Easter is approaching, and the PESH are laying all over the place!

[maamalady]

Antenatal fred fun for BESH graduates

CRESH

Faith - pinky faithlet arrived 14th April 2013
Pinkr - suitably pinky one arrived 25th August 2013
Jethro - blue one arrived 23rd September 2013
Noks - pink one arrived 12th January 2014

PESH

Frankel - EDD 4th March ANY TIME NOW
Sinky - EDD 18th March
Merks - EDD 21st March
Driz - EDD 7th June
Draf - EDD 19th June
Kat - EDD 20th June
Winks - EDD 26th June
Dor - EDD 18th August
Ginger - 20th August
Euro - 28th August

PESH-in-hiding
Bugs - EDD approx 21st October

Death is bewilderingly final. No wonder so many people hold religious/spiritual beliefs - it must be very comforting to believe that death is not the end. Regardless of that, grief is always difficult - it hurts, and will go on hurting. Eventually you get used to having a hole the shape of the lost one, the edges round off and stop cutting you every moment. You can still get blindsided by it even years afterward, though.

Draf is very wise Bugs, listen to her. I lost my beloved dog 14 years ago and the sadness can still affect me even now. You don't forget/move on, you learn to live with it.

We're muddling along here, sleeping is better - E will now sleep in her Moses basket at night, though she is still waking every 2 hours or so for a feed. Feeding is getting easier, though my cracked nipple is still causing me agony.

I'm starting to wobble a bit too as HWHNN goes back to London tomorrow evening and I'm genuinely doubting my ability to cope on my own. For the last 3 weeks I've been able to ask him to change her nappy in the middle of the night or gave him hold her while I take a shower, but all that stops tomorrow. I know it's normal to be a bit scared but I keep crying when I think about it, not helped by the thought that he'll soon be gone for 6 whole months. I know plenty of people, lone parents and the like, cope just fine but I'm finding it all pretty damn intimidating. I'm going to need some hand-holding I'm afraid!

Excellent draf. I've been visiting a friend who is a couple of months ahead of me. A large quantity of cake featured. :)

bugs I struggle with people leaving me, whether it is from the abrupt end of a relationship or friendship, or death. I just miss them some much. I saw the pic on t'other place of your walk with your other dog. That looked lovely. How's he managing? Is he looking for her? I remember our pets doing that when one passed away.

frank it'll be hard but you will adjust just fine. x

Well you won't see it backagain for a good while so time to embrace the stretchy waistbands :)

Morning folk. I have a currently settled baby on my chest, a slightly bamboozled cat on my legs and a husband desperately hanging onto the last remnants of sleep (and probably sanity) next to me. But I'm still at home!

So sorry about your poor girl bugs. And ditto dor. Say good bye to your waist for a loooong time. . When I roll over in bed it feels weird. Like my organs have too much room to slosh around in..

frank, tbh, that sounds terrifying. I'm day 4 and already dreading GHJ going back to work. But. Terrifying doesn't mean impossible. You'll do it. And we're all here for moral support. .

Morning, sinks - sounds like a nice morning! Glad you're at home, long may it remain!

It does indeed sound daunting, Frank, but sinks is right. You will manage, and HWHNN will not be gone forever. Cambs PESH meetups are always an option, too, if you want some moral support or a hug etc :)

We are up and watching the pre-race babble - race start in half an hour... It's Malaysia, so there's always the chance of very exciting rain Formula One is good for Stupidcat too, she's been a little subdued lately (no idea why) so people sitting still and providing laps is ideal. She's flopped over HOTB's leg at the minute and is looking adorable.

If you fancy watching the F1, Frank, The Batch is in Malaysia and will apparently be doing trophy presentations at the end. He's cut his hair all short, it's so weird being able to see his ears...

sinks that sounds lovely. Although the organ sloshing sounds a bit disconcerting. I hope you are doing ok and continue to manage to stay at home.

bugs I've been mourning the loss of my waist for some time. I seemed to go out where I used to go in very early on (hence my clothing panics). How many weeks are you now?

