February 2014. The cake mix is in the mug, the microwave is on, it's slowly rising and we'll be pinging in three more months!

[Shropshiremummy2B]

Sadly my cake mix is rising too much and resulting in a serious muffin top.

Shropshire you're so posh! I work for a shooting family (well I did until the husband shot himself) and we used to go to Ireland all the time. The adults would go off shooting in the rain and the kids and I would stay inside the big house wrapped up in blankets, with the fire on watching DVDs all day! That was very downton too, all the food was cooked for us etc. Wonder if you know anyone we know or even the family I work for, that would be weird! They used to hold their own shoot.

Ps. For the record, I hate dead birds so I'm glad they don't do it anymore! Used to hate opening the fridge and finding a dead partridge looking at me!

OH MY GOD that's awful!!! (The man shooting himself, not the partridge bit).

I'm clearly not posh, finding the whole 'ring the bell for service' thing VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.

Morning all, hope you had a good weekend. Well DH finally got to feel the baby kicking - she's been kicking away for ages but he's missed it every time, so am happy about that. I had a bit of a meltdown on Saturday (AND related) and was still kind of shaky yesterday but feeling a bit more positive this morning. DH is taking a long lunch break today so we can go out for a sneaky pub lunch :)

Happily the white clothes that a mouse had got into have all come out sparkling clean, so today I have the mammoth task of washing about a dozen bags of boys clothes for the same reason. Well, I won't get through that many today but will do what I can - a superwash on my machine takes 2.5 hours and it's not exactly drying clothes weather out there! I found a friend yesterday who needs boys clothes (she got rid of her boys clothes as thought she was finished but had another little boy over the summer) so once they're washed and dried I will sort them out for her. Looking forward to clearing the space in the eaves, though not looking forward to the massive laundry loads!

I don't know if it's AND related or just caution after 3 MCs and knowing others who've had stillbirths but I am not taking anything for granted this pregnancy and despite the fact that time is ticking on, I can't quite get excited like I want to. Hell, I need to get a bit more excited otherwise I'll never have the motivation to paint the nursery! (and it really needs doing, what a state that room is in at the moment!) When my friends get all excited I find myself having to pretend to be as enthusiastic as they are which is baffling as this is a much-wanted baby and we have had our share of ttc difficulties. Hmm, hormones are funny things. I just want to snap out of it and get ready for the arrival but can't find it in me.

Also (sorry for epic post) a friend took her 3 boys to Center Parcs last week and fell off the climbing frame, fracturing a bone in her back so she needs a lot of help at the moment as she lives way out in the sticks but can't drive/ do a lot now. She has a very unsupportive husband who has just left her to sort everything out this week as he 'has to work' (he actually has very flexible working conditions and could help if he chose but thinks everything to do with the house/ kids is solely her responsibility and behaves like a single bloke - makes me livid) So I have to do quite a bit of ferrying her and her children about this week. Add to that Halloween parties, a birthday party, my mum visiting Tues-Thurs, Scout Exec meetings and various other regular commitments this week and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fit it all together...

Anyway, onwards and upwards. It's gonna be a busy week.

sugar your poor friend, that sounds really debilitating. You sound like a lovely friend, but make sure you take enough time to look after yourself too.

shrops your week sounds fab, especially the Downton esque bit. I like to make my own Xmas cakes si have allergies so i'm sure they're ok, and add far more booze than my mum ever would!

Work on our en suite is progressing nicely, but it's a very tight space, and I've just realised that I basically won't be able to fit into it until after baby is born!

littlepanda such sad news, hope you’re ok. When something like that happens it really makes you appreciate what you’ve got. I’m constantly worried about my pregnancy and premature labour is my biggest fear at the moment.

Thanks for the advice about returning to work champagne! I found some pretty good downloads on the NCT website too, so I’m feeling a bit more hopeful they might have me back part time

I still have no phone (grumble) and am finding it very hard keeping up with the thread, sorry if I’ve missed any important news.

Dh painted the nursery yesterday, I love it. We’ve painted the largest wall a lovely sky blue and I’m going to either paint or get some stickers of clouds on there, and maybe a rainbow.

