and for my needs the Cameleon seemed excessively bulky and a faff to fold down, having to take the seat off and collapse it all down in carrycot mode, etc.

I think if I lived in a city and walked a lot I would have hung on for the Bugaboo, but for what I will use it for the Sola seemed to be really good and the price was excellent.

I was sick of obsessing over buggies, so I'm kind of glad to put an end to my madness!

Smitten - your reasoning makes perfect sense and I know what you mean about the obsessing over buggy madness - I wish I could reach a decision.

It probably sounds rather ridiculous when there are so many makes and models out there, but there doesn't seem to be one that quite matches what I'm after.

The bugaboo buffalo seems a huge amount of money for something that will inevitably end up covered in mud and no doubt pushed through cow pats, rabbit droppings and other yucky stuff on numerous occasions!

I am just sat here at my desk trying to measure my bump using a 15cm plastic ruler... I don't think I am getting a very accurate result! MW did feel my tummy the other day and was happy with the position of the top of my uterus, so I am guessing she didn't feel the need to measure. I find it odd that in all of my MW visits I haven't once been weighed or measured. I am just hopeful that they are happy with how I appear to be coming along and so don't measure anything.

LittlePeaPod firstly congrats on your pregnancy! That's fantastic news. As for maternity wear... If anyone on your bus is struggling with finding trousers for tall ladies then I would recommend New Look. I bought a couple of 36" leg jeans online from them for a reasonable price, and they are good quality and seem to wash well. I did also buy some 'tall' maternity jeans from Next, but they are uncomfortably short for everyday wear (I can get away with them if I wear flip flops though). I have bought a couple of maternity tops from H&M, but generally I find I am wearing normal (but with a decent length in the body) tops (also from H&M, or Primark, or New Look etc).

Back from the doctors. I have laryngitis probably caused by too much talking at school/acid reflux and a virus. Also have an inflamed gum. Luckily I don't have to take antibiotics as I am hoping to not take anything at all while pregnant. Gp prescribed rest and no talking. Paracteamol of i want it but as that just takes away painand doesnt cure it I would rather not. Not too bad at all, I was worried it was a return of the strep bacterial infections and tonsillitis that I had constantly for years.

Glad to hear things are still going well for you Peapod.

Forgot to say earlier. Tommy tippee electric breast pump 1/3 off in tesco. Got mine for £66 :)

roxvox The rules seem to have changed in the 5 years since I was last pregnant. I haven't been weighed apart from at booking in either. In previous pregnancies I had blood taken each time too but not this time.

Sorry to hear you are under the weather orange, I hope you make a speedy recovery asap.

My back is absolutely killing me at the moment, I just can't get comfy at all, it's been this way on and off through my pregnancy but it's getting worse. I have private company health care and called them, they are sending me the forms for my doctor to full in and hoping to get a physio appointment within the next 5 days.

Little pea pod glad to hear your pregnancy is going well and I bet you are excited about the second trimester.

Glad it's not too serious OrangeBlossom and I hope you are feeling much better soon. It is really tough deciding which medicines, if any, to take whilst pregnant.

I had really bad headaches earlier on and did end up taking the odd paracetamol. The Dr did prescribe codeine too, but I ended up not needing them. I have also avoided taking anything for my hayfever but have had to resort to using steroid cream for my eczema. Pregnancy has made my skin much drier than normal and triggered a very nasty flare-up on my hands. I tried to control it with the usual emollient creams but it just wasn't improving and I didn't want to run the risk of it becoming infected.

I just find it really hard to weigh up the potential risks to the baby against my own health and well-being. No point in being a martyr and suffering needlessly but don't want to feel guilty and worried either.

Orange - are you learning to drive at the moment? If so, how's it going? I'm learning too