Due in December 07 - look at that bump!

[buzzybee]

OK hopefully no-one else has started a new thread!

Lizzer - i think you can only get cold sores if you have caught the virus off someone and I'm sorry to tell you that this means you could get them on and off forever - probably won't improve your mood!

however I might be wrong and am sure some one else will know more than me..

Yes leg cramps here too (no real advice, just pull your tow towards your shin and wait for it to go) and feel like I've spent an hour a day doing calf exercises - i was saying to dh last night that I don't know why we pg women don't LOSE weight with all the extra exertion required to drag ourselves around!

Yes, you're right about the cold sores Skidaddle.

Regarding leg cramps, I've been having these too. I have found them less of a problem since I've trained myself not to stretch my legs in bed. If I stretch and point my toes when I'm stretching, I get a calf cramp but if I stretch and flex my foot instead it doesn't cramp.

i would second that, wizzska.
A more effective calf stretch may be standing on the bottom step and letting the heels drop down. Hold 30 sec x 3.
The real trick is not to swell up. I would make sure you're drinking loads of water, too.

Morning! Loucee - which foot is supposed to be which? If at all, mine's possibly bigger on right.

Sunny day and I shouldn't be sitting here wasting it indoors!

Friend came round with her week old baby last night - still can't believe I'm having one myself! Interestingly, bump was v active when I had been holding baby and she was crying. Though could also be because I'd had MW app't - has anyone else noticed that the bubba gets v active after a scan or they have used the doppler to hear the heartbeat? Every time I've had one of those it's disco time inside for the rest of the day!

Must get sorted re where to put baby stuff - have sorted where in our room Moses basket will go, and where cot will go in DD2's room eventually - only problem is clothes storage! DD2 should have been triplets, the amount of clothes she has . Problem is, both DH and I can't resist sales, so she has some really nice stuff that we bought at silly prices. We are better now as she is at school so needs less, but there is still a lot of stuff that fits crowding the (double) wardrobe in her room... Let's hope this one is another girl!!!

Thanks Suey, wizz and Skidd... I'm glad I'm not the only one getting cramps, I agree with the workout theory Skidder owwww... I'll try not too stretch out in bed and I will try to drink more water too, I was really good in summer but then winter comes and I end up living on tea and coffee again....bad bad bad. Mustn't become a puffy water cushion like last time round

Housemum - its AMAZING thinking we are gonna have newborns isn't it...pregnancy seems so seperate from it all.. I know exactly what you mean when you see someone else's, its very weird...

If you know your baby name try this www.babynamegame.co.uk/ ITs really interesting and a bit of fun too

Lizzer - what have you done? I am supposed to be getting some work done today - now I can't stop putting different names into your game.....

So cool...

Names that I like:

Hannah is the 12th most popular name in the UK

Nael is 17,770 most popular name in UK!

Morning - I can see my posting getting less and less as soon as I'm on mat leave - seems I have nothing to do at work and lurk around here more than I should!
I've been off with ds for 2 days and its been fab - was meant to see a friend this morning to catch up but she never showed but on the plus side we built a den (quilt cover over dining table) and had our first teddy tea party ds was so cute he was pretenting to feed the teddies and saying yum yum

loucee - glad sling link helped, I still haven't looked at it! on the in laws buying pram fround my mum and dad gave us £250 towards a pram last time and have done the same again this time, was v supprised... but maybe your inlaws could do that if you wanted to buy P&T and thought it too much to ask for that amount...

skiddale - I've heard the same thing about pg women's processing speed and cognitive abilities were as good if not better than non-pg women's in a proper controlled expt but... also heard its all masked by sleep deprevation

hello to everyone else - too much other emailing and boring online banking to do to read whole thread but sorry to hear so many of us are feeling uncomfortable, bday still seems a long way off!

off to check out baby name game...

FGS. william and ella are both 5th most popular in my area! I hate being predictable!

