Calling all pregnant ladies in Blackheath/Manor Park/Lew

[MrsEJO]

Hello! I'm new to mumsnet AND being a mum ? this is my first!! Am only 15+3 weeks. I live in Blackheath / Lew and was wondering if there are any pregnancy groups that I can join / attend other than the NCT classes (I might be too early for those classes?). Just a gossip coffee on a saturday morning with people in the same boat would be nice!

I often catch the train from Blackheath St and wonder if there are any other 15 weekers on the platfrom just getting over morning sickness!!

Im very accessible to Manor Park too.

Would love to hear from anyone

Em

Hi Rie,

I think breast fed babies are less windy, but most babies seem to be fairly windy when they are very little. You can check that her latch is right and she's not taking in too much air when she feeds, but other than that I only know about the various treatments: Infacol (with every feed); gripe water (for babies over four weeks) and careful winding. I'm not aware of anything else that can actually prevent wind - I think it's just the really immature digestive systems.

If it helps, our daughter was very windy at first. Lots of really loud screaming with wind pain. She's now 12 weeks and only even needs winding if she seems uncomfortable (about 20% of the time). We used Infacol from when she was about one week old until she was about seven or eight weeks.

Hi all,

Bumpmakestwoandabit has been organising the Tuesday meet up again and people are meeting at midday tomorrow in the park. Under the trees by the Cow and Coffee Bean if it's sunny. Inside the cafe if not to agree on somewhere else to go (cafe not big enough for prams). Bring something to sit on if it's sunny but the grass is damp!

Morning all. Have a lovely time in the park today, hope the weather stays nice. I'll try to make it next time but still getting to grips with a new baby and the big wide world this week!

A question for all (esp the new Mums)... does anyone know of or use a mobile hairdresser in the area? I have a wedding to go to in a few weeks and the thought of sitting in a salon for 3 hours while highlights are cooking doesn't appeal with a newborn demanding a feed nearly twice an hour! If anyone can recommend a local person who can come to my house I'd be v. grateful.

Thanks everyone for the congratulations messages. Se8mum we will miss you . xx

Sorry all, I'm a bit rubbish at organising meet-ups as I keep forgetting who I've told and how...

I think it's now fairly safe to say that the Tuesday meet-up is a regular fixture, though the lunch venue is still a movable feast.

It's from 12 noon on a Tuesday - we could make it slightly later, the reason for the time is because the antenatal aqua class at the Arches is from 10 till 11, and the meet-up evolved from a bunch of us being absolutely starving afterwards... I think it's quite good to keep it relatively early so that if pregnant women do stumble across this thread, they have an opportunity to meet up. Otherwise there is a tendency to separate into 'bump meet-ups' and 'baby meet-ups' based on activities. Personally I really like the fact that we get the chance to see babies at all stages and can ask those further ahead for advice (or, as in today's example, for a nappy-changing masterclass!!).

The 'lunch' tends to go on for a while anyway, so if 12 is just way too early or clashes with other commitments, you can drop in later - though best to phone ahead and check on venue!

I've been sending round an email reminder, along with any changes to venue, to those whose email addresses I have - am happy to add more people to the list if you contact me, or indeed anyone else on here. I just don't want to post my email address and mobile number on the forum, in case it gets picked up by spambots.

Not sure if I'll make next Tuesday (if I do, I'll be 8 days overdue and you may not want to sit next to me!) but I'm sure the meet-up will go ahead anyway.

12 noon onwards, Greenwich Park outside Cow and Coffee Bean cafe (just inside and to the right of King William Gate entrance, off King William Walk - closest entrance to Greenwich centre) if sunny, inside cafe if raining to decide on new plan of action. If you get there late and there's nobody there, phone around! If one of the regulars could confirm on here, and send an email, that would be great too.

Phew, that was a long one... well, hope everyone's well, guess I may not see ppl for a little while but I'm looking forward to seeing the new babies - and introducing my own! SE8mum - we'll miss you, you will stay in touch on here as well, won't you? Anyway, I'll be visiting you en route to my parents' house in the not-too-distant future!

Hi Powdoc
I'll carry on with the Infacol for now. She is 5 and a half weeks already so I'm already half way to her being able to wind herself - although that makes me feel a bit sad. Its exciting that she is getting bigger and learning to do new things all the time but it seems to be going so fast already. I want her to stay a little bundle!
I missed the meet up AGAIN. Im putting it in diary for next week.
x

Ah, don't be sad. You might get a baby who wants winding after every feed until she's weaned .

Would be good to see you at one of the meet ups.

A friend whose baby was in SCBU taught me the 'round the world' winding technique; baby sits on your lap, one hand on back, t'other supporting baby's chin and you draw big circles horizontally with the top of baby's head. It looks absolutely bizarre a little strange, but it really works! And because it doesn't involve any patting it's fab at night when you want to keep them as sleepy as possible.

Good to see you today Tupperwife (which one is Hedwig's theme?). I meant to ask, are you planning on doing the Robert Owen group again next week? We'll be free, so you could have a guaranteed attendee!

Might see you tomorrow at Running Mummies.

hi all,
since the weather looks nice today i'm going to the park instead of pauls - be on the grass near the entrance to the maritime museum from the park side - under the trees there, from 1pm.
hope to see some of you there XX

Morning
The round the world winding thing sounds funny but I'll give it a go today.
We'll be at the Tuesday meet up next week so I'll let you know how we get on with it.
Thanks for the suggestions girls.
xx

Hi again all,

Wow, I have really missed a lot...