Thanks everyone, the support us much appreciated. I know how annoying I must sound with my constant whining so you folks mean a lot to me. HWHNN and I had a chat last night and he thinks my mood swings are tied to my blood sugar levels - if I've not eaten for a while that is when I seem to get teary and upset. So I'm under strict instructions to make sure I eat and drink at regular intervals. That's a licence to stuff myself with cake if ever I heard it

Sinks glad you're at home enjoying the snuggles and hope you are slowly feeling better.

We had a good night last night, only 3 wake ups for a feed, but they were short and E went straight back down in her basket. Currently feeding E in bed and HWHNN has presented me with a Mother's Day card It feels a bit odd!

With breastfeeding you really need to eat often especially at first. I used to get horrendous carb cravings. Make sure you have plenty of snacks in!

It must be a daunting thought having to cope on your own all week so soon but you can do it! Does he have any annual leave he can use before being deployed? If he could take a few days off so that he could do 4 day weeks for a few weeks that might help?
Make things easy for yourself. Get your shopping ordered online and delivered, with lots of easy stuff. Forget housework that is not essential. If you have clean clothes, clean plates and a clean toilet you are OK. Hoovering can be done at the weekend. Try to get out a few days each week to some sort of social thing. Being at home with a baby can be isolating and if you don't even have your husband there even more so. Children's centre might have bf group, baby massage etc etc. Even just meeting a friend for half an hour helps.

Do you have family nearby who can come and help? Preferably the sort of help that involves holding the baby while you napnand then cooking lunch while you feed her? My mum is great at that sort of thing but of course it depends how you get on.

Ooh I had nearly forgotten I have a scan tomorrow! Will be lovely to get another look. Is a growth scan but I am not worried about growth as my belly is mahoosive.

I am still in bed. This is very nice! I am liking this mothers day malarkey. I wonder if I get up some chocolate might appear?

11 weeks bugs! That seems to have gone fast although I bet it hasn't for you. Hopefully after your next scan the anxiety will ease off.

Thanks Kat, HWHNN should get a week off over Easter and hopefully the week before he deploys - date has now been more or less confirmed as 25th May, but he's going to be so busy sorting things out to get ready to go that he can't commit to definite days at home - he's got to write up handover notes for his current job, pack up his flat, get on couple of predeployment courses to make sure he's up to speed on things, etc.

I'm going to keep going to the breast feeding support group as they were really helpful. One of the counsellors runs a baby massage course which starts up after Easter so I'm going to do that. There's also a weekly mother and baby/toddler group in our village so I might venture along to that too. I'm sure once I get into the swing of things I'll be fine, at the moment it's the unknown that is so scary.

Bugs 11 weeks already? Wow!

frank I really do have every faith that you will cope well. The groups you mention sound like a good idea to get you out and about and making sure you don't end up isolated. As other's have said, the household stuff can wait.

Aw bugs. I wouldn't let KFZK acknowledge Mother's Day (for me, he can for his own mum). It still feels too weird. You're nearly in the second tri - hurrah! Your 12 weeks scan is very close to me 20 week one (15 April). It's odd to think that is probably (all being well) the last time we will see centime again before D-Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all our CRESH. I know it will be a bitter sweet day for a number of you. x

I'm feeling better about things this evening, I popped on a stretchy sling that a friend has leant me and managed to prepare and cook a shepherd's pie and do a huge pile of washing up whilst carrying E. She did wake up just as dinner was ready and hollered for the milk bar but I actually managed to feed her and eat my own dinner (one handed!) simultaneously

HWHNN heads back to London in the next hour or so, so I may be back here blubbing again later!

Defiant poo? That's never a good sign. If you think it's piles, try a cream or suchlike so you can rule it out? Preparation H works okay, as does eating fruit to help prevent constipation. Piles is really common during pregnancy, so it could well be that. See your GP if you're worried, though.

You'll be fine, Frank, though it must be hard. Choose some good telly and/or books, so you've got something to concentrate on in the evenings. The sling sounds like it's working well too - good news! :)

Are you on pregnacare? I had to stop taking it and go onto plain folic acid becausevthe extra iron in pregnacare was constipating me. Pregnancy causes sluggish digestion due to progesterone so if you are still on fanny bullets they won't be helping. Try a stool softener like lactulose which ought to help.

Bugs I take a sachet of Fybogel per day otherwise I really suffer with constipation. It seems to keep things moving, so to speak.

I have survived Mothering Sunday but with lots of tears throughout the day.