Due in June and entering the home stretch - keep the creme eggs rolling!

[makecakesnotwar]

And the Revels, the Greek Yogurt and the curly fries....

green fairy the debbie bliss 'bunting bag' with a hood i'm making right now is with cashmerino aran and it is so fluffy and soft i want to crawl into it! i've also made a jumper from that and a cardi from baby cashmerino. i love her stuff, i don't like knitting with other yarn!

i was saying to my mum yesterday that i feel really FULL. i don't know if it's how the baby is in there or what but i'm wondering how i'm going to fit more in there. i'm also getting very out of breath when i try to bend over!

i'm embarrassed to admit i bought a couple girl's outfits yesterday. i don't even know what we're having! but i haven't bought anything for this baby yet and it's driving me nuts! dh wasn't too impressed.

Sybil- with you. Reaching the end of my coat's usefulness and DH's fleece is also starting to feel the strain. Am praying for warm weather as struggling to do up laces/put socks on. May have to invest in Birkenstocks and go all 'green and hippy'!

Debbie Bliss cashmerino is fab to knit with (says my mum)she's already knitted two cardies and went out and bought a whole load more yesterday to take back with her. She also purchased a baby knits book by DB which looks fab. CAn't wait for the little shoes!

Morning ladies,

I'm still feeling pretty rough so finally went to the gp this morning and got some antibiotics so hopefully I will feel better soon. I felt massive for 5 months but really don't feel big for 6 months probably because I've had a throat infection for two weeks so maybe the baby will have a huge growth spurt soon. I bought some nappy liners this morning so I really don't have much left to buy, unfortunatley all the things i do need to buy are expensive - car seat, bouncer chair, baby monitor and some extra large muslins, the maternity pads will be cheap though!

Are you using real nappies goingfor3? Me too - everyone keeps telling me its madness with twins which is making me even more determined! I have a few trial packs (tot bots/motherease/popilino/terries) and I have to say I like the terries best so far - the other just seem like they'll leak whereas terries are a much more snug fit (and cheaper!)

4am is the usual time for me to wake up to go the loo - sometimes I don't get back to sleep for 2 hours! I keep bananas by the bed to snack on cos I am usually hungry and apparently they promote sleep. Water too as I am usually thirsty.

Makecakes - I am thirsty all the time too. I get through five pints of water, two cups herbal tea, one pint juice/water and one pint of milk every day! Then maybe another glass before bed if need it. I think that is about as much as you should drink though cos you can dilute your sodium levels if you drink too much.

My house is in a mess and it is annoying me now - just waiting for carpets to be fitted next week then can get the nursery furniture in the nursery where it belongs instead of messing up the rest of the house.

I am going to use real nappies. I used cotton bottom prefilds and motheresase one size with dd2 although didn't start until she was 9 months old and we moved into a house with a decent amount of drying space. I was really happy with both of those nappiesand found they both worked really well. A friend gave me some motherease sandies in the first size, up to 12 months I think, and I bought some more cotton bottoms in TKMaxx so will use them. The motherase one size look to big and bulky for a small baby so will use them once baby is a bit bigger. I think I need one more wrap aswell and will get a motherase one as they really are the best wraps. My SIL used terries and really liked them, the problem I have here is that I have very hard water so they will go crunchy very quickly for me.

I use real nappies too Neenz, the One Life onesize (very like the Motherease onesize), been v. happy with them, less bulky than the tots bots and dry fairly quickly because the leg elastic isn't too 'bunchy'. I find them much more reliable than disposables - never had a poo leak with real nappies, and had several on the few times we've used sposies. The One Life were fine with ds from birth but he was nearly 10 lbs - don't suppose your twins will be that big!! We use One Life and Motherease Airflow wraps. With a smaller baby I'd use prefolds or just folded muslins early on, with the same wraps. I am def. planning to stick with using them with 2 babies in nappies, once you're in a routine it's no trouble, the key for me is having dedicated nappy drying space so they don't get clogged up with all the other washing, I wash nappies every 2 or 3 days.

I'm going for real nappies too. A few friends of mine have used totsbots with motherease wraps and have been really happy with them so hoping they'll be fine for me too! (As have already bought a whole bunch of them!). I've had a few really annoying comments from people 'oh good luck with that' or 'wait a couple of weeks, you'll soon change your mind'. I wouldn't dream of commenting on anyone who's choosing to use disposable nappies though, but for some reason people find its totally acceptable to make comments if you want to use cloth nappies.

