January 2014 (thread 9) Pregnancy half time is over. Fast growing bumps, braxton hicks and we thought we would worry less!

[Frizz1986]

Hope its ok me setting up a new thread.
Couldnt see one, but if I am just being blind please tell me.....

choco I have that too. Hoping its just the hard bed I'm sleeping on at the moment on holiday and it will be better back at home. Flight was pretty painless on way here but dreading flight back now.

Had massage yesterday which helped temporarily although very sore this morning!

penny I have terrible varicose veins all down thigh and front of knee on one leg and behind knee on other. Not so bothered about the colour it's the bulging! They are literally 1cm sticking out. It looks gross. Doctor said it'll just get worse, which it is rapidly. Just think of the healthy baby :)

Oh no choco Glad you are out now and hopefully thats the last of it.
I am struggling sleeping a lot. Have to wake up to turn over every 40mins as my hips hurt so bad and if i wake up flat on my back my lower back kills and i can hardly move. My pg pillow doesn't feel like it helps at all.

sultana mmm pitta breads.
My mum does flat breads. Not sure where her recipe is from but she makes a massive batch and turns some of it into loaves and she fries some in a pan and the pan ones create flat breads. Must be to do with cooking the dough so fast that it doesn't really rise, it just creates an air pocket.

Strange Q. Anyone noticed they have less of an odour now pg. I used to shower every day (every other if i was being lazy) and i would start to smell after day 1 so would need to at least wash. Now this week i have been so lazy (and as gross as this is) i didn't shower or wash in 3 days!! But......smell as fresh as a daisy. I have never smelt this good.
(Please don't vom over my skankiness)

I can't decide if I'm being neurotic... Tell me!

Last night I forgot about SPD for a second and ran for the train. Felt like I'd been shot in the crotch (embarrassingly let out a yell on the platform) and SPD was unbearable overnight. Stupid but explainable - should have stuck with advice and been careful.

However, since then I've also had noticeably less movement (at night I'm usually kept awake being kicked HARD!) and the little I have had has been tiny flutters, not the usual pummelling. I've also definitely had increased discharge (sorry). Don't think it's a "leak" but not sure whether it would be obvious.

Anyway now I'm wondering if I should drag DS to hang around and wait at hosp so they can check things over... I mean joints hurting my fault, nothing I can do, but would you be worried about other stuff? Can I really have done any damage with 30 seconds of forgetting I was pg?! Bah.

frizz! Thats hilarious! I actually havent tested the theory myself, but I normally have to wear top strength deoderant and currently my normal strength one is doing the trick....

Mmmmm flatbreads!

choco that sounds horrible and humiliating! Poor you! Glad you are recovering OK. What is helping me with my hip pain is an egg crate foam mattress topper. It doesnt completely get rid of it, but it has made a real difference! Plus a full length body pillow...

Toby I get the impression you aint no Mr Hollywood fan! I didnt use any seeds in mine, but DH was so impressed with how well they turned out, he took some in to work (he works with chefs). Now these are the only pittas we have made, but after tasting them I swore I wouldnt buy them again....

mrsg phew for no infection. Boo for back pain!,

extra could your muscles be tensing more currently because of the pain, meaning you arent feeling things as strongly? I really am purely guessing.... Have you tried the usual tricks of drinking cold drinks and eating chocolate to get bubs moving? I would say if you are at all worried contact your midwife or get checked out....Hopefully its nothing to worry about and a coincidence there is more discharge/less movement, but not worth sitting and stressing when you could get some reassurance...

Oh good point sultana, maybe I am tenser. Might just ring MW rather than go straight in... No one EVER picks up the phone there though!

extra, the two things are highly unlikely to be connected. Sometimes the baby just moves round, because it's still quite small and has a fair bit of room, and the kicks are nowhere near as obvious as they usually are. It's happened to me a couple of times and it's a bit unnerving, but soon enough it turns again and I'm being booted to death from the inside once more :o

If you're still feeling the movements, I'd give it until this evening, if it were me. Do the usual -- cold fizzy drinks, chocolate, lying in your left side etc. Works for me. But obviously, if you're really worried, ignore me and go straight to hospital and get checked.

