Due June - 'I can't remember my own name, let alone where I put the creme eggs...'

[PregnantPenguin]

For those of us with 3 months to go or less....

have a lovely day sophie.

Sophie Have a lovely time

Ernest glad to see you back, I'll try to remember that about the vaseline, wonder if you can buy it here?
You'll be pleased to know that we'll be taking the boys with us, it's in their Mai ferien, and we can get 4 nights quite cheaply through lastminute.de. I still hanker after a Kinderhotel or a fantastic one I found that also did special holidays when you're pregnant or just had a baby,but too much ££££, this one is 370? for the 4 of us, half board for 4 nights.I just want my meals made and my bathroom cleaned by someone else for a little while before we become a family of 5!!

Off to take Tristan to speech therapy, and do some shopping with Mil.

Told my Austrian friend about the fundal height measurement today - she'd never heard of it, she said that if you measured around your waist and it was 100cms then you were ready to drop(not her words obviously), so I measured......................................
at my widest point which is a little lower than my waist I'm 113 cms, how do you all compare???

Well banana's definitely work. I went to bed early as I was shattered after DS's birthday yesterday and I forgot to eat one. Consequently, I was up with cramp 5 times during the night!!!!!!!!

Morning all- and congrats on maternity leave Neenz...I officially gave up travelling for work yesterday. Have a lovely time in Blackpool...haven't been there for years- went to boarding school the other side of the border!!

Feeling quite low with SPD now...even driving is getting tough, so probably have a week until I am housebound. Drugs doctor gave me have made a difference to my sleep, thank goodness, so I am at least getting some, which means I am less tearful during the day. Have a few things to get done this week. Were suposed to be having very important visitors tonight but they have found out a family member has days to live. Have baby shower on saturday at tea room in Harrods (hurrah!) so will have to rest up for that. Have obst. appointment on Monday so will know more about what my options are.

Off to hospital tonight for 'preparation for birth' class. 3 hours. Was told that I should do hospital classes and NCT to get the best balanced view. Plus I get to see the suite layout. Not taking DH so will have to wear fake wedding rings so they don't think I'm a single parent!

Now- off to do some nesting and ebaying and so forth.

Happy birthday greenfairy - it's my 28th tomorrow, so will be having a nice meal out with DP tomorrow and FIL is taking us out tonight as well. We got the Kingfisher colour Vigour - am very excited as it is something I can now cross off the list!!

ernest I don't know how you do it! Good luck with it all - we are all in awe of you (especially me who found it difficult to get off the sofa last night!!)

deb - I'm only 95 cms, although I measured that with a computer cable and a short little ruler (at my desk!) so I'd put some significant error bars on that! What's depressing is that I feel enormous, but my hips are still bigger than my belly. Uggh!

I'm off on vacation soon too - Friday! We're heading to a cottage in the peak district for a week with my parents which is even better than a fancy hotel as not only do I have someone to cook my meals, but they'll play with my child and lavish them with love too.

Makecakesnotwar - I know what you mean about taking off my wedding ring! It's still snuggly stuck there now but in the next few weeks I'll have to take it off and I hate to be without it. Fortunately I have my grandmother's wedding ring which I wear inside of my own and it's a size too big so I'll be able to just wear that one for a while. I wish I could wear it for the birth too but I'll probably swell up like a balloon so it'd be rather silly...

And baby was headdown at my MW check yesterday. Fingers crossed it stays that way! (And no matter how this baby ends up, I'm still not scrubbing the floors, we've a wet mop (and I've a lovely DH) for that. Last time I watched TV on my hands and knees but never scrubbed!).

123cm

Saw doula and hypnotherapy midwife last night - so relaxing and lovely. I'm getting really excited.

I'm similar to you AH - I'm approx 98 cm but this is measured with a bit of string and a ruler! It's funny as I thought we looked quite similar when I looked at your profile pics - you have a very cute ds btw!

Debs - I think your friend must be wrong with her 100cm measurement. Lets hope she is otherwise we'll all be dropping babies like mad anytime soon. And whilst I can't wait to meet our little bubs I would rather they stayed where they are for a few more weeks!

The link with banana's and cramps is to do with the potassium they contain. This forms a salt in the body which helps prevent cramps. I have friends who are athletes who regularly take a glass of salt water to bed with them to combat nighttime cramps - but a banana sounds much more palatable!

I have to give you all an update on my ds who transitioned into a big bed just over a week ago as I am so proud of him! He loves his big bed and after a couple of nights of finding him on the floor he now stays in bed every night. What's more he loves his bed so much that as soon as we go to his room in the evening he gets straight into bed and pulls the covers up and protests when I take him out to change his nappy and put his pyjama's on! What's more he has given up having a story as well as he just wants to lie down and go to sleep once he has had his milk It's all gone so much smoother than I had hoped for, so thanks to those of you who gave me words of encouragement when I was umming and aaahhhing over whether to do it.

Debs you holiday sounds like it will be fab, can't see any reason for you not to go. It's so cheap as aswell! I promised the dd's a trip to Disney in Paris and it cost a fortune compared to what you will pay.

