The Brookers are ready for a 2014 sneeze-birth fest. Come and join us if you think you're hard enough...

[SantaMaybe]

Here we go brookers. At least three of us will be sneezing on this one

I'm Glad you spoke to the MW Musical! How exciting. You could always give her a call back and ask about a scan?

Where is everyone?! I hope everyone enjoyed seeing the sun yesterday

How you doing Solars? I bet it feels incrediy surreal that tomorrow is your EDD

Oh it has been very quiet on here. Hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend.

On Friday we went to a wedding reception, was a great night but very late. So we have had a quiet weekend, haven't went far.
Yesterday ds was off and he woke up during the night with a high temperature, I had to strip him down as he was so hot. He managed to fall back to sleep 40mins later which was good. He still looks awful but is eating and drinking, he is also wrecking the house like normal. Just hope he gets over this soon.

solars not long left now? I hope I haven't missed anything.

I can't believe how quick it is all going. Under 7 weeks to go to due date for me. Really can't believe it.

ooh I'm brooking for a perfectly on time ivf baby solars!!!

am v excited we move tomorrow!

Hello, hello! I'm still here and pregnant and don't feel as if ready to pop just yet!! Maybe it does indeed feel extremely surreal that edd is tomorrow!! We're just making sure we've got everything covered at the moment so sorry for not being around much!!

I had a panic with the car seat though. We got it in December and I only just opened up the box Thursday last week only to discover the head rest thing was missing!! I called up Kiddicare who I have to say were lovely. She said she wouldn't be able to get a head rest out to us in time so she said instead they'd deliver a brand new seat and take the old one away today! So I'm happy to report we have the new car seat with head rest already delivered this morning!! Now I just need to practice putting it in the car!

We've got some monitoring sessions booked tomorrow and Friday at the hospital and then we also have an induction booked for a week today if things don't get moving this week, any tips anyone?? I really would like to avoid the induction.

Keep good luck with the move! I hope you got packers in to help with the packing! Must be exciting indeed!!

Pen not long at all for you either! Hope DS gets better soon.

Musical I agree with Maybe call up the midwife. Hope you feel better soon too!

Good luck with the move Keep!! How exciting!!

Hope DS feels better soon Pen, poor thing

So pleased you're ok Solars!! Great news about the car seat replacement. Ours is in the car already, was one less thing to have inside!! Feels weird seeing it. Is there a reason behind the induction? I have decided I won't be induced unless medically necessary. There's all the traditional routes, walking, sex, bouncing on your ball....

Solars my advice, enjoy your last few days without baby. I spent 11 days trying to get labour to start naturally and looking back I wish I had slept more, and just generally took it easy rather than bouncing on a ball and waddling for miles.

I'm the opposite maybe I'm thinking if asking to be induced rather than be left to go way over due again. I can just about cope with 7 weeks left and really want to avoid being in agony for longer.

Have you got any sweeps booked solars?

How's you ml going maybe?

Really pen? Induction just seems like a nightmare to me unless absolutely necessary. I'm also refusing sweeps. But everyone is different . Materbity leave is ok, I've been really busy and am now in major nesting mode! I just wish my pelvis wasn't so painful so I could sleep more. Still, better to be used to no sleep I suppose

Scan this weekend (on the NHS! At the weekend!), so might be back properly after the weekend.

My experience of induction with DD2 was very positive, although I wish I had taken the advice of one of my anaesthetist friends who said to get the epidural placed before the syntometrine started as dealing with the contractions while trying to stay still for the epidural was rather challenging! The contractions were definitely different to the natural delivery of DS when I had a nice pain free break in between contractions until right to the very end, but it was still a lovely, uncomplicated labour. It certainly was no worse than my homebirth, and if anything, I recovered far, far more quickly after DD2's birth.

maybe, rather disappointingly for my DH, I've never really experienced nesting! I imagine it must make for a lovely home! Last time, a lovely friend of mine came round to give the kitchen a deep clean for me as I'd just been so unwell before, so perhaps I'll just have to get others to my nesting for me.

solars, I can't believe your due date is almost here! Glad that Kiddicare sorted you out so quickly.