As for the SPD, I can't remember -- have you seen a physio or anything?

Sultana, as a baker since I was a child, I just don't think Paul Hollywood is a very good baker! He burned most of the things in his 'Bread' series and he uses so much salt. I just hate that 'twinkly eyed charm' thing that everyone thinks he has. He gives me the willies. Plus I've tried about 4 of his recipes and they never work. But, as I said, I will definitely try the pitta recipe because I'm inclined to believe someone who has tried it and had it work for them :)

Today I am dreading the meal plan more than ever. It's homemade chicken and mushroom pies today. Usually on a Friday we have Pieminister pies and ready made fancy mash. This costs the best part of £10 for just me and DH. So according to my self-imposed budget, I am making everything myself. But the temptation to get in the car and dash to Waitrose is unbearable :o

I was thinking what Sultana said about the tensed muscles, too.

Toby I am glad you said he burnt most things in his bread series. I kept thinking most things looked super dark, which I hate the flavour of - really bitter! Yuk! I dont think I left my pittas in the oven as long as he did because they barely coloured, but thats how I like them. Compared to shop bought pittas I thought both the flavour and texture were superior and they didnt have me reaching for a drink to help them go down.... Bare in mind I am a novice baker, but I really enjoyed them. You will have to try them and see what you think...

You are really putting me to shame with your homemade everything... We are out for dinner tonight with friends and last nights dinner for me was a yoghurt and an apple as I didnt want mega heartburn and in fact the heartburn was much better! Think I may start trying to have my main meal at lunch if I can....

toby I have been dreading my meal plan this week too. Have been going so well and spending our budget well but the past few days and nights I have just felt hungry!
Have got tagliatelle and meatballs tonight tho and as we will hopefully make lots we can stock up the freezer.
I think I am struggling most at work. Cheap lunches are hard. Have had sandwiches but am just bored of them now. Don't fancy homemade soups and don't like jacket potatoes unless they are from the oven with crispy skin. Now its getting colder I just want a hot lunch.
Have had toast and jam the past 2 days

Am planning on sausage ragu with pasta for next weeks lunches but as dh seems to have broken half the lids on our storage tubs we will have to buy more and thats like £3 added onto the weekly shop straight away.

extra I would have no idea but a call to the mw should put your mind at rest. I seem to have eves with not much movement too and my discharge is all over the place!

Glad that the infection cleared up mrsg but boo for sucky pains.

penny sorry about the knees. I seem to have been fortunate so far as no stretch marks (yet) or additional cellulite. I think the stretch marks will come but as I used to be much fatter I think my skin is still within the limits that it used to be so nothing has appeared yet.

Finding it tough at home over the past few days due to dh feeling low. He is moping around a bit as still no supply work. Sat waiting in your suit for a phone call at 7:30am and then nothing must be hard. Tried to tell him to keep occupied as although he isn't working if he is doing housework and other things he will at least feel good. Thousands of people are stay at home parents and so I was trying to encourage him that its ok, but its tough. Just want him to feel good about himself.

I definitely will :)

I have pastry to make. Boo hiss. After this episode of Desperate Housewives, I promise...

Have a lovely dinner out tonight, Sultana!

Leftover pasta/casseroles are excellent for work lunches, Frizz.

Poor DH :( I hope something comes up for him soon, so that he feels better. It must be very disheartening for him.

Angel Yes, I went to Aldi too yesterday. Debated over that pillow but decided against it as I wasn't sure whether it was any good. Sounds like it is though!

