February 2014 - all our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

[sunflowered]

Well... we're getting there at least, and definitely ready to meet the first thread baby!

Welcome fedup :)

I was kept awake until 4.30 in the night, as my OH decided it was a brilliant time to catch up with Sherlock Holmes, in bed with my laptop. So knackered now, but we have given back our borrowed sofa and picked up our brand new fancy one! It's very comfy but insanely huge for our small flat! Also picked up a small, supercheap wardrobe for the baby room!

sunflowered that doesn't sound good at all, hope all is well with the swelling going down, but yes - do get it checked out!

champagne I think you just have to sleep where you want and let baby move if he/she is uncomfy! Most nights my little one moves on both sides of the bump, often at the same time (probably legs one side and bum one side, head is down) so there really is nothing I can do to make him happy! :P My friend who's got two little kids says they did the same, kicking the mattress all the time!

Julietee That sounds like how I feel when lying on my back. Had a CTG (?) thingy where they track heartbeat, and baby was not happy when I was on my back. Worth asking MW about and trying to find a different position, just in case baby gets unhappy.

artistic Good luck with the iron infusion, I'm sure it'll be worth it for the extra energy it will give you.

artistic good luck with the iron - hope it gives you the kick start you need!

Anyone got any experience of savings accounts/bonds for baby? Already had a couple of hints from family that some small cash gifts for a savings fund might appear post-birth but I want to make sure that it goes to bean rather than in DH & I's pockets! We would like to retain financial control over it until the 16th/18th birthday but to do this would we need to open an account in our name or bean's name? Do any of you have any suggestions from past experience?

I know a friend of mine opened up something in her daughter's name and had all sorts of problems trying to change the address on it when they moved house as the bank wanted her 2yr old to write and sign a letter!

I've also started a thread in the Money section of MN here

Hope the infusion is fine artistic and you get a wonderful energy burst! Fx for the mlu when it comes to it as well.

Good news about the swelling sunflowered but best still to check. Mw will be able to tell the difference between high bp from nerves and anything more ominous. Without wanting to jinx us we've been really lucky with things in this group so far - fx it continues and we all have sneeze births!

sorry everyone is having crappy times at the moment, I too had a horrendous nights sleep last night and then had to drag my ass to work this morning.... I think I'm going o regret working until 31st Jan but I must keep reminding myself to think of the money.

I'm getting a bit antsy now for one of us to go into Labour, I feel like a baby should arrive for someone soon!!!!.....I went to visit my parents in Manchester this week and I had a bit of a panic that I might go into labour and I would be far from home and not at the hospital I had planned.... I have to go to the lake district 18th Jan when I will be 36+2 and I'm sure I'll have the same neurotic panic then too!!!

Haven't posted for weeks but I've tried to keep up with the thread. Been super busy over Christmas and New Year trying to sort out DS's new bedroom. That's all decorated and with new furniture now so I'm back at work for a rest!

Rest of house is total dumpsite though and the nursery is full of boxes and rubbish from what was the spare room. No bag packed, no birth plan written, still baby stuff to get and so much to do. Really quite stressed about it and my DH is oblivious to it all. Also getting the annoyance rage that others have talked about. Snapping at anyone who dares to breathe in an annoying way!

8 days of work left. Finish on 22nd and can't wait. Mostly twiddling thumbs now and trying to find bits to do when all I can think about are all the important things I could be getting done at home...

Hope all goes well Artistic and Sunflowered and you're feeling better soon.

