October 2013 - only 3 months to go!

[roxvox]

Baby due dates/sexes/name choices here

Night from hell! 1am - Bloody neighbourhood cats fighting outside over who gets to sit under my car. My dogs go insane and wake DS and the whole street probably and then because it's so hot DS wouldn't go back to sleep for over an hour and wouldn't let me leave his room either.
He finally fell asleep and I can't get back to sleep so I've come downstairs and put the fan on and may have a snack and watch TV. So annoyed :( Oh, and it's 21 degrees outside!

Thanks Tarlia, may well do hedgehogs! I have cocktail sticks.

Such a hot night, hottest so far I think. Really hard to get to sleep. I thought some cool moisturiser would help so I opened a free sample but it was actually body oil which just made me more sweaty. Mistake! What really helped was a pack of frozen peas. Mmm. Had the biggest ever kick when I rested it on my tummy!

The drs don't open until 9 but I will try to call them at playtime. No I don't see midwife there but maybe they want to book whooping cough? Only thing I can think of.

Hope they put your mind at rest soon orange

psuedo hope u got some sleep in the end I had a total of 8 toilet trips last night most rediculous amount ever for only 27 weeks especially as I never even had a drink all night!! And i was up 4 times with dd being a little Madame as well as her being awake at 5.45 someone kill me now cos I'm not sure I'm going to survive the day!!

Morning ladies. I have been around, reading every post and checking out things you're all discussing (have added Metanium and Lanisoh breast pads to my list!) but have not posted for a few days.

I went to a friends birthday party on Saturday night, and on arrival the barmaid handed DH some Presecco and then turned to me and asked if I would like one of their fruit juices. Totally made my evening to be noticed as pregnant! Think I am starting to look it now too.

ananikifo do you know if adding bank holidays to our maternity leave is something we are all entitled to?

tucking I believe that Merryn is a Cornish name. There's a small village down here called St Merryn, and I know a few people with the surname Merryn. Not heard of it as a first name, but I really like it!

I am 29 weeks today. Still only getting up for one wee in the night (but needing to go a lot more during the day), but feeling super tired and I get progressively less mobile throughout the day with my lower back and the pressure on my rib cage.

I hope everyone is coping with the heat!

Last night was definitely too hot. I am really lucky and have an air conditioning unit above my bed so that was on for most of the night just to help me try to get some sleep between the toilet visits.

I know ages ago some of you were thinking of hiring a bed nest....... I stumbled across the snuzpod in a magazine yesterday and thought that it looks lovely

Morhulin is another fantastic nappy cream. If you ever get nappy rash, morhulin or metanium will definitely clear it faster than any other nappy cream. Bottom butter from waitrose is a nice everyday nappy cream.

First night of decent sleep in ages and not one toilet trip for a change!! Makes such a difference. Sorry to hear about your nights pseudo and natalie. Hope you will manage to get through the day somehow...

I'm working from home today so in a pretty good mood. It cuts out the atrocious tube journey and I can work on the sofa in my underwear. I can wear pretty much everything in my office but, still, don't think they would appreciate just underwear. And it's not particularly attractive these days. Thanks God for big pants! I'm waiting for the delivery of DS's passport (obviously leaving it to the last minute before the holidays!) It's supposed to be delivered between 9am and 5pm so it will be 5pm exactly right?

orange hope it's nothing and they just want to schedule or reschedule something!

roxvox I think most companies add bank holidays to your maternity entitlement... I think they have to. I know all my friends had it added. My company doesn't but they give me 6 months full pay maternity package plus 300 quid new baby gift so I can hardly complain about these few days...

thanks chickien snoring wasn't too bad last night! DP didn't drink a lot at all. I think my health tirades are gradually paying off!

Morning ladies - just completed an epic read back after spending a few days in south Wales, minus reception.

Hope everyone is surviving this new heat onslaught. And that you get reassurance from the doctors soon, orange

We're just off to visit a couple of nurseries. We need to factor in cost/logistics in to our musings about what might happen after Easter. But I am finding the concept quite challenging/stressful
Wish us luck!

Morning all,

Well last day of my holiday and DP and I just had a row because he informed me he wants to go to Las Vegas to wet the babies head?! Wtf does anybody else think this is totally ridiculous or am I being overly hormonal!! Wanker

hi ladies. thanks for your support last night. don't think it had quite sunk in yesterday but was pretty scary. both the other members of my team were hurt in the incident so although I feel bad I'm glad I took me and baby away from it. have had a meeting with senior managers and they've agreed I can stay off youth club from now on.

flyer it does sound a little mad to me, does he mean you all go? I wouldn't want to take a little baby to Vegas! and if he means without baby then I wouldn't want to be so far away!!

