Due July 2008 thread - The Final Stretch!

[LikerabbitsBX]

Just thought I would start a new thread! x

Congratulations to your sister pigley

Thanks isaidno - mine are not that low so will definately check again with consultant.

Meant to say gilly thats is a hard one but if ultimately you would be happier back home then thats the most important thing.

Gilly I sort of know how you feel...I am desperate to go closer to home (family in Australia) especially now I have a family. I have stuck it our for DH's job but to be honest I am now starting to resent it and he can see how hard it is for me without family. We have finally agreed to start putting in actions to leave - selling house etc. It will effect you and your children more than him, but ultimately if you are all happy I am sure he will be also...after all why work hard if not for your family?

One of he hardest things for me was the childcare and not having a back up. I remember being stuck on a train for 3 hours and not being able to get to DD. With 2 children it is now going to be sooo expensive and difficult not having close friends or family is an issue particularly for me if I want to continue my career. I can definitely go back to work, but if I want to progress and work full time in the future I can not see that happening.

Dh agrees that if I am happy he is and jobs come and go but family is family. I would definitely recommend moving sooner rather than later - you will get the chance to meet more mums with younger children on top of your family and friends. I find it harder now to meet people now DD is older and have felt especially isolated since becoming a SAHM.

Above all I am very sad that my DD does not know her family that well. She does not realy know my parents and I am sad that my oldest and dearest friends don't know her. I so wish we were closer as I know they could each give one another a lot of joy.

Very hard decision, but I think in your situation you need to look longer term. Good luck! Hope my ramblings help...

clic i am a SAHM to any family i have is in the states not here
here there is only me my DH and DC yes i know isolation
i was a english teacher well i still am but i no longer work due to my DH work commitments he is only home weekends
amazingly hes coming home tonight and that is so rare but we are looking forward to it
the children dont see him much
its not ideal but the only way we can afford to live on 1 wage
i get terrible homesickness especially now
i agree its a hard decision to make to
but you have to weigh everything up and see what best for everyone

wow you lot certainly can chat

Had MW appointment today, all is well, my iron is 12.6 for comparison (I take Sanatogen Preg Multivits plus iron as I am veggie) everything else fine she said I don't think I am on for a 9lber this time but I said no offence last time I was told 7 1/2lbs. She's booked me in for a HB visit to see if the house is suitable and stressed again about the DDs being looked after by another adult. What else? Only thing she is worried about is the SPD getting worse. She was a bit funny about me taking Zantac as well asked me to ask GP to prescibe it. Have to book another visit for 4 weeks that seems really long at this stage considering 37-42 is considered term.

gilly - we had the same decision to make as you a few years back, we lived in central London when DD1 was born and I planned to go back to work when DD1 was 6 months then extended it to 12. DP had changed careers and was just starting out at a bank in London. We couldn't afford to buy anything in London so were looking at a fair old commute and cost, childcare was going to cost us a bomb as well, after DD1 was born we decided that me working away from DD1 for 13 hours a day plus the childcare was too much. We are both from Scotland and the bank DP worked for has it's HQ in Edinburgh so we decided to move back. We bought a lovely house for less than we sold our flat for and thats enabled us to live on one wage. DP's career has gone strength to strength and he's doing really well now. The only thing thats suffered is my career in that I don't have one now and won't get a job in my field up here so it's retraining for me eventually but something had to give. I have never regretted it though even though my family are completely useless in terms of support I may be at the other side of the country.

CliC - sorry to hear your SPD is getting worse I also know saying it won't be long doesn't help but try to mentally cross off each day as one less to suffer IYSWIM

pigley - congrats to your sister

Tjuice - oh hope your not too stressed v excited for you

Rumpel - I was lol at "they gave me wee samples for my hospital bag" I thought at first you meant urine samples (think I was in England too long and forget sometimes wee means small). Glad you had a lovely day, I bought some tiny babygros today (I only have 3 newborn ones in case she's tiny and 5 little vests)

twinkle - great to hear from you and that the LOs are hanging on in there still

hello to everyone else need to stop typing now DDs are in garden doing who knows what

disneystar I used to be an english teacher too! After working in a school in Tower Hamlets and getting stabbed (only minor wound but enough to scare the bejeevies out of me) I gave it up to work in HR and Training. Would love to go back to it oneday... I think I would be so much better now I am a mum.
Do you have any family coming to help out from the States?
Congrats Pigley...lots of celebrating in your family!
All the best Twinkle!
Zantac are fine in pregnancy sweetkitty. You can always get them in a pharmacy without a prescription if you become desperate! They are not that expensive and worth their weight in gold to me!

