Due Sept 08: Come on babies, 'cause we are running out of space.

[kiskidee]

New thread here.

Daft name cause we only have 4 more before we hit 1000.

Thanks Micromum. I'm kinda dreading it. I find it very difficult to drink things that I don't like the taste or consistency of. When I was in hospital with pancreatitis after dd1 was born they tried to get me to take lactulos and it made me throw up =/

so i can't reach over my bump to wipe up after using the toilet and i have a bidet but i don't know how to use it.... anyone know?

Starlight - I kept my antenatal notes until I was discharged by my midwife about 10 days after the birth - she continued to fill in the neonatal and postnatal bits about dd's progress and my recovery - photocopying them afterwards meant I have a record of everything written while I was in labour which has been useful in understanding what happened as the details get blurry...

Sass just to warn you - that's the modified GTT test being described. I had that too, about 27 weeks and got a blood sugar reading of over 10. They then got me into the day clinic for a full GTT - fast from midnight, blood sample, drink, then blood sample taken every 30 mins for 2 hours. My veins are crap, so they ended up taking blood from my hand.
Won't lie, it wasn't great but 2 hours does fly by and I got lovely tea and toast from midwives once it was over.
Good news was that the full GTT showed I was absolutely fine, I'm sure you will be too.

Saw a crap locum mw last week who decided my swollen ankles (been at work all day), raised bp (she couldn't find flumpet's heartbeat for ages, so go figure) and the fact I'm measuring large for dates (I have a flabby tum, for god's sake - fundal height will always be out!) meant that I have pre-eclampsia. So back into day clinic on Monday. My bp was actually low - 103 over 56 and surprise, surprise, my ankles weren't swollen as I hadn't been in work!
I am measuring 37cm at 31w+3 days but I'm not really worried. All fine - bloody locums.

Am pissed off today though as my hairdresser has a tummy upset so i can't get hair done before Sunday when we're having big BBQ - DP's 18 yr old DD (who hates me) has decided to grace us with her presence (I haven't seen her since February - nice to see she's interested in her half-sibling NOT). I will feel huge and have bad hair - can it get much worse.....

MelT - I've just received my weekly email from Babycentre and it mentions that early engaging does not mean that you will give birth early. It says that it can happen as early as 33 weeks but it's more normal to happen at 38+ weeks, however various things effect it and can make it happen earlier, such as:

Well toned stomach muscles
Being sporty
Having a larger baby
Sitting down for a long time
Pelvis shape/size
Already having had a baby

If you're still worried I'm happy to forward on the email to you.

Just a quick one that my blood test for gestational diabetes was normal.

GP probably reacted more strongly to trace of glucose in urine than a midwife would, although midwife would also have recommended blood test. GP did not mention initially the increased tendancy for glucose to show in urine of a pregnant woman though . Midwife thought jam on toast could affect sample whereas GP categorically didn't. But apparently we are more likely to 'leak' sugars. Just for people to be aware because I had 48 hours of worrying!

GP's advice even though I don't have diabetes: keep up fluid intake and avoid concentrated sugars like fizzy drinks and bags of sweeties...

Hi guys
Gosh you can all talk .
Would I know if I am "engaged"?
Dig I had like a boob cafe set up in my bed of a night. Ds could quite easily help himself without even waking me (honestly) However, it did take a couple of months to establish this as the baby needs to be fairly strong. Luckily, ds could hold his own head from the moment he was born, but I am not expecting it to be that easy again. The major down side is that its a complete lifestyle and I found it impossible to remove him from our bed for a couple of years. Be warned! Also lots of people inluding my family thought I was mad co- sleeping. However to me its so natural, lovely, special, warm and cuddly. We have spent so many cosy nights snuggled up together, My dh loves it too. I intend to do it all over again with this one .

imoscarsmum,
since your hairdresser is out, maybe do a deep conditioning treatment and then with some frizz control or a little hair wax (smooth into the ends) and then blow dry with a round brush? it always makes any hair look about a billion times better.

make sure to atleast paint your finer and toe nails as it'll make you feel pretty at the picnic. i'm sure you'll look fab anyway. show off your pregnancy cleavage and don't let your dp's dd's presence ruin your bbq! it's a bbq for goodness sakes!

Pleased on your good new surely.

Starlight I am so sorry things are not going great with your plans. I am sure you will fight for what you want and get it somehow. Thinking of you.

Sassafrass it seems like ages when we went together through the bad news and now..... you are about to see your baby. It is just great!!!!!

Big smiles at Eandz - thanks for your tips - good ideas. Have to find a top with a killer cleavage! And will get DP to paint my toenails as a penance for having such a stroppy teenager......

I love my pregnancy cleavage - it is literally the only thing making me feel remotely attractive any more. Definitely a motivation to breast feed to keep it! imoscarsmum I'm sure you'll look lovely and rise above any nasty looks from DP's DD.

