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?!?!?!?!

Thanks for P&T ref Abeerdeen, will look them up.

Tick sounds really grim, Ernest.

DD has had calpol here too! It's a last resort but we had such a crap day y-day; I'm pretty sure it's all down to teething. It's like nothing in the world is right. Poor babe.

I saw that programme about Teenage Mums too. I thought she was amazingly mature for 13, and all four of the generations of women in that family had an amazing relationship. I couldn't believe Great-grandma sitting there on the sofa (together withe rest of the street and the TV cameras!)

Gemma, glad you slept better.

Neenz, LOL your DH. How was your night?

Aberdeen, exciting re false labour! When do you finish work? I've got another three weeks.

Lorettah, I haven't packed my hospital bags either - not due till 22 June, and figure I should do it on maternity leave. Also I feel that if I don't do it, the baby may come early - rather that the two weeks' late that I'm expecting!

ernest, sorry about your panic attacks. I would have had them before now if I'd had to manage your workload. Wow, all those doctors. Sorry your DS isn't well.

Sophie, I always enjoy your sheep stories. It's a world away from the rest of us, and fab for that!

G43, what have I missed about TV commercial? Are you a model mummy?

Rolf, LOL your DH. How many kids os he planning on having?

Morning all-

just catching up with all your news and making the mnost of the last couple of days before baby cakes arrives (keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't take three days and a c-section!). Have just had breakfast in the bath....is that decadence or clever time management??

morning all, sounds like most people had a better night's sleep hoorah, I was woken up at 12.30 by DH arriving back from Sweden, although pleased to see him, I wasn't too keen to give him back his pillows which I had acquired!

Gemma glad you are feeling welcome hope you don't get a mid morning slump after your early start.

Deb you're on holiday - can't believe you couldn't stay away from us!

About the bag packing thing, a friend of mine with 3 children advised me not to bother and to do it in the early stages of labour to keep myself busy. Any thoughts?

makecakes it's clever time management if you washed up the dishes in the bath after...

Upsidedowncake - I finish work next Thursday at 38 weeks - and it can't come soon enough! This pregnancy is much harder than my first - but I think it's because taking care of DS is such hard work.

LauraT - I packed my bag last time when I was in labour - or at least my DH ran around trying desparately to find things while I gave instructions. We had tons of time and it did keep us busy. But have a list ready and things you need washed...

Hi. Who is in Birmingham? Gemma?

Just been sent a discount voucher for the Baby Show in Birmingham 16-18 May. Visit www.babyshow.co.uk and quote BS31 for discount.

Sadly, I'm in London.

LauraT - I'd say for 90% of people packing hospital bag in early stages (or getting dp to do it) would be fine and a good distraction - but if you end up with a precipitate labour you might be pleased to have it all ready! My SIL had her first baby on the bedroom floor, with a house full of builders and no windows in the house - don't panic people, this is very unusual - but I think she was glad her bag was packed and ready!!

upsidedowncake im on the outside of birmingham but i never go because its a embarrasment!

lauraT thanks i should not of got up so early though i went back to bed at 8 untill now haha!

peartart i woke the other morning with cramp in my legs and spent the day walking around like a nan not a mom to be!

Hi everyone. I had leg cramps this morning - agony! And monster was kicking like mad from about 9 last night and barely stopped. Doesn't bode well for when he's out does it?!

Didn't see the Teenage Mums doc, but can't imagine what it would be like having a huge audience in the living room!

I think I'm going to leave bag packing for when I'm on mat leave. I've got everything, so if it came to it, I could throw it all together, but actually putting a bag together now just seems - well, so final really. Can you tell I'm still in denial....

I am SO impatient to have this baby now and so annoyed with myself - I promised myself I wouldn't do this again, I hated those endless weeks of will-it-be-today last time and was determined to be completely relaxed about it this time. But I'm already trying to find weeks-of-gestation stats online and trying to work out what my chances are of her coming this week!

The silly thing is that I feel completely well (in many ways better than I have done previously - the SPD has eased a lot since her head engaged), I'm still at work till Friday (and have enough work to keep me going after that too), and the later she leaves it the easier child care for ds will be as my friends' teaching loads ease off. Plus dp can practice taking ds in to nursery with my help and we can get all ready calmly. And the house could really do with a few days of nesting attention.

