Due April 2005, part deux

[DelGirl]

Xoz and I thought it was time to start a new thread so here it is. Will copy the list over from the old one:

Mose Girl - 27 March
Mother Peculiar - 1 April
Seabird - 8 April
bronniemuldoon - 10ish April
MunchK2n - 11 April
NellyK - 11 April
Strawberry - 11 April
006 - 15 April
tallbird - 25 april
Xoz - 16 April
Rydercup - 16 April
Mitzi - 18 April
jumpin - 20 april
DelGirl - 22 April
Azure - 23 April
fisil - end April-ish
miranda2 - 28 April

apologies fora any mistakes

Ooh sounds fab Delgirl - and what a bargain! Gush away about baby gear btw - I love it . I've got a slight pushchair habit - I should probably sell at least one of my 3 single ones before bringing my (1st) double pushchair into the house (still debating what to go for on that...)

Hi everyone - glad to hear you're out shopping Delgirl - you must let me know which shop that was if they make mistakes like that!!! Will CAT you tomorrow to catch up.

April seems to be approaching a bit too fast for my liking - haven't worked out my coping plan for baby and DS age 4!!!!! Anyone else feeling uncomfortable in the evenings after eating? I'm finding I can't eat much at all through the day at the moment - I just feel that there is not enough room in my tummy! Spose it means I shouldn't gain too much weight, but I still feel hungry!!!

I've been looking around for something to wear to a friends wedding next month and have discovered a great site for quality stylish maternity wear - not as cheap and cheerful as Mothercare but not too over the top either. Their stuff looks really versatile.
Isabella Oliver

I can still eat, but the acid reflux is thoroughly annoying especially at night. I have milk intolerace but love cheese so last night after gorging on cheese, it was at its worst.

(Clearing throat) Soft cheeses and some paté, I will not be held hostage by the pronouncements of the NHS.

Alux - don't feel guilty about the soft cheeses and pate - I have to hold my hand up and say I too have indulged a little over Xmas - I just couldn't help myself!!!!! What I really miss is being able to share a bottle or two of good wine (or champagne with DH and/or friends ..... really looking forward to that!

Hello everyone and happy new year.... Nice to catch up with the sudden flurry of news that has suddently appeared on our thread after a fairly quiet christmas.... Good on you all for having taken the plunge and started buying your gear.... I have got as far as CHOOSING the cot, but not actually buying it yet (!), and my sister has pledged me a lot of her stuff, including moses basket, car seat, bouncing thing, and loads of baby clothes.... I still feel utterly unprepared though if the creature were to put in a sudden early appearance! Cannot get my head around the pram at ALL..... too much to choose from, and they all seem so £££......
Indigestion a daily occurance now, find it easier not to eat after about 7pm, though totally impractical (usually still on my way home from work...). 006 and Strawberry, I am also self-employed and have downloaded and tackled that whopping great form to fill in, so glad to hear that you got £1300 out of it, obviously worth it then! Working out what to do with the business was my biggest source of anxiety when I found out I was pg (there is never an obvious answer, is there?), and although I've decided that the office is going to have the door LOCKED for 7 months (1 month before and 6 afterwards, I can't wait!), actually getting myself organised enough to be able to do that without letting anyone down is proving v. stressful.... . Feeling v. nesty just now, and I would love to ignore work and just think about the baby and me for a while, but I've got a few more weeks of hard slog to get through first!
Hope you are all feeling well and not too huge (still 3 months to go, eek!)...

ps: this christmas was all about eating small quantities of previously forbidden food, including stilton, pasturised brie (is that allowed?!), smoked salmon, foie gras (!) and champagne..... and I am absolutely NOT beating myself up over it!

006 and orangina - I work as a freelance writer and have total dilemma over work. Any info about claiming Mat allowance much appreciated as was employed last time around. If I take on any work will MA cease immediately or can it restart? I have a contract at the moment which is probably going to be renewed in April (they don't know I'm pg!). Really do not know what to do for best. Orangina - interested that you are stopping work for a few months - is your job the sort of thing you can just pick up again?

Hi Strawberry,
Re: your mat pay stopping, I think it would probably depend when you are invoicing. I intend to stop invoicing (but send out as many as possible beforehand ) on the day I intend to start my mat leave (1 month before due date), and I will not send out any more invoices until I get back to work 6 months after due date. In fact, I'm sure I won't be invoicing again until a few weeks (at least) after I get back in October. I intend to claim mat pay (if I can, assume I can), from date of final pre- mat leave invoice until first post mat leave invoice, which I assume is correct. Will try and find the link for the dreaded form and post it, back in a minute......

