Due June 08: S**t, it IS June, and I still haven't packed my hospital bag...

[LauraT]

well it will be June on Sunday anyway! thought I should go ahead and start this as there were several votes for this name...

I know it will make me unpopular but I like the rain! When it was sunny the other week I could hardly breathe and I am much more comfortable in the cooler weather. Sorry but I am begging the cool weather to continue, hate me if you must!

hmm, well my lovely cloudy, cool, maybe stormy day has been replaced by another hot sunny, blue sky scorcher . They even postponed sports day at dss school, so now it's on Tuesday, and I won't be able to go, so they'll be doubly disappointed.

needahand, glad you've got such good news

needahand gr8 news

Ernest sorry you havent had your nice stormy day.

Well MW has just been....no sweep they arent aloud to sweep me till next week MOnday will even be pushing it....she says even though Im having loads of contractions and show there is still no actual sign of labour...think I will just give up thinking I will actually have a baby!

My Next worry is as of Friday they are oncall for someone else and as they just have the one small team if I refuse to go to hospital it will be a paramedic that will have to deliever......This other girl apparently is always quick off the mark as well

AS I labour quickly and DH has been told to phone an ambulance he is now excited at the thought of chasing a blue flashing light FFS!

Really pleased to hear your news needahand. Josey they never grow up do they? 'Neenaw' was one of my ds' first words and I'm sure when he grows up and has kids he too will still be excited by an emergency vehicle!

Ds is home on a nursery day AGAIN, had to pick him up from nursery yesterday afternoon, following last week's throat infection he now has ear infections in both ears. This is normal for him but terrible timing! He isn't bad today but is clingy and demanding and tantrumy if anything isn't quite right - so I have given up on any hope of resting and nesting. His next nursery day isn't till Friday ... I'm getting to the 'just functioning through exhaustion' stage now.

On plus side: childcare plan C person is free all week and has bags packed just in case, and is coming for lunch tomorrow so ds will be comfortable with her. Spent serious ££ on lingerie at my bra fitting today, including this set for best, which is gorgeous and will cheer me up on frumpy post-natal days! Also ordered super-duper double electric breast pump (you may all still be chuckling over that top, I still think it looks very practical! ). So lots to cheer me up as well as dealing with ds - and I must admit it is nice to get lots of cuddly time while it's still just the two of us, as long as my muscles and energy levels can cope with it.

On which he is asleep at mo' so I am going to go and make myself have a rest!

Thanks everyone for your support, it's so nice to talk to other women who understand & let me vent. I got home from NCT class & my DH has sent me 8 red roses & choc's! Needless to say I've eaten the choc's but it was so nice of him to do that.

And joy of joys the tiler has just turned up - I think after my DH offering him more £££ to get it finished but right now I don't care they are here & my bathroom will be finished by the end of the week - LO needs to hold on for just 5 days & then s(he) can come!

Feeling slightly more upbeat now - thank god!

Glad your tiler has arrived Lorettah, and what a lovely dh, extra brownie points there! Brings back memories, we had new carpets and flooring fitted when I was expecting ds, and due to their cock-ups various (including measuring wrongly, ordering wrongly, and putting a hole in the wall ) they were still working on it a week after my due date - it's so stressful! Have a nice bathroom warming party when it's all done .

Lorettah - what a lovely dh you have, to send you the flowers and chocolates. Mine was mowing the meadow that our garden had become and we have loads of beautiful wild flowers - he brought me a bunch of them before he mowed them down!!

Needahand - so pleased that you can have the homebirth you wanted after all the worry - great news

SA - hope your ds feels better soon.

PT - sounds like BH to me, I get mine at the bottom of the bump.

My DH finally cut the hedge today

Just a quickie, can't leave DD.
Thanks all for comments re: BH. It's not painful but I feel sick and tired.
Nothing else interesting going on here.
Catch up properly later...

Hello all- mad busy now with feeding...and moving house. I've got two weeks to get my brain in gear and organise it all....agggh!

needahand - congrats! that's good news

Josey - my midwife wasn't able to do a sweep either, but has booked me in for one next tuesday (40+5) and promised that if I haven't delivered by then I'll start getting more attention.

If I wasn't having all this pelvic pain the wait wouldn't be so bad, but it's worst at nights while I'm in bed and as a result I'm not getting much sleep. She did confirm that I'm fully engaged still and that being this engaged for this long is relatively bad luck...

I'm feeling very sorry (and sore) for myself today...

Thats a nightmare aberdeenhiker it's a shame the MW couldn't do the sweep - you'd think if the head was fully engaged that there would be no problems with doing a sweep because the baby is ready to come out.

Not so great for her to be telling you that its bad luck for the baby to be engaged so long - how to make you paranoid or what!

Why don't you put your feet up with a big cup of tea & some choc biscuits and eat away!!

hi everyone!

had a lovely afternoon, with v relaxing facial! have also discovered that they've started to do pregnancy massage, so might treat myself to that next week! have decided to make lots of appointments and arrangements for the next few weeks so that at least i've got things to look forward to and take my mind off counting down the days!

AH poor you, with the no sleeping, much sympathy!

Lorettah at the flowers and chocolates

whinegums yep first day of leave and loving it!

systemsaddict sorry to hear about your ds, great taste as I bought same set of bra to try and glam myself up.

