July 2016 Babies (9) - let the babies commence!

[Ellizardo]

Nearly there folks.

Anna I'm so sorry to hear the latest developments re your ma. Such a terrible thing for you to have to cope with. How is she doing? Good that you've got a big family and can all support each other.

Mar - gosh you've been having such a tough time. Glad you've been chatting to your hubby about it. It's important to keep yourself busy while you're on bed-rest, and I think doing some online baby shopping is a great idea - it means your DH can focus on other things and also means you don't feel you're missing out on baby prep.

For anyone who hasn't yet had time to get things ready for the baby, no need to panic. I did a whole load of online shopping from mothercare on Monday, which should arrive this week. It's amazing how much you can get in one go (plus there's free delivery if you order lots of things at once). I feel much more prepared now, just from an hour or two of bed-based retail therapy! Plus, as my friend (with two children) was saying to me, if you suddenly go into hospital earlier than expected and haven't prepared/packed, the hospital has the crucial stuff and you can always send a partner/friend to get the rest or do online shopping once the baby's arrived!

Ellizardo - good that you've got Ted to cuddle at this difficult time.

Kaytee I haven't weighed myself for months! I don't actually own any scales. Not sure the midwives have weighed me either - I vaguely recall that at my checking in appt she asked me my weight and I told her to the best of my (probably not very reliable) knowledge! Beaut very good point re hopping on the scales before and after the baby's born.

Gosh it seems completely alien to me that you might expect to see the same midwife throughout! In the whole time I've been pregnant I've never met the same person more than once apart from the hospital reception staff. And in fact I'm consultant-led, but even so have only met "my" consultant once. But I was never given any expectations at the beginning that I'd see the same midwife throughout - it's all about "teams" here in London.

Beaut (and others) where did you get your maternity yoga pants?

Loving the pics of the big black panties! Are people just getting one size up from normal? ie if I'm normally a size 10 should I just get size 12? Or is it worth getting size 14? I'm thinking that with the soreness plus needing to fit in the maternity pads it might be worth properly going large?

My little baby is very bony! Just in the last week or ten days I've really noticed that when he moves around I can feel/see his foot sticking out and it's really solid! And then I was reading one of my apps and it says week 32/33 is when the baby's bones start hardening. He's also very territorial, especially when I lean against my desk - he tries to kick it away!

Had a (mostly) nice time this weekend at the three weddings, but my goodness it was exhausting, especially with the driving in between! Could do with a quiet weekend to catch up, but the next two weekends we've got NCT all day on the Saturdays. Looking forward to it though.

"Hump day bump day" photo attached.

33+1

Julfin I got my maternity yoga pants from Mothercare. I had them last time too. Great during pregnancy but also really comfy afterwards while everything settles down.

Julfin - lovely bump pic! Also good to hear that there are options for those of us less organised….. Bed based retail therapy is so the way forward.

Eliz and Beaut - so jealous of all that lovely batch cooked food - I'd actually been organised and cooked up a load of stuff pre- kitchen building chaos but the builder unplugged the freezer (despite massive sign saying 'do not unplug!!!')……that wasn't a good day….Hoping I'll get a chance once kitchen finally finished but that feels like a distant dream. At mo eating cereal with water as I can't get to the fridge

Bluebell - glad you saw the MW and that they've acknowledged how rubbish they've been! Hope you get looked after better now. We went to see MLU last week at our hospital - it's lovely too. Made me feel really emotional too about meeting our little boy there. DH is researching LED fairy lights to take with us - all the essential kit of course!

Happy Thursday all x

34 + 5

Glad you saw the midwife bluebell, I've left two messages now and nothing. Like I say I'll be seen at the hospital for my scan on the Tuesday anyway so it's not major but not I've seen the community midwife for 6 weeks and my next one in my plan should be the home visit. The words birth plan haven't even been discussed yet, let alone booking in for a tour! I'll mention it at the hospital and see if they can sort it that end.

mar sorry to hear what a crappy time you've been having . Very stressful and hard to deal with, super good that DH is being so supportive and you guys can talk about it all. Always post on here, like others have said. Have you explained to MW fully how you're feeling? Like others have said definitely a time to online shop and binge watch on Netflix/Iplayer etc. I was debating cancelling Netflix the other day but then thinking of night feeds I decided to keep it!

bluebell glad they squeezed you in, even if for a brief visit. Your blanket sounds like it's making such great progress- so so excited to see it once it's finished!

elliz and others your batch cooking sounds very impressive! The most batch cooking I've done is buying a few extra frozen pizzas for the DDs so they don't starve in the early days I must get organised!

foobio yum to Cornettos... It's a joke a now have a rather large 'secret stash' of lollies in our outside freezer.. I'm finishing at 36+0 but I've got 3/4 weeks of holiday so my mat leave can kick in on my due date.

