January 2015 Thread #9 - Crossing legs and fingers for the final stretch!

[KateTheHuman]

Welcome to the third trimester ladies!

Stats here

Bilbo there are 48 members...does that help? Also...Jan Babies is a person not a group...

Ah ok, I thought it was a group or a page I've sent a friend's request and I'm about to pm this nice Jan Babies

Bilbo you're in :)

I think I have just inboxed it

Hi fireball I have dropped Jan babies a msg

After having horrors at 4am about how I would manage today on 4 hrs sleep it has actually been lovely. lo gorgeous and delightful, caught up with a friend I haven't seen in a while and managed to cook a reasonably nutritious meal this evening. Starting to flag, but am amazed I am not actually a zombie right now.

Hi ladies

Nice to see a few new faces and a bit more conversation on here recently :)

I took a break from social media the past few days, after things got a bit on top of me. I had a hideous day at work last Tuesday - in tears or on the verge all day, and feeling quite unwell. Baby was moving more than normal too, so I ended up going to the MAU to get it checked - baby's HB was okay, but I had a UTI. I took the rest of the week off work and did manage to get quite a bit of rest. But by Friday baby was still moving loads, and they said to come back if it hadn't settled down. So I went back in Friday afternoon, waited for three and a half hours (on the Tuesday, DH and I were seen immediately - just lucky timing I guess) and then was put on the monitor...after 25 minutes the MW came back in and realised the machine hadn't been recording...so had another 25 minutes then. I was absolutely starving by this point, and a bit tearful, and my phone was out of battery so I couldn't update DH. Because it was the second time I'd been in, I then had to wait for a doctor to talk to me... She was unconcerned and basically it seems this constant movement is just 'the new normal' for baby. So that was fine - but as I was leaving, the MW said I should come back on Saturday or Monday for another check - I was really unclear whether this was an 'if you're worried' offer, or whether it was a recommendation, so I left feeling as unsure as I'd arrived. DH had already come home from work and left for a stag weekend by this point, so I just came home and went to bed, feeling really lonely and sad :( But woke up on Saturday and decided to just take the doctor's word for it that I shouldn't be worried, and not go back for another round of monitoring.

Today I was back at work, but had a conference. It was such a tough day. The 10 minute walk to the station took 20 minutes because I was getting stitch-like pains all round the bump, and am just generally quite breathless these days. Despite a good night's sleep, I was exhausted again by 10am, and I'm generally just really uncomfortable at the moment. So far, I've really had an easy pregnancy aside from pelvic pain, but I have suddenly found things much tougher the past two weeks. Some of that is physical, which is to be expected I guess, but also emotionally. I have three more weeks at work, which feels like an eternity...

On the upside, I went back to my parents' this weekend as DH was away, and just enjoyed being looked after by them and some quality time with my 15yo brother. I also did some good nesting - we've had a painter in so the house is being slowly redecorated, and I went out with mum to Dunelm and bought towels, lightshades, bed linen and all sorts of lovely stuff. Also got a duvet, pillows, changing mat and baby monitor totally free from Tesco in their Clubcard boost, so that won me major brownie points with DH! And I took full advantage of Amazon Black Friday deals while off sick last week for Christmas shopping.

So that's been my week! Am so ready for Christmas and mat leave now, and just want to meet my baby :)

33+0 today!

On the hospital bag front...I've packed a tankini as I'm hoping for a water birth, and a big loose black Primark nightie with buttons at the top for once I'm dry. Both of these can be pulled down/unbuttoned easily for skin-to-skin. I've got some PJ bottoms to go under the nightie if need be, if I'm walking around before getting in the pool (just old ones I already had), and a big cosy cardi too (my dressing gown is too big and lovely and white to go in the hospital bag!). For coming home, I'm going for mat leggings, a long vest top (easy to pull down for nursing if needed), and an old checked button-down shirt - probably won't do up but I don't think it needs to. I'll also have the obligatory big pants, and haven't yet purchased nursing bras so just need to pop one of those in too. As long as I remember to put on my comfy boots and cosy coat when we leave to go to the hospital, so I have them for coming home, I think I'm all set - on the clothing front at least :)

Primark has been a lifesaver for me with regards to cheap, throwaway hospital bag stuff!

sk28 sending you hugs and keep counting down to your maternity leave!