I forgot - leg cramps - mine have stopped now I have a banana everyday, something to do with potassium/minerials we could be defictent in... also getting mind heart burn already so milk before bed
HTH

Hmm - I thought we were being boring, but neither name we like is in the top 100.... Wonder if that's something to do with the area we're in.

Going to try a few different postcodes and see what effect that has!

Ah - it all starts to make sense. The game doesn't appear to know where Scottish postcodes are, so just gives the UK ranking.

In fact - it doesn't know where some London postcodes are either....

Hi all!
Amani, at least you have another week to prepare for your interview! I seem to get stuff like that muddled all the time too!
Bouncing, I had heard that the baby brain thing can last for 2 years but I reckon that sleep deprivation could have a lot to do with it!
Loucee, not sure about the bump on the feet thing, can't actually see my left ankle bone at the moment! Tried to feel them like Suey suggested but also can't reach both feet at the same time! Interesting to see if its true though for everyone else.
Lizzer, I am still getting cramps in my calves at night too (and I do eat a banana most days). I tend to leap (well more of a slow stumble) out of bed, grip the wardrobe for support, put my toes on the floor and gradually lower the rest of my foot until its flat whilst going "owowowowowowowouch". Do you find that if you have a particularly bad one your calf aches for a couple of days afterwards?
Caz, I start getting twitchy everytime someone mentions the stuff they have got ready, I still have done and bought nothing! Was hoping to go and get a cot mattress and car seat this weekend but was hoping my boss would pay me so I had actual money to pay with, looking like he may have forgotten (again) though, he's a pain and its not like he's close enough for me to pop round and get it, he has to give it to my friend's DH. Grr... As for sleeping, I had DS2 in a cot right next to my bed from day 1 and it worked really well for me. He was quite a clingy baby and didn't settle well without me so I used to sleep with my hand through the cot bars just touching his little face - he liked that. Will probably let LO snooze in bouncy chair or carrycot during the daytime to begin with.
Thanks for all your thoughts about my ankle! Went to GP and he just said it was normal in pg, he said the support sock on the other foot is likely to have stopped that one swelling (even though I didn't wear it yesterday). Anyway, he has prescribed me a lovely pair of thigh high support socks (due to the new vvs behind my knee). Only one pair but if they do the trick I will look on ebay for some more!
Hope everyone else is okay!

becklespookle: if you find the secret of keeping the support stockings up, do let me know! Mine ended up all bunched below the knee, and doing no good at all....

Bugger. Done it again - not been on MN for a while and missed what seems like thousands of messages and news. Started trying to catch up but brain won't cope. Did notice a few comments about slowing down of body hair growth. Make sure you do mention this to MW/Doc as it could be a sign of underactive Thyroid which can be brought on by being PG. Mines knackered already and they are checking every 4 weeks in case it goes lower - nothing scary but do mention it.

Also found a great way not to put weight on while PG - send DD to nursery (for nursery also read Government secret Biological warfare centre) and let her bring home some particularly great tummy virus. Children - being the harbourers of all knows germs to man already - get over this in a matter of hours - PG Mummy however spends 3 days in bed not really even able to keep water down. Wonder if Weight Watchers have treid this approach? I'm laughing now but at 5am Wed morning when trying to do the loo or sink balancing act (Sorry TMI) was definitely NOT!! Did speak to doc thouhg and was reassured that LO's are well insulated from all manner of bugs and as long as you can keep a small amount of water down, there is no need for concern!

Sort of human again now though so all's well in the end I suppose.

Hope you all are doing well - need to add myself onto the location list too somehow for Scotland/Stirling. As for names, still not 100% - thinking of Freya for a girl and maybe Freddie for boy ??

Hope you are all having a jolly day and looking forward to the weekend

Oh Wizzska you are absolutely right about the scan! However as DH refused to know the sex I like trying all the theories out to see if any are right! Or all coincidence of course!

Ok so if the bump is larger on the left it means a boy and the right is a girl. Mine is larger on my right which goes along with all the other bits and pieces which have indicated another girl for me. Skidaddle your's fits in with your blue bump, Suey - do you know the sex?

