Christmas crackers: due in December!

[Loulou000]

Maybe this will really be the last one... until the postnatal one.

Congratulations Lucy!

Wow another one! (ok so to be expected with people being booked in for sections I know!)

Congrats Lucy

Congrats Lucy!

Been away from net for AGES so had tonnes to catch up on, now 10 days from due date, carrying really low, was 4/5 engaged at last MW app (10 days ago) & been having contractions on & off for 2 1/2 weeks - but still no bloomin sign! have rsigned myself to the fact that i'll go 2 weeks over due!

Bit scary coming back onto thread when there are actually babies around!

Magor panic att is when catch myself in mirror - how the hell is something that big going to get out?!?!

lol x

WOW - well done Lucy - looking forward to hearing names etc.

Wonder how Eli is??

My DD woke at 2.15am and had me up every 20 minutes or so til I finally gave up at 3.45 and bought her downstairs for a hot milky drink. Waited till 4.15 for daddy to get up for work, said bye bye and went back to bed. But she was still up again at 8am! Managed to convince her playing in her room till 10.30am was good so i have caught up a little - although DH says I have huge bags under my eyes.

Just come on here to get some recipies as I am still determined to do some baking - the thought of homemade biscuits and jam tarts are all thats kept me going. Stupid printer is knackered so instead of printing off my whole sheet have had to hand write the ones I want .

2 weeks today or before (or after knowing my luck) for bumps arrival now - yeah like s/he will be on time! 1 weeks today MIL arrives

Welcome NM - before I forget, you're not the only one on here from the other side of the Atlantic so good compnay all round!

Congrats to Lucy.
Welcome Northernmama, on number 2 here but feel knackered constantly as Olihan and I are both having small horses not babies - so if you wanna moan, we're here!

Feeling stupidly hormonal today and have been bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Could someone give me a clatter and tell me to snap out of it please as I'm starting to annoy myself!

Congratulations to Lucy! I suspect this to be the beginning of an avalanche of babies over the next days.

No news from Elibean?

Hello Northern - you're not the only one from over the sea... is it Jabber that's in the US?

Yep, Jabber is in Tennessee, I think. Although pg brain may be involved in that and it's actually someone else entirely!

Wow, hope Lucy ok after her section and lo ok. Mr Elibean where are you?
I feel a bit guilty posting this as I'm physically fine really with no spd or horse for baby, but can't seem to stop feeling sorry for myself, panicking about newborn + toddler and crying quite a lot. Feel very apathetic about doing anything, so haven't packed bag, house a tip and not doing much cooking if I can help it. I seemed to keep going whilst at work as I had deadlines to meet & then family here last weekend for my birthday, but now feel totally miserable really. Anyone else feel like this? Not sure whether I should just give it another week (37 weeks today) or seek some help as history of depression + pnd with DS1. DS1 not helping as today he had 2 45-min full-scale tantrums, I suppose he's practising for when bean arrives

Hugs AQ

Might be worth speaking to your GP / MW

I have been struggling with it all the last few weeks and spoke to both (cried on both) but agreed that a lot of it was feeling out of control, having been in control and did I really want to start taking Meds now, which I don't.

Am just trying to focus on one thing a day, be it packing bag, cooking, tidying up, etc... and not looking at the bigger picture

XXXXxX "Hugs"

Thanks, WB. I think I started feeling like this a couple of weeks ago too, rising feeling of panic, things to do, out of control etc. Feel that I have to sort everything before baby born, so thus haven't sorted anything! Will have to see my gp this week as no mw appt until 39.5 weeks, so I guess I'll speak to her. You're right though, it's a control issue. There is a lot to do, but then I haven't moved house or having extension done or feeling unwell in anyway, so it's just pressure on myself to be 'perfect'. All I really want to do is have a day of doing absolutely nothing, with no shopping, no chores, no sorting of any kind, just chilling out watching dvds or something, but feel I cannot justify that.

Aw, AQ, just do it. You're 37 wks pg, you're not superwoman and if you deserve to have a day off sometime then now is about as good as it gets. Is your dh/dp around tomorrow? Can you spend tomorrow doing exactly what you want, let him take the bulk of the responsibilty for looking after ds then start tackling a few jobs from Monday?

I've decided there's no point running myself into the ground now because it'll only make the time after the baby's born that much harder. I'm doing 1 job a day on top of my normal chores and that's it. I'm not doing any special cooking, I'm making larger portions of whatever is for tea and freezing the leftovers. If the house isn't spotless when the baby arrives so be it, the baby won't notice a bit of mess or dirt but it will notice a stressed out mummy.

Today I got the newborn stuff down from the loft and sorted it out ready to wash. Just having it down made me feel better so I didn't feel as guilty about sitting down doing nothing once the dcs were in bed.

Go easy on yourself, ((hugs)), guilt is a pointless emotion as my HV keeps telling me.

