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February 2014 - We've got big bumps and we cannot lie...

999 replies

DawnOfTheDee · 29/11/2013 19:44

You other mothers can't deny,
When a girl walks in with an ever expanding waist
And a round thing in your face
You....'d better give her some cake....

etc, etc,

New thread! Enjoy!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
gnittinggnome · 01/01/2014 09:17

Happy New Year all!

Resolutions/Challenges/Goals:

  • finish my projects (one is soon to finish itself! eeek!)
  • use my skills
  • cherish (thanks for that word thisis it's spot on) my family/friends
LittlePandaBear · 01/01/2014 09:49

Happy New Year to you all! Really looking forward to it - 6 more days of work and then I'm freeeeeee and not going back until 2015.

I don't tend to make resolutions at New Year as I'd never stick to them, but I'm going to make the most of spending time with my beautiful girl and my son-to-be. I feel very lucky.

DD doesn't understand that it's a New Year and just says it's Daddy Day as he's not at work :)

jazzcat28 · 01/01/2014 09:54

Happy new year all!

Sorry for tmi but hav

tinypolkadot · 01/01/2014 09:57

Happy new year! I struggled to stay awake til 12 last night and then promptly went to bed straight after. It's not the same without alcohol!

Hope everyone has a fab 2014 Brew

jazzcat28 · 01/01/2014 09:58

Grr posted on phone too early...

Having sailed through most of this pregnancy with no horrid side effects I think I may have one. I think I have piles. Not that painful and haven't really been that constipated but there's definitely something there that wasn't last week. Again sorry if tmi! What can I do about this? Googling on my phone at PIL suggests that this will pass after birth but I'm not sure I can manage for another 7wks! Any of you had these before in pregnancy?

Unplastered · 01/01/2014 10:22

Happy new year everyone!

Bit late but I wasn't awake at midnight Smile

Re the sheets, it's quite possible that things have changed in the 4.5 years since I had DD, and it seems to vary so much from hospital to hospital! Maybe our little country hospital is short of cash? Edit: I've just checked my book from the MW and it definitely says to take your own baby sheets and blankets. Also says to take your own formula if choosing not to Bf - shows how much things have changed and that nobody should ever listen to me!

New years resolution? To have a happy, healthy baby, whilst ensuring DD also is happy and healthy. To enjoy my maternity leave! And finally, to go back to work in November a size 12 again.

lastnightopenedmyeyes · 01/01/2014 10:22

Jazzcat I had these earlier in the pregnancy. They were painful for me. The pain and swelling generally only lasts 3 days. You need to:
Drink lots of water
Take something like lactulose if you are constipated as they are usually caused by straining but can be caused by gravity of baby
Eat lots of P foods. Prunes, plums, pears but also dates, apricots, fibre etc.
if they become painful use something like anusol which will shrink them and numb the area too.
Focus on getting rid of them in time for birth. The analogy I have dh was piles during childbirth is like blisters on a hill walk. They make it much less comfortable!!

Artisticme · 01/01/2014 10:49

So officially starting this new year on maternity leave!!! Woohoo.
Makes it all feel very real that within the next 2 months the majority of us will be holding our new arrivals!!

On another note, I had a call from my midwife yesterday to say my iron and ferritin levels have gone low and I'm needing to go for more blood test and also possibly up to hospital to be put on an iron drip. Has anyone experienced this atall? Just wondered what to expect.

Hope everyone has a lovely New Year's Day:))

KalevalaForMePlease · 01/01/2014 11:13

Happy New Year everyone! I had a lovely time hanging out with DH's family, I was designated driver though, they all got very merry!

One of my closest friends was dumped by her boyfriend last night Angry. She's in her 30's, like me, but no kids and is now all upset that she'll never meet someone special, have a family, etc. Felt so bad for her, what a prick, dumping her on New Years! It also made me feel a bit guilty about all the moaning and feeling sorry for myself I've been doing lately. I am determined to be more positive in 2014!

winterflowers · 01/01/2014 11:16

Happy new year all! Am truly thankful we have all made it so far and am so excited about what the next two months have to bring.

Can't believe a hospital would put baby on paper sheets or not give mama a towel for an after-birth shower. Seeing mw again this week so will check with her the policy here.

