Due in September 2006..... into the third trimester.....on the home run

[compo]

Hope no-one minds [smile

sorry to hear about your disaster prone day Mabel
have a great time in Paris Bella
Another night of no sleep so woke up feeling sicky again. Didn't bother with the pregnacare but felt awful all round town doing some shopping.... can't wait til September and lo is out out out

Mabel - oops at your morning! Still, severing the lead is better than severing your arm/finger/leg..!

I went to my first ante natal class this morning (decided I needed a refresher..). I asked the physio about the pain in the lower abdomen, and she said it's quite common for a previous c-section scar to cause pain like this when it gets stretched. Made me feel much better. Liquidclocks, glad you made it back in one piece, but I think maybe you should go and get it checked at the doctor's/hospital just for peace of mind if nothing else.

Lysettes, well done on managing to keep your DH happy every week!!! And hope your blood pressure is ok today.

Bella, have a lovely time - don't forget to drink lots of water in the heat - we don't want you falling over on the streets of Gay Paris!

Mabel - oops!! Did that to mum's lawnmower once...

Having a much more chilled out day today and did get through last night without any undue waking up (usual loo visits, hehe!).

Moving to Oz will be a big decision, feel free to post thoughts etc for discussion. I'm sure making friends would be ok though, best time of life for meeting new people I think - has been for me anyway! How much do you see of DH anyway, would it be less if you moved? - that would probably be my biggest worry, it'd be no fun doing it on your own to all intents and purposes and if he's not around you would be. Mind you, can't talk, hardly seen my hubby this week!

And all this sex talk - what's that? I thought you conceived after drinking 3 bottles of wine and blacking out around 1am!

Mabel - well done on no more disasters! Some days you just feel it would be better going back to bed and starting all over again!

Clairemow - yes will have to keep myself hydrated!

Homemama - if I wasn't up the duff then a weekend in bed with DH would be bliss but have to say that watching a nice Rom Com is probably more on the cards for me!!

Compo - poor you on the bad night's sleep, me too , lets hope we have a better night tonight xx

Liquidclocks - very amusing, totally agree!
Funnily enough after trying to conceive for a year and trying all the eat healthily, cut out alcohol and definately no smoking etc I conceived over Chrimbo when we had decided to give up and go seek help in January and therefore embarked on my Christmas diet of Bellinis from noon, followed by an afternoon of steady drinking and crafty fags with the MIL and eating total crap. Seemed to be the missing ingredient for baby making!!

he he Bella on your bellini conception (if you were married to David Beckham, maybe Bellini would be a good name for the lo...???!!!). I reckon what was missing before was a good dose of relaxation - I know of so many people who've found it difficult to get pg, and then almost as soon as they've decided to get help and then stopped worrying for a few weeks, wham bam.

Clairemow - yes my little one could be called Little Bella Bellini !!
Oh if only

Bella - should be wonderful. We'll be going to Disneyland with PILs & family in a few weeks, but I'd trade you!

Liquid - forgot to add yesterday: am so glad you went ahead & made presentation. Can identify; wouldn't let Dr. induce DS1 in 2003 because "I've got curators coming over..." She said was okay to wait the weekend; then I started into labor on Sat. pm ... have never regretted being able to have art in that show due to putting off induction.

Homemama - you might be able to research this now, before deciding: Is there inexpensive household help, or a Mother's Day Out program, or a MOMS Club (for insta-friends) in the part of Oz to which you may be relocating? There are 2 of 3 of those here; Houston had all 3. Either way, any would be a great help to you.

In US, if you elect to go with a mw, you don't need a doula. Doulas are used for first births where woman wants to try to go "natural" and is under Dr.'s care. They are seen as the "bulldog" between the Dr. and the woman, the one who makes sure the woman has her way in "no epidural or C-section," whenever possible, and may be able to lobby that more risks are taken than usual so that the woman can deliver naturally.
Interesting to note mw's in Britain see them as "in the way" ... both doulas and mw's are on the "same side" here, towards more natural birth.
Home birth is rare. Because - Most parents dread the possibility of complications and having to rush to the hospital in the middle of labor. Also, there's the "messy factor": birth involves a lot of blood (and etc.), & most people don't want to have to clean up their home after birth.
I did consider home birth for this one, but reasons above kept me and DH from considering it seriously. Might have been easier in Houston, but reason #3 is, in this area, there are so few people who will even assist in home birth, would have been near impossible to find someone covered by our insurance.

morning ladies!

well b pressure all ok yesterday and the lo continuing to grow at a pace.

