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

GCG - hope everything is ok at robonans funeral - kick back and enjoy that sun lounger....

YCBS - when you say insecure is it a sort of "of my god im going to have a baby and its not really very real, because im pregnant and i get that but whats next????" if so i know how you feel...

casserole - how have the wasps take the eviction notice?

yes it is stupidly early to be posting but ive been up for ages (and can't get back to sleep...) so i thought i'd catch up and its all gone quiet....boo, hiss!!! I think i've gone off the boil and onto simmer...

hello

another insomniac early poster here.

i've loved catching up on the thread. So much funny stuff. Especially the wasps and the sun lounger.

GCG - perhaps you could lie on your lounger drinking a pina colada, in honour of the May mummies ? On a serious note, hope all goes well at the funeral. I'm really pleased you have been able to get all this over and done with before the arrival of the baby. Now you can go into birth / newborn baby with a clear head.

otter - congratulations on your 'show' (what a bizarre thing to congratulate someone on!!). even if it doesn't mean that things are kicking off imminently, at least your body is doing what it's meant to. that can only be a good sign.

sweetbean - sorry to hear about your dp's paternity leave situation. a lot of employers just don't seem to see the importance of paternity leave. a nasty bit of reverse sexism .

pazza - best of luck on Monday. does your hospital not have single rooms as well as wards? at mine, mums with twins are given priority to have these rooms so that their partner can stay overnight with them. Might be worth asking about this.

pina - i'm seeing midwife this morning and am also going to ask for a growth scan. also to make 100% sure baby's not breech. I had bad pelvic floor probs after dd's birth and my consultant said that she would recommend c-section "if it looks like the baby's going to be a whopper" (her words ).

Random question of the morning - i was induced early last time, so i didn't have to think about my waters breaking spontaneously. So now I'm wondering - what if they break in bed? Are you supposed to have some kind of undersheet on to stop it ruining the mattress?

Am 35 weeks now and trying REALLY hard not to count down the days. Can't bear the thought that I could still have seven weeks to wait.

GCG- sorry for not using spaces, but I thought these posts always turn out sooooo darn long I'd better not make them any longer! Advice taken and will try to remember

Pregnabrain- last time my waters didn't go until I had been at the hospital ages and in the pool ages- BTW didn't get a show either until I went to the loo just before getting in the pool. I do remember having towels by the bed just in case, but as I'm planning at being at home for the whole lot this time I've bought a matress cover, about 12-15 pounds depending on bed size. I would measure your mattress though- the one I got is about 10 cm too narrow and keeps moving, so not sure ho useful it'll be- I thought they'd be standard sizes ( apart form Ikea!) but no, that would be too simple.

DD has gone to nursery, and now I won't see her until Friday morning- arrgghh! I don't quite miss her yet, but its an awful feeling- I've never been at home when she's been away (I had my New York trip, but I wasn't at home to miss her the same) and my parents are having her for 2 nights and a full day, and DH is taking her to see her other grandparents this afternoon coz his Dad has his prostate op this week, and isn't sure he wants her to visit in hospital (he had back problems last year and she was upset he was in bed). I'm looking forward to quieter nights and evenings without bedtime grumps, but she's my little angel . Ok I am booing now. I'd better try doing some housework!

pregnabrain - I had the same worry about my sheets and i bought some of these maternity mats from boots see "here"

i have one on the bed for the time being and apparently you can use them for the car etc, sods law that my waters will break no-where near one of them...

pazza - my hospital also has single rooms, priority goes to people with multiples/ complications etc so might be worth asking? however it might be that you enjoy the company more... and all other mothers can look at you in awe!!!

mumofk - big hugs, hope you feel better soon and enjoy the quiet evenings.. and PUT DOWN THE DUSTER!!!

