Due in Jan 2009 - the everexpanding bum(p) & ladygarden planning society

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hello!!!!
I've done it....

booksgalore sounds like bh to me. i didn't have them last time round either but had loads this time. such a weird feeling but for a day i thought it was labour (so overdramatic i am). put it down to having to be more active with ds. does it stop when you change position/relax?
rrayray can tell its your first as no fing way would i wear a bikini now when preggers. or maybe ever again well done you you must be looking fab. agree swim is lovely when you have it and def feel better after but its such a long way from sofa had really bad carpal tunnel last time so much so that couldn't bend fingers for first half hour in mornings. just starting to look like sausages again but hoping as not so hot it won't be so bad. saw doc last time but other than splints (nice!) not a lot they can do. jst need to drink lots of water to help with swelling.
mil taken ds for day. big hooray from me as they drove off - bad mummy! he was a little pig yesterday though and there was lots of mummy is not laughing. carpet coming soon and then can't decide whether to go shopping or lay on sofa. gltc has 20% off plus free p&p until sunday. great for kids pressies and furniture.
trying to get roman blinds made but all quotes coming in over £500 for one window. any ideas?

A bikini good grief i may be banned for that. I would need to seriously tackle the lady garden too! I want to swim but have am on the 'take it easy' warning

Books they sound like BH to me, sort of tight band and heavy feeling. Quite like Fernando too Raphael also sweet.

I am getting some fabulous BH now, tummy goes right up and very hard. Tbh i struggle to tell the difference between BH and labour at the end as mine are so viscious. It is like the after pains too, they just get worse and worse with each baby. #5 who i had a at home gave me the most awful after pains i actually begged the midwife to take a look as i was convinced it must be twins!

Moose mine are giving me a wide berth if i look grumpy, they cant win. They are pretty good at explaining to the younger ones why i am so cheesed off though bless them. Poor ds!! What a brave boy

It sounds like Carpel tunnel to me Rrray, aching writs and cramp, reduced mobility too. If it gets worse you can get your splints to wear that help an awful lot. I have never had it myself.

GTDAB you are so right no nookie for me, harumph. I was told not from 26-34 weeks to kep her in. She is still there!!! I have no idea why them come early. I am very bad at asking for help and have had a few very stressful times during the other pregnancies. I think i let it stew inwardly and it manifests itself in prem labour. I am keeping calm this time although have not really been able to slow down too much.

Mel hope the babies stay in for a while yet! It would be lovely if they came out and could stay with you. You are very wise to buy Xmas now, you will be feeding non stop and will have no energy for cooking!

Heather why will they induce? 3 weeks is not far away is it! I cant believe some of us will be actually having the babies soon! Mine will be 2 weeks late. I have another 10 weeks to go if that is the case, nooooooooooo.

Ms Sparkle go to the birth center, all will be ok. If you want more pain relief they can just transfer you, hopefully you will be super fast and have time for a whiff of gas and air only! Positive thinking

Qumps LOL at your nekkid streak down the corridor during labour that was mighty good going though zooming up the dilation scale so fast! You may not make it to hospital this time

Gosh, just caught up on loads so head spinning!

My hospital bag this time is:
food and drink (defo a water bottle to be able to fill up as they can be stingy) Found scones, apples and bananas good last time.

nightie with feeding buttons, slippers, washbag, make up, face wipes, mirror (too hot for dressing gown last time). Eye mask and ear plugs in case on larger ward. Ipod. Book. Mags. Camera. Phone. Chargers. Antibac gel. Big pants, pant and breast pads, big bras, comfy change of clothes.

Babys stuff as per Lenni.

It sounds like washer womans/mother's wrist. Had this last time. Be very careful. Esp with winding and breastfeeding afterwards as it can make it so painful you can't sleep/care for your baby. Keep your wrists as straight as you can. Look up on Google. Bending fingers backwards away from you can help stretch it. Blardy painful nightmare.

I've been reading Ina may's guide to childbirth as am doing a vbac this time. Am thinking may even try for a homebirth . Seeing midwives and consultants next week so am steeling myself for a bit of a confrontation. eeek.

