Due in July 2013 - newborns to the left of me, big bumps to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you babe!

[SlouchingPanda]

Hello shiny new thread!

Take a bow, Dinky (thread-namer extraordinaire)!

Good to know I have a fall back career as a thread namer ahead of me if the law thing doesn't work out :-)

I think I'm melting! (obviously, being a laydee, I don't sweat). I hope all of you still carrying bumps are keeping cool.

Too hot! Am indoors. Kids are doing hama beads unusually keeping them amused for AGES!! Dh is balanced on scaffolding on stais painting our landing. Extreme nesting. Just worried we'll end up in orthopaedics rather than maternity unit. Frustrated not to be out in sun.

Having on off twinges like some of you too. Less today but maybe that's because I've been sat down with my hippo ankles up. I have just about managed to get lunch for us. That felt like a huge achievement

Dinky - not sure it pays as well as law, but good low stress job with flexible working hours .

Totally - I'm sitting in the garden with my feet in a bucket of water .

Went out to buy a bikini top to labour in as delivery suite isn't air conditioned and I hear it's pretty unbearable in there (not that there's any imminent labouring going in, you understand) . Pretty sure I'll make it through to sweep #2 on Tuesday.

Hope all the babies are coping okay in the heat!

I've also had my feet in paddling pool. Too bLoody hot. Disclaimer; I'm not whinging, just an observation!

Right I'd better take DD to this birthday party!

Much cooler here today which is nice but I'm feeling fed up, tired, impatient etc! Why can't I just go into labour? Feels like my body is letting me down, silly I know. Can't wait to meet my baby

I have my feet on ice packs! There is no breeze outside whatsoever. Just back from the shopping centre was hideous. DH was a hero and schlepped around all the shops for underwear and toiletries without complaining.

Dinky - clearly there is no end to your end to your talents! And snap, I'm a lawyer too

Has anyone thought about placenta encapsulation? Not sure if it has been mentioned before but I've been looking into it and thinking it could be worth doing..

Much hotter here today, and I've not shifted the contraction/period type pains yet. Got through my set at the festival although there were a few dropped jaws when I announced I was doing a couple of instrumental numbers as the contractions were a little too strong for singing at that point. Took DCs for a quick swim at the beach after and now we are thankfully home.

MummyKanny I am planning on having a placenta smoothie - my doula is all prepped for it. I have my blender clean and ready, frozen berries in the freezer, and let the DCs finish some icecream yesterday so I have a tub to bring it home in. Basically I have had such a crappy time with full term HG, that I figured I will try anything to give me a post-birth boost.

Hope the babies are ok in the heat, and that fellow bumpees are finding coolness and shade and eating lots of ice lollies.

Beginning - interesting about raising baby's head. May have to try that!

Cheese - I was advised the opposite, to have daily baths!

Uptheairymountain - haha, we have had some good thread titles!! I can't take credit for any of them unfortunately.

Keep meaning to do a link to these. I found them really useful when my breasts were engorged. Sure you can get same effect DIY-style but these are nice and handy. www.amazon.co.uk/baby/dp/B002ISEQ16

Also thank you to whoever recommended cooling water sprays for labour. There were several things I was glad I had on the day but I honestly can't imagine how I would have survived without this!!! Also using it to wake me up/cool me down when up feeding baby on hot nights!!

And congrats on all the new arrivals :-)

waves I'm impressed you managed to perform through contractions! I hope baby comes soon for you

I wanted a quick whinge about the heat...the house was reasonably cool all week until today: there's no breeze, so it's at least 26C in the house I really could do with baby coming today, just because of discomfort!

wavesandsmiles glad you made it through your set at the festival without any dramas. There's no way I could stomach a placenta smoothie! I don't even think I'd manage the capsules. Hope it helps!

We have a book under the head end of the crib and I'm sure it's made a difference. Nights seem more settled and less vomity (apart from the immediate post-feed covering me & the bed type, those are still fairly frequent ).

We walked to the beach this morning for a paddle then went out to an amazing ice cream parlour this afternoon. Think I might be a bit toasted, despite sunscreen & trying to stick to the shade. Keeping babies cool is tough work.

Oh mummykanny-think I would have gone for placenta encapsulation but possibly a bit late now-I had bad baby blues with DS but know my dh & family would freak out laughing at the thought of it, (makes it all the more tempting!)

Off for my pre-op tomorrow morning, eek! Had terrible panic last night that I had absolutely no energy & was no way I'd be able to cope with a newborn. Told dh & he was so had to explain yet again that he better get used to me becoming illogical, overemotional, unnecessarily tearful & generally all round unreasonable. I don't know why he has to be constantly reminded but hey ho.

My wonderful bro managed to get a plumber out today to isolate the offending broken shower today so we have water again, (yay!) but faulty shower means we have to go back to bathroom supplier on Monday & sort it all out, grrr.

