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Due October 2006 - part 4

984 replies

nowanearlyNicemum · 22/08/2006 21:01

there we go - I did it.
just need for you all to find it now...

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
sallyrosie · 08/09/2006 12:24

p.s won't be posting any more on the topic - there are LOTS of threads already about home births and agree with dogmum that it is great that we have the choice where and how to have our babies, many apologies if my opinion made you feel like I was insulting you - I wouldn't want that to happen

On the other current topics - DH isn't all that interested - he is keen for it to arrive, and will be fab when it gets here, but doesn't get all worked up and gooey over baby clothes or cot blankets like me. Did force him to sit down and look at the contents of my labour bag last night and he managed to go through it all without making it too obvious he was bored.
Re raspberry leaf tea - dunno - says you shouldn't take it before 37 weeks, but I've been gulping down the capsules and they're doing sod all so can't see how it would be harmful...
Love the name Eloise - really really pretty, and hope that there is no 'birth partner' room where I'm going - there is no way my DH is going to be allowed to leave my side for a second!!
Right, all caught up and hopefully made peace with Emmy01 (fingers crossed)
Have a good day all...

DashingRedhead · 08/09/2006 12:59

Hi Majormoo, I am at an NCT class on 26th! What a pity. Well, that's in the evening, but I don't finish work until 29th, so will be having a very full day.

Thanks to everyone for their messages about fibroids - although it's supposed to be quite common, not many people have much experience of it! Anyway, I saw the midwife yesterday and she could feel it and said the baby is already head down and the head is lower than the fibroid so it looks as though I may not automatically end up having a section. It will depend on whether it affects the contractions (can make them less effective). Just have to wait and wonder.

MSTG: My husband is absolutely enthralled by the whole experience, but this is our first so that makes a difference. Was he different on the previous occasions?

Gingeme · 08/09/2006 13:27

Goood afternoon ladies. My dh seems totaly uninerested too. He comes to the check ups with me if he is not working but thats about it. In fact I remember saying to him the other week'Im sure you forget Im 7 months pregnant!'. Alright weve both been through it a few times before but a little attention other than moaning about how much sex he isnt getting might be nice. Though saying that it was very nice having him with me when our ds was born. My ex dp wasnt with me at all with my first 2 ds's and it was such a shock to see my dh with tears pouring down his face when the little guy popped out of the water. So that kinda made up for it.
Hope your scan goes well tomm majormoo. Fingers crossed for you.
A pink one Tigerlion how lovely. Ok I feel a little envious of you ladies having girls. Guess I have to keep telling myself how much money Im saving on boys clothes and accesories and how easy boys are and how much I hate the colour pink!!!
I love all those names too Tigerlion especialy Eloise.
Were off to my parents for the weekend. Afriend is having a 21st birthday party and weve been invited. Hope you all have a very good weekend. xxxxx

KATGOD · 08/09/2006 13:38

This is No 2 and I think DH seems less interested too - but I know he will be great once baby arrives. He's good at practical things like going straight to the shop in West End that sells SPD belts, and waiting while they found the right one, but I am not sure he "gets" how painful it is, and how exhausted I am. Seems less interested in the bump - but I choose to think that this is just because it is not new like DS was, and that the new baby will be cooed over just as much. To be honest he wasn't that bothered re the clothes etc last time either, reckons it's not a fashion parade (how wrong??!).
SPD belt very very uncomfy. From what I have been told by physio and midwife, keeping knees together at all times good (ie get in and out of car like royalty), do not stand on one leg if can help it - I know putting on jeans from standing up is near impossible now, have to sit down to do it, and keeping symetrical at all times helps too. The physio did manouvre me about to get my pelvis level, which seemed to help. I paid for the physio - but you can get on NHS it's just that you might have to wait two weeks for an appointyment and when there's only 4 weeks to go it's not worth it.
Top tip from the NHS parent craft class - check carparking fees and make sure DP has the cash in the right denominations to pay - you do not want to be standing in the car park with newborn while he tries to find change!!!! Re the great home birth /hospital debate - I was 9.5 cm dilated with DS before went to hospital, so had the benefit of labouring at home, plus the technical back up of hospital for the actual birth - perfect!

jmcmugwump · 08/09/2006 13:46

MSTG - mine doesn't seem very interested either - it is our first, but I think he believes he won't be allowed out down the pub after it is born, so I think there is a bit of resentment there, plus the woman he lived with for 5 years before we got together had 3 kids (none of them his)(this will be a first baby for both of us) and as the youngest was less than a year old when he moved in with her he had helped raise them from when they are really quite small, so get lots of 'you forget i've already been through all this' type comments - am hoping that when the baby is actually born he will see it all abit differently as it is his and not someone elses if ykwim.

