January's new May thread

[MrsFooCough]

All of us May mummies are BACK like the Terminator only less deadly (unless preggo rage strikes and we're within waddling distance of sharp things)

Stats page

Baby size chart

Have a , some , and TELL US EVERYTHING ~listening intently~

For anyone suffering with heartburn I would reccomend mucogel its a month liquid but more palatable
And works better than gaviscon IMO.

You can buy it OTC for 2.50 a bottle or get a prescription

I have suffered with a hiatus hernia for years and have been on so many medications I am truly amazed this works so well. I was very sceptical as at some points I have had to take 2-3 drugs at a time when not pregnant to control the pain which are not reccomensed during pregnancy.

I've got quite a lot for the baby - travel system, cotbed, clothes (mostly hand-me-downs but a few new things too), a starter kit of bottles that were reduced at ASDA because I'm hoping to express, a couple of storybooks even

Now we just need somewhere to actually live with it all

Found a few private rents, which is what we're now looking at as opposed to council tenancy. Found ones with low admin fees, low deposit, lower rent than what we're paying now for just one room, for a two bed flat!

We haven't bought anything at all yet either rebecca! The only thing we've done is decide on a new car and the buggy but won't get either of those til march. We are trying to have a clear out in the flat and make some room - dh is a hoarder and gets upset if I try to get him to throw things out so it's tricky!!!

Sorry to hear that people are poorly - thistle and vikks hope you're out of hospital soon.

The last two mornings I've woken up to find baby is curled up like a hedgehog right in the middle of my tummy - there's a round hard lump in the middle and nothing around it. Very odd!!

Moomin that sounds promising on the flats. How's your oh doing?

He's been distracting himself with his uni work but he seems to be coming to terms with it. Thanks for asking Hez. He's now got a panic on about the funeral - think he wants to be practical but can't as he doesn't know any details so he's been worrying about what he's going to wear, what I'm going to wear, suggesting that he goes out and buys new outfits for both of us to wear, is worried about whether he'll have to be a pallbearer or not etc because his dad isn't really talking to anyone and hasn't said whether he wants to do it yet.

Morning all

moomin - so sorry to hear about your OH's uncle. It sounds like his grief is coming out as panic about the funeral. Hope you are both coping OK with it all.

Hope those who have had hospital visits are on the mend, and that all the bumps are nice and wriggly.

A thread on AIBU has got me curious. What is everyone doing about telling family etc about labour/birth? Does anyone have any fears about being invaded by PIL etc?

Oh you should get it of that's what you wanted mumof2 of course you should!! I was just saying that I was disappointed by the vid. :( going to docs today see If I can et signed off... Am in loads of pain and it's just not easing up around my pelvis area. Whenever I have to do the commute or wAlk or even sit at my desk it is painful!!! what should I say to get him to write a note??

kally if my inlaws even thought about visiting me in labour they would get a diatribe of abuse followed by a boot out the door. I would hire security if I deemed it necessary ;)

Haha kally there is no freaking way anyone other than my DP is going to be in the labour room with me at any stage of labour. Its a special and emotional time for you and OH which should not be interrupted by anyone else unless you request them to be there. Your midwife will deal with it, put in your birth plan that you want no one else to be able to come in.

nanny hope you feel better soon, I get sciatica which has been quite a bitch this pregnancy. If your in pain and need rest your doc will sign you off, surely.

I agree with you that the milk maker is a bit pants, I just really feel for my friend as his girlfriend is so unbelievably lazy, she slept for 12 hours a day before she was pregnant its gone up to 15 now as she 'needs' a sleep in the afternoon! Anything to try and make his life easier.

nanny It's posts like your which make me wish there was a like button on MN!

Can't remember if I mentioned this earlier in the thread(s) or not, but OH's father made a comment along the lines of if we think anything is stopping the suitcases going in the car the minute they find out the baby is on the way then we've got another thing coming.

This is the same FIL who is insisting that we stay with them (MIL will be devasted if you don't!) for a family wedding when the monster is 8 weeks old (reception will be at their's - lovely noisy party in the garden of their bungalow which we wouldn't be able to escape from - and a bedroom with a door that doesn't shut). Oh and us with baby, them, my BIL, his wife and their kids in a 2.5 bedroom bungalow. Possibly other relatives as well.

He also said that he was expecting us to stay for the full week (rather than just the day of the wedding) so that the 8 WEEK OLD baby can bond with her cousins. Her cousins who are 8 and 7 and who we will see 1-2 times a year at most. I was tempted to point out that the only thing the baby will be bonding with is my breasts.