Ah, that's fantastic news Dino!!! Can't wait to see you back after your scan

Wow Dino MWEPP - yay! Brooking for your scan, I'm sure all will be perfect! Thanks for sharing your experiences with your births. I really should know better than to keep thinking that induction will lead to a bad birth experience. I really am trying to be open minded about it all.

Maybe at first they were saying that I really should be induced at 40 weeks because of my age, but because my pregnancy has been absolutely fine we compromised to go on until 6 days over as long I was being monitored over this period.

Pen to be honest my midwife really confused me about sweeps last week, she was being extremely ditzy at the last appointment, I think MrS being there might have thrown her she started off talking about sweeps and then by the end said I wouldn't be allowed any as I am high risk So she hasn't booked any?? I've got an appointment with her on Thursday and will get her to explain again!

I'm keeping everything crossed that you won't need those 6 days lovely Solars . In so very excited for you and MrS x

Maybe I was induced with ds and it was a really great experience so another induction doesn't scare me. Although I'm really hoping it won't come to that. However, as I've already done it, I would be more than happy to have another if it meant id get rid of this pain.

No nesting here either. I never felt it with ds either. Think I'm just too lazy to get that instinct.

Solars I would just ask for a sweep if it's what you want. Unless she has a very very good reason not to do one I wouldn't accept it.
I had 3 with ds and they were quite the experience. Really hoping I don't have to do any of this, this time but we shall see.

Maybe I know what you mean. I'm getting very little sleep between ds wakening up and sharp pelvic pains. Then during the day I feel so useless as I'm exhausted and can hardly walk to clean or look after ds. I'm such a boring mum atm and it makes me feel so guilty.

Oh Pen lovely, please don't feel guilty. You are doing amazingly. You're so nearly there now. I totally get why you want an induction. Have you spoken to your MW about it all? I bet DS can't wait to meet his sister x

Don't feel guilty at all, Pen. I was pretty unwell with two pregnancies while looking after DS BUT it was only for a few months and his life has been so much enriched by having DD. He loves her to bits and she loves him, and I am sure that that will make up so much more for the months of rubbish, lax mothering from me then - and, to be fair, now as I hope they'll get another sibling before too long!

Hi all. I'm on holiday with family this week, so not had much time for mn recently. It's been good seeing family, but I was kind of more excited to come see my new pushchair! ;) I played with it all last night, sand took DS out in it today in solo mode. I think it's nice, will be big as a double pushchair, but I think all double pushchairs are big, so I'm not sure it's really a complaint.
Had an awful night with DS last night, so very tired tonight. It's going to be interesting going back to newborn sleep schedules. I just hope DS is sleeping well independently by then.

Pen I've had moments of feeling like an awful mum to DS with this pg. So far it's struggling with tiredness making me grumpy with him. I'm sure it'll get worse as I get bigger and less mobile. They won't remember these brief few months though, and they're getting a sibling out of it, and hopefully a long term friend.

Solars I hope these last few days waiting are enjoyable. I didn't have a great induction experience, but it wasn't awful either. I'm not sure there's any way DS would have come without help - I went 16 days over, and no matter what they did to/with me, my body just wouldn't contract on its own. I ended up with CS just because of a complication with the epidural and my BP affecting DS, which I think is rare.

Ooh, dinner is done. Will try and read over the next few days. Brooking for a nice sneeze birth for you Solars, and soon :)

Hello!
I am feeling a bit better about this pg now (although scan is 4th March so I won't know until then) so thought I would look for you, and here you are!
too you are right I haven't been on MN for a long time, time poor and the boy's sleeping has been appalling.
stacks what double have you got?

Be back soon!

Lovely to see you here, lovely Purple :)

Hope you're having a lovely holiday Stacks!

Congratulations on being a MWEPP Dino!

