Summer holidays are over, the PESH are bringing their bumps and baybees back to school

[TheOriginalWinkly]

Pack your giant pants in your satchel and maternity pads in your pencil case, it's the antenatal thread 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
Frankel - large pink one arrived 10th March 2014
Merks - pink one landed safe and sound 21st March 2014
Sinky - Stubborn blue one arrived 26th March 2014
Driz - blue one arrived 12th June 2014
Kat - pink one arrived 21st June 2014
draf - pink calf on 1st July 2014
winks - a pink one dragged out kicking and screaming on 4th July 2014
euro - a pink one in a hurry to see the world, born on 17th July 2014
dor - a pink one born at speed on 28th July 2014
ginge - completing the ESH Summer of Pink on 23rd August 2014

PESH
Buggerlugs - Buglet due 20th October
Fankle - ESHlet expected 4th January
Cunty - Minichops expected 7th February

Good News MsJ - When is your next scan? What dept. are you under? RMC? I have eveything crossed for you! Is this win No.2?! Brilliant!

Dor - What is this secret santa thing?

Bugs - Sorry about your broken butt Bad Times! Another thing I'm not looking forward to! Has P settled at all today? Was sofa time just the ticket?

Well Hags, I'm plodding along! Some days are good, some days are in a panic about the realities of becoming a parent to a newborn!! It's too early for this kind of stress yes!?!?!?! All the problems! How do you cope? AND no sleep not sure about that at all! Also worried about money! We're going to a seminar in the morning so will hopefully find out what I'm entitled to, but I think I'll only be getting 5 months before going back to full time 24/7 shifts, thats no time at all is it!?

14 weeks now and it's less real than ever! ALmost symptomless, too early for a bump or movement, 4 weeks until next midwife appointment, feeling a bit meh!

MsJ that must have been nervewracking. Hurrah for the bean!

bugs I've had a couple of moments where I have lost my rag. Generally when she has wee'd and shat everywhere during a nappy change when I am close to the end of my rope with tiredness and then have to do a full clothes change or an unscheduled bath to sort her out. I felt terrible afterwards but I think it's inevitable with the sleep deprivation.

I've had lots of fissures. All you can really do is to make sure everything is as soft as possible through diet and keeping well-hydrated.

MissH, having a newborn is hard but my theory is plenty of less capable people have had children and coped.

Also, lower your standards, don't expect to be able to do everything and always take the easy option.

My final piece of advice is, expect things to be OK. Don't assume the worst otherwise you will constantly be worrying about everything.

I only have 5 months maternity leave as well. I have then taken a few weeks annual leave. I am due back at work on 5 January. So soon :(

See, I did get dressed every day. It might have just been in yoga trousers and a jumper but I felt more human if I did so. I also got out most days, even if it was just a walk to the shop as it massively helped my mood.

For me having stuff to do was helpful. When you get to number 2 you have absolutely no choice about whether you want to go out or not. You have to go out otherwise it is all going to go tits up at home with a stir-crazy toddler rampaging around the house!

I agree with all that. Do what works for you. For some people that is spending the day in their PJs and that's great. Me, I needed a morning shower and learned to do it before KFZK left for work so I didn't need to do it worrying about how C was doing while I was in there. You figure it out.

I didn't do any baby groups until C was about 12 weeks old, which I think was about right for us. By then, we were getting better at managing to leave the house and I was getting to know her habits like when she was most likely to produce a poonami . We still only do 2 things per week (baby massage and baby sensory). The other three days I see friends to just hibernate at home. It's a nice mix for us.

I'm due to start my new job in January Dor. It does seem very soon. In one way, I think it'll be good. Being at home doing all the domestic shit really doesn't suit me. My sense of self is definitely eroding every time I have to reach into a bucket of shitty water to extract some grim tiny clothes. But I love spending time with C, having her fall asleep on me and seeing her change and I will miss so much of that. I can't believe she is 16 weeks old already. Time really is flying by.

Hags, the MIL is arriving tomorrow for the weekend. Wish me luck. It'll be her first visit since C arrived, which puzzles me a bit. I was expecting her to want to smother us.

MissH, you'll find your own way of coping. All manner of idiots have managed, you will too. Yes there may be days when you find yourself sitting on the floor sobbing, wondering what the hell you've done (or is that just me??) But it passes.