becks I can't believe you're full term!!

mascara I've washed pretty much everything now but I just took the opportunity when the weather was good and could get it all dried outside. I'm sure once baby is here the tumble drier will be used once again.. I haven't always washed baby clothes so I wouldn't overly panic yourself if you don't get round to it!

beaut I cheated and put my 3 year old down for a nap! And bribed DD1 with my iPad! Great parenting but got a good coat done, and finished it off yesterday afternoon while they were at nursery/a kids day camp. Absolutely shattered last night and crawled into bed. Feeling very accomplished that I painted the entire room/door and everything at 35 weeks pregnant and a very sizeable bump! Beaut I also have the worst hard/dry skin, as painting I can manage but scrubbing is another story.

cheery yep agree with whoever else said about rocking the baby to sleep when busy. I'm sure that's what it is. Plus little movements I might not notice. Especially when I'm bustling about I'm looking after other children!

dats your posts crack me up! I think the neighbours might question what's going on out there haha. My GTTs have always been negative but my bumps have been ' off the scale ' in all 3 of my pregnancies. And normal size babies. I pay 0 attention!

Still haven't packed my hospital bag.. I have a mound of things I've haphazardly thrown on top of my wheely case they'll never even fit inside it. This explains why I didn't use a wheely case before... Must. Get. My. Shit. Together.

35+3 - is anyone else excited now it's June that you can say baby will be born next month?! (Tbf some of yours will come before then!)

Hello! Hope everyone had a good bank holiday? Hubby took me to the Rosewood hotel in Holborn, very quiet in London as I guess everyone was away for the bank holiday. We had such a lovely time great way to start my maternity leave.

fifi so good to hear from you and I'm pleased to hear that both you and Luca are both on the mend :-) And thank you for your useful hospital tips too!

Eliz thinking of you and your friend following the funeral,hope you are ok x

Anna I'm so sorry to hear about your mum. Thinking of you and your family at this difficult time x

Mar sounds like it's been a tough few days for you. Your OH sounds fantastic so supportive which is just what you need x

Bel you've done such a great job on the nursery, looks beautiful!

thom & Lulabells not long until you both move - how exciting!!

Bluebel completely understand your annoyance about community midwives. I haven't had a good experience with mine so I'm now being seen by the midwife team at my hospital. Could you change to something similar?

Welcome pinkladyapple!

mascara Nesting has kicked in big time, I decided to wash all of baby's clothes and iron them lol you can tell I'm in the early days of mat leave can't you?!?

What's everyone's plan for this weekend? I have a baby shower to attend followed by our first NCT class looking forward to it.

34+6

ooo Jem i've wondered about the Rosewood as I used to live around there in my footloose and fancy free days. I don't think i've ever actually stayed in a London hotel come to think of it. glad it was lovely and what a relaxing start. i laughed when i read you were ironing the baby clothes. as you predict, that is probably the chore you will stop the most quickly once you have the kid. the idea actually makes me giggle out loud now. i am such a lazy bones..

can i just add that Soleros are excellent and 'only' 100 calories each...not that i particularly care about calorie counting but when a whole pack of 3 'disappears' one balmy afternoon, it's good to know you could burn it all off in one attempt to tie your shoe.

julfin i am mega impressed by your neat and tidy profile (and mani?). i am so ready to dump all my preg clothing - having basically lived in Gap joggers for 2 years now having had Ted so recently - that i'm coveting your black jeans. worse part is, all the money i saved to buy a few nice post preg outfits for the summer has gone on mending our bloody roof.

cookies agree with you on the bump sizing rigmarole and love that you bribed the kids so you could get on with decorating!

bluebell - you'll be pleased to know i've finally chosen Ted's blind fabric! i thought this was cute and would last a good decade or two:
www.fabricsandpapers.com/item/view/21476-philippas-bike-linen-fabric-blue-mountain?16d874b19f4c7e017d34adb77354b030e6a7d9a8

Lots of talk of clothes.... My most recent purchases for post baby wardrobe (obviously my mat clothes will still be used for a while) are;

Mothercare black yoga pants
Black nursing top/tshirt
Black nursing vest
5 Soft sleep bras
5 pack of m&s black full knickers in a size up
2 pairs of those summery trousers with the elasticated drawstring waists that are fashionable just now in a size up
2 tops to match the trousers with coordinating vest for underneath to cover my tum when bf.

I have 2 nursing bras (don't want to buy more as don't know what size I'll be) and 2 nursing dresses that I don't actually like all that much now they seem very 'mumsy'.

I know it's pure vanity but I was thinking of buying post natal shape wear as I heard it helps shrink your tummy back and can make you feel a bit more secure and less wobbly but I've no idea what to buy or in what size.

