July 2013 - Holy Shit, this is IT!!

[dinkystinky]

New thread for us to natter away on as babies keep on arriving. 11 at last count already and not even in July yet.. Who will be next??

shelley you should not stop posting at all! As far as I'm concerned this is supposed to be a supportive thread, not just a happy one. You stay here and worry all you want, we're listening. I hope things pick up for you and baby soon and sound in order to me.

I was really trying to keep track of all the names I wanted to mention in this post but have totally failed. So a generic congrats on all the new arrivals, and I do love all the names (including Florence, Shelley...ooh remembered one!).

I see photographers have ALREADY started camping out in front of the Lindo Wing to try and get the best spot for when DOC leaves hospital with her baby. Ridiculous. I'm getting visions of anyone arriving/leaving being subjected to a scene like in Notting Hill when the paps realised Julia Roberts was camped out at Hugh Grant's house.

I've been to the hairdresser this morning and am now relaxing in front of tennis. Yoga teacher is back from hols so have my first class in 3 weeks tonight. A few of the other ladies I've met there have gone into labour on a Tuesday night/Weds morning so I'll be watching for signs after!

Sounds like a lovely day MrsMillions. I'm off to pregnancy yoga tonight too - the two women who started at the same time as me and were slightly ahead of me have popped so will be the most pregnant person there.

Grr at paparazzi.

Think I need a nap now dinky or I'll be wanting to start relaxation as soon as I get to yoga!

Andrea - sounds like you are near me! I'm sure there's no way on earth she'll end up here (despite what the local paper think!).

Shelley please do keep posting here - you aren't 'bringing us down' at all, and sometimes it helps to let off steam when you can't do it in real life. Afraid I have no wise words on BF but I hope things get easier for you.

I'm getting a little twitchy because this baby is v much not engaged despite my avid walking and bouncing. I mentioned it to my MW today who suggested I let my consultant know, which I've done. I am really trying not to be totally neurotic but equally don't really want to risk anything bad... will see what she says.

Coffee-gate continues. Awaiting DH's return for further diagnosis, but I think it's pretty terminal.

shelley - don't you dare leave us! We're a team and we're here for each other for the good and the bad stuff. Try not to worry about how things may or may not turn out in the future - you're exhausted and your hormones are all over the place, so you're likely to be focussing on the possible negative outcomes and you're forgetting that things could just as easily turn out perfectly. Just try to remember all the positives in your life right now - big and small. I'm sure there's loads! Hope your nan recovers from her foot-in-mouth episode and lets you know how proud she must be of you.

Hope you're home now, vinegar.

We could have been discharged last night, but had to stay in because we didn't have a car seat (or crib). This morning it took ages to be released, waiting for the baby check and paperwork, but we finally got home at lunch time. Just chilling out this afternoon with my family & enjoying baby cuddles. Can't believe that (between the odd cramp) I actually feel much more comfortable than I have for months. Got away with only a small graze this time, so no stitches or anything. Feeling v lucky. Hope the rest of you have as good an experience.

Oh no, Slouching! Can you convince DH that the baby will need a new coffee machine??

Just been catching up on the thread.

Welcome to the newbies and congratulations to the new mums.

shelley love the name Florence. DH and I have 6 grandparents between us and ours are like yours, the granddads all say "very good" and the nans say some daft comment like yours did.

dinky hope you manage to get the parking sorted. Next time you update the innies and outies list can you add Ezekiel's date and weight. He was born on 3rd June and weighed 7lb 2oz.

re injections I've been on them for 4 weeks and got another 2 weeks to go. Still can't do it without bruising myself so I won't offer any tips!

re grobags I used them for DS1 and DS2. DS3 had reflux so I found sheets and blankets we easier to change when he puked. Ezekiel had sheets and blankets at the hospital so I've carried on doing that at home so it was what he was used to.

re postnatal thread. I think we should wait until either end of July or until everyone has popped, wait until the thread has got to 1000 posts and then start the next thread in the postnatal section. I'd never keep up if we had an antenatal and a postnatal thread running at the same time.

