Due in June 2008: bring on the bumps! (and that's before Christmas meals!)

[aberdeenhiker]

The last message I posted seems to have filled up the old thread so I thought I'd start a new one.

Since bump size was our last topic, I thought this might do for a thread title.

g43 and China, sending hugs to both of you today

Feeling very tired and hormonal today - cried and cried this afternoon because I couldn't help ds1 with his German homework!!

Sophie - I am also going to have to give reuseables a miss with the washing we have to do to , in a normal situation I'd give them a go.

Hey - no sickness this morning - for the 1st time, do you think it's a fluke or could this be then end at last? Baby is making it's presence felt, I've had a few really sharp jabs under the ribs - that take your breath away.

Hi
Can I say hello? 16 wks (due 21 June). DC2. Did everyone else feel the baby by this time? Wish I could remember when I first felt DD. Feel like I should be bigger too. Midwife is coming on Friday - I hope these are just stupid worries but had a horrible ectopic and it's hard to relax.
X

Welcome Harriet, sorry to hear about your ectopic pregnancy. I had some faint flutterings early on and then they seemed to stop, then in the last week I've started getting really definite kicks - not every day though. I'm due on the 7th, so I'm 18+6.

Welcome Harriet and apart from getting slightly bigger (but not much) no I have not felt baby and I am 16 weeks as well.

G43 and China - thinking of you both at what must be a difficult and nerve wracking time for you.

Deb - congratulations on not being sick, hopefully things are looking up for you.

Hi Harriet - I didn't feel the baby regularly until last week (18w) so I wouldn't worry yet. And my belly has exploded in the past few weeks but everyone's been saying how I wasn't looking at all pregnant for ages.

China, that's an interesting policy, I can't decide if I like it or not. I get to hoard up all my leave from this year and take it when I get back which is useful for sick kids in nursery! The problem is that because I'm allowed to hoard it, and I'm naturally a saver, it's hard to convince myself to take a much needed holiday now! The extra salary when you go back would be super helpful too - especially since the first years of childcare are by far the most expensive.

I went back to work last time after 6 months and still kept breastfeeding after work, bedtimes, and mornings. Keeping our regular breastfeeds was actually easier by then than making up a bottle. So breastfeeding while working, if you're happy to supplement during the day, is simple (if, like me, you don't have milk supply issues when dropping feeds - I've heard this can be a problem for some women - I actually was feeding DS once a day up until two months ago, when my milk changed when I hit 12 weeks pregnant and he basically made a face and refused it!)

Well I wasn't sick again this morning, had my iron tablet with bread and jam(no dairy) then an hour later had some precious shreddies (not available here) , went to stack the dishwasher and threw up all my shreddies

Hi Harriet, Welcome. I am 19 weeks tomorrow and I still haven't felt my baby - at least I don't think I have! These was some feeling last week, but it was just after eating a huge meal of chinese so could have been that! Am hoping that skiing next week will kick bub into action!

I am also 16 weeks and haven't felt the baby move yet, it is moving, we could hear it kicking at the midwifes appointment the other day! This is my first so I have been told it will probably be a couple more weeks before I feel it.
Where I work I can take all of this years holiday entitlement before I go off on maternity leave which means I have about 23 days to use before June. As far as I know we can take holiday straight before maternity leave starts so I am planning on doing with any holiday I have left, which hopefully should be quite a bit!
I have ordered some new trousers from Blooming Marvellous £36.99 reduced to £6.99 so am waiting for them to arrive and hoping they fit, in the meantime I keep undoing my button on my trousers which is fine just sat at my desk but embarassing when I forget and stand up!

I'm 20 weeks today so half way there!!!!

Parofleurmapu I also feel shattered and I know I will have about 1 week if even that of the blooming stage before I start feeling heavy and exhausted! I felt reasonabley okay in the first trimester, there is no right way to feel in pregnancy!

I'm feeling more positive today. I saw a mum I know in town this morning and she looked at my belly so I told her I was pregnant which she said she had guessed but didn't want to say anything incase my belly was big from over indulging at christmas! Both gorls are out at school/nursery and the house is so lovely and quiet for the first time in what feels like weeks.

My birth paln shall be the same as it was for the girls - no episotomy. Nice and simple for the midwives to follow. I was very lucky that I was only in labour for 5 hours with dd1 and 2 1/2 with dd2 though after I was saying how easy it was with dd2 the midwife told me the third is the worst and it will be really difficult.

Debs what a shame I hope the sickness starts to fade for you soon. Your baby really doesnt appreciate the improtance of shreddies.

I dont envy you all talking about your holiday leave etc, I think thats why I have felt better than any of my other 3 pregnancies as I havent been at work.

Well Josey is very happy today as DH got home this morning its the 1st I have seen him this year, ok im not 15 honest

Welcome harriet, with my 2nd I didnt feel her move till over 20 weeks alot later than my 1st but I had gained quite a bit of weight, this one I felt very early.

just on for a quick look ktpie - I've undone my button trousers and just have an elastic hairband looped around button hole and button. It's got me through the last week without any problems although need to make sure my top is long enough to cover it! I'm going to get a 'bumpband' from top shop this weekend and cover my trouser waistband so I can carry on with my hair band trick for a wee bit longer! Holiday in the states in a week or so, so trying to hold out buying any maternity stuff till then. Hurrah for the weak dollar.