Wow, my evil boss just stood up for me to someone external who was criticising me. She is majorly critical to my face, so this was rather refreshing! I feel positively affectionate towards her at the moment.

sounds like a plan imoscarsmum!

Painted toenails can make such a difference. DH booked me in for a surprise pedicure on Saturday and I can't stop looking at my shiny toenails!

I've just braved the London heat and bought a gym ball, I'm hoping it's going to help with my posture and get baby into a good position for birth. Bubs is now kicking madly because I've just eaten an ice lolly, bliss!

Glad to hear it hopefully - let's hope she keeps it up!

I think I'm going to work from home again tomorrow, this heat!

well my last day of work was quite good. Weird, happy and sad all at once though. I got a card signed by most of the staff (got presents from the department last week- £50 M&S vouchers) and my head of dept said in her little speech that they'll miss me and she hopes this next baby is as good a baby and child as ds is.
It is weird not knowing if I'll ever be back and I will miss quite a few people but I'll obviously go back in after the hols to show off the baby.

DS is at childminder today and tomorrow so I've got 2 nice easy days. Got a few jobs to do like hoovering and washing but not too much and I don't plan to do much except enjoy the peace and sleep lots. Didn't get up till 11 this morning.

Might start thinking about what I still need to get for hosp bag and if there's anything baby needs.

Also want to find a changing back that's nice but not expensive that is a rucksack type one as if ds is on the buggy board it might be easier to carry bag on back. Mind you I also plan to do ds in buggy and baby in sling and then the bag would need to go over handlebars of buggy or in basket. Maybe then one with an over shoulder strap that is quite supportive would be best bet

it must be crap having an evil boss hopefully, hope she stays nice to you. You are having a tough time in work aren't you - I feel guilty moaning to DP about my job as I work from home and most of my bosses are mothers working flexibly themselves. Grass is always greener etc..

Mama2bee I adore Calipos - next best thing to Mr Whippy (which I will have once flumpet born, whatever the weather is. I miss them more than alcohol....)

imoscarsmum it was indeed an orange calipo! I could have eaten 2-3 more to be honest . I've already started thinking about the foods that I'm going to have post birth... Too many to list!

mmmm, icecreams. I love twisters and calipos and soleros. And they don't give me bad reflux so I've been eating quite a few.

Not having much luck with my changing bag hunt. Any ideas?

thats it. i'm stocking up on frozen desserts.

I saw some rucksack type ones in John Lewis debi but they were abit boring colour wise, see here:

www.johnlewis.com/230423041/Product.aspx

They had some really pretty ones, but boy were they expensive! At the moment I've got a freebie from Boots, but may just get a nice large leather bag as an early birthday pressie from DH - will probably have a week old or few day old baby on my birthday so I think we'll be kinda busy!

Debi have you looked on www.happybags.co.uk? They have quite a wide range, although if you find something you like the look of, it might be worth checking if it's cheaper elsewhere, or trying ebay, as a lot of their bags are enormously expensive! Also v envious of your M&S vouchers - if I get a box of chocolates I'll consider it a success. Although I do work with mostly men, and they are not renowned for their organisational abilities.

imoscarsmum I am particularly tolerant of my evil boss at the moment because a week today I won't have to see her for over a year if I don't want to! Although will probably do obligatory visit with baby...

Got my gtt test booked for tomorrow morning. It'll be the modified one so I'll just bring a good book and relax. I've not had any sugar in my urine so I doubt anything will show up. Just my consultant making sure since the baby has grown a lot in the last couple of weeks.

imoscarsmum, I do hope I won't have to the full on one, doesnt sound like much fun at all =/

Sass keeping everything crossed for you. Hope it all works out OK - I know it can be worrying but only 5% of all pregnancies are complicated by gest diabetes, so the odds are in your favour.

Hopefully, I still have over 4 weeks to go so envious of you finishing next week. I won't be able to bring my baby to show everyone as we all work all over the UK in home offices. I do sometimes miss the banter of a big office, I must admit.

Thanks Lollipop, I've never been wahat you could call 'normal' To be honest I wasn't overly worried until my mum decided I should pack my bag.

Star I have just checked and it does say 4/5 in my notes.

I can't get enough of the ice cream and lollies either. Only prob is it sends the baby into overdrive and he spends the rest of the day kickboxing around my insides. Grr

I'm a bit confused about bottle milk on ward when you plan to breastfeed. My first born was hypoglycaemic so had to have a top up (maybe more than one can't remember). With DS2 they offered him a top up for first night so we could sleep better (milk doesn't come in for 24hours). He took it.
I then went on to breast feed them both, no probs, for a year.
so from what I have been told you must not give any formula, but from my experience it seems ok. I asked them to give it from a cup to prevent nipple confusion.
I know baby strictly speaking doesn't need it but I got a good night's sleep which made me feel a lot better!