September 2013 - Definitely in the third trimester now!

[badguider]

New thread... will try to find the stats thread and link...

My company doesn't do childcare vouchers....apparently it's to avoid them having to foot the bill when people go off on mat/sick leave & (as many of u pointed out on here) they then end up paying as u can't sacrifice from smp.

Will take full advantage of DH's employer by making them pay while he's off on additional pat leave ;-)

lmao, that really tickled me RunningBear! Jammy, how do you manage to wait until bed time? I whip mine off as soon as I can reasonably change into pyjamas, so just after (or before!) dinner!

I meant sort of evening time. It kind of depends on what top I end up wearing in the evening- if it's nothing too see through I take it off then (yusssss fav time), otherwise my saucer nipples freak me out every time I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror!

at all you bra whipper off-ers, I can't bear to be without mine atm, they're just too damn heavy! That said I do change into a sleep bra at the first possible opportunity, much comfier than the scaffolding I have to wear in the day...

Jealous of everyone getting hospital tours, all we have is an online virtual tour round our way :(

Can anyone think of something that's good for a gassy tummy that isn't Rennie? It just doesn't seem to do the trick. I used to always take Andrews salts and charcoal tablets before, but I don't think you're allowed them when preggers. It's really starting to bother me now, I feel like a cloud of stink

I had my hospital tour today and I would definitely recommend asking about one and booking one in. There was only 3 other couples there so it won't a massive thing as I had imagined. The place is like a maze so I had to keep checking that my dh was paying attention as to which identical door/corridor led to where! The main things I took away from it were:

• You can leave a note in your car window incase you can't park which gives you some time to get in and move the car in half an hour
• after all my stressing about which suitable bag to take they make you decant everything into a trolly in the room anyway and you have to out your bag back in the car
• you get a private room to deliver in with an ensuite and after you've had the baby you can go a post-natal suite and share a room with 3 other mums. You then have to share toilets and showers so you need to pack all the necessary stuff.
• they seem to provide quite a lot of food and drinks for you which you can help yourself to so don't worry too much about packing sandwiches etc

We have chosen this changing bag as a bit of a treat for ourselves. I'm a sucker for organisation and this ones in John Lewis looked great. It has little Velcro straps that you can attached to the buggy so it's not swinging everywhere.

www.johnlewis.com/pacapod-napier-changing-bag-black-charcoal/p230742062

Hi all, marking my place on this thread. Definitely feeling the third trimester now. 31 weeks today and I'm starting to creak (especially my knees!).

kitten - i'm with you on bra whipping off. I've spent most of the last 7 months in sports bras.

Geese - thanks for the update on your hospital tour. We're doing ours on Saturday and I wasn't that sure what to look out for so those are good points for me to ask about. I have been a bit worried about food and water, especially if I end up having a CS and need to keep hydrated but struggle to get out of bed!

Hmmm, looks like I need to look into childcare vouchers and benefits then. I hope there's a website which can explain it in a way that my dribbling brain can still understand!

we had our tour tonight aswell. sounds like the rules are different everywhere, we are allowed food in the "birthing centre" which you are only allowed to use if you are low risk. The birthing centre is the only place you are (90%) guaranteed a pool if u want one (which I do). But if your iron levels are low (like mine) then you might have trouble getting into the birthing centre :(
Still ... im staying hopeful. They had some great gadgets, ipod docs, flat screen tv, relaxing bubbly tube light things, sofas, birthing balls, vertical (lapdancing style) poles :) and en suite bathrooms. If u need to stay over night you can stay on a 4 person ward with one shared bathroom or you can pay £70 for a private room. Also partners can stay from 9am to 10pm.
This probably wont help you ladies much coz every hospital is totally different.

Sounds like paradise kimjayne. I'm virtual tour only, but pretty sure there's just 1 pool available :-(

Oooh Kim where are you? Sounds lovely!!!

Seems it is definitely the day for hospital tours as me and OH had ours tonight as well. The maternity unit is lovely - it's only 18 months old and had all the gadgets as well. The delivery rooms all have ensuites and on the midwife led ward - if they aren't being used, you can stay in there for up to 24 hours and OH can stay as well. The wards had 4 beds per section - they looked really nice but I think you'd go stir crazy staying on there too long! definitely worth going if you can - if only to know where you sure going because as Geese said these places can be a bit of a maze!

Hypno birthing class tomorrow - will report back tomorrow

Btw I parked up outside my house in a fairly tight space today...tried to get out & the bump wouldn't squeeze between the cars. Ended up having to get back in and re-park before I could go anywhere! The neighbours must have been laughing their heads off

I'm realising how good my MW is. She told us all to keep an open mind and rule nothing out. She took us through the birth planning. She's scary and firm but very thorough. She can also take bloods without doing any damage!