Have started on the raspberry leaf tea, though am lucky cos I like it. Make a big pot in the morning, add some lemon juice and sip it thoughout the day instead of water. Nice chilled, bit like unsweetened ribena.

Ohhh and Moose, just wanted to say my parents deliberately brought us up to expect to be treated as adults when we were children, and to question all authority!

Did cause some interesting situations at school, but when school complained that I questioned them, my parents were pleased that I stood up for myself and didn't take their rubbish at face value! Lol. takes all sorts. Your son sounds lovely and clever, I'm pleased he has some good friends.

Raspberry leaf tea is YUK, i may take the capsules if i get through the next week or so. My hospital bag is like your FLF. Of course it is not packed yet.

I regularly battle with the consultant, tis fun. He starts shaking his head when i enter the room now

DD was a vbac almost at home, she came out as soon i got to hospital. She was OP and long labour and v long pushing stage, nothing to do with being a VBAC though. As you know the next 2 were home and B was induced.

How are you feeling?

Lol LGT, just seen you on the sleep thread too. Must pop back to May as haven't been on there since TYG had #3!

We are supporting giving Pink a hard time

I can see. Poor things had the sleep thing going on pretty much since birth, and this is certainly not the first time I've see you lot gang up to get her motivated! Completely formidable. Hope it works .

Feeling good, but tired like everyone else. Really don't know how you cope with so many, finding L a handful at the best of times.

I know you had a bit of a battle for the first vbac and I'm thinking that its going to be horrid for me here in London too... we shall see. No CFM, no cannula, no induction, and a nice water pool please mr consultant or I'm electing a home VBAC. . Am thinking of seeing if there are any trainee doulas around too as could do with some extra bolshyness as DP is too nice to everyone!

I don't Own a swim Suit... although i will need to invest in one, not going swimming in a bikini with a jelly belly afterwards. Think my Dinky bikini bottoms were actually being totally chewed up by my ever expanding bottom while i was swimming!! had to pull them out before getting out Despite it being REALLY empty i felt like EVERYONE was staring at me, especially one old woman, i felt like she was glaring at me like i shouldn't be there. So i just glared right back... soon made her feel uncomfortable for being such a nosey old fart

just been looking at pictures from when i was in spain 10 days ago... my Hooters have got so big they make my bump look actually SMALL in comparision! Are they REALLY going to get that much bigger......!!!

Just read up on Carpal Tunnel... pretty sure thats what it is.. although its not too bad & not constant at the moment. So fingers crossed. But compared with some of you poor mites with SPD i'm thinking myself lucky!

Fourlittlefeet- lucky you, i hate all things herbal like to drink, so tablet form it is for me! Apparently its great to continue to drink, well Sip, through a straw once actually in labour. In VERY strong form!

MADE my NCT class last night, went and hunted the place out in the daylight, and the annoying this is we were almost there, our sat nav just took us on a magical mystery tour. Grrrr.

Class was good, teacher was lovely, although i felt like i was back at school with all the being put on the spot! Also, whilst everyone was absolutley lovely think i was the longest by an absolute Country mile. My mother (who was the one who said NCT classes are a MUST) did warn me that the "stereotype" for the NCT classes would be considerably older than us, but still....Oh & one persons husband when asked Questions (serious ones mind you) always kept coming up with oh-so-not funny lines/jokes. Criiiiiiiinge!!

Thinking OH & i going to go for dinner & cinema tonight, being that cinema is one of those spontaneous things you obviously can't take a baby with you to! Any ideas of a good film out at the moment?? Havent been to cinema in Loooooong time!

yes - go and see the bond film - we went for our 15th anniversary. fab.

all my nct miles older than me too. hey made me feel young and fab!
been to cinema twice in past 18 months. very jealous!

