Due March 2008 - for our early arrivals and the loooooong 3rd trimesters

[merryberry]

Hello all.

Hi all,

Had MW appt yesterday, baby doing fine but little monkey is back to back at the mo so had DH in stitches last night on all fours with arse in the air LO already 4/5 engaged with 8 wks to go, so was trying to shake it away from pelvis lots of butt wriggling.

Also have an appt with the aneasthetist to discuss options incase of another section. Not sure what happened last time and need to clarify it.

PS How big were your lo femur at 20wk scan?

marchmum - i've heard that even 10 times might be best for prewashing bamboo nappies. i asked about this a few weeks ago and preggers said you can just put them in with your normal washing powder on the first cycle then just keep washing without drying between and you don't need to add any more powder. I was worried that I'd have to wash and dry ten times which would take forever and probably put me off reusables for life!

Out of interest, what made you go for bamboo over the cotton or softee lollipops? i am toying between the three at the moment (ruled out the normal fleece ones).

would love to join in on a baby shower but i'll be at NCT learning about pain relief in labour. Hmmm. I know that I'll be more jealous of you guys than you all of me

tori Scan at 21 wks measured femur at 32.7mm, which appears to be on the small side of average. But I'm a shorty, so that doesn't suprise me! Head was quite small too, but I won't complain about that! Abdomen was bang on average.

question about changing set up...

I haven't bought a changing table and the dresser is too high to change LO. I'm 5'2" so I was thinking those cot-top changers will also be too high. Where can I change this baby?

Had thought I'd just use bed/sofa/floor but maybe that's not very practical or wise with 2 dogs. Plus, if changing on the bed, then likely will get pee/poo everywhere during those late night changes.

Any thoughts?

derah I doubt you'd get kinesiology on the NHS (though my mum did, but only because she got referred to an osteopath who'd trained in it and used that to suss out the weaknesses before settling on traditional pummelling). I first started seeing mine a couple of years ago for food intolerances and then stayed with her to help with getting my body fit for conception (which all worked in the end!) and now see her not quite so often but to rebalance my pelvic muscles mainly so I can walk...
So, not a cheapo option particularly if you're further south in the UK (thank goodness wales is cheap!) and not something just for a one off really, you'd need a few sessions.
www.kinesiology.org.uk/

I had my 33+2 week check-up today and all fine. Baby is heads down (but not engaged yet). M/W apologised about being on hols for next check-up in 2 weeks and me having to see the doc again instead (bless her!)

Still got puffy hands and feet (guess that was payment for posting on the I love being pregnant thread) Also starting to get another cold and sore throat...... honey, lemon and hot water here I come again!!

Just done first washload of baby clothes - all starting to get more real now! Very cute having little clothes, hats and scratch mits on the airer (not got a tumble dryer)

tori my LO femur was 31mm (scan was done 20w by dates, 21w by measurements) and considered small (in relation to rest of measurements) so I was called back for another scan at 24w. Still on the short side, but so am I, so not concerned!

Jfly I am 5'2" aswell and have got a cot top changer. Have just put on cot (well, i've got a cotbed) and it's fine for me - we got the one from mothercare with the slide out shelf at the side (approx £50) as i thought that would be useful to have everything to hand.

apotomak, we use nature nappies still for ds1. have honestly never had a leak even with tummy upsets, and we find them very absorbent. maybe they suit his shpae specifically, but i think they are great, and are easier to get hold of than moltex. motlex are more biodegradeable and capture everything as well. only disposable i have had trouble with are pampers i've used when cuahgt short on supply of others. those seem to have weak fastenings and the gel stuff goes nastily floppy.

derah had also never heard of kinesiology, interesting. i hope you get some relief if you do change your diet - are you able to keep up your calorie intake but cut down on saturated fats or some such, does that help?

marchmum i'll come to whatever is planned if I possibly can , but am supersitious that whenever i plan something nice to look forward to I've instantly gone down with plague/leprosy/grown a third leg or some such nonsense

tori femur lenght at 20 wks was 36mm and is 69mm at 35 weeks, but this is what they now warn my is a {imagine pitying look at me, sucking of teeth} 'BIG baby'.

