Due March 2008-New trimester, new thread

[turtle23]

I'll start one!

HQ, what is it with shellfish? Are you still eating it? I'm on a crab tip at the moment, as we used to say in Manchester circa 1990 It makes me so mad are they basing their dictates on proper evidence? They'll be telling us to avoid washing our hair on rainy Tuesdays next. I apologise if I'm ranting but I think the medical establishment has got a huge responsibility in giving out accurate lifesaving advice and when they muddy it up with all these bans (as you said shellfish does not appear on banned lists)it undermines everything. I'm sure someone on here may disagree with me but I think a bit of caution and common sense goes a long way.

I don't eat shellfish that often because DH doesn't eat it - so it's only really when in restaurants that I can. I don't really intend to stop because it's not like I eat it every day - although I am only eating them in hot meals (curries, pasta) rather than say a prawn sandwich. I have been eating quite a bit of fish though although I've been avoiding swordfish and only eating tuna once a week.

I think my big issue with it all is that nobody can agree on what you can and can't do. Whereas with breastfeeding there seems to be pretty common consensus that 6 months exclusive is good, based on WHO guidelines, and most governments seem to promote that, it seems that with regards to food different governments say different things, and then midwives, books and magazines pick up on different elements of it and add more things or remove some things from those lists. By making it so messy and unclear, they actually make it more likely that women will just say "sod it, they don't know what they're talking about, I'll eat and drink what I like" which I don't think is really the solution either.

I shouldn't have started this topic - it is making me want to go home, eat sushi, steak tartare and stilton and then wash it down with a nice bottle of juicy red...

PS glammama - I really need to wash my hair tonight as it's so limp and greasy, and under your new pregnancy rules I can only do this if the sunshine hangs around for a few more hours. Let's hope the rain holds off!

Gosh, I washed mine this morning as it was standing up on its own! Good thing it was sunny- think of the risk otherwise!!

You girls make me laugh

just come on line after a few hours in bed, and delighted the food conversation is up and running. Am, like most it seems totally confused by guidelines therefore doing not a lot about it. I too avoid brie and stilton and raw eggs but to be honest that's about it. Would avoid rinded goats cheese but was at dinner with friend who is starting ivf who made huge effort to cook goats cheese starter and I really thought what the hell, my friendship with her is too important to start namby pambying around with not eating it. I figure that anything cooked must be ok. I haven't eaten prawns though as I did think they were off the list but funnily enough have big desire to eat them so was going to ask you ladies just that and clearly I see I can much away!!
I think common sense prevails here....glad to know fellow march mums are not neurotic about this!
ps mw unfortunately discovered i have high glucose, likely to be diabeties - it runs in the family so spare a thought for me - no sugar for 4 weeks to see if we can control it...ummm, not sure what I think about that. Luckily rotten flu means i don't feel like it...yet! Just wait till I feel better and i'll be climbing the walls.

pss sorry for the long post! THe ramblings of a woman who has spent the day in bed with only a pillow for chat!

When my baby is born my DH is under strict instructions to bring me a Tupperware tray containing an assortment of soft cheeses, Parma ham, chopped liver and some seafood sushi.
I also want some M&S Belgian chocolate covered Brazil nuts for dessert. I find chocolate too sickly - it's all about salt and vinegar flavoured Hula Hoops right now

Finally got booked in to hospital yesterday (Northwick Park in Harrow). Once I've had my nuchal fold scan tomorrow then the news is official though I suspect some people at work suspect already.

Parma ham... Mmmmm! I miss it like crazy. Make Mine on Regents Street do an amazing ciabatta filled with pesto, parma ham, sun dried tomatoes, real tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket. I would love it if that was my first meal after giving birth/having a c-sec.

Has anyone else been almost given a choice regarding birth? It's pretty much been left for me to decide. I have a family history of hideous births and emergency c-sections due to a narrow pelvis so the consultant obs chap told me I could have an elective or I could try for a normal birth. Seems like such a big decision to just leave to me!