Ernest good luck with the move.

Makescakes, have a fab baby shower, hope you get some fab presents!

My waist is 127cms so would have dropped along time ago if the 100cms thing was true! This baby has returned to being head down which I can tell from the location of it's hiccups. Midwife appointment on friday, was supposed to get blood results back but haven't had them as had to postpone last ggt and was supposed to have it next week but will have to postpone again so will ask for the bloods to be written on a seperate from from the ggt so I can at least get them done at the weekend.

Hi all

Greenfairy happy birthday (although a little late)

Neen glad you are back, was wondering where you were. Superb news re the twins, I hope they stay put now.

Ernest good to hear from you too. I hope the next two weeks will go smootly.

rolf I too cracked and had my hair cut and coloured two weeks ago feel so much better for it

Debs are you feeling brighter? I am sure a trip to the spa will do wonders

makescake sorry about SPD..know how you feel

As for me I had a bit of a scare last afternoon/evening. TMI warning. I was feeling a bit wet in the afternoon, and towards the end when I went to the bathroom there was some liquid that had gone through my jeans onto my birth ball. It was too much to just dismiss as a small urine leak and my prem labour with DD started just like that so I was really freaked. I ended up calling the labour ward and went for monitoring. They monitored me for two hours but luckily I didn't seem to have contractions. I was then seen by two doctors who took loads of swabs etc (results on Friday). Apparently I have something a bit odd (and ectopian or something where a bit of the cervix grows outside the womb) but that shouldn't cause any major problems. I am very relieved it was just a false alarm this time. I feel a bit silly for being so paranoid, but I would rather be safe than sorry. And especially if it had been like last time, the earlier you know, the earlier you can have the steroid injections. I just hope things will settle down and I won't have anymore false alarms

I'm so envious of you all going off on holiday, I could do with a nice mini break but the only time we could possibly do it is over the May bank holiday and mil has invited herself for a few days, so no go I'm afraid.

Whoever it was that was talking about being unemployable (Rolf I think?), I think I am in that category too! Although I am a qualified librarian its been 7 years since I gave up work to be a sahm and will be more like 12 after this one starts school so it will be really difficult to go back. Having said that, I do love being a sahm and definitely don't miss that train and tube journey into the city - I remember passing out when pregnant with dc1 on the Northern line and when I came round people were stepping over me to get to the exit. Nice!

needahand glad everything is okay. It's better to be paranoid and get things checked out than to worry at home!

Needahand - how scary for you! But great news that it seems all is well. Take care of yourself today as all that stress must be exhausting

Thanks G43 and Sybil. I have to admit I am very tired today and didn't sleep very well last night. Would rather have a nap than work!

needahand - glad your scare turned out okay - hoepfully you'll get some time to relax now!

and I can't imagine a long commute these days either. I'd never survive in London - I'm only a 5 minute drive to work (I was a 10 minute bike ride or a 30 minute walk, but that's getting a bit harder).

I had the lovely librarian at my office come by today to pick something up instead of me running it to her because she said I must be getting tired by this point in pregnancy. It was so considerate, and so rare! and up until then I was having a crap day so it's even more appreciated.

deb, if you can get in in CH, you can get it in Austria

Went to ikea this am to get some boxes, so I can sort out my Keller a bit. Theink even the most hardened removal man would have a fit as it stands, and there'd be no hope of order at the other end if it goes off like this, so will have a fun time sorting out Keller (once I've found floor upstairs. Why does clearing out, in the short term at least, result in 10x more mess, or is that just me

Bought a new microwave this am. Seems ridiculous to buy it here, but our credit card gives us vouchers, like a bonus scheme & I had about 250 chf worth (about the price of the one I bought, well actually 450chf worth, and also got a nintendo ds!) had to use up the vouchers, and I'll want a microwave, even if just for sterilising and warming up the odd thing. it was 'free' after all.

And then need to organise for the boys party (we're having a farewell party on saturday - groan, hideous) 20 boys in the woods for the afternoon. Can't wait...... no really.

And the good news ... we got the go ahead on the removal firm, so after lunch will call up, so fingers crossed I can get the date I want

deb - maybe your friend meant 100cm after you've dropped? Doesn't the bump drop (& therefore look smaller) just before the birth, as the head is then engaged?) therefore the measurement shrinks? Got no tape measure to hand, or cable and ruler! - so mine remains a mystery. Sounds dubious tho. Some lardies'll not be far off that before they even get pg!

Needahand- My cervix is ectropic as well, I found out when I bled a lot after sex (it bleeds on contact so we have refrained since then) but had it checked out the other week and was reassured that it wouldn't have any effect on the pregnancy (I think I waffled on about it somewhere on this thread already!). Did they say how it caused the fluid leak? It's interesting as I have been having a fairly watery discharge (sorry if TMI!) but as this is my first pregnancy wasn't sure if that was normal.

ernest - good luck with the move.

debs - have no tape measure here and can't find anything that would do so my measurement will have to remain a mystery!

needahand - good luck - it's better to be safe than sorry and with your history, it sounds like you did the right thing. So we are still waiting to see who pops first then!

ernest - good luck for the party. I recently went to a nine year old's party - bowling and a pizza - with 9 of his friends, and that was chaos! I can't imagine 20 boys!

