The PESH are waddling their way to Christmas & trying not to freak out!

[FrankelInFoal]

The ante-natal fred for BESH graduates.

Recent Grads (aka CRESH)

blonderthanred, boy, born 26th October 2012
FriendofDorothy, boy, born 14th December 2012
QueenRollo, boy, born 21st January 2013
LazyMachine (38) boy EDD 9/2/13 - need an actual arrival date!
CamelKnees (34) EDD 22/04/2013 - need actual arrival date!
HaveALittleFaith (31), Faithlet arrived 14th April 2013
fertilityFTW (34) arrival date needed!
pinkr, (33), girl born 25th August 2013
Jethro (36) boy born 23rd September 2013

Waiting to lay:
Noks - EDD 28/12/2013
Frankel - EDD 4/3/2014
Sinky - EDD 18/3/2014
Ginfox - EDD end April 2014
Kat - EDD needed
Drizz - EDD 7/6/2014
Draf - EDD 19/6/2014
Winks - EDD 29/6/2014

Apologies for any misinformation or omissions!

Well done on surviving Dor, I appreciate how hard this time of year must be for you and your family ((hugs))

Pinkr, well done on not killing any relatives We've been getting lots of "Oh, this time next year....", but it's starting to get on my wick a bit - we had actually realised you know!

Well done Dor and pink - sounds like fortitude all round.

We are getting similar comments, Frank, which seem like such lies as it still doesn't feel real. We have been offered a family crib (something of an heirloom, but I never knew it existed until now), which sent me very defensive - reaction was completely "no I don't want it" which makes no sense and probably isn't true. I dunno, maybe it felt like too much pressure? We've been offered lots of second hand things, which is fine, but an heirloom felt like way too many expectations all at once.

In other news, I spent half an hour in the middle of the night convinced I was miscarrying last night - woke feeling a bit squelchy (TMI) in the same manner as early droid and was too scared to get up and check. When I finally bullied myself into going to the bathroom there was no sign of anything, thankfully. Poor HOTB got woken up, but I'm not sorry as middle of the night cuddles are very comforting :)

Massive well done, dor at surviving Christmas. You've done your mum proud and are entirely entitled to sleep it off now. Btw exhaustion is also a pregnancy symptom . I finally passed my out-of-date OPKs off to a friend earlier this week. A big deal, even though they did nothing to get me diffed and I hadn't weed on them in two years or so...

My family has been amazing(ly restrained) on the comments front and I am grateful. My mum has offered to take me maternity wear shopping when I am ready for it which has got to be soon, I am finally starting to have a small-ish belly and don't fit my jeans any longer and she's offered to buy us the pram . The lovely sisters on my side have bags of maternity wear, cots, play pens, clothes, baby blankets knitted by me, etc ready, once we say the word. But they're not pushy and allowing me as much time as I need to get my head around things, so nothing will be passed on or bought til after the anomaly scan.
My sister-in-law (via SB), however, lectured me on the material needs of a small baby (conveniently forgetting I have six small people on my side of the family, which I've been very involved with).

Sorry about the mc-ing dream, draf. I had one too. It turned out to be a particularly constipated poo. And I am damp down there nearly all the time, which throws me a bit.

Yes, lots of the "this time next year...!" And also the awesome "next time we see you you'll have the wee man...!" I am uncomfortable with both of these!

Draf, a bit of dampness can be disconcerting. Sympathies.

We have moved onto being unable to agree on names. We both have one we like... GHJ now wants to wait till he's here to make a final decision based on home he looks... But all babies look the same... No?

Not all babies look the same. Imo they broadly fit into the human, potato, or alien categories.

My family haven't been too bad. One aunt did say "oooh you've joined the club". Boak. Lots of "do you mind what you get?" Er, no, and its out of my hands rather.

dor big hugs. Your Christmas sounds tough. You've done well.

I need to wash and pack. I am tired.

We've just got back from the Kiddicare store in Peterborough

Yay frank! We've ordered ours and now just waiting for it to be delivered...

Got our tesco vouchers through the post today. The usual double points coupon was there, which we save for a big shop. I joked we could stock up on nappies. Then realised they expire end of feb, and that is probably exactly what we'll do...

And mum has told me she's certain I'll not reach 40 weeks, family trends etc...

So Nokks, any news?!

My womble feels like it is the size of Belgium. My knockers weigh about three stone each. My bladder is being headbutted constantly. I think I am going to pee a tsunami of wee whenever I go to the toilet, only to be disappointed when a couple of drips come out. My feet look like mattresses. I make old lady noises whenever I move off the sofa. My hips feel like they are made of plasticine. I get up about four times a night.

BUT. Would I change any of it ? Absolutely bloody well not

I am with the midwife tomorrow so she should be able to tell me a bit more about whether the head is engaged. At my last appointment she told me that the head wasn't engaged at all and that I may have a negroid pelvis because of my mixed parentage. This means that the baby's head won't engage until I am in labour. The GP the week before said the head was 2/5ths engaged so, basically, I don't think they have a bloody clue ! I have raspberry leaf tea on standby, just in case they won't do anything tomorrow to get things started. If she offers me a sweep, I may take it as she has nice small hands. No bucket hands up the foof. Not on a Monday - it's against the rules.

