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

[merryberry]

Hello all.

Glam- I'll pop round and help you de-mould if you like. If it doesn't work turning him, I would really recommend the moxibustion thing. My accupuncturist is very very good. Chin up. In the spirit of pancake week, I will also cook you American pancakes when I come round. They're my specialty. Ok?

skidoodle - I personally preferred the cute little mouse in a contact lens case M27 - thanks for sharing - has really brightened up my morning

I've just received something in the post and I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. It was a letter inviting me to take out home insurance with a company specialising in insurance for the over 50s. Apparently because I was born before 1958 I'm much more careful than people of, say, 31 years of age so deserve cheaper home insurance...

How can any company be stupid enough to send mail to somebody who is 19 years too young for their product? What will we be getting next: money off vouchers for Threshers addressed to my unborn baby?

Holidays-Reminds me that when I was in Egypt a few weeks ago I had someone desperately trying to convince me to do quad-biking or parasailing....um...

Oh what an ARSE glam! I know some moulds are OK, but overall aren't they considered an asthma risk? How can they leave you with it? So sorry to hear about rubbish housing help. I am also sending turnturnturn vibes to your little one to spare you the ECV.

M27, also love your list My fave is the tiny mouse for your contact lens case

Get well soon skidoodle, and I hope the whiplash is lifting for you studentmum.

DS1 managed an hour on his own fine and dandy this morning at nursery. If I can get to my due date, he may be settled enough to manage being there once new baby comes. I hope so, I can't somehow see dp managing the gargantuan calmness and interestedness you have to show to the whole horde of kiddies for hours on end while being available to your own little one.

HQ, i think you should go and see a couple, check out the vibe. I know that different neighbourhoods have very different ways of reacting to something like that. Round my way (Kentish Town/Camden) they would think you somewhat deranged for not doing something on your own while you have the chance, but just up the road in crouch end or muswell hill for example it would be quite usual IME. Of course, if you lived in highgate or hampstead, you would send the nanny you are already breaking in instead of you [insert tongue in cheek emoticon]. It's probably a really nice idea to have some idea of how this whole alien world works, of little people and new babies, but on the other hand my god you'll get enough of it soon enough!

It also depends on you, it took me months and months to settle into a local routine of people I liked to hang out with. My fave thing to do when ds1 was 3-6 months was to go to SCREAM cinema showings with him, as it was child friendly but I didn't have to talk to everyone. It could get shattering being polite and trying to remember relevant details of everyone else's PFB when mine was having 2 hourly night feeds of up to an hour each.

OHMIGOD. WHy am I risking this again?????

[Goes for hurried lie down]

Most amusing, HQ. As I sit here shredding months worth of junk mail, I really feel for you! I want to get on one of those "no junk mail" lists. Although, most of it comes from my own sodding bank!! No, I do not want a £5K personal loan, thank you very much.

Those crazy pg dreams! I had one last night that involved bfeeding my baby (very physical sensation, even in my dream). Weird thing was that I think I was at work, but it was like I lived there. So I was waking in the night, at work, to nurse! Very odd.

Ok I need to rant!
Got dd1 a midsleeper bed complete with slide, tent, tunnel and mattress from Littlewoods as it seemed the best type. Anyway, LO jumping up and down about the slide she is getting and the bed arrived on Monday. DH spent 2.5hrs assembling the thing only to discover that the slide was missing part way through (last piece to go on). I phone Littlewoods to say that the bit is missing and could it be sent ASAP.... 'we can't discuss it with you as your not the a/c holder' I say 'DH is assembling the bed and you can ask me to confirm any of his details' 'no can do' Having confirmed his date of birth already, I then pass the phone to DH who repeats his DOB (WTF). Then we get put on hold and passed to another advisor to be told that the driver is not back and to phone back the next day.
Yesterday I tried to phone them to discuss the slide (imagining stupidly that they could now discuss it as a note should have been made on the account) to be told that DH had to phone. I get him to phone back later.

The options were

1. To dismantle the whole bed and send it back (dd has no bed as someone collected her old one yesterday!)
2. We order a new bed the same and pay for it again? Then take out the slide and send it back for a credit into our account So they get the interest and we lose interest because of their mistake! Bloody cheeck!
3. No other options- should have read JUST SEND THE MISSING PART GRRRRRRRRR

Anyway, feel better for getting that off my chest
I am going to write to watchdog/ speak to trading standards.

Hello - bloomin eck you can all talk n talk n talk!!! Taken an age to catch up after there having been a slow couple of days - I guess everyone is either reaching mat leave and spending more time on here or still at work and completely fed up so spending more time here

Anyway, sorry to interrupt but I have another question....

I have a BH question (again)... I have been experiencing the tightening and generally painless practice contraction type thingys which then became dizzy enducing over the past few weeks followed by practice contractions (no pain) along with extreme nausea and dizziness which passes when the BH passes. MW checked iron levels and "platelets" etc which all seem fine...

Then yesterday evening and last night I had what I thought was more BH experience but ended up with extreme period pain crampy type stuff going on really really low down spreading upwards towards the bump (which is still pretty high up) causing me to hide myself in the bathroom as not to cause anyone to panic. It did pass but was scary.

