Due October 2008 - getting bigger by the day!

[accessorizequeen]

Can't sleep won't sleep's List copied here for usefulness

29th Sept perkypopsy first baby smile Surprise
29th Sept WombFor1More 2 ds's 1 dd Boy
30th Sept Aubergenie first baby smile Surprise
30th Sept sambrads 1 ds 28th May
30th Sept buttercupbabe 1 ds
1st CantSleepWontSleep 1 dd Boy
1st accessorizequeen 2 ds's Twins shock - one of each
1st loulou33 1 ds Surprise (or home testing kit!)
2nd MrsBish 1 dc
2nd snowymum first baby smile Boy
2nd 1sttimer80 first baby smile Surprise. Hydronephrosis discovered. Extra scan at 28 weeks planned.
2nd Jane7 first baby smile
3rd SydneyB 1 dd
4th minervaitalica first baby smile Surprise (unintentionally!)
4th hedgepig 1 ds Surprise
4th pistachio 1 dc
4th annwoo 2 dc Surprise
5th myjobismum 1 ds Surprise
5th rosebury 3 ds's 2 dd's Boy
6th Bethoo 1 ds Girl
6th fairydust2 1 dd
6th iuseantiageingstuff 2 ds's 1 dd Boy
6th ronshar 2 dd's Surprise (with dangly bits wink)
7th belgo 2 dd's
8th kookiegoddess first baby smile
8th Alexa808 first baby smile
8th Ksal first baby smile Surprise
8th f1nut 3 dc
10th Lozza70 first baby smile Surprise
10th emkay 1 dd
10th pepperrabbit 2 ds's 6th June
11th Sprogstersmum 1 dd
12th chicken78 1 dd
12th star6 first baby
12th milfakamonkeymonkeymoomoo 1 dd
12th immo first baby smile
13th Lesley21
14th tedmundo 1 ds 29th May
14th twinklytoes 2 dd's Boy
14th BubbaAndBump 1 dd
15th mum2jakeyroo 2 ds's 28th May
15th fanvampbooks 1 dd
15th toomuchtimeonline first baby smile
16th moodywren 1 dd 2 ds's Boy
16th bigmouthstrikesagain 1 ds 1 dd 9th June
19th MrsTittleMouse 1 dd
19th rach010 1 ds 3rd June
20th 07mumstheword 1 dc 10th June
20th AandMsmum 2 dd's 3rd June
20th KnickersOnMaHead 1 dd
20th jenwa 1 dd 5th June
20th firsttimer08 first baby smile 16th June
21st hansnava 1 dd
21st rowanmac 1 ds Surprise
21st caramelbunny 1 dd
21st jess1996 first baby smile
22nd SmudgeyDoodle 1 ds 16th June
22nd ellensmelons 1 dd
23rd Sallypuss first baby smile 17th June
23rd Emmsy1 3 ds's 1 dd 9th June
24th sparklesandnowinefor9months 3 ds's 1 dd 13th June
25th Flum 2 dd's
26th gem1981 1 ds
26th oliviaelanasmum/4andnotout 3 dd's 16th June
26th born2twinkle 1 ds
26th mariekg 3 dc 4th June
28th UmSami 1 ds
29th Ekka 1 dd 23rd June
29th BabyDubsEverywhere 1 ds
30th Jambers99 1 ds 10th June
30th ChilledBunny ?? 12th June
Nov coolkat 1 dd

coldsores usually flare up when run down so make sure youi are gettin plenty of rest and vit c!

I had one for entire first week of holiday - looked like a cornflake on my lip - very attractive...not

has anyone registered for nct antenatal classes? I'm in two minds as the cost is fairly high and the NHS already provides classes.

Yay! just back from having my cardiac & anomality scan at Kings College hospital. I had an NHS nuchal scan that came up at 3.4mm and a 2nd opinion done at the FMC of 2.9mm. As the fold measurement was still at the high end of normal they recommended a cardiac scan at the 20 weeks scan which today thankfully was totally normal.

Its been a long 6 weeks since the 13 week one and caused lots of stress. Also found out that we are expecting a healthy and hefty boy - 95th centile already Mind you DS1 was 10lbs 2oz ...

They were fab at Kings and even printed us a load of 3D pictures of the baby's face for the grandparents!

Phew am just so relieved!!!! at last I feel I can relax a bit (bought haagen daz to celebrate)

firsttimer - I'd book nct classes, it really is a great way to make some rl mummy friends. I wish I'd done this first time around, that first 6mths with dd1 were very lonely, none of my friends had babies and the invites out dried up pretty quickly. the nhs classes were all too clinical and everyone sat around as if they were in a classroom.