But all this rational stuff is just not going in. I'm getting obsessive over every slight twinge now and really really want this to happen soon. Need to talk sense to myself!! I think the combination of getting to 37 weeks on Saturday and hearing her head was engaged on Friday just took me into a different headspace ...

systemsaddict - i know what you mean! I'm a bit further away than you (37 weeks Thursday) but I keep imaginging the baby might come next week - which it wont. It's not even that I am so eager to have this baby, it's just the not knowing when that's bugging me.

I know what you mean too - particularly as last time, I never went into natural labour, and was induced.

Ernest is having an elective C-section. Does it make it better to know WHEN the baby is coming or is it rather strange?

Yes that's at the heart of it, isn't it? The rest of my life is always Planned, I am not great with this unpredictable stuff!!

Morning all

All the talk of hospital bags last week made me get my act together and my 'just in case' bag (if HB doesn't go to plan and need to transfer) is done apart from last minute stuff (camera, mat notes, food etc).

Just need to wash old sheets am planning to use on old futon for delivery if I do stay home and don't birth in pool.
I asked DH to pack a bag and he said 'I don't need anything'. Have demanded a t-shirt, boxers and socks from him but no sign yet. Tempted to pack his oldest, grottiest (including shorts with giant hole in groin), just to make a point as he always does this when we go away to friends/ hols and then moans he hasn't got toothbrush/ shoes etc etc.

Didn't watch the teen mums prog but DH's grandmother called first thing this morning to tell me all about it!
She wanted to know if DM is coming in the pool with me (like the girl in the film) and when I said DM is not coming within 100 yards while I birth she offered to come over and get in the pool with me instead
I said thanks, but no thanks . When I told her if anyone was getting in it would be DH I then got the 'the pool won't be big enough' lecture.
Explained I've got an XL pool (DH 6ft3, me 5ft10) which seemed to satisfy her but am actually relieved she saw the show as when we first said we're having a HWB she was a bit cynical.

Right, off to finish building my new bike shed. Numb hands seem a bit better today and am enjoying being outside and active after being cooped up in our old flat for so long. May also paint a couple of walls if I don't get too tired.

Can't remember who said their SIL birthed in bedroom with builders in the house, but we've got plasterer scheduled for living room next week (am 37 wks next Wed) so may have to turf them out if the action starts early!

MW visiting for 'home check' and birth plan writing on Thursday so need to get my act together - may just nick Neenz' which I thought was excellent.

Written a novel as usual - nothing changes! Hope you're all well.

ds is managing with the calpol, thank goodness - went and bought my 1st baby things this morning - a new matress and a sun shield thing for the push chair. so 2 things bought.

I am terrified of going into labour, as a. I'm planning a c-section, b. I'm not booked into a hospital yet, and c. I do not know a single person here, and am really dreading going into labour in the middle of the night and having to wake up my 3 boys and bring them with me, or leave dh here and have to give birth on my own. Praying I make it to at least the booking in (which I hope is on Friday), and to the scheduled date.

but for every other normal person, I understand why you want it over with, and hope the end is nigh for you

I'd suggest pack bags now (says she who hasn't yet).

You just don't know how quick it's going to go. If you need to keep yourself occupied during labour, you can pack a different bag for a mythical holiday, clean the windows, hoover, pluck your (dh's) leg hairs out one by one etc etc

Yes me too UDcake. I keep feeling twinges and thinking, is this like when the induction started working last time, or is it just late pregnancy? And would I know labour starting if it happened anyway?

My mum was 2 weeks late with both me and my brother, and I'm not accepting induction this time just for going overdue, so really I need to stop thinking like this, I might be looking at another 5 weeks or so - argh!!! Helps to whinge and know I'm not alone, though!

greenfairy lol at your grandmother offering to come into the pool with you.

SA feeling exactley the same as you, I don't remember being this impatient the other times.

Upsidedowncake I am a shamefull mummy model, well mummy of a model unless someone is looking for a jabba the hut look-a-like!! I managed to watch about 30 mins of this morning beofre getting restless and not being able to take it, so I called the production company to find out when it will be on - hopefully they will send a list of times.

Got my baby shower on Sunday which has taken loads of meticulous planning by my sister but was planning on trying out a 'week 36 conjugal' tomorrow with the other half in the hopes that it would speed things up. My friend says this is not wise as I'm already partially engaged (find out at MW app tomorrow how much more he's moved down)with a huge baby and have had weird pink discharge which I think is also a good sign - should I wait? My poor other half has been looking forard to it for ages as we've not exactly been rampant tee hee!! But I don't want to miss my baby shower either. Probably a very silly question as 36 weeks is not even term but the baby is already estimated at 8 pounds and if he comes out at term he'll be 10 pounds (supposedly). Best to wait?

lol at Greenfairy's grandmother!

