Due in June - Creme eggs are long gone and our own eggs have started to hatch. Who will be next?

[Upsidedowncake]

We are two down and have another 30-40 to go. Makecakes and Gemma have probably popped by now, then G43! It's all happening!!!!!

I had to take towels into hospital when in the UK, don't you Looney? (if you don't get your homebirth)

Talking about washing, I am being scarily efficient today, load number 3 has just gone in the maschine and second load out on line, while first load is on its way up to airing cupboard. Our tumble drier is broke at the moment (getting fixed next week) so will do towels later and take them to my mothers tomorrow

deb - didn't have to take towels in with ds 5 years ago (well, sure I didn't, if I did I've obviously forgotten). I'm just thinking about what I need in my hospital bag should I need to be there for the birth so maybe I ought to check on the towel situation?

As for my parents, they live 4 hours away and have my nan living with them who has dementia so I never expected them coming to be a possibility. Then a few months ago (some time after we were ok again after the fallout we had - you may remember mum read a thread about them on MN just after xmas), mum told me they were planning on coming down in their caravan etc. I was very pleased and surprised and since then we've played it by ear as to how nan is, as she'll be put in respite care for 2 weeks. We've talked about it several times since but not in detail as to location etc. as I didn't know it had changed. Anyway, they've obviously changed their plans now and I suppose with nan and limited respite (well, actually, they get a week off every 6 weeks), they feel it's hard to get away when they want to? They don't work though so it's not as hard as for others. Oh well, never mind, just feeling a bit lonely I suppose as once upon a time all the family were together and anything from 10-20 mins away. My parents moved away when ds was 3 months old (I had bad PND) and then bit by bit the family has disappeared.

Dh......I spoke to him (well, cried!). He said sorry and that he was just fed up with all the stuff that he'd been doing i.e. from coming home from work on Friday he'd emptied a lot of furniture from our bedroom and was at it til about 10/11pm then of course carpet was fitted yesterday morning and since he'd been filling bits of coving then putting furniture back in and fitting to the walls etc. I did remind him that I carried several boxes, bin bags, 2 bedside tables with 3 draws each etc. downstairs and put in the playroom. He said he knows and I shouldn't have in my condition etc. but thanked me. He's just fed up with doing all this housey stuff every weekend but he's the one who decided to start decorating our room a couple of months ago and it's not my fault it's all gone wrong! I was upset because he wouldn't even look at me last night, like he couldn't stand me. He's now saying he was just in a foul mood, that's all. I do hope that's all it was as we've had enough problems with our marriage over the last year or so and I thought we were ok now. What doesn't help is that although dh is almost 47, he's been hanging around a lot with a 25 year old lad at work who's all care free, no kids and lives on his own etc. and I think dh gets annoyed with our money concerns etc. and how we have to be careful but hey....that's married life with kids, he's NOT 25 and single FFS!!!

Sorry, what a LONG post!! Didn't mean to be all me, me, me

Off to sort some stuff in ds's room and then when dh can get to the pack, I'll build the new set of draws we got delivered on Friday (dh forgets I'm knackered and fed up too!! )

Catch you all later

Hi looneytune - not convinced they provide towels at the hospital, and if they do they'll probably be tiny thread-bare ones. Sorry to hear that you and DH not getting on so well btw - my DH and I went through something this a while ago.

We hadn't done anything 'fun' for ages and life seemed to revolve around work, watching tv at home, me studying and general baby stuff. We were both feeling a bit bored and frustrated with it all. We made some plans for pregnancy friendly 'us' time and that seemed to help. We've got some lovely days out planned over next few weeks too so we're really looking forward to that.

Have fun at the zoo whinegums - our pram arriving on Wed and I cant wait!

General query to you guys with guests houses etc - any top tips on ironing sheets (I guess you must have to do a lot of that unless you have some fancy machinery)? Ironing sheets is the bane of my life, and no matter how long I spend doing it they always end up looking crumpled still when I make the bed. I know some might say life is too short to iron bed linen, but even though I never tumble dry sheets etc they still look really really crumpled once they have been washed. I'm always jealous of folk who say that they stick to clothes that never need ironed too - no matter what I do, everything needs ironing!

Hi Guys- it's all sounding very last month- with aches and pains, bag packing and house-sorting and clothes not fitting or falling down.