WherestheAuPair That's wonderful news at 10lb 2oz

Jambers That's the spirit

Firsttimer I didn't do NCT classes but I did do NHS ante-natal classes and really benefitted from them. Out of a class of around 20 women 6 of us got together for coffee before our LO were born and we still meet up now, infact one of my ante-natal friends is having DD tomorrow whilst I pop out for a quick wax appt then we are off out for a play with the children. It was fantastic to have support/advice/ideas from people going through exactly the same as the same time just to keep me sane.

One of the six of us also did NCT and she still meets with them aswell so perhaps you could try both? Or try the freebie and see how you get on then NCT?
Remember if no one suggests coffee then it wont happen so if you think you might get on with some of them ask them if they'd like to meet up.

firsttimer - I did nct classes last time, and would recommend them. They will go into a lot more detail on topics that you are interested in, and you will probably make some great friends. 4 of us from ours still meet up often 2.5 years later.

Would still do the NHS ones though, and if they offer a post-natal course in your area too then definitely do it. I see friends from mine every week, and we are quite a big group of close knit mummies now.

Yay for scan WTAP.

I used to get lots of coldsores, but use blisteze several times a day now, and very rarely get them.

Jambers - great to hear you sounding level headed about your news.

Thanks for the tips and sympathy emkay and hope you're cold sores get better - i guess zovirax is out of the question?? My sinusitis/snot problem is much better today but my ankles lok like i've out two doughnuts round my ankles - so attractive!! No skirts for me for a while...

CSWS - we stayed in a caravan in march - lovely sunny, dry days all week but also bitterly cold, frosty nights kept ds awake as couldn't keep caravan warm - we were all exhausted but heh who said caravanning was supposed to be fun!! No, it will be great this time of year and i hope the weather is kind to you. Have a great time

wherestheaupair - congrats on scan - well done you!

Thanks for the tips and sympathy emkay and hope you're cold sores get better - i guess zovirax is out of the question?? My sinusitis/snot problem is much better today but my ankles look like i've put two doughnuts round my ankles - so attractive!! No skirts for me for a while...

CSWS - we stayed in a caravan in march - lovely sunny, dry days all week but also bitterly cold, frosty nights kept ds awake as couldn't keep caravan warm - we were all exhausted but heh who said caravanning was supposed to be fun!! No, it will be great this time of year and i hope the weather is kind to you. Have a great time

wherestheaupair - congrats on scan - well done you!

wherestheaupair - wonderful news on your scan and a healthy baby boy. You can relax and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy now.

wherestheaupair congrats on the scan!

firsttimer08 I have just looked into NCT classes as the NHS ones here are all in the daytime and I feel I'm taking loads of time off work already I've got a booking for September now and loads of my friends who have recently had babies have said they met quite a few people from them.

Hi everyone
Havent been on this thread in ages as have been on holiday in spain.
All 3 dd's have had chicken pox within the last 6 weeks so im glad that is one infectious disease over and done with
Baby is kicking and rolling all of the time but still no sign of a bump and maternity clothes are a long way off!
Having my 20 week scan (at 21 weeks) on monday so looking forward to seeing bubba and finding out if i can start buying boys clothes or if i shall just get dd3's clothes back out of the cubboard!

Congrats on your good scan news wherestheaupair, must be a huge relief.

FT08 the NHS classes are really variable, so find out what they actually offer in your area - at my hospital it was just one day and they whistled through labour, pain relief & post natal care at such a rapid pace that they didn't really provide any useful information at all. There were about 40 women / couples there on the day and we didn't get any chance to talk or exchange numbers. I also did NCT classes which were brilliant - loads of useful info and a good chance to meet mums that live near you. Our babies are now 16 months old, but we still meet up several times a month. Your health visitor may also offer post natal classes which are another good way to meet other local mums, but these probably won't start until at least 6 weeks after the birth.

FT08 I did the NCT classes and thought they were great. We've stayed in touch with all 6 other couples from our group and us girls meet up regularly for coffee and chats. The classes felt pretty thorough and though I'd imagined that there might be a bit of natural birth bias, they were good at explaining ALL the options including what would happen in an emergency c-section etc. They were also good at dealing with things we had concerns about and provided a bit of a 'lending library' for all sorts of books and gave us other useful handouts. I didn't do nhs ante-natal classes, so nothing to compare it with, but I did think the NCT classes were worth the money.

