Due June 08 - Creme egg season is over, summer is now here, so time to tidy the ladygarden before the big day

[bitofadramaqueen]

I wonder how quickly we'll get through this thread?!?!?!?!

Gemmalou- you might be the youngest- I'm 34! RE-birth plans- it all went fast for me but I think if you have an idea of what you want just say it adn eb insistant. I rem saying what I didn't want:-
no Doctors if possible
no bright lights shining up my nethers
no being beached on a table on my back, unable to move
That was about it and I had a brilliant MW who read me well and kept the Docs away and I had an active birth with no hosp table. Obviously what's possible depends on your circumstances and how things are progressing.

Sounds like the antenatal care in Austria is quite medicalised Deb, I wouldn't like that. Never seen stirrups and don't want to. And for Essie3 (I know nothing of medieval history but) "bring back the birthing stool". Does that help?!

Just looked up cankles (LOL) I had been thinking it was a medical term I'd missed out on. I don't have them (yet) but my feet did spread and now I have an underbed drawer full of delicious and expensive shoes that haven't seen the light of day since pre DD1. I live in birkenstocks or walking shoes or a pair of suede boots that had expanded with me. Sniff. Feet seem to have spread- prob with all the baby weight. Will I ever be able to clack about in my f* me shoes again???

Rolf- DH would totally agree with you about the Father Jack phase!

I'm also hoping for a birthing pool, but it is also a first come first served basis, so don't know if I will get one of those rooms at the hospital.

gem I've not written a birth plan yet either - I will probably have a list of do's and don't's but not a birth plan per se... I'm just making sure that DP is clear on what I want, so that he can stand up for me if I need him to (which I probably will - I'm a bit weak!). If you have a chat with your birth partner, they might be able to help you out with the midwife once you get to hospital.

LOL at peartart - I assumed that cankles were known by all and sundry - not occured to me that you might think it was a medical term... although it is the most descriptive word!

peartart thanks for that i dont want a c section only if it is completely essential to mine or babys health i want to give birth natural as i only plan on doing it this once! I also dont want to be tied to a bed either i would like to sit in a chair and be monitored or i will just get depressed! Youngest eh thats nice i go on another page and there is moms from 18 up on there some of them really do talk rubbish though! One woman was lecturing me about how to give birth so i dont kill my child.. how rude.!!

nettiehay yeah i will let my mom know what i dont want but i think i will have the guts to tell them myself. i had a blood test the other day and the midwife was so rough with me she was moving the needle about and pulled it out then back in and i said pollitely can someone else do this please you are hurting me big time! She could not apologise enough to me so if something happens i aint happy about i will tell them!

I might just book in to see the midwife when im 36 weeks pregnant a week on monday like.

Ladies who have had LO's before... when should I get measured for nursing bras and where would you suggest (ie M&S or Mothercare - specific bra places, or just general?)?

gemma - is your Mum going to be your birthing partner? Make sure you have a good chat with her beforehand about what you do want and what you don't want. You might be a bit out of it when it comes to it! I haven't written a birth plan yet but fairly confident that my DH has a good idea of what I want and will let them know. Will probably jot down a few things a bit closer to the time.

Getting too hot again this afternoon, dreaming of ice cream after people on here keep mentioning it!

hi all! just took about an hour to skim through the obscene number of messages today!!

speaking of Father Jack i've been so grumpy i just haven't fancied chatting much. i really feel for everyone who's hit 'the wall'. i've been reading here and there though. today i managed to drag my sorry (huge) arse out the door and ds fell asleep in pushchair so i got my eyebrows threaded and my underarms waxed, and bought a LOVELY nailpolish shade for dh to do my toes with, and i'm feeling more chipper than i have in ages. funny what a little 'me' time will do for you!

i'm 32 but feel a lot older at the mo! gem the beauty of being younger is the way your body bounces back and the way lack of sleep doesn't quite kill you the same way. my sister had her first baby at 18 and second at 26, which is not exactly old, but she said the difference was astounding!

i ordered the breastfeeding nighty and tank top/crop trouser pjs from la senza and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. will let you all know what they're like.