We went to mothercare yesterday to ask about pushchairs and the sales assistant was rubbish so we were even more confused than when we went in. Still want an Uppababy though (just can’t get over the expense), nothing seems to compare at the minute, although we’re yet to see any icandys.

My kicks are sporadic too and I often worry about a lack of them. Laying on my left does the trick usually and I’ve noticed drinking a cold drink does work and eating some carbs. I had my hair done the other day and was in agony at the sink by the person combing out the tangles - the baby was kicking like mad, made me wonder if he could feel my discomfort!

Eeyore thanks for the Christmas cake reminder - have just added the ingredients to my Ocado order for tomorrow, looking forward to getting baking!

Is everyone faring ok with the storm? No obvious effects around here but no trains up to London until late morning apparently so it seems I'm 'working from home' - feels a bit like a snow day! Dropped DS at nursery and seeing as he failed to get the memo about the clocks changing and I was up with him trying to get him back to sleep (unsuccessfully) from 4:15am, I might sneak in a crafty nap in a bit. Might also make some carrot and butternut squash soup. Got to make the most of the enforced quiet time at home!

Tiny I agree, I'm scared about it too. But we have to accept that things will probably be ok - in fact, statistically most first babies are born overdue.
I'm now two weeks away from my interim milestone of 25 weeks! Breaking it down into fortnight chunks makes things more do-able, for some reason.

Oh, I got told by my aunt and her sister that I'm small bumped - feels like another unlocked preg achievement to have bump commented on! I think they've just forgotten I'm a pretty normal size for my gestation, plus being tall I'll show less than others anyway.

Littlepanda sorry to hear about your friend. I know someone who was in that situation last year, and it must be awful. My boyfriend's nephex was born at 25 weeks, and apart from having aspergers (which he could have had anyway, don't know if it is related to being born early at all) - after spending 3 months in hospital he came home, and is now a healthy - nearly teenage boy! One of my good friends was also born 3 months early, and she was exceptional, only in hospital a few days before going home - apparently she kept pulling out the cables and everything, so there was no point keeping her in as she was coping fine despite her early birth! Don't think that is very common though, but amazing :) She's not got anything wrong with her at all. I keep counting the days and weeks, which I have done since finding out I was pregnant, feeling thankful every day, and slightly less worried every day as getting closer to term date. So used to things going wrong for me, but hopefully this is not one of them!

My baby boy in here does not respond to sugar, cold drinks or caffeine, like all the advice says. Probably because I have lots of these every day anyway. Under the caffeine limit, but I keep comfort eating chocolate when I feel down >< (which is most days)

Hope everyone is alright in the potential storm - hopefully it will skip most of the country and go into the sea instead!

Totally understand what you mean about feeling lucky and like this isn't really real. My aunt carried a baby until full term, gave birth naturally and he only lived for a matter of hours. So sad.

DH and I had a fairly chilled weekend, made a bit of a start on decorating the nursery. Had to put 3 coats of white paint over the lime green walls to prevent a green 'hulk' tinge shining through the subtle nursery yellow we've gone for!

Had a bit of a noisy night what with the storm. Have lost a few roof tiles but other than that nothing major has happened. Am working from home anyway today due to car MOT so by luck have missed what would have been a chaotic 90min drive to work no doubt.

tiny I have the uppababy (thanks to VVV generous parents). It's fab but I agree, if I had to purchase myself I would probably go for something else due to the price tag. I quite like the Babystyle Oyster as a 2nd choice.

shropshire you made me spit tea over my laptop with your touching rods comment. Glad you're having a nice break. Feel free to come on here/FB to talk baby stuff!

Sugar I agree with Eeyore - you poor friend, but you must look after yourself first and foremost, especially if you are feeling fragile at the moment.

Laura my goodness, the poor kids.

Shrops I always find those situations awkward too. Stayed at a hotel in Oman where we had our own butler...I hated it!! I would be rubbish at being landed gentry. Holiday sounds fab in general though. I bet the dogs are in heaven.
I've been making my own Christmas cake since I was 20, you're never too young :) Like Eeyore I use a hefty amount of booze - not sure if I should cut that down a bit this year...