I've been having food dreams- the fridge only had yellow food in it- parmesan, eggs and yellow pepper. (Whinegums - I'm sure you could do great things with that; I've printed off your list of freezer foods from prev thread...) Then a dream about going to a "broccoli spa" where everyone was given a head of broccoli to take in with them and as it cooked in the heat of the pools and stream rooms you could eat it... Woke v hungry.
Then, in RL, for breakfast, DD grabbed her Weetabix before I had the chance to pour milk on it and insisted on eating it dry.

Talking of food, can I join up with you Deb and DQ on the needing to loose weight front... But DQ- why all the ironing? We only iron DH's work shirts here and the occasional linen thing. I consider lying in bed to be equivalent to ironing the sheets!
BTW I didn't need to take towels into hosp- don't know if it varies form one to another. The staff were brilliant at clearing up all manner of ills.

Looney, I hope you and DH get some time away from the house stuff- even a little bit of time. There have been frayed tempers in the Pear-house as we are trying to do so much and we seem to spend all weekends putting furniture together, painting, moving stuff around as well as keeping DD out of trouble... Then last weekend I found a handyman in the Yellow Pages. He was a retired builder and only charged £10/ hour and has since done a couple of days work putting together furniture and finishing painting jobs. Money well spent.
I also planned a splash about in the local pool which really raised all of our spirits and made us feel like a unit again.

I hope your mum can make it to you when you go into labour- I'm having to rely on a friend being available to babysit DD. I have a short list of people who I need to ask if they wouldn't mind being woken up at 3am with the emergency call.. I have zero family this side of Brisbane(!) and I do feel nervous about asking people but I know I'd be there in a flash to help them out if they needed it.

Most of our clothes look too crumpled to me if they dont get ironed peartart - no matter what I buy/do I just never seem to have those 'dont need to be ironed clothes' .

Re: sheets/bed clothes - I just like them to look nice when I've tidied the bedrooms and put clean sheets on, and they come out of the wash very crumpled.

With regards to hospitals I think it really varies Trust to Trust what is provided. My local hospital doesn't seem to provide anything and I know other people get nappies, maternity pads etc.

Hi everyone!

I am still getting these bloody contractions, they were down to every six mins this morning and getting quite sore. I got all excited and jumped up to have shower and pack some clothes for ds, but they stopped still getting the odd one - so frustrating!!

G43 hope everything goes well tonight, very jealous you may get to meet your baby today/tom.

TGF Hope you're ok, I know how difficult it must be esp when you have gone to so much trouble to ensure a natural arrival for your lo. I hope lo will turn or ecv will work.

makecakes / gemma desperate for your news!!!

Re Towels , I went on my antenatal refresher the other day and you can use hospital towels but they are quite small and not very soft. I will use them anyway as I don't want to get blood all over my own towels, and I don't have enough room in the hospital bag!

I figure if I change my mind dh can always bring stuff in!

DQ - thanks for your post, you reminded me that only a few weeks ago we had a big heart to heart about all work and no play and how we need to make a big effort. We then went to Legoland which was ok but maybe not so good when this pregnant . That was a couple of weekends ago. Apart from that, we hadn't done anything for ages and ages. I've now spoken to dh and we're going to do something as a family one day next weekend which will be something to look forward to As for ironing, we also only iron dh's shirts and on the odd occasion I iron something because going somewhere special or whatever. As long as you hang up as soon as things are washed and let them dry, they rarely NEED ironing - it just depends on how you look at them

PearTart - lol at your dream. I had a weird dream which at some point had me standing up doing a wee (which I admit I've had to start doing as feel desperate yet baby is stopping it coming out when sitting, sorry TMI) and I've just remembered that I had my first dream with baby being here. Don't remember the birth or anything, just having his first breast feed and it was perfect (unlike with ds where I had hospital staff grabbing my nipple and shoving it in ds's mouth ) As for your handyman, sounds like money well spent. Just wish we had some to spare but we're actually in desperate need of getting a loan to pay off the overdraft and 2 credit cards and having big problems. We're worried about when I'm on Maternity Leave and hardly getting anything for the 12 weeks I'm off. Anyway, I know what you mean about tempers etc. so I think you definitely did the right thing. Pleased you had a nice time splashing about, it's important to remember to have fun at times isn't it!