enjoy the sunshine ladies, hope it's not too uncomfortable. xx

Nettiehay- about now should be OK to get measured for nursing bra. Your ribcage may expand a bit more in the last few weeks of preg and this would increase your bra band size, but then your band size should return after birth.
If you are already a big cup size I recommend heading for a specialist eg Bravissimo. If you don't have a shop near you you could order a few different sizes from the internet and return the ones that don't fit via free returns service.
If you have big boobs look for something "well engineered". I'm really glad to have found the Freya range- when you try the bra on the middle bit should still sit against your rib cage between your boobs and not ping forward.
If you like underwired BF bras (once boobs have settled down) then Figleaves do some.
I found M&S bras to be a bit sad and lacking in the support I needed. Mothercare do some nice looking ones but most were too small for my cup size

If it helps- I was 34D pre DD1, then I went up to 34DD in preg. Was frighteningly 34G/H for a few days when milk came in (seriously- I woke up than day, got out of bed and nearly fell flat on my face), and then settled down to 34E/F during BF months.

There are some threads out there on this subject.

OOh, Peartart, read about the feet spreading thing. Might it happen to me?
Also, cankles, lol - did you see lots of pictures on google? Made me feel better. I really like the word!

Hi ladies - have been keeping up with reading but not posted for a while. Here are some disconnected thoughts...
Best bf tops ever, apparently, are Swedish Boob ones www.boobdesign.com - fairly pricy (£25 vest, £30 t-shirt) but very good quality and worth every penny I'm told.
Amid the bisphenol A bottle hype I thought this Royal Soc Chem piece was a fairly sober assessment. My aim is to bf but I have bought a couple of (Tommee Tippee) bottles for use with (a) expressed milk, or (b) in-emergency-break-glass formula .
I'm one of the late June ones (24th) so expect to be around the board for a while with upsidedowncake, dramaqueen, lauraT and others as the other creme eggs start rolling out...
Suddenly feeling a bit lumbering and slow, though am constantly being told how 'neat' the bump is. I'm a lucky SPD/PGP sufferer; although I still get a lot of hip pain at night, my physio is helping and I'm actually feeling more mobile than I did in my second tri. I'd love to be able to have a few hours off being pregnant though - you know, put the foetus in a box, stick my old clothes on, do a little dance, make a little love...

I seem to have gone through the wall and out the other side, Physio has been great, got another session next Monday, tis muscular not pelvic so that helps, and have started gardening with a vengence.

dylansmomplusone i know what you are saying i have only had three hours and im full of beans i been cleaning most the day and sorting things out for when baby comes i have put moses basket set up down stairs now ohh it is so exciting lol

The afternoon is dragging, or is it just me? An hour left, then heading off early to get my tootsies done. In the meantime, I think there were a few posts about filling the freezer so thought I'd post my plans for stocking up. I got some foil dishes for all of this, so no washing up afterwards! I was trying to think of summery type stuff:

I'm a bit of a chuck it all together, so no amounts - I would cook most of this stuff at around 200 C, 400 F, think that's gas 6. I'll have packs of microwaveable rice, instant cous cous, frozen pitta bread etc in, and we'll get new potatoes, salad, veg as we need it.

Deboned chicken legs (the big leg and thigh pieces) - bit of a faff to take the bones out, but I find it oddly soothing! Make a marinade - either mustard, rosemary and honey or harissa, yogurt and garlic and freeze. Defrost and grill, serve with cous cous - v easy, just add boiling water and cover - and salad.

Lamb koftas - minced lamb with ground coriander, cumin and chili, and some chopped fresh mint if there's any around. Shape into smallish balls and freeze. Defrost and bake uncovered, serve with pitta bread, salad, rice whatever.

Meatballs - this is my cheat recipe - minced beef, mix with deskinned Italian sausages and a few spoons of stuffing mix (Sainsbury Taste the Difference lemon and sage one). Shape into balls, freeze, bake uncovered, serve with pasta and tomato sauce.

Fish - fillets (salmon, bream, bass, etc), frozen with herbs, lemon, splash of wine, seasoning. Defrost, bake with the lid on.

Mackerel - clean, stuff with lime zest, chili, chopped coriander, freeze. Defrost, bake with the lid on.

Ratatouille - peppers, courgettes, aubergine, onions, tomatoes - simmer together, cool and freeze.

Even though I detest Jamie Oliver, his new pasta sauce range is just ingredients - no preservatives or chemicals - so have stocked up on a few jars of that, and will chuck some fresh tortelloni/ravioli in the freezer too for almost instant dinners.

Other stuff I have in/will get - bag of frozen tiger prawns, home made curry sauce, chicken fillets/thighs (cut into chunks before freezing), lamb chops, thin cut steaks for sandwiches. Chocolate and ice cream of course!