Last night I woke up about 4am in almost agony, cold sweat on the brow and doubled up with more period pain crampy type stuff going on, pain in lower back and I crawled off to the bathroom, opened the window full out to let in the icy cold night air (how mills n boon that sounded?!?) until it passed and I have been back to the usual just feeling constantly naseous since then. I am just over 35 weeks and it's my 1st AND MIL says my bump is still to high for baby to have engaged (always reminds me of Jean Luc Picard booming "engage!!!")so aparantly I am just a complete wimp...

It was really painful though - is this just practice? Anyone else getting this?

I am kinda expecting a load of replies from all you professional mums to say "Honey - you aint seen nothing yet!!!" and that this is totally routine....

Thanks in advance I feel silly....

Um, holy hell, paranoid. That would scare the crap out of me. Sounds like more than just your average BH, but I've not really had any myself. Call your midwife - or at least that's what I'd do! I'm a firsttimer, too, so what do I know?
Where's merryberry? She knows everything.

Hi Paranoid - I've had a very achey pelvis/period type pains over the last couple of days too but not to the extent you describe - sounds scary! I second Jfly and would phone your midwife just to be on the safe side x

Just reading that again. Didn't mean to scare you further, paranoid. Just typical dramatic reaction from me! Hope you feel better soon....

oooh the joys of pregnancy............

its been that long i've forgotten what it was like

parinoid - i would ring your mw hun, bh can be a bit uncomfortable but that sounds quite bad. you might have a uti or something. oh and babies dont always fully engage until your in labour, but dont worry just call mw.

paranoid, just adding to the chorus of "call the midwife". that sounds pretty scary so no reason to brave it out if you can just call someone to find out what's going on.

tori - how utterly frustrating. I think my next move would be to send the entire bed back to them and get one from somewhere else. utter, utter b@stards.

glamma - that sounds pretty dreadful about the mould. I'm not sure what a co-op is, but I'm quite about the fact that they think washing it away is an adequate response. I'm not surprised you're so upset, you poor thing

JFly I know what you mean about the junk mail from the bank. Mine sends me a magazine! Who on earth would have time or inclination to read a magazine published by a bank? It's just too weird.

Hey skidoodle I'm feeling so sorry for myself too! My cold started on Saturday and has got progressively worse. Surely today is the peak!!! I've had enough! Keep looking longingly at the lemsip max sachets in my pantry.....

Off to make myself a pregnancy-friendly hot drink and some chocolate..........

para it's not me you need input from it's marchmum she's had some extreme BH times.

I know with my BH in both PGs that I have to stop walking/talking and breathe carefully to avoid getting dizzy or worsening the pretty constant but very mild nausea I have in the last month. If I don't let up on myself during BHs they go pretty bad, but not as bad as you describe and not coming on in the middle of the night!

When they are lower down and feels period-y it's often a proper contraction-contraction, my MW yesterday was describing how you can get these on and off for weeks before full-on labour. It's the nausea and backpain combined with them which sound like you need a good check up and midwife input. spugs is right about the urine infection idea getting checked out..it is all so squished down there it can be hard to sort out what bit of you is having what up with it! It all sounds tiring and worrying, I hope it gets sorted.

If you get checked out clear but are still lumbered with these symptoms get back here pronto and be bombarded with some of my fave dippy-hippy advice on breathing through pain and nausea...

glammama just saw your post....not to worry, the last thing you need right now is to catch this stinking cold....believe me!

doup - you poor thing since saturday? That's outrageous. I'm sure you must be at the peak now.

I'm against over-the-counter remedies for colds so being pregnant and sick isn't any different for me than just being sick. I'm thinking of steaming my head later. Good call on the hot drink. When DH gets home I might have him make me one. I'm too tired to get out of bed.

It's a revelation - I finally found my hospital number and called the midwife and they gave me results over the phone. Why have I never thought that was possible before??? Thanks merry et al for suggesting it!

Anyway, my haemoglobin at 30 wks was 11.1 (am now 33 wks) which she said was fine and needs no treatment but doing an internet search suggests I am very close to the level at which they would start treating. Should I just start upping the iron intake in my food, or do you think I should actually start on an iron supplement?

doup - much sympathy. I had a cold a week or so ago, and still sniffling now, but it was nowhere near as prolonged as yours. All I can recommend is the occasional paracetamol, lots of warm honey and lemon and/or hot ribena, and a lot of rest. Take care.

HQ, I'm in pretty much the same situation as you wrt iron. I saw a really great midwife last week and she suggested starting pregnacare if I wasn't taking it already (which I wasn't). So I started that last night. It has a small bit of iron but isn't as drastic as taking an iron supplement you don't need.

I was just thinking that maybe the odd bottle of Guinness might do us good. They used to give it to pregnant ladies for their iron levels. Remember Gwyneth Paltrow was seen drinking it in public in the US and there was a big scandal about her drinking while pregnant.

I think if you're not especially tired, nauseated, or dizzy then there's probably no real need to start taking a supplement as you're probably not anaemic.

HQ - The floradix drink (pharmacy or Holland & Barratt) is very sweet tasting and non constipating - wish i'd begun it weeks ago instead of hideous ferrous sulphate tabs..

a snip at £7.99 too

I think you're fine HQ- isn't it below 9/10ish that they start giving you supplements?

but I'm no expert obviously!

This lady lives down the road from me. How amazing is this story?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7226730.stm

I'd definately recommend iron tablets - they made a huge difference to me, but then my level was 10.1 when they did my bloods just before Xmas. I thought that 12 and above was 'normal' so anything below that would warrant supplements.