Well, back to building the unit. I cleared ds's room first and then decided to make us all sausage sarnies as I couldn't get the idea out of my head thanks to Sophie earlier They were yum and now it's time to get back to it. I have to have this house looking normal again for tomorrow morning when mindees are back!

Katyjo - how annoying these contractions are!! Not fair that you keep having to go through all that. Have you been checked by midwife? Are they making you dilate at all?

Really am off now, be back later x

Glad to be of help looneytune - I hope you enjoy your family day out. Re: ironing - there's no way that DH would get freshly ironed shirts while I went off to work in something I felt was still crumpled . It's just a personal preference though and I do like most things freshly ironed! I just wish I knew of an easier way to iron sheets .

katyjo - very exciting on the contractions front, keep us posted.

Right I need to go get ready for arrival of guests!

Hi all,

PP, sounds totally hellish. I'd really really hate to have such crap from neighbours ( have had neighbour problems before and it was miserable but nothing on your scale) really hope you get out of there asap.

loony, sorry about your parents and your dh being all flakey and hormoanal (spelling mistake intentional). Not what you need right now.

Deb, it's raining here too, but at least it's a couple of degrees cooler.

YOu know I said about my itchy belly button yesterday? Well, it's just as bad/even worse today, and this morning I had a rash around my belly button, which has now spread all over my bump. It is so painfully itchy. I've never had this before. Anyone else got it, or do I have to go to the docs? I swear, I've never been so itchy in my life

no take aways really in ch.

we had an indian last night and it was a bit weird tbh. The bloke who delivered it asked where we were from though and said next time we order, to tell them we're English and they'll make it different for us. (?)

DH - birthday - was thinking of digital radio, but they looked a bit crap, so then thought of internet radio, but we've got a few places where the wilan doesn't work, he likes gadgets and cycling,but can't get him a new bike, too personal, so totally stumped, and it's tomorrow. Ideas anyone? Hopeful.

hi all -not been on for a few days and things certainly more quickly.

katyjo how frustrating - keeping fingers crossed for you that lo hatches soon.

am sort of admiring of dq -is source of amusement/irritation to Dh that I'm oblivious to being house proud in any way and that includes ironing so he is prepared to pay to get it done (just as well as will be in for a long wait for me to do it..esp when baby arrives)

Hadnt thought about towels etc but quite timely as today I WILL pack my hospital bag - dh has just pointed out that now at same point that dss was born and not packing it is not a failsafe way of making sure she doesn't arrive til I want to...

Only 3 more days in work... can' wait..

Also feel bit for not keeping up but have I missed any more new arrivals apart from neenz and potential imminent new arrivals for G43 and katyjo...

katyjo Hope something happens for you soon! I'm also getting some contractions but they keep stopping. Fingers crossed I will be induced very soon.

Ernest That sound really painful, would definatley get it checked out. WOnder what the differnce in the food is for english people

Looney Glad you are feeling better. I am really snappy at the moment and hope it goes once the baby comes.

All ready to go to the hospital, hoping I'll be back by friday with baby news!!!

Gosh this moves quickly! Sorry to hear your news greenfairy, you were so well-prepared for the hb. Sending you spinning vibes - you never know! I am sure you and baby will be fine whatever happens, and I have had lots of good reports from friends who've had cs for various reasons, but I do think your RL friends should still be more understanding about how you are feeling right now as you deal with your disappointment and come to terms with the new situation.

Whoever it was who was asking about washing baby clothes, I did all ds' in Fairy non-bio (being good) and then it turned out he was allergic to it so had to do them all again once we got him home! I have now washed all the new ones in ds' dermatological stuff, in case this new baby is the same - but really, you can't tell in advance what they might react to so I could just as well have left them. Tip: if at all unsure of baby's size I'd take a range of sizes of baby clothes into hospital, at least one outfit bigger / smaller than newborn. At 9 lb 15 ds did not fit into anything I had brought in for him and dp had to make an emergency trip to Boots!

looneytune sorry to hear about your parents. I had similar with my mum. We talked about when it would be best for her to come, and agreed I would need most help 2 weeks after the birth, when dp goes back to work after paternity leave. The very next phonecall she announced she had arranged to have family visitors for the second 2 weeks in June - those exact 2 weeks when I'd said she would be most needed, if baby comes around due date. And of course she will be preparing for and clearing up after the visitors for a while too, not to mention catching up at work. It had taken a lot for me to say I might need her - things are a bit complicated - so it felt like a real kick in the teeth. I have come to terms with it now, and we are back to the normal state of affairs, which is not assuming any support from her, which feels much safer than risking being vulnerable with her. But it did make me feel that there was no-one 'grown-up' left to look after me (which is silly at the age of 35 but ...).