Some of the comments seem to have a bit of an undertone 'oh, you first time mums, you have no idea, you'll soon change your ways'. I'm a first-time mum-to-be, not completely brainless. Grrrrr. Sorry, minor rant, but the comments I've had made me . I know I'll make mistakes along the way without being told it .

On the coat front - I was quite lucky... My winter coat started to get a bit tight in January, but I needed a warm jacket to see me through the Scottish 'spring' so got a nice cosy wool maternity jacket which should see me through to flip-flop season.

Socks are a nightmare too - but not quite as bad as getting my tights and boots on - now that is comical to watch!

G43 - so sorry to hear you still feeling rough. Hope the antibiotics work quickly for you.

I have heard only good things about motherease wraps, so am going to use them. Terries for when the babies are really small and maybe the shaped nappies when they get a bit bigger. The people who say 'it can't be done!' are the people who have never used real nappies. Or they say 'it doesn't actually save that much money' or 'it is not really better for the environment when you take into account the water and detergent used'. Whatever!

Neenz, it may be worth bearing in mind that if you have small babies it may be worth using muslins for the nappy for a few weeks as they will be less bulky.

Thanks Neenz. No-one ever says, 'oh there's plenty of room for landfill sites' though do they .

Incidentally, anyone doing any bulk buy of cloth nappies etc can get 20% off orders over £100 here.

i would desperately like to use real nappies but our flat is so small we don't have room to dry the laundry we already have. (and one rack takes 2 days to dry.) i use eco-disposables but i really don't think they're that much better. at least now when he's older he only goes through a few a day.

if we move to abu dhabi i will def use real as it'll be so hot they'll dry straight away! or in canada as we'll have 5 x's the space.

What's the latest on the move dylansmumplusone?

well by the end of next week we should get an idea of what the package for abu dhabi would be and we'll decide from there. dh has already had an offer from canada and they have applied for his temporary work visa but it's not binding yet. we've been waiting to hear back from them since we got home on several questions but they've yet to respond!

either way - by the end of summer (when dh's current project ends) we'll either be going to canada, abu dhabi, or somewhere around camberley (where dh's parents live and his company's other office is). it'll be sad to leave where we started our life together as a family but at the same time i'm kind of itching to go now!!

Afternoon all, you've been very chatty!

I don't have a 4am pee call - I have a 4am Gaviscon call! But I pee then anyway, since I'm up

We will also use real nappies - I'm trying to convince a friend in Oz to use them too - if I can do it in a 2nd floor flat, she can do it in a 3 bedroomed house in the Sydney sunshine! Neenz, I'm so glad there is another Aussie on the thread! I've been here for 5 1/2 years now - came over for a year to sow my wild oats, met DP and never went home (much to my mother's annoyance!). My father was born here, so I have both passports too, which will mean Bug can have both too. It saves so much hassle when travelling in Europe - I can't imagine dealing with all those visas for a long weekend!

Luckily I have a princess style coat which still does up all the way, but my other ones haven't for a good few weeks now! Socks are also becmoing an issue, so am hoping for some sun, so I can wear sandals, although, most of my shoes have a buckle, so DP will have to do them up!

We had our consultation at John Lewis last night which was very interesting. The woman that took us around was very infomrative, and was realistic too! When I mentioned our flat, she was straight to the light, easily portable pushchairs! Also, if we weren't interested in something, she moved swiftly on to the next thing, so we didn't waste time. All in all, it was really helpful, and since it is no obligation, I'd recommend it to any of the first timers out there... we feel a bit more infomred now!

I apologise for my atrocious typing (it's been a long week!)

I tried real nappies (motherease) with DS - but we don't have space to dry them so I was using the dryer and I ended up switching back to disposables. I have a ton of respect for anyone who does use them, but for me it was too much effort while DS was still young and then I went back to work when he was 6 months old and getting any laundry done is a challenge!

I think part of the success in real nappies will come down to the baby - especially how often do they have bowel movements (we were 5-6 times a day)?

However, I definitely am not saying "don't try" as it bugged me how often I heard it before DS was born!

I'm wearing a horrible coat DH got given from work, it's way too big for me and looks like an ugly tent. I can't wait for spring!