Morning lovely ladies

Mitchell81 Really hope that your mums OK and doing well when will she be allowed out of hospital? x

Pinacolada82 Thanks babe!! how are you feeling today i really hope that you go and get it checked out because it sounds like you are in quite a bit of discomfort and it doesnt seem normal. Are you of to see your MW toady ?? xx

Mumofk My weight has always bother me !! and i have ranged from 8st to 12st in my life so i yoyo a lot but mostly these days (pre Peg) i was on the higher end. I don't want to put on loads of weight this time as am hoping to get down around the 9st mark after this baby!! (wishful thinking icon) All i think at the moment is that i look like a beach whale !!!
Oh and i would have to second GCG's request as your last post was so much easier to read.Please don't be offended !! xxx

PazzaPlusTwo ROFL at your story fab !!
I'm very excited for you and i know that you will get loads of help from the hospital in thows early days so try not to worry to much and as pregnabrain said its worth asking if they have a single room so that your DH can stay with you !! xx

GCG Thinking of you today and sending you lots of love xxx

Pregnabrain I have bought mattress pads from boots you get 5 in a pack and there about 4 pounds (My pound sign on key board isn't working) you just put then under the pop sheet and it will save your mattress also very good for your car seat on the way to hospital when in labour !!!

Well ladies im of for an massage today and am really looking forward to it !!!

I love the idea about trying to bluff are way to the paternity leave and had already suggested it to DH but he want have it as wants everything sorted out and not to be told at the last minute, oh sorry but you can't have the time off! But TBH im all for trying to get away with it !!!

With regard to the extra support my whole family live on the Isle of Wight! and they run a livery and also have a holiday cottage so will find it really hard to get away for any length of time + i live in a flat so not a lot of room for spare bodies! but my mum has already offered to come and stay for a weeks if DH can't get time off its just where we would put her she might have to sleep standing up in one of the cupboards but then again if i did that where would i put the buggy and the ironing board??
I do have my MIL and FIL but to be honest its just not the same and i would feel weird asking for help from them + anyone who has read previous posts will know that they do tend to think they know best about EVERYTHING and im not sure that's what i need with a new baba in the house and me with very little patients. but haho im sure everything will be fine i just wish i was closer my due date and could really start trying to get this baby to arrive !! xx

Hope you all have a fab day xxxx

Morning ladies

Well, after spending yesterday telling people how much I was enjoying this last stage of pregnancy and was quite content for bub to stay in awhile I thought I might have some news for you all this morning as last night I had lots of BHs, periody type pain and the tiniest bit of blood (TMI I know)... but nothing this morning, apart from feeling absolutely shattered (weirdly shattered as in the end I actually slept pretty heavily after being in pain) and vaguely period painy. 39 weeks today by my dates, 38+3 by the hosp's. Pah.

In the interests of research for any of you not yet decided on TENS - backache was bad enough last night to try out the TENS and it helped more than I expected it to - not amazing, but not the complete let down I had been expecting (am so cynical). I only had the two practice electrodes on so maybe when we get to the real thing and I have the 4 bigger ones on it might actually be worth the £25 hire charge Oh, and when I hired it I got money off a birth ball so I got one of those as well - now THAT has been much more helpful than expected; it's by far the comfiest place to sit on. The only thing is I went for the biggest one as I'm fairly tall and it's a bit big to lean over.... but then I think a smaller one would have felt too small to rock around on.

Here ends my "labour aids update" for the day

And here begins my "everything you didn't want to know about wasps" update instead! Wasps- well, I rang a private company and apparently the council weren't talking complete bllcks after all - the bloke said it's extremely unlikely to be a proper nest this early in the year and probably just some late eggs from last autumn without a queen that will fly away over the next few weeks. He said there almost certainly wouldn't be a nest big enough to find and didn't want to take my money for nothing, but I explained about impending baby and he said if they get any worse to call him again and he'll come straight out. I think they've got slightly less in recent days so maybe he's right. I always feel reassured when people don't want to take your money!!!

Re: what to put under bed: I have a towel under my sheet and then I bought a pack of maternity pads (not the sanitary towel sized things, they're sort of changing mat sized) from Boots and there's one of those on top of the towel. They were only a copld of quid for a pack of 5. As I'm hoping for a homebirth the MW recommended them.