Some days he is really sweet and a get a 'goodbye mummy' as I go off to work but other times he drives me mad as he really doesn't seem that interested, I keep asking him if he wants to go and get things for the baby to give him the option and I get an i don't know, but then if I arrange to go with my sister he gets all hurt that he has been left out, have seriously considered just getting it all myself but too blooming knackered at the moment to do anything very much. I don't know, at least it will be good practice for looking after a tantrumming 2yrold!! men!!

MoreSpamThanGlam · 08/09/2006 16:12

Thanks everyone. Feel more normal now. Maybe its cos I am tired from lack of sleep (cheers spd) and maybe because hormones are doing their final bit. I am just being over sensitive.

I think I just want a bit of fuss and to be mollycoddled by someone.

Swizzler · 08/09/2006 16:21

Bath and large tub of ice cream?

MoreSpamThanGlam · 08/09/2006 16:26

Ooh now youre talking!
But you know what i mean dont you? Just someone to treat you like your Mum does (I say that but I mean my Nan - my Mum is a waste of space). Someone to to say "Oh love, you look so tired", and make you a comfy bed with a hot cup of tea, and stroke your head, or just produce a bowl of water for your swollen feet. I KNOW I am being childish, but is it so wrong to just want a bit of fuss?
Cyber ice cream gratefully accepted!

saka · 08/09/2006 16:36

Just wanted to say goodbye to everyone. Ive decided to return to Japan.

I cant take people - people like my mother, who voiced what a lot of people think. That I am just some slag who married a 'foreigner' and came back to the uk, claiming benefits, complete with my children who are not welcome here because of their ethnic background. That Ive a cheek not having an abortion because I cant provide for the child Im carrying. That I left, I made my bed, I go lie in it. After all what is the odd smack round the head when you have respectability eh. The uk has hardly welcomed us back with open arms. I cant live with being eternally grateful for the money we receive to keep us going, and constantly accepting we are so lucky. My daughter will be able to go back to a private school to be bullied becuase she isnt 100 percent Japanese, and will have to tolerate it, because of her stupid mother, that is her lot. My son will have to learn how to swallow his emotions and be a good little robot working for a bank and heading for nervous breaskdowns at 30 just like his father. They can just give me some pills and Ill be a good little housewife and let dh do whatever he wants. At least I wont be a villified single parent.

Im still the same person. I havent become a bad mother all of a sudden.

Grandpa has agreed we can live with his sister in a little countryside place. Im booking tickets and will be gone by next week. No longer a drain on the system. After all why should i have expected to be able to come back home. It was ridiculous.

Thank you for the distraction over the past week or so. This is a good place.

Thanks for being so kind. I wish all of you the best of luck with your new babies. I wanted to say goodbye, Im sorry.

best wishes

saka

whiffy · 08/09/2006 16:48

Glad that peace has broken out on the hossie vs homebirth thing. Could have been very scary - bad enough in our house with just one hormonal pregnant woman with a strong view

I love Eloise. I also love Sophie though that is getting very popular. Eleanor I like but less so that the other two. God, girls names are so difficult.

DH couldn't do enough for me for first PG but has totally lost interest in my pregnancy this time. P'raps that's why my sense of smell has got so bad

10 days to go, tumtetum. Am bricking it (and that's on top of the constipation). Just repacked hospital bag and taken out all the silly things (biscuits and toffee) on the grounds that not a healthy start for b/f. 50 quid says I'll scoff it all at home before the birth instead....