marls - although there has been a real drop in homebirths over here for the past 20 odd years, there has been a bit of a resurgence in recent years - but the debate is definitely raging about how safe it is compared to hospital.

i must admit too, to being very clumsy the past few days

went to the gym this morning and they've changed the scales there - I've apparently put on a lot of weight in the last week - hopefully it's just the scales!

bella hope by the time you get back you had a lovely weekend in Paris

lol everyone and have great weekends

well after yesterdays disastrous day I woke up today feeling much more positive - however I have just noticed that I have lost a charm off my charm bracelet - it is a little pram that my mum bought me when DS was born. Feel quite upset about it and hope it's not bad lucK?? The only thing is that I remember seeing it this morning, so I know I've lost it in the house, so am hoping it will turn up.
Marls - as lysettes says home births are being positively encouraged on the whole in the UK - even for 1st babies - which I think is a little risky. I am wondering if it to do with encouraging less medical intervention, or more to do with lack of room in over crowded hospitals. My midwife tried to talk me in to it, but I don't fancy it, I want to feel that if anything went wrong, i'd be in the best place.
Lysettes - good news about your BP.

mabel - don't worry it's not bad luck - you're just having a run of things at the moment! it will turn up have faith!

I heard a statistic somewhere that the number of home births in an NHS trust area is an indication of how overworked the mw are - the more homebirths the better as the have to allow more care for a homebirth as there's no shift change etc halfway through - I don't have the option of one, although I agree, would probably prefer to know that if anything went "not according to plan" I was in the best place.

Marls, another option here which is a kind of halfway house is a MW led birth centre - although with maternity services being closed down all over the place at the moment, these are often the first things to go

Hi everyone. I read on another thread that some people measure their bumps with toilet roll so I tried it - 9 sheets!! I had to go in to work today (usually only work weekends) so I saw lots of people I hadn't seen for ages. They were all amazed at how big I am and it's made me really paranoid - one said 'are you sure it's not twins', another said 'should you be allowed out' (ffs!!) and another said jokingly not to try the diet I'm on So now I feel a bit like a fat freak!!

Hello all,

Lysettes, glad to hear the blood pressure was ok yesterday.

Mabel, the charm will turn up. I found a pair of earrings DS gave me for wedding anniversary the other day lurking by the skirting board - hadn't seen them for 2 years! shows how often I clean down there..

Also measured the bump with loo roll - mine was 3 sheets - Compo, I don't believe yours was 9!!! Where did you measure? I did from under my ribs vertically to just above my pelvis where the bump goes in. did you do round your waist?The midwife always measures it with a tape measure vertically. It was 28 cm last week - I think it is a cm per week on average.

Had a terrible morning today. Took DS to a "soft play" thing - it's quite structured, and they have a song first (always a bit of a mare as he can see all the equipment waiting...), then go on little circuits for short periods until the whistle blows and they move to the next one. Although we've been going to this for a few months, the last 2 weeks have been really awful. DS doesn't want to do the circuit he's on, only the one before/after, or just run around like a headless chicken. If I try to re-focus him, he does a kind of screaming collapse on the floor, won't stand up, cries "no, no mummy" really loudly. Trouble is, I can't just let him run about as he could cause an accident. Today we came home in the middle as I'd had enough. Makes me feel like a shit parent for being the only mum in the room who can't control her child at all (doesn't help that I can't really lift him up - he weighs 2.5 stone..). What makes it worse is he's usually v. good at everything else (at one singing thing we go to, I have to virtually force him to get up off my lap!). The minute I had dragged him out crying he calmed down, walked really well back to the carand then sang songs all the way home. I ignored him while I cried in frustration... Help! Could he be saying that actually he hates the class, and by throwing a wobbly, he gets to leave???? Or maybe he's too tired for something so focussed and energetic after 2 full days at nursery (just started a new one with older children so maybe that's making him more knackered than normal)? Maybe I should go a different day.

Sorry that was so long. I feel a bit stressed about it. Don't want to dread friday mornings, but don't really want to stop going, as it's really good for his co-ordination, and to begin with he loved it. When the baby comes, I'm going to try and get DH to take him. Cop out!!

sorry, should have said that's measuring all the way round at the biggest bit!!

aha, mine is now 8 and a little bit. So not so different after all!

thanks Claire - that makes me feel loads better!! Sorry that your morning out with ds was stressful...