Since then, though, dp's mum has quietly booked 2 weeks of her (limited) annual leave around my due date and just let us know she's there for us that whole time should we need her, without imposing herself. A lovely thing to do, which made me feel all safe again, so I shouldn't complain.

Oh and I don't iron clothes or shirts, let alone sheets .

Hello all

Feeling very clean and tidy now LO can come whenshe wants too!!! legs, nails and ladygarden all done thanks to DP!!!!!!

Now off to make a cake with DP help as really fancy apple cake for tea and have friends coming round for "merienda"

Have scanned posts from today so hope havent missed anything

Hugs to anyone feeling down

Oh and i dont iron anything!!if it comes out of cupboard creased then it gets ironed before you put it on and sheets eventually decrease themselves!!!!!!!!

The only things I iron are school uniforms and dh's work shirts - my mum irons everything, including her underwear!

Ernest, that itchy rash sounds awful. I would definitely get it checked out as I think they get suspicious of pg ladies being overly itchy around this time.

I must, must pack a hospital bag. I keep putting it off and thinking I have ages but it is only 4 weeks today so it is definitely on the agenda for next week.

We have a steam press iron for our sheets and pillowcases, makes life easier and quicker. Only iron anything else if we are going out somewhere.

My poor washing machine is being very good today as load number 7 is just about to go on.

I agree that you should get rash checked out Ernest. Bit stumped re: ideas for bday present though.

I promise I dont iron underwear. Or towels for that matter.

Am feeling stuffed after Sunday lunch with friends so off to put feet up. Didn't really enjoy my small glass of wine due to heartburn. Am looking forward to one day being able to entertain and have a couple of glasses of wine. I know it'll be a while though...

I'd get the rash checked out Ernest

Get thee to a Doctor young lady

Oops, turned my back on the thread (for a lovely weekend with DH who has now gone back and will have a 6 hour journey on the train ) and missed a whole new thread! Ooh, where to start...

Essie's household hints
I washed all my little babygros but like DQ, because they look cute. I also fold and unfold them. Daily. I'm such a weirdo...
No top tips on the ironing, and was flicking really quickly though the thread to see if anyone had anything genius. My lovely 'crisp cotton' duvet cover is kingsize - but tends to be more crunched cotton. But it doesn't fit on my ironing board, even folded in half! Grr.
Who was it with the towels? I've just discovered colour catchers. They're great for colour incidents - I've had a few recently - and rather humorously, the advert shows a pregnant woman putting a mixed load (with colour catcher!) in her machine. Must be a hormone thing.

Today, MW came and for the first time since before easter, no protein in the urine! Halleluiah! We did a birth plan, but this is bizarre - I've stopped feeling pregnant. I'm actually feeling quite good and haven't been sick for a week now, but this is so strange. I keep waking up in the night and panicking because I notice my bump: I don't expect it to be there! I've also stopped thinking in terms of having a baby - I was looking forward so much (and worrying loads) but suddenly it's as if it won't happen. No idea why. I feel like I'm on this thread as a spectator and not a participant! Anyhow, fingers crossed because I don't want to go overdue, and my bump has dropped (I had a wine glass cup-of-tea shelf under my boobs and it's gone!) and I'm in the loo every 15 minutes (and when I've just been, I need to go again...). So maybe he's getting ready? Anyone know about these things?
Doing the tea from the herbalist (it's called 'womb tea' and is ok, if a little grassy) and also taking a tincture. I so do not want to go overdue!

Hi again, zoo was good fun, weather better than we'd hoped. Have to admit it was almost as much fun watching some of the other people in there as much as the animals... Was quite horrified at how one 'father' was treating a toddler - had his face in his and shouting at him for crying! FGS! Anyway, nice day out, but my back was killing me by the end!

Towel dilemma - I'm going to use the hospital ones for all the messy bits, and will take a hand towel or two for face/hair.