Ezekiel came home yesterday after I spent the weekend rooming in. My room was right by the labour ward so it was very noisy with all the windows open. It's been so lovely having him home although I did get a bit tearful when we left. The nurses there have looked after him so well for the last 4 weeks and we will miss them. I found it quite hard to express while I was in the hospital as there was one pump between 3 of us (should have brought my own from home) and it was tricky fitting it all in. My supply has gone down a bit so I'm trying to get it back up again. Ezekiel is still struggling with weight gain. We nearly got to go home a day early as he was feeding really well but he hadn't put on enough weight. He hadn't put on quite enough yesterday either but as it was really close they let us go.

The HV came round today, weighed Ezekiel and was a bit doom and gloom about things but generally ok. I started on anti-ds last week as I was crying all the time although Ezekiel coming home has helped loads. Now all 4 of my children are under the same roof I've got much more chance of being available when one of them need me. Before, I felt like I was being pulled in all different directions.

Totally, DH has already convinced himself that he'll need a new one with a new baby around!

Great news that Ezekiel is home with you, ellie & you're starting to feel a bit better too.

Ooh, if DH needs a coffee machine, the baby must need something else, Slouching. New shoes for mummy, perhaps?

Glad you got home in the end Vinegar (if you cant use your contacts as a medic, who can??) and Totally and hope life as a family of 4 is going swimmingly for you both. Ellie - glad you're home with Ezekiel and glad being home is lovely - am sure he'll put on weight soon and as you say, its great for the family to all be together. Ignore the silly HV (my mantra in life ).

Will update the innies and outies list shortly. Slouching - I reckon you will deserve a push present (though tbh my fathers day present to DH from the boys was membership to a coffee club where you get lovely new coffees sent in the post each month - maybe you could demand that!). And you and Andrea neednt worry - the royal babe is going to make things difficult for Londoners, including me and Bean, not you guys. Fortunately as a seasoned Londoner I will be well used to pushing my way through the parps to get to the birth centre If all else fails I'll threaten to sit on them...

Updated innies and outies list:

Due date list (Innies):

CottonSocks - 24th June
Sundaysunshine - dc2 (boy!) - 28th June
Skelosia - DC2 - 1st July
QuinandThem - 1st July
Badgerwife - DC2 - 1st July
Cutandstick - 2nd July
Runswithsquirrels - 2nd July
Thinkingof4- DC4 -2nd July
Persuasion - DC1 - 3rd July
esme80 - 3rd july
Glup - 3rd July
Dinkystinky - DC3 - 4th July
Tryitonforsize - DC3 - 4th July
wifey6 - 5th July
PenguinsInThePantry - 5th July
marmitemad DC2 - 6th July
Gingerpanther27 - 7th July
Abzs - DC1 - 7th July
Efme - 8th July
GeorgieWilson - 9th July
CitizenOscar - DC2 - 10th July
TwoOfThree - DC1 - 10th July
Chinainthegarden - DC1 - 10 July
Calmisthemantra - 11th July
Specialknickers - 11th July
MrsMillions - DC1 - 11th July
Cheekbyjowl - DC1 - 11th July
Trustissues75 - DC2 - 11th July
mysterymeg - 12th July
Reikimummy - 12th July (DC1)
SlouchingPanda - 12th July
Thundercatz - 12th July
Twirliedobbit - DC4 - 12th July
Hai1988 - 12th July - DC2 - Girl!
LittleFlower888 - 14th July
Tashtastic - 14th July
Beaditsback - dc2 14th July
Mizar - 15th July
photographerlady - 15th July
Evelynj - 15th July
Guavasforbreakfast - DC1 - 16th July
MiniPenguinMaker - DC1 - 17th July
Boostar - 18th July - DC2
MrsWildermac - 18th July
SingingMomma - 18th July
MummyKanny - 18th July
Andrea75 - DC3 - 18th July
GingerJulep - DC1 - 19th July
Niktasha - 19th July
whitedaffodil - 19th July
Grannyapple DC2 - 19th July
Thinking positive thoughts - 20th July
Icingthecake - 20th July
Cheeseandbread - DC1 - 20th July
PhieEl06 - DC1 - 20th July
AmaDablam - DC1 - 21st July
Lancslass83 -dc1- 21st July
butterflyexperience - 22nd July
BadMissM- DC2- 22nd July
AllYoursBabooshka - 22nd July
Orangebubbles - DC2 - 22nd July
Isitme1 - 23rd July
Scoutfinch - DC1 - 23rd July
MightBeMad - 26th July
Cantreachmytoes - 24th July
MrsRoss26 - 24th July
Camb79 - 25th July
Sashabella0 - 25th July
BoyMeetsWorld - 27th July
marimba - 27th July
JessicaMLH - DC2 - 27th July
Lizincornwall - 27th July
LorrieJ- 27 July
TomDaleysTrunks - DC2 - 27th July
Silver15 - DC3 - 28th July
Wavesandsmiles - DC3 - 30th July
Trickybarmby - 31st July

