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...

thanks for the congrats everyone.

josey and i are at the same hospital - she and her dh came by this evening to see us. can't wait until we can meet up in the park instead. josey is amazing and we are cheering olivia on from here. her dd and my ds were within one ounce of each other - big babies!

my ds1 came to see the baby yesterday and was really sweet giving ds2 hugs and kisses. we didnt bring him in today though as i was so tired and also ds1 was doing fine with grandma.

if our strep swabs are neg then the pedeatrician is discharging us tomorrow morning. else ds2 is starting 48 hrs of anti b by iv. they will take him into a nursery for that though so i will be getting more sleep. right now he is so mucousy that he only sleeps in our arms.

oh and potentially tmi - but for first imers who end up with stiches - the first bowel movement can be scary to think of but a good tip that i've just used is to hold a maternity towel at the front and at your stitches when you need to. it makes it seem better and i think it takes the pressure off them.

Josey thanks for your updates about your beautiful Olivia- your strength and determination are an inspiration. Glad you are able to hold and care for her.

Congrats Aberdeen - what a whopper! Glad that Fraser's delivery was better than you expected.

Congrats Tassissss- on the birth of Rebecca Grace, and how nice to introduce her at home like that. That's pretty much my ideal birth plan.

SA- poor you having a cold as well as overdue. I had a lot of pain down below when I was coughing a lot a month ago. It help to hold pubic area and try and curl up when coughing. Hope the cold buggers off overnight!

EW- I love your plan to do daring stuff over the next few days, but please- no rollerskating and put your phone & mat notes in the locker at the dry ski slope!!

BDQ/ Rolf- not sure how to deal with swollen wrists but FWIW I haven't worn my wedding/ engag't rings for a month. (I did go through a phase of getting them on & off with soapy water) Hope I can still find them! Ditto wrist watch which used to slip up and down my wrist satisfyingly and now gets stuck like an elastic band.

PP- LOL at Nirvana through the walls- bet they think you're so old school!

Makecakes- so glad to hear you're doing well. Is it really 3 weeks already? You sound v upbeat.

Laura- the debate continues re: due dates...
I have a friend who delivered both her babes on EDD. She told me her mother delivered all 6 of hers on, or within 1 day of EDD. Now if I could bottle that I'd be a rich lady indeed!

Can't sleep - went to bed at 11.00 (10.00 your time) and fell fast asleep but woke an hour later when dh came to bed, since then I've been so restless so I got up.

Had a few BH in the hour before bed but nothing since - aargh - I am not relaxed Rolf, I am getting more impatient by the day.

Dates - I was born a week early, dh was 3 days late, ds1 was 40+3 and ds2 40 weeks.I'm currently 40+2 as it's past midnight.

Rolf - glad you feel more rested. I did a stupid thing and told dh about the ingesting method - he keeps suggesting it but I said I'm not that desperate yet!!

Makecakes - hello, how are you? Sounds like you're becoming a real pro now!!

My watch is also much tighter than normal

I was really hoping that by getting up, proper contractions would start but no - nothing.

Can't sleep either

OK guys - been having contractions since 3.45am..... Had bath, washed hair and straightened it as distraction! Catch you soon with news....

EW - Good luck.

Well that was another crap nights sleep, ended up in the bathroom reading. First load of washing out already and 2nd on, breakfast bank and ironing. No rest for the wicked, I think I may join the Sleep is for the weak thread.

Happy Monday to everyone.

Well that's DD off to nursery, in shorts, tshirt, and Daddy's chiansawing hard hat complete with visor and earmuffs {grin]

Sounds like lots of crap nights sleep, me included. Bed at 10.30, DP came up and woke me half hour later, then police helicopter began circling close by, then DD woke up for a wee. LO super busy all night headbutting bladder and I kid you not I must have had at least 10 wees! Had drank tons of water during day with it being so hot....maybe my body just hung onto it until nightime??
Got weighed this morning...I thought weight was meant to slow down towards the end of preg...(39 weeks tomorrow) I've gone up about 3 pounds in a week! Not that It really matters in the grand scheme of things!
Congrats to all the new arrivals in the last few days! Can't wait to be joining you all!
Big hugs going out to Josey and family, you sound very strong and amazing.
Sunny again here today, off to Sainsburys now, then chores, DD nursery this afternoon, me swimming to stretch my weary body.
Have a good day all....Good luck to EM!