I'll also have the menus from the local takeaways very handy, as I suspect I may be kidding myself that we'll even be able to be bothered to turn the oven on!!!

Sorry for long post - I'm starving now!

Where's Neenz!!??

Splodge - Love the Father Jack comparison. Sums up how I feel, grumpy, can't move and just barking orders. Then DH turns round the next minute and I'm fast asleep drooling!

Physio yesterday said my lower back had turned into sponge muscle which is why it hurt so much. He explained more but I still didn't understand. Does this make sense to anyone else?

Feet huge! When I woke up last night (thanks to my ever lovely neighbours again - sounded like they were manually scraping wallpaper off the wall we share from 10.30pm - 3.30pm this morning) they felt huge even in bed....hadn't had that before. I had a pedicure about a month ago and it was such a good one it's hardly chipped, however due to nail growth only the top half is painted. Looks a bit like a wierd french manicure...

I liked these from Mothercare - but they are might be a bit short if I have visitors...
[http://www.mothercare.com/gp/product/B00117AQ96/ref=pd_rvi_detail_1/026-5501122-720600 3?ie=UTF8&mcb=core here].

Puddock - Like the boob site - great name and cool music too.

It's a lovely day here and I'm working from home, but am soooo hot! Another 5 weeks of this....roll on mat leave.

PS. I'm 30.

nettiehay re nursing bras - lovely bra lady in John Lewis told me this weekend that I'd be wasting my money if I was measured/bought anything before 37 weeks, as your ribcage will get a lot smaller. They seem to have a good range even for the larger-boobed among us. I'm currently wearing something like a 36F mat bra from Bravissimo (usual size 34D) and it feels too tight in the afternoons. She told me to go to the haberdashery dept and splash out £2 on an elastic bra-extender, which may well be the best two quid I've spent.
I'm going to see what the NCT bra specialist has on offer (I've got all 4 of my NCT classes coming up next week) and either get mine from her or go back to JL.

Hello there!

Update on me!
Now lying on a blow up bed in sitting room on left hand side!!
BP shot up again yesterday, so off to hospital went on monitors for 3 hrs, after lying on LHS BP went down so sent home.
Today had last blood tests and strep tests but didnt get to do them as BP up again, back to hospital i went.
Left hospital at 1pm only just, there was big debate on whether to keep me in or not.
They have decided that this is the last time, so next time BP is up high im in for good!
And possibly will be induced in 1 or 2 weeks time if continues to be high.
Feeling ok except bit upset as not going how i expected. How did those of you who got told they would be induced take it at first? its just that i was expecting mum to be here etc and to have a few weeks left yet. It suddenly all seems daunting

Re ge thing by the way im just under 30, 29!

whinegums - really imaginative food list - I'm just giong for bolgnase sauce, shepherds pie, fish pie - all good fat meals for the summer when all we'll want is salad. May snitch some of your recipes instead. Oh well. Have my mother coming to stay for 3 days to cook everything.

paro - you poor thing. I was told I would be induced, but that was becuase DS1 refused to come out. Ended up holding out for 2.5 weeks until I was so fed up I didn't care what happened as long as they got him out. In the grand scheme of things, you just have to think of the end result - once you are holding your DS/DD, you forget the hassle you went through.

On the bottles front, I always used NUK, but can't find anything on the site to respond to today's news. Anyone know anything more?

PS am well over the hill, born in '69 so 39 yrs old and am a scientist too, but work in the City advising biotech companies how to speak in plain language to bankers - quite a task I tell you.

Hi Puddock, I've also heard about the Boob tops from a Belgian friend who got given a couple from her sister in Sweden (I think they're Scandinavian). But I've also heard that they're the best.
Good to see you here - we're same age, same location (currently) and was interested to see you do linguistic research - what area?

Veeeery slow afternoon here. Should be doing work (sorting out a paper I wrote) but nothing doing... Computer is also being a snail so it's not just me!

Essie / Puddock - quick input on medieval thing. At university, I specialised in medieval English, French and Spanish with a side order of Vulgar Latin. But that was back in the very early nineties (I'm 37). No Welsh though.

Puddock, are there any historical linguists any more? What is your specialism?

Am planning to bf but have Doctor Brown bottles. I haven't checked out what the research says about them yet though.