It is completely ridiculous. Get him to speak to friends who have actually been new dads and he'll probably realise it's ridiculous.
DP likes a drink with his mates and there were mutterings of wetting the baby's head before DS was born. He changed his mind afterwards!

Roxvox are you from St merryn?! I love the name Merryn. I really really wanted my ds to be called Harlyn but my dh said no. My cousins going to go for Harlyn though! Some beautiful names in Cornwall!

Hi everyone. I haven't been on for a while, to be honest I haven't had much to say or been of much use to anyone that has needed advice.

My app told me there is 100 days left, very exciting. I've been very lucky throughout pregnancy, I just hope it continues and I deliver a happy healthy baby.
Baby is pretty active, his kicks seem to follow a pattern but he is deff more active when he's around his dad.

I'm currently nagotiating my work (I nanny) and how much time to have off and when to start leave. I'm not entitled to any benefits or allowances because all my timings and tax was cocked up. (I was 10 days under the maternity allowance limit) so I'm planning on working until my due date and returning after a month. I know it sounds pretty extreme but dp can look after baby for the 3 hours I work, that's the plan anyway. It's very hard to organise with all ifs buts and maybes

I am 28 weeks today....... Just 84 days to go if baby comes on due date

Flyer that sounds crazy to me! How can he expect it to be ok to leave you alone with a new born whilst he goes off galavanting to flipping Vegas! I would be annoyed if my DH intended to spend a night away from me to wet the babies head, let alone a longer period of time (I assume he wouldn't fly there for one night and then fly back the next day) in an entirely different country. Plus the cost of the trip right when you need money!

Empress no I am not from St Merryn, but I am from a small village just outside of Perranporth which is a bit further West on the North coast of Cornwall.

Thanks clapham, your maternity leave package sounds amazing! I get statutory so I think that I might have to try and reclaim those BH days seeing as I will be getting paid bugger all for them!

I am working from home today too. Much more relaxing than the commute into work (to be fair it is just a 30 minute drive, so not as stressful as the tube), but we have less parking spaces than we require daily so it's always a bit of a race to get a space and then if you miss out you've either got to park a mile away and walk in (which I point blank refuse to do at the minute for obvious reasons) or ask around the other companies to see if you can borrow one of their spaces. There are loads of people in the office today, requiring 11 parking spaces, and we only have 6, so I thought I would just stay at home instead of guarantee myself to be out of a space.

I wish you could edit posts on here...

I meant to say to Empress, as well as my comment in my previous post, I love the name Merryn too. Cornwall does have some lovely names. Another one I like is Jago for a boy (which is Cornish for James), but again it is a name that I know someone who has it as a surname, so couldn't really use it as a first name. Both DH and I are Cornish, so would like that reflected in our name choice, even if just used in the baby's middle name.

I've brought my leaving date forward as my parents have decided to go on holiday at the end of August. Not a problem in itself except that they look after DS from when we leave the house in the morning just before 7 and then take him to the childminder. There were going to be 2 weeks where I would have had to try to do drop off and pick up, and that's not what I wanted to juggle at 8 months pregnant!
So my last day in the office will be the 29th August! I then have a month's annual leave before my ML begins on the 1st October.
Since I have a week off at the beginning of August, and only work 3 days my new countdown chart is 15 days left!!

I think it's fair to say nursery visits were not a success - poor DH's head was a bit fried by the experience and he was not happy with the idea of our LO going from 6-7months old.
Afternoon visits cancelled - time to do more sums...

Are childminders an option Shire?

Roxvox your super lucky to live near perranporth! We were married there last year -our church is the catholic one near the co op- we lived in Blackwater but had to move for dhs work to saltash after we got married. Our landlord there was Robert Jago - perhaps the same Jagos as you know?! I did think about it for my ds choice of name as I do love it for a name. My parents are St Merryn way and Im currently deciding whether to move down to them just before the birth - which would mean leaving dh here in saltash for a bit at work - but would be a shorter distance to treliske once I go into labour - I definitely I want my ds to be Cornish & definitely want to avoid derriford but its quite a distance to treliske so a dilemma! If only we still lived in blackwater and had a 10 minute journey only!!

Haha empress we are in very similar boats it would seem! DH and I moved to Gloucestershire 4 years ago for work after DH got a promotion he couldn't turn down. Our parents both still live in Cornwall (mine in Rose, DH's in Truro) so we are down there once a month at least for weekends/holidays (except for our honeymoon we haven't been abroad since we moved up here as we miss Cornwall so much that we use all of our time off on trips down there). We also want our baby to be Cornish, and so I am heading down to stay with my parents at 38 weeks so I can be closer to Treliske (DH and I were both born there too, which makes it all the more poignant that we have our baby in the same hospital).