Ew - Good luck, looking forward to hearing your news and seeing the photos.

Sophie - sorry you had a crap night too, I just couldn't stop fidgeting but I did get back to sleep eventually and only woke at 9.00. Sorry you're still so busy. Your dd sounds a character. We went to Norway on holiday when ds1 was 3 and he wore a hard hat all the time and specific shorts which had pockets big enough to carry those essential tools.

PT - how long were you up for? I went to bed as you got up I think.

Fungle - Enjoy the swimming.

Nothing happening here - feel full of energy though so I'd love to be going into labour right now but body isn't responding to my messages!!

Morning everyone

EW - good luck; can't wait to hear all about it

Josey, hope you and Olivia are doing well.

Aberdeen, fingers crossed for strep results. You must be itching to get home! Glad you were able to see Josey and her DH.

SA / Peartart - are your DCs OK now?

I seem to have developed a cold overnight! It's 28 degrees outside ffs and this is my seventh cold of this pregnancy - I am normally the world's healthiest person, but got pregnant very quickly after an ectopic so I think that must be why. So I didn't ave the greatest night sleep either. Oh well - have cut up a pineapple so will eat it for its vit C and bromeal (sp) qualities.

My doula is coming round this morning to help me do a birth plan and to inspect my hospital bag. Any tips from graduates?

Hi everyone

Congatulations to all the new arrivals, they are coming thick and fast now!

I meant to say have some great nursing bras from bravado, sports bra one for big boobs really comfy and the seamless one with pads (to cover up breast pads) is really comfy but looks like a normal bra (almost). I'm about a 38e at the mo and I got large size which is just perfect, sorry I'm no good at links.

My thoughts are with you Josey , you are so strong please keep us updated.

Hope things happen soon, for those who are still waiting.

Morning everyone.

Josey - hope you, your DH and Olivia had a good night.

EW - good luck! Guess you're having your baby now . Can't wait to hear about it.

Another bad night's sleep here. The baby was more wriggly than she's been for ages. Really squirming madly, and quite painful. It was nice even though it stopped me sleeping. When she eventually settled down DH started snoring like a wildebeast. Then when he stopped DD came into our bed and insisted on sleeping with her chin nuzzled into my shoulder which was v sweet but v uncomfortable. But for some reason I woke up feeling tired but emotionally ok. Just to show how unusual that is at the moment, as soon as she woke up DD said "you're not crying this morning, mummy"

DH has his trial starting today. I've told him that if he misses the baby's birth because of it I will hunt down the chairman and DH's solicitor and slice them up.

Deb - haven't told DH about the *ingestion method", although I'm not sure if it would make him jump for joy or run for the hills. He finds me rather alarming atm!

Hope you all have a good day today.

LOL deb at telling your dh, my dh knows about 'ingestion method' from last pregnancy and keeps insisting it will help! (sorry if TMI but we did try it a few days in a row last time and ds arrived shortly after... coincidence??) either way i'm not that desperate yet either!

best of luck emotionalwreck!! can't wait to hear the results!

sorry to hear about the cold udc, i started off that way with this pregnancy but haven't been too bad lately. maybe it'll be a 24 hr bug!

sorry to all those with sleep problems as well. dh came in last night just as my hypnobirthing cd was finishing, couldn't get the door to close on wardrobe so slammed it several times and so rudely awoke me i screamed 'are you f*cking stupid!??!'! so this morning he went and got ds when he woke up at 6, played with him until dh usually gets up at 6.45, then woke up my mum to watch him. i never heard a thing and got up at 9.30!! he can wake me up at night any time.

aw rolf it sucks to be so emotional doesn't it? i felt so depressed yesterday after finding out my cervix isn't doing anything i couldn't shake it all day and was a miserable cow. things seem brighter this morning though... it'll all be over soon and we'll have our beautiful babies to hold and we'll quickly forget! x

Morning guys - v. exciting to hear about EW's contractions, yay!!