Anyway, got to go, hope everyone well.

josey - glad he's home! Was he supposed to get home yesterday? My DH went offshore this morning - he was supposed to go yesterday afternoon but all the flights were cancelled. It was nice to have him home for one more night, but of course he might have to stay out longer. (I'm lucky - he's rarely offshore, just trying to make trips to all the platforms he works on before the baby comes so that he's not leaving me with a newborn and a toddler for a few months).

I should really get your email since you're not too far from me - you can leave a message for me at spiritofplace.com/about/ without your email being publicized anywhere. It's too bad our 20 week scans aren't the same day - we could have met for lunch. (Are you going to the physio class at the hospital? I was thinking of going next week or the week after depending on which week it's offered - but there's no childcare there).

Hi everyone, sorry for my moan about dh he just really annoys me sometimes, he kind of implied he earned all the money so I didnn't have any say about putting ds into nursery for a few hours a week. Having looked at the nurseries I decided not to anyway as you have to commit to 10hrs a week (about £100 per month after tax relief) so it wasn't exactly what I wanted anyway. He did apologise a lot and I have sort of forgiven him, but I get sao fed up of the same argument, we have had times in our life where I've earned more than him and I would never have made him feel the way he makes me feel sometimes, anyway I said I would moan he is still trying to make it up to me, so I'll let him sweat for a while!

Chinasuprise I had a JANE buggie and I loved it, it is very bulky though, we have a polo and its the only 3 in 1 that we could fit in the boot. We had the pram top with a seperate car seat, I didn't want the matrix as it doesn't fit in the shopping trolley tops and its quite heavy. The pram top part is very bulky, I could just get it into the polo but it took up all the seats but if I was going out I usually took just the car seat and the chassis its really light and easy. We went to France when ds was 4 months old and we just took the buggy so had to make it (you need a engineering degree!) and once it was done I never took it of, so the pram wasn't really used much after that. I don't know if I would do the same again, but buy what you like, as practically you should just buy a cheap buggy, but especially with your first its lovely to push them about in a pram ! I will hopefully be using my Jane again with this one and getting a buggy board and a sling, hopefully won't have to get a double buggy as ds will be 2 by time baby comes.

I am sorry to hear that you are having a worrying time, chinasuprise and g43 at least you'v got your scans soon, but I am thinking about you both.

Afternoon all.
Feeling pretty good today.
Thanks for the advice re the buggie katyjo - I think I will get the matrix as we use the car very little and I'd want a sling for the supermarket anyway. I always leave my trolley at the end of an aisle so that I don't have to wheel it everywhere and I don't like the idea of leaving LO on his/ her own while I do that!!!
Sorry to hear you're having money arguments. It is hard when one person earns more than another. I earn about 3 times what DH does, so he's going to be the main carer. Normally it isn't a problem but sometimes I do wish I could be the one to stay at home permanently and get horribly jealous.

Well done on reaching 20wks G43! I am 18wks+2 today and LO is still kicking, which I'm taking as a good sign. Only 12 days till my 20wk scan - it's come around so fast. Hopefully the consultant will have good news when I see her straight after.

As for jeans, I retired my last normal pair last night. I wore them to work all day yesterday but the zip was undone almost the whole way! In fact, gr1973 my TopShop bump band was the only thing protecting my dignity - I can't recommend them highly enough - total necessity and only a fiver!

Right, about to have a scarey meeting with my department head, who's not looked me in the eye since hearing my news. Wish me luck!

PS. Debs - poor you! And shreddies of all things. I have become a shreddies obsessive in recent weeks - I hope things improve soon
xxx

You sound very organised China, hope everything went well with your meeting. x

Hi all

I have been hiding away for a week or so awaiting my amnio which I had yesterday at the Fetal Medicine Centre in London,so relieved it is over and I get the results tomorrow afternoon.I am feeling fairly positive as the scan showed nothing out of the ordinary. Its mainly my age that put me in the high risk bracket ( 1 in 52 )
the risk up...

I saw Ulrika Johnson in there too with her new beau, well whats good enough for her is good enough for me eh!

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site, but been reading everyone's comments here and also the hilarious 'I hate being pregnant' - type thread! Anyway, I am 16 weeks - due 26th June ish (although none of the healthcare bods seem to be able to agree on an actual date!) Haven't felt bubs move at all yet (although I know it is early days yet...) but it is my first, so guess I wouldn't know it if I felt it anyway. Can't wait for the first kick - and think it would be good for DH to feel it too, so that he feels move involved. Have had a really hard time getting him into the whole thing so far (he even said 'do I have to come?' when I told him the scan date?!) even though this was totally planned... I'm sure he'll come round once bubs arrives, but can make you feel like you're in this on your own sometimes... x

gr1973 I like the hair band idea, was considering trying an elastic band today but thought it might be a bit uncomfortable, had a long meeting today where I ended up undoing my button but was worrying all the time how I was going to do it up without anyone noticing, managed it! Glad I wore a long jumper today!
CS will have a look in Top Shop for a bump band, the ones I had seen were £10 - £20 which seemed a lot to me.
jules good luck with the results tomorrow.
Hello claphamkitten, this is my first time too and I am also 16 weeks! I've been finding the site and this thread brilliant, loads of good advice!