35+5 and praying it doesn't arrive anytime soon as so not ready

Hello again.
It's been a while. Work got very busy before Christmas and then Christmas was busy and now, finally I can breathe! I am 37 weeks today, so officially full term! My ML starts today (although as a teacher I've just had 2 weeks holiday), and it's the last day of Christmas! I'm having a great day - NHS antenatal class was great, then a swim, now chilling at home.
I do not yet have my bag packed! A job for later today/ tomorrow. I feel like like only now do I finally have a chance to focus on the baby. We've still got to decorate and do its room - currently no heating in there so can't pant until that's sorted, but do have electrician and carpet fitters coming later this week so we're on our way.
Everyone I speak to seems to think i should be fed up with pregnancy by now and anxious for the baby to hurry up. But I've had such an easy pregnancy (sorry!) - no sickness, heartburn, constipation - I'm even sleeping well... and my appetite is normal. I'm sure having a baby will be harder than this and I'd really like to be a bit more prepared before it comes!
Got our pram - Quinny Buzz as we plan on lots of walking. Done NCT (wouldn't recommend) and now started NHS classes. Tour of the maternity unit tonight. Just loads of DIY to do...
Hope you're all well

Sorry to hear about all the problems people are experiencing with sleep at the moment. I think I'm quite lucky that aside from a couple of loo trips, I generally manage to sleep fairly well, although DS was coughing from 5am this morning so feeling pretty tired now. Today is the first day of what feels like proper maternity leave (although am officially on annual leave until 3rd Feb) as DH as work, DS in nursery and I've had a day to myself. Had grand plans of being super productive but all I've managed is a quick hoover downstairs, a trip to the midwife (34 week check), lunch, a nap and packing my hospital bag. Somehow it felt so much easier packing it this time around because I'm hoping I won't need it as planning a home birth, so was able to pack pretty light making sure I've got the essentials in there. We live really close to the hospital so I figured if I do end up being transferred in and I have to stay in for any period, DH can drop more supplies over to me.

I'm envious of all of you who are hitting 37 weeks. I really want to fast forward the next few weeks and get on with it now. Dug out all of DS' newborn, 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes over the weekend and did a big wash so the baby now has clothes, although I'm realising that there's a lot of blue so she won't be looking overly girly! Hoping we might get a few gifts of newborn girl clothes (but nothing too pink!) - didn't think I'd be that bothered but as we get closer it suddenly seems to matter!

NCT was not exactly disastrous but if you're on a budget I'd say don't bother.

For me it was too much of a time commitment - 18 hours and very slow. I didn't feel I learnt a lot, and it was quite expensive. Comparing the classes to the NHS one I did today, the NHS one was much quicker paced and more informative. I just found in the NCT ones there was quite a lot of chat about not very much...

Verdict is in... Almost certainly pre-eclampsia Hopefully they'll be able to get bp down with medication (now 160/105 and rising ) and it'll just mean regular clinic visits until as close to edd as possible, but need to wait for blood tests to come back before they can decide. It was all going so well... They put the bump on a monitor for a while though and it was kicking away happily.

Oh sunflowered I'm really sorry to hear that I hope the medication works and they do keep a close eye on you and baby.

Hope it all goes well sunflowered. Good job they've picked it up and you're being monitored.

Does anyone know what I have to do to get my free change bag from Boots? I've tried to join the parenting club using their little machines in store, and just now online, but there's no confirmation of it. Do I just go in and ask?

Oh sorry to hear that sun but at least you know what it is and they can get it under control.

jazz I opened a children's saver account for DD shortly after she was born. Check out moneysavingexpert for the best rates/deals. You'll need their birth certificate and your own id. I think ours is set up so she can't withdraw money without my signiture until 16/18. It's really worth doing if you have a baby early in the year - DD got loads of toys for christmas so a few family members (including us) would rather give some money for her birthday rather than more pressies for the sake of it.

Tinker In hospital I changed DD in her cot or on the bed so you just stay in your own cubicle. Each section of the post natal ward had a 'station' where there were a few supplies and you could get warm water, etc. There's a bin for nappies too!

I lived in my pj's - but i did have a section so getting changed, etc was a lot more difficult for me. From what i remember most people were in pj's or lounge-type wear.

My 'one' bag was actually several....there was a lot of crap around my cubicle! As long as it's not in the mw's way no-one seemed to mind.