Arrivals List (Outies):

SuperShiv - DS, Oliver, aka the little fighter, born 13.04.13, 1 lb
Emblosion - DS, Oisin Michael, born 27.5.13, 6 lb 1 oz
Elliejitny - DS, Ezekiel, born 3.6.13, 7 lb 2 oz
Paolocee/Donna - DDs, Leila Poppy and Caitlin Liv
Princessllama - DS, Humphrey
Devilforasideboard - DS, Will
Beginningofthejourney - DS, Theodore
Schrosawmargerydaw - DS, born 21.6.13, Caspar Neil Ruaridh, 4 lb 8 oz
BB01 - DD Rosie, born 22.06.13, 4 lb 9 oz
Differentnow - DD Posy, born 22.06.13 8lb 4oz
OhGood - DS (no name yet)
NotprincessKate - Amy Rose, born 26.6.13, 8 lb 14 oz
Shelley72 - DD2 (no name yet), born 27.6.13
Twinklestarstwinklestars - DS, Max, born 27.6.13, 5lbs 3 oz
Gingerpanther27 - DS, Callum, born 27.6.13, 8 lb 4 oz
McKTastic - DS, Murray, born 29.6.13
Bigbelly4 - DD2, Constance Rose, born 30.6.13, 7 lb 4 oz
TotallyEggFlipped - DD2, Naomi, born 1.7.13, 5 lb 8 oz
Vinegardrinker - DD, Bethan, born 2.7.13 (bang on her due date!), 7 lb 13 oz

Love the idea of Dinky sitting on the paps! :)

Shelley let's all stick together and migrate to postnatal together. Don't forget how useful it is for those of us yet to drop to hear how things are for you mums, especially us first timers! And as someone else said this is a support group amongst other things!

I went for a a longish walk around the park with a friend today and now have stomach cramps. I've had them for a week and a half off and on though so I'm not reading too much into it. I just take it as a sign she is getting ready... Slowly...

Definitely agree with waiting for post natal thread, its nice having everyone in one place

runs hope it is the beginning of something and not just a teaser, im going to go for another long walk with OH tonight, i need this baby out, i feel horrible saying it but I can't stand being pregnant anymore

I hope everyone's enjoyed the slightly cooler weather today!

Got my brothers birthday tomorrow, im taking him out for lunch and then our parents are taking us all out for a Chinese, might have some kind of spicy food at the Chinese if i can!

37+3

Agree with all the others Shelley please stay! There have been lots of ups and downs on this thread, that's why we are all here

totally and Ellie glad you are home, I'm sure it will help you with the feeding esp Ellie

runs sounds good- I'm very slightly twingy and definitely have a bit of backache which is new for me so getting quite hopeful sweep has done something. Still no plug to be seen though mw did see some after doing sweep

dinky was parps a typo or is that just your name for media types?
I agree sitting on them would seem like a good ploy

Marie any more developments?

