Due May 2008 - the floodgates have opened!!!

[thefortbuilder]

Pleased to be able to start the new thread with our birth announcement!

Samuel arrived at 1923 on thursday 20th March, weighing in at 4lb 10oz! After a fraught day of trying to find a hospital with a NNU with a cot (our hospital NNU was closed just as we were about to go to theatre), we finally ended up at Epsom General!

Sam is still in NNU but should be coming off his last little bit of oxygen this evening, is off CPAP, and having a go at bf'ing whenever he can (he's being fed by a tube).

I'm home and feeling a whole lot better than I did last time around, although very sore - TAKE THE PAINKILLERS THEY OFFER!!!!!

Jacob not sure about the new arrival although is smitten with his new scooter

will catch up with posts later but thanks for all your thoughts, prayers and good wishes over the last few days

xxx

I think my pregnancy brain made me miss a few pages but i can offer some info for people, didnt just waste my time at uni

babylove21 - research shows that "talking therapies" are actually much much better at resolving MH issues than medication and will be more likely to give you a long term resolution

Bobsmum - aspergers once identified can be dealt with it is really a matter of how severe it is. Its part of the autistic spectrum (dont freak out!!) which includes things like dyslexia, someone with Asperger syndrome may have some autistic symptoms but be of average or above average intelligence.

What you need to be aware of are things like the importance of routine for the child, that communication and social interaction can be confusing for the child. however an early diagnosis is really good (many people dont get it until adulthood) and you can help via explaining things. "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by mark haddon is written from the perspective of a boy with aspergers. that might help you understand - plus until you get a proper diagnosis from an educational psychologist and they explain it to you don't worry too much. Also there are a lot of very posiive suppport groups and the like that you can contact who can offer help.

Thanks Otter

It's been mentioned on and off since ds started nursery so I've been kind of expecting to get to this point eventually. My mum's an Ot and autism specialist - I know she doesn't think ds has AS, but she hasn't seen the way he behaves outside the familiarity of our company - he's a different boy at school. But he is very bright and ahead of his peers in most things - he's been moved up a year group in reading and now sits with the primary 2s instead of the primary1s. He's also a fab big brother and has always been dead easy and wonderful at home. He is so excited about baby no3.

Spring holidays from school for a fortnight now - baby may or may not turn up during the next 2 weeks.

THe only thing I need now is a Tens machine - which I'm hoping to borrow off a friend. Will need new pads and batteries though - hope I've not left it too late!

mumofk thanks for the reassurance!

Sounds like we've all got the Ikea/Argos/B&Q instinct going on! I just made up the cot and changing table with a friend, then had to doze off for 2 hours. Cot has two crib-size mattresses side by side - SOOO CUTE!!!

I have n o i d e a how you wonderwomen do pregnancy with toddlers around! I am in complete awe!

Hi all, not many posts today? Hope you are all OK.
bobsmum I second Otters suggestion of the excellent mark haddon book (curious incident of the dog in the midnight). It's a great book to read anyway, but really gave me an excellent insight into autism/AS. I highly recommend!!

Feeling a bit pooped this afternoon, I've been not having my daytime naps in an attempt to sleep better at night, as the insomnia is driving me a bit potty. Trouble is, my back then hurts from being 'up' all day, and bump feels so heavy and as if it's bursting out of itself..IYSWIM!!

I too love that feeling that DH is on his way home, however, due to the nature of his job, if he gets a 'late job' on the ambo, he is then late. It's happened 3 times in the last week, so he has been 1 or 1.5 hrs later than expected, which I find really hard, when I am counting down the minutes to him getting home to help put DD to bed!!! Blimey, I feel so pathetic!!!

Am very jealous of my friend Denny who has had her baby now, no more hard bump, no more heartburn etc etc, AND, she has a mega cute baby to cuddle up to. Hopefully mine won't be long now. 36 weeks today. I'm not even letting myself think that if I'm 2 weeks overdue I could have another 6 weeks of discomfort.........

I hope you are all OK. Lovely day today?

GCG xxx

pazza I too have 2 friends who had twins via normal delivery (i.e. not CS) at almost full term .

Your comment about being in awe of us pregnant with toddlers made me smile....thanks! I am in awe of any woman who manages with twins....!!!

Hey all,
thanks for all the lovely comments and support about my friend. Sadly the situation has got a lot worse, her partner has managed to sneak a temporary residence order (based on lies) through court (without her or her lawyer even informed) and now she has to wait 3 weeks to go to court with no access to her two wee girls. Her ex is quite unbalanced and she's very scared for her children. It's a hellish situation and I can't believe he's managing to get away with it. I'm going to stop mentioning it on MN though as I need this as my escaping head space where I can think about lovely positive things like babies! Thanks so much for all the support and hugs though, it's really appreciated.