I need to empty loads of stuff from my hospital bag- overpacked!
Plus I've got vests and baby sleep suits for newborn size and 0-3- I don't know which size to take?!?
Altho if I empty loads of stuff that I won't need I'm sure I can fit a couple of different sized teeny tiny baby sleep suits!

Please don't all disappear to the Facebook page! We need people on here too! There were some ppl who were due near Xmas day- anyone heard from them?

35+3

Aw SK I'm so sorry you've been having such a rough time. As it's often the case, we are left wondering if we've just been a bit too cautious when we ask to be checked. I've never needed it so far but it's something I see time and time again on the pregnancy board. Thing is, they keep telling us to call if we are in any doubt, etc. Sometimes, especially if it's our first pregnancy, we just need a bit of reassurance. Incidentally, baby bilbo started going crazy at 33 weeks (so about 10 days ago). She kept me awake, would hurt me even! Now she's calmed down and I worry

Yay for the weekend at your parents! Despite being about to be mothers ourselves, sometimes, all we need, is our mums and their tlc! And how exciting to go shopping for your newly revamped house! Oh I do love a nice shopping trip to dunelm. People seem to turn down their noses at dunelm, but I've always found some good quality basic household items there! My house is a testament to ikea, dunelm and Annie Sloan wonderful paints (for those bargain pieces of furniture I revamped!).

On the topic of primark, I kinda beat myself up a little for not having thought of it before! I slent. Bit more than anticipated but I got a lot of stuff for after birth too. Mainly very big nighties, with the few buttons a the front, and some Jersey phjamas that completely open at the front. This is the type of things I wear at home to sleep lounge around so money well spent I think! I also got a huge towel, in burgundy, for the inevitable blood stains... And some cheap bathroom slippers, the ones made of towel material but with very thin soles? I wanted some big black briefs but they only had 12/14 which is not nearly granny enough for after birth! I'm going to another big city today and will go to their primark to see if they have size 14-16.

Well look atme rambling on. Who would have thought that hospital bag shopping could be so exciting! I know exactly why I'm doing that mind you. It's just a way for me to ignore my growing "fear" of this great unknown that is labour.

montymonty What bargains did you get? Anything that we have not mentioned yet?

Ooo, I also bought some cheap muslin squares! And I have to confess that I found some of their clothes really cute. Especially the boys ones. Baby bilbo is a girl and I can still definitely see her dressed in some of the boys clothes!

Pesto you're looking at it the wrong way! Pack a different bag for baby I know nothing of sizes. But mum told me that often babies don't fit in newborn stuff? So I only have 0-3 months and even 3-6 months as it's what both DH and I had to be dressed into when we were born I'm also only packing for the best outcome: straightforward birth with quick discharge. But I'll leave a bigger bag with more things in (for myself and baby) in case I need an emcs or similar.

Btw Pesto how come you're up? I thought I was the only crazy one going nocturnal

Thanks Bilbo and Pesto

Bilbo Annie Sloan paints are next on my list to buy and try. I may need to revamp an old wardrobe and drawers for the nursery - they looked ok before but the freshly painted walls now show up how battered they are! Have heard great things about AS paint.

For baby clothes I've tended to look at weight not age as I find it easier to compare. I'm taking two sets of 7.5lb clothes and one up to 10.5lb if I remember rightly - nobody has yet given me an estimated birth weight (or current weight) but my sisters, my brother, me, my DH and his two brothers were all under 8lbs and we're both quite short so I'm assuming we will be there or thereabouts... We are only 10 mins from hospital so if need be DH can come home to get something else if it turns out to be bigger.

I'm hoping it doesn't turn out bigger though as I have a fair few things in that 7.5lb size that would go to waste!

Oh Bilbo, also I agree on the Primark baby clothes - I got a really sweet little fox print jumper. Boys' range but perfectly unisex. They have some lovely stuff

I'm usually awake for two hours after my 1.30 morning wee! Completely unable to fall back to sleep... Great...(!)

I have 1 big bag for me and 1 big bag for baby but after attending ante natal class we were all advised to have just the essentials in one bag and then dh can always come along with any extra should we need it.
I have no idea what size or weight baby will be- midwife just says everything is 'fine'.
Can't be bothered to buy more now... Dh can pop to the shops and get something if we need it. Already got carried away and bought loads of stuff that baby will spend hardly any time in!

I'm off to dunelm to look at net curtains today... I like dunelm... Fine for me and my budget!

