October 2013 - Countdown to D-Day!

[roxvox]

Baby due dates/sexes/name choices here

I'm torn... but don't think I can cope with heels all day and all evening... flats don't look amazing though...
Also no idea how to make my nice but simple maternity dress more dressy... slightly frustrated.
At least I have a nice tan (and a less lovely pregnancy mask!) - opting for showers rather than baths to preserve it until Friday. It's all I can offer right now in terms of being a trophy wife - nice tan... and nice boobs. Forget the rest

I've been planning my drinks for next summer! Mostly G&Ts, Rose wine with the occasional Pimms...
Seems a bit early to stick Champagne in the fridge, would end up getting drunk by someone else. It always seems a bit unfair that DH gets to go out and wet the babies head while I'm in breastfeeding! :)

I wish people wouldn't get married when I'm up duffed it's most inconsiderate

It's a tough one Clapham I'm 5ft4 like you and will probably wear heels at the other weddings but its so uncomfy....suffering in the name of fashion hey! I'm intending on having a spray tan and my hair pinned up by hairdresser for the day to try and feel a bit like the old me.

Oooh g&t, Pimms, Kia Royales I can't wait to drink again.......

Ana I'm working til 20the sept when I'll be nearly 38 weeks. Hopefully baby won't come early. Wanted to make sure that I had as much time with baby as possible. On my last work trip today. Had to get 5.54 train. DH kindly offered to drive me to station even though he didn't need to be up for another hour. He can be a bit grumpy and bad at sharing feelings but he is a real poppet

Ana - in a fit of insanity I'm supposedly working until 11th October (5 days before my DD), though I'm largely supernumerary in my current position so won't effect anyone too much if I end up finishing earlier than that. Some days I'm convinced I can do it...but realistically probably can't!

Another one who can't wait for a G+T (and nice soft cheese). Until then I'll drink another fruit juice.

It's Camembert I'm fixating on, which is odd because wine was much more a part of my regular diet than cammembert!

I did have to suppress a grump last night though when DH accidentally opened a bottle of Prosecco instead of the bottle of white he thought he was opening (the cork really did look like a normal bottle of wine to be fair). Really wanted some.

I'm working until 13 September, moved from 20th when they told me I'm not going beyond 40 weeks - if I get that far. So, I'm finishing up at 36 weeks and am so tired and owie just now, I don't know how I can make it that long! Still interviewing for my replacement, no chance now of any kind of handover.

We weren't going to bother with a nursery (renting, hoping to buy within the year, 2nd room is spare bedroom/study for when he works from home) but all the other Dads at the NCT class were talking about their nurseries and I think DH feels he's not being a good Dad if he doesn't do similar. So, I've ordered some wall stickers (fingers tightly crossed they are as removable as they're meant to be or goodbye deposit!) and we're going to look at some furniture. Wee one will be in with us for at least 6 months anyway, so I'll need to keep a tight rein on him to stop him going overboard!

Have a good day all.

Aw soup dh also feels a little put out of his duties too as he has no bedroom to decorate. He took so much pride in doing dd's room when I was pregnant but unless we move baby is in with us until the foreseeable.

Sounds like we're all counting down to maternity leave!

Went to view the house last night... It's freakin' huge and top location...

But...

It bloody stinks. Of dogs. And it has NOT been looked after well. All cosmetic so were going to apply and take it from there. As its not first come first serve we may not even get chosen by the landlord. However, we are ready to move the instant the existing tenant moves out. It's gonna need a weeks of deep cleaning, fresh paint and carpets cleaned so all being well ill stay at my parents for a few days whilst its being done. Ideally it needs new carpets too but that's not in our budget and not sure we can afford to be too fussy especially when others may be happy with it as it is. Maybe ill wait until we're chosen and broach the improvements then.....! A shock really with the condition as both rental properties we've moved into so far have been lovely condition, clean and well looked after. This woman clearly hasn't put the vacuum round in months or washed the teenagers bedding in the few years she's been there!

Wow, that was long! Work today but its one shift less

Oh ?Hayle? it sounds great! And hopefully nothing a good deep clean (or two!) can't improve. Fingers crossed for you x

I'm rather mortified to realise that no-one else is suffering from wet knickers syndrome. Maybe I should see a mw for some more useful advice than just 'do your pf exercises' (which make it worse!)
Ironically my night is toilet-trip free which I put down to a camping trip in Oz at Easter when fear of venturing out for a pee in the dark scared my bladder into going through the night.

Happy work day to all. I'm going to do my filing today x

Pink - you missed a much earlier thread where lots of us confessed to being paid-up members of the tena lady club.

Lots of wee accidents here. Hayfever season was a complete nightmare and I had the lovely experience of weeing and puking at the same time when my morning sickness was at it's worst. So, you are not alone!

Strangely, my current problem is getting enough wee out - think baby is blocking the relevant tube.

My pelvic floor is shot to pieces - developed a uterine prolapse post-birth of DD and expect to have surgery at some point in the future. Very worried how I'll be left after this birth and pregnancy.