Littleen it sounds like your little guy is very stubborn :) But on the positive side, maybe a chilled baby in the womb = a chilled baby in the world?! Another thing to try might be giving yourself a really good prod in the tum. I had an antenatal massage and the therapist was really working my bump - I don't think I'd have dared to be as..erm..aggressive? as her but it got the little one moving like mad!

lastnight thinking of you

It's a beautiful calm day up here in Scotland, have seen some crazy photos of trees down etc on FB feed though. Hope those of you in affected areas are keeping toasty inside and enjoying not having to commute today!

marzi, I make my own christmas pudding. I didnt use any less alcohol to soak the fruit in than previously in fact due to measuring jug failure is probably more

storm has totally missed the north east but Im about to talk to my folks on the south coast and see how they fared.

Ok working from home is boring and instead I'm researching baby items and looking up christmas cake recipes!

Those of you who have had DC and breast fed - did you get a pump and if so manual or electric? The electric ones seem so pricey? Are they worth it?

My husband really, really wants to get a cat. Am I crazy considering it? I have this mental picture of cat trying to sleep in the bednest! Plus risk of toxo, but I don't know how high that actually is for cats.

jazz I used a manual pump with ds which was fine. He was ebf until 3-4 weeks and then dual fed (for various medical reasons). I expressed throughout with this and never had any problems nor did it take ages to do.
It's in a cupboard somewhere will see if I can find it to give you a brand name. I am planning on doing the same this time as it worked well and ds does not seem any the worse for it.

Jazzcat I am a first timer so obv have no clue but I've been told by two friends independently not to scrimp on a breast pump as if I did I'd probably only end up buying a better one pretty swiftly anyway so it's a false economy... That's only 2 buddies though, but I'm praying so hard that I can both bf and express --as I'm so desperate for a proper drink and know how hard it can all be, so I did buy agood one in the desperate hope I'll be making life a teenier bit easier for me!

cam, marzi I was very generous with the booze in my cakes. my hand must have, erm, slipped by the time December comes around most of it will have evaporated or so I tell myself

We had really good storm action down here but thankfully there doesn't appear to be damage to our house. Lots of trees down nearby, and apparently the sea is crazy.

I'm working from home as there's no way I could get in. It's lovely to have a non baby related excuse for once!

I received a letter back from hr about my maternity leave, and the ML bit is fine. But I'm still confused about annual leave. I was hoping to tack lots on to the end, 7 weeks of bank holidays and annual leave. I've got lots to take, and they say I can take accrued at the end, but subject to the usual 10 days max carryover. That's illogical, surely?

Julietee cats are brilliant and I would never be without one (several) but I'd say wait until you have the baby first. Toxoplasmosis is easily avoided (just don't go near the poo) and it probably won't go near the bednest ( and you can shit it out of the bedroom) but it can take a long time to settle a cat and can be quite stressful for you all so maybe it's not the best timing? If it does settle in quickly then having a baby arrive is quite an upheaval for it so soon after finding its place and establishing a relationship with you. I think better to get it to join when the baby is already established in the household would be kinder to the cat!

Jazzcat - with dd I had a medala swing electric breast pump. I would recommend as it's easy to use and less faff than a manual. X

Julietee cats are fantastic creatures and I too couldn't be without! I do agree that right now probably isn't the best time to get one, though if your DH really doesn't want to wait, you could always go to your local rescue and explain the situation and see if they have any that are accustomed to living with babies/toddlers.
I am worried about how our guy is going to react to not being an only child anymore, but he is very needy soppy and a more laid back cat might take it all in stride..

Had that medela swing one recommended to me yesterday (but already bought a lansinoh one.) Friend then showed me close up video of his wife using a pump! Bloody hell.
I'm hoping a pump will help give me bigger nips as mine are not inverted but are tiny and I wouldn't be surprised if that made it a lot tricker to feed?

This is just another thought, but when we did our antenatal classes, they covered using pumps and gave sone recommendations of ones to use from feedback they had had from people.
For those looking at slings/wraps, we also looked and tried various ones of these out. This led us to buy (I think) a mei-tai and we had a borrowed Bjorn.