September 2014 - we're over half way there!

[HippyJess]

Shiny noo thread with only 4 full months to go! Where did the time go??

I'm having a girl Dinah - what about you? I think there is an old wives tale about if you're having a girl your bump spreads out more over your hips or something along those lines! I think I remember you mentioning about your baby being breech - is it not too early to be told that though?

Just like the books say I should be at this stage I've now started to notice a pattern with my baby's movement - most active early evening, then middle of the night/early morning, then quiet for a bit, then wriggles a bit about lunch time, then mostly quiet again till early evening. And the kicks are starting to be less like tickles and more like thumps haha.

Hello all, hoping you are all well :)

I will do a bump photo tomorrow, i don't think i did one when you were all doing one the first time as i just felt flabby instead of pregnant, and now you can tell its definitely a baby :)

I am not worried the birth as it has to happen and it will all be ok.

Someone way back in this thread mentioned about buying off ebay, that's where we bought our pram, and it has minimal wear and tear and was a great price.

Ooooh Ella rather you than me tomorrow, I can't even climb the stairs without becoming breathless! I agree with your DH (in a nice way) as I love showing off my bump!

I've been converted to the wonders of bodycon maternity dresses for work - so much more flattering than some of the tents I've got, although the tents are super comfy! This is heffabump at 23 weeks yesterday (excuse the state of the bedroom)...

Morning all, Im 26 weeks today and Ive braved the scales and Ive gained just shy of a stone. But Im huge. Ive got a big pushed out beer belly. If I get chance Ill put up a photo.

Today Im banning chocolate and ice cream.... ahem again. Im swapping to low fat hot chocolate with a flump on top

I love the bump pic and you all look so small!!

What oil/creams is everyone using? Ive been using a mix of bodyshop shea body butter, baby oil and more recently bio oil. I really like the sounds of organic pharmacy stretch mark oil...anyone using it?

Gonna put a photo up later today, I'm rubbish at selfies so will get dh to do it :)

I've been using Hotel Chocolat Cocoa Juvenate body butter which is lovely. No stretch marks yet but it's early days so not holding out that much hope - I have them from when I had my teenage growth spurt so I know it's something that can happen to my skin!

I've not used any cream. With my first I lathered myself in every cream/oil I could find every day but still ended up covered in stretch marks so I've given up by now. Creams don't make a difference, it's down to genetics and the collagen in your skin.

To be honest I just like the ritual of the cream - it's nice to massage boobs and bump

Oh thats interesting strawberry I didn't realise its genetic's bah!! I put quite a bit if weight on my belly a couple years ago, so got lots of stretch marks from that. I am more pregnant looking now but similar size to back then, so hopefully no more stretch marks for me!

Apparently if your mother didn't get stretch marks you have a good chance of not getting them. Its the biggest indicator of whether you will be lucky or not. All the creams and oils don't have much (if any) effect. Still doesn't stop anyone from using them in hope though!

Here is my bump at 27w+4 . Found it quite tricky taking a photo actually, not used to selfies! So here are two lol.

I love seeing all your bump pictures. Keep them coming!

If you get quite itchy the creams are supposed to help with that. I get itchy everywhere but my bump though, I'm constantly clawing at my arms and legs at the moment.

If you get quite itchy the creams are supposed to help with that. I get itchy everywhere but my bump though, I'm constantly clawing at my arms and legs at the moment.

Can't remember who posted about the oBaby Zezu pram but I had one with my youngest and it was an amazing pram. Always got comments on it when we were out, and so nice to push too. We only got rid of it cos I get so bored of prams easily lol xx
Attached a few pics so you can see what it's like with a baby in it lol xx

Hope everyone's okay today :)
I've been itching like mad the jays few weeks too, mainly on palms/feet/bump/legs lol drives me loopy xx

*the last few days
Bloody auto correct lol

I got randomly itchy arms last night. Didn't know this was another pregnancy symptom!

Definitely got a pattern going on with myself, never mind baby lol. Everyday at about half 11 I feel so tired and out of breath. Weird! Wears off after a while though.

Re stretch marks. None here yet. I've been using clarins moisturizer, then for the past few weeks bio oil. Not done the bio oil twice a day (!) like it suggests though. I won't be surprised if I do get stretch marks though as my mum did.

I read all your messages yesterday and actually feeling better I am not the only one nervous about giving birth

On subject of stretch mark my mom got only a few but she says she was smaller than me throughout and by the end before having me she put on less weight than what I put on till now at 26+4! I already have stretch mark as I wrote here before, only a few and they are small, but they currently look very bad and since I saw them I started using coco butter from body shop a few times a day; I am going to search a bit more today to see what has top ratings, if you have any suggestions pls let me know

I have read it is mostly genetic but a NHS website says proper research is not done yet and apparently some initial research indicated rubbing your bump will help the blood flow which will then facilitates making new skin cells which may prevent stretch mark; so it may be more about rubbing than about the cream!

My bump is very itchy sometimes, I feel really embarrassed about having to itch it during the day as it is sometimes unbearable ! Coco butter didn't help, any suggestions?

On and another question: somebody here mentioned sth about June sales; was it you redtooth?

I was going to order pram today but am more than willing to wait a bit more for bigger items like pram, steriliser, xpress things, etc. If there might be a sale in near future???

Love the bump pics and the baby pram photos x :) can't see photos on my mobile device so had to switch to web

The big clearance sales are usually end of June Nazly. Reason I always remember is mine and DH's birthday falls at the end of June so its incredibly frustrating buying something too soon, only for it to be on sale a few days later!

The end of March/ start of April is also good as are end of September / start of October then End of December / through January. Its mainly for tax/financial purposes. Certainly if a brand is going to launch a new product they will tend to do so at the start of a tax quarter, so will clear stuff just before to make space. It can be particularly good for larger ticket products if you are happy to go with a previous season's line for this reason.

Trouble is different stores have different start dates, so you have to be on the ball. As a rule most big chains have one around the third week in June - as they can't afford to be the only one not doing good deals - but it does vary and they don't publicise it too much beforehand for obvious reasons. There are some places who have deals running now, so they are worth keeping a close eye on but I certainly wouldn't buy anything too big at full price right now. I'm holding out as I figure there isn't a lot to loose by waiting a couple of weeks at this point.

I tend to look around now, and make a note of what I like the look of, and make a note of the price and what I'd actually like to pay for that item and wait and see what happens. It stops me from getting too carried away and means I'm not fooled by bargains that aren't as much of a bargain as they seem at the time as well.