May Mummies, w/c 23th April 07 1 week till May- Woohayy!

[Mrsjaffabiffa]

Morning............

Yeah the time does seem to fly, maybe it's becasue I have a lecture starting at 8:30 and I really can't be arsed with it - but must go and be a good student!

Yeah it is a shame, though things here haven't been ideal well, ever. I'm in such a different position to everyone else, so we live very differntly. I suppose being the sensible sober one in a flat full of apish, immature drunks was always gonna casue a bit of seperation. And I'm a little bit older than them too. I'm fairly proud of myself for sticking with it, though I think I'll be forever damaged as a result

I'm actually up and ready to go to my lecture, I must be ill. The babies making me do strange things........lol!
Catch up later, have an hours lecture till half 9, then have a 2 hour seminar at half 2. Shall be doing work for presentation in between so will be on later to catch up with all the gossip of the day

Take care ladies and bumps, oh and babies seeings as we have of those now too

Morning all, have had quite a good night sleep! My first for about 2 weeks, as Hugo was at his (pants) dads last night. The others all go at tea time today, so dh and i have a very peaceful weekend ahead of us. We are going tom pretend we are on holiday

TYG i just love it when i hear you say things like "Jaysus", i forget your an Irish gal!!! Also PMSL at the kids destroying the house and garden.....i would never take mine anywhere without a bag full of distractions, mainly food, i find it works best. Mostly if i knew they would be in destructive mode i wouldnt take them, mine are too great in number to control effectively. I just get stressed and end up yelling (behind gritted teeth of course)

Your sewing sounds like it was worth the pain, i dont do sewing. I can thread needles but it ends there. Was talking about you yesterday to dh......all nice i promise, where your ears burning?

SOH little fluffy chicks......good grief.....id have fattened them up for the barby

Notsolilkel i would sterilise till the baby is 6 months, then they are on the floor picking up god knows what so abandon it then. That is why i breastfeed, far too lazy to faff with a sterilizer!

Scoot KK's for a new baby, hmmmmmm. What a bloomin fab idea, they could be iced pink or blue. Oh you must write and suggest it
Sweet kk's.......drool.....drool....

Im off in to town to take back a skirt i got at JOJO, its nice but i managed to get a similar one and a pair of cropped trousers in New Look for the same price. I wanted something very comfy to wera after the section, im not a stay in Jammas girl really. I like to be dressed even if i dont go anywhere.

April im def on for the fudge shopping today too, no Hugo to hamper my Barbican trip

We discovered a stall on the market yesterday called the Norfolk Fudge Company. We have a fridge full of mint choc, toffee crumble and vanilla fudge in big blocks. Yummy yummy. Not as great as gingerbread but very lovely nonetheless.

Had a fairly uncomfortable start to the night last night. Had terrible BHs and DH had to hoist me out of bed at one point as I couldn't sit up and lying down was making it worse. Definitely BHs though and nothing more sinister as my stomach was hard as a rock every time it happened.

Pebble, that burning sensation as the head comes out is the bit I'm dreading the most. Apart from the possibility of tearing. I do believe that people like to call it the ring of fire. Sounds like a ball.

Morning all

After all the back pain i was having all of yesterday evening I managed to have a suprisingly good sleep. The pain started to go at about 12.30am so i could finally settle down and apart from being woken up by Dh at 2am when he had managed to blow a lightbulb and cause the trip switch to go off I slept really well. I even found turning over in bed really easy for what must be the first time in months I spoke to my m sis earlier as its her wedding anniversary and she laughed saying it was the calm before the storm and how she thinks my body has allowed me to rest so that i can go into labour later, she is so funny ha ha (not!!) No matter how much i would love this LO to arrive soon (being fat and heavy is getting tedious now) she has to stay put until at least 9th May to allow me to do everything that needs doing around the house

Lwatkins sorry your flatmates are still being arses, think i would have cracked by now, i dont have a lot of patience at the moment and would have told them where to go before now

LG&T hope you and dh have a nice peaceful weekend, make the most of it.

Lupins, hope you are enjoying having Arlen at home

Morning all

Just ate fresh pineapple after having read it may help start things off but now have wicked indigestion .

40 weeks today but I'm sure he will come when he is ready.

DDs away at their dads this weekend too LG&T so we are also in for a quiet weekend (unless lo comes along!).