Nothing going on here beyond feeling really, really crap. The annoying cough is still going, kept waking me in the night, have pulled a muscle in my side with it now (am seeing my fantasy birth recede further into the distance, at this rate I'll need pain relief before labour even begins!) and it is making me feel sick. Cried last night and cried this morning, rolf you are not alone. Trying to think maybe this means something is happening but I'm not convinced - I think I'm just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger until I pop. Lovely photos up at nursery of a baby who was born last week, EDD a week AFTER mine . Ds' ear still leaking horrid stuff, dp will take him to dr.s this morning.

Need to focus on positive: we are very lucky that we both work in the same place, with the nursery and dr.s surgery right next to each other on site, making everything so much easier to organise. Nursery will still take ds even on fresh anti-bs as he's not unwell and has had them before, so I can relax today and tomorrow, then dp is off work Wednesday and I will get a friend round Thursday, if still here. I know I am not really going to stay pregnant forever. Deep breaths ....

Morning all,

good luck EW - hopefully you'll be back with some news and pictures soon.

Cant believe how pro-active some of you are in the morning. I've managed to get up and have breakfast and er, that's it.

Have just heard that someone in family had a baby this morning - is it bad to say that I'm desperately waiting to hear the name and got my fingers crossed that its not the one and only boys name on our list?

Sorry to those feeling rubbish/had a crap nights sleep. Mine wasn't great either, but it wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things.

We got our thermometer delivered the other day and I am now panicking about the temperature in our house. I always thought our bedroom was quite cool but the last couple of nights it has been over 25C - way above the recommended temperature. The baby will be sleeping naked at this rate

Will be interested to hear whether the ingestion method helps move things along for anyone...

Morning all,

Baby has decided that he doesn't want to sleep anymore!He has barely slept since 11pm last night, he spent most of the night feeding and is sitting on my lap feedi g now. I stupidly invited a friend over tommorow and have alot of tidying to do so hope he sleeps soon.

G43 houses are supposed to be messy with a newborn in them!

my dh is agog at the length of this thread - men would never chat as much as us!

i agree with katyjo about the wonders of bravado nursing bras and i'm in the smallest one so it seems like they have something to fit everything.

hospital bag - i didn't bring enough t-shirts for me or onzies for ds2. dh has been bringing in daily loads for us. also the hospital doesnt have muslins for burping and mine have been very useful.

bring stuff to do to - i was verybored last night when ds2 wouldnt settle except in my arms.

swaddling is now a no-no in this hospital and its the only thing that comforts ds2. how ridiculous is that! two years ago they were all into swaddling every baby.

DQ - Ice lollies sound like a good idea, I seem to be able to overheat very easily at the moment. May pop to Tescos today and get some but this morning I washed all of my decent maternity clothes so need to wait for them to dry before I can venture out, hopefully shouldn't be too long in this weather!

EW - good news about the contractions, straightening your hair made me laugh!

Sophie - like the sound of your DDs outfit, ready for anything!

SA - hope that things start kicking off for you soon.

DQ - I seem to get a lot more done in the first few hours of the morning than I do for the rest of the day. Momentum seems to go for me.

BDQ - when DD was 5 months in that really hot weather 2 years ago she went to bed with a nappy and a sheet and invariably kicked the sheet off.

AH - bad luck on swaddling, can you just not do it anyway?

AH thanks for the hospital tips. Am now off to put some muslins in my bag.

Why on earth are they anti-swaddling? Did they say?

How ridiculous on swaddling AH! I'd just do it anyway and tell them you'll sign a disclaimer if necessary, he's your baby after all! Swaddling was an absolute Godsend with ds, the only thing that calmed him in the early days, and it was the midwives at the hospital who taught me how to do it.