I was thinking might be a good idea to send someone on this thread an email so they can let everyone know when LO arrives - will be in Hossie for 5 days apparantly with C-S (thats the norm round here) and can't bear thought of not being able to boast about it even if I'm not online.... if someone is happy to let me have an email address I can send them a message on my blackberry when she pops out...

MoreSpamThanGlam · 08/09/2006 17:03

SAKA!!!!!

WAAAIIITTT!!!

Stop. You are an intelligent and strong woman (I have followed your threads with interest). Please dont make decisions hastily because of what a few people have said. This guilt about you being a drain on the system has got to stop. You dont want to be like this, and I am sure you wont be. This is your lowest point and therefore there is only one way to go. Just hold your horses. Stop trying to be so bloody tough. Its ok to be a bit vulnerable (hark at my moaning for goodness sake!) from time to time.

Shut the door on people that have nothing pleasant to say. You have been back here such a short time. Not all of us are against you honey. Give us a chance eh?

Big hugs xxx

majormoo · 08/09/2006 17:37

Saka give it a bit of time here. Like MSTG said, ignore the horrible people. It was such a brave thing to up and leave and start again, at least give it some time before you make a decison you may regret.

Dashingredhead-I am sure we can meet up another time. I think the local NCT run a babycafe in the Lanes on Tuesday mornings, and I will probably go along to that once junior has arrived as DD goes to nursery on Tuesdays. Enjoy your classes-I made great friends from my NCT classes, though I agree with Tigerlion that NHS ones were more informative.

Enjoy your party Dogmum. Champagne before 9am-very luxiourious!

Had scan this morning, and looks like all OK for a natural delivery. Placenta had just moved out of the way enough that they think it will be all right. Baby is a boringly average size too so no nine pounders here.

majormoo · 08/09/2006 17:38

p.s saka as someone suggested, you could call your local NCT for a bit of support and to meet some people, which may make you feel a bit more part of things.

majormoo · 08/09/2006 17:45

p.p.s MSTG-just read your Jamie Oliver comments-v.funny.

jmcmugwump · 08/09/2006 18:07

Saka - sorry to hear you are so down, but possible now isn't the best time to be making such importand decisions (not to mention flying half way round the world) Please see if you can find some support groups out there - just as you have found us all to be (failrly) non-judgemental there will be others out there who can offer support and practical advice, and don't ever feel that you are a drain on the country - it makes a change tha someone who really needs some support and help receiving it - don't give up - it has got to get better form here on in.

girlygale1 · 08/09/2006 18:37

I have had a horrible day and am an emotional wreck, but that just pails (?) into insignigficance. Saka, please don't go back. You will make a life for yourself here, you just have to hang on in there. I can totally understand why you feel it is easier to go back, but as you pointed out in your post, it won't do the kiddies any good. Please Please Please don't go back. You are NOT a burden on this country, you are a strong, brave amazing woman who is going through an incredibly shite time, but if you have the guts to get up and leave an abusive husband, fly accross the world to set up a new life, then you are strong enough to get through this.

There is support - as someone has already mentioned, try contacting the NCT. If not there are lots of Support groups - help for women survivors of DV - I don't have the number on me, but when I'm in work on Monday I'll get you a national number to call. You are not alone, please remember that - even though it really feels like it.

I don't know if you have a faith at all - but if you do, try going to the local church and seek support from them.

Please Saka, don't go back. We are all here and I don't live that far from Kent so would be more than happy to come to you wanted some support.

We all care and admire you Saka, and we are all here, I personally think you are an amazing woman and 10 times stronger than me (spent day crying over what feels very trivial now!), Please don't let the bastards grind you down.

(Sorry if I offended with swearing.)

Lots of love xx

sallyrosie · 08/09/2006 19:03

Saka - will you even be able to go back this late in pregnancy? Surely a long haul flight not a good idea both from health and sanity point of view, especially on your own with your dd.
Ignore your mother - she sounds just like mine - ie a total witch. Bollocks to respectability. While it isn't going to be easy for you to stay in the UK, give it a bit more of a go hon, at least till you've had your baby.
Think you should get in touch with your health visitor if you haven't got a supportive midwife. You need some support.
Don't feel guilty about taking from the state - why the hell should you? As a taxpayer I'm delighted that my taxes are used to support you and your family.
PLease please please don't go back to Japan to be an abused wife, it isn't what is best for you or your children. Stick with us for support, see your HV and GP, and get some legal advice pronto.
Take care, thinking of you

whiffy · 09/09/2006 11:42

Saka our threads crossed and I have only just seen your mail.