I was meant to have a lovely weekend with DSis visiting from Ireland. Instead I'm packing a bag for me and L, and we're off to Ireland for a funeral. Tremendous.

Winks I'm sorry. Was it very sudden?

Bugs, the clothes were the victims of poosplosions. They used to be a fairly rare occurrence but over the last week or so she has gone from pooping with every feed to much less frequently and when they come they often reach her shoulder blades! So these days we always seem to have a bucket of pooey clothes lurking somewhere. Delightful.

Sort of expected and sort of not euro. He was very ill (terminal pancreatic cancer) but receiving palliative care at home and was expected to live a bit longer. I knew him but its more his daughter that I'm very close to her and my heart is breaking for her, she's had a shit time with an abusive marriage, bitter divorce and custody battle then all this. Honestly she's the nicest person, would do anything for anyone and it's Just Not Fair :(

MiniWink tends to save poonamis for when it's wildly inconvenient. She had a massive one at the beginning of my pilates class on Wednesday, so I missed the first 10 minutes of class AND I hadn't packed a spare vest. I'm anticipating one today just as we're called for boarding

I think sometimes here I sound like a bit of a whinge. The poonami on Wednesday was funny, in an eye rolling kind of way, and though I'm knackered I'm genuinely very content atm. MiniWink is such a gorgeous happy wee soul.

Winks sorry about the funeral. Not good.

MissH I too am starting to panic a tad about our parental duties and how it will affect our lives. I fear we are naively imagining how it will be through a rosy hue (perhaps long term ttc and mcs are to blame as you feel you've finally done it and come through the other side) and we can't wait to meet our baby after waiting so long. But you only need to read the posts on here from the CRESH to realise that the reality of having an actual baybee is v hard work, exhaustion, utter selflessness and hardcore endurance

Also, the first half of pregnancy - for us anyway- is majorly worrying and you kinda don't want to believe it for..oh around 20 weeks..as you really do fear you're imagining it and it will go away at any minute. At 14 weeks I was much the same as you, a bit meh. I didn't have any noticeable symptoms until the back ache and heartburn set in just after 20 weeks.

Basically I've only started mildly panicking in the last couple of weeks. What if I can't cope with childbirth/exhaustion/feeding/poonamies/crying or can't keep on top of looking after myself/the house or if I am not able to leave the house for days?What if quitting my job was the wrong thing to do? What if I hate being stuck at home every day? Our families are in a different country (well, it could have been a different country)! What if I need help?? what if we suffer financially should something bad happen with MG's job? What if I get PND? What if something is wrong with Fanklet?

It's all a lot to take in. It's probably normal to panic . You're just having these worries a few months earlier! That probably means you'll be all serene at 30 weeks

The main thing is YOU'RE DIFFED!!!

I think the CR just fit to make it like 'crèche' for those with kids.

I am going to take a step back because Faithlet is 18 months and we're not TTC at present but I will leave the differs with this....being diffed is tough, especially when it took a long time. Having a baybee is tough (I found the labour part ok), the first few weeks you don't know which way is up, you're so sleep deprived! Baby wants to feed all the time. But as they get older, words can't express how amazing it is! The first time they smile, when they say your name, when they say 'Hi' when you go in to get them up, when they say 'Mummy?' and then just kiss you It's totally worth it :) later hags

Oh and sorry for your loss winks. --I'm really going now-/

Sorry about the funeral, winks :(

My first droid wasn't scarily massive, bugs

As to pooey buckets, I just leave them in the sink (sprayed with vanish), so at least no fishing is required

Life with Lembie is immeasurably harder than without him, but in all aspects (except sleep, I guess) better. He's everything I hoped for and a lot more. Everyone manages one way or another. I need to be out and about doing stuff with him, or like myself pre-lembie (and am back at work, Lembie's 5 months next week, it's very doable, providing you feel happy about child care and can be a bit flexible when you finish stuff - I am also still ebfing him, with lots of expressed bottles doing their magic). So lovely PESH you can do it, and if things get hard, get help in. I am home with ill lembie today, but my mum will be around this afternoon to help out, hurrah!

Waves at faif! Will be stalking you elsewhere!

Quick post to say thanks for all your replies hags! Will reply properly tomorrow when I have a free morning Have a slight tear in my eye

It WILL be ok, I am not a moron!!