He also thought the wedding would be a nice break for me, as "I won't have to worry about the baby as it will be taken out my arms and I won't see it all day". Ha ha ha ha.

He waited till OH was out the room to make all these comments. He is apparently that daft that he thinks I wouldn't turn straight round and tell OH. Which I of course did. OH's reaction was priceless. Told me in no uncertain terms that FIL can go do one, and that if it's what I want then they don't get told the baby is here till several weeks after the event. We will be in a hotel of my choosing for the wedding, and will leave the reception at any point I deem necessary. As well as any moment he feels the need for a walk to the local pub. I am also under instructions, next time FIL waits for OH to leave before trying to guilt trip me, to outright ask FIL if he is stupid enough to think I don't just relay this all to OH straight away.

There is a reason I married this man!

Oops - that was quite long

mumof2 Thanks - as it stands it looks like my birth plan will consist of "NO PETHIDINE AND NO VISITORS"!! I'm booked in at a MLU, where they encourage the zen, so I'd imagine they would be very careful to follow any requests with regards to unwanted visitors!

kally sounds like you've got it covered, your OH sounds perfectly supportive. If FIL is like that then I agree, dont bother telling then that baby is on the way. As for comment about not seeing your baby for the whole day at the wedding, I dont know how you didn't retaliate to that one! I would have been vile had someone said that to me when pregnant wirh my first. I was so protective of my dd1 no one got to hold her for long.

MrsFoo I've been living in my H&M mat jeans since 2mp (and only have them plus two pairs of mat leggings), they're great! Much better than the Gap ones I had last time round.

kally We luckily have no worries on that front - my mum lives hours away and won't come down until the baby's born, and DH's dad will be happy to wait til the next day. I really wouldn't want either around during labour!

Re heartburn I'm finding Tums surprisingly helpful. Gaviscon was useless.

We've got loads of stuff for the baby already, all either handmedowns or gifts from family so we haven't actually bought anything ourselves yet! We are very lucky and have incredibly generous friends and relatives.

DH and I have already told both sets of parents that labour and childbirth is our time and please don't come to the hospital until we call! I hate the thought of them hovering outside the delivery suite ready to pounce as soon as the baby's out. They all seem very understanding so far and MIL has said if we're happy to let her have our house keys she'll occupy herself by making sure the house is clean, we have clean sheets and PJs to come home to and making sure the fridge and freezer are well stocked for us. Err... yes please!

Ye gods kally!! Dunno how I missed your next posts, but OMFG! Your FIL sounds......um.....nope - can't find a polite way to describe him.

Thank goodness your OH is so on the ball, well done him!
I really don't understand the logic behind PILs alienating the mother of their GCs, it makes no sense.
It doesn't sound like they have a clue!

kally I missed your last post too. He sounds like a piece of work!

Thinking of families with unrealistic expectations, SIL is getting married in May next year. She's already decided our baby, having just turned 1 year old, is going to be a ringbearer and will walk down the aisle carrying the rings and holding hands with a flowergirl, who will be 2.5 years old.

Good luck with that!

tit the odd thing is that I get on with them fine (MIL by herself is much easier - this is all coming from FIL). He just seems to be being very weird now baby is on the way. It's not even their first grandchild. I do wonder whether it is because BIL leans on them quite a bit for support (it's BIL's weddng) - although they live quite far apart, they go and stay or have the kids to them reasonably often. PIL also spend a couple of hours a day (at least) on the phone/Skype to BIL's kids. They are going to be sorely disappointed if they think that will be how things happen with us. OH doesn't answer his phone to them as it is.

It can't be a surprise that we won't be jumping to meet their expectations, as we have only just moved back to the UK after the best part of a decade living far, far away and have always done things exactly as we wanted. Like getting married on the other side of the world, by ourselves, with no family invited.

Although saying that, FIL recently stated that he was disappointed that we didn't want them at our wedding. He said he didn't understand why we didn't want them there 'enhancing' the day for us. OH turned round and said "please tell me exactly how you think your presence would have in any way enhanced my experience of the day". He really is great.

mumof2 I think the only reason I didn't retaliate to the whole won't see the baby comment was a combination of being utterly stunned he could be that crass, and being in the pub with a group of our friends nearby.

pixie your last post really made me giggle. What is she on? Maybe she'll give you a training timetable...

Oh christ kally he said it in a pub, I thought this was at their house in his living room or something. I think your DH sounds fantastic! I love the please tell me exactly how you think your presence would have in any way enhanced my experience of the day

Your post made me giggle too pixie I want my little boy to have a part in our wedding (August 2015) but even then he probably wont be interested!