SOH I wont lie that burning is the worst sensation ever and what makes it worse is knowing you cant avoid it (unless you have a cs obviously) but the best thing to do is concentrate on the knowledge that it means your LO is almost here.

Actually there is another feeling that is on a par with the burning and that is the fear you go through of having a poo after labour, having a wee is bad enough (boy does that sting)lol I remember after having ds1 I was dreading it for so long but they wouldntlet me out of hospital until id had one. Its more the thought of it than it actually being painful but its yet another joy of becomming a mum!!!

What fun things we have to look forward to, bleeding for weeks, stinging when we wee, sore nipples, lack of sleep, etc

Oh I can't even think about that bit. Having been at births with friends it's always crowning that elicits the biggest response. Usually swearing and screaming. I'm desperately hoping that being in water will make all the difference. Excruciatingly painful instead of imminent death perhaps.

Realised yesterday that we have a slight problem chez SOH. As I am having a homebirth various members of our families (both sets of parents really) think that we're phoning them when labour starts and they're coming round. I have desperately been trying to say 'well actually I don't know if I will want lots of people round' and 'can we just wait and see'. They have been insisting that they will sit outside/downstairs/in the kitchen/in the car but realistically they're going to be hovering outside the door wanting updates aren't they? Anyway, yesterday SIL casually asked if we were ringing her when we had our first inkling or when labour was established because 'she needs to know how long she's got to drive over'. OMG! What the heck has happened. I bloody told you all, there's no entertainment in rural Norfolk, this is the event of the century and I'm the main attraction. So, they'll all come and watch me do the hardest thing I've ever managed, DH will be constantly called away to update leaving me frightened and alone and at minutes old my baby will be passed around everybody I have ever met as they crowd into my own bedroom and effectively ignore the brood mare in the corner.

You have no idea how hard it is going to be to resolve this. I am tempted to just not tell them I'm in labour but we will never, ever live it down. If we phone and say yes it's happening but please don't come, they'll come anyway and the bloody politics of who holds the baby first could ruin Mathilda's life because in 10yrs time she'll still be told at ever opportunity that Grandma 1 got first hold and really it should have been Grandma 2. What the flippin' heck do I do now? Normal people don't behave like this do they?

SOH - We had a similar thing but not so bad. DH's sister wanted to come to the hospital with us when we go in. It was bad enough thinking that she would be right outside the door demanding updates from anyone passing or getting mad at DH for not giving regular enough updates. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had been brave enough to go for a home birth (I'm bit of a scaredy cat ). As we live about 20 miles away from the hospital we convinced her that she would be far more helpful if she stays at home so that if I need anything she can bring it in. I guess that's not even an option for you. Hope you can convince them to stay away..you need to be able to concentrate on the matter in hand.

Oh SOH poor you. At the end of the day giving birth is a personal thing for you and although its hard you should do what you want regardless of whatever anyone else thinks. It is inevitable that people wont like it but who cares your happiness is what matters, you need to be able to relax and enjoy the experience (LOL as much as you can enjoy excruiating pain)and im sure that once Matilda is here all will be forgiven, they will be too busy cooing over here.

Listen to me telling you to be honest with everyone and yet here i am trying hard to ignore the fact that my mum really wants to be at the birth of this LO (she was there for both boys)but Dh wants it to be just the two of us. No matter how much i hated the thought of a cs deep down i knew that if i had to have one it would be problem solved as only dh would have been allowed in there and I wouldnt have to upset my mum Now im back to square one. My only hope is that my contractions start around 5pm so dh is at work then i can call his mum to collect the boys, my parents will have to drive me to hospital while dh comes home to change out of his dirty workclothes before joining me. That way my mum can sit outside the room with my dad (she wont be stuck on her own then)Dh gets his way and is on his own with me and my mum gets to see the LO almsot straight away, she just misses the gory bit-somehow i think the chances of it happening that way are very slim though so somehow I have to find a way to let my mum down.

