Thread 13. TTC #1 Grads. Some of us still remember that thing called "a full nights sleep" for most, it's a mere memory.

[AudreyBradshaw]

Behold, the wonder of birth! Members from 6 weeks bfp to post-partum wonder Mamas! No question to grotty or minging.

We've come full circle from obsessing about cervical mucus to now obsessing if it's our vagina baby plug going! What larks!

Lots of talk about poo, ours and now babies too! Baby brain is REAL! From morning sickness in the first trimester to the third trimester struggle of getting out of bed ( "walrus-ing"in our house), to actual real babies who are growing so fast! Discussion on the merits of sleepyhead and Ewan the dream sheep.

Sooo many gorgeous babies now! And equally lovely Mummy's! We are amazing! What a year! Can you believe it's been a year since our first tentative TTC thread!? Look how far we've come!

Roll up, literally, in my case, cause I'm practically rotund! for TTC #1 Grads!

Thank you for the birthday wishes! I was rather hoping little sausage would come a bit early to share in the October awesomeness, but it doesn't seem likely now.

nev I'm in Colchester. Would definitely be up for an Essex/Suffolk/London meet up if anyone else is around these parts?

potato I can't believe he said that. So marrying you is conditional on your weight? Charming. You've just had a baby! Angry on your behalf.

So on today's agenda we have the health visitor coming this morning, who I met briefly last week when she showed up on my doorstep (!!), which didn't exactly make me warm to her. Then I think I'm going to go into town, I've got a pregnancy craving for a berry coloured lipstick!

Can't remember who was saying about the dairy (was it you lisa?) but cutting out an entire food group without any evidence of allergy sounds like a pile of rubbish, I'm sure you'll have a much more productive discussion with your GP!

Canters parents are still in colchester we are frinton now so 20 mins away.

Am currently being beaten by Bodhi he seems to enjoy a morning crazy time haha.

Interesting evening for us tonight. Having dinner with my best friend since primary school tonight for first time ever at her flat. We have never been invited round in two years as she rents it from my parents and I used to live there.... going to be strange going back!

Happy belated birthday Canters

Soda and leonie I'm sorry you've feeling down. I'm worried about filling my ML days as well. Sounds like you're doing well with baby classes! NCT was full in my area, but I think it was a bit far away anyhow. Coffee mornings sound like they could be interesting if they exist locally to you! This made me giggle a bit - I'm looking forward to making new mum friends www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/laura-powellcorbett/types-of-mum-you-meet-at-baby-group_b_7630600.html

Indi My mum has a sister 9 months and 4 weeks younger than her, but my grandmother definitely didn't BF. And she'd already had 4 kids by that point so her body was probably conditioned to be growing babies. I can't imagine going back to condoms after trying so hard to get pregnant in the first place.

Miley I'm happy your OH is redeeming himself. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

Nev I hope things with your OH improve.

Lovely pic Irregular! I'm looking forward to using a sling, but I have to pull my finger out and choose one already.

Oops potato I meant humidifier. We have a dehumidifier I use for laundry as well which has packed up, and is clearly on my mind! I can't believe your OH said that to you. Men can be so insensitive. People can be so insensitive, for that matter.

Dr your DH could be my OH. I've only recently figured out writing a list for him speeds up the process of getting anything done. I got tired of spelling things out, so writing them down was a little less stressful. Sounds like you had a rough day yesterday - glad you enjoyed your takeaway experience!

Co5mo glad to hear you had a good day out! I hope Arthur settled and you both had a good night.

Soda and Leonie sorry to hear you're both having a tough time, I can imagine how hard it must be. Definitely one of the things I'm worried about.
Leonie have you managed to find any other groups locally you could try and go to? Maybe see if anyone wants to grab a coffee after/next time? It's hard to be brazen sometimes but often other people are feeling the same and will be really glad you asked?
Soda that is such long hours your OH is working is his job always like that or is this a temporary busy patch? That's good you have a visit to family next week to look forward to and I'm sure people on the train will help you with all the stuff if you're struggling!

Belated happy birthday Canters!