Don't do it

If you go back to Japan now your Husband might get an order to stop your children ever leaving the country again. Then you will have no options left AT ALL.

Take a deep breath and count to 100 and repeat ad infinitim. You are stuck in a miserable part of the country with no support but if you go to Japan you will end up in a foreign country with no support and possibly unable to get out. No matter how much your husbands' families will have the interest of your children deep in their hearts you yourself are and always will be a gaijin and nothing will ever ever change that. That is something you can put up with when you are in a strong relationship and can establish your own rules, but this won't be the case.

The worst is over now and things are on an upward trajectory even if it doesn't feel like it. As suggested already, call the NCT and ask them for help NOW. They will respond. Call the samaritans and ask for advice on services that might be able to help you. Go to the local Citizens advice bureau and find out about relocating from Southend to another part of the country - somewhere like Brighton where the ethnicity of your children is not an issue. But don't risk limiting your options by going to Japan as a knee-jerk reaction.

Your hormones are all over the place and you should hold back on making any kind of decisions until you are on an even keel. The family in Japan can wait for that. You can then make a better decision at a later stage, which may, or may not, involve a return to Japan...

youngmum21 · 09/09/2006 13:37

Hi all,

Saka im sorry to hear that you are wanting to leave the country it sounds like you are having a terrible time but maybe you shudnt rush your desision when ur so up set!!!

wuzzlefraggle · 09/09/2006 17:26

saka - im sorry to hear that you are feeling so bad at the moment...i just wanted to let you know that my thoughts are with you and to echo what all the other ladies have said...maybe it would be wise to have a little think about what you want when your not so upset. i realy do hope that all works out for you xoxox

MSTG - dh is really involved (wether its because this is our first i dont know lol) always talking to the bump and has never missed a hospital or midwife appointment. having said that, he only started to get REALLY interested when he could feel the baby move and kick. i dont think that men generally know how to act around pregnant women...think i'll put it down to being a man thing lol

whiffy - have i missed something? whats happening in 10 days???

hope that everyone else is doing well xoxox

midwife came to visit me on friday to do my birth plan...somehow shes managed to calm me down about the whole birth thing!

Highlander · 09/09/2006 18:06

sorry not been on for ages. Been in and out of hospital with bleeding. Had all the tests, scans etc and everything is fine, alhtough they're making a minor amount of fuss as DS2 is 'small'. At a predicted birthweight of 7lbs and on the 80th centile for height I don't think there's much wrong there! (DS1 was exactly the same, which has saved me from multiple scans). Anyway, CS has been brought forward to Oct 5th - yahoo!

saka · 10/09/2006 11:03

Feeling slightly shamefaced.

I got as far as speaking to dh on the phone. After being told how everything was my fault, I made him depressed, i made him hurt me, I embaressed him by leaving, how he was very angry with me, but would accept me and dh and the unborn child back if I apologised for making him so upset. It went on and on, Im sure you can all fill in the gaps. I went from miserable to outraged and told him to f-off. Reality check complete....

I married a sweet, kind, strong man. He is no longer the same person.

I spoke to grandpa, explained the situation, and that I was not prepared to return, but that he was more than welcome to visit his grandchildren here.

I will not being returning, I am going straight to a solicitor on monday and get some advice. This may be difficult here, I go over there, I will (as whiffy said) never get my children out again, I will be hurt again, and next time I have no options left. The embassy wont help us out again, that is if I make it out alive, let alone with the children.

He threatened his daughter and tried to hit her - I stood in the way, but seeing your own child terrified and cowering is not something I ever want to have to put her or me through again, he beat me up when he knew I was pregnant with his unborn child. If some people dont like me being back here with my half Japanese babies, then they can take a running jump. I have to protect my children, the UK is the only other place we have any right to be. For now, and for the near future this is where we will have to stay. The nasty people can look down on me, but Ill hold onto the vestiges of my self respect and get on with my main job - protecting my children, both of them.