Blimmin' families

Oh SOH your post made me scream - not a funny situation for you though! Tbh I would do exactly what you have thought about and sod the lot of them. It's nothing to do with anyone else, it should be a private, lovely time to share with your dh - and the mw of course. Tell them afterwards that when you were caught up in the throes of labour it just didn't cross your mind to ring anyone, they'll get over it! Don't feel under pressure to involve anyone other than yourselves. Also, you're right sbout the crowning, it kills, but I have to agree about the weeing and pooing as well. I was advised by an auxiliary nurse after having ds to wee standing up in the shower as it hurts a lot less and she was right.
LW I really don't know how you are putting up with your arses of housemates, I would have lost it long ago. They are being unreasonable and they know it! I remember the hell of living in Halls all too well. It was probably both the best and worst times of my life to be honest.
LGT make sure you enjoy your weekend alone with dh, it will be the last you get for a while!

Abbylou i was told that too

Also holding a damp tissue to the area helps as well, really anything that helps to dilute the urine a bit as it passes.

And as for the other problem i found the breathing techniques used while in labour come in handy again even if it was just to take my mind off of what my body was doing lol

Pebble your post brought back memories of sitting on the loo breathing deeply in order to perform the deed. I remember the mw telling me that - just relax she said. It's easy for her to say that. In all honesty it wasn't actually anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be in the reality.

SOH - there's no way you can concentrate on giving birth with a crowd of relatives outside the door. Time to be selfish (well, not selfish, just sensible) and don't tell them when you go into labour, it's the only way.

I didn't feel the 'ring of fire' thing at all, maybe it was the water? could also have been that it was mighty quick (6 min 2nd stage.

Just remembered that my midwife's tip for weeing was to keep a squeezy drinks bottle full of water by the loo and squirt that at the same time as weeing - defo helped too.

SOH - this birth is about you, DH and Matilda. They need to respect that I think

Doesn't make it any easier for you i know

hello.

Sorry I have been a bit quiet the last few days. I have been keeping up with the thread and LOL at you mad ladies as usual but have had nothing to add for a change.

I saw the anethetist (god, I hate that word as I have no idea how to spell it) Yesterday, it was a waste of time she only read some papers asked me if I was allergic to anything and signed the papers and gave me a copy. 20 min journey to the hospital in 25° to sit and wait for 20minutes to be with her 30seconds. I'm sure they think 37 week pregnant ladies have nothing to do all day. So I can now have my peridural, day or night IF I want it!

Yes!!!! 37 weeks today for me. I feel like it's a bit of a milestone, not that I didn't think I'd get there, just that it feels like the end is really in grasp now.

SOH, I'm sorry you are having troubles with your royal birthing prefomance (how much are the ring side seats?) You have to be stern, they will understand if you don't want them all round. I don't have the issue here, no option of a homebirth and hospital rules are 1 person in delivery with you. If it's a c-sec you are not allowed anyone with you, not even the Daddy

On the ring of fire front, I have never experienced it fortunately. Thats why I love my peridural. I know, I'm a wuss!!

LW at your wanker flatmates, hope it all works out for you.

TYG, can't believe your luck recently, what with your credit card fraud and then the wevel in your hand bag. So glad you caught her at it. I'd have poked her eyes out, I think.

Oh, babies are going to start arriving Now!!

Have a good day all, I'm going to take the dc's up to a little lake not far from us this avo. It has a play area and a beach, Maddie will love it. Sand and water mix well with her.

Blimey SOH its not a spectator sport!I would die if anyone not strictly neccessary, (ie DH/Midwife) saw me in labour as its not the most dignified of activities..Actually with DD Mum and Dad were in the house, (as it was Christmas day) for the part of labour I did at home and I hated that-I just wanted to be on my own to deal with it and not have other people around..You will just have to explain it to them in the nicest possible way-you are who is important here!I found the contractions worse than the crowning I think-but probably as by the crowning I had been in labour so long I had gone slightly mad and was just desperate for it to be over...gaaah, it all hurts to some degree lets face it..

With re ablutions following birth-I was so paranoid about getting constipated and tearing my stitches,(midwife having put fear of God up me about this), that I ate about 10 tons of satsumas and ended up with terrible squits instead..also not pleasant when you've just given birth!So you cant win really..(TMI probably, sorry)

DD was up all last night with a high temperature-hopefully a tooth and nothing worse-just what I needed-am ruddy exhausted now-still Grandad has taken her for a walk this morn and if it stops raining they are off to Chatsworth shortly-have done a bit of work, but all I really want to do is have a sleep to be honest..Feel quite tearful today-dont trust my own emotions at all-its funny but I think I will cope better when this baby is out-even though its harder work when they are out than in-am just fed up of not being able to go an hour without weeping and not being able to play with DD as I want to-poor girl-I feel she is getting the rough end of the stick a bit..

