October 2014 - thread 7: blooming or just blooming hot?

[YellowWellies]

Hello all new thread!

I don't think I will end up going back to work now.I've been so very sick from week 7-20 and although I'm feeling somewhat better now I'm still not able to do much :( It's been really tough as I'm self employed so we have had to borrow loads of money.What a nightmare! So I will start getting maternity allowance as soon as I can! I feel sad about it as I'm missing working but never ever expected to have such bad pregnancy sickness.

bump you don't need any special insurance just normal.

george we too have taken a hit money wise as I haven't done as much work either. Sorry to hear you are still feeling rough.

I'm generally feeling better but have seriously been hit with the tiredness stick. So lethargic it's unbelievable not sure I will feel the glow this time around

Wow hasn't even started thinking of when to go on leave. My understanding is you have to get a form to hand into work and we get that form at our next appointment? I better get thinking!

I don't get ML as I'm not working, but DD is starting Reception when I'm 34 weeks and DS will start preschool when I'm 36 weeks so hopefully I'll get a bit of a chance to take things easy!

Yep. It will be the last room in the house to be finished - probably around Christmas. But I've already decided which furniture I'm saving for that room.

I have a tinga tinga painting from Zanzibar that I bought in 1999 I'm using as 'inspiration'. It's covered in cartoon-type pictures of African animals on the plains beneath Kilimanjaro. It's HUGE - 5ft by 5ft and on canvas, so I'm going to cut it into three or four and have it re-stretched over separate canvases.

Walls will be a taupe sort of colour, white cot with pine edging, old pine chest of drawers that I've already got, got a low pine bookcase/table thing that will go in there as well - kid can get its own books out and pull itself up on it, but before that I can use it for night time feeding station with drinks etc. Old comfy armchair I've had for 15 years, hand-me-down from my godparents. It's got really ancient covers on it, but they go with the colours and won't get ruined by milk leakage or sick or poo. There will be space for a wardrobe, but that's for the future.

I guess my nursery colour scheme is brown, turquoise, rusty orange and dark green. Hahaha.. that sounds dreadful. The picture is lush though.

Here's the picture when it was on the wall in a flat I used to have. Not very clear, but still.

buggerlugs were going sage green stripy. I wanted to avoid yellows as everyone seems to have similar of they don't know the sex. I'm also not a fan of lots of winnie the pooh or other characters so keeping it simple. We're using this picture as our inspiration.

Oh, and I'm reusing a pair of my living room curtains - they are a sort of gold coloured silk with spotty edges. I have a blackout blind in the same fabric, so will have one behind the other.

We're doing a house up - haven't even started the extension yet, and only just got the electrics in our bedroom sorted yesterday - I have no clue on colours for those rooms, or even on preference for kitchen, but in my head I've planned a nursery. Bit ridiculous really.

With ds (who was also yellow) we went for neutral walls and white and pine combo furniture and got him some lovely spotty curtains with blackout. His since got some wall stickers of cars, trains etc that he loves (not just cos he was a boy!) everyone always says how nice they are and they look great!

Plan same approach with this baby. It's going in our current spare room (in progress of loft extension) and walls are fine (neutral colour) so will just get some curtains and decent walk stickers once have met him / her!

goats I'm in kitchen deciding mode at the mo - because I have to! So many decisions when doing up a house! Currently surrounded by roof tile samples and they all look pretty much the same to me!

I'm leaving work at almost 34 weeks. Just because ds starts pre school in sept and can't no bothered to sort out childcare just for mornings (he's doing afternoons)
Very much on countdown - 11 weeks to go! Although it's actually harder with ds around than work - energy wise! But won't miss the commute. Current project is 1 hr 40 one way. Tiring stuff.

When we had DS (he was a surprise) his room was mainly off white. He stayed in a crib with me (my husband slept on a blow up mattress in his room) for 6 months and then we went overseas for another 3 months so I wasn't really in a rush to update it. He now has a beachy theme going on with cushions and bunting (this design, which is available in pink too!

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/150729484433?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108

And added few wall stickers - these ones are fab www.tinyme.co.uk/wall-decor/wall-stickers

We also got some cubes like this to brighten up his room www.topshelf.net.au/shopexd.asp?id=388

And once he was born I ordered a personalised art work from 'not on the highstreet' with date/weight/length info on it

We've pretty much decided that the baby will be in with me for 3 months in 'our' room, while boyfriend sleeps in spare room. Then we'll aim to have the kid out at that point, and boyfriend can move back in with me. Both our other rooms will be finished by July sort of time, but the kid's room is going to be a store room for another 6 months + it's got the water tank in the corner, with live electric cables running around it at the moment. Tank isn't moving to its final position for probably 4 or 5 months.

By that point we'll know a little about it, so might decide that my whole African animal thing goes out of the window. Also might not be having hours worth of feeds that require me having a comfy armchair in there for overnight.. who knows.