Lauren - I'd be very very annoyed if I wasn't given a choice about how I give birth! I'll be the one doing it, after all! Obviously take on board any advice you're given, and do all the research you can, but at the end of the day it's up to you. Even if a doc/mw tells you you have to do one thing or another, you really don't. You're an adult with full mental faculties (or so I assume! ) and you give birth where/how you damned well please!

Sorry, I'm a bit militant about this after being such a meek first-timer and now regret letting the mw's take some important decisions away from me. This time I'm doing it all MY WAY!

Oh, forgot to tell you all... I'm feeling smug today... got up early to do a pregnancy workout DVD (pretty rubbish one I got last time around, I remember now why I didn't bother with it much) and rode my bike to toddler's group this morning. Yay, some exercise at last!!

Off to hunt pregnancy workouts on Amazon.... not sure I can bring myself to buy anything with Davina in it.....

Glam..snap! That's my buggy too. I think I may have said this before, but having used a pushachair or pram every day for the last 17 years (oh my god I am so old now) I would never have anything but a maclaren. Ever. Bugaboo is cute, but maclarens are made for those who are interested in comfort, collapsability and having the ability to hold your child while collapsing it. Oh and it fits on buse and in a boot.
On the food front I have an evil MIL who keeps producing big plates of gooey beautiful cheese brought back from constant trips to France and leaving them in my house for DH to have. It's so cruel. I'm not drinking, but I am having the odd cup of tea and coffee. Have decided that fruit is the new chocolate somehow and eating 7 portions of fruita day.
IMPORTANT NEWS: In the NCT magazine( I think) I seem to remember a Dutch study was done that proved chocolate during pregnancy produced happier babies. ENJOY!!!

howdy all,

ooooh food, my favourite conversation too (well now that my appetite is returning to something approaching normal).

I'm also making my own rules. I haven't had anything to drink boozewise as I just haven't felt like it. This is most odd as I love booze, but the idea of drinking is just so alien. I don't drink tea or coffee and have stopped drinking coke as I had a nasty reaction to the caffeine a couple of weeks ago. I don't normally drink fizzy pop but have been occasionally in social situations where I can't get soda + fruit juice, as drinking water all night gets really boring.

I am ignoring the parma ham/salami advice, but haven't had any recently. I've given up on the soft cheeses but I don't really eat cheese (apart from my Christmas camembert) so it's more a symbolic giving up. In fact, reading my list it seems that I'm only sticking to the rules for things I don't like - no caffeine, no soft cheese, but am carrying on with meats, have eaten rare steak, prawns, peanuts etc.

HQ - on one of the March threads right at the start someone was telling us all the cheese issues and apparently listeria can't grow without moisture, so parmesan is OK, regardless of pastereusation. Oh and feta is too salty for the bacteria etc.

It's been raining here today, so I'm very glad I didn't wash my hair this morning

When you all talk about buggies it makes my head hurt. It's like when people talk about tax, I just can't seem to figure out the words and how they relate to reality. I hope someone offers to give me one for free.

It will end up like my care decision. I'll buy a buggy because preggersagain or turtle or some expert here says it's good. When they asked me if I wanted consultant or midwife led care, I didn't really know, but I thought "derah would say to go with the midwife" so that's what I did.

ha ha

despite my analness about spelling I don't normally bother to comment on my (many) typos as it's so boring when people do that but PASTEREUSATION?

That isn't even a typo. When I wrote that I really thought that was the word.

I'm losing my only genuine talent...

hurray, time for homemade pizza. I love my DH.

peuzza

Oh my god...I'm eating chicken fajitas and they are soooooooo delicious. Have made enough for 74 so if anyone is hungry...

mmmm, I love fajeutas.

I'll have one even though i'm full of peuzza

skidoodle - snap, I had homemade pizzas too and very yummy they were (and now DH has gone out I can safely finish the chocolate icecream which I have managed to hide out of his reach in the darker recesses of the freezer!)

I read some brilliant advice on feta - apparently you can eat British-made feta but not French or Greek. WTF? Do you think the British Feta Makers Association sponsored whatever particular piece of pregnancy scare-tactic literature that was in?

Final link of the day - Food Standards Agency so official govt type rules. Follow the link at top right to questions for comments on sushi, cold meats etc.

