Due February 2017- thread #6

[Readyfortwo]

See below for previous chatter:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/2697188-Due-in-February-2017-thread-5

Scottish, the pains are probably round ligament pains. I've had them for the last couple of weeks.

I decided to phone in sick and have finally organised all my cover work. I think I'm being punished for being one of those smug, I've got no symptoms types. Damn my earlier smugness! In my defence, I didn't know I was pregnant until 10 weeks and did spend the last two weeks of term genuinely thinking I was about to die and just putting it down to end of term exhaustion. I've done my time; trimester two is meant to be all rainbows and butterflies and glowing skin...isn't it?!

Fenella, yes! Just yes! Although you can keep the hula hoops, I'm all about the discos. And pickled onions. They count as one (or all five) of your five a day, right?

kiki - salt and vinegar all the way here! And salt and vinegar squares. In fact, salt and vinegar anything!!

twocats - I actually just reread it this weekend! Am working my way through the series in preparation for the new one coming out in the Autumn. I went to girls' boarding school so a devotion to Jilly Cooper was the law!

Friendly - glad it's not just me! I will know better next time but as this is the first I had NO IDEA. Totally naive!

scotty - totally counts! On the pickled onion front, DH claims he has to have daily pickled onion monster munch because it's a sympathy craving....

Mystery, did you find out what muslins are for?!
Kiki, I've also got my midwife appointment tomorrow a week early. Will be slightly disappointed now if they don't listen for the heartbeat to be honest!

Has anyone got any baby sling recommendations? I didn't use one with my other two but think I would like to this time!

Scotty I'm having a sick day too, feeling absolutely exhausted and have had achy rib pain too. Also woke up with a cold sore yesterday, the first in years, and am now waiting to see my GP as it's one of those things you have to get checked out apparently. I just want to be back in bed 😴. I hope a day of rest does you and the little one the world of good

Thanks, mimi. I hope you get seen soon and can get back to bed. I've managed to keep a cup of decaf tea down and am feeling like I might brave some toast shortly! I didn't know cold sores needed to be checked. I wonder what else there is I don't know

Muslins are great for, amongst other things, wiping up saliva, milk, snot and vomit. They also make excellent comforters for some babies, as well as emergency shade or a lightweight blanket for the summer. We had some large ones from Jojo Maman Bebe and used them a lot! We still use them if the 2 year old has a cold (kinder on the nose than tissues I find).

Excuse the ignorance, but are those the things you often see a mother has over her shoulder when carrying/burping the baby or whatnot?

Cinderella the fit is so personal that I'd recommend going to a sling library and trying a few. I've been through a few and discovered that I don't like more structured carriers like Lillebaby, but my Connecta works well.

DD was born during a heatwave so I used those giant bamboo muslins from Aden and Anais as light blankets/swaddled. They were expensive but one of our most used baby purchases! Useful to take out and about as they are so useful as somewhere to lay the baby down or as a sun shade. I still often chuck one under the buggy for the toddler in case it gets chilly during the summer.

For general sick mopping I used cheap supermarket muslins, lots of them! Also useful if you have big boobs for breastfeeding,I used to shove one under my boob to lift it up a bit. Oh the glamour.

cinderella I had a Moby stretchy wrap for newborn, they are nice and thick so will be good for a February baby. We also have a Manduca carrier which we used until DD was about 2, another brilliant purchase! Got it in plain black so DH was happy to use it too. I think he carried DD more than I did actually!

Wonder, yep those cloth squares are muslins.

Agree muslins are great for mopping up various bodily fluids. I got through several a day when dd was very little as she was sick a lot. I also used to hold one over the boob I wasn't feeding from to catch the milk squirt.
The giant ones are amazing but I liked the smaller m&s ones too. I bought a few cheaper ones but found they turned to cardboard after a few washes. Worth getting decent quality as you use them and wash them so much.
I used a close caboo sling when dd was small and then moved onto an ergo baby 360. Still using that now!

We have an ergobaby 360 which has a newborn insert so I plan to use that when out and about for longer walks - we still use it for 20 month old DS sometimes. I'm planning to get a lightweight fabric sling for around the house this time - didn't need it for DS as I had the time to put my feet up and let him nap on me, but with a very active toddler to look after I think I'll end up carrying the baby around the house whilst running after DS! He's not one for sitting still so I think it's going to be exhausting.