Dylansmum - wow, what a difference of location - Abu dhabi, Canada or ... Camberley. Being an army brat, spent much of my childhood in the particularly attractive Camberley city centre. Also learning to drive round the death-inducing 5 lane roundabout - aah the memories.

I bought a long black coat in a size 20 just before Christmas when my size 12 wouldn't button up - so I feel very smug that I got lots of wear out of it and it still fits (just!)

Dylansmum those are very dofferent locations, I'm sure they all have different appeals.

Aberdeenhiker, if this baby decides to poo so many times a day I mat rethink. My dd's just did megapoos every few days which no nappies could contain but at least it wasn't often!

dylan was a 5-6 a day pooper, right up until recently now he's gone down to 2 or 3! almost every nappy is a poopy one! i think it's because he's too lazy to really go for it, he has to wait until it's falling out. Sorry TMI!!!

to be honest i would most like to try abu dhabi i think. i really fancy somewhere different and it would be nice to be an expat where everyone else is too - a real melting pot. going back to canada feels a bit like regressing and i tend to love my family a lot more from a distance. and dh's family too - camberley to sandhurst is a bit too close! i think it would be a great adventure, and the money wouldn't hurt either!!

makecakes - I've got birkenstocks and I'm definitely not green and hippy . They are sooooo comfy though - looking forward to digging them out of the cupboard this summer...

Right, moving swiftly on from baby poo... What's everyone got planned for the weekend? Anyone got any non-baby-related fun planned? Yet again, our weekend is revolving around baby stuff but I am going to drive miles to look at the cotbed I've seen on the internet in the flesh so v much looking forward to that!

I like Birkenstocks too

I have nothing very exciting to report for the weekend, I'm afraid. Family round for lunch on Sunday - I forgot it was Mother's Day when I arranged it - but it will be lovely to see them. They are veggies and although I don't eat meat every day by any means, as soon as I have no choice but cook veggie, my inspiration dries up. So if anyone has any suggestions....

Does anyone else have a sore lower back, and if so, any recommendations for dealing with it?

Sorry for all the people with SPD. There's a pregnant lady I see locally who is a month or two ahead of us, and she is using crutches, her SPD is so bad. She looks so uncomfortable, I feel very sorry for her.

Dreamt last night I had placenta previa (I'm being re-scanned at 32 weeks) and fretted about it today. It sounds quite scary.

if you don't mind a bit of work (not huge but not simple either) i have a beautiful recipe for a broccoli risotto torte that is absolutely delicious. other than that i also have a nice nut roast recipe around here somewhere, hazelnuts i think. i used to be veggie before dh converted me back... with steak.

Evening all. Re all the nappy talk, I am also going to use real nappies.
For those who would prefer eco-disposables you could try these, which are one of the very few which don't have the evil gel powder in them - you can get them online in the UK. They're not as absorbent as the gel ones, or as leak proof as cloth, but I think they'd do in an emergency.
I know it will be more hassle to have nappies to wash, but my reasoning is that 30 years ago everyone used terries. Okay, so mums didn't go back to work so early and people's lives weren't so busy, but I figure if it was good enough for my mum, it's good enough for me. I've got mainly Motherease and One Life One Sizes and a few Tots Bots and various wraps and fasteners.

The other eco-friendly suggestion I found was to use old flannels instead of wipes if cotton wool and water proves useless (as I've heard many times).
Which makes a lot of sense I think. I have got a packet of Tushies which will hopefully last the first three or four days while the meconium is appearing {ick} but after that am determined to get used to cloth.

You can even get washable breast pads and sanitary towels online, and again, I think I'll get these.

I know not everyone feels as passionately about the environment as I do (I used to help my dad collect newspapers for recycling as part of a co-op when I was about six...) but for me the convenience is less important. I know that's not practical for some people, but I don't really see it as a choice.

Right, novel over. Night!

Hello all just popped in to see how you're all doing, and saw the real nappies discussion. We used totsbots fluffles with DS1 (still do) with Motherease wraps and they're brilliant. they dry in seconds flat hung up on a rack (they're more like a fleece material than cotton), and they're lovely and soft on his little bot.

and for travelling we use Moltex disposables which are filled with tea, among other things.

also, Waitrose do lovely biodegradable baby wipes and corn starch based nappy sacks.'

hope this helps and that all bumps are hale and hearty!

LM x