Poor Beckle and beanstermummy - hope you both feel better soon.

Having a hectic afternoon so trying to get rid of my stress by tucking into a box of Quality Streets left in the office...

Mine's on the right - and it's possibly a girl (sonographer couldn't be sure, just said that she couldn't see any boy bits - was so keen to have scan at just on 20 wks before we went on hol's, now wish we'd waited to 23 as it might have been clearer!)

Another girl would be good - so many clothes to use again! (and relatively cheap on that basis...!)

Skidaddle - developmental psychology sounds really interesting. Sort of thing I would love to study if I had my life over again. Or two lives running simultaneously. Wouldn't that be great?
Your list of things to buy sounds quite similar to mine. I have also bought some maternity pads, big knickers, also some nappies, muslin cloths, nipple shields (which I needed last time and didn't want my poor DH to have to go out and buy again) and a sponge thingy to bathe the baby in the bath. Was a bit shocked when I got my 12-pack of maternity pads to discover it said 24 needed for the first 1-2 days - as I had a c-section last time I don't think there was quite that much blood. Still I feel that I am now semi-prepared if I go into labour now....
For those thinking about sleeping arrangements, we did have dd in a moses basket next to the bed but for first two or three weeks she would not sleep in it so was in bed with us. We finally pursuaded her otherwise - through a mixture of warming the matress with a hot water bottle before putting her in, putting clothes that smelt of me in there and swaddling her. Had to put her in asleep though as she would not go to sleep in there on her own....

claraq - we did that too to try and get dd to sleep in her moses basket - quite comic really with dh sitting on it at 5am and me going through the laundry basket to find something that smelled of me (ended up using used breast pads ) having had no sleep all night, oh so many memories...

don't think I went through that many maternity pads last time btw - 24 might be another worst case scenario number. Also I found extra super duper normal (rather than maternity pads) were much better as they aren't as bulky and just as absorbant

beanstermummy - your poor thing - that sounds horrendous and I am impressed that you can laugh about it so soon after the event! Are you feeling OK now?

Seems like the gender predictor ankle bump thing is doing well so-far - anyone else?

Where's MM today?

Oh, I asked my (lovely) midwife yesterday why the local 'parentcraft' classes were ladies only - as in, how can you expect support/help from your (male) birth partner if they've never seen or heard anything about the process. I'm still at her response - but more in the sense of having something confirmed that I'd rather not have heard, than being in any way surprised.

Apparently, the classes used to be open to couples, and you'd generally get one man coming along willingly to the first class - the rest being women on their own. The next week, that would be the only couple there, as all the other women simply dropped out. Asking 'personal' questions was so inhibited by the presence of a father-to-be that the other women would rather not be there.

So, they tried having a single class in the series which was for couples. The men all turned up, and sat there with arms folded and faces like torn scones. My midwife says she honestly used to want to say "look, just go home, and go down the pub when your wife goes into labour - you're going to be more hindrance than help!"

This is 2007 (I think) though there really ought to be a sign at the entrance to the town along the lines of "Welcome to XXXX, please put your watch back by 55 years." That does have its benefits in some ways - very little crime, everyone knowing their neighbour etc - and I'm starting to wonder if the problem is a small town one, or just that I've been very lucky with the men (and women!) I've known.

Should say - it also has some serious drawbacks: unthinking racism, sexism and general unreconstructed stone-age-ism being some!

thelady- here was me thinking it was about budgets!
loucee i dont know the sex

Clara - I'd forgotten about the hot water bottles to warm the baby's bed! I remember at the time thinking just what a life the baby had!

at thelady's story - that is unbelievable!! At the NHS antenatal classes we went to last time, all the fathers went to all the classes except for one who worked in the evenings so he couldn't come.

I would be so disgusted if DH didn't want to come - in fact I remember getting really annoyed with him because he was reading some ridiculous spy book when I was pg last time and I thought he should be reading all my pg books instead! - even used to test him: 'what's an episotomy?' in the hope that his ignorance would shame him into reading up on the birth. I'm a bit more laid back this time!