We'll be just having it all painted cream and choosing curtains, cot bedding etc once baby is here and we know what he/she is.

Self-employed to but currently thinking 36 weeks for ML.

Your nursery plans all sound/look fab. The room I work in will become baby's room at 6 months ish. We rent so I expect I'll just get some wall stickers. Maybe new curtains. The lightshade already has rockets on so that can stay!

Had a strange morning as no-one else turned up for pregnancy pilates so the teacher did some work on pelvic floor exercises with me! It is odd indeed to look someone else in the eye as you do them!! But I got a one on one session so I shouldn't complain.

Then this afternoon dp has gone shopping mad and bought a new pram, car seat and the seat base fixer that goes with it!! We were due to go see a 2nd hand ebay pram later today, next thing I know he's come to tell me he's found it new, bought it and is looking at car seats. Then bam, he's ordered that and the base too!! My head is still spinning! He is pleased as punch though, bless him.

We went for the Mamas&Papas Sola original from Winstanleys Pramworld. Which recommended and £300 with the carrycot so am happy with that.

No nursery here. Baby will be in with us to begin with and then at some point (possibly when sleeping through the night) will move in with Dd as we only have 2 bedrooms. Hopefully we will move to a bigger property before either child kills the other!

Little one will be coming in with us for the first six months - then moving into a cot in a room with J. His room has yet to be decorated since we moved here. Its purple but hell he's 20 months and only in there at night! Our decorating progress is much slower since he was born - my priority is the dining room before baby arrives, and the back garden next summer, and maybe the kids room next autumn / winter when J at least can have a bit more say. He loves 'the snail and the whale' so I might do some murals from that. Lots of pals last time went a bit mad spending a fortune on coordinated nursery decor and are already redecorating as their LOs have outgrown it. There are financial advantages to being a slummy mummy.....

Jen the sola is awesome. We didn't get much use out of the carrycot as he had reflux but he loved the pushchair bit. So easy to change from parent to outfacing, dead easy to put the rain cover on, big basket, robust, really light. I only changed to the nipper when we got the dog and needed an offroader. I'm about to sell our sola, just need to clean it

We already have most of the nursery furniture sorted, I just need a rocking chair and we chose a cotbed today, although we already have a crib to go in our room for the first 6 months. Our theme is woodland with cream and pine furniture. Colour scheme is heritage green, browns and lemon with animal and tree wall stickers, bedding and curtains.

Its pretty much the first room we got sorted when we moved in three weeks ago :-) I just love going and spending time in there!

Also sorted out our car seat today. Need to take my car over to check it fits so we are going back to Mothercares Parenting event and getting 10% off. It's quite large as we went for a 0+ 1 Britax we'll just have to wake the baby when we want to get in and out of the car. Thanks yellow for your advice this morning.

Nursery plans all sound great! We move house in a month and then will see, but still only a rental so will have to see what we're allowed to do. All the houses I've ever lived in here are plain, boring white so hopefully we can change that. First I should probably figure out buying a cot or something. So behind with planning!

We're in the middle of Name War over here. Now we have a good idea it's a girl, we resumed battle. Terrible idea. I don't like ANY girl's names except one, and DP doesn't like it. Obviously he has an equal right to choose it, but I'm so irrationally pissed off with him! He's still coming up with classics such as Brenda and Fanny (both of which are vaguely popular names here) .

LondonJen I loved my Sola, planning to use it again this time.

We're going to paint the nursery pale green. I think we'll keep it quite plain and add wall stickers once we've got to know him a bit better. We're reusing the wooden cot and changing table currently in DD's room as she's getting a new bed soon when we decorate her room. I'm getting quite stressed about the amount of renovation we've still got to fit in before the baby arrives!

Morning all.
Bugger there was chat about Braxton Hicks on here a week or two ago & a few people were experiencing them. I think I might be getting them but I'm not sure. I never did with DD so I'm not sure if that's what they are.
I get a real tightening at the very bottom of my bump near my public area, this then seems to spread sometimes across my bump and feels little a tense muscle.
Would that be it?

I've had them once, it was a week or 2 ago at work Buggerlugs, very weird, my tum felt like concrete! Only bothered me for half an hour at most, I necked some juice and practised some of my natal hypnotherapy deep breathing!
Hats off to you ladies doing refurbs on your houses, I only have some superficial things needing done to our new house but even then we haven't done much of that, it's all been the garden! Not a huge amount of thought put into the baby room yet, (ours needs done first), not sure about wall colours yet but I think I'm going to have my friend make me some canvases (she does murals too but I wouldnt want to paint/paper over them!) maybe a woodlandy/Studio Ghibli style theme? Also like The Little Prince and Beatrix Potter but I imagine that'd be a riot altogether