Even without dh being threatening, unless my relationship was strong and supportive, Japan as a foreign woman with a family is impossible, destructive, unpleasant, damaging. It isnt just me who is the gaijin (outsider, foreigner, used somewhat as a racial perjorative), my children are too. I know even at a young age, my daughter was a social outcast, despite being a native Japanese speaker, a curisoity. We were stared at and pointed at in the street. Total strangers would accost us in supermarkets and ask to take our photos...beoieve me, when you are trying to buy some fish and a few veggies, it is not nice at all..She was already aware of being stared at, excluded, treated differently from her cousins.

I dont feel strong right now. I feel vulnerable and weak. But noone is beating me senseless, spitting in my face, or telling me they will kill me and the children. Im ashamed I ended up in this situation. Ashamed I left it so long before I left. It took my believing his threats to kill me, dd and then himself, and being half blinded, having my face smashed to pieces, before I ran and left. He attacked me with my daughter hiding behind me. I suppose I try not to think about what happened, and when I forget about it, I forget that however awful things are now, they were much much worse before.

The Uk is so different. I dont fit in here either. I feel like I left and became a foreigner to my home country - like an expat whereever I go now. Perhaps in the future when finacnes are sorted i should emmigrate to a third country, go to australia or Cananda where there is a large far east asain population and start again. For now, I do think moving house to somewhere less awful would make a difference.

Im more ashamed I thought going back was a better option than braving out the verbal attacks. Bit pathetic, eh.

I feel really embarressed, but thanks for making me think twice.

Ill get myself to a solicitor before I get too scared again.

Sorry everyone....

saka

sallyrosie · 10/09/2006 12:26

good for you saka!

MoreSpamThanGlam · 10/09/2006 13:01

Oh Saka

well done for staying. But you have got to stop this "I dont belong" thing. You bloddy well do belong here, but everything just seems strange because you are not properly settled yet. A bit like when you have a tooth out and keep feeling it with your tongue and the hole feels huge. It takes time.

I think relocating to somewhere like Brighton would be a fantastic idea. Very multicultural and accepting. And great for kids too.

you may well always have people looking at you a little differently Saka, but that is just the way of the world. Its annoying, but you need to get over it. My DS has ginger hair and old ladies in supermarkets always think they can touch his head. I have people saying its a shame he has ginger hair too. I also have huge boobs and men think its ok to make comments and stare. So fucking what? Big deal. Worse things to worry about. Your children may look a little different. Celebrate it. be glad that they are not just your average kid in the street. i bet they are beautiful and I would probably look at them too.

Everything seems pretty awful right now, and to be honest I think a trip to the doctors wouldnt go a miss. I know what its like to suffer from severe depression, and the things that i can normally handle seem massive and just too much. Get as much help as you can. Now is the time you need it and its totally what its there for. its not there for people that dont need it. You need it darling, as much as you would need a caste for a broken leg.

Sending cyber hugs and ice cream.

Love MSTG

marthahm · 10/09/2006 16:33

I'm so relieved saka that you're not going back. i remember there were times with my ex husband when my mind would blank out how horrific he'd been and i'd go back again even with all my friends telling me not to. i think it's to do with the obliteration of self confidence of being with someone in that state that does it.
it must be hard to settle into such a different culture again especially right now. remember that things can only improve. try to concentrate on day by day stuff and short term goals when you feel awful. you've done so brilliantly to come this far.
i'm sure there's loads of help out there. as the others said as a tax payer i'd be thrilled that the money was being put to good use.
one thing that might help is an organisation called freecyle. i've used it lots. the basic idea is that it's a network for giving away stuff you don't want and taking other people's stuff you do want. there's everything on there from fridges to pushchairs, you just have to keep looking. it could be good for any kit that you need. the website is via yahoo, and you become a member by giving something away (could be anything). have a look.
i wonder if there is a network of mothers who have kids of dual nationality? they could be good to talk to.
when i was going through a miserable time i was told by a therapist to write a diary every day. i thought it was a load of bs but it helped enormously.
lastly, we're all here. keep talking to us.