Morning everyone, I hope we have all managed some much better sleep, I've had a really good night so am thinking of going to visit work today to see the residents!

hayle I know how horrible that feeling can be! When we viewed the house we are in now it had tennants who had cleaned and tidied and had sent their dog out with a friend (the agent and landlords didn't know there was a dog here) so all was fine and dandy! When we moved in 8weeks later however, marks on the vinyl painted walls had been touched up with matt paint! The hoovering hasnt been done for weeks by the state of it and they definitely hadn't had the carpets cleaned! But after a few days of cleaning and having to move all the furniture out again to have the carpets cleaned it was fine! And we have done it all again now before little ones arrival and have bought our own carpet and have just placed it on top of the landlords carpet, our landlords are very good and just let us do within reason as we please! Fx for you to be chosen for it!

Also had my scan yesterday, all is well with baby he/she has doubled their weight in one month! But my bp is rising which the consultants are concerned about and my wee showed a low level of protein... My mind went into overdrive as my mum had pe... Is it normal to have raised levels around this time in pregnancy 32+5?? Or does it look like I am headed for pe? Any advice would be great fully received :)

Morning all

Gosh this thread has been busy since yesterday! I'm with you on the alcohol front...am really craving a nice gin and some red wine now. We are treating ourselves to dinner tomorrow night but it annoys me that I have to drive, watch dh drink and then listen to him blissfully snoring all night :( Plus we booked the date ages ago with my parents for ds to sleepover and when I mentioned it yesterday mum agreed but didn't seem overjoyed. They have him 2 days a week and sometimes I feel that I ask too much.

Jelly your poor DD. Hope she is ok. It's funny how a bump to the head is desirable for school :)

Pink don't feel at all bad, how rude of them. Totally different if you are going anyway to pick up your own ds but no way should you be putting yourself out...you have enough to do.

Sorry posted too soon. soup I've been eating camambert... baked though which I think is fine? Too late if it's not! I am also married to a phone addict...cracks me up. He sits with his head buried in his phone or laptop all evening and then checks it the minute he wakes up. DH has to read the news about 50 times a day and I have no idea what else he looks up. He is also an Apple freak but thankfully isn't keen on the ipad so that has become mine!

Thanks for the middle name advice. I love May too Rox stick to your guns. As Clapham said, a middle name is more about legacy and doesn't get used every day. I just think it would mean a lot to my dad as my brother named his sons after our grandfather and himself :/ so I kind of feel bad for my dad. His name is Alan David but my brother is David and using David will sound as though it's after him, rather than dad.

moN poor Linah, I get tears when I take ds to nursery and I find it so heartbreaking...I just feel so guilty all the time.

Flyer good luck today

I am feeling totally exhausted today. I kept wakening last night and convinced myself at one point that ds was trying to crawl downstairs so had to run into the hall to check . Don't think it was a very restful sleep!

My maxi cosi footmuff arrived yesterday and it's so lovely and snug. Will be great not to have to bother with coats and pramsuits when I have him in that. There is £10 off with Mothercare at the moment if anyone is interested.

Hi to everyone I haven't mentioned.

Morning all

I think the change in weather is effecting me - I was all set to be productive today but just feel kind of meh.
Picking up our steam-cleaned and polished 2nd hand pram/travel system today, which is exciting. I don't expect it to look all new, but hope it looks nice.

I'm also at a wedding tomorrow, and pretty tempted to wear heels (only 5'1-2" without). Not sure which dress to wear and just generally a bit apprehensive after not really coping with the July one. This is DH's friends too, meaning I won't have a circle of friends to keep me company either, so I'm planning to come home after the meal/speeches, I think. At least it won't be 30° this time.

Don't envy all these weddings. I wore heals to work yesterday and they really hurt me. I have been mostly in flats but I don't feel dressed in them. What about wearing heals and then changing into flats at the meal? Clapham I went to a wedding recently and wore a plain red maternity dress but dressed it up with fascinator and a poncho...and jewellery.

Bridget I am the same on the wee front. Dying to go but really struggle as think baby is blocking something. My pf isn't great either, particularly when I cough and sneeze. Was out for a walk the other night and needed to sneeze....did the obligatory stop, cross legs, hold and sneeze combo but didn't realise there was a car behind me...

Thanks ladies for your support last night. DH was very supportive and came and gave me a cuddle and tried to stop me from doing anything around the house all night (washing, putting the bins out and cooking). I did still manage to cook tea, but he did all of the rest.

Two more days of work and then we are off for 2 weeks and off home to Cornwall. I can't wait to reorganise my old bedroom at Mum and Dads into a baby-suitable room. Mum and Dad have already dug out an old rocking chair and done it up so that's a nursing chair sorted, and they have the cot that I had as a baby all ready to go as well. Bless them

Bridget my bladder can't cope with a sneeze either. Worried about what would happen if I sneezed in a meeting when I have a particularly full bladder! I also have the 'can't get all the wee out' issue. I get up for a wee in the night, get back into bed and baby must change position and suddenly I need to wee again. Very frustrating! Worth it though obviously

Sorry to all of you who are struggling with having your babies starting school etc. Since we got the BFP I have already started worrying about my little baby growing up too quickly! I am a born worrier though, so I guess having a child is only going to make me worse!