I have now become addicted to computer games (yes I know it only took a couple of hours but I have no life at the moment!!!).

Have a good night everyone!

Congrats to your sister Pigley!

SK- I have MW this morning too, my iron is 11.2 so been told to watch what I'm eating to keep it above 11! Everything else fine and she is still head down...hoorah!

Having a very slow day at work...hence why I have been able to sneak online!

Oooh and the new buggy/travel system has been delivered to DH's office so am going to play with that tonight, very excited!

CliC - I did a bit of research on the net and found Zantac were safe in pregnancy and have been buying them myself, I only take them when I'm really bad but they are really good and one tablet lasts a day compared to gulping down a tonne of Gaviscon.

bebejones - my little girl is head down as well with her bum in the air, MW said she's not completely OP but was lying to one side but she moves so much.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I'm just so unsure about the prospect of interesting and challenging work for him in the industry outside London but I've put the feelers out today with friends and hope to get some idea of salary and rent etc. I think as mums we do need our families a little more, it will help our relationship too if we're able to get time together. Thanks again.

what a busy day ive had today... been here there and everywhere.

Just been to a friends who has given me her daughters car seat. Not a baby one, the next one up, facing forward kind.
Does all sorts of fab things and is practically brand new so saves us at least £100.

Seen the midwife this afternoon. Blood pressure is high so been told to slow down and i have to see her again next week. She says Baby is big.. according to my last scan it has a big head and long legs!

Catching up now.....

Tjuice- Hope all the plans are going smoothly.... Have a FAB day tomorrow! Enjoy every minue of it as the day goes sooo quickly!

Twinkle- glad the twins are hanging on.

Clic- My husband is another IT nerd... think we have every games console possible!
oh and 3 laptops plus his superduper top of the range desktop... Theres only the 2 of us!

Gilly- Sorry to hear about your dilema..Maybe have a look into what Jobs DH could get up there, might be able to get near the same money?

Rumpel- My weight has stablised at the mo... just nudging the stone mark now.

Thanks for all the well wishes and congrats for my sis... will pass them on
Dying to see them both but think ill wait till the weekend. Seems she going to be in hospital for a few days and im sure the new grandparents wount let me have a look in anyway!
Had a dream last night that i went to hospital to see them and seeing all the newborns made my waters break and i ended up having mine there and then and was in the bed next to my sister!

Ive been told im slightly anemic too but i dont know what the levels were.. Doctor said if i felt well then not to worry so im guessing they arent too bad.

RUMPEL I want to do zoology and work in animal conservation either in a zoo wildlife park or alike or with British wildlife before I got pregnant I would have loved to spend a year or to in Madagascar

TJuice Enjoy your big day. Congratulations!

Heffa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha about getting emotional when another nation declared war on you! Rofl x lots at that! If you can't get a bit upset when international warfare is threatened then when can you

Will read rest of posts now!

Wow, I haven't looked on here for about a week and not only is there a new thread but it's already 18 pages long! I am impressed.

Had a scan this week (32 weeks) to check on the position of the placenta and it is now well out of the way. I said to the sonographer 'Oh good, because we're planning a home birth' and she replied 'Rather you than me!!!' somewhat unhelpfully I thought, as a medical professional and all .

I did ask her to check the sex again but the umbilical cord was right between her(?) legs so no luck there! Will have to wait and see for definite.

SPD not really any worse but I feel like I am slowing down each and every week, everything just seems that bit harder. Week before last was 'wooo hoo, final stretch', this week is '8 weeks??!! Of this??!!'. Let's hope next week is a good one... only (ha!) 4 weeks of work left. However I have no idea how I'm going to cope with giant (2 stone-odd) toddler when I am 40 weeks...hmmm!

Hope everyone doing ok

Hi again,

PIGLEY congrats to your sis on Tiffany's birth . about the big head! Hope you are stretchy

Plumber not arrived - called to say he would be late arggg

KAZ you could move up here - we have Blair Drummond safari park on the doorstep - not that we've been as yet. What is your favourite animal? I adore Bengal tigers especially white ones. Was lucky enough to go to Singapore a few years ago - we got enagaged there and the zoo there is fabulous.
I am not usually a fan of zoos but there all the animals are llowed to roam and kept in with moats rather than cages. It was amazing.