We'll see.

wow- go for lunch and have to catch up for 20 min!
Marchmum, that's a fab idea. I think we had vetoed a weekend, and settled on a Friday, but you'll have to check the other thread.

Meet is Friday the 22nd, I think...Lila's Patisserie as last suggested, but dont know how big it is. I'm up for shower/gifty/swapsies.
tori- my LO's femur length was 35 at 20+2 weeks.

I'm free!

Officially on maternity leave!

Woo hoo!

Hello - once again I have a general whinge to make.... Sorry...

I have EVENTUALLY got a letter from my work telling me that my maternity leave starts last week (as I know since I am on it!!!). The letter then goes on to say I am not entitled to SMP but can claim MA by... The next section is missing. There is no MATB1 or SM1 form enclosed and no final salary date on the letter. TOTAL INCOMPETANCE!! I phoned up after I calmed down a bit and the girl was really rude straight away - good old massive company style HR depts. She couldn't see how I couldn't understand my letter so I basically had to read the part where section 2 of the letter says "you are not entitled to SMP but may be entitled to MA. In order to do this you will have to...." then the letter jumps onto section 5. "Ahhh - the printer must have changed the formatting". When I asked about return of my MATB1 form and SM1 form she said she would give me a phone number for someone in payroll?!? Then she CUT ME OFF!!!! I phoned the number back and couldn't get through - now it is after 5pm HR dept is closed for the day.

Fan-frikkin-tastic. Told DH and he thinks I should just go to jobcentre with the incomplete letter, copy of MATB1 form and cry that I am 4 weeks away from having a baby with no money and this is all my work are willing to give me.... Not sure what to do - continue to try and get my SM1 form/MATB1 form back from the huge sprawling uncaring company I work for or trying to get sympathy from the jobcentre staff....

Ah well, I may be making a mountain out of a mole hill but it's just been one of those days

paranoid and {{{hugs}}}

jfly - jealous, i still have 4 days to go and it'll be a struggle all the way!

Still, left at 4.30 today after giving list of instructions to replacement on how to catch up on the 2 days that she's behind. [evil grin]
And tomorrow we're going out for lunch at the Celtic Manor for combined birthdays, another colleague's baby (arriving via sun roof on Monday) and my leaving...
Phew! Now all i need is heavy snowfall making it impossible to get to work, and if we can't get to work, we can't get to lunch as it's up a massive steep hill.
Got very gooey choc & caramel cake in the car boot to compensate though

paranoid - that is really crap so sorry that you are dealing with this nonsense when you should be relaxing.

i've got 2 more weeks of work, but then i am having one of the late march babies so i'm still finishing quite early (34 weeks). desperate to finish now! i find out tomorrow if i still have a job or if i'm redundant - the 3 month saga at work is finally ending! fortunately i am equally comfortable with both options - financially and career-wise - and i finish on valentine's day regardless It will be good to know though.

tori - my baby's femur was 39mm but that was at 22 weeks. that sat at about 65 percentile i think. he was 50th on all other things, but his dad is tall so didn't surprise me that his femur length was that bit bigger.

thanks for reminder about next meet-up details, i lost track of them!...i think friday's a good idea.

preggersagain, i have a random baby product question, can I email you directly to ask?

here's a smack of reality - i put on an extra mattress cover and a towel underneath my sheets to get ready in case you-know-what!!!

Morning all! I had a very odd dream last night that when my baby moved I could see exactly which bit of his body it was - so if it was his foot you could see all his toes (complete with detail of the toenails!) sticking out of my belly. It was all a bit alien-like... I think this has something to do with the fact that he pummelled me like a boxer while watching telly last night

This is a very weird thing, but has anybody else found that drinking water is completely unrefreshing and actually leaves a horrid taste in your mouth? It is my oddest pregnancy symptom by miles, and is really affecting my hydration so I'm always parched at night. I'm sick of adding squash to water as I don't really like sweet drinks, and normally drink just pure unadulterated water, and I'm not sure what to try next. Sigh...

HQ try a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of elderflower syrup?

It's my last day at work, YAY!! Feels very surreal. And DD went into nursery this morning without any of her usual strops so hopefully she'll be finishing there on a good note too. DD's caregiver was very sad, but since she's leaving in 2 weeks anyway, I refuse to feel bad for her!