Great news re tiler -think you've been remarkably restrained just to cry and not throttle dh in circs (or tiler but that wouldnt be very helpful in getting bathroom done).

Josey/Aberdeen sorry to hear about your various mw etc issues. Fingers crosse

Just back from doc -all ok but head still not in anyway engaged so back pain etc seems to be to no avail. Also mw I thought may deliver me is now unlikely to as away for 2 weeks - I'm not sure how I feel about this but I had at least talked birth plan through with her. I am not overly worried about who attends but I am a bit nervous about lack of sensitivity. I'm delivering in same hospital that lost/delivered at last year so don't want to be near the SANDS unit and would appreciate a bit of knowledge as I think I'm going to be very jumpy esp re baby tests. I may be being OTT but did get asked by one of staff members what I had last year and was bit embarassed (but not as embarassed as she was) to explain about losing the baby.

So having a cup of tea and actually going to write out a bit more detailed birth plan than anticipated for avoidance of doubt. Am I being a bit precious about this?

no you're definitely not being precious, it must be very hard to go back to the same place. don't feel embarrassed about asking to avoid the SANDS unit etc., I'm sure the staff will understand and do their utmost to be sensitive around the issues that you raise.

poppy you must have shared your story at a time when I wasn't reading regularly so I apologise for not knowing the details, but gosh, after an experience like that I don't think there is such a thing as being precious or OTT. If anything you sound incredibly composed, considering. Agree that it's important for those caring for you to be aware of what happened before so a detailed plan is I'm sure a good idea.

Ds has obligingly stayed asleep all afternoon - no wonder he was grumpy! I'm going to have to wake him up soon otherwise he won't go to bed tonight!

Would it be too sad to get a tiny teeny bit excited that I've had a runny tummy this afternoon?

Thanks LauraT - are you feeling pampered and chilled out after first day of ML? Pregnancy massage sounds great idea. Will have to settle for waxing and pedicure next week -not quite so relaxing but will solve the ongoing chipped polish/hairy leg irritation (Well the bits I can see beyond the bump).

ohh no systemsaddict .. I am longing for that kind of sign . is it sad to be jealous?

Not really much to tell as baby was diagnosed iwth terminal abnormalities at 20 week scan .. part of me is scared about being back there (lots of therapy has helped this) but also had very strong feeling at time that I would come back to that hospital in happier circumstances. That said I've only met mw once -its the doctor who has been so fantastic as I was a wreck in the first 20 weeks.

Thanks though - just writing about it makes me feel better.. and also think was turning into pregzilla anyway so this is just latest manifestation.

Poppy you sound amazingly composed and not at all over the top. Am sure the staff at the hospital will fully understand, so making your circumstances clear in your notes is definitely a sensible approach.

I have just got back from SATC with NCT girls. It was brilliant. I started to cry in the opening credits and that was only a recap of what happened in the TV series! Hormonal, me?? Would recommend it to anyone seeking an afternoon of distraction from waiting for LOs to arrive. There seem to be quite a few chick flicks coming out over the summer, Mamma Mia is next on 10 July. I will have to check out Odeon's daytime films for Mums with babies if I want to see any of them I think.

Do all odeons do the mum/baby thing? It does sound like a good plan otherwise will be a life of dvds for sometime to come I think.

Poppy, not sure how to check if they all have "Newbies" screenings. Looking at the listings for Guildford, I found this probably easiest to look up your local and see what is on.

systemsaddict - I am loving the bra and undercrackers set 'for best' and wondering when that will be! Mine are all functional as I can't imagine when i'll ever feel saucy again! By the way Agent Provocateur now do nursing bras - be warned though they come up small (and are £60 each).

Aberdeen - I am sooooo with you on the pelvic pain. The worst thing for me is getting in and out of bed and turning over - ouch.

Poppy - It must be very emotional going back to the same hospital and I send you every positive thought in the hopes that things will be super amazing for you this time round.

Poppy - I dont think you are being precious either! While I dont think it compares really, I've had two m/c's and I find it really difficult that every single time I've had to speak to doctor/mw at the hospital throughout this pg they've asked me all the details about any previous pg's. Despite the fact that all the info is in my notes as well. Could your DH have a chat with whoever attends to your birth so they understand?

Aberdeen at your mw. Do you think she could have meant, 'oh you've been unlucky going overdue when fully engaged' and maybe just said it in a cack-handed way?

Have managed to get some new converse trainers that fit my puffy feet - yay! Had to take all the laces out to put them on in the shop and ask the assistant to lace them up and tie them for me .

SA - loving the underwear set, have been tempted by it myself...

Poppy - you are definitely not being precious, and I think re-writing your birthplan in more detail is a good idea.

Makecakes - good luck with the house move, wow - 2 weeks!!

Poppy34 I don't think you are being OTT either, I think it's a good idea to write down on your birth plan exactly what you feel the MV's need to know & get your DH to explain if necessary - even spell it out to them. I think you are incredibly brave for going back to the same hospital - makes me appreciate that all my problems are just cosmetic (well house cosmetic) and that I'm a lucky woman just to have those issues in my pregnancy!

Re cinema's that let you take your babies in - is it only the Odens? Don't think I have one of those locally! Mind you, you would think that somewhere in Manchester offers this service!... might do some research!