MumofK my Dad's having a prostate op in a couple of weeks too, must be the season for it! We haven't actually told my parents we're planning a homebirth so they think we might be in the hospital at the same time; we keep joking about sharing an epidural

GCG, if you want any lounger buddies there with you, let us know, we could all line up with our virgin marys (who am I kidding? bloody marys all the way) in tribute? Hope it goes well and thinking of you.

oooooooo - casserole!! very exciting!! I've not got a tens but have got the birth ball... have found myself most comfortable splayed across it much to the hilarity of DP...

sweetbean - i know what you mean about space - we has hoped that out little house would have put people off the idea of coming to stay but no.. apparently not... (oh god i better stop now before i get really annoyed again and rant...) anyway you could really enjoy spending that time with you LO and bonding [otter goes all dewy eyed at thought of little baby emoticon]

GCG - I second Casserole with the bloody marys!!!!

Oh please let it be me next to join the "am i going in to labour aren't i" club i know ive got 4.5 weeks to got but .........

AHH YCBS hugs to you babe xxxxxxxxx

Oh and id love a bloody Mary !! i actually have to confess to packing a bottle of champagne in my hospital bag DH and i will just have to have it when no ones looking (post labour obiously)

ooooo sweetbean!!! I would love my hospital bag to contain lovely chocolate biscuits and a bice bottle of red... however because of GD and stupid monitoring afterwards (48hrs grrrr) it will have to wait till we get home.. oakcakes for the forseeable future for me.... the biscuit thing is made worse by the fact that the local bakery sells the best biscuits in the world and if its shut they also stock them in the shop at the top of the road which is open till 11pm - its just cruel...

YCBS - oooo - spa sounds nice, re kick up the arse and dog conversations - dog probably listens more... we're currently wondering how the bugger we get everyone into our living room, DP has decided that we just run away and dont tell anyone when the baby arrives...

bloody mary for me too please! lots of pepper and woosta sauce

apparently alcohol can slow onset of labour - according to a pregnancy book I was reading that told the tale of a lady who started going into prem labour at 7 months and managed to keep the bubba in until fully cooked by bed rest and a shot of vodka twice a day. made me LOL.

I am now hoping labour DOESN'T start before Monday, since it's safer to go in for CS at the pre-booked time than in the middle of the night. Lucky I didn't stock up on pineapples yet. looks like my plan to jump on DH twice a day for medical reasons is totally scuppered now!!!

Have spent an absolute fortune on things for VB labour that are now useless eg TENS machine ... mind you it might work as pain relief after CS who knows. The huge bag of snacks will surely not go to waste

big thanks to everyone who said not to worry about getting help with the LO's after the CS. made me feel a lot better about it. I was having a panic about not being able to look after them, being a crap mum - just nerves!

my parents are SO excited, they are going to get the train down on Monday, I will probably be zonked but I'm really looking fwd to seeing them.

Morning everybody

GCG - thinking of you today, hope all ok and the sun lounger was nice and comfy. Another one for a bloody mary please...

MumofK - I am really missing DS today and he is only at nursery for the day. Hope you manage to enjoy your time til Friday, don't do too much housework

Pazza - wow, how exciting for you! I can highly recommend the planned sections, mine was fabulous, we were having such a laugh up the head end that the surgeon frowned at us and we nearly forgot what was happening at the other side of the screen!

I have a lovely box of home made flapjacks here for anyone who wants one. My bf's mum makes them and she made me a load for labour last time and I moaned I was missing out this time so she made me some anyway! Otter, I can provide you with special sugar free ones for you...

DD doing really well, nice big 4 hour sleeps at night (long may that continue with crossed fingers and touching a lot of wood!) DS getting used to the idea of her and likes to kiss and cuddle her - v cute!

mmmmmmmm - alcohol - better not let DP read that, he keeps saying she can't come for the next few weeks as hes got a project to finish at work i told him that she comes out when she wants and he'll be there!!!

sending stay in vibes to your babies pazza!!

hi podglet!

aww that is such a cute image, your DS and DD! great to hear you're doing so well - and getting some sleep

were you laughing with the anaesthetist?

how did you find it afterwards - were you zonked the first few days? DH is wondering whether he should go to work half-days while I'm in hospital so he can stretch out his pat leave, if I'm going to be comatose anyway and have help on hand with DTs. I think tho he will rather be hiding in cupboards at kicking-out time so he can stay 24/7 with them! He is SO excited, bless

Hi Pazza!

