October 2013 - Are we neary *there* yet?!

[MrsHoratioNelson]

Welcome, welcome, sit down, put your feet up.

Spreadsheet here

They're officially full term at the same time as everyone - 37 weeks - but I just had 'September' as a real goal, as that's the month they are due.... C section is next goal... A week on Tues!!!!

Ah ok, well done for reaching this milestone, I was so worried for you at 23/24 weeks.

Doing a big clean and tidy up today but having a rest now as back aching. Trying to video my squiggly bump on the iPad but it only moves when I stop recording. Cheeky little monkey!

Hi ladies

Just checking in so sorry if I forget anything

Happy belated birthday caz and hayley

Well done on reaching your milestone legally so happy for you

Hope you feel better and enjoy the fry falcon

Tarlia sorry your still not great. Please ring hospital re blood pressure. How is your ds?

Nat hope you got to your race day.

Good to hear from you feminist and funkky

Thinking of you legally

Hope everyone is having a relaxing sunday.

DH and FIL have gone to watch a gaelic football match, hope they win because I wont be able to deal with the depression if they lose :)

My sister got engaged!!!!! So thrilled for her as she always thought it would never happen

Re bf and food..... I am nigerian and I will be toning it down a little on the spices in the early days. I do eat a lot of tomato based sauces/stews so cant really avoid them. I know baby will get a taste of the food from amniotic fluid. I know there might not be research to back this up but some things were and are advised to new mothers in dufferent cultures. My mother is dead so I can't ask her but my dad who knows about these things told me not to eat salt and pepper after I had DS. He also told me to have very hot showers!!! In fact he insisted on these. He said this is what the new mothers in the village were told to do and you can kind of understand it. There are also special foods that are made for new mothers. Now obviously you take all these with a pinch of salt but I don't ignore things just because there is no "research" out there. Esp when they re not harmful. Also some of my best friends are chinese and indian origin and they too had different foods etc that they were encouraged to eat/avoid after giving birth! Again just another view.....

Hello all, I'm currently sat shivering on a park bench (knew I should have brought a cardigan with me) whilst DP and DD climb on the play equipment. Don't know why they always insist I come along! Anyway, thought I'd use this time to catch up.

Roofio your baby shower sounds lovely and I'm glad your mouth is feeling a bit better.

Caz and Master Pinkforboys - belated birthday wishes. I hope the bike was forgotten once he saw all his other presents.

Fingers crossed for you Tarlia

Orange - thank you for the advice. There is a 'meet the teacher' event in a week or so which may prove useful. It's a whole class, rather than individual appointment, type of thing but I may be able to grab a moment for a chat.

Been feeling really rough the last couple of days - lots of heartburn/sickness and lots of strong BHs. Does anyone else's bump feel very stretched and tender? If I accidentally knock it, it really hurts. Also getting sharp stabbing pains up the centre of my vagina that I remember from last time. Slightly worried that they are starting so early though (35 weeks tomorrow) - last time it was around 38/9 weeks.

On a plus note, DP seems to have come back from his trip with a personality transplant. Suddenly he's very concerned about whether my hospital bag is packed and even touched my bump unprompted last night. Absence must have made the heart grow fonder.

different

Oh yes, forgot to say, brilliant news legally - a week on Tuesday - eeeek!

Glad those were just braxton hicks jelly

And pseudo I will post in your other thread re ds! My ds is going to be 3 on wednesday. Bathtime/bedtime is our main problem here and I'm starting to panic a bit :( He also comes into our bed almost every night...... not too bad if it is in the morning and we sleep for another half hr but it has recently been as early as 1am which means my sleep is even more interrupted.

you've done so well legally to carry twins to this stage! Almost there And I missed the discussion yesterday - I'm very pro natural birth but I would also go for C section if I were told that vaginal birth could be dangerous for baby 2. Not worth the risk. Why is it by the way? Can't remember... is it because sometimes cervix can begin to close after the birth of baby 1?

chickien congrats to your sis! Why do they tell women to have hot baths after birth by the way? Very interesting and I can't figure out why! And, just to add, the only times when I could see DS reacting to my milk was once I started working out, 3-4 months after birth. Apparently exercise can make milk taste a bit sour (although it's still equally good) and I could see he wasn't too keen.

falcon sorry you've been sick again... good to know it's normal though

bridget sounds like your DP is waking up a bit! Some men just take ages... but lovely that he will be in this new frame of mind for the birth

shire forgot to say this morning - I think all your names are really nice. Francesca was our favourite name for the girl so I obviously love it and I really like Gabriel, this would be my favourite from your mix - mentioned it to DP ages ago as a potential name for this baby but he wasn't too keen for some reason.

ana I'm your due date buddy so same here - still doesn't feel that real with over 7 weeks to go... but I made a start on my hospital bag this morning, half packed now. Who had this useful hospital bag by the way? Was it you wicked? Could you re-post it please?