Gosh, loving all the crazy family chat! .MIL is loopy, but luckily dh is completely aware of that and told her in no uncertain terms that she was
NOT to fly out here for the birth and will see the baby when we come to the UK in august (and he was also great and agreed completely to my suggestion of renting a cottage near his family for the week we'll spend in Wales so that we're not cooped up with her!)

Luckily my family are fab (ok i may be biased but dh seems to agree) so mum and dad are flying over for a whole month around the birth!! They won't come to the hospital with us, but it'll be great to have their support at the beginning. We're really lucky that we have a guest cottage that they can stay in so they won't be under our feet and they'll also take the chance to go off and see the country as they haven't been to zim since mum was pregnant with me!! (My godmother lived here at the time).
Hope vikks and thistle are feeling ok and nanny good luck getting signed off, sounds excruciating.

Yike about some of the tales of families! I'm very lucky that my DP and DPiL are all lovely. They also live at least 1.5 hours drive away. Would be nice sometimes to have them closer, but means there's little/no risk of anyone turning up before we're ready to receive them.

TBH they've also all said that if we need them at any point then they'll come, otherwise they'll wait until we're ready before visiting and either stay with us (and muck in to keep the house running) if we can handle them or book into a nearby hotel if not.

Last time things kicked off weeks earlier than anyone was expecting anything and at about 5am. DD had arrived by 9:30am, so I just texted my Mum a picture of her after arrival. She was at work at the time and was apparently bewildered that I'd sent her a random baby picture before it clicked.

Hopefully things will play out similar this time around and people can remain ignorant that I'm in labour at all until baby arrives!

I've put on my birth plan that hopefully DD1 will be at nursery or asleep when everything is happening, but if she happens to be around then she is permitted to see what's going on if she wants to. I'd rather she was involved and not made to feel unwelcome, and it helps that I know from last time that I tend to cope with labour just by going quiet and getting on with it.

We have friends nearby who will come if we need them to look after DD1 if I end up needing to transfer to hospital. And at worst DH will deal with DD1 and I'll work with the MW's to deal with DD2.

Running on a tiny wardrobe here of 2 pairs of jeans, 2 sets of work clothes, 1 set of cotton trousers and a handful of tops. Meant that when we got caught out in the rain on Saturday and completely drenched, I had to change into my dressing gown when I got home as all my other clothes were in the wash! I'm making do with as few clothes as possible, as it's not worth buying any more for just a few months.

Are we starting off some lists soon of items acquired for LOs and what's being packed into hospital bags? :) I'm starting to get prepped here, but I'm sure I've forgotten things!

I don't want anyone near me when I'm in labour! I'd be okay with having ds there for a bit (he wants to be there for the birth, but no!) but other than that, only dh is allowed at the hospital. I can imagine MIL and BIL setting up camp in a hospital waiting room, but I'm going to have to try and stop that because I won't want to see anyone the day or night the baby is born.
After I had ds, I had a room full of people straight away and I could smell everyone's deodorant and perfume and I just didn't like all that crap around my brand new shiny baby!

Oh, if anyone lives near Leicester/Northants/Nottingham - Groupon have a deal where you can get a 4D scan for £27! I've just bought one :-)

I've only just started thinking about birth plan and hospital bag and the whole scenario, so it's great to hear other people's experiences.

I'm a little bit sad that I don't know when my parents will meet our baby as I had always imagined them being there in the run up to the birth and one of the first people to meet the baby. I am extremely close to both parents and we have a very open relationship. However, my parents live over 2 hours away and my mum is disabled and housebound following a car accident. My dad is her main carer and can't leave her. I would also feel terribly guilty if my dad met the baby before my mum, it would be unfair. My mum is already finding it very hard that she is unable to be involved in getting things ready for the baby. It's making me teary just thinking about it

My PIL are great and I'm pretty sure they'll keep their distance until my OH gives them the ok to visit.

There's clearly some switch in the brain that turns people doolally at the prospect of becoming a grandparent.

My normally very sensible MIL thinks having a 1 year old ringbearer at SIL's wedding will be adorable, and of course he'll be able to walk that far by then (even if he turns out to be some incredibly advanced genius I really can't imagine he'll have both the motor skills and attention span to do it!). She also knows that I hope to breastfeed for the first 6 months if I can, yet can't understand why we didn't jump at her offer to have the baby over the August Bank Holiday weekend so DH and I can go away for a few days. She said "but you can pump milk for him!". Perhaps, if we want the odd evening out without the baby, but not a long weekend's worth! And this is from a woman who exclusively breastfed her own two kids.

So sorry to hear about your mum isean i hope you'll feel up to visiting them soon after the birth, tough on you all xx