October 2014- thread 13. Getting the eviction notices ready!

[MundayCakes85]

Thought we'd better start a new thread, how many more will we get through before babies arrive??

Congratulations Slide! Wonderful news! Can't wait to hear his name!

Fedup exciting times! Sounds like your baby will be here soon!

Congratulations Slide can't wait to see a pic! Hope you're all doing well and resting now.

Whoever asked about losing weight BF, it burns hundreds of calories per day apparently, so I guess that's how you lose the weight. As long as you're not sat eating those hundreds of calories in cake and biscuits while BF!

My afternoon nap was pointless yesterday as ended up being awake until turned 5am so now only just woken up. I just can't sleep at night but have no problem during the day. DH keeps telling me just to sleep when I can, but it really stresses me out being awake all night!

I can't wait to get out for long walks with my baby, have been unable to do more than very short walks now for months because of the pain in my back and hips. Just hoping it goes away after birth then will be putting on a sling and yaktraks and heading off for some gorgeous winter (hopefully snowy!) walks

Re weight gain/loss, breastfeeding didn't work for me first time around! Mainly as was eating lots of cake (and unhealthy food on the go, one handed type meals). I was so stressed at times, as I really missed my old shape (and residual weight/self esteem issues surfaced). But around 5 moths post-birth, I stopped with the cake (well, made it a once a week treat) and started more of a low GI/healthy eating kick and the weight started dropping right off.

Now, with baby no 3, I know to take more of a '9 months on, 9 months off' approach. The weight was gained gradually and will be lost gradually. Especially as we're facing into winter. We'll have Thanksgiving (my favourite American holiday - no presents/decoration, just insane amounts of great food!) and Christmas and no way I'll be calorie counting though those!

I am looking forward to not having a massive bump anymore though. We had a day at the Whitney in Manhattan yesterday and I found myself looking wistfully at hipster girls in skinny black pants...I'm not a skinny malink by any stretch so I think this was late preggo hormones doing the thinking!

I've been thinking about Slide. The post-birth buzz is so amazing, when you have this gorgeous brand new person you gave birth to . Can't wait for my turn!!

You want snowy walks whilst baby wearing binky?!

I plan to walk and breastfeed the weight away! With Dd I ebf from birth and was within 3 lbs of my pre pregnancy weight in 3 weeks. My problem was when we stopped breastfeeding I wasn't doing anything to burn calories so piled on the pounds then!

fatpony I think bf affects everyone differently in terms of losing weight. Some of my friends have said they ended up a smaller dress size than before they got pregnant, others have moaned that they continued to eat the same amount after stopping bf and gained weight again that way.

Going by my experience last time, I think attempting or hoping to "get back into shape" in the first few months with a baby is futile. Sleep deprivation will make you crave sugar and carbohydrates - I can't honestly say how much of the chocolate I ate was down to bf and how much was down to lack of sleep, but I felt like I was single-handedly keeping Lindt in business! On the other hand, I was back in my old clothes after a year without any attempt whatsoever at dieting/limiting junk food consumption. When I finally stopped bf around dd's 2nd birthday, my appetite noticeably decreased overnight - something I had not expected, since dd was feeding at bedtime only and usually for about two minutes per side and I'd assumed she was getting virtually nothing any more.

If it makes you feel better though, two of my rl pregnant friends were talking about their weight gain - one had gained 20kg and the other 25kg and neither looks frighteningly huge. And that's more than double your (and my) 18-20lb .

Yep mum2 with yaktraks and hiking poles I can't see it being a problem, my friend has done it for the last two years with her little boy so looking forward to joining her this year

Congratulations slide! I can't imagine how tiny he is, can't wait to see

Will be thinking of you today fedup, hope you get some rest before it kicks off in earnest.

I saw a lady with a 3 week old Squish in a stretchy sling today & got rather excited that it'll be me doing that soon! Sling walks/snuggles are what i am most looking forward to

It's not the walking that's the problem Binky - it's the frequency with which you need to change/feed in the early months! I wouldn't plan anything longer than an hour before Christmas (I set out, determined to potter one of my old running routes along the TransPennine Trail with dog and baby when DS was about 4wks old - it was sooooo good to be out, doing something 'normal' but alfresco feeding/changing was both stressful and unfair on DS - I'll still be out this time, but I'll curb my ambitions a bit!)

Agree with the frequency of feeding/changing, but snowy walks sound lovely! We get a fair bit of snow/ice and so I'll be using the yak traks/poles just to get around the block. I've also done a fair bit of breast feeding in sub zero temps (it's all about the layers!) though the poonami nappy changes are a bit harder!

Binky I'm the same, I can't wait to get my walking gear on and head out with the baby slinged up! Also hoping bf'ing will help me shed the pounds a bit quicker, looking forward to taking up my workout DVD again too when my body is ready, it's only 20 mins long but gets really quick results so hopefully I'll find the time and motivation to get back on it!

Bump enjoy your first day of mat leave!
Fedup hope things are progressing along nicely, if not I hope you're able to get some rest until they do, you never know, by the end of today or tomorrow you could end up having one of the best days of your life :)

Oh not planning any super yomps, just half an hour or an hour around the paths near where I live, I think my fitness will have taken a beating anyway having been so immobile! Hill walking will be kept for next summer when we are in more of a routine (hopefully) and can use our baby carrying rucksack. I'm so excited just want her to be here now...

kirsti is that the insanity DVD? I'm adding that to my Christmas list, it's supposed to be amazing!