DH is still massively freaked out by her graphic description of afterbirth, show, waters and membrane sweeps! My big, strong blacksmith has a bit of a fainting issue with blood. Oh dear...!

ready your hospital sounds like mine - virtual tour only and just the one pool. The pool thing is the reason why we're considering ping to look at a birthing centre as an alternative - it's tiny, only 6 beds and fully midwife led but apparently it's lovely inside and you're all but guaranteed a pool if you want one. Only downside is its an hour away from our house, plus a 20 min transfer to hospital if anything went wrong.

Just discovered H&M maternity tights- £4.99 for a pack of 2 and reinforced seams so they don't rip in the crotch the first time u sit down...much better quality than the horrible mothercare ones!

Difficult one kitten, I could look around...but then this hospital happens to be the one that I was born at, which sort of makes me want to stick with it for sentimental reasons...

We hired a pool for at home last time. Would have been great but a baby boom meant not enough MWs and so went to hospital birth centre. . They still found me a pool though which was good. Hope to be that lucky again!

And in the last 3 years my hospital has started virtual tours only. It's a shame as made it very real and helped on the day to know where I was going.

mammagnomes im based in didsbury so im at the nearest hospital which is Wythenshawe. I was also born there myself as were my sisters so seemed right to go myself.
Weve met 8 couples at nct classes who all live nearby but we are the only ones going to Wythenshawe! ! it seems everyone else in manchester wants to go to St Marys. So I was kind of prepared to be dissapointed when we took the tour. But to be honest I feel much better now ive seen the wards. I just really hope Im allowed to use the birthing centre and pool.

My house is an utter tip. DH is doing lots of improvements and I must not complain at all because it's all going to end up a million times better than before but it does make me twitch a bit that the only rooms that are presentable are our bedroom and DS's room. Don't think if we had a MW round to give the tour for our 'home birth approval visit tomorrowthat we'd pass...!! But there are five weeks to go anyway until home birth is the right option.

I have just gone a little crazy on ebay mobile on the way in to work on the tube. Yesterday I won two small bundles of white/neutral newborn sleepsuits and vests. This morning I looked up the one brand name I can remember of the lovely Scandi bright baby clothes... and then the "searches like this" took me to lots of others! So I have bids in on Polarn O pyret, Ej Sikke Lej, etc etc... some gorgeous stuff.

Rake-feel your pain about house being a tip We're trying to move and Im trying not to freak out as we don't have a moving date yet. But in a tiny flat at the moment so boxes everywhere and that's only the stuff I've bought for baby-not even started packing!!!

Sitting in hospital grounds after GTT and want to throw up I only ever drink water (and wine pre baby) and find orange squash sweet so what felt like a bucket of Lucozade has sent me over the edge...! Also burping like a trooper...

Can't believe I've got another hour and a half without food...I don't cope well without food!

I don't understand this GTT business.... as far as I can tell, they take people with a normal-ish diet.. make them drink something a thousand times more sugary than they would normally touch... then deduce through tests that your body isn't 'coping' very well with that level of sugar... and prescribe you a diet that avoids sugary things in future, and may be similar to what you were eating anyway...

Guider-completely agree! My dad is type one diabetic (hence the test) and back in 60s when he was diagnosed was told that excess sugar in diet caused it. So I was brought up without sweets/cakes (unless it was special occasion). So I don't like them now, my diet isn't uber healthy, but I've never been into sugar... And they wonder why I won't be able to cope with it... Grrr....

Oh my god Rake that stuff is gorgeous! We were given a few plain white and cream things which are cute, but quite boring.

kim really pleased to hear that Wythenshawe has a good set up, sounds similar to Stepping Hill; three pools, two rooms in the birth centre without pools, en suites and little kitchens for each room, and then a recovery area for post-birth for about 3 or 4 women and bubs, or private rooms on a separate floor if needed. I'm not sure I'll be in any kind of mood for pole dancing when I'm in labour ... but maybe its more popular in Wythenshawe

I've booked in for a 4D scan on Saturday, so excited!!! Just hoping babybear looks like his dad who was super cute as a baby and not my little bro and I who looked like monkeys ... not in a good way. obviously we're both gorgeous now though

Fozzie it was the caffeine hit that got me. I was so hungry that the lucozade gave me the calories to get through the time but the buzz was awful. I haven't had caffeine since Christmas (other than chocolate...).

rake I'm with you on the house front. Bathroom and kitchen both being replaced in the next 3 weeks. Babies arriving in the next 5 weeks. Trying not to worry about times when water will be off, cooker won't work and a health visitor could think that a building site is no place for newborns!