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?!?!?!?!

Katyjo - you still around? Can you talk through the contractions, does a warm bath ease them?
If you're there let us know how you're getting on.

Good luck

katyjo good luck , wonder if you are in labour now!!

Yesterday I had a couple of rounds of regular cramps but both times they stopped. It's really frustrating because it feels as if my body just can't get going properly this time round.

Neenz, glad all id going so well with the babies. Even from very early on my girls didn't poo very often, only every few days which more than made up for it as poo would go everywhere!!!!

ooo katyjo it sounds like u could be i heard thats how is starts and with the show off blood too i think you probably are i hope all goes well for you

Oh Katyjo, wow! BH every 8 minutes and a show sound like it could be IT!

Gemma, perhaps you could be too. What is your due date again?

Thanks Debs. I'm fine, and I thought NHS Direct was fabulously helpful. DH was away so it was good that I could phone some experts for help! DS still has a temp of about 38.0 this morning, but he's much more lively.

Sounds promising Katyjo, so good luck if it is labour.....

Off to the beach (this heat is killing me...will be sitting in the shade all day with my Hobbity feet) with our visitors. Trying not to think about MW tomorrow in case I get the mean one again.

Morning all! Hope you have a lovely day

Hi everyone, I'm new since I only just found this site. I'm due on June 17th & if my LO comes a day early he will have the same birthday as me. BEST 21st B'day present ever! I'd much rather get my own family than get drunk, others my age think I'm quite odd! lol

I can't wait to have him now, I'm tired of my SPD, being too hot & not being able to leave my stuffy little upstairs flat like other people (unless I get driven to my parents for the day, which is just more sitting around anyway) But more than that I just want to be able to hold him. Me and SO have decided to call him Edward.

Welcome Hjay - hope you can keep up with us - we chat a lot!! Sorry to hear you're suffering with SPD, and the heat, won't be too long now.

Welcome HJay - there are a few of us who know how you feel about SPD, you are not alone, Edward is such a great name as well, sadly my nephew is Edward so that was out.

Katyjo - hope you are feeling OK.

Neenz - you are doing wonderfully - don't worry about the poo some can go days, just be worried about the clearing up when this happens

Hope everyone is enjoying the good weather.

Morning all,

Rolf love the mini moses basket idea.

Katyjo hope you're getting on ok!

Ucake - very glad that your LO is better. What a worry for you.

Welcome HJay. Sorry you've got SPD - there's a few on this thread who suffer too. Edward is a lovely name.

Had a bit of a drama last night folks and was at the hospital till 2am! I fell at home and landed very painful on my rear end. I couldn't actually walk or move unaided as my, ahem, 'undercarriage' was agony but much worst than that the baby decided to have a snooze for an hour or two. Decided to go to hospital to make sure everything ok, which of course it was.

They checked the baby's heartbeat (perfect) and mw said I had a 'good sized baby) - eek, that's got to come out of me somehow.

I'm absolutely shattered this morning though. We had friends due to visit today but will need to put them off - cant expect DH to look after me, finish housework, do the shopping and cook the lunch for guests. I'm a bit gutted as the last few weeks have been pretty dull due for us both to revision etc.

Am still very sore but can at least just about manage to walk unaided. The doctor gave me some paracetemol and something a bit stronger (codeine based) - wonder if I can keep the stronger painkillers for early labour ?

Anyway, off to the sofa where I'll most likely be for the entire afternoon (no doubt scoffing the treats I had for last night). Have a nice Sunday everyone.

Oh - quite a few people were being discharged with their new baby last night and I couldn't help but notice how pregnant they still looked!!! I had read this of course, but was amazed to see it for real. I'll definitely be packing a maternity top for going home in.

Hjay - breatlessness is also caused by your lungs being squashed up to make room for baby.

Thanks guys.

Sorry to hear you had to go to the hospital bitofadramaqueen! I've had to go in quite a lot recently, twice last week because of high BP, it's not pleasant, especially in the hot weather because they keep the L&D ward soooo warm for the LO's. I've already packed some super baggy clothes to wear home after giving birth, I really don't care what I look like as long as I'm comfy after lol!

sophiewd - My breathlessness has gotten better recently as my LO has started to engage, more space for breathing and food! Whoo! (even if it does mean more pain down below) Although I should cut back on the food a bit if I don't want to have a couple of stone to loose after baby is born.

Well our holiday plans haven't gone quite to plan, as you know we left it last minute and now the hotel is full tonight!!! You'd think we'd know better being in the holiday business = of course it's all dh's fault - wanting the best price!!

So being a hormonal pregnant woman, and with it being Mother's Day I cried!! I know, I know, totally ridiculous, but the boys were so disappointed . Anyway we are booked in here from tomorrow , for 3 nights. Can everyone keep their legs crossed and not chat too much until I'm back.

This morning I had breakfast in bed delivered by the boys, ds1 had made me a lovely spiral bound book with a picture he'd painted on the front - apparently for photos or recipes!! Ds2 had done a plaster plaque with his handprint on it. So sweet.

So the picnic we were going to have on the way we will eat on the balcony and we're going out for a meal tonight - so no cooking today.

Enough drivel from me, have a good day everyone

Dramaqueen - sorry to hear you had to go into hospital - have an easy day today, shame you had to put your guests off - maybe they could have come over with a takeaway?

upsidedowncake im not due till 16th of june but being induced in 2 - 3 weeks time! but i do feel achy a lot but i would not say it was contractions. im 35 weeks now,, this heat is killing me too dont know about everyone else.......

forgot to put i got a scan a week tuesday if the baby has grown a lot because my diabetes is playing up now then they might start me then im hoping so i cant take much more of the heat lol

Hi deb, that hotel looks gorgeous! Am .