Hope your DS and cat improve Ernest.

UDC - the silly thing is that my DH doesn't want any more children. If I was younger and he was keen, I'd have more, but generaly I think 4 will be lovely (I hope!) - so I don't know where he was coming form really. We are totally hopeless about contraception (never found anything that really suits us so use horrid condoms which are too easy to "forget") so if we are both feeling ambivalent about it at the same time maybe we'll end up with more - we'll see. Gosh that's a lot of personal information isn't it

I am sitting here with my belly hanging out so I can scratch it. The Father Jack phase continues unabated . The midwife is organising LFTs for me as my palms are itchy too and my tummy is covered in scratches. Sure it's all ok though.

Hospital bags - I think packing them in advance of labour is probably a good idea (haven't packed mine though!). You don't know if that's what you'll feel like doing in early labour and if your labour starts with your waters breaking and straight into hard contractions, or the waters have meconium in them, you won't want to be faffing around getting a bag ready.

I'm not sure if my crappy Primark nighties shrunk in the wash or if they are really supposed to barely cover my bum. They are definitely not suitable for wearing around corridors though!

I'm really glad I packed hosp bag ahead of first labour as it came on v quickly and strongly- couldn't have managed packing a bag during it. I was also v sick (vomited a lot) so that wouldn't have helped either.

Love the images of "pool parties" with a difference and walking like your nan...

Rolf- I am so Father Jack!!!

Hello all,

Can't even begin to answer all those lovely posts so a quick clock in from me!
I spent my last week in London (we're bi-locational, sort of) last week, and I'm now back in lovely Anglesey and in love with life because it's so pretty and sunny here! So it's just waiting for the baby to come now. I sort of want him (it's a boy!) to come today, and although I'm terrified of labour and hoping for an epidural at, like, 38 weeks (keep it topped up, eh!) I'm also thinking bring it on!!
Feet are huge by the evening, like a massive fat bird from ten ton mum.
And also went SHOPPING!! H&M, bought lots of breastfeeding tops. Let's hope the bf works out or I'll have to be a stripper with my peep hole tops.

Hospital bag kind of packed, kind of not. But going to do gardening now!

Reading all your messages and wishing I had taken my maternity a week earlier (finish on Friday), as I want to be at home eating ice lollies & nesting - my house is still a mess and the builders haven't vacated yet - they promised to be out last Friday!!

Also on Saturday had the bloody plumber walk in on my whilst in the shower - to be honest I nearly had a cry but then I saw the funny side of it.... he walked in on a big fat pregnant lady who is a cross between a beached whale & zebra (stretch marks terrible despite lots of bio oil - must have bad genes!)

Guys- don't be terrified of labour. It's f**cking painful but it doesn't last forever and there's a great prize at the end!

Whatever happens in birth there is a beginning, a middle and an end. And when you get to the end you kind of forget the middle bit.

I'm not scared for 2nd birth, even though it was v painful etc and I vomited loads, because the happiness that follows and the good times with our little peach is so worth it.

LOL at greenfairy's MIL!!

I can't believe that this time last week I was in labour and getting ready to meet my perfect babies!!

I am really feeling for all you still waiting to meet yours and going through the ills of late pregnancy. My two are sleeping soundly - they slept pretty much all day yesterday, only waking every three hours for 10 mins feed... until we got to 10pm when they fed constantly (either one or the other, not both together) until 3am!!

I think maybe my milk was a bit down because I was very tired - we'd been on a very exciting first outing. Perhaps they kept on sucking and sucking but didn't get anything good until the early hours, which apparently is when your milk supply replenishes (says my MW).

We'd been back to the hospital to hand in the weekly car park pass and to see our consultant to say thanks for making the twins' birth so amazing.

We took the twins in the pram and everyone was stopping us and having a good look - it was very special. I also BF in public for the first time - in the hospital restaurant. It was very quiet and I sat in a corner with my back to the rest of the room and it went fine. I am loving motherhood (can you tell?!)

Anyway the twins slept quite well after 3am and I feel good again, very rested.

Come on everyone, get popping those babies out!!! How is everyone elso today?