Sorry to hear you guys have been struggling with OHs again Miley and Nev glad that yours has apologised and you've had a good frank chat about it all now Miley, hopefully this time it sinks in! Hope yours improves soon too Nev

I'm in a south Manchester suburb Audrey how about you? Walking to nearest village will mean you'll get loads of fresh air and get fit again really quickly! Hopefully the weather will behave too... I am currently 're-learning' to drive before the baby arrives... I absolutely hate driving especially around Manchester, I find it so stressful. On Monday night we spent an hour practicing parallel parking and I'm still fairly terrible... urgh It's all terraced housing round here with really chocka streets so being able to parallel park in a tight spot is a must! oh how I wish we had a drive/garage!!

Tamsin looks so happy in that sling irregular, as do you!

Potato that's an awful thing for your OH to have said, even in a jokey way, no wonder you feel mad! Did you say anything to him?

Well done on first out of town trip and public BFing Cosmo

Hope you're ok Lovely I don't know anything about strep b but sounds like it's not something to worry about too much? It's hard not to worry about all these little things though when it's all so new! I find out I have A- blood at my last appointment which means I'll have to an Anti-D(?) injection to stop my blood fighting with the babies blood if they come into contact with each other something... freaked me out at the time til I read more about it!

I'm starting to get a sore back and stiff neck while sat at work. My desk chair is really old and crap and it always used to niggle my back a bit but it's got a lot worse in the last week. I need to speak to my manager but getting a new one but I know he'll just fob me off with one of those lumbar support netting things you can uy to strap to the chair. The point is it isn't full adjustable, the bits that are adjustable are broken and it's got a really low back

So I have two babies.

One daughter who is allowed to sleep with me is a calm, angelic baby with barely any sign of anything wrong with her.

The other daughter who gets put in her Sleepyhead is a nightmare whingey baby who is suffering beyond anything with both colic and reflux and cannot be settled.

I. Am. Exhausted.

Co-slept for the first time this morning because I figured I was probably going to fall asleep unintentionally anyway, so may as well make it as safe as possible.

Was fine, she slept and fed on and off and I slept better than when she's fussing! Still not great though as obviously I was awake pretty regularly checking she was still breathing.

Mumming is hard work.

Marmite - can you take some cushions to work to help support your chair? You should ask for a new one and I'm sure your mw would support your request. My job has the opposite problem - lots of standing up, I probably only sit down for 1-2 hours of a 10 hour workday. It's exhausting but I figure it's probably doing me good?

I also find driving really stressful and I can't parallel park even after driving for a decade. I find city driving really stressful and feel anxious at the thought of doing it with a baby in the car (we live in a suburban area but obviously need to go into the centre of town regularly). Maybe the bus is better...?!

I'm nice Salford side of Manchester marmite about 10 mins from Trafford Centre so you've already got a friend 'cause we can meet up for coffee there when babys are born etc! I know there are NCT classes in Trafford and loads over Stockport way too. All shall be well.

Baby's had another growth spurt, I'm measuring 36cm/36 but am apparently carting a 95th centile baby who is riiiiight down there in my pelvis! Giganto-baby strikes again! Midwife said basically with size/where baby is in my pelvis just to make sure hospital bag is packed and ready and take it easy. so you can be sure ill now be overdue as balls because that's everyone that thinks birth is imminent. DM did say I can't have it next week though because the Bishop is coming on Wednesday for a visit and she's got too much to do

I've never worn lipstick canters but now I want one! I keep saying to dh "when I am a grown up, I shall have a proper haircut and and red lipstick" this may be and Christmas time because then I will be adulty and mumming.

nev enjoy your evening!

irregular awww hope she settles for you so you can get some mental down time, you're definitely right with the co-sleeping. Hopefully it will work and truly nd you'll get a little kip.