Baby will be christened at the end of September so I have to find a nice dress and attempt to look half decent by then

Kaytee I'm investing in a belly bandit for afterwards. I'll order it after baby is here. I've not tried one before so no idea if they work.

Which nursing dresses have you bought. I've just found a nice one in Mothercare that I think I'll invest in. I have some of those tapered stretchy waist trousers too. I have maternity and just hoping to keep wearing them for a while. I'm not fussed. I will probably work on normal sized clothes for the winter and write summer off haha.

Kaytee I'm investing in a belly bandit for afterwards. I'll order it after baby is here. I've not tried one before so no idea if they work.

Which nursing dresses have you bought. I've just found a nice one in Mothercare that I think I'll invest in. I have some of those tapered stretchy waist trousers too. I have maternity and just hoping to keep wearing them for a while. I'm not fussed. I will probably work on normal sized clothes for the winter and write summer off haha.

Can you get Arse Bandits? Because that's a far more problem area here. Saying that, I think an arse bandit is another thing entirely

Hehehehe

I got the two dresses from asos, they weren't very expensive so probably not well designed.

Anyone else's thighs massive? Mine now rub together just right at the top and have a couple of faint purple marks - either veins or stretch marks not sure. Hope they go away. No marks on my stomach as yet but they'll probably come at the end anyway.

Ha ha Dats!

Anna so sorry about your mum, thinking of you and your family.

Eliz it's nearly the anniversary of my lovely friends passing, the good ones are taken too young.

I am so tired today, did a 16 hour round trip for work with a meeting and an uncomfortable hotel bed which may have been ambitious at 33 weeks but tomorrow I am off then a beautiful wedding on Saturday to look forward to.

My mat cover starts Monday so need to hand over as quickly as possible as I am starting to regret thinking I would work until 37.5 weeks full time in the heat with my DD to look after if I carry on as I am I think I'll be exhausted before baby arrives!

Hope everyone is coping ok with the heat. Sorry for being rubbish at keeping up with this thread, I do read but just struggle to always find time to post.

Dats - I can only imagine the unintended consequences of an innocent pregnant lady googling 'arse bandit'..

Fifi - how are you both doing these days?

And Anna hope you're ok too.

Mrs Rolly - thanks for your note. I take comfort in that she's still in all our thoughts, as your friend is in yours.

beautician - I love the sexy M&S pants! I am going to get a pack 2 sizes bigger. A friend how had a c-sectio recommended disposable ones as well.
The arse bandit comment made me giggle. I can only imagine what comes up in Google.
julfin - that is reassuring about one line shopping. Plan to start when I get in to the new place. Not long to go.
I had a scan today & all looking good for a c-section at 38 weeks. Feels very soon. 6 weeks to go...I plan to Pablo my back at 35 just in case.
Hope everyone is well.

Loud guffaw re arse bandits 😄

Elliz - thanks! Yes I had my nails done for the wedding. Not a manicure, just painted. I confess I cheated and got them done at a Chinese nail bar for a fiver. I'm lazy and only paint my nails about once a year, so I'm delighted that they get your approval! Re the jeans, they were from H&M and were fairly cheap if I recall correctly. They are also super-comfy and soft. I see absolutely no reason whatsoever to stop wearing them post-preg (or ever) 😉
Btw I love Ted's blinds - particularly the fact that they come complete with a literary reference!

Thom - totally intrigued by your comment re Pablo!

Kaytee have you booked the christening already? Crikey! I think we'll put that on the slow-burner.
Re purple marks on legs, I've developed terrible marks. Looks like bruises all over my legs. Seriously looks like I've been beaten up.

Re movements, like many others, I've tended not to notice them when I'm busy - I suspect partly because I'm not focusing on it and partly because he's rocked to sleep by my movements. But increasingly I'm finding that he moves regardless of how busy I am. I haven't been monitoring it specifically. But my consultant said only to worry if either:
a) you have less than 1 movement per 6-hour window, or
b) you have less than 10 movements per 12-hour window
Perhaps I should start monitoring more closely. Yup, I'll do that right after I start remembering to do my pelvic floor exercises every day.

(First-world problem, but...) I'm trying to work out the best way to break the news to DH that our all-day NCT class means getting up at 7am this Saturday and next. Given that a) he's very much not a morning person and is very keen on his weekend lie-ins, and b) having a baby was my idea and he's not really fussed, I can see this conversation going down like a bucket of sick. Bad enough that early starts will become standard practice from July, without having to do it in June too!

Fifi and Anna - hope you're doing ok.

33+2

Thom - these pics might be useful for inspiration?

Thank you all for all your kind words it means so much to me. I have been catching up on resting and as suggested been hooked on to Netflix today and to think I was going to cancel subscription last month. I have also been keeping busy online shopping have ordered some more unisex baby clothes and bits for the nursery. Generally feeling exhausted think the last few weeks are catching up on me now, as with most of us on here i have no pattern in regards to baby movement but some days they will just move non stop and others like today they will lead me to panic with very little movement.