AQ....I felt exactly the same until last weekend..I was crying a lot, feeling guilty, like I was trying to sort things out but getting nowhere. In fact, for my birthday on Tuesday I just wanted to escape (the house, well wishers, work etc) and I booked me and DP into a hotel. It didnt exactly go to plan bcoz MIL came round at midday and talked at me for about 2 hours and I was so stressed(ahhhh) but the next day was bliss. You deserve time off to get your head together. You shouldn't feel you have to be tidying etc all the time, but accept that you will feel that I spose.

This week the house doesn't bother me so much. The idea of birth just seems unreal and I'm left with only 2 problems-my MIL who lives 2 streets away and does not leave my house even if you say 'I'm leaving now so you have to' and the stretchmarks I JUST noticed on the underside of my bump-at least 10! Which must have come when the baby dropped (I have loads already but really thought there werent any new ones with the pregnancy-boo hoo )

I can understand your fear of PND...all I can say is that the difference in one week for me has been amazing.

hey all -- just at my work xmas party tonight and now moaning about the beautiful nonpreg bodies that were strutting their stuff...jealous of course.

I feel enormous in comparison although it's stupid to compare a preg with a non-preg body...brilliant that it's not going to stop me from doing it though.

Hope everyone doing well tonight (tomorrow for you I guess)...having contractions AGAIN which will inevitably keep me up most of the night so that I'll be cranky in the morning.

How lucky for my family....

congrats to Lucy

AQ: I am sure you deserve a rest, so make time to chill out, especially if you have another one. My dd is 3 and has been driving me mad some days, which has made me feel guilty as sometimes I just don't have the reserves to deal with her tantrums. I have to say cbeebies has been a life saver for me recently.

Our house certainly is not perfect, there are loads of boxes packed away in rooms that probably won't get looked at for another few months, and do I care, not one little bit.

As long as I have somewhere for the new lo to sleep and his clothes and my things sorted for the birth and after I am happy.
I was feeling really fed up after all the move etc etc last week and went to M&S and bought some really cute Christmas newborn outfits(just had to be done!!) really made me feel a bit better and felt more excited about it all again.

Again as some others have said is there anyone who can take your ds for a few hours to give you complete chill out time. I know thats something I really appreciate dh doing.

AQ, Big hug. I echo what everyone else is saying. Go easy on yourself. I'm doing NOTHING over and above the very basics at moment. I'm not even cooking extra for supper and freezing it! I've made ONE extra thing which will be eaten before LO gets here and it was only cos the mince would have gone off before I'd got my arse in gear. My main priority at moment is to relax and rest as much as poss. I'm having a weekend of really NICE things--haircut,dinner with DH(our last for months) lunch with girls. A totally selfish two days and I actually felt calm yesterday(for the first time in ages)
It's really difficult to control emotions and it's horrible having PND in the back(or front) of your mind,but I'm trying to tell myself that it might not happen.
That being said I ended up in tears a few times over dinner as I had a sort of clearing out emotionally.(about my family,DH's depression,the state of life etc)I looked like a stereotypical pg woman. Lumpy and apparently crying over nothing. I even cried because for a half an hour yesterday I realised I felt OK. DS was playing on a playframe in this huge indoor warehouse place,DH was running around after him,I was sitting down reading a magazine,LO on way,no recent family disasters.Decided that regardless of all the chaos building works wise,we'd manage. Thing is I needed to get some time to myself to realsie this.

Take it easy.

actually came on here to moan. I'm going out with friends for lunch so DH has decided to take DS1 to MILS (cos quote"he can't be bothered to cook for just the two of them") Despite the fact that I have to meet my friends at a prearranged time, DS1 and DH took over the whole of upstairs including the bathroom to have the BIGGEST battle about teethbrushing and getting dressed. I've ended up in the living room waiting for them to go out so I can get ready. Their plan was to be up and out really early. Now I'm going to rush round and end up being late--so much for relaxing

BTW I got my haircut yesterday and told my stylist, in no way was she to give me anything that would be deemed as practical for someone about to have a baby(I don't spend any time styling it as it is,except for the rare occasssion I dust my ceramics off for a night out!) so she was to cut as many layers into it as poss. It was very liberating! So I've got hair I'm happy with and no baby! (i chopped my hair into a bob last pg and it drove me mad!) I think i'm having some sort of "I may be the mother of two,but I'm still a woman" kind of mid trimester crisis!!

AQ I've felt like that off and on so what I did was make a list of what needed doing and I've done 1 thing each day and crossed it off. If I get to another fab if not - always tomorrow. That way I've no pressure and being so far gone (I'm a week ahead of you) you've got to give yourself a break. You can't expect yourself to have the same energy levels before you were pg, and make the most of your chance now to slob cos with 2 it'll be harder!!

I can't believe I'm having another one in 2 weeks and DS is 21mths today... Think we're mad!

