Due in May 2007 - Thread for w/c 15/01/07

[twelveyeargap]

This week.

Hello.

Pebble - awfully sorry to hear about your DS. I would have done the same thinking DD was "acting up". Don't beat yourself up about it. Will echo what the others say about the chance he might grow out of it and I've known a few people with Epilepsy who had a couple of full fits and then never had anything worse afterwards other than getting a bit 'starey-eyed' sometimes and not being able to concentrate. Might not be as bad as it seems. Fingers crossed.

Re: the baby lying low. I have baby bouncing off my bladder too and seems to be wriggling in such a way that it's made me feel a bit queasy a couple of times. Didn't happen before. Do you have an anterior placenta? I do and I'm wondering if that's why the movements feel weird.

Oh, and my DD (11) has taken to rubbing my belly and saying "Night, night baby bump." It's cute. I've been trying to involve her and it now seems to be working.

RK - Gutted for you about your maternity leave. And all of your really, who only get stat pay. Bummer. It's so little isn't it? Seems a bit unfair that it can't be pay-related. We pay enough tax, surely?

LG&T - Glad you're a bit better, but as previously said, your ex-p is a complete c'ck. I don't blame you for locking yourself away. You just need to have some time to yourself when these things happen. Let me know if I can help in any way, other than to keep reminding you not to let him get away with it, just for peace!
Oh, and with the Quinny, if the baby isn't going to be in it for long periods of time (like the school run) then wouldn't it be better to be able to take him in and out of the car in a seat which attaches to the pushchair? Then when he outgrows the car seat, he'll be big enough to sit up in a buggy anyway. The car seat must recline a bit? Don't they say a couple of hours in a car seat is fine?

FSF - laughing at you checking your work. I can be a bit draconian with DD about punctuation and spelling, but wouldn't dream of correcting my friends! (I do get to correct people at work when they ask me to print something on headed paper and I change their business letter to something that is actually acceptable to send out.) Now that I have said that, I am bound to be corrected on all the spelling and grammar mistakes I have ever made on MN.

Lots of people write the ending of books first, by the way. You can easily weave a story around your imagined culmination of events. You might be better than you think!

SOH - I can't believe that guy making fun of you. How very dare he! Did you see that thread about having a water birth in the garden recently? It did make me smile. Aparrently the midwife suggested it. Birthing pool in a Gazebo at the back of the house. It did make me smile.

Anneme - your DH fainting really amused me. Thankfully my DH has seen a really graphic birth video when he was younger and although he wasn't keen, at least he knows how it might be. They don't have to be at the business end if they don't want to anyway, do they?

Dorisday - meant to say the other day. Don't be shy! Lots of people just pop in to day hello now and again. You don't have to be such gas-bags as me and LG&T.

Oh and LG&T, I was grumpy the other day as was having a tedious email exchange with the vendor over his junk he left behind. Eventually, after many firm, yet polite emails and a couple of "hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman of whom advantage is being taken" emails; he agreed to come and get his photos and personal bits and give me a cheque for £100 to pay for rubbish removal.

He then tried to tell me I'd taken it all the wrong way and he'd left all those things to be "helpful". If he can find a use for dried up paint and old broken suitcases, then I take my hat off to him.

What he doesn't know is that when I called the council to register for council tax, I dropped him in it as he'd told them he "moved out" on the 2nd, which may have been true, but we completed on the 9th, so he owes them another week. Plus they said, the "previous occupant" to me and I said, "Occupants" and the man coughed and said, "Oh I see", so I'm pretty sure he was claiming discount for living alone. I would NEVER normally do that to someone, but this guy is by no means short of a few bob. A few elderly people could have their bills reduced if the people able to pay didn't take advantage.

So that's me really. Clever me on my high horse. Need to be careful not to fall off now, as it's a long way down.

Happy Thursday everyone.

Apart from the pram and cot (being kept at PILs) I haven't bought anything either. There is nowhere in our house to put anything. My mum wanted to give me 8 cardis she had knit last week to put in my "drawer". I said what drawer, they are all full!

DP's work colleague (baby due same day as ours) asked him last night if he had started the nursery yet. LOL FFS its still DD2s bedroom for the foreseeable future! Its their first baby and she is insisting he gets the room painted now due to paint fumes. Oh I remember the days well. DD2 will probably move in with DD1 when the baby is 6 months old.