Just wanted to say if anyone is in need of a steriliser get into Tesco quick, tommy tippy cold/microwave is down to £9.98 bargin in IMO, this is my third, I set my 1st on fire as I was so tired I forgot to take the wire brush out (blush) and heavey handed DH broke one of the clips although it worked fine. These are great for traveling with also, plus you get 4 bottles with the special breastfeeding teets, and brush etc.

Welcome claphamkitten

jules glad amnio went well fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Aberdeenhiker DH was in Norway so he struggled to get off a rigg there last night and then a flight home 1st thing, we thought our weather was bad!!! I never know when he will be home or away he isnt a usual 2/2 or 3/3. He will just have 2 weeks hols once bubs is born.
Its a pitty scans of different days would have been nice to meet for lunch, we could do something with the kids when weather gets a bit nicer, dd and your ds are similar in age i think. Didnt know about the physio at the hospital, was given a number from the lady who does the massages for yoga so might try that. Will give you my email.

goingfor3 meant to ask, how many children does your midwife have? I hate it when people say that and that you will regret having 3 blah blah and oh middle child syndrome they dont feel as special whot rott!! Lets raise our glasses of OJ to qucik pain free easy labours to prove these people wrong.

josey the midwife was talking about the labour, she said that the third labour is always the most difficult. After I had dd2 she and was bf'ing her she said I'll see you back quite soon when you have the next one and then made the labour comment, she was the one who planted the idea of having another one in to my head about 20 mins after dd2 was born!

Evening all. Welcome to the new peeps! There are so many of us now!
Meeting with department head went okayish. He advised me not to tell my team for "as long as possible" - pretty annoying really, especially as I am pretty obviously pregnant I think.
Anyhoo, my immediate boss thankfully agreed with me that waiting another week or two, which I think is absolutely the longest I could wait, is a waste of time, so we're telling them on Monday when they're all in.

Am curious where this "the third labour is the hardest" thing has come from. I'm one of three and my mum said my youngest brother was the easiest ever and the last bit of labour only lastest 15 minutes - surely everyone is different? Ignore the scare mongering I say!

Re bump bands - I agree that £10 to £20 is steep. They only have them in the bigger TSs in white and black - might have them online though. But you could also just cut a vest top in half - probably wouldn't even need to hem it as the top edge wouldn't show...
Right, off to scarf down dins
Night!

hi everyone - CS, why did your department head want you to wait? That seems quite mean. I was relieved to be able to tell people at work. If nothing else if I was feeling a bit knackered or asking someone to get me something from the stationary cupboard (its a bit of an assault course in there!) I didn't feel so bad.

I got my bump band from TopShop tonight - its fab! I wasn't sure what size to go for, so for anyone getting one I'm in size 14 trousers (if only I can blame the baby, I've managed to go up 2 sizes in 2 years ) and the s/m size fitted fine with a bit of room to spare.

right, i'm off to check out sterilisers at tesco. Although after doing some research DH has decided we should get an electronic one? What's everyone else doing? I put a post on the feeding forum and got tons of quite varied advice.

jules43 - good luck with the amnio results!

katyjo - what do I need to make sure fits in a shopping trolley?? I've not looked at that buggy in detail so dont know what a 'matrix' is.

Haha, don't worry gr1973. She was telling me about the Jane Slalom Pro buggie, which has two different types of carseat attachment - the matrix is one of them (although I believe it's also an alternative reality where the world is just a figment of our imagination conjured by robots).
As for department head, I've only been there a month or so, and a couple of the team (all male but one) have been there many years, and he thinks they won't look kindly on it and see it as disloyal or something. Hmm. Anyway, my boss took my side, which made me feel a lot better but I was narked about it. It wasn't all bad though - he did acknowledge that there will be some days I'm just not up to coming in which I was pleasantly surprised by. I thought that seemed quite perceptive.
It'll all turn out alright in the end - he's an essentially decent guy and really championed me to get the job in the first place.
Anyhoo, forgot to say I hope the amnio goes well jules43. Fingers crossed!

thanks CS - I thought that despite my extensive research on prams and car seats I had missed out something simple but crucial!!

Am now thinking I need to research slings and baby monitors. Too much to choose from too much to buy... (ok, I know I wont need half the stuff I buy, but I'm a first timer, had a rubbish year last year with two mc's and baby shopping is more fun that clothes shopping at the mo!).

On an entirely different note - anyone's bump a funny shape? My belly button seems to have shifted left so when I look at my bump from the top (i.e. not in the mirror) it looks lopsided. Is this normal????