Due March 2008-New thread as we all talk too much [smile]

[turtle23]

Not very original, but the thread WAS becoming ridiculously big.

Are you really not supposed to get BH til 20 weeks? I have had them from 16 weeks and the nearest I can get to explaining them is...have you ever used a tens machine? It's like getting an electric muscle contraction for me..very strong but not painful.

Thanks for the link minspugs.

I don't remember have any BH with ds but am pretty sure I'm getting a few this time, feels quite wierd.

Haven't got any varicose viens (or not ones I can see anyway lol) but I have got quite a lot of those horrible little thread viens, and afaik they don't disappear afterwards boohoo

Info says BH come regularly at 20 weeks but nothing I read says it's abnormal to get them before.

I ended up calling the mw at the delivery suite this evening to ask if I should be concerned. Glad I called she reassured me but didn't completely brush me off - she said if any two were 5 min apart or less to call her back. Ditto if any bleeding/sudden discharge.

Sorry about the veins, I've got sympathy ones on my legs - tons :.(

PS BY way of update, dh and I had a rematch on the birth plan and it went well! We also made a bit of head way on names discussion tonight so that was good. Had been avoiding altogether because I was worried we would be wildly different....not too bad :.)

Hello. Hope everyone is feeling better after a miserable couple of days. If not come and join in on the virtual hen night that Merryberry has created for me. Everyone is welcome, the more the merrier.

Had a strange day today. Junior has been quite quiet and not so active, I'm used to him waking me up. We had my mum and dad come round and help get all the stuff out of the loft for our impending move. I'm not allowed up there anymore and I banned dp from ever going up after he nearly fell through the hole and down the stairs 6 months ago! It would have been funny except the dsd's were at the bottom of the ladder asking if he was alright. Wish I could of seen it though, instead I had swanned of to the Isle of Wight festival.

Hi smilesam. I'm going to be starting my mat leave on the week before half term, 15th Feb with an option of taking a weeks annual leave the week before if I need it. Although the tiredness is getting worse. Hopefully I'll be able to get away with doing less work. [Imagine Timmy hiding behind desk from her boss!]

Right should go to bed now, up early in the morning. Night night.

Morning all!
I had a lovely weekend - spent Saturday with DH doing all our Christmas stuff as it's the only chance we'll get, then spent yesterday making mince pies and decorating our tree with niece (22 months) and nephew (3.5yrs).

The mince pies went down very well - if any of you have toddlers then it's worth trying. I had already made the pastry but my nephew then rolled it out and cut it, and greased the tin, and his sister helped put the mince in the pies. She loved brushing the top with milk (so much so that we ended up giving her her own piece of pastry to turn into a sodden milky mass...). And then they both enjoyed sprinkling them with icing sugar, and we all enjoyed eating them

On mat leave, I'm planning to finish at 35 weeks at the moment - so about 20th Feb. I'll use 2 weeks holiday then 3 weeks mat leave before due date. I may finish a week earlier if I'm getting tired, but I've agreed with my boss that I can use holiday to drop down to 4 day weeks from January so that I can hopefully keep going a bit longer. It means that I only have 2 more Fridays left in the office and then less than 30 working days when I go back in the new year!!! HURRAY!

Hello!

I had a lovely Christmassy weekend too- tree is up, some baking is done and some presents are wrapped.

Last night we got in a bit of a panic- we think DH has... chickenpox! He thought he'd had it as a child, but now his mum says that's questionable. He's off to the gp this morning, and fortunately I had it as a child so less panic now as I think the pip is probably not at risk of contacting it. And, at 27 weeks, even if I did get it then from what I read I'm past the risky period. But I'm going to speak to the gp about it today just to make sure. Poor DH!

E14 hope DH ok, and hello to all. In haste today but just to say had a 28 week scan today and lo looking good, head down legs waving about the place! nice to see it again and will be going back at 36 weeks. It weights 2lb 8 or so now -what a thought!
happy day to you all.

Am feeling grumpy and embarassed : When I was shoved onto the packed train this morning I actually turned round and shouted .

I'm off on Maternity leave at 35 weeks (end of January; as a contractor I wanted to work to mid-feb but they weren't keen on extending me to that close to my due date. Oh well less 30 more commutes to go...

Thanks imjin, he does have a mild case of chicken pox and I'm hoping to go in for a blood test just to check my immunity this afternoon.

Not what you need e14mum, but good luck with test and to your DH for coping with adult Chicken pox, I had it at 24 and it wasn't nice.

I've just been told to pack my hospital bags NOW just incase

Seriously mw came and checked me and my cervix is aparantly thinner and spongier (is that a real word? ) than it was last week- so i'm off home to pack bags and throw myself into a blind panic!

She says that the thinning is quite usual in twin pgs, but as its happening quite early we are on alert from now!!! consultant appt tomorrow and he might want to put a patch on which can hold back labour and is sometimes very effective! also pethidine is sometimes used to ward off labour- but in very small doses, its a relaxant so the muscles can't do their thing until the hormone levels build up to mega strength- so basically holds of the pre-labour type of gentle tightenings!

Oooh i'm a minefield of information today!

Hope everyone's weekend was good- i've STILL not finished the christmas stuff- hey i've got an excuse at least! I have to say though that i am feeling quite bouncy at the moment- looking forward to some time off over christmas to relax and decorate!

Legs crossed for you then preggersagain!

preggersagain - most impressed you're taking this so calmly. will keep everything crossed the little ones stay warm and keep baking for a while longer yet.
feet up and take it easy....

feeling very smug but work have agreed I should leave every day at 3.00 to attempt to take pressure off my back. think it will really help as by the evenings i'm in agony. have lots to do but can't get movtivated due to being sore but hoping this will help.