I got lots of other lovely bits though. I really like the bath towel with the hoodie... My dh had a bit of a moment in the shop though, saying it was too early to be buying clothes and that we would get stuff from friends and family anyway etc etc. Pissed me off to be honest as I had been looking forward to a nice, cosy shopping spree. First time we bought anything at all for baby, and we ended up having a bit of a fight in the shop. :( I wouldn't mind doing all the shopping and choosing myself, but then he says that he feels excluded and would like us to share the experience - which is lovely. Not sure what to do about this...trying to hold back my urges to start buying stuff?! So far we have nothing in terms of big stuff like buggies, cots, changing tables etc... Hopefully he'll develop some enthusiasm in the next few weeks/months!

Thanks toby. Good luck with the procrastinating pastry making.

frizz your poor DH. What a shame there are still no opportunities for him.

lalunya I had that with DH for ages. We finally agreed to start looking at things after the 20 week scan and then when we found things on sale that encouraged him to get it now rather than waiting until November.... Perhaps have a chat with him and suggest spreading the cost by buying things gradually.....

sultana - funny you say that, we had a chat last night, and this morning he (voluntarily and without me prompting) suggested that we should go to primark and matalan and check out what their stuff is like in terms of quality and price! Do some market research basically, which I'm obviously more than happy with. Can't believe he suggested this! I acted like it was no big deal, so he doesnt end up feeling embarassed by it all. Was very matter-of-fact about it.

Glad you got it sorted, Lalunya :)

If it helps, Matalan baby stuff isn't great. The vests go very shapeless after a few washes. Primark seems ok. Supermarkets are the way forward if it's cheap basics you want.

toby - great, thanks for the tipps. Will keep this in mind. We're on the lookout for stuff like tights, socks, gloves - stuff that friends and family tend not to buy as presents. We want to avoid buying too much stuff for the first 3 months as lots of people have warned us that it's easy to overstock.

This is probably a very obvious one to most of you, but: We bought these little jumpsuits yesterday - short sleeves, no legs. Do you use tights underneath? Or trousers on top?? How do they work? I suppose a jumper goes on top?

Now you all know that I know NOTHING at all about babies!!

Like this, Lalunya?

Or like this?

If it's the former, they're like vests. They go on first, then clothes on top. Up to you what you put on top of them. For us, it'll be onesies exclusively for the first few months at least. I just think babies look more comfortable in them than proper clothes. But when you put the baby in clothes, and if you're thinking tights, they work well underneath, with the poppers done up over the top. It keeps them up!

You can also get long sleeved ones, which are good for winter. They're bottom layer and you build on top of them (especially if short sleeved). Guideline is little babies need one more layer than you. More general stuff here! www.babycenter.com/0_baby-clothes-for-the-first-six-weeks_519.bc

We're mostly going the same way as Toby in the first few weeks - all in ones. Warm, comfy and easy, with a vest underneath! And cardies or whatever on top if necessary.

Really useful for that clothing info, I was saying to Dh Tuesday that I have no idea what babies wear to start with, and as all our clothes are second hand don't even know the names of things!

Thanks all! I think we will buy a few alternatives - the onesies sound tempting as everything stays in place better and baby's bits stay nice and warm regardless of how much s/he moves!

The good thing about putting tights under the vest was (I thought) that if things get a bit messy with the nappy business, you don't have to change the vest, only the tights...could save some washing?

I did the same when DH finally made suggestions. I acted nonchalantly but inside I was jumping up and down...

Quick vest question. Am also aiming for vest with sleepsuit over the top initially, but not many places do vests that dont include poppers at the bottom. Are they now out of fashion?

This is what I was thinking of: http://www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-My-First-Short-Sleeve-Wrap-Vests-%E2%80%93-2-Pack/LU1116,default,pd.html vests

However this is what most shops seem to stock: http://www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-My-First-Unisex-Bodysuits-%E2%80%93-7-Pack/LX0108,default,pd.html bodysuits

Are bodysuits the new vest?

Shite - links didnt work...

bodysuits

vests

Why would you want vests without poppers? They'd just ruck up underneath whatever you put on top