'Due in the new year the next generation - who ate all the pies'

[Bettymamma]

I hope you all find this. I'll write a proper message once I see it works!xx

cazzy - i am sure they will concentrate on the congrats bit and not worry about everything else. have a nice time.

mrsmcjnr - have to agree. i think that altho some of katie Prices comments were a bit strange at the end of the day she was just being honest. i think this is just another opportunity for the breastfeeding police to have a go. altho the blatant advertising in Ok was a little OTT.

Morning all!!

Hope you are ok!!!

Cazzy-Good luck and I'm sure you'll be fine!

It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow - 5 years! Can't believe time has flown!

Actually just remember this morning it's our wedding anniversary . Pregnancy brain I think.

Need to get a card this lunch time and buy a quick gift for DH. Any ideas for something last minute??? Don't want to get aftershave unless if I get really desperate and can't think of something interesting.

no idea MotherofZ.... got my hubby the Prison Break box set for his birthday the other day.

Cazzy ? have a lovely time we celebrated my grandparents 60th last Decemeber amazing! I get sad to think DH and I are unlikely to get there as we were in our 30s when we married don?t let anyone be mean to you and don?t let them make you feel ashamed either ? it?s a modern world and you can do things any way you like I know your baby wasn?t planned but in the fact that you are having it and DP is standing by you, you are doing right by the church By the way, there is a Cazzybabes on MN too, got very confused as she has 2 DC

Mixedmama ? didn?t see OK what did the BF police do?

MotherofZ ? congratulations 5 years is wood isn?t it? Any wooden things your DH might like?

MrsMCJnr - as a result of the article and advertising and her comments they are trying to ban forumla advertising. it was very blatantly advertised... not very good. They reckon that she is promoting FF and people will follow her example, presumablly like sheep, cos we all wanna be like Katie price.... or we all will see an ad on TV and immediately switch to FF. It all seems a little ridiculous to me really.

I think thhey should put their energy into prommoting breastfeeding positively not like the police (which is how I felt it was done when I had DS) and to be honest it was the Breastfeeding ccounsellors that put me off rather than the FF adverts.

I always think it is very dangerous when someone decides to clamp down on freedom of speech. The more we see, the more info we have to make up our own minds. Also, going back to my strop last week about my haughty MW and her recommendation that I only read materials she has given me, there is a bit of info on Group Strep B in the pregnancy pack she gave me I shall look forward to drawing her attention to it

That was ridiculous. I cant believe she said that. Why shouldnt you be more informed?? We are all intelligent women and the info is there so why not.

MW's are turning out to be a bit of a nightmare this time arent they.

On another train of thought, check out this article for a radical childcare idea! What do you think?

news.scotsman.com/LATEST.CFM?id=1689492006

(Cathy, the woman in the story who runs the nursery, is my aunt).

NB I was born in 1972 and my own parents were rather hippyish. We had to "play out" and in fact didn't have a TV in the house until I was 6.

I think my own LO will have to have a lot of fresh air too as we have a bouncy young almost-labrador who needs a lot of walks. I'll be strapping on the babyBjorns I think.

I might draw the line on a filthy February day in Northumberland though....

Mrs McJnr - My 'wood' ideads:
a wooden chair?
a wooden table?
a wooden boat?

aarrgghhh - no ideas. Why are blokes so difficult to buy for??? Looks like it's that Kenzo for Men scent. oohhhh I love it though - makes me go all weak!!!

Angechica - Just read the article. i think in principle it is great idea. my only concern is sleeping, i would want DS to sleep in a nice warm place, I know they can make it so, but I would prefer it was inside. Other than that i think it is a great idea, was really excited about it then read the last paragraph about the boy falling in the stream, I know things happen and thats how kids learn, but i would have preferred the falling in the stream to happen in my presence and would be mortified if that happened elsewhere.

In the main tho a definite thumbs up from me.

MotherofZ - if only it was the 1950's you could buy a nice wooden pipe! Or if your DH's mind is anything like mine, he could always make some crude comment about "giving me wood" Sorry, too early for that kind of talk, wash my mouth out.

Does it have to be personal or something for the home - is there a craft shop type place near you that sells turned wood products? We bought a couple we are close to a wooden barometer for their 5th. Is he into golf? A new 3-wood or something? (says I sounding as if I know what I'm talking about)

There's a Bill Bryson book called "a Walk In the Woods" www.amazon.co.uk/Walk-Woods-Bill-Bryson/dp/0552997021/ref=sr_1_1/203-0281649-4857542?ie=UTF8&s=books &qid=1186752469&sr=8-1 - he's quite a funny writer if you haven't seen his stuff before - easy holiday reading.

MotherofZ - when i am completely lost for ideas i just go to ann Summers and buy some nice bits we can both enjoy normally some underwear for me... haha. But are you really up for that kind of action?