BB01-you get reflux pillows that look like maternity wedges or if you prop one end of the cot on some books/blocks, that should help with reflux.

Anyone with painful hips in the night, maybe try a pillow under your hips/bum-it's about the only place I haven't had one so far but tried it this morn for a bit & think it may have helped

Evelyn 38+5

In love with Savoy cabbage today - oo the ease! Thanks Dinky for the recommendation.

Hi all, thanks for the kind words! Going to take me a while to catch up, but can say our Abigail Marie was born yesterday weighing a quite shocking to everyone 11lbs2oz! We had to stay in hospital for a while to test her blood sugar levels but are home now and very content. Birth went well, didnt get a home birth or water birth in the end, but got the hospitals active birth room very much like on OBEM. Very nice, I was all over the place and labour took 5 hours start to finish and only 4 pushes to get her out! She really is the most gorgeous chunky monkey!
Ok, off to try to catch up!
Congrats Quinn as well!

Glad savoy cabbage is helping Runs. Bb01 I had those discs with ds1 but have lost them over the years - provide similar relief to the cabbage without the faint aroma of a staff canteen :-)

Evelyn - good luck for tomorrow and Monday. All will be fine. Hurrah for your bro and the plumber too.

Not sure I could stomach a placenta smoothie or capsules either Totally - each to their own though.

Play went OK today though ds1 missed a scene (the other actors covered it some how) and was sooooo hot in the theatre. J fed or slept through the whole thing. We then had my sister, bil, mum, dad and mil over for pizza and bubbles and stuck the paddling pool in the garden for the boys to chill in. Ds1 has his karate grading tomorrow morning - am hoping its cooler for him.

Hope everyone finds a way to keep themselves, bumps and babies cool.

Poco I had a similar thing a few weeks ago - having measure 0.5 - 3cm over at various times, the 36 week Midwife appointment showed I had 'grown' 9cm in 13 days. I got panicked, she said it was all fine, totally ok, but eventually she went and got a doctor who remeasured and it was 6cm over and they ordered a scan. The scan showed that, like my first baby, the new baby is 96th percentile on AC, HC and 75th on femur, and there is no extra amniotic fluid, which was what they had wanted to ensure. She's just a big baby. Baby number one was 10 '3 (4.6kg) and is now a tall, lean two year old. I was tested a lot for Gestational Diabetes, all negative. This baby is estimated at 3.2kg at 37 weeks, number one was estimated at 3.8kg at 37 weeks (also had a scan with her). So, all told, I think a big baby is all it is... I went for a c section on those grounds last time, and it was wonderful. Same again for next Thursday when I'm booked in for baby two. Try not to worry, if the 'liquor volume' as they call it is ok re amniotic fluid, then it's mainly just down to the total absurdity of using a strip of paper to decide how long your uterus is on any given week... Good luck!

Badmissm posting again on fb so looks like she and her little boy are home now.

icing glad your mum is being a bit more understanding

Evelyn hope everything goes well for the elcs, Im booked on Monday for induction so depending on how speedy it is we might have our babies on the same day

badmiss congratulations, bet its good to be home

dinky glad the play went well, can't have been easy in the heat

esme glad it went well, I love the name too! Can't believe she was 11lb 2 that's enormous!

totally that sounds like a lovely day, we might head to beach tomorrow for our last trip as a family of 5 before baby arrives

Well I did very little today, dh even cooked the tea. My overacting mind was on overdrive thinking about stuff today so I planned exactly how and where we should extend our house, and how we'll pay for it all!!! Dh slightly bemused at my nesting gone beserk but is broadly in agreement with my ideas. We've been talking about extending for a year but never taken things forward. I'm now thinking it might be better to do it while I'm on mat leave, esp if we have to move out for a while. Probably need to have the baby first mind you....

41+4

overactive even dyac

OK, for those of you that missed it, I was admitted to hospital early, on Sunday the 7th..then spent two days on a steroid/glucose/insulin drip.. in the sauna of a delivery suite. Had quite eventful elective caesarean on the 10th (apparently I have extra blood vessels!).... lost quite a bit of blood, then all the canulars fell out (long story) . Finally, my son Caspian Albert Sebastian Alexander was born at 2.34pm, by ELCS under general, on 10 July. He weighed 7 lbs or so (3kg 400). He is gorgeous.... photos to follow!

I've had no internet/clever phone for a week.... still a bit sore from everything, but was finally allowed home this afternoon....

wishful thinking this evening have had several braxton hicks, at least i think they are coming about every 20-30mins and i have pain in my lower back. not sure if the pain is psychosomatic as desperate to not be pregnant tomorrow in this heat.

congrats Badmissm even though it was traumatic bet he is worth it :)

anyone heard any news on cheek

Congrats badmissm - glad you and Caspian are safely home.

No news on Cheek yet. Sounds like things are starting for you poco - good luck.