I'm sure our guests would have happily brought takeaway but tbh DH was knackered after later night trip to hospital and they have an active toddler who we love to play with normally so it worked out best just to reschedule. Bought a trashy book yesterday for my mat leave so am going to park myself on the sofa with some chocolates for the afternoon .

Welcome Hjay - sounds like you have your head screwed on re family v partying!

Wonder how katyjo is gettin on?? How exciting!!!!

Hi Gemma - hope you get some relief soon, from the weather and pregnancy. I was certainly glad to get it all over and done with last week!! and now my babies are here I just can't get over how special it all is.

I have some good news... Theo did a poo! I know MW said it was normal for them not to poo but it was still nice to see his nappy this morning after nearly 2 days!

My milk has totally come in - DH says I look like Pamela Anderson (bear in mind I was a 34A before pregnancy!) and we had a good night - I got three hours sleep in total. It's amazing how little sleep your body needs! The babies are very content and so is their mum.

For all you seasoned mums out there - is there anything I can take apart from paracetemol for my stitches? They are so painful and paracetemol does the trick but you can only take eight in 24 hours and I need four to get me through the night.

My friend has recommended lavender oil in a bath - anyone know where I can get some?

Also, how often should I be changing their nappies? They don't fuss for a change so I've only been doing it four times a day or so - I forget! But I am sure that is not enough.

Wow a couple of days offline and there are pages and pages to catch up on! Firstly of course many congrats Neenz, v. exciting, fantastic photo!! and my ds didn't poo for the first few days till milk came in properly either. Have been rofl @ Rolf's garlic antics - visions of child emerging clutching a clove! Exciting to hear all the early labour signs too - sounds like katyjo might be next - or littlelamb or g43 or paro - this is fun! Hope you are doing OK paro if you're still able to read msgs.

Splodgesmum congrats on being signed off from consultant, I know how you feel, I was signed back to midwife at 34 weeks and it was lovely to be put back in that 'unproblematic' category!

Saw mw Friday, baby's head engaged (2/5 palp on my notes which I think means 3/5 engaged) - I'm 37 weeks now and i think 2nd babies engage nearer labour anyway so hopefully this one won't be 2 weeks late! I'd be quite happy if she came now. Have been having crampy pains low down in the evenings but not so much during the day. Got v. excited about it all being imminent on Friday, which is foolish - given my memories of waiting and waiting and waiting last time I had promised I wouldn't fixate on due date or anything - but really want this to happen now! Mw says position is 'perfect' and she thinks she is a good size but not huge so am holding out hopes for a slightly more pleasant time than last time - and last time had NO preparatory signs whatsoever so signs are a bit better now. But main thing is just that we are all OK at the end of it, of course.

Post-pregnancy joys: Feet: mine swelled enormously last time and ended up a size bigger forever, I had to get rid of ALl my shoes! So have lived in trainers ever since. Hoping not so bad this time, but urgently need to get some flipflops for pre / post birth as the trainers will not work for much longer in this heat and I have no other options! And I still looked pregnant for months afterwards last time so am not packing any maternity clothes away yet ...

Neenz - on a Sunday I'd try boots for lavender oil. Are you taking arnica tablets? I think they are recommended for quicker healing downstairs! I'm sure I had some other recommendations somewhere, will have a look and come back to you...

Neenz I'd change them as soon as you notice a poo, otherwise you're probably OK with every few hours if it's just wee. It's the combination of poo and ammonia that causes most nappy rash. Ds didn't fuss when he pooed and ended up with bad rash the first few days because I didn't notice - but newborn skin is v. sensitive anyway so a lot of them get a bit of nappy rash after a few days, doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong if they do.

I was initially told with ds 'change at each feed' but we were demand feeding a lot, so if I'd done that we'd have lived at the changing table the first few weeks! You'll soon get to know how sensitive their skin is and what sort of rhythm keeps you all happy. My mum changes nappies every time she notices any wetness at all but she's completely neurotic about hygiene .

Boots do lavender oil, most chemists would I would think. I used a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the bath for my stitches and that was great - also bathed 2 or 3 times a day (on midwife's insistence) and it was only once I started doing that consistently that they healed up. Was prescribed Voltarol (?sp) for them, as well as paracetamol which really helped - it's an anti-inflammatory. Check with your midwife first of course.

Sounds like you're doing great!!

Neenz other recommendations include tea tree oil or Epsom bath salts.

systemaddict I'm that feet can actually grow during pregnancy and not go back down again! Although, I'm a 5 1/2 so going to a 6 might be a bit easier when shoe shopping . Mine do keep swelling up but they are definitely more their normal size in the morning. I am going to go flip flop shopping later in the week when I'm feeling a bit more mobile though rather than risking stretching any of my favourite shoes.

Hello All

Neenz- you may find lavendar and also tea tree oil in supermarkets- they're quite common oils. I've heard the combintion works really well. And I'd second arnica for bruising. You can also buy gel pads that you cool in the freezer then put in you underwear to reduce swelling- from mothercare and various internet companies.

Deb- hope you have a lovely time in hotel- does it do a fanjo sauna??? Yours boys sound so sweet.

Hello HJay- I also love the name Edward

DQ- poor you after all that studying, hope you're feeling better soon. You're right about post-delivery belly. I took 1-size-bigger-than-normal jeans into hosp to come home in after DD1 and was shocked at how they only did up when standing and sucking belly in. Undid them as soon as we reached car. I'm taking my fave early preg jeans and a loose top this time!

HJay- I like your preg photo!