Hi all!

With 9 weeks left to go I am about to start bulk buying some nappies. What is everyone else going with? Or is past experiences what are the best ones to get?

Ah, Bridget thanks for filling me in. I don't know what my problem is- so far sneezing is okay, but after every trip to the loo I leave thinking all done and 3 mins later I get a little leak. I don't know if bubba is applying pressure somewhere that a little bit of wee gets trapped and released, or maybe she's doing it on purpose and laughing inside...

My heart goes out to you with little ones starting school. I sobbed in the park after I dropped DS off for his first day- but it was tied into trying for no.2/mc/ivf drugs etc. It's hard watching them grow up but at the same time every year they become more amazing as they become little people with their own personalities. I just dropped DS off at football school with his 5yo friend and they were shaking their booty, 'singing' (if you can call it that) on a raised platform. You'd have no idea they were the youngest... they've already got a reputation amongst the trainers as they were making 'lion traps' yesterday...x

pseudo I just saw the cossato giggle in C End looking very smart. I may still go Bugaboo Bee though- not sure we've got the space for the full pram mode :(

Star- as much as it grieves my inner-eco-princess to say it, Pampers were the best by far.
I did try cloth ones, but on reflection I reckon it's best to save those for 3months on when you're familiar with your baby's poo timetable. I used Fuzzibunz and Wonderoos. You can have Reusable Nappy coffee mornings!
I found Pampers Newborn then Active-Fit and Night-time nappies the best for DS.
I also used the Natures Finest or whatever the brand is now (biodegradable ones) but again found them better with a bigger baby- leaking was a real problem with the tiny size nappies.

I also found the nappy bins we tried absolutely useless- has anyone found a good brand? Supposedly 'odourless' bins stank out our house. We resorted to having a dedicated normal bin outside in our bin shed.

(sorry for essay- didn't realise I had so much to say on nappies!)

star87 I am a first time mummy so no experience with nappies, but I have been wondering the same thing recently (i.e. which to go for). What I have learnt/heard so far is that a) Huggies are very good, but they've stopped/are stopping selling them over here, b) Pampers work but have a funny chemical smell from the crystals in them, and c) I have heard very good things about Aldi nappies, so this is what I was going to go with (I am ready to be swayed elsewhere though should anyone have any better suggestions)!

This is what I'm thinking warlin - realised this morning that I have a really nice pair of black suede heels that are not too high so shouldn't be too cruel for my feet. Think will end up wearing them for the wedding and the beginning of the reception and than switch to flats. Everyone will be drunk by then anyway. And yes - all my best jewellery ready to compensate the plain dress :-) It's in Cotswolds in a country hotel and we have a room booked there so at least I have somewhere to go if I need a rest.

And re: work issues... we had a major crisis overnight, starting in the US. I got to work this morning to deal with it across Europe which is my job, and the guy who is replacing me and currently doing handover with me sent an email to all European teams with directions how to handle the crisis, literally as I was sitting down at my desk. No warning "I'm planning to send this", no asking "do you think this is the best approach", no mention of me in his email to our teams, just sating "please contact me if you have any questions" - like I don't exist anymore and he's already taken over fully and properly. Shall I just go home now...?? It's a very high profile and delicate issue so I can see what he is doing - he is eager to jump on it to show how good he is and it involves dealing with our international VPs so he wants to impress them. He then sent me an email saying "X (our VP) and I decided that we need to strengthen our European statement etc...". I honestly feel like I no longer exist and I still have 4 weeks to go here... I'm not even consulted anymore. comtesse hope this puts thing into perspective for you and makes you feel a bit better about your situation...
I have no idea what I should do... I am not planning to come back and don't really care anymore, so quite happy not having to deal with it until probably midnight or 1am tonight... but it's still upsetting and hurts my pride...

do you think I should just let it go and spend the last weeks just relaxing and counting days?

also - they told the guy who is reporting to me that his role will change completely and most of his remit will be given to someone else. But they haven't told him what he will be doing instead... and the poor guy is so stressed and upset. This has all been decided behind my back too so I have no idea what to tell him and he really doesn't deserve it...

clapham - that is shocking. The man has zero quantities of the professional sensitivity required in office jobs!

Went to a wedding in heels a couple of months back, swapped to flats VERY quickly. I forgot how much standing up is required at weddings!

Sounds stressful clapham. I hate this 'being replaced' feeling too, although mine is mostly in my head as the company has done nothing to get cover for me, so I know that this guy is going to be given more and more work and slowly they'll try to build him up to replace me. It's the idea of him sitting at my desk and trying to do my job that makes me sad though.

There's proper panic stations at work today as there is loads of work to be scheduled in, and not enough time on the schedules to do it. One of my colleagues commented that he thinks that it may now be sinking in for the company that I am leaving very soon and that I take up quite a large portion of their development team (33%).

clapham have you got any kind of relationship with your VP to be able to raise this? Or HR? You're not allowed to be treated like this! And the poor guy who's under you (so to speak) really needs some job assurance. Not a good way to leave for mat leave. Is it testosterone that makes for insensitivity and arrogance??