Clear blue skies here. So where's this snow then?

Blue skies here too - DH went off to work at 6:30am as usual and I was like "the second a flake of snow falls, you get yourself home!!!!" Nothing yet though apart from it is Baltic and blowing an absolute gale.

HolidaysQueen I had an almost identical dream to yours!!! My LO had been sticking either hands or feet out of my bump for a couple weeks now - usually right back up into my ribs where he/she used to like to put them a few months back causing pain pain pain. Anyway, MW was saying to play a game like "catch your foot" to bond with the baby and see if it responds. Due to this I have been tickling it's foot/hand when it sticks out and saying "catch catch catch the foot!!!" and sometimes it will pull foot away then stick it out again as if it is playing... Probably LO is going "leave!" just trying to get comfy in the tiny space it has left!! Poor thing.

Anyway, I think because of this, I had a nightmare the other night that I was playing "catch the foot" when all of a sudden the baby kicked it's foot right out through my bump!!! There I was in the dream holding onto my baby's actual foot protruding from a hole in my balloon like belly!!! Needless to say I woke up in a cold sweat half laughing from the absurdity half reeling from how unbelievably vivid it was!!!

I've not really played "catch the foot" since then...

Also, sorry for the little rant about HR when you might be facing redundancy! I am so stupid sometimes cos my problem isn't really anything significant compared to something like that!

Hope it all goes well for you anyway...

For somewhat irrational reasons I have booked myself for a scan at the Fetal Medicine Centre next week. All this talk of measurements from 20 wk scan made me revist my results. As I measured a bit low for a few things (one of which the technician remarked on, but didn't elaborate) I think it will put my mind at rest to see how LO is getting on.

Hey, what's another £150 to add to the baby money pit?

Anyhoo, will be 36 weeks that day, so who knows what they'll be able to see/tell me. Will be fun though!

paranoid and HQ sorry you've had such crap HR experiences. Mine is pretty inept, but hasn't screwed up so far, so I guess I'm lucky.

ooh marchmum sounds VERY intruiging- go ahead- work email is [email protected] put subject FAO preggersagain and it'll be me that answers- otherwise one of the numpty's/staff () might answer

Paranoid and HQ - hope the job probs get sorted for you both! You are doing well to be (quite) calm, I seem to blub at the slightest thing - reading on the radio from Winnie the Pooh set me off yesterday! HQ, that is a really horrible dream!
Loving mat leave, but finding it quite hard to relax in the day. Had massive clear out of old clothes yesterday - everything not worn for two years is in bin bags - including shoes and handbags! DH was a bit concerned - they were his clothes too! I had a bit of shock when I found an awfull pair of his leather sandals (the type old men wear with socks), it was like discovering a whole different side of him and I started to think that maybe I didn't know him at all, would he be a good father etc! Luckily it turned out he had bought them for a fancy dress party!

paranoid - no need to worry about your rant. i'm well used to how frustrating HR is (having had a few rants myself these past few months!) and I was genuinely okay with either redundancy (great package, extra time off with baby, flexibility to pick something different) or getting a new job (certainty of something to come back to, plus new challenge to make coming back more exciting).

Anyway I've just found out that I do have a job to come back to! I'm just glad that it is all official now. The silly thing is, the new organisation takes effect on 13th Feb and I finish on 14th - so I have one day to get up to speed with the new job and then one day to hand over to my maternity cover. ROFL

preggersagain thanks! it's not that intriguing hence why didn't want to bore people on here

hq i confess i bought the bamboo lollipops bc i fell in love with them (softness) when derah showed us. i thought they would be a good thing to put next to lo's bum! they had a 'deal' at the baby show so i bought a package that should last until 6 months. may need to go back to the drawing board/survey mnet to see after that. i like the look of the bum genius and the gdiapers ones as well but poo staying in seems to be the better criteria. i think derah said lollipops decent for that.

back ON to the poo topic, am worried my dh will not change dirty nappies, especially poo ones. i asked him the other day if he's ever handled a clean nappy much less a dirty one and he was like 'of course not' and made a snort. i suppose all dad's get in the game when it's their own, right? RIGHT? [insert terrified voice]

NCT super-weekend class begins tomorrow! we're going in fulham, anybody else going to be there?