CSWS - that weaning was easy for dd, but then I don't think I've ever really been a true 'feed on demand' person since about 4-5 months when I started to get her onto a 3-hrly routine for feeds. So since then I've largely fed her at specific times and she doesn't really demand feeds. My sil is still doing proper feed-on-demand for her dd who is 2yrs old now and will happily start undressing her mummy in the middle of the supermarket if she wants milk . I just couldn't deal with that at all!!! Mind you, I've no specific plans to drop the early morning/late night feeds we still have. Will leave that up to dd....

Baby has suddenly started kicking a lot, though dh can't feel it yet, I can which is quite reassuring! Only 1.5 weeks to go to our scan!!!

FT08 I am doing NHS - NCT could only offer me three full day classes and they were around my due date so a bit late in the day (and expensive -£240) - I need to work every day I can as am self employed as of this week so that made the decision for me. Seems to be loads of positive stuff about NCT here which makes me a bit nervous but I am joining local PG yoga and have a doula to ask any birthing questions.

Thanks everyone. From your feedback it seems that the NCT classes are really worthwhile. The only issue is that there are no weekend classes in my area. We can't do weekday classes as we work full time. So either I take the NCT classes in another area on the weekend, which kind of negates one of the key benefits of getting to know ppl in your area - or just stick to NHS only. I didn't realise that the quality of the NHs classes may also vary by the area. I guess if they appear inadequate, then attending NCT classes in another area may be the only option.

Btw am I the last person on the list to have my scan ? It seems even some folks on the November list have started to have their scans. Will duly report back on Monday then on what happened !

Thanks for sharing fellow cold sore sufferers and tips on blisteze CSWS - good not to feel alone.

I also did NCT and enjoyed it - we did weekday evening classes - are there no evening sessions in your area Firsttimer? There might also be ante-natal or birth preparation classes by other organisations... my pregnancy yoga teacher runs regular weekends (West London) and there's the Active Birth Centre in north London that might have links to other organisations nationwide... problem is that they are definitely focussed on 'natural' birth which may not be your cup of tea, whereas NCT and NHS should be more rounded. Good luck with finding something!

I've suddenly developed really swollen ankles and am sitting with my feet up this evening while DH cooks dinner but should I be worried??

There are often nct coffee mornings and local groups in addition to the antenatal classes so doesn't mean you miss out (I never made it to any). NHS, whilst not v.informative AT ALL is a good way to meet people.

My ankles are now cankles, just going down now!
I feel like giving up work next week, I am so exhausted, don't see how I can keep on for much longer even tho it's only 3 days!

Have you been on your feet a lot today Lozza? could just be that but a good idea to keep your feet up and take it easy. We did NHS and NCT classes last time and am still in touch with people from NCT. It was a few miles away from us so I seem to do a fair bit of driving to meet up with them but soooo worth it. NHS classes were good but like someone else said, ours were a bit classroomy and noone spoke up to suggest meeting up so we didn't. I ended up having DS on the same day as one of the other girls though so we swapped numbers on the post-natal ward. Was really nice to have a familiar face for that first long night!
Our scan is on Monday too. Sparkles, hope yours went ok today. Good news for other scans.. Have a lovely weekend everyone

Hi, should be packing! off to Cornwall tomorrow with all our wordly possessions (or so it feels!).
Have a good week everyone.

pr

pepper - we have an R class Merc and it is packed to the rafters with our luggage! We're not even taking a pushchair because there is no room, so hope dd doesn't mind walking everywhere!

Lozza - swollen ankles/feet on their own are quite common, but keep an eye out for other signs of pre-eclampsia and get checked out if you have any reason to suspect that.

If you do want NCT classes then book them now ladies - they get full very, very early.

Pepper & CSWS DH has just finished loading our car with our luggage for Cornwall - not entirely sure how we've managed it but our car is also full to bursting . We just got a Galaxy to allow us more room when dc2 comes along, but am now thinking that a minibus might have been a better option . Alternatively I could just learn to do 'capsule' wardrobes, as I think half the stuff is probably mine

FT08 I've got another week and a half till my scan! Good luck to all those who have scans next week - doubt I'll be checking mn while we're away, but I'll do my best to catch up when we get back....

Lordy, why oh why have I just watched Frost and mumsnetted all evening?
Go And Pack.....
I have an empty Zafira cos all the stuff still in the house (some is probably still at the shops in fact )
I think a long drive to Cornwall is an excellent plan at the start of a petrol strike... normally I'd do less than 20 miles a week
I think we may well need a bus when DC3 arrives Ekka!

it is quiet today.
just been to Southampton shopping today and succumbed to some maternity jeans from New Look which were on sale for £12. Bargain!
hope all are well and i have mw appointment at 24 weeks, forgot what they do at this one! prob more bloods!