Also agree with Friendly - we had some giant Aden and Anais muslins which were great, but my other favourites were M&S - they were super soft and have great colours too. I bought some cheaper ones and they felt a bit scratchy so were used as a last resort.

Wispa I haven’t pinned any rooms as inspiration. I’ve actually just been pinning individual products to create a board so I can see how they would all go together. Its still very early though. I’ll pick a couple things up at a time and see how its coming together as that’s how I always decorate.

Do you ladies know if its safe to paint (water based paint) during pregnancy? I normally do all the painting in our house (my DH hates it) so I’m hoping I can as if I have to wait on my husband it won’t happen.

Cinderella that room is lovely! I’m sure you’ll get to create your dream nursery once you’ve finally moved. It must be hard to ignore your nesting instinct though.

I had an extra consultant appointment today to discuss my family history of arrhythmia, high blood pressure and diabetes. I’m healthy as a horse though and my BP is 110 /72 so they’ve decided I don’t need any extra monitoring on those fronts. The consultant and I really got on though so she decided to throw in a bonus scan so I could see the baby! She said all of her friends complained to her about the long gap between the 12 and 20 week scan so she figured why not. It was so great to hear the heart beat and see her moving around again :)

Apparently my placenta looks a bit low but its too early to say. They’ll have a better idea at the 20 week scan. I’m not overly concerned about having a c-section. I know that was a risk anyway due to the history of large babies.

I have no idea how I’m going to wait 6 weeks until my 20 week scan. I’ve had a scan every 2-3 weeks so far. I’ll probably break down and pay for an extra one in the middle. In the US, your OBGYN sees you every two weeks throughout the whole pregnancy. I know that’s probably unnecessary medically but its so much nicer.

Forgive me if I sound clueless but what is a sling library? Is it like a library but you borrow slings instead of books? Where would I find my nearest one?

Those of you with DCs, how many muslins did you need? Its so hard to know how much of everything you should buy? Also, did you have (or would you have wanted) a separate moses basket for naps downstairs or did baby mostly sleep on you. If you needed to do something where did you put baby down when you were downstairs?

We have enough muslins to fill a washing machine! My DD had reflux for the first 7 months and we went through several muslins a day cleaning up sick. I still use them to wipe her nose and a dozen would be enough now. I love the giant muslins as lightweight blankets, M&S ones are great but they seem to have stopped doing them.

Cinderella there are sling libraries across the UK. They collect different types of slings and tend to do showcase meets where you can try them out. Some are linked to shops but others are just mums who are passionate about slings. I rented a ring sling from my local library and it was under £10 for 2 weeks which was long enough for me to decide it wouldn't work for me. I'd start out by googling sling library or sling meet and your local area :)

London - there are certain types of paint that are fine but you need to check with the manufacturer. I have also read that you should avoid painting if possible, especially with a roller as the repetitive upward stretching motion is bad for you.

My DH is bad at it too and we move in 2 weeks so have bitten the bullet and paid a decorator.

Back from the GP and they have given me some medication for nausea. I take one tablet in the evening apparently. Hoping it works!!

London I'm pretty sure all modern emulsion is fine, but you should steer clear of doing the woodwork as gloss/eggshell paints can be harmful - but I believe some are ok these days so worth googling. I moved house last time and did lots of painting but only emulsion.

We had about 12-15 muslins I think. DS wasn't a sicky baby so we didn't use as many as other friends.

I had a low-lying placenta at my 20 week scan so needed another at 32 weeks to check where it was and it had moved well clear of the cervix. I believe about 90% move so you'll probably be fine.

For daytime naps we mostly used the carrycot from the pram which we put in a corner of the sitting room. Or if I was feeling lazy and didn't need to do anything around the house I just let DS nap on me! We also had a Baby Bjorn bouncer which reclined enough to be used for naps.

Thanks for all the advice ladies. I think its too small a job for a decorator. Its really just a couple hours of work. I'll look into it and decide.

Sometimes I feel like almost all normal activity comes with the warning you could kill your baby or rip yourself to pieces if done while pregnant. I hate not being able to just get on with things sometimes!