AQ: Know how you are feeling.. we have no heating at all at the moment and the plumber who should be fitting it has called to say he has done his knee in

The house looks like a bomb has hit it, and I have given up and resorted to cheese breadsticks and a dip selection pack...

((Hugs))

Congrats to Lucy! And hope all is well with you, Eli.

I'm also feeling crap so I sympathise with you AQ. It must be a last minute thing as the reality sets in! I won't go into all my reasons - far too long and boring but today what set me off was, after hoovering the whole house and cleaning the bathroom, I go to run a bath and the cold tap comes off in my hand!!

So water cascading into bath, I have no idea how to turn the supply off, I ring my landlord (who is my brother-in-law) who tells me how to turn water off, nearly do myself an injury pulling washing machine out and leaning over to get to stop-cock thingy and then feeling guilty because he now has to drive for an hour to get here and try to fix the tap otherwise we have no water.

After feeling a bit crap over the past couple of days it just made me feel even more helpless and lonely not having someone around to help out with that sort of mini-crisis. Not that any of my ex's have been any good at DIY but you know, sometimes having a man around is handy! So, yeah, just feeling a bit sorry for myself but I'm sure things won't look so bad tomorrow. Heh, I sound like orphan Annie

Awwww, thanks guys, came back from day out with DS & DP to find all those nice messages I feel relieved iykwim that I'm not the only one, it does feel that reality is sinking in, baby's coming whether I like it or not! And you're all so right, getting stressed is not going to do baby any good & will make labour harder! We had plans today, but DS at nursery Mon & Tues, so I'm going to try and do some nice things for myself like dye my hair (grey is showing!) and get a dvd rental, as well as limited no of items from my to do list.
Poor baconbaps, hope the tap's been sorted now! I really don't know I wld cope without dp, I do appreciate how lucky I am to have him or just anyone around. Hope this group can always be a place to support you.
ELM, no heating, OMG! When's it coming back again?

Eveing All,

AQ, come and spend a day with me and we cn veg together!

Sat here having just eaten near enough my body weight in salted pistachio nuts and feeling sick - cos before that DH and I shared a whole strawberry and double cream cheesecake! So he's just put a nice hot cup of tea in front of me and I feel a bit better.

Did nothing yesterday morning as we were all so tired, the in the afternoon, DH tidied the nursery with help from DD, while I cooked my jam tarts and biscuits. Then prepared a leek and potator soup before going to watch our towns Christmas lights get switched on. Came home to hot soup and crusty bread yum!

Today we have been to Asda and bought a totally practical thing....another 60pc trainset for DD - which we gave her straight away!

Got home and helped her assmeble it while DH again pottered upstair and made our bed with abrand new quilt and pillows - so looking forward to bed tonight DH continues to be my Mr Wonderful.

However it has just dawned on both of us that this is our last weekend of privacy before baby arrives as MIL is here from next Saturday So from then until the baby arrives and we have a routine of good sleep it's pretty much chaos - why did we have to go out today

Baileys, it does not sound like vegging with all the cooking you do!!!! You've got me on a baileys thing, I've been wanting some for days now & I think I'm going to have to give in & buy some glide or something. I've been so good having non-alcoholic beer!
Am envious of your hot soup & crusty bread, but not of mil arriving, seems like quite a few of you have the mil problem, I could not stand having someone in my house dictating everything to me! Can you pretend not to be in, annaspanner, she ruined your birthday fgs???

Well DP is in bed with a stonking migraine and has been out of commission with it most of the day so we've done very little. I have made headway with the laundry - but not as far as I'd have liked- and we never got to go to the recycling bank to bin all our cardboard and plastics (we have a mountain!) so I don't feel very productive at all really.
I have decided to treat myself. I'm gonna get through all the washing and then send it off to get ironed so it's all out of the way and not sitting in bundles when baba arrives (I've let it build up so there's lots) so will sort that tomorrow. Know a local firm who are really reasonable and reliable yay!
Did get round to shaving my legs last night so I'm a hairless wonder for the first time in AGES!

How is everyone feeling?

All cooking is done now - so it's chillout time

MIL had SIL DC's last night - lets not forget the youngest of which is just 8 weeks old. Why when my SIL does nothing but complain about them and the state of their house - does she hand them over so readily I hear you all ask.......
Because she anted to go out and have a drink for her b'day. Just gonna wait 2 weeks now before she phones to say she is PG again!

However heard on DH family grapvine that IL's kept older of the two DC's up till 11.30 and she has been a complete handful all day since. I think with an 8 week old baby I would rather forgo the drink and have more peaceful household the next day.

And talking of drinks Baileys is my tipple, for me it's what makes the day for me on Christmas evening when DD has finally gone to bed, exhausted but happy - not sure if I'll get that this year with a new baby - but we'll see.

DH is just making me a second cuppa in 20 minutes- if I was'nt married to this man...I'd marry him