I have my second GTT test tomorrow as they found trace of sugar in my urine when i was last at the docs. I still think i'm fine but not sure how much they can do now as i'll be 38 weeks on friday! Oh well, a quiet morning with my kindle doesn't sound too bad (and i quite liked the cough syrupy drink last time!)

ch144 They send you a voucher which you then have to take into store and exchange for a bag. If you joined online did you get a confirmation email or can you log in to their website? Hopefully it should get sent to you soon.

Oh sunflowered what a shame. At least you know about it and they are going to be keeping a very close eye on you. And if the worst comes to the worst and you have to be induced early, you are past the point of concern. How are you feeling about it all?

jazz thanks for starting that thread, am going to hop over and have a look at it now. Basically I want the most tax efficient savings plan possible! Will probably do a children's ISA plus some other form of savings.

Re NCT v NHS. I didn't do the NHS classes as thought it would be doubling up, and wanted to do NCT more to meet people than to learn anything. In that regard it was successful - met some lovely couples, we've already had one get together and another is planned for this weekend. I didn't feel that I learned much, and the agenda frustrated me - even though I am on the side of ideally wanting minimal intervention in labour, being able to EBF, etc, I felt VERY preached to and there wasn't much info on what happens if you can't do everything au naturel. The BF class in particular was irritating because the teacher just kept saying "it shouldn't hurt, don't let anyone give your baby formula even if their weight is dropping..." this doesn't sound remotely realistic from what I've read here!

For that reason I think I have learned way more from being on this thread than I did from NCT classes, but since you all live miles and miles away from me so we can't support each other in person, I'm very glad I did them anyway. :)

Sorry, Sunflowered. At least you did the sensible thing and caught it straight away

Feeling pretty grumpy and sorry for myself as I had yet another unsuccessful walk. My bump goes hard and stays hard whilst walking, and it just keeps getting too uncomfortable/ puffy/ tight half way through. I had to walk home at snails pace and would have been very grateful for a lift.
I just don't think I should be feeling this decrepit at 33 weeks and don't know why things are feeling so uncomfortable. :(

julietee my bump goes hard when I walk/stand/baby moves lots. According to mw it's braxton hicks so all good, although bloody uncomfortable! I find slowing down helps, or just sitting for a few minutes.

Eeyore Yeah, I figured either BH or stomach muscles. Just weird that it stays hard for so damn long while I'm walking.

Sorry to hear about the diagnosis Sunflowered, but its so good that they are aware of it and can keep a close eye on you.

Now talking about a baby this week or next depending on how I respond to drugs. not allowed home from hospital, don't even have a bag packed (that was this week's job, am only 33+2) so writing dh a packing list. Active birth out of the window - will be full on monitoring and possibly cs. Feeling very scared now and not prepared at all

Oh gosh sunflowered, keep us posted. Try not to be scared x

Sorry you've found your nct classes a disappointment Ch - I think it seems to really depend on where you are as ours were great. I think we were lucky that the lady running ours was a student midwife so we seemed to get a balanced view of what to expect from labour and different interventions etc. We were lucky to have a good group too and it was great to meet people in the same position as us who are local.

Sunflowered - so sorry to hear your news but fingers crossed they can manage it. Atleast they have caught it early as others have said!

Julie - I get hard bump too. Not had it for a few days but some afternoons/evenings it is rock hard and so uncomfortable. Nothing seems to really help it and it eventually seems to calm down.

I'm another one who's tired today. I seemed to have quite a lot of energy last week but the past few days I've been knackered and nodding off in the afternoons. Hoping for nesting energy to kick in soon! Time for a raspberry tea and last nights Sherlock

Oh wow sun that's moved fast. So sorry to hear you're now in hospital. Hope you respond to the drugs well as that baby can bake a wee while longer.

I wanted an active birth with DD but ended up on full monitoring (then a cs but for very different reasons). Once i'd accepted that it was actually all fine and i honestly enjoyed it.

Keep in touch....we're all here for you x