Celebrated NY with my pelvic pain notching it up a gear - now have agonising pain across the front of my pubic bone but only on the right. Rolling over in bed I could have done with a crane and although I'd planned some baby shopping today may just head to bed again. thingy your nine hour night sounds incredible...I'm quite often in bed that long but like you said with multiple toilet trips and insomnia breaks.

Welcome lemon drizzle :)

misskatamari · 01/01/2014 11:25

Your poor friend Kalevala - what a complete dick to do that to her Hmm

Sorry to hear about your piles jazz. I'd second the prunes advice and also recommend getting moist toilet tissue (e.g Andrex washlets) to ease discomfort when going to the loo. I've luckily avoided them until now but have a horrid constipation at times and they helped a lot.

Oh and happy new year everyone Grin no resolutions really here - I want to try and eat a bit more healthily in this last bit of pregnancy and to try and be less moany especially when DH is back to crazy deadline working and I'm on mat leave. When baby is here I also want to get a bit more active.

Nice lazy day planned today as DH is back at work tomorrow (on our meeting anniversary boo - gonna have to postpone celebrations). I'm hoping to sit on my birth ball and do some crochet - so pleased I can focus on making baby things now Christmas is out of the way. Ooooh I'll make "learn to use my knitting machine and knit a baby blanket" one of my resolutions too Grin

misskatamari · 01/01/2014 11:26

Oooh where are you all getting the "what I need for my hospital" advice too? My mw hasn't given me anything about it I don't think... Or maybe she has and it's in a pile of crap somewhere Confused

KalevalaForMePlease · 01/01/2014 11:29

Ooh, pelvic pain, winter, I had terrible issues in my first pregnancy, am trying to be so careful and keep it at bay in this one, and touch wood, it's not been too bad so far. It's a balancing act, because you need to rest up to ease it, but also do some activity to avoid stiffness. If you do a search on here for SPD there are loads of good tips. I feel for you, it's bloody awful!

KalevalaForMePlease · 01/01/2014 11:32

If it's on one side, winter, try an ice pack to relieve the inflammation, or this exercise:
m.youtube.com/results?q=spd exercise&sm=#/watch?v=aVW7lalrwxE

KalevalaForMePlease · 01/01/2014 11:34

Crap, try again
m.youtube.com/results?q=spd%20exercise&sm=#/watch?v=aVW7lalrwxE

LittlePandaBear · 01/01/2014 11:48

Miss Kat - I just had a look on the Stepping hill website and found this:

List

Pretty basic list and more essentials rather than nice to haves I think - it does mention towels though for mother and baby which I'm sure I brought last time. Hopefully you won't need a hospital bag anyway and you get your home birth.

SugarMiceInTheRain · 01/01/2014 11:50

winter sympathise with the pelvic pain... mine is gradually worsening - it's especially bad if I walk much at all, so unfortunately I am not even burning off the completely excessive eating and feel very unfit right now. I may try to go swimming once the boys are back at school.

I haven't even thought about my hospital bag yet. Mine will probably be slightly different as it will be a planned c-section, so don't need labour aids of any description but some of the stuff I will put in includes:

For me:

Nightshirt
Cheap big cotton pants eg Asda Smartprice ones - so much comfier than the disposable maternity pants you can get
Heavy duty sanitary towels (work just as well as maternity towels but cheaper)
Dressing gown & slippers
Snacks and drinks (hospital food not the best!), including peppermint teabags - meant to be good for trapped wind which I had really badly after DS2! Also flapjacks Smile as oats are great for milk production!
Toiletries, including moisturiser & lipbalm
Comfy stretchy clothes
Nursing bras
Breast pads
Lansinoh
Light reading/ things to do which don't require much concentration!
Will of course also take my phone & charger and maybe my tablet but won't be packing them in advance! Grin
May also take my nursing pillow though previously managed fine in hospital without - invaluable at home though!

For baby:

Baby vests
babygrows,
cardigans,
hat,
scratch mitts
lots of nappies and wipes.

I will have one set of baby clothes and a couple of nappies in a separate little bag to take down to theatre with me so that baby can be dressed etc by DH/ MW whilst I'm in recovery.