SWEETKITTY - small samples I washed all the teeny tiny totie things yesterday - had to buy Amber premmie stuff after she was born as she lost so much weight - so cute.

I just had a telephone call from a girl in Saltcoats who I was best friends with 14 years ago! It was so nice to hear from her. She was such a good friend but we drifted apart - you know how your life changes and thus so do your friends.

Anyway must go settle DD and see Dh - still no plumber!!

TJuice I hope tomorrow is fabulous. Wishing you much happiness.

RUMPEL I know what you mean about big animals in confined spaces. Bristol zoo where I know now and should have been a volunteer had I not got this little one about to arrive specialised more in the smaller animals which for me is far kinder than having lots of large animals shut up in cages although they still have a few but they breed so cannot be that upset because first thing that happens when animals are stressed is they stop breading. The going to miss 3 things when I move from here to Lincs the zoo, college and friends. There does not appear to be a single zoo or wildlife park near Boston there is a wildlife reserve for coastal species up near Skeg though

Favourite animal is difficult I love primates, I have a thing about small mammal like prairie dogs and meerkats but also find frogs, and lizards and beetles fascinating.

Rumpel - I always think the tigers at Blair Drummond loo really sad pacing up and down their enclosure. Last time I was there the lions did not look sad, DD1 "Mummy what are those lions doing why is one jumping on the other ones back are they fighting?" "erm they are just playing DD1"

I love giraffes I think they are just so odd looking.

sweetkitty rofl the lions at Bristol were errmmm playing in the middle of the lion talk at the begin of the year. The male tapir got rather excited the other day too and a little girl was heard "Daddy is that his tail"

hi everyone have tried to skim through the last hundred or so posts!!!

mummywannabe hope everything goes well for you with your essays and your exam in Oct. My sis has just finished her final year of her degree and I am very impressed as her younger daughter is only just one. She did all her attendance in the year when she was pregnant, so this year she only had to finish a few assignments and do the exams. It really does help to have someone to look after the baby though, my sister had one of her husband's relatives living nearby and not working so that made a huge difference.

I think it was you that said something about the baby using up your fat reserves - this stage, and the first few months of breastfeeding, are when it really helps to boost your intake of omega 3 oils otherwise the baby takes them all out of you. I know this is very anecdotal but after having ds1 I got really really dry skin and scalp, and then later found out it might be to do with the baby using lots of my essential fatty acids. So with ds2 I took DHA supplements in the last trimester and I think for about the first 6 months of breastfeeding and I didn't have any problems with dryness.

rumpel I completely agree about the kids trying your patience. Ds2 is really lacking in attention/concentration now and will not do what I ask him even if I do 'choices and consequences'. It drives me crazy and I know it will only get worse after this baby comes...

tjuice your recovering of dining chairs sounds exciting. I have a list of things I want to do including making new blinds for the living room (having decided that buying them will be too expensive) but like sweetkitty I'm not really getting much done at the mo. Ds2 is only in nursery for 2 1/2 hrs every afternoon and by the time he's in there I just feel like resting.

libra you made me smile talking about your dh and his shoes
and I agree about the spd staying afterwards. With ds2 I think I was too excited about being able to walk again and I pushed myself too far. My spd pains only went when he was about 6m old. It may be coincidence but I'd just started a course of reflexology so I might try it again this time. My midwives have recommended that as well as carrying on wearing the support belt I go back to the physio to check my pelvis at about 6 weeks so she can let me know how to proceed.

kaz if you stay in touch I would be happy to help you with your science next year, especially the chemistry. I have undergrad and postgrad science degrees and used to be a science tutor with the OU. I'm also thinking of starting out as a private tutor so it would help me to get reacquainted with AS/A level curricula. I also liked the look of your 'blooming birth' book - I really appreciate parenting books that are non-prescriptive and acknowledge how different parents can be, and their children too. 'One size fits all' just doesn't work.

minkus the eyelash tint sounds like a great idea. I would like to book another full leg and bikini wax as close as possible to my due date and maybe I'll get my eyelashes and eyebrows done at the same time.

heffa and kaz I wish we had names sorted. I am finding it really hard... I wrote a list of about ten and I especially liked two of them but dp has crossed all but one off . But we don't want to tell anyone once we've decided. People can be so damning if you tell them before the baby arrives - better to present them with a 'fait accompli'.