I'm a big dunelm fan - quality items at a good price!

hospital bag - I'm going against what nct said and am taking separate bags for me & baby. I'll put stuff in mine for dh as well (change of clothes and snacks etc)

dh is a piano teacher and he finishes in 2 weeks so today's job for me is to christmasify his music studio! yay! I'm not decorating the house yet though...I can only cope with redoing the tree after the cats have climbed it so many times!

I've had a lovely morning - slept Ok (other than 3 wake ups for a wee & lots of aches), dh made me tea and breakfast in bed and now I'm just sat in bed watching morning TV with the cats!

Gah I had a long message and lost it all! Stupid update on iPad: the thing's been playing up since that fateful night when I thought it might be a good idea to update

SK I love love love Annie Sloan paint. They are quite pricey so I'd go for a sample pot first so you can try it out and see how you get on with applying it and also the finish. Also bear in mind that it may not be suitable for a nursery (if you were thinking of using it in there) as it is not as readily washable, although I've read online that some users got great results from waxing their finished products. I tried and it didn't work for me at all, but I'll readily accept that it's because it didn't do it properly! There are tons of blogs out there with great ideas about mixing colours, etc.

Also, I saw some similar paints but cheaper in homebase but I can't remember what they're called as it was t the object of my visit. I have a chest of drawers for the nursery to paint and I'm not sure if I'll go for AS or something easier to wash in case of accident.

I'm glad I'm not the only one regarding the primark clothes. But then anything in miniature looks anyway I can't comment on quality though, but babies grow so fast!

Pesto I've my loo break at 2 am then can't go back to sleep till 6am! I then sleep for 3 more hours and get up. It's so strange!! I'm so tired but my body refuses to sleep properly!

I'm packing the boots free changing bag with things for baby: we have tiny baby clothes that ds1 needed (he was 7lb 3oz and in them for weeks) & some newborn stuff too. I'll pack just poppered vests & sleep suits for him, along with nappies & wipes.

It looks like ds2 is measuring bigger so may need a wider selection but will have lots of things at home from last time. Another job is to get everything down from the loft & wash it all.

I found having my own bag helpful - then I could leave DH to sort DS while I furrowed about for snacks in my bag!

clothes for baby - we've got a selection of newborn from 8lb up to 10.5lb so there should be some that fit and then dh/mum can go get more of that size for baby.
I've bagged the clothes up in sets in food bags and labelled them so dh can find the right size easily.

Where do you find some that have the weight instead of the age?

Bilbo, all mine are by age, but if you look at the labels inside give a weight indication.

It seems that not all shops have the same weight for each age range either!

This was 3 years ago though - so may have changed!

I had to idea. I'm so clueless! I think I'm going to keep aside/buy one of each weight category to use as a template. I just have no idea how big or small babies are!

generally I think newborns are from 6.5lb up to 9.5lb do a big range.

luckily I have a scan on Thurs so get a good guestimate on how big s/he will be. But based on the last scan it's looking around 8lb which is why I haven't got any tiny baby clothes.

I've spent this morning cleaning the downstairs rooms in our house... literally on my knees cleaning, hoovering the sofas, dusting and mopping. The house looks and smells lovely and clean now!

My Mum just called as well to say she's going to book tomorrow off work and do I want to go for lunch and shopping? Yes please! aren't mums great?! Hope I live up to my high expectations!

Thanks cheshire Right do I think I need a few more 0-3 months then. I have one new born vest thingy but the rest is for bigger babies. Not that she'll care what she's dressed in but I'd quite like cute pictures of her not dwarfed by clothes haha.

You're lucky, having your mum so close to you. Enjoy! Mine is 12 hours away by car in a foreign country and I could with her

I was agonising over how many and what age baby grows and vests to pack. Based on DD being 7 lb 13 at 42 wks ive packed 6 of each newborn. Then I thought well what if he comes sooner and we have no tiny baby. So ive just washed one to pack on the very small chance he will be early and small. I haven't needed any scans so absolutely no idea what weight hes predicted at. DD was in newborn for 6 weeks according to her red book that I looked back on to see her weight at each weighing. She didn't lose any weight at birth (they say they lose 10% of their birth weight straight off but she didn't). I know they are all so different but I have no idea how big this one is so just basing it on DD. Boys are supposed to be bigger and second babies too but I drive myself mad thinking about what size clothes hes going to need so newborn and one tiny baby it is to be on the safe side.