Can anyone recommend any open fronted nightwear I could order online?

Hope everyone else is ok x

Morning all, glad you're chilling a bit Mar. Matalan had some? Asda George? I'm going cheap as I'll probably throw if they get messy. Got some nice pjs though for visiting.

MIL has noticed I'm nesting and has offered to come help me clean today, can't say no to the offer as bending is becoming an issue! Cancelled my trace as I'd felt movements yesterday but they called back last night telling me to come in today, they are being so careful. Still no sign of the community midwife getting in touch so I'll have to call today.

Julfin, I feel your pain with nct dates. DH has got it twice a week for the next three weeks and I've checked in advance it doesn't clash with the football!

julfin I know, I must be mad. Baby has to fit into the family christening gown and it's a busy church so was worried about leaving it too late.

I really hope I dont look like a dogs dinner at the christening. Mil has said she didn't even look like she'd had a baby a couple of weeks after having my DH (not sure how true that is as she said she gained 4st) and she's commented on DH cousin struggling to lose her baby weight. Personally I would never even notice what someone's weight was but don't want mil passing judgement or discussing my weight with anyone, I'd be mortified. She's asked what I weigh a couple of times which seems strange and obsessive.

mar Mothercare do some nursing nightwear if that helps.

It's my last day at work today, thank goodness! I was originally meant to work until next Friday but I'm so glad I brought it forward.

Very organised re: the christening Kaytee! I've been thinking about it, but have done nothing. Really need to talk to the church about timescales (and make a final decision about the godparents...).

Hey all sorry seem to have got lost , thanks juflin for finding me haha !

Can't believe we r at the end of the prego journey already ! It has gone quickly I suppose but slowing down now with all the aches and pains and sleepless nights ! I'm huge !
Love seeing all the bumpies and nursery pictures and thanks Fifi for posting ur little angel Luca - congratulations! Sounds like ur all getting on very well X
Yay to all those with nearing maternity leave , and hats off for working up to this long ! Iv bn so sore and Crabbit I would have been sacked for bad temper probably ! X

I'm off to buy everything I need for hospital bag today , I feel like Iv left it a bit late but mood hasn't been great the past few weeks , looking forward to it tho X
I have my appointment at the hospital for c section date on Thursday , quite excited but nervous too feels very strange knowing when our wee man will arrive !
Anyone else having a planned c section this time ? If so do u have ur date ? X
Hope the suns out where u are and hope u all have a lovely Friday xx

Julfin I have the same jeans - two identical pairs of them - and I freaking love them. They are keepers, for sure. Although I now have to fold down the bump band when I'm sitting because of my ever-increasing girth.

Speaking of ever-increasing girth, DH and I both measured our waists yesterday after hearing the news that prostate cancer risk for men increases with waists of more than 37 inches. DH's waist is 34 inches. Mine is currently 38.5 inches! It was 25 inches before I got pregnant, so my waist is currently 154% of what it was. Nice!

Cheery arrrggghhhhh I would weep if someone unplugged the freezer containing my batch-cooked food. Galling is not even the word! Had to chuckle at you eating cereal with water... I think I'd rather have it dry!

mascara I hope a midwife gets back to you! I know the service is stretched but it is a bit scary that if you weren't persistent, you may not be seen at all...

Jem how nice to be taken away for a break! Thanks for the suggestion re the midwives. I am happy with the midwives themselves - they've all been fab - it's just the way it's organised that has been an issue. With only two appointments to go now, though, I think I will just suck it up.

Ellizardo I LOVE THAT FABRIC. Seriously classy choice.

Dats thank you for making me snort with laughter.

Ladies, I just trimmed the lady garden wilderness, and it was tricky. Mirrors confuse me with their back-to-front witchery, so I didn't bother using one - I just did it blind. Only nearly scissored myself once, I am pleased to report. God knows what the result is like, but as I can't see it, who cares, right?

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday at a friend's house, cheering up some second-hand white babygros with some stamps and textile printing ink. They're very hand-made looking but at least they are brighter than they were. I shall take some photos later to show y'all.

36 + 3

PS Anyone having epic birthing chats with EVERY supermarket checkout lady they encounter? I had a great one yesterday with a girl who had her healthy baby six weeks early with a two-hour labour. That is the kind of birthing story I like.

Will read and respond properly later but just a quick one for those with swelling..

My ankles and fingers in the last week have been insane - i cant even see the knobbly bits on my ankles anymore and can barely feel them! I squeezed my foot last night and it left and indent for about 3 minutes rather than disappearing straight away - is this standard behaviour for pregnant swollen bodies or should i be worried?

(Have a midwife app monday just dont know if i should ring before or if its fairly par for the course!)