Sorry to whinge on...

Am going to start my letter to KK and if I DO get a lifetime supply for free I will share round liberally..
Quite jealous of the fudge...

Any time now SKY im sure!

O-Welcome back on Lilkel--ruddy sterilizing-did it till I weaned dd at 6.5 months and will probably do the same with this one, but will loathe every minute..(no dishwasher chez Scoot or would certainly just use that instead)Are you planning on Bottle Feeding then?If so, how many bottles and which size do you have?(I BF'd DD till she was 3 months,so not sure how much formula a newborn needs and how often-anyone know?I have 5 4 oz bottles I think, thus far.)

Im going to mvoe to France-I dont think a peridural is even an option here..Have a nice time at the Lac Mrs JB..
(Scoot wanders off grumbling about barbaric birthing practice in UK..)

Blimey all this talk of rings of fire and slooshing bottles of water over yourself when you pee and all the family involved makes me almost glad I am having a cs!

Poor you SOH, you musn't try to keep everyone happy, its what you and dh want that counts.

ooh SKY not long now, would it be a good thing if lo arrived this weekend when the dds are at their dads or would they be upset at not being around? I must say I am quite of a weekend with no dcs, dh still about as far away as he can possibly be, though will be passing through heathrow on Sunday between Nairobi and New York so if anything happens early it is only allowed to happen on the Sunday

Like LG&T I am faaaaar too lazy to bottle feed and so have never really sterilised much, besides in our almost-as-hippy-as-SOH-ness we have no dishwasher or microwave so have to do the old fashioned cold water method. I think we need to move with the times a bit..

TYG, I have a fabbie Irish friend whom sounds just like you talk, makes me giggle. But sorry to hear about the thieving gits.

Good luck for tomorrow Toomany..how exciting!

Thanks scoot, hope you get your work sorted and manage a little rest.

I'm not sure why, but I've had two of the best nights sleep in mths. I wonder if all the pain at the begining of the week was worth it and baby has settled down low, meaning I can breath again.

I was wondering about a more recent bump picture? Mine was so little last time we did a bump round up. It still is small but I do look pregnant now, anyone daring enough to post with me if I do? Except you two, AM and Lupins don't want to see your slim tums.

Oh, Lupins how's things, Is Arlen home yet?

Whats a preidural?! It sounds like it might be a good option whatever it is.

I know exactly what you mean about the spectator sport thing. Thankfully my parents are great about it and wont be there or interfere. But my mum and dad in law to be are all over us about. My DF has now told them he has no idea when my scan is to tell us whether we are going to have a c- sec or not. We have decided not to tell them anything especially if we get a date for a cs as I can just imagine them outside the delivery room.

Also a friend told us that if you do tell them all the info, when you've gone into labour etc it kind of takes the fun out of phoning family and friends afterwards.

Here's a question for you guys speaking urinating after delivery.

Does the nurse follow you to the toilet? When I first tried the nurse came in with me and watched me pee!! She had to show me how to keep the stiches clean. But here you have to report when you had the first poo after, because at some hospitals they don't let you leave if you don't have the poo.

I had to wee into a jug and show the nurse! They were monitoring my fluid in and out take as I had been catheterised for a bit..but they let me go home before the poo thank Goodness...

Isnt childbirth the most charming event?!

Tomorrow Toomanyprojects!!How exciting!

Blimey Cameroonmama-I think you are very brave letting your DH be so jetset at this stage in the game..Makes me a bit ashamed of asking my DH not to go to Paris the week before the due date..(he will no doubt go anyway mind you..).What does your DH do?Is he an international spy?!(but then I suppose you couldnt tell us even if he was)

I will try to do a bump pic when I get back home Mrs JB.If there is one thing my bump isnt its small.and neither is the rest of me!

LOL Scoot at the thought of dh as an international spy! He would love that..maybe in reality he actually is and hasn't even told me

He is setting up a business, strategic consulting, in Nairobi, so if the golden arches people are ever interested in setting up there, he's the man.

At the posh Portland I was most definately not allowed to go anywhere until I had produced a significant no 2. Whereas in Bath, I had the opposite problem and running to the loo every 5 mins

I will try for a bump pic when dd comes home from school.