Youcannotbeserious I can't believe your pre-pregnancy clothes fit, I'm very jealous! I'm with mumofk, covered in bruises when I think I can fit through small gaps! Had to explain them in my antenatal swim class, thankfully just bruises on my hips, bump has escaped the battering! Never been very co-ordinated anyway! bobsmum, pinacolada and blobsmummy my maternity clothes don't fit me anymore either. Just had to go and change out of my "maternity jeans" as if felt as though they were cutting me in half. Another 5 weeks to go? I better just stay in bed in my (thankfully huge) pajamas!

GCG A belated happy birthday to you! Sounds like you had a lovely day, all the best for a wonderful year!

bobsmum I hope you get to meet some kind understanding professionals in this diagnosis process. I'm convinced my sister is a little autistic though she's never wanted to be tested, to see her logic in any situation is always "up and to the left" but she's graduating from uni this year so has done alright. Sorry, that sounds as though I'm trivialising things, just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you. Hope it all goes ok.

babylove21 sorry you had a horrid needle experience. I get very squeamish about these things and I would've really freaked out, well done for keeping your cool.

I hope everyone is well and happy this evening. I foolishly volunteered to make dinner for 10 last night and did a really complicated menu. So, a lovely night with old friends and lots of bump appreciation but 6 hours on my feet cooking and I feel horrid, crampy and knackered today. A little bit ambitious I think!
My stretchmarks just keep getting worse and worse, anyone else? It looks like someone's raked my belly all over with their nails, I miss my lovely shiny bump!

Right, mammoth post, time to stop blethering I think! Lots of hugs to all

Can't believe no-one has posted yet today?? Is something happening that I don't know about, or are there some problems with MN??

Having a chilled out day with DD. DH at work all day again. Not straining myself too much, although have managed a load of washing, hung out, brought back in and now in tumble dryer !! and cleaned the kitchen. DD only slept for half an hour this morning ! Very unlike her, so I'm hoping to put her down again soon....

I'm feeling tired and am psyching myself up to do the supermarket shop but I'd rather MN. Still have 8 weeks to go so heaven only knows how I'll cope by then. I've started to get REALLY puffy ankles and it is not as though they were terribly elegant before. My midwife said it is ok since no protein in urine and blood pressure still normal. I keep trying to put my feet up but then I don't think my back or bump thank me for it. How do people go through this looking after toddlers or carrying twins?! I'm distinctly FED UP with the physical discomfort and mental tiredness. Properl.y grumpy. At least DH and I have agreed names for boy or a girl now.

Shouldn't moan really, but I am so with you gingerwench & pinacolada, so fed up with being pregnant!! Fed up with physical tiredness and discomfort. Today I did hardly anything . I am normally a very active and sociable person, if DH is at work all day, I make sure I have plans to meet up with friends or take DD out to park etc, but I just don't have the energy or physical ability at the moment, and it's really frustrating me co s all I can do is sit at home all day feeling crap!! I know it's not long to go

I feel bad cos I know a few people who are really struggling to conceive and have major fertilty issues, and when I think of them, I remember how lucky I am, and that those women would probably do anything to feel how we feel right now, maybe we should all use this as something to make us feel better??? (IYSWIM).

Got MW coming to house tomorrow after cock up at clinic last week. Don't know what time so I have to hang around all afternoon, not that I would be going anywhere anyway...DH on another 12 hr shift tomorrow, 3rd day in a row, can't wait for him to be off again next week.

Oh well, better go and get dinner ready, if my bump can tolerate me standing for all of 20 mins .

Also finding that lots of my mat clothes are now too small, i.e. T-shirts and tops NOT actually covering the bump...just something else to be miserable about . I am soooooooooo looking forward to getting all my old clothes out again. I even have a summer wardrobe of nice 'bigger' clothes as with DD I actually put weight on AFTER giving birth, from overeating while BFing (let that be a lesson to you all!!!!) Hee hee, it makes me laugh now, but I was 13 stone at full term with DD, and when she was 6 mths old I was 12 st 7lbs!!!!! Shocking!! Quite determined not to do the same again, but have some nice big linen trousers etc to wear if I do .

Right, I'm off.

Come back and post everyone....missing my MN fix!!!

GCG xxx

Hi all, can't believe how quiet we all are today! I've been asleep nearly all day today, managed to surfacen just in time to finish painting the window sill before in-laws came for lunch, then go for a nap after lunch as well- with DH doing lunch and looking after DD- I really did nothing. I did feel sooo much better after my afternoon nap, but I'm almost ready for bed again!Its been a bit hard on DH, but I'm so glad I've been able to catch up on sleep- and dreading it not happening when baby lands!
Pazza, don't be impressed by us, you're already lugging an extra bub around AND you're life afterwards is going to be extra challenging! I'm so in awe of you!!
My maternity wardrobe is extremely limited, so I'm really looking forward to being bump-less, and just have to resist buying clothes for a few weeks more...
Right, hope everyone is busy having a good weekend!

hello

I'm here too but feeling a bit brain dead tonight, for some reason.