Have almost finished christmas shopping so extra smug....but Anyone any good tips on a good battery powered Digital radio?

I'm calm, i'm calm !! i don't think its a case of 'ooooo bugger i'm having a baby today' but i suppose i should get organised! at least once its done- i can relax then- on the plus side dh is taking me out this afternoon to buy a couple of nice bags for hospital- mulberry me thinks he has Radley in mind!

preggersagain, you and your shopping! you'll be in labour, shopping online on your mobile won't you ??

good on you for taking it so calmly, i hope it is just a normal for twins thing!

I must say I LOVE the idea of whacking a plaster on to help hold labour back - do they whack it erm, up where the sun don't shine, or do you end up like patsy giving up smoking in Ab Fab, covered in patches all over your body?

Had a good antenatal appointment, at last today. Post about it is here if interested. Short version: have a midwife. Have a chance of getting birth of choice. Have some faith in the system again.

Merryberry, i'm so glad that you have it sorted. The only thing that has kept me from goign equally barmy about not yet having met a midwife (I'm 27 weeks) is that I have a lovely GP.

Preggersagain, I'm impressed you have all those things to throw into a bag.

Wow, Preggers. You might be the first one of us to meet your babies Hopefully not just yet.

I think I've had one case of what I thought was BH. But I have no real idea. It was quite odd, painful and thankfully short a couple of weeks ago.

Have just had an exam. It is strange to have your LO playing happily in there. Or as in my case desperately demanding food at lunch time He was so sweet mind. It was the easiest and most enjoyable exam I've had.

At the weekend we went to a football game (in torrential rain and icy winds) which he found slightly shocking. The candlelight carol evening was more to his taste up until the trumpets started off, when he tried scurry away and hide as quickly as he could

I suppose this will be one of the last weeks we can really enjoy pregnancy before getting too heavy and tired, so I try to make the most of it.

What do you all think about hypnobirthing? I have no preconceptions, so would appreciate your comments. Also do you have to go to classes or can you just read a book and listen to a CD?

gingercat - I just bought the natal hypnotherapy CDs from eBay. So far I've managed to do the pregnancy relaxation one once, and fell asleep halfway through it so it was clearly working!
however, i'm a first-timer so don't yet know if it will work when i really need it . i think merryberry used it in her first pregnancy/labour so can probably tell you whether it really works...

it totally works for me. am currently feeling anxious cos i lent my cds a couple of weeks ago to a woman i hardly know at yoga and she's not given them back yet! i will start the birth prep ones in the new year.

like marchmum says, they have to suit your way of doing things. they work for me, as in most crises I go quiet, focussed and seperate myself off mentally while i get on with the work. with ds1 i went over 2 days of latent and active labour on this technique alone, had an epidural break for several hours, let it wear off and went back to active labour at the end.

they have a great track record. i'm doing the natal hypnotherapy ones, the mongan method/hypnobirthing is the same thing and just as good.

eh up anyone desperate for new clothes, blooming marvellous having an up to 50% off sale.

preggers - keep 'em all crossed!
gingercat - hypnobirthing, have just finished the course and it's great (and though i have no prior experience, my mate who also went is a complete convert having been put off a 2nd pregnancy due to the stress of the 1st one). What i found most interesting was the way someone finally explained that "contractions" don't contract, they expand, so if you tense up you're working against your body. Similarly, if you "push" you can end up trying to get the baby out of a hole that's getting smaller with each attempt - so apart from being tense, if you have the baby's head hitting soft tissue, that tissue swells and therefore hole is smaller! All good reasons to learn how to relax

Everyone else, hello

I'm off to hospital tomorrow for my GTT - one of those forced on my for having an obese BMI when i was first checked in and having an uncle with diabetes. Can't eat after 10pm tonight and have been staying off sugar since Friday just to clear my system out a bit in preparation!
Work took pity on me on Friday - could hardly walk with pelvic pain, so they've given me a badge for the disabled parking so I don't have to walk 1/2 mile from the car park to the office. Apart from that, anyone having probs squeezing out of the car door these days?!
Not looking forward to the next few weeks despite loving Christmas...got my neighbour moving in on Friday as he's split from his wife and house sale which should have happened in July has only just gone through. I stupidly offered a spare room back in the summer, and now have told him he'd better be out before i start mat leave or his life will be made hell...Then my parents come over to stay for xmas on 20th, 2 days before neighbour buggers off to his parents, which means someone has to have the sofa for 2 nights and my dad is insisting it's him. Not happy with neighbour not volunteering, considering my dad's in his late 70s! (Oh, and of course, parents have to have a room each, being, you know, old and all that ).
Am also anticipating massive argument with my dad over my proposed homebirth ("what do you want to do THAT for?"), and the fact he wants to be here before the birth to give me a lift to the hospital. I will be pointing out that his presence before the birth will almost certainly guarantee I have extremely high blood pressure and end up having a C-section .
However, have started to get the decs up and got our tree tonight, so the room smells all lovely and pine scented!

Preggers hope you can keep those girlies cooking for a bit longer! And I'll echo what surprisedandexicitedmum said. Legs crossed!

If anyone is thinking of going by Baker St this week stay clear as the hormones are RAGING over here :.( Am so irritable, poor dh. Did have a bit of retail therapy at BM as per MB's email - stuff is 50% off, check it out, there are some good nursing tops on there.

Am working right up until 38 weeks but I work from home so different scenario...

Preggers, distract yourself from packing by thinking if you are first (hopefully Feb, not now!) we all owe you a cake. Surely the first one of us should get some sort of prize??