Angechica ? sounds great fun and I?d love to go myself that said, I?ve lived in Scotland for 15 years and you can call me a woose but there are some days here that no manner of layers would convince me to go out there! Talking about upbringings ? my 1st 10 years were very materialistic and indoors orientated, I lived in the Far East both parents worked all hours and we were looked after by a live in maid. We lived in a tiny flat and really had nowhere to go. We had every toy Martell made and we were very naughty, spoilt and bored. Then life turned on its head ? we moved across the world to the Med and started from scratch. No TV for 5 years, nothing new, everything second hand or donated, we 3 girls in one bedroom and it was fabulous we played outside all the time and never felt deprived in any way. I discovered a real passion for reading at 10 too

MotherofZ ? a plant? Bonsai or something? A tree for your garden? A wooden golf club if he plays golf? A clock? Welsh love spoon? www.cadwyngifts.com/5th-anniversary-gifts-c-67.html?source=googleadwords&gclid=CJ2U8oiG640CFR5UEAod6 C5nwg, wooden photo cube? www.findgift.com/Anniversary-Table/Wood/, wooden paper weight? Bookends? Art print of trees? Jigsaw puzzle? Wine rack? Sculpture? Croquet set? ? bit of a romantic me DH gets fed up of weird presents!

Re antenatal classes - I'm the treasurer of our local NCT branch, and the booking secretary has already sent out info packs to those with babies due in Feb! We have 3 teachers in our area, and we always have to turn people away - they get booked up fast. The guide price for an NCT class is £7.50 per person or couple per hour - most courses are 16 - 20 hours. All birth possibilities are covered - you don't have to be a freebirthing tree-hugger! At my class (this was before I was involved with the NCT) there was a woman on there booked for a C-section, another who had no intention of breast-feeding, some who wanted all drugs going. Everything was covered, the pros and cons of all. The only thing not covered in depth was bottle feeding as they are not allowed to promote it - the teachers certainly do not (should not) insist that you are doing anything wrong, but they must promote BF as the ideal.

I personally think there are far more important things that the NCT could be lobbying for than formula advertising. I wholeheartedly agree in the ban on advertising first-stage milk - that's been around for years, and the marketing of milk to countries where the water supply is likely to carry infections is wrong, but we are all intelligent women, and in this country it's quite clear that the stuff advertised is follow-on milk, and all the adverts say "it's not a substitute for BF". The NCT should be lobbying for better AN care, Group B strep testing, that kind of thing. And as well as the admirable approach of the gov't saying that in x years every woman will be offered a home birth, as they are whort of MW's why not promote more halfway-options? 2 MWs have to attend a home-birth, if they had more DOMINO schemes you only need one MW out of the hospital.

Enough for now - it's a sunny day and I should be enjoying the sunshine!

Housemum - what is the Domino scheme.

I think the basics is that a midwife assesses you at home, you transfer to hospital for the birth when she thinks it's right for you to go, and then you are home a few hours later if there are no complications - sounds like the best of both worlds to me but they don't offer it here.

Thanks Housemum and Mrs MnJnr for your ideas - much appreciated, but I don't think your suggestions are his cup of tea. I think some wierd and wonderful gadget is more up his street. At the age of 33 he's into all those remote control cars and has spent a bit of money on collecting them - really don't see the point in them??

Whoever suggested Ann Summers - you got to be kidding me- lol!! The size I am know - I doubt they will do anything that fits me!! . Actually do they do a meternity section?

Housemum - just out of interest - do you get a lot of mothers who are on their second pregnancy come along to NCT clasess or is it only first timers. I really want to give BF a proper go and was wondering if it ok for second timer like me to come along and just attend the sessions on BF.

You may be lucky, if there's not too much demand by first timers in your area they may offer "refresher" courses for second timers. i went along for DD2 as I had such a huge age gap (10 years) and had never experienced labour before as DD1 was a crash section at 33 weeks.

Crossed with you Housemum how are you? PMSL at you wood comment mine too! DH is currently reading Bill Bryson?s Notes from a Small Island and thinks its so funny he laughs out loud. That?s really interesting (and worrying ) about the NCT booking process. I was told weeks ago I?d get a pack but haven?t yet. Two branches are merging here and I contacted both previously just to make sure I got in. Maybe I should chase? I agree with your stance by the way, there are so many areas of AN care that could be improved or highlighted, formula milk seems like an old one. I was reading an article on the NICE website the other day about water births in hospitals and was disgusted to read all the lies women are told for why they can?t, they were things you couldn?t verify like they are all being used, cleaned etc when in reality, it is because the hospitals would prefer you gave birth on a bed. I don?t know anymore than I read on the subject ? do you think it?s true?

Mixedmama ? anything wood in there?

MotherofZ - there are other things other than underwear!!!! MrsMcJnr - wood mmmm, can think of one or tow things that could be referred to as wood!!

lol - me being naive and thinging Ann Summers just does underwear

Smutty this afternoon ladies!

Its that Friday feeling.

6 misn until home time!!

so jealous.... here till 7.