Wrote a massive post then lost it little man is awake so don't have time to write I all again but I am paying attention I promise

irregular that was Harrison a week ago or so. He's sleeping so much today it's like he's a different baby! I've propped up his sleepyhead to help his reflux and he's a lot more settled. They do love to challenge us! Hope she settles soon for you

Had our 6 week appointment and been prescribed baby gaviscon and told everything else is perfect so I'm happy. I did have to push for it though as my doctor was a bit of a twat. Also been to clinic to be weighed and he's now 10lb 10

I'm in Chorlton Audrey so not far! Would definitely be up for meeting up, excited to have my first ML coffee and cake buddy already Trafford Centre is actually one of the few places I can just about vaguely imagine being able to drive to on my own with a bit more practice too! (Aside from the trauma of parallel parking when I get back to my street afterwards )
I've been looking at signing up for a NCT group, there's one just a mile or so down the road from me so that's lucky.
Where are you having your baby then, at Salford Royal?

thanks Janubub I am currently borrowing a colleague's lumbar back support mesh thingy who is on leave today and using my scarf rolled up further up my back as feel I need support there too... I'm going to see if I can get work to order my some sort of cushion/support that does both to strap to the chair...
I get the bus to work and see some mums trying to get on and off with baby, looks like a nightmare! Although I guess if you were travelling not at commuter times it would probably be a lot better.
I learnt to drive 14 years ago (in a very rural environment) and proceeded to do next to no driving for the subsequent 14 years and now find myself living in Manchester and needing to be able to drive

What I think is round ligament pain is really bothering me this afternoon too, it actually hurts to the touch just above and below belly button?! Ouch! Guessing my uterus is having a growth spurt!

Hope she settles for you soon Irregular

I bought my first lipstick last year and it definitely made me feel like a 'Grown Up' I need to practice my application technique though!!

Stardrey I had the tingly fingers and numbness towards the end. Had hideous joint ache too in my hands. How exciting re baby being right down

Fishy I've heard that you can test positive for it and it disappear before birth and the reverse.

Sorry to hear the OHs are being knobs Miley and Nev. my DH is permanently on the dog house at the mo as he just needs to walk in the room and the red most descends. He's taken tonignorinf Atticus when he's at his happiest, utterly goggle and gorgeous and the fucker just picks up his phone. He also apparently "can't hold him when he's crying" as he hates upsetting him . My Dave increases the longer he won't DTD with me.... he's "too traumatised" "couldn't possibly with the baby in the room". Utter twunt.

Leonie haven't you moved somewhere not far from me? I'm definitely up for a meet up. I've got no friends locally either and only just connecting with baby group people.

Soda I have 8 hours to fill and now things have settled I'm surprised how quick the time goes- and rapidly feel guilty for not cleaning for about a second. Are there any other baby groups you could join?

Wales is so different. I'm reading about everyone's 6 week check for baby and mine was just for me, Atticus did t get checked until 8 weeks. How odd.

Nev Bodhi weemageddons do make me smile. I'm sure the extra laundry won't be fun for you though.

Potato I've bought a humidifier today for little A's stuffiness. The amount of snot we've been getting is insane. I hope it helps.
That's so rude of your OH. I would be kicking off if DH suggested I lose weight. Your body is amazing having done what it has done.

I'm currently in a bath and hearing my parents wail about a mega poo. Best go save them!

Leonie I've just realised I've mixed up your location with lauren. Baby brain strikes again. If anyone is near Midwales/north Wales/English border areas I'm up for a meet up.
We should so arrange a group meet up. Think of the amazing baby photos of them all together

Am pleased to report operation berry lipstick was a success! I started wearing lipstick after I got pregnant as its a very easy way to look like you've made an effort whilst taking minimal time to do. stardrey I can really recommend the nyx soft matte lip creme, you can get it in boots, it's really easy to apply and long lasting, plus it's about £5 so if you never wear it its no biggy. I say this as someone who as a rule only does high end makeup so it must be good!

Had the health visitor come for my antenatal visit this morning, I found her really irritating- she has a very singsong little girlie voice! I love my midwife though so I suppose one out of two isn't bad.

Loving the sling picture irregular! Sorry it's such hard going at times.

Yay for baby gaviscon miley, I hope it helps.

Sorry about your back marmite. I think work definitely need to provide you with a new chair!