Right - got a bit of ice cream eating to do, then Silent Witness for me!

Only British feta? yes, that's totally true and the same applies for British wine (mmmm) and British cigarettes (cough).

HQ I'm also about to have chocolate icecream. well frozen yoghurt actually, but it tastes the same to me and DH doesn't like it so I don't have to share

Thanks derah - you're right, it is me giving birth, I stupidly hadn't thought about it like that. It is my body, pregnancy, birth and baby!

Must stop being a meek first timer!

Heh heh, I love it that I'm turning into the earth mother yogi for this group and will have you all having natural home water births by the end! And using cloth nappies (help me on this one Preggersagain!).

Just don't ask me about buggies. I get cheap ones cos I hardly ever use them. DD goes in a backpack for dog walking every day and since we live in a country village we (cringe) drive everywhere else.

ihave just bought some cloth nappies second hand of a friend

got the midwife coming round tomorrow so should get to hear the babies heartbeat all ok really, no bump and as i dont feel sick anymore i actually dont 'feel' very pregnant at all, but i am sure the bump will arrive soonish, and i do occasionally feel the bean move

i am booked in for a home birth, but apparently when i am 36wks preg they will come around and check that my house is clean enough etc

Hello

Liking the food chat. I've found that i was fairly strict up to 12 weeks, and since I got past that I've been a bit more 'flexible'. I'm still not eating moulded cheeses, goats cheese (which I love!!), or runny eggs, but I did have a half glass of wine and a couple of scallops at the weekend and felt like a rebel I don't eat red meat anyway, so don't feel like I'm missing out there. I had read an American article that warned against sweetners (sacharrin - sp? , and aspartame) so I did give up diluting juice as I usually drink gallons of it, but have started to have some over the last week or so as I'm getting fed up with water.

I have totally avoided the thought of prams at the moment - I think I'm a bit scared of the massive choice and the fact I know absolutely nothing about prams so it seems a bit too daunting...

I'm also resisting a doppler as I think I would become obsessed, but they do sound great.

Sorry to hear a few people have colds - a hot orange drink with grated ginger and a spoonful of honey usually does the trick for me (a dash of whisky helps even more but I guess that's out!)

maclaren all the way yes. have tried loads of others too.

am shopping for ds clothes for winter, ttfn x

Having suffered from depression in the past, I have been trying very hard to keep positivity the main rule during this pregnancy. One of the things I do is try to come up with 5 positive things about each day. This morning I was brushing my teeth and happened to glance at a box of tampax which looked a bit dusty. Remember girls, we may all have bad days at the moment, but we DON'T HAVE PERIODS!! How lovely is that?

Hello
I haven't been on these threads very much. It hasn't really felt real until I had my scan.

How are you all?

Feel like I should do a mini intro, I'm pinkmartini, living in London, I'm 30 and expecting my first at the end of March.

I was on the TTC no 1 board for a while (though not very long, seems all we needed was some sun on holiday ) and have felt rather superstitious about being over here on the AN threads.

I am hoping that the sickness will go soon. I saw the GP yesterday who basically told me it was psychosomatic

I am suffering horribly from constipation (sorry TMI) but not hungry enough to eat the right things to help things along.

Pram=wise, I haven't got a clue. I still can't believe we're having a baby and not sure where to start. (not sure I'd like a bugaboo, they are far too popular round here) You guys will have to guide me!

Anyway, really nice to meet you all and hope to catch up soon.

I bought a Topshop Bump Band yesterday - what a blumming great invention - can keep my trousers from falling down without hair bands and lovely and warm!!! .

Got my booking appointment on Saturday (was starting to get worried as am 14 weeks, but mw has been on hols, few). Has anyone else been put on shared care? I was mw led last time and no major issues, so assumed it would be the same this time, but no - shared care. I'm determined to get my home birth this time and want to be prepared for any arguments they might bring up. Any ideas?

Re foods - I think it is just a matter of being careful - avoiding those on the banned list as much as possible, but if you REALLY want something have it, but make sure it's fresh, etc.

Sorry for the essay