Yes, a giggle with both the anaesthetist and the supporting midwife who is a friend of a friend! With DP too as we all had a similar sense of humour and were busting ourselves over the calls for "sution.... More suction...MORE suction" as over 2 litres of waters came out of me DP just looked at Felicity (the midwife) and said "man the lifeboats" like someone said when DS was born and that was it, general hysteria all round think it might have been nerves!

I wasn't too zonked as it was only a spinal block and I only had one dose of morphine. With regards to your DP, see how he feels, my DP can't bear hospitals and so only stayed a few hours each day and then I had other visitors but is he sure he will be useful at work?!?!

HTH

hiya podglet - good to hear all ok, 4 hours sleeps!!! sounds like you're having a lovely time with your DC's

sugar free flapjack sounds nice! yes please - i'll wash it down with my virtual bloody mary...

Wow mumofk! sounds like things are getting going. Last time round I had about 3 days of irregular BH-type contractions which stopped when I lay down (very frustrating as I was getting all excited). But then the labour did kick off after that. MW says that it was probably my body trying to get baby into correct lift-off position.

LOL at DH's laptop worries. Glad you found some dust sheets. Good luck!! Sorry you will be missing your DD - I would be exactly the same if DS wasn't here.

pazza ROFL at the marker pen story. Great news about the section date. As others have said I'm sure MWs will help loads. You probably won't want to go home not really. Incidentally TENS machines have good resale value on eBay if you don't end up using it (or even if you do!).

casserole glad the TENS was helpful! I too love/ loved my birth ball, before and during labour last time. Can also recommend birthing stool for the 'main event'if you get the opportunity.

GCG love the physio stories. Good luck for the funeral tomorrow x Any chance of a margarita instead of the bloody mary? (I remember a college friend drinking tomato juice - I said 'I don't know how you can drink that stuff!' and she said 'It lasts longer if you don't like it')

sweetbean the champers is in the fridge! (planning home birth)

podglet LOL at you lot having a party at the head end. Cor yeah would kill for a flapjack.

Well I'm with YCBS on wanting bub to stay in until due date... mostly because my Mum isn't coming up till Sat and it would be good to have a couple of days to get her re-familiarised with everything here before I start grunting and groaning and being completely unreasonable (as opposed to mildly unreasonable which is what I normally am with her.) What is it about parents...? I have a great relationship with my mum but we do wind each other up something rotten when we're together. DP and I did everything on our own when DS arrived and I'm pretty nervous this time at having to negotiate other people, however willing or helpful. She p'd me off the other day on the phone by saying my stepsister had 'got her worried' as her second child had arrived 2 weeks late (first one was a week early). My interpretation: God, I'm going to be hanging around at your house for 2 weeks while nothing happens, when I could be doing my garden/ going to my art class/ singing in the madrigal group/ etc. DP kindly pointed out to me that my Mum never manages to say the right thing...

Meanwhile MIL (who actually lives in the same town) is busy making plans for DP's brother and wife to come and stay with her the weekend after bub is due, essentially meaning she will not be helping (not that I want her within 500yds of the house anyway). Now she is saying 'Oh they will love to see the new baby' - despite fact that a) new baby may not even be here by then and b) if he is here, he'll be a couple of days old, and surely it's up to us to decide if we want any visitors?? (DP's brother has not rung DP to discuss this at all, incidentally.)

GRRR!! Ah well, I guess this is the effect of being on ML - all that energy that I used to spend getting irritated about useless work colleagues I now direct elsewhere!!

Hi all - it's taken me ages to catch up on all the posts! Been away for a bit as I'm still going backwards and forwards to the hospital and seeing MWs for monitoring - I'm seeing the consultant tomorrow and am expecting them to really put me off having a homebirth as my BP is still not great. I'm really fed up of all this mucking around - please can I go into labour next?!