I'm not clever enough to just add a link (sorry!), but this is the web page, if you cut and paste....
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/cms.asp?Page=/Home/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/498

Strawberry, I'm an architect and run my own (small) office.... So trying to get the timing on the various projects I have on the go just now all sorted out neatly to fit into my pregnancy timetable is a bit of a nightmare! ! I am trying to finish off whatever projects I can before I leave, and the rest I have given my clients the option of having me resign off the job (I tried to find other people to run them for me, but that was an even bigger nightmare....), or get to a certain stage by March, and have me pick it up again in OCtober. It's not ideal, and probably doesn't 100% suit all my clients, but I take the view that I can't take on EVERYONE's problems! So far, all my clients have been v. loyal and are waiting for me to come back in OCtober to finish their jobs, which is great, but also means I have a pretty busy workload to come back to! I don't know how it would work with you being a writer, I have a friend who writes a weekly page on a freelance/contract basis for a newspaper, and I know that as her column isn't current affairs based, she just works v hard during her pregnancy and gets a load of columns done in advance, so that they can be used while she is away on mat leave, which works well. I just knew I couldn't face having ANYTHING to do with work while I was on mat leave, have heard too many horror stories of talking to builders and clients while on the way to delivery in hospital etc..... augh!

Thanks orangina. I've filled it in! Not as horrendous as it looks!

I think I will wait for the new contract to be offered and then discuss how it might work out. It's a no-win situation for client as either close the project or retrain someone else or just wait a couple of months for me to continue the work so hopefully will work something out.
Your clients sound great - I don't think this guy will be as understanding.

Form not too bad, just printing off thirty something pages makes you assume it will be! how much mat leave do you want to take off strawberry? Perhaps waiting for you to come back will be easier than retraining someone else etc? When are you due, I assume you work remote from your boss, otherwise how could he NOT know you are pg?!(it's so obvious with me now, couldn't pull the wool over anyone's eyes!).... Good luck with the chat, hope it goes well...

Oooer all this talk about buying stuff has made me panic. I was blithely imagining I had it all already (DS1 is 2.4) but have suddenly been reminded of moses basket (must borrow from friend who lent it last time although it will be the 5th baby to use it so may be on last legs) and most importantly a double buggy!!! Seabird, what are you going for? I still can't make up my mind if I'll need one or not or just to go for the buggy board on the current single buggy. Aaagghhh, must do some research quickly. It all seems to be going too fast. I'm 27 weeks today (hello 3rd trimester) and am planning to leave work at 35 weeks as I remember feeling really knackered by then last time. Although I'm weighing up the demands of sitting on my bum all day at a computer and comparing it with running around after an energetic toddler in those last few weeks... hmmmmm. Guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Nice to catch up with you all. I have been on a mega spending spree. Got a cotbed and all sorts. As we don't have a car I thought I better get on with the mega shop before I am too tired to tromp rounded Oxford Street, mothercare world and god knows where else. I am having the big pushchair dilema too. What are you going for? I want one that is mega light and good for public transport, with room for shopping that won't fall apart after 12 months of city life. Maclaren techno seems like the most popular on the buses round my way, but newborns seem to wobble about a bit in there. Would be quite happy to spend more money on a quality one, but they are all too damn heavy. Mama's and Papa's Aria is only 5kg, but no-one seems to have them and I can't find it in any shops to have a play with. Graco seems to be another good public transport make but I ahve been told the wheels fall of after a while. Confused...
For Seabird and Bronniemuldon, for double buggy, the Phil and Teds Explore is getting raved about by lots of people I have spoken to. It is a single buggy with attachment at the back for second child, so really space efficient. Its on the Daisy and Tom website.
Didn't know smoked salmom was a forbidden fruit - I have been stuffing my face with it {grin}.
I still have not got my Mat B1 from the midwife, so can't do my notice at work yet. . Still only seen her once! Thinking of going up to 4 weeks bebfore due date. As I am now working from home 1 day a week I thought this was doable.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to mumsnet, and I'm due with twins on April 8th (although they will prob come earlier).

I'm so glad not to have to worry about work, I'm falling asleep most afternoons now, and am as big as I was with dd at full term. I'm getting rather concerned how I'm going to feel in a month or two!

I'm in West Croydon, not far from some of the places mentioned on this thread.

Welcome Kelly1978 and congrats on the twins!! How old is your DD, will she be able to 'help' in anyway??!!

All this talk of shopping is making me think about what I need to get - must get all DS's stuff out of the loft and see what's what! I know I need a new cotbed mattress and probably some bedding, but hopefully all the other "equipment" is still in working order!