I think it's just taken me an hour to read the entire thread! so now trying to remember all the things I wanted to say.
Abbylou - I had sciatica quite badly in my first pg (sat on the train with my legs crossed for 4 hours when I was 12 weeks and when I arrived I couldn't walk) but I did find something that helped, I think it must still be working because it hasn't been nearly so bad this time. It is a sciatic stretch that involves going down on so that you are kneeling on all fours and bringing your right foot up so that it lies diagonally across the top of your left knee. Then slide your left knee back so that your left leg is out straight behind you and your right leg is bent underneath your bump. Hold the stretch for a few mins then reverse out and repeat with the other leg. Hope that makes sense, it's a bit difficult to describe.

SOH - I've got a Debbie Bliss baby knits book that you are welcome to as I know I'm never going to have enough time to do much knitting this time round. It is a bit old fashioned (got it in a charity shop) but still has some really nice things. Let me know if you'd like it. Confession - I'm a secret lentil weaver too.

JL - I use motherease one size nappies, I don't think they're hard work, but then I'm used to it now. I think they work really well - though to start with they are too big, so I used prefolds for a while. I found that for a while they didn't last the night so I used eco disposables at night and real nappies during the day. I had been using tea tree oil as a soak but recently the washing mashine got a bit stinky so I started using a pre soak. That's just reminded me that when ds's tummy button stump fell off we could'nt find it, it wasn't until weeks later that I found it trapped in the door seal of the washing machine - yurk!

It is officially freezing in my flat, all that wind last week blew the cowl off the top of the vent pipe for my boiler and the boiler just gave up with all the wind and rain coming down the flue. I really hope the engineer can fix it today as it's snowing!

How long does this woman think paint fumes last, exactly? That is so funny. I suppose I can understand they're eagerness.

I was so poverty stricken when I had DD1 that it's a completely new experience this time, being able to "choose" things, as opposed to getting (and being enormously grateful for) hand-me-downs. My mum had a hair salon at the time and a lot of the customers had been going there since my mum had me, so they were really generous with gifts. Lots of them even bought things for my flat and gave me money and vouchers. People can be so kind.

It's another world this time, really. I mustn't forget how fortunate I am.

That said, I am currently banned from spending any money. DH telling me to "get anything I can" on interest free credit and everything else on credit card. By the time we have to pay for it we'll be able to re-finance the house and pay the other bits. Sailing rather close to the wind, we are.

Apart from the lack of space I am finding it hard to buy anything. DP wanted to buy an 8 piece set from Next (£15) on Sunday in Newborn size so the baby had something to come home from hospital in. I said 0-3 months with the sleeves/trousers rolled up was much more practical as when DD2 was born at 8lb 5 oz she only fitted into newborn for one week so we wouldn't get the use out of it. He thinks I am being mean but I think I am being practical.

Where is it snowing Benson??? Nice to see you by the way. Bugger about the boiler.

Oh forgot to say earlier, in my essay, about cramps. GAGH! This started much later with DD1 (though probably becasue I am such a porker now). Was hopping around the bedroom at 4.30am this morning trying to walk out a horrible cramp in my calf. It was awful. Calf looked all contorted and ugly. DH wasn't best pleased with my yelping either.

And I've got another thing I didn't get til well after 30 weeks last time. A dull ache in my pelvic bone, right down below. Like the bone on either side of your fanjo is under loads of pressure. I suppose it IS under loads of pressure?

Nothing I can't handle. It's just annoying! So lots of sympathy to those of you with ligament pain and sciatica and such.

Snowing in Edinburgh. I always get really excited when it snows but it usually turns to mush within hours. Not even settling today.

Pebble, how scary for you. I can only echo what everybody else has said, it could just be mild and very easily controlled with medication. A close friend of mine is epileptic- quite severely really, but she manages it very well, has three children, is doing a nursing degree and even drives. The key was getting her medication right (and she gets to jump all the queues with 'I'm epileptic dontcha know'!). Keep us updated and have a ((hug))

BensonBB, a fellow lentil weaver (shh, don't tell the others)! I would love the book if you're sure and I am so that you're in Edinburgh. We went to Scotland for our honeymoon and spent four days in Edinburgh and then travelled all over for two weeks. We want to move up there eventually. I love Skye in particular. Right, that's LG&T and Benson and FSF that I'm visiting whilst on maternity leave... Anybody else fancy a neurotic first-time mother over to stay?

TYG our vendors must be brothers. Turns out Mr Numpty has moved back into the property, has lied to the council about it and is even claiming that the property is council tax exempt! Ooh he's going to be in trouble. He's also left some very random things in the empty rooms like a pair of shoes, a hairbrush and a candle. We met him the other day and he's a bit like John McCririck's more attractive brother.