Congrats slide
And good luck to all those in labour still

Can I ask for opinions, we are having a nightmare getting a car seat as we don't have isofix bars. We used to have a council fitting service but it doesn't exist anymore sadly so I will have to trust my judgement on if a seat fits and is safe. I do however still have our baby seat from our youngest but it's 8 years old we have the same car and we know it fits perfectly but do seats deteriorate? 8 years in a loft is a long time. What would you all do?

Nope Binky it's "30 Day Shred" by Jillian Anderson (trainer from America's Biggest Loser), thankfully she's not shouty and abrasive like she is to the folk on that prog! There are 3 x 20 minute circuit training-style workouts of increasing difficulty on the DVD, seems to be the same idea and same types of exercises as Insanity going by friends who do the Insanity dvds, except 30 Day Shred dvd only cost me a fiver hehe.

Hmmmm first day of mat leave, I've already ironed all of DH shirts, hoovered, washed kitchen floor, rearranged all DH clothes in his wardrobe....I don't find resting easy lol

Taking a break now waiting for a furniture delivery before lunch. I am determined to get my figure back, I love my winter wardrobe and can't wait to go shopping for new winter jumpers and jeans in my normal size.

Kirstiepops I also have a 20 mins DVD that got me into best shape of my life which I also think helped me conceive easily...jillian micheals which is essentially insanity. I used to love it, miss it so much now....not sure we are allowed to do it until three months after birth though? So I plan to just restrict the cake and carb eating by pre cooking healthy meals and snacking on my usual fruit.

Gun - I think the seat itself will be fine but safety has moved on in eight years and so I would prefer to have an up to date car seat that has the latest safety features.

Kirstiepops it's jillian michaels 30 day shred, honestly I recommend to everyone, goes so quick but works so fast. I didn't even do it everyday either and it still worked!

Yep Bump I think you're right about the 3 months, my friend was told the same by her midwife at her last appointment (she's distraught she'll miss so many spin classes, I think my post-labour fanjo would be glad of the break from the saddle!) Despite never being an exercise junkie I also really miss the DVD and miss feeling fit and strong like that DVD made me when I was doing it nearly every day, I can't wait to build my strength up again once I'm ready!

gunwalloe IMHO, there are 3 issues to consider:

Up to date safety standards - the British Standards are updated periodically so an older seat might not meet current standards, but it's up to you whether that bothers you

Cleanliness - has it been dry and covered in the loft or is there any chance of damp/mould having got to it?

Previous history of seat - if you're satisfied it hasn't been bashed about too much and hasn't been damaged then you know it will offer the same protection as before.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a second hand car seat because of the cleanliness/history issues but if you're satisfied that it's fine on both counts then I can't see why you shouldn't use it again.

I'm not an expert but that's how I'd feel if it was me.

Lol yep I meant Jillian Michaels not Anderson, had an X-Files moment there!

Gun in the States they're big on expiry of car seats, ie each seat is designed to work optimally for a period of years before a new one is recommended. 8 years in a loft means the seat is 9 or 10 years old (or older if you used it on older kids). This is longer than the manufacturer would recommend. I would get a new one, for the reasons madam lays out.

Regarding isofix, we had a maxi cosi that was super easy to buckle in/out using the seat belt. Could do it in a min after a little practice. So the seat belt options are usually fine with an infant seat.

gun if you are concerned about your current car seat but don't want to spend a fortune, we got a Britax car seat from Mothercare that doesn't have isofix. It was only £80 and we got another £10 off by signing up to their parenting club. It's a birth to 4 years, although doesn't stay backward facing that long, they were about £300 We were also given a silvercross one, it's about 3 years old and we know the history of it. I'm a bit nervous about using it so it's going in my car which will literally be a pop to the shops a few miles down a quiet country road and our new seat will go in DH car for longer journeys. Don't know if that helps or I'm just waffling?!

Wow, its taken me ages to catch up and I only missed the weekend! Congrats slide, must be soooooo lovely to have your little one here with you :)
I used the 30 day shred video pre-wedding and absolutely loved it - once you've listened to her talking a couple of times you might want to mute it and have your own music on tho! Really doesn't feel too difficult to do 20-odd minutes and the results were amazing. I plan to bf and eat as I need to until New Year and then i'm hoping to push on with healthy eating and 30day shred as I'm a bridesmaid in March. Nice to have a target to work towards...want to be a yummy mummy at that wedding!

Hope everyone's doing ok who's beginning on the labour journey, fed up I hope things get going for you soon!

Last week of plodding through the dissertation results this week, though i'm meeting with a new colleague on wed to do some handover so once i've done that I think thurs and Fri will be a bit of a write-off work wise. Can't wait to put it all away and focus on nesting :)

Painted our fresh plaster on Sat and now just need some colour on walls and radiators re-hung and we're ready for the homebirth...at our hypnobirthing refresher last night, our lovely teacher subtley reminded us that babies need to be birthed into a warm environment and that our house might not currently make the grade! Hopefully all done by next week so hoping baby stays put until 39 weeks!

Good luck everyone!

gun we're reusing our 5.5 year old car seat, despite now having two isofix cars. My feeling is that it is just as safe as it was for dd and it's been stored at a relatively constant temperature and low humidity. Yes, a new seat might meet a more stringent safety standard, but otoh our newer cars are probably safer than the old ones anyway (appreciate that doesn't apply in your case).