Someone mentioned on anothr thread a type of milk you can buy from Waitrose which contains melatonin (I think that's what it was?) which apparently can help you get off to sleep? Anyone heard of this or tried it - I'm desperate to get a good nights sleep ... (DH going skiing for a week is not helping ... I'm not envious!!!!)

Emmalina, saw a real nice pushchair advertised in last month's junior magazine. it's a 3-wheeler, £150 and boasts that it is the smallest pushchair around when folded down. weighs 7kg. will dig out the brand/name and let you know.

btw, anyone know of any cotbeds that have drop down sides?

Hi Merlin,
Dd is 4, so I'm not sure how much help she can be, but she is qute good at looking after herself, I also have a ds 2, so i am goin to have my hands really full! My poor ds has had to grow up very quickly in prep for the twins, we've mastered potty training now, and we're now trying to wean him off the pushchair.

On the subject of pushchairs, the aria is stocked in a few places in croydon, if that isnt too far? I've looked at that, but it doesn't seem to be roomy enough to last. I'm going for the Jane Powertwin.

Hello all!! Bronnie and Seabird - started doing a bit of research on double buggy situation and came to the conclusion that IF I were to buy one then it would be the Phil and Ted. Pretty lightweight - functions as a single buggy when eldest decides dowsn't want to go in anymore and folds down to a very compact size. All other doubles were too big and cumbersome for my liking!! However, I am opting for the 'suck it and see' approach - getting a boogie/kiddie board and seeing how we get on. The Phil and Ted is £440 inc all the bits you need for 2, which I begrudge paying having spent some £400 on my freestyler less than 2 years ago!! The other disadvantage of the Phil and Ted is transferring of baby from car seat to pushchair - easy with freestyler as car seat just clips on! Anyway...will probably be eating my words in 3 months but gonna give it a go!!Other than that - all going well here - lots of movement although quite concerned at my ever expanding size...have the midwife next week and if anything like my last pregnancy will probably be big for dates - sent for xtra scans etc etc etc!! Ciao for now!

Welcome Kelly1978

Hello everyone hope all had a good weekend, the only thing i have left to buy is the steriliser but other than that i've got everything, i settled onthe jane carrera c with matrix pushchair/pram it's a 3-in-1. mum paid £389.00
for it. hope everyone's keeping well?

welcome kelly1978

CSA - i'm looking for a dropside too but they're few and far between. The ones i've found so far are the Cosatto Christina, M & P Arabella and Babysrus do one as well. Cosatto may do more so it's worth a google but that really is about it tbh. They look lovely but I want it to match with drawers that I already have. I like the Cosatto one but I can't find a local stockist to try and see it. The M & P is not quite right but may have to make do in the end.

Had an antenatal appt today and have been told theres a small chance I will have to have a C section due to previous surgery. I can't say that I'd be thrilled to have one but a CS or normal birth (is it called a vbac) doesn't really phase me at all. Am I naive? I know it will hurt (alot) but it doesn't last forever. Not sure I will be saying that in a few weeks when my already enormous tummy is even more bigger . I've also got to have a renal scan now as my kidney;s don't seem to be doing there job properly. I'm not looking forward to that as i've had one before and it aint pleasant but never mind, hopefully it won't show up anything.

Apart from that, all is hunky dory. Babs seems to have been active almost non-stop since last night, not sure why. Usually has a couple of periods during the afternoon late evening when it's playing footy and then usually quiet then until the next day but it seems to have been non-stop today. Hopefully he/she will flake out and i'll get a decent nights sleep. Am slowly getting used to this feeling tired most of the time feeling but work seems to take twice as long because I can't concentrate. Fortunately I have a very nice boss who makes allowances (sometimes)

Okay, I'm starting to worry now. I haven't bought a thing! I think I have a hundred and one lists and web links but with working full time and DH being away half the time, I just can't get motivated to go shopping. Besides, I have nowhere to put stuff.

DH is supposed to be converting the study to a nursery but at the moment all he's managed to do is put massive holes in the walls and make perfectly aligned light fittings wonky! I can just see myself refusing to come home with the baby until the nursery's ready!

Re: cotbeds with sides that go down, don't mamas and papas do them? Or perhaps I've misunderstood ....

Oh, I have nowhere to put stuff neither. We went round in the sales buying loads of clothes which are all in carriers under my bed. We've only been in Croydon 6 mnths and we're renting a two bed flat. It's nice and spacious, but I've already got ds and dd in bunk beds in one room, with no room for more.

I've just ordered a couple of cots - onlinebabystore.com has got the mamas and papas Millie and Boris cot with a third off. God knows where we're going to put them though! We wanted cotbeds, but with two, it's going to have to be bunk beds asap .