DH will bring car seat when we are going home

I know the books say to use cotton wool and water but meconium is so sticky I couldn't get it off with cotton wool! A tip I only just discovered is to smear vaseline all over baby's bottom then the meconium doesn't stick to their skin so much - can't believe that didn't occur to me earlier! Blush

SugarMiceInTheRain · 01/01/2014 11:51

Oops. Sorry for the epic post!! Grin

CubanoHabana · 01/01/2014 12:23

I did try to write happy new year last night and so e other things which I now can't remember but site froze on me!

Also, even though I recommended the tens machine hire from baby's r us, I didn't have a chance to collect it from click and collect and now the date has passed and it's not on the website anymore! Typical!

CubanoHabana · 01/01/2014 12:24

Also resolutions... Nothing specific but I would like to be back to pre-pregnancy size by September and would like to try to do some form of exercise once a week (from a couple of weeks after baby is born, presumably all goes smoothly)... But won't say they are resolutions!

sunflowered · 01/01/2014 13:07

Cubano I tried to reserve the tens machine yesterday from toys r us and the search result on their website came back with a zero gravity gift experience Hmm

Ended 2013 with a bit of a migraine Sad Was able to sleep the worst of it off (luckily I only usually get visual disturbance and numb fingers/nose not the awful headache) but they leave me feeling really washed out for a few days - not great when combined with existing preg exhaustion.

Also woke up early and started to worry myself about all the baby/toddler hazards in pils' house - will see how many I can catch in the background of my bump pic later... Would be ok if it was our house but pils have their own way of doing things and they can be quite defensive about changing anything...

Littleen · 01/01/2014 13:25

Inc wall of text :o

lovestobake The movement with mine are also very active and so strong it hurts quite alot! I've read several places that this is the most active few weeks (I'm 32+3) before space gets too tight to be moving so much, so hopefully it'll feel calmer very soon :) Also your bump is very likely to be bigger with the second baby than the first, because your tummy "knows what to do"!

Showering tips: I sometimes put my leg sort of out and up to hip level, so the foot is resting on the wall of my shower, then I can shave all of it :P Unsure if this is sensible or not for most people, as I have hypermobile joints so can be a bit extra flexible - but worth a try! Also putting a towel on the toilet seat and putting your foot on it, easier to reach! ;D

I stayed up until 4 last night, we played a lovely warhammer game (my other half is teaching me, it's really fun actually, like a supersized board game!) and then he woke me up at 6 for some action, haha!

jazz buy one of those creams you can get :) And hopefully it'll go away soon!

artistic not heard of that before, seems drastic!

Since week 28-29, my SPD has calmed down so much, it's unbelievable. I think it's because I've stopped doing insane amounts of housemoving and cleaning etc, and limited walking on hard surfaces (shopping seems to make it so much worse)!

New years resolution is to make a huge effort to cut down on sugar, and increase fruit and veg intake: my diet has been so lacking due to money issue, but with money for presents we can now afford dinner every day for both of us, and bananas all around! Until baby is born anyway, when the lovely local council with cut my benefits by 75% (hormones and bipolar does not go well together O.o)

misskatamari · 01/01/2014 13:27

Thanks littlepanda - doesn't seem like too much stuff that I would plan on taking anyway - besides top and tail bowl. I think it will be two Tupperwares if I do end up going in. Although fingers crossed I'll be cracking out the birth pool which is arriving tomorrow and having a lovely home birth.

I was in babies r us yesterday and they had the tens hire pack on the shelves so might be worth calling your local stores ladies just to see if they have any available.

Artisticme · 01/01/2014 13:44

littleen been meaning to ask for tips on peoples shaving techniques!! Haha at the moment I'm finding it difficut to do both this and breathe at the same time:( and tidying up "down there" is near impossible because I can no longer see due to my ever growing belly!

Also I'd never heard of an iron drip before either. They had put me on iron tablets but my levels have dropped again so think it's just to give them a boost before leaving it too late. Just wondered if anyone had had experiences of having this done.

DawnOfTheDee · 01/01/2014 14:22

On the hospital bag theme please don't use sanitary towels instead of maternity towels. Sanitary towels can mask infection and although the maternity ones are huge they are much more cushioned which is nice for your bits!

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