Aww poor Nokks, stock up on lots of pineapple and curry Hope the midwife gives you some good news tomorrow.

Cheers franks

What colour Uppababy did you go for ? We have got ours, all set-up, ready and waiting for the nipper. I absolutely love it. What else did you get in Kiddicare ?

On, and you lot should join Kidstart (money each time you spend with various retailers, including Kiddicare and John Lewis) and the Boots parenting club. Four times as many points each time you spend money on baby stuff.

Oh norks. End stages of pregnancy don't seem like too much fun. Hope the nipper cooperates and starts shifting soon. What colour is your Uppababy? When I get to pram buying (though my wonderful sister is insisting on doing the actual buying part) I like the Taylor blue.

My 'excitement' - heartburn is beginning to kick in, probably aided by the Christmas gluttony-fest. And I am getting a rather painful pulling sensation in my right Part where the leg meets the pelvis. Ouch.

Hope everyone else is well?

I am just completely knackered at the moment. I feel like a complete wuss!

I am still a bit anxious about the next couple of weeks as it was weeks 7-8 that I had lots of bleeding last time around. I could just really do with a nice straightforward pregnancy this time!

I have to admit though that I have had a quick look at some double buggies. Fingers crossed it all goes ok!

Sympathies dor, I think I'm just beginning to come out the other side of that awful tiredness. It does get you right to the core, doesn't it? Fx for a nice smooth diffment.

Oh Noks your 'tsunami of wee' comment really brought back the last few weeks of being diffed How long to go?

Serious question though - has anyone else had that painful pulling? What is it?

Nokks was due yesterday, if my OP has its dates right!

We got the red (Denny) Uppababy, we were toying between that and the dark blue, but the money off swung it for the red

We also bought a baby monitor, a GroEgg, some changing mats, car seat and Isofix base. Honestly I nearly cried at the amount of money it cost!

I've joined the Boots parenting club, and got a Babies R Us reward card. I'll have a look at the Kidstart thing.

winks I believe it's ligaments stretching to accommodate the baybee.

Yes I was going to say toys r us too.

Hoping and praying it goes smoothly this time dor!

Oooh noks! I dropped soon after I left like that but I do remember it well. We are staying with MSB's cousin and wife. First time we came I was about 27 weeks diffed and being back here takes me back. I was so wobbly I was scared of going down their stairs!

Mmmmmmmmm NOMNOMNOM just been out for a Chinese. Fatty is too fat to cook ! Seriously, my arse looks like a small (yet sturdy) shelf. I am going to have it shed some serious weight when the baby does finally come.

Don't think about the amount of money you spend franks or you will drive yourself bonkers. twonks we went for the black in the end. CASAF had some mad theory that the red would fade and turn pink in the sun, which would be inappropriate for a boy child. I told him that he was, literally, talking out of his fecking arsepipe but in the end, conceded. My big war will be with the name so I am happy to lose minor skirmishes like this one.

dor I really hope you have a straightforward couple of weeks. Xx

faif it's funny how far you've come in such a short space of time, isn't it ? This time of year makes me all reflective and when I think where I was this time last year.....well, gets misty eyed you know what I mean.

jeffers lovely to see you. How are you getting on ? Has mini-jeff calmed down a bit ? I was reading about the fourth trimester/purple crying theory the other day (basically that babies will cry a lot, especially in the evenings for the first three months, because the world is really quite a noisy scary place for them) but that it calms down after three months. Please tell me that this is true ?!!

I feel really sad tonight. I am missing my Mum so much and I am worried that I won't be able to cope without her.

Oh dor :( Of course you feel sad and miss your mum. But you will cope, you are coping, even if it's a sad, painful kind of coping. Big hugs.

dor I am really sorry you are missing your mum. It's hard but particularly so at this time of the year. Are you talking to anyone about how you feel ? Xx

Oh Dor I'm sorry. This time of year must be so hard, Nokks is right are you able to talk to someone?

Yeah I have sister and The Mister to talk to and I am booked to see the bereavement counsellor again.

Think my sister and I are just struggling to keep on top of managing our houses and families as well as Dads. We asked him to consider paying someone to do his ironing but I think he thinks we should just do it for him. If I could I would and I feel bad that I can't.

Yes, amazing how quickly life changes. Faithlet is awesome :) loved her first Christmas!

It was 8 weeks for us Nokks. At 8 weeks Faithlet hit 8lb and finally started to calm down. We found introducing a structures bedtime helped too. If you do have a needy baybee I highly recommend a stretchy sling. I did everything with her in it including peeing once or twice! hung the washing out, did chores, prepared tea (I batch cooked). One time she was fussy when we were out for lunch so I popped her in and she slept whisk we ate (just avoid food landing on their heads!).

Such a hard time of year Dor, so many memories and traditions associated with your Mum. You've done so well this Christmas, changing traditions. It's ok to feel like you're falling apart at times....but you will cope. Big hugs.