And I need help... although I can cook, I can't bake at all because of one terrible teenage experience... stupid I know as I'm now totally convinced I can't bake... DP wants me to get over this phobia and requested a cake for his birthday... stressed!!! What do I do? What's the best starter cake for someone like me? I don't want to have another terrible experience to put me off it for another 20 years. Do you have any good recipes?

I meant who had that good hospital bag LIST? Not hospital bag

I think mistress-of-the-lists was GT. I copied it down by hand, but haven't actually packed, yet. I have been gathering little bits at a time - this weekend was spare toiletries. Next on the job list is snacks.

clapham This weekend I decided to take control of this hospital bag things so I went out to get dark button up nightshirts from matalan so now I have 2 nightshirts and two packs of maternity pads in a plastic shopping bag. I'm almost ready, right?

I am also a cook not a baker and I absolutely HATE making cakes so I searched "easy cake" on pinterest and this is the only thing that appealed to me: Chocolate Baileys Mud Cake I make no promises about how easy it is to make.

What sort of cake do you like Clapham? Eg chocolate, lemon, fruit.

Clapham - not sure how long the new attitude will last but enjoying it for the time being.

Just wondering whether anyone else is packing a bag for there older DC too? All depends on the time I go into labour (ideally I'll give birth during the school day and DP can be back at school for pick-up) but DD may need to stop over night at a friend's house. Thinking of packing....

Washbag (toothbrush, toothpaste, flannel, hairbrush)
Towel
Full spare school uniform
Spare outfit
Teddy/soft toy
Pyjamas/nightie
Two sticker books (1 for DD and 1 for friend)

Is there anything else anyone can think of?

Also, fellow dog owners, are you making any dog-sitting plans?

In addition

In addition, how are people feeling about birth plans?

To bother or not to bother?

sounds like we are on a similar schedule then ana I still need to get some things but would love to finish packing next weekend. Thanks for the recipe too!

orange I don't really like cakes... this is half of the problem I expect. I would love to learn to bake though and I think DP and DS would love it even more! I don't have a sweet tooth and if I fancy a desert occasionally it's usually profiteroles or mille feuille... so probably the most difficult ones to make and I'm not going to attempt them! I also like carrot cake or something with banana or lemon in it... nothing terribly sweet or creamy...

bridget I'm not bothering. I bothered last time and it all went differently anyway. Also, I didn't lose my mind or control so was always able to tell them what I want or don't want and ask questions. Noone even looked at my birth plan last time

The dog issue has been bothering us too, Bridget. We're planning a homebirth, but don't know how it will go and how he'll react to all the fuss.
We're off to a wedding next weekend, so may sound out the dog sitter he goes to, but I don't like the uncertainty about times - it doesn't seem fair on her.

Clapham - the Betty Crocker pre-mix carrot cake is pretty much foolproof to make, but some might consider it cheating.

oh shire... DP would never know...

Ah yes I remember you saying you dont have a sweet tooth. This is my favourite lemon cake from my little venice wedding cakes recipe book. I made it as the top tier for my sisters wedding cake and it can handle icing (buy ready made royal icing) or is really nice on its own, even better if you cut it in half and fill it with the lemon buttercream.

luscious lemon cake

lemon buttercream

Thanks to whoever used Evernote this morning, I have downloaded the app.

Do you have a cake tin? This is quite a deep cake, a 3inch deep cake tin rather than the flat Victoria sandwich type tins.

Haha Shire's idea might be better if you don't enjoy it! No one would know...

Ouch ouch ouch! I've come home early from work today (not bad 1st time this pg) having lightening crotch issues, and stabby stitch like pains under bump, had some big movements earlier and it hasn't stopped moving since I've been home! Almost feels like it's not happy with the position it's in today, naughty baby!

Loving all the cake chat, I'm rubbish, maybe mat leave and both girls at school full time will equal baking and eating lots of cake!

It's funny, I absolutely love cooking, but just find baking a bit 'meh', too.
Probably why I enjoy Masterchef and have never really watched The Great British Bake Off.
But I do like eating - go figure.

I sent flyer a Facebook message and she is fine, just away at a wedding to those who were wondering.

Mmm now I've got the recipe book out I think I might make a fruit cake to feed to visitors when the baby comes. Or maybe make a lemon cake and freeze it. I've never tried it before but apparently freezing cake works well.

Ouch blondies. I get that sometimes but not usually for long. I hope the baby changes position soon and that that eases things for you.