beepbeep it probably depends on your hospital's protocol but glucose in urine doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. In fact my midwives say the recommendation now is not to test for glucose unless there are other signs that the mum might have gd. Both my sister and I have had high levels of glucose in our urine while pregnant but the GTT Is always fine and we have never been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I agree that low GI foods could help - no fruit smoothies in the few hours before your appointments .

disney sorry to hear about this little one's fused head, hope the delivery goes as well as you can expect.

gilly what a dilemma, hope it all works out for you and dh. Agree that it's easier to meet other mums when the babes are little. Once you move further up the school system you find parents have already formed their little cliques and alliances.

and finally, I have been enjoying reading people's 'birth plans'/ideal birth scenarios. I haven't written a birth plan yet. I don't need one for having a home birth with my lovely midwives as they know what I want and don't want. So if I write one it will be aimed at the scenario when I've had to go into hospital for some reason. It will probably be a combination of minkus's and kaz's, including things like no ARM, minimal monitoring if at all possible, natural 3rd stage if at all possible and no formula for the baby at all (due to intolerances in the family). But I haven't thought it all through yet.

I am a bit that my midwives are going to Glastonbury the weekend before my due date and I might end up having someone I don't really know. So I think the best time for me to go into labour would be either at 38 weeks, before they go on holiday, or pretty much bang on the due date when they have come back. My ideal birth scenario is as follows:

1. Go to sleep early the night before a school day (already not very likely)
2. Have about 4-5 hrs sleep then wake with waters breaking and frequent but manageable contractions.
3. Call midwife who comes within half an hour and acknowledges that I am now in 2nd stage labour
4. Baby born within 2 hours while boys still in bed and asleep.
5. Dp wakes up boys to meet their new brother, gives them breakfast and takes them to school/next door neighbours.
6. I have a nice lazy day with new baby and dp and no visitors except maybe the pizza delivery man.

Alternatively labour could start just before the boys wake up, and finish while ds1 is at school and ds2 is next door, but along similar lines.

One day I'll post my story from ds2's birth. The labour itself was pretty good but I had most of dp's family in the house the same day and that was pretty stressful (hence my wish to have no visitors this time round).

Dear god you lot, how much time do you have on your hands??

Anyway, TJuice, best wishes for tomorrow and for many years of happiness together.

CilC I don't need to be pg to get upset at pooter games - I remember getting really pissed off with dh a few years ago when playing Empire and he reneged on a peace treaty with me. He thought it was hilarious.

Gilly in your place, I would move now. We keep talking about going back up north (either Scotland or NE England) to be nearer one of the families. However, the longer we stay down South the harder it gets. We have the same problem as SK, we'd struggle to both get work at the same time. I guess we go on the strength of one job, and then try for the other partner to get a job once we were there.

To whomever it was who asked about pain relief, I think I have tried the lot except for pethidine. TENS was good for the beginning, birth pool was faaaab and my very favourite thing (not allowed for dd2 though as she was VBAC), G&A made me feel sick and dizzy. In absence of birth pool for dd2, epidural was great but made it difficult to push. However, I had a killer epi, as I had ended up with GA for dd1's c-section as my epi hadn't worked properly, so they were determined that would not happen to me this time. What I'm trying to say is that you would probably be able to ask for a 'lighter' epi so that you could actually feel what you were trying to do.

mummypig ooo yes please chemistry scares me but I need it to get in for this degree but have never done it before only science I did at school or since was biology

my email is cyclebabe_uk at hotmail dot com

One advantage of being on your own is no one can argue with me about names

Hi sleepycat - you moan away it's the one place you will get loads of nodding heads and sympathy. Yes pregnancy with other DC isn't that great.

I'm feeling a bit now sometimes I think maybe it would be easier just to get DP to drop me off at the hospital, go have the baby, then phone him an hour after to come and pick us up. MW kept going on about having another adult to look after the DDs, now only person that can seriously come up is over an hour away. I have friends who have offered but they all have little DC of their own. One friend has said that DP can drop the DDs at her house and she will look after them but can't do that if it's 3am in the morning. What would happen if the MWs turn up and I have to say "I have no one to look after DDs they couldn't make it?" do they go away again. Even if I could go to the hospital, by the time I find someone to look after the DDs, get DP to drive me there I will probably have had the baby. Sorry just venting things like this always make me realise how crap my family actually is.

Was the same with DD2 apart from the odd "have you had it yet" phonecall they never bothered even when at the end I couldn't walk, had terrible sinusitis and a 18 mo to look after, was booked in for induction and DP couldn't be there as no one to look after DD1.