Looney, sorry to hear about your folks as well. My mum will not come up to see us - she relied on my dad for everything, and he died a couple of years ago - so she will not do anything like get a train by herself! No independence! DP did volunteer to go and get her, but it's 3.5 hrs each way, and not really fair on him - and I don't want him spending the best part of 2 days of his paternity leave ferrying my mum around. Also, in two minds about having her staying with us anyway at that time - we don't have a massive house! - think it might be a bit of headf* with three adults and a newborn after all.

Ernest, get your itching checked - if it's harmless, I'm sure your doc can give you something to cool it down.

Can't be doing with ironing either - love crisply laundered sheets, but not enough to do them myself! Might treat myself to sending a load of stuff off to be ironed when monster arrives though!

Pear Tart, love your crazy yellow food/brocolli dreams!!! What on earth were they about!

Last week at work starts tomorrow! Hurrah!!!

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your support yesterday re DS's chicken pox and my going-out dilemma. DS is covered in spots and looks DREADFUL. Every few hours he has a crying jag (most unlike him!) but other than that, is pretty cheery. DH is taking tomorrow off and because I'm working at home, I've been able to do enough hours this and last weekend to justify taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, so hopefully his spots will have scabbed over by Thursday and then he can go back to nusery.

Ernest, I would definitely get the rash checked out. Re presents, with his birthday money, DH bought himself a Pure DAB/ Cd-player which also accepts memory sticks and he loves it. It doesn't look brilliantly swish, but it is chrome-coloured and is a proper and rather useful gadget!

LOL ironing all of you.

DQ, Deb, thinking about asking if I can join your weight loss thing, but I just got so hungry breastfeeding last time, it would have been pointless. What are your experiences?

Peartart, DS sometimes insists on eating his weetabix dry too. I don't get it at all ... plus weetabix crumbs get everywhere and our mouse gets a special crunchy treat! I've taken to giving DS a tiny milk jug with exactly the right amount of milk for him to pour himself, which seems to be working!

Looney, sorry to hear about your parents. You must be a bit disappointed as I'm sure it would have been lovely to have had your mum there.Presumably you have masses of childcare with the childminder network!!!!?

Paro, lucky you with your DP. I'm not sure too many Brits (or Yanks in my case) would manicure the lady garden. Is it because he's Dutch? How was your merienda?

Systemsaddict sorry about your mu, but so glad that you have a lovely mother of DP. She sounds very kind and tactful. My MIL is coming over from the States for a month, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Katyjo. very frustrating about the contractions. Can't remember if you have children already and or when you are due?

This weekend, I have just started having runs of contractions too - at 35 weeks. Last time, I didn't feel them until 39 weeks (and then DS was induced at 42 weeks), so am not sure if the reason I'm feeling them is I know what they are now, or if everything is just on an earlier schedule IYKWIM! The head is not engaged yet, though I know that second babies engage later. What do others think?

G43, good luck and hugs, though I imagine yuo've left by now.

Where are Makecakes and Gemma?????

UDC - hope your poor DS is feeling better. My DD was exposed to chicken pox a couple of weeks ago and I was hoping that if she got it, it would all be over with before the baby arrives. My FiL (a doctor) said that the baby will have my immunity for a good number of months so would be fine.

PP your neighbours sound awful.

Ernest - happy birthday! Are you itchy on your palms or the soles of your feet? When my midwife saw all the scratches on my tummy she did some liver function tests (which I assume were negative as I haven't heard back).

Neenz - I'm impressed at your weight loss.

I'm definitely on for helping each other with healthy eating etc after the babies are here. It's so easy to get into the habit of eating crap because you're tired.

We've been emptying the attic and our house is such a mess. Next week we have to finish it off, get DH off to storage with lots of boxes, collect the pram from storage, order baby mattresses, get everything ready for the in-laws coming on Sunday...The baby simply CANNOT arrive before then as I will be without doula and in-laws!

I had some really strong contractions today. Actually it was one big one, like a really severe period pain at the bottom of my bump and lower back, that lasted for about an hour. I was able to walk and talk in a slightly spacey way but was doing leaning over groans as well. The baby went very quiet for most of the day too, which freaked me out (both on its own account and becuae I think babies are typically quieter when labour is imminent?)