I would like to think that, this being our first baby, I will have plenty of warning so Mum or Dad can take me into Treliske and DH can come down from Gloucestershire (if he happens to still be up there, but he is hoping to work from home a lot around that time to decrease the chance of being 200 miles away when I go into labour!) I hate the not knowing when baby will come and how long the labour will be etc, but I know that's all part and parcel of the fun!

Is this your first too? Blackwater would be much closer, so long as you didn't go into labour during rush hour , but I suppose St Merryn to Treliske has got to be almost an hour's drive hasn't it? When exactly are you due?

Just quickly checking in - only done a quick scan of the last couple of pages so please forgive me if I've missed anything important.

Roofio - glad you are ok, your experience at the youth club sounds scary.

Love the names Thea and Merryn.

Flyer - I wouldn't be impressed at all if my DP had come up with that idea - just seems way over the top, a lot of money and unfair of him to leave you literally holding the baby. If he absolutely insists on the trip, you must make sure you are adequately compensated (help whilst he's gone, equal time away, an enormous gift...etc..)

wicked - the snuzpod does look gorgeous and I came across it when I was looking at replacement mattresses for the bednest (heard the one it comes with isn't that good) - unfortunately it isn't available until end of October which will be too late for me. Pretty certain I'm going to get the bednest.

MoN - I hope you can get some reassurance over the date for your c.s. - you certainly don't need the additional worry.

Pseudo - sorry about the bad night. Only 15 days! Yippee. I thought i'd done well walking our dog at 6am yesterday, then your post saying you were out at 4.45am sent my halo crashing!

Glad yesterday's antenatal appts went well.

Not much news from me - just dying in this heat and wishing for a cold snap...

ha how funny! Sorry youve had to relocate further to gloucestershire, i shouldnt moan so much about saltash then, at least its still the right side of the border! Glad you get down alot, it is the best place in the world!

yes my first too, good to know you are going to go down to have the baby there - I think then maybe that I should do the same and be closer to treliske. St Merryn is pretty far- 45 mins in the car I reckon, wheras saltash is 1.15 - both bad but wouldnt want to panic when the pain hit and say Ok Ill go to derriford! I do wish I could know when he would come, it would be so much easier!

Im due october 12th, when are you due? maybe see you there!!! My friend recently had hers there and there wasnt any room - never thought about that possibility!!!! But definitely prefer the idea of treliske to derriford (I too was a treliske baby!)xx

We haven't looked in to that option yet, pseudo.
We're actually in the amazing position (I think!) where every option is open to us: me being a SAHM, DH being a SAHD, me working part time with part time child care, us both working part time to share childcare...you name it, we could be able to do it.
But we're also dealing with some mahoosive unknowns; DH is due a pay review in August and then again after Christmas, my work will not offer me part time in my current role, but would offer something else (ie lower wage), we don't know what kind of child we're going to have, or how we will take to parenthood!!
I also have the option of returning to work for 5weeks, full time, in June/July next year and then getting 3 months full pay (teacher-summer holiday-timing paradox) even if I've handed in my notice.

We're very confused!

flyer this is crazy, you are not being hormonal, I would definitely put your foot down here. Can't he wet the baby's head in a local pub...??

you lucky lucky lucky pseudo!! 15 days is nothing. And your parents sound amazing - to come so early in the morning to help you.

shire perhaps you shouldn't stop your research so early? I saw about 9-10 nurseries when I was pregnant with DS and liked only one. All others smelled of nappies or baby food, one had a crying baby noone would attend to and most of them had no proper outside space to mention (hard to come by in London...) I remember I was getting gradually more depressed with every visit. And then I found one that was amazing, clean, with a massive garden and lovely staff - a bit more expensive than others but DS was so happy there, it was worth this extra cost. I also met several child minders but didn't like any of them and they had only three children, all different ages, so wasn't too keen on this either. Don't give up! You just have to find the right one.

All of this talk about days left has prompted me to count - 75 days until baby is due and 27 days left at work for me. Kind of exciting, and now also kind of pooing myself - have bought NOTHING for the baby, have only just started handover notes at work, have no idea who will look after DS when labour starts. Think I'm going to need to get my head out of the sand fairly soon .

I'd suggest you leave it for a bit Shire - after Xmas you will know more about you DH pay situation, you will have a better idea of whether you want to be a SAHM or go back to work, you will know more about your baby - some thrive in nursery settings, others it's much tougher for - and you will still have 6 months to get something sorted. You have reminded me I need to sort out nursery for DS after Xmas - does anyone have their 3 year old in nursery for the 15 free hours only? Do all nursery's offer this, and how much choice do you get in how you use the hours?