Clairemow - sorry you've had such a stressful morning! Remind us how old DS is again? I just had crazy toddler session too. One of the kids is SO clingy and cried almost constantly and threw loads of strops, difficult to deal with as it's purely and attention thing and the mum just panders to it and doesn't really discipline it when it's nasty towards the other children. grr. It's the same child that hit DS last time they came to our house but my friend kind of told me off when I raised my voice at DS for doing something (for the 4th/5th time) he'd been told not to.

I think your group sounds very regimented - I don't think toddlers work lke that, they like to do what they like to do and no matter how much you try and involve them in something if there's something else that looks more interesting they're off!

hi Liquid - DS is 2.1, and yes, it is a bit regimented - we used to go to the one for younger children and they could choose much more what they wanted to do - he adored that. the thing is all the other children seem to cope absolutely fine - or maybe I am just not seeing as I'm so caught up trying to make DS do what he should. DS is just very full on, really active and enthusiastic, but only about what he wants to do. Maybe I should just stop going and take him to the zoo to see the lions instead.

Also hate it when other mums don't discipline at all, esp when it involves hitting, biting, pinching etc. Although I know a 2 year old has no malice when he/she hits, and often does it through excitement, how else can they learn it's wrong if no-one says anything and distracts them to do something more productive?

Bump is 10.5 sheets of loo roll! I'm not really a big girl either although I never got comfortably back into a size 10 after DS, I just carry like I'm having three! Despite losing so much weight in the first trimester, I still needed my maternity trousers between 14&15wks.

On that subject, Marls, what is the American equivalent of a British size10? Going to a wedding next month, can't find anything I like but saw a dress I liked on an American maternity clothes website.

Anyway, glad your BP seems stable, Lysettes.

Claire, try not to blame yourself (or DS) It's probably just a combination of change and the heat. We've started at Jo Jingles now after our little independent music class closed. It's taking DS a while to settle despite seeing many of the same children. I'm just waiting tosee how he is in a few weeks.

Mabel, I'm sure your charm will turn up soon. At least you know you've lost it in the house.

I would love to have a home birth this time around. Thought about it last time as mw was keen but in new area and they don't seem keen at all. I've just got visions of going into labour on a Sat pm and getting stuck in traffic. From beginning to dilate until DS was born last time was just 3 hours so I'm quite nervous about an unplanned bathroom floor delivery or worse, one in the car. Worse still, it could be a week day and take DH 1.5hours to get back from central London so I could be on my own. I really don't want to have to call MIL and have her here instead of DH. Sorry for moaning.

Well ladies, what doyou all think of the news today that women are to be offered more choice (homebirth, 1 to 1 with mw etc) I was lucky last time in that I had one mw from start to finish and she didn't leave to check on other patients. Not sure what this time will be but feel so sorry for first time mums who are left on their own for ages during what can be long labours. It must just add to their anxiety. I'm sure those of you opting for an elective after a previous cs must have considered that as a worry too.

Gosh, sorry for my recent long posts.

Clairemow- sounds like something my DD would do and then i'd be completely mortified (she will be 2 in Sept). We are having tantrums for everything at the mo and I know how it can get you down, esp. when we're all hormonal!

I have no mindee this afternoon so have put DD to bed and sat eating flying saucers while watching tv and on mumsnet- heaven!

different loo roll brands might also be different sizes.... maybe we should all try with the same one???!!!! ho ho

is a British size 10 a 6 in the US?

Pol - what have you found to watch? I;m lost without neighbours and doctors! MMmmm, flying saucers.... will have to look out for those!

Clairemow - I'd just put it down to that your DS isn't ready to adjust yet. Maybe you could find something else to do fora month or so unless it's one of those places you go to see friendly adult faces. My DS (19 months) has been particularly slow to grasp playgrounds, mainly slides, which has caused problems when I'm out with friends. But he's just not there yet, and he's certainly not timid about anything else!

BTW, do people think that a 19 monthold should be told off for doing something it's repeatedly been told not to? Or am I expecting too much of DS?

Also UK 10 = US 6 (love shopping at gap...)

liquidclocks- watching a taped rosemary and thyme (I know, how sad am I!) but there is nothing else on.

I tell DD off and she is 18mnths. She understands and does things which are naughty for reactions etc... She understands it is wrong to hit etc and if she wasn't told not too , how would she ever learn. She has the habit of kicking at mo while I do her nappy and then laughs when I tell her off. I'm sorry but I can't stand ppl who let their kids run riot and 'bully' others. Parents may fine it acceptable for a 1.5yr old hitting them but what when they are 5/6yrs and have a harder hit and much more mallice.