Anyway my decision now is whether to spend evening bouncing on ball and eating pineapple or whether to go to bed early and conserve my energy. Any suggestions?

Parps definitely sums up what I think of them

Runs and Thinking - exciting signs. Hope all goes well for both of you. If I were you thinking I'd do an hour of bounding and pineapple guzzling then nip off to bed for some sleep.

Evening all. Congrats to the new arrives. I'm bouncing on my gym ball eating a saag aloo. Come on baby :)

I am actually feeling the best I have but so ready for the LO to be here, really want to start labour and already warned DH he better by in bed by 10pm.

Hmm an hour of bounding really would bring on labour - maybe bouncing would be a better idea :-) (wanders off muttering about damned autocorrect)

Haha, photographer picturing you with Saab aloo on gym ball!

Agree with having everyone on one thread & please complain away-I'm still in a bit of denial at baby arriving & the chaos & effort it's going to be even tho I'm also fed up of being preggers.

With ds1 I was an emotional & physical wreck for weeks afterwards so would appreciate the new mums being honest & venting if necessary on here as it will encourage the rest of us to do the same & remind us of what's ahead & support is so important at this time.

Have good evenings-I'm starting to resent the evenings as time seems to pass slower. Going to get a list of tv to catch up on-never watched sopranos so might start with that. Hands are super swollen now & constant pins & needles, aargh!

I'm all for going down the conserving energy route!

Wow I have a huge amount to catch up on since my last post on Saturday, will try & keep it as short as possible!!

Hi wavesandsmiles , sorry to hear you've had a tough ride so far, hoping the remainder of your pregnancy passes as smoothly as possible!

Slouching hehe I hope you're all packed now, I'll be getting jittery for you otherwise! Yeah OH has been smelling all our baby clothes because apparently they smell like babies, hmm...

shelley great to hear you managed to have a positive birth, congratulations again!

Hi scoutfinch, glad you've had a good pregnancy so far!

Different glad to hear you & Posy are well, thank you so much for sharing your birth story, really positive! Hope you're still doing okay now!

Citizen hoping DS is feeling okay with the chicken pox & you're not too miserable stuck at home!

Hi Andrea75 my midwife mentioned something about heart rate determining gender but we know we're having a girl so she said she wouldn't like to try to guess it & scare us.

Congratulations to BigBelly! Thank you also for your birth story, very dramatic but glad it all worked out okay!

Slouching yay for bag being packed now! (As you may be able to tell I'm working my way through the thread)

Glad you had a nice weekend dinky, the great weather certainly helped!

Re. Pregnancy night sweats ahh I am not the only one! They're awful at the moment, I wake up feeling very gross!

Icing I hope DP is feeling better & hasn't passed on his germs!

OhGood postnatal thread sounds lovely, let us know if there is one created & I shall join as soon as baby decides to show her face. Here's to hoping for sooner rather than later.

Congratulations Totally, lovely name! Hoping you're a bit more prepared now.

Shelley - Florence is a lovely name, did try to convince OH on that one but he was having none of it.
I don't have experience but from what I've been told, the first few days are going to be tough, please continue to post, we're here for each other during good & bad & it's a great support network when you need it the most!

Vinegar congratulations! What a lovely name!

Hehe Totally giggling also at "here comes the girls"!

Slouching shame about the coffee, something definitely telling you not to have one today!

Ellie glad to hear rooming in with Ezekiel went well & that you're now home!

WOW I HAVE FINALLY CAUGHT UP IN ORDER ON PERSONALS! You ladies know how to talk!