I'm another one who hasn't bought anything. We have no money to spare really and are hoping that tales of the kindness of family and friends come true. I'm knitting and sewing like a mad thing and I've bookmarked Ebay. There's a little 2nd hand baby shop out in the sticks of the city as well so I think I'll be having a look in there. The purchase of the house seems to take up all of our spare cash at the moment, but we'll be fine once it is done and DH changes jobs (Still waiting for a start date for the police force, likely to be June-ish!).

Anyway, got to run, got a Dreamweaver [snore] course this afternoon at 1.30pm and I need to eat lunch first! In my untechnical brain a Dreamweaver is the highest class of lentil weaver. I think I'm about to find out that it's actually something to do with computers.

Ho hum.

PS On the weather front, all roads to the university I work at are closed because some trees have blown over. It's amazingly windy, still no snow though. I live in hope.

Afternoon everyone

What a day im having. I managed to swap my appointment with ds1 so at 9.20 we were sat at the doctors going through almost everything we were told last night. She then did a couple of tests involving a pin and the back of ds's hands to determine how well he could feel it. It turns out he has less feeling in his right hand and also on the back of his hands. The dr wasnt sure if this is significant but she is going to add it to her referral letter. It could take up to 6weeks before he sees the specialist so until then he is banned from swimming much to his disgust and we just have to wait to see what the diagnosis is. Dh seems to be in a bit of shock and cant get over how a 9yr old can go from being perfectly fit to having 2 fits within 6months which i admit does seem strange but it does happen. Also dh has only ever seen ds1 an hour or so after the fits by which time he is almost back to normal and i think when he is told what has happened he tends to think the worst. The dr has also said that if possible i should get in touch with ds1 paternal grandparents to find out if there is any history of this type of thing in the family. That will be fun, the last i knew they owned a shop in Worthing and i used to have their address but think i threw it out ages ago. They've shown no interest in ds1 for the past 4 years and i hate the idea of getting in touch now but i guess if it helps sort ds1 out i will just have to get on with it. I very much doubt they will want to resume contact or that his waste of space dad will ever try but that was one of the reasons i didnt try to force contact with them (even though ds1 used to look forward to seeing him and was hurt when he no longer heard from them) If only there was a way to find out the medical history of the family without actually having to ask them for it

On top of rushing to the dr's this morning we have also returned home to find our fence has blown down, then just as we were eating lunch MIL phoned asking dh to go over there as her fence was falling down and she needed help to take it all down so he is there now, I was about to have a bath and have discovered the plug has disappeared and i have my rearranged anti-natal appointment with my dr at 2.20 so this day feels as though its full of non-stop running around

Cant wait to get in bed tonight

Pebble sorry to here about your ds, I have a friend with epilepsy and apart from having periods when he's not been able to drive he lives a more than full life, dd has a febril convulsion (fit) probably just as well you didnt see your ds fitting it is very scary, hope all goes well at the docs

Our fence in the garden has fallen down, it is sooooooooooooooo windy, still glad we dont have snow and ice as I live on a hill and will be housebound

What a day for your Pebble - roll on bedtime

Oh Pebble. What a nightmare. That's so sad about the grandparent's too. People really surprise me sometimes.

Oh Pebble. What a nightmare. That's so sad about the grandparent's too. People really surprise me sometimes.

CRASH! part of the kitchen ceiling just came down. We are doing some renovations at the moment and the ceiling obviously wasn't quite up to being replastered. Just thought I'd share all the excitment with you.

How worrying about your son Pebble - I hope finding out more will be reassuring.

SOH - send your address to alisondotdykeat talk21dotcom (there you know my name now). Welcome to visit by the way!

Hi ladies just spent an hour catching up (phew!) what a dramatic day - and kitchen ceilings falling down too now - !! When I finally finished reading I really had to remind myself that we're all pg & that's why we come here! Seems we talk about anything else

I'm trying desperately to relax. Just put DS into nursery for longest time ever (4hrs) to get a break and instead I'm wandering round the house like a lost person. Also can't stop thinking about our scan tomorrow - please send some lucky vibes our way!!!

On a random note - we've got these really, really annoying fruit-fly looking flies about the house. I've NO idea where they come from. We put all our plants outside (now blown down ) and the flies are still here. I've Dettol-d everything I can think of - any ideas????

Am I being thick. Has Scootermum changed her name...or is she MIA?

Nope not heard from scooter for a while.. I have her email, will drop her a line.

Im eating cheese on toast with worcestershire sauce....mmmmm V late lunch, have been MSN ing for hours with friend in Russia. I come abck and hell has broken loose on the thread!