Solars, how exciting that your due date is tomorrow! Glad Kiddicare got you sorted so quickly. For what it's worth, I really wanted to avoid being induced, and so did lots to try to bring on labour (was four days overdue). I tried all the usual techniques, but mostly walking and bouncing on my ball. I think the thing that finally kicked it off was church bell ringing (think I convinced them to let me have a go on the heavy bells!) - rang at 9pm on the Wed and was in labour 6am Thurs But like anything, there's no real way of knowing whether that actually did anything..

Maybe / Solars - will try and call a MW over the next couple of days. Seem to have visitors/guests/workmen here constantly at the moment, so very little time to escape to make phone calls during civilised hours!

I'm also getting the bad parent guilt :( So exhausted all the time, by the end of the day I'm really struggling to be a good parent. Doesn't help that DD has just found her terrible toddler-ness ("No! No want!" being her favourites at the moment)... though most of the time she's still incredibly good, so I can't complain. Luckily she's very into puzzles and books at the moment, which at least are stationary activities..

Shameless place marking here too!

Purple, welcome back! 4th March is not far off - excitement!

Solars, happy due date! Feeling any, ahem, twinges?

Musical, Pen and Stacks, I tried to write a long post about DD's terrible almost-two-ness yesterday, but the computer restarted and lost it, grr. Her favourite phrase right now is 'No my!', used loudly and piercingly when I try to dress/undress her, put her in the bath, strap her into the car seat etc etc. She's also been in trouble at nursery for biting 2 children in one day, one of them twice, and she drew blood on one occasion! And then she showed absolutely zero remorse. DH got a stern talking to when he arrived to pick her up. She bit me on the thumb yesterday because I was trying to take a hair out of her mouth - clamped down like a crocodile and wouldn't let go, and then laughed at me when I finally managed to dislodge her. Mum says DSis and I bit each other at this age and she took us to a twins club and someone told her to bite us back, and she did and we cried but never did it again. I'm not sure I could bite M - certainly not as hard as she bit me! Honestly, work days are much easier than the parenting days - at least no one physically damages me at work and I can eat and drink without a small horror climbing on my lap and trying to grab my teacup.

Solars cannot believe it is your due date. I am so excited for you. Anything to report?

I think I must have missed Musical announcement. Congratulations I am so pleased for you. I had seen Dino and Purple on the FB page, congratulations to you guys too.

All a bit hectic here as I am sure you can imagine. DTs are doing really well and are both over 9lbs at 9 weeks old. I am not sure where the time has gone but it feels like they have always been here. We are truly blessed after such a long and difficult journey. I am sure you will all feel the same when your bundles of joy arrive.

solars 40+2.... how did the mW appointment go?

am on tenterhooks here for imminent sneeze

I'm still here dear brookers!! 40+2 and still pregnant! MW appointment went well Keep, baby 2/5 ths palpable so slowly getting down there! I have my induction booked on Monday so really want to see him arrive this weekend. Monitoring session on Tuesday was good, there were also contractions going on, but I couldn't feel them apart from 1! So things are moving in the right direction! I have another monitoring session tomorrow! Sorry I haven't read back properly, will try to catch up properly tomorrow! Lots of brooking for that sneeze birth would be really appreciated!

Also how did all those who went over their due date cope with the texts, calls etc about is the baby here yet? I was really quite short with my mum today as it was getting to me and she made me feel like there was some issue with the baby, I felt quite stressed about it all. She really should have known better considering myself and my siblings were all born after our due dates!

Brooking lots Solars. Glad things are moving in the right direction!

I just told people they'd have heard if there was any news. To be honest though, I was pretty bored by that point, so enjoyed chatting to them while I bounced on the birthing ball in a desperate attempt to get things going..

One thing I learnt from a friend (which is a bit late for you now ) was to give very few people my actual due date - I just told them 'mid May' and was deliberately vague. Will definitely be doing that this time round too!

Thanks for the congratulations Sweetie. Still early days. Hope all is well with your lovely family.