Hi everyone

Needahand, how scary. I'm really glad that you're OK and were able to get monitored straight away.

Greenfairy, Happy birthday for yesterday.

Ernest, good news re movers and good meconium tip - thanks!

Last time, I foolishly had only terry nappies and cotton wool for DS's bottom in hospital. When the Bounty pack (bag of free baby stuff) came round, I forgot all my principles and dug right into the free Pampers wipes and nappies, and I'm afraid never looked back. This time, I have 40 Nature disposable nappies and a few packs of wipes to start with.

Aberdeen, your librarian sounds wonderful. My work has offered to let me work from home a bit next week when I go back. I'm planning on working up to June 5, and am feeling a million times better.

My waist is 98 cm - so now I do feel small despite the doctors saying fundal height and water is average! I'm normally a size 14 and 5 foot 9, so it's not like I'm all baby or anything. However, this is probably just more proof that the baby will be late as it's average and I am larger than average!

I'm knackered this morning. DH and I went out to a concert last night and got back at 11.30. One of the nursery nurses (first time ever) took him home, played with him and put him to bed. Needless to say, despite all the preparation, DS was a little upset and woke at about 6.30 am this morning wanting to check on us. It was so lovely to go out - but boy, we're paying for it now!!!

ktpie they didn't say the ectropic caused the "leak" but they said it was likely I might have a lot of discharge and perhaps some bleeding too. So perhaps the "leak" was discharge, perhaps it was urine, they didn't say. All I know is that they didn't see any fluid coming from womb (but that didn't reassure me that much because with DD it was such a small leak and so random that they never managed to "catch" it either. I think as long as you don't have contractions or lower back pain or sickness you shouldn't worry too much about the discharge. But if you had lower back pain then I would call MW just in case. Last time I didn't know/think/believe I could possibly be in labour. I only had that small leak and quite uncomfortable lower back pain. Turns out the lower back pain was contractions! I hope this helps and does not stress you out. If in doubt, I'd call the MW.

Ucake can't believe you still have the engery to go to concerts! Glad your work is letting you work from home a bit though.

Re concert, both DH and I really didn't want to go, but it was a work deal for him, and classical music rather than the Arctic Monkeys or anything!

The Chairman of his company had sponsored this concert and was over from Australia so we had to go and press the flesh. Frankly modern Australian classical music is not really to my taste (!), but at least we were sitting down most of the time.

Both DS's current nursery and his new nursery just got OFSTEDed. They both got 'Good' for care but his new one got 'Outstanding' for education, so am feeling that we made the right choice by deciding to move him, and registering the new baby for it.

There's no way that I'm measuring my waist 'deb - that's definitely a need to know basis and I dont need to know . Am quite happy that my fundal height was 28.5 cm at 28.5 weeks and that's all I want to know!

Good to have you back ernest - hope the stress isn't too unbearable.

Re vaseline on bum, I'd also heard something similar but it was about barrier creams generally so even if you dont have any vaseline hopefully another cream will do the same trick. Mental note to write this down somewhere useful.

bananas/salt - I agree josie. Although I haven't been plagued with pregnancy leg cramp (touch wood) I do normally get leg cramps at night all the time (funny how they've stopped since pregnancy!). There's no definitive guide to why people get them, but two common causes put forward are dehydration or salt deficiency. Although we all know that too much salt is bad for you I do recall reading that pregnancy is no time to actively restrict salt. So after years of never adding salt to anything I now put it on mashed potato with gusto .

makecakes at mat leave. 27 work days over 6.5 weeks and counting...

needahand - so glad that everything is ok with you and the baby.

bitofadramaqueen - don't worry, I've still got 6 weeks and 1 day left to go (and I think I'm due before you), we can count down together.

Was amazed at yoga last week when I found out everyone was going off at 33 or 34 weeks pregnant and planning to go back to work (and they're all first time mums). As much as it'd be lovely to be home, I much appreciated having the time on the other side with my son last time. (If you're not planning to go back or if you've other children to take care of, then it's a totally different situation).

Plus, a midwife I know has a theory that the longer you work, the earlier your baby arrives. She says that going off on mat leave relaxes you so much that your LO is happy to stay in and bake for much longer! Which means even more time off before birth (if she's right).

We can have a virtual glass of something bubby when we finish aberdeen [grin). I cna imagine time 'at the other side' will be really valuable. I'm finishing a month before due date but that's mostly holidays. Looking forward to the time off - it's going to be lovely weather (I ordered it in a while ago).

needahand - don't worry I will be ringing the midwife if there is liquid + pain! It must have been really stressful for you last night after your previous pregnancy.

I've just had a banana as I was awake again last night with cramp, they seem to give me heartburn at the moment so it's easy to put off eating them, then when I am awake at night I wish I had!

I really need to get away from ebay, have progressed from baby stuff (legitimate purchases in DH's eyes) to flip flops this morning, I can imagine what he will say when they arrive and get added to my already vast flip flop collection!