I saw the boob tops in the USA a couple of eyars ago - they look great but are expensive, I think.

thanks to peartart and puddock. I'll be 36 weeks on friday, so will probably get measured once I am on Maternity leave (two more weeks and counting!). I shouldn't have too much trouble size wise - I was a 34C pre-pregnancy and am now a 34D not a huge change, but I did need to invest in the bra extenders after about 20 weeks - they are a godsend! I'll make a special trip once I have some time on my hands to get fitted properly, as I don't want to scrimp in this case.

Work-wise - I think we may have found my replacement - we just need to let the agency know and get her in to start next week! Eeekk - this is suddenly getting very real - what am I going to do with no work for 6 months???

www.tommeetippee.co.uk/those with tommeetipee will maybe breath easier if they read this.

DH has got a flight off the rig yipee but he will need to stay in Norway for the night so all going well he will be home 9am tomorrow.

Had MW today all was fine and a massage which was lovely.

I was told by CMW that they are not allowed to do internals until you are 37 weeks if they think you need one before you will be sent to hospital.

I have a wedding on sat night hahaha WTF am I going to put on my feet would it be rude to turn up in slippers?

whoever mentioned the FMB's I havent managed to wear any since DS was born 8years ago

DD is driving me round the twist she wants outside the whole time but the heat and fresh air is turning her into megga gurn monster.

Aberdeen that is exciting that your baby has got there head slightly in-mine is still brimming much to my disgust.

Paro hope your BP manages to stay down and you dont need to go into hosp.

Ernest I know what you mean about being non clucky over this baby I feel as though have a body exention but not quite got the emotional connection going yet.

It is my birthday in a couple of weeks and I will be 31 god I wish I could go back a year to my champange fueled 30th

Nursing bra about 36 weeks on they say for messuring, I however boought some out of Tesco for £5 each they are no different to those in m&s mothercare for £25 each.

Ok away to eat more icelollies and ice creme-i had my feet in ice water earlier.

OMG - have any of you done any work while I've been in my exam? I think there has been nearly 2 full pages since I last posted. But then, I've posted LOADS while revising over the last week so can hardly talk .

Exam so so. It wasn't a bad paper to be fair, but brain went blank when trying to remember research and really struggled to give contemporary good practice examples . Oh, and my writing on the compulsory question was AWFUL.

Welcome back puddock - I reckon we'll get through this thread and anotherat least before we pop!

Re: bras I can also recommend Bravissimo, but the NCT bra lady will also measure you. I've been wearing some Royce maternity bras, and I'm pretty ahem, substantial, up top at the best of times. I was told after week 36, but around week 38 best. RE: marks and spencer - have personally never heard anything good about their measuring service. In my younger days pre-bravissimo I came out of their with some seriously poorly fitting bras. John Lewis supposed to be not bad but have never tried them myself.

bit of a - glad the exam is over - you must be so relieved.

On the bra front - M&S were rubbish - still swimming in the ones I bought from them last time and am bigger now. John Lewis were absolutely lovely and fantastic - they tend to have slightly older sales women who are really clued up. Also, will lend you tissues when you find yourself leaking during the fitting!! Oh god, just so not looking forward to feeling like a drippy moo cow again.

Just picking up on the stretch mark discussions - I discovered stretch marks on the underside of my boobs last week . Prior to pg I was small (36A) and I'm not exactly massive now (38B at the last count), how I managed to miss them I don't know. Also, how long had they been there for before I found them?? Clearly stretch marks on boobs don't make me feel like the sexiest mamma, but I did console myself by thinking that unless I suddenly become fond on topless sunbathing fewer people will see the boob stretch marks than if I had a crop on my stomach. However I am not out of the woods yet, so am religiously oiling myself morning and night.

whinegums - impressed by your freezer plans, it sounds very imaginative. Since I ate my first freezer meal on Monday (doh), I have has 2 small triumphs: 1) defrosting the freezer; 2) cooking a meatball caserole last night and managing the freeze half of it before DH went back for seconds.

Thanks mellymell.

Just been surfing breastfeeding tops - is it just me or as a rule are they fairly dull? It's been bad enough putting up with maternity clothes all these months but the nursing tops dont seem too much better. [Hmm]. Off to the shop for an ice lolly.

i second that M and S are rubbish they measured me completely wrong. I second Bravissimo I have lovely bras from them and i also reccomend fig leaves, I got a really lovely and super confortable nursing bra from there. Prob gonna order some more later on

Glad your exam over bit of a ....Hope all well

Glad Dh finally coming back josey