I've had a massively busy weekend, baking all day on Saturday, baby shower hosted by my sister on Sunday which was a lovely English vintage themed tea party affair, think scones, cakes, finger sandwiches. Had some lovely gifts from family & friends including a lovely lovely baby record book which I am very excited to start writing in & a video camera by my amazingly generous best friend, who on the attached card wrote; "your iPhone can only hold so many memories & she won't be able to watch them on the tv when she's older", truly touched by her generosity! Today our furniture has been delivered for the nursery so getting very exciting now! Feeling lots of pressure down there, OH & I dtd earlier however not expecting this baby to come anytime soon, as much as I want her too!!

Sorry for my super long post, hope everyone is okay! 37+3

Dinky I think your auto correct should have a thread all to itself. I had a real giggle at the bonding

Thinking backache and twingy sound promising. I had my show this morning, but nothing since then, despite a waddle round in the drizzle earlier today. MV didn't mention anything about Bishops score. Will ask her when I see her for another sweep on Thursday.

Ellie and Totally great to hear you're home. Ellie hopefully now you have your own pump and everyone in one place I hope you feel less stretched and start to feel better soon. I'm signing up to Dinky's MV mantra, my thoughts exactly.

Shelley I echo what everyone else had said. Please stay. No words of wisdom on BF from me I'm afraid. I Tried, and I mean really tried with DS but ended up back in hospital on day 3 after he lost 10% of his birth weight and threw up blood (my nipple blood!). Spent the next 2 wks trying to re-establish BF and then went over to bottles. We were both much happier but I felt the most awlful guilt and couldn't talk about it without bursting into tears for 9 mths after. Needless to say I now think anyone who manages to BF is amazing, and this time round I'll be on formula from day 1!

Icing I know just what you mean. I want this by out too! I hope the walk works for you. I'm planning another waddle tomorrow.

MrsMillion I hope you have a similar experience and labour starts soon.

Slouching any luck with the coffee machine?

Sorry for the mammoth post. I'm off to eat pineapple and walk around the house!

Just cross posted with Evelyn and Phie Phie your baby shower sounds truly amazing. What a memory to treasure. Evelyn, ouch doesn't sound like much fun. I hope the TV takes your mind off things.

Also meant to say to Sliver I think if you know you'll struggle then no visitors in the first wk sounds like a brilliant idea. I hope everyone respects your wishes. I know I'm pretty fragile during the first week too, but I generally cope better with people around me.

Hi all, de-lurking to say that Clara Elizabeth (7lbs 7oz) was born at 15.37 on Sunday after my waters broke at 02.45 (I had no symptoms in advance of that whatsoever and had certainly not been doing anything to hurry on labour).

We were hoping for a home birth but although I quickly got to fully dilated the midwives decided to transfer me into hospital after I was pushing for over 2 hours at home. Turned out that a transfer would have been necessary anyway as I lost a lot of blood with the delivery of the placenta. Despite things not going completely to plan it was a really positive experience, I'd definitely go for a home birth again, but also would be really happy about going into the hospital as the care both during the delivery and afterwards on the post-natal ward was outstanding!

It's so exciting to hear everyone else's stories and I'm so looking forward to reading about all the rest of the July babies arriving.

Hi all, just caught up, such a lot has happened!
Congrats to Totally and Vinegar as our latest arrivals (completely jealous of course ) hope you are both doing ok. Glad to hear Ezekiel has gone home

Shelly- big hugs to you x . These first few days with newborns are wonderful but so incredibly tough, and it is so often not talked about, but it really should be. We are here to support each other. I really do hope you come back to us. Fwiw my DD (also a Florence ) lost just over 10% was a terrible feeder and the MW was all doom and gloom, but as a last resort she suggested a small drink of cooled boiled water which amazingly did the trick and she slowly picked up her weight but it did take about three weeks. Mean while my boobs were lacerated and made me scream at each feed. Needless to say it got better! And it will do for you too. Hang on in there, and in the meantime use us as a release valve, please!

Aww china thats lovely, hope you stay delurked now glad you had a good experience!

Just got back from my walk (3/4 mile to the shop, walking down every single aisle and the long way back which is just under a mile) and getting some definite twinges but not holding out much hope, im starting to think ill never go into labour