I have ordered the quinny so i can clip the baby car seat to it when it's born as dh pointed out too that the baby will be in it till it's old enough to sit up anyway! Muppet i know....

Did you read...skytv is sending me some homebirth movies to scare the shit out of, i mean educate dh...heee,heee

TYG glad your snotty emails paid off with numpty vendour, and poor you for having to deal with it. Same as you SOH, how do they get away with it?!

Im feeling better, hooray!!!! Anyone fancy a glass of wine in the bar round the corner after work? Wouldnt it be fab if we could...sigh...

SOH how long till mat leave, im expecting a visit and need to start preparing....

Ceilings crashing in?! Run, run away Benson...nice to have you with us again xxx

School run in soon, oh doom and gloom. Wonder if the road is open yet or will i have to go the long way round.

Benson - what excitement (though not necc what you need)!
TYG - Glad you socked it to your numpty vendor. Will be calling on you if I have any problems later on...

My friend and I were saying we should start a charity agency to help the elderly and poorly educated to write stroppy emails to errant businesses and individuals. The Furious Letter Foundation. "You don't need 'no education'. We provide punctuation control."

I get a buzz out of it. I clearly need to get out more, if my adrenaline fix comes from writing narky letters.

I would actually break down if my ceiling came in. I'm not able for that sort of thing! I suppose if you have the builders in already, then at least there's someone there to fix it. I'd still lose it though. You sound very calm indeed, Benson.

The plasterers are here and they are going to sort it. I may lose my cool if the boiler doesn't get fixed though.

I like your style with the Furious Letter Foundation - I'm willing to volunteer.I'm still feeling puffed up about the letter I had from Virgin Trains yesterday in response to my two page rant on a bungled booking and terrible journey. I had a two page explanation and a full refund, victory!

Well ive been to dr for my anti-natal appointment, poor woman seeing us twice in one day. Everything is fine and dandy, heartbeat was between 160-167 and blood pressure was just right (not bad considering everything going on) Ds1 came into the room with me so he got to hear the heartbeat which he enjoyed although he couldnt get over how fast it was. I told her that the baby feels quite low and that sometimes its a bit uncomfortable and she said it could be due to the low placenta or just down to the fact that first and third babies sometimes are more uncomfortable than others.

Dh has been under a lot of pressure at work lately, he is still at risk of unemployment so thats adding to the stress (wish they would hurry up and make up their minds)and to top it all off his shoulder is playing up again. He had a motorbike crash aged 19 and it damaged his shoulder really badly, he last had an operation on it nearly two years ago and was told that if it didnt work then he was looking at a full shoulder replacement op. If that was to happen he would have to say goodbye to his job anyway as it is very heavy manual labour. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that he is just suffering a bit of muscle strain (its a long shot but its keeping his spirits up for now) Anyway after the fun we have had since Christmas ie ds2 being ill, ds1 ending up in A&E and now having the fit plus what dh has been through and me being pregnant Dh has now decided that the two of us need to get away for a weekend, free from kids and stresses His thinking is that if he loses his job he wont be aboe to do it and as we have a bit of money saved it would be nice to treat ourselves while we can. I now have the job of finding the best deal i can. He wants us to go back to the one i took him to last year which was a country club complete with spa and golf course so fingers crossed i can get a good deal on it between now and March. I may moan about dh sometimes but he does know how to cheer me up. I may look like a beached whale in my cossie when we go but i dont care, the thought of a weekend away is too good to miss, i cant wait

Ds1 is harassing me to get on pc so he can talk to his cousins so i guess i will say goodbye for now and will try to get on later.

Hope everyone is well!!!

So thoughtful of your dh pebble, he sounds lovely. I hope his shoulder gets better and it is just muscle strain. Glad the baby is ok too, they are very resilient our quite big beans!

Benson im glad your ceiling is being fixed, whats a bit of rubble anyway...

TYG i love the idea of you letter writting agency. I hate doing it even though i know most of the time you get a good respone if you persist with it.

Have just come home from the school run, the tide is out so i could drive the beach way. We stopped at the shop on the way back for sweetie day. I have a dark choc bounty, it's hitting the spot very nicely.....

The smell of victory is sweet, but it tastes even better Benson. Aaaaahhhh. Well done.

Gosh, Pebblemum. You really are going through it. Everything crossed that your DH's shoulder gets better and that he keeps his job. I think it's a great idea to go away. As long as he still has his job now, it's not unlikely that the money would get "frittered away" on something else. You know how it is. It will do you the world of good to get away and you'll feel more positive when you get back.

12YG hellooooooo

What the hell am i going to do with her when the hormones start? Please tell me it cant be as bad as this!