Can't stop myself from counting down the days now. Still 7.5 weeks if I go to term. Seems like SUCH a long time.

I'm feeling huge now as well. Bumped into a friend today who is a midwife and she was really surprised I'm not due till the end of May. Even she said I look big for my dates . PLEASE let this baby not be a whopper!

Now it's time for a really stupid question (please don't laugh). Is there any way it would be possible for the unborn baby to make a sound? Yesterday I SWEAR I heard a sound like a little cry from my tummy. Am I a) a medical miracle b) losing it or c) suffering from wind ???

I think that, if you had a 7lber last time, it's unlikely you'd have a 12lber a second time, but I'm sure they can vary in size. How big are you and dh? Are you having boy or girl? There are lots of things that can influence the size, I suppose.

Message withdrawn

hi everyone,
are you all feeling lonely?
been quiet busy last few days, setting up a new coffee table, got a new telly delivered on friday but have to wait for my new tv unit which comes on monday, so is a new bigger wardrobe for my bedroom, so loads more setting up to do, but i leave those to DH and friends till next weekend.
got my friend to put me laminated flooring in the living room today so i had no living room to sit down and no internet all day. when to neighbors to have a chat, got back and love my new living room. i just had to get rid of that 4 year old carpet as i dn't want my baby lying/crawling/playing on that.
gonna get my hallway done tomorrow and DH als but Vinly tiles in bathroom.
thats quiet a lot but hey, got my maternity pay and no more nursery fees for DD to pay, so why not.
(Argos,B&Q instinct definetly)

apart from that i thought my baby was playing around with my organs inside me today and using that little space he's got to spread out as much as he can, with feet and arms poking out everywhere, but thats ok.

i look like 4-5 months pregnant as i said before (small bump)but baby measurements are normal and i was small with DD aswell so don't worry it's your belly, and apart from your baby their are loads of other things e.g. like the amonic fluid which makes you and (most,but not me) pregnant women looks big.

It's snowing! Big white carpet of snow in my garden, certainly doesn't feel like April in the Highlands! Just spent the afternoon at a villagey event that was full of babies, doesn't quite feel real yet that I'm going to have one very soon...

Oooh, I got my flat! First choice, amazing location, ground floor, I'm so happy! Just found out about 10 minutes ago, yay! Can't move in til the 17th of August but at least I know then I'll have my own flat again and lots of time to get ready for the new uni term (speaking of which I'm trying to change my degree, it's been a busy day in my head!)

pinacolada yep, I'm the same, spilling food all over myself all the time! I'm no baby expert but my Mum had 3 of us and we were all 7 and a half pounds, one of us on time, one late and one early (though not by huge amounts) and we all weighed the same.

My facebook counter tells me I have 32 days til baby-day. That is a very small number... Hope everyone is well and being as lazy as me

Morning!

Loving the snow!

You can add me to the list for:

• maternity clothes not fitting and being totally bored with rotating three tops (which used to be dresses!)
• being really tired and having to sleep for two hours after a 10-min walk to the shop and cobbling together an Ikea changing table - which counts as a busy day for me
• itchy stretchmarked bump which is pulling in all sorts of weird ways in bed. Yesterday I woke up with a really sore bit under my ribcage, it took me ages to work out how I was going to get out of bed. Every way I moved it seemed to hurt more.
• needing to put feet up to sort swollen ankles but then getting backache and worrying about cutting off blood supply to LOs (although MW said not to worry about that unless you actually feel faint)
• still VERY happy to be PG, especially after miscarriage last year

We're all pretty normal then!

(moan alert....)
lol - can i also be added to the list of..

• sick of wearing the same thing all the time because all tops now show your belly in a vicki pollard manner...
• really happy/greatful to be pregnant but dont thing I can actually cope with being pregnant for 6 more weeks...
• totally knackered by doing nothing. If was my OH's birthday yesterday so i have to be active and enthused all day - feel like I ran a marathon...
• streachmarked bump which itches at inappropriate moments and people look at you like you're weird when you're in the supermarket scratching away...
• weird pains from where baby now sitting - lifting my left leg higher than 2 inches causes serious groin pain...
• people feeling its appropriate to comment on the size of your bump, I can almost understand if you havent had a baby, because then pregnant women are facinating, but if you have had a baby you know how bloody annoying it is for people to come up, touch your bump and comment on the size. I'm carrying all out in front so it does look like Ive swallowed a beach ball but suprisingly enough I have noticed!!!

now i've taken a deep breath - Bobsmum, I second baiyu, and really hope yoy get an understanding profesional, although it sounds like your DS is doing fine, and to be honest I think all boys/men are a bit autistic at times (certainly in my family!)