Marmite I'm the same with driving. I had some refresher lessons while pregnant and feel much more confident. Having said that I haven't really driven much since Alexa was born - everything is really easy to walk to round me. And yes, my DH is going through a busy period at work but he always works pretty long hours. They're worse January- March so that's not going to be fun

Bunch perhaps the days will go quicker for me when Alexa is a bit more interactive like Atticus. She's just been doing proper smiles today which is lovely. I've joined quite a few classes - I'll be doing at least one per day in 2 weeks - I guess it's just that they last an hour or so and I have 12 hours to fill from us getting up to DH returning. Sorry your DH is being a twunt (great insult btw!) Oh - and you're not the only one - I had a 6 week check myself and then she had an 8 week check and injections at the same time. The differences are strange.

Nev I did laugh about weeing in the drawer!

Audrey exciting that it's getting closer!

Miley that's an amazing weight gain!

Alexa was weighed today and she's 9lb 6oz up from 6lb 1oz at birth and she's nearly 7 weeks. They seemed happy with that and she's growing along the right line on her chart She seems so big now, I can't actually believe give birth to babies this size! 6lb was hard enough

Hey all sorry for the radio silence - had my little girl yesterday! 6lb and very cuddly! Hoping to be home soon - baby and I need to be on antibiotics because i was running a fever during labour. Will share the story once we're home and more settled!

Sorry haven't caught up on the thread but I hope everyone is doing well!

Woohoo congratulations Lillian! Was just wondering whether things had kicked off for you. Hope you enjoy snuggles and get home soon xx

Congratulations lillian amazing news on your beautiful baby girl! Hurrah! 💙💟🎂👑🎉🎊🍰☺💐🍦🎁🌹🎀💗🍇😊💟

Lillian, that's amazing news, congratulations! So pleased for you and Li'l Lillian!

Can't wait to hear more x

Congratulations Lillian!! Hope you're recovering well and can't wait to hear all about the birth and your new baby girl

Congratulations Lillian, enjoy your cuddles!

Soda that's exactly Edward's birth weight

Dr you have my sympathy / awe!

Congrats Lillian!! Looking forward to hearing your birth story

Is anyone doing the NCT early days course?

Huge congrats Lillian , hope you're recovering well and enjoying the newborn snuggles.

Congratulations Lillian!! And woo hoo for another thread baby

potato, I can't believe your OH said that about an engagement ring, that's really mean (sorry, I know he's your OH!). Did he think he was being funny in some way? How did you respond?

Leonie and soda, sorry to hear you are feeling lonely. I try and get out every day and do something, although by 4pm I'm clock watching waiting for OH to come home.

Miley and nev, I feel your pain. OH and I had agreed before baby came that he would do the last feed before bed. I had thought that was so I could go to bed a bit early and catch up on sleep. What actually happens is that whilst OH gives baby a bottle I frantically do everything that needs doing in terms of getting ready for the next day (making OH lunch, sterilising bottles etc) and then when I come to bed OH asks me to take baby. Every night for at least a week he's found a reason to pass her off to me. He then promptly falls asleep and I'm left trying to get baby to sleep. I don't mind so much on weekdays as he has to work, but he's done it on weekends too which has really pissed me off. And he complains about being tired all the time. Wtf? He gets to go to sleep earlier than me and gets a full nights sleep, yet he is the one who is tired?

He's also being super affectionate, going in for kisses, cuddles etc, but always when I am in the middle of trying to get something of my never ending to do list done, so it just irritates me and I suspect he is feeling a bit rejected.

Miley, has there been any improvement since you spoke with your OH?

Glad you found a lipstick Canters!!

Hope everyone else is well.

Danni yes - I am. I figured it was something else to do and hopefully a way of making more friends. I start in 2 weeks - I can let you know what it's like if you're thinking about it? I'm imagining it's like the other NCT course - information I could probably find elsewhere / do without but an invaluable way of making local friends which is basically what I need!

Pink that sounds a nightmare, what happens if you just leave it all and go to bed? Presumably he'd have to forage for his own lunch?! Also, give him jobs off the to-do list earlier in the evening when you are feeding. I've found with DH that he'll do jobs it just doesn't occur to him they need doing so for short term things I ask, for longer term things we have a whiteboard with a list on.