I last went to cinema about 3 years ago - go go go!! Would love to see Bond

DH and I would love to go and see Bond - note to self...must arrange babysitter before it's too late and DC2 is here!!!
LG&T they will induce me early because of gestational diabetes. I've to get another scan in a fortnight to check on the size of the baby, but regardless they like to keep an eye on your blood sugar levels whilst labouring so they won't let you "go yourself" so to speak. Baby is also breech at the moment too...so if it doesn't turn on it's own or with ECV then it'll be a section. I'm 34 weeks, so they'll give it another 2 weeks for the baby to turn. It's not really bothering me too much as I would really like the baby to be here before Christmas

big question is would you stay awake long enough to actually watch the film

staying awake was my biggest fear. IT WAS VERY LOUD!

evening everyone,
thanks for the raspberry tea talk - reminded me to get some - I love the flavour of it (normally hate fruit and herb type teas but there you go) so will be going down to Neal's yard tomorrow to stock up..

Had a mw appt today, everything seems fine, baby is lying diagonally so I'm going to try to persuade it into a vertical position as transverse wouldn't be so good for a home birth. I'm going to go through my notes from my last delivery with a mw - I asked about it and they do a service called 'birth stories' where a mw comes to your home with your notes and talks it all through with you - how thoughtful is that? I'm quite surprised really, thought they'd palm me off with 5 mins in the hospital corridor. Anyone else done this before?

off to make meatballs now..

gtdab that sounds rough. poor you and ds. horrible when you know you've all got a tough night ahead. hope it goes better than expected.. have you got a dp who shares that kind of thing with you or will it be mainly you up in the night?

Lots of posts to catch up on!

LenniEd, Yes i would be taken to the other hospital by ambulance quickly. I would guess it would take about 15 minutes to transfer because the ambulance can get there alot quicker than you would in the car. Also yes, i feel like my baby is getting ready too. Must be a second time around thing?

Evening ladies
MsSparkle i'm having a bit of a dilemma about where to give birth too. The nearest place is a MLU 5 mins drive away but am a bit concerned that it is my first birth and I might want an epi. The nearest proper hospital is 30 mins away and hubby doesn't drive so I don't want to go there unless I really have to. So it looks like the MLU but... my thinking is that if i'm going to try to give birth without an epi then wouldn't I get the same level of care if I stayed at home and wouldn't this be more relaxing? Had not even considered the idea of home birth before but if I go to the MLU i'm still going to have to try and get a taxi or ambulence there which can't be very relaxing and might make things worse. So not totally decided, just musing things over.
Just killing myself laughing at your streak down the corridor qumps
Two and a half weeks left at work now, if it wasn't for the fact that it wouldn't be great for babs if he came out now I would be doing everything I could to get this birth going just to avoid having to write all of those bloody reports.

Having read Ina May's guide to childbirth I'm seriously considering a home vbac. they won't let me go to a MLU and the thought of going to the hospital where it all went tits up last time is making me feel very sick! I recommend everyone read it if they can; its very empowering, lets you know the ins and outs of all the different drugs you are offered and how they affect you/the baby/your chances of having a c-section etc. Its also fab just for realising that this is what we are made for and that birth is beautiful and exciting rather than scary and frightening. I also like the fact that it says it is not necessarily very painful as the pains you get are productive ones, not the kind that means there is something wrong with you, and that baby size isn't an issue and can actually assist labour in the right position.

MissHairspray - have you talked to your midwife about your lack of transport? As far as I know you will be strongly discouraged from calling an ambulance unless you are literally about to give birth. Although it seems it is pretty hard to get a taxi in London if you are in labour. I remember a friend in central London going through this dilemma and she ended up walking to the hospital as she had 2 people on standby but went into labour during the day when they were at work. There really should be some kind of alternative for people in cities without cars. I think you might be right about the homebirth option, but I wouldn't overlook the MLU - I would love to give birth in one, but alas there are none near me. I'd have a good talk with your midwife and see what she thinks.

MsSparkle - glad you have said that about 'getting ready' I was starting to worry that this baby would be early. I suppose first time round I had more muscle tone to hold everything together which might explain why I am feeling like baby could come anytime. Plus I am having loads of period type pains and backache. Sounds like the MLU would still be a good option for you then - the journey to hospital isn't too long and you'll prob find you can manage the pain better in nicer surroundings with one-to-one care.

FLF - I keep meaning to buy that book. I love 'Bloomin Birth' too which I think has the same ethos really.

What would happen if you turned up at the MLU in labour?