For the past few weeks it really felt like I brought another newborn home. Sleep has become an obsession . It only now feels like I'm again starting to lift my head above the water... .

se8mum, sorry you're leaving. We really should meet and talk over the next few days. If nothing else, to 'cry' on each other's shoulder

My parents-in-law are visitng for a couple of weeks, so I'm looking for any excuse to leave the house with Anton. My MIL is difficult to get along with (basically behaves like she's at home and it's I who's her guest), while my FIL is like a child himself (even complains if not fed on time). While I can live with them (for a short while only!), a baby has added a whole diffirent dimension. They've only been here a couple of days and at first said they can't really remember anything about babies. But now, I not only have a ever-flowing fountain of unsolicited (and VERY dated) advice to deal with, but also a grandfather who likes to hold the baby so much that he even sometimes refuses to give me my son ! While I don't mind them playing together, I do mind when it comes to naptime. Anton is obviously tired and is on his last 'breath', but FIL refuses and says something like 'oh, he's still smiling, so he must want to play some more'. It feels like someone is borrowing money on my account - they get to enjoy it, but then I have to deal with the debt!(crying, overtired and overstimulated baby who wants to nap but can't). And God knows (and some of you who'd come across my threads in the sleep section), sleep is difficult as it is! Agrhh...
Any advice on how to deal with such situations politely?! I'd really appreciate it.

btw, could someone kindly fill me in on what 'Robert Owen' is all about?

I'll leave someone else to answer the difficult question about the in laws and answer the one about Robert Owen!

Robert Owen is a children's centre on Commerell Street. They used to do a 'First Steps' group on a Monday afternoon facilitated by the health visitors - basically a chance to sit around with other mums of young babies and ask questions, sometimes with a theme to the session, like weaning or baby massage.

That session has had to stop because of the health visitors' workload, but Robert Owen had a scheduled parent and baby group on a Tuesday morning which no-one was attending. Tupperwife is trying to get it off the ground again and has been encouraging people on this thread and from the old Robert Owen group to go along. 9:30 if you fancy it...

elk4baby You have my absolute sympathy about the outdated advice from rellies. Somehow I can tell my blood relatives that they're talking cobblers but it's more difficult when it's a friend or someone from Tupperhubbys side... I either listen like I've honestly never heard that advice before (leaving baby in the garden whilst you prepare dinner, weaning at 3 months etc) and that I'm going to put it into action just as soon as they've left . Or (my favourite) mentally to add 'and look how messed up my family is' to each golden nugget of advice. We always gave babies splintery bones to gnaw on and look how messed up my family is

I kept using Tupperbabys jaundice, which cleared by about day 10, until he was about a month old as the reason that nobody else could hold him for long "The doctor said I should breastfeed him as often as possible, so I'll take him back now and try giving him a snack" For older family, the Dr is always right so they gave him back without any comment.

Is Anton small enough to wear in a sling during the day? Not even my Mum would rummage around in a sling to get Tupperbaby.

Tupperwife - that's very funny. How about "with all that swine flu going around mums have been advised to feed as often as possible for the immune benefits..."

still nothing doing here, so I'll probably see you all again on Tues . Rie, it would be good to see you if we can both make it!

Elk4Baby - that sounds like a nightmare. I have no advice but you have my full commiserations! My parents-in-law are very well-meaning, but I expect we're going to have similar problems. MIL does tend to say things like "is it time for a cup of tea then? I'd like Earl Grey if you have it", leaving me with no choice but to make it for her! Even DH admits that this is unlikely to change - and has said he doesn't want his parents to stay because it's just too much hard work...

My mother has already told me that the doctor excuse works every time, so def worth a try. Unfortunately, I bet she won't take any notice of it when I use it on her - and she's likely to be the worst baby-thief going!

Otherwise I think you have to be strong - refuse to give Anton over in the first place, telling FIL that last time he held the baby, he overtired him and made him ill. As for outdated advice, you can smile sweetly and say "isn't it funny how much things have changed in just a few decades?". A friend gave her MIL a copy of one of her baby books (What to Expect, I think), and the unsolicited advice dried up pretty quickly - there were a few comments such as 'and what does this author know?', until my friend said her doctor had recommended the book (the doctor excuse again!).

Good luck, really hope you get through the visit without bloodshed...

Morning
I understand the MIL problem. Mine followed me around the flat last week almost sitting on my shoulder whilst giving me a full commentary on what Elena was doing (I already knew what she was doing - screaming with wind whilst I held her). Apart from walking in to other rooms to escape her I couldn't think of how to get her to stop. My only advice is don't ask them to come to stay again, not for a while anyway!
I'll be at the picnic tomorrow so will meet you all then.
x

Thanks all for your advice. I'll try the doctor excuse, though I doubt it'll work with these people as they seem to think that no person but them know what's right. My FIL decided to walk into our bedroom without knocking while I was BFing and was all sweet and innocent: 'oh, what are you doing? are you eating?' . Anton, who's easily destracted, of course, had to coo which attracted even more FIL attention. DH asked him out, thank God, but if he wasn't there I wouldn't quite know what to do. I don't want to offend the man, but there must be some boundaries, regardless of how HE was brought up and what HE's used to.
Maybe I'm just being picky, I don't know...

OH and not asking them to come to stay again is not really possible. When Anton was born, they didn't wait for an invitation, but simply said 'oh, we're planning on coming when he's around three months, as earlier he's probably a little too young and might get ill from foreign germs'. So no invitation needed for these people .
I really find the 'foregin germs' comment ironic, as they came as a threesome - MIL FIL and his awful cough! They tried natural remedies to get FIL better before coming, but looks like those didn't do the trick (he doesn't take antibiotics, as has a sensitive stomach, go figure). He is STILL coughing quite badly, but they keep telling me he's no longer infectious. While I might believe that he isn't, I find it very disturbing that he coughs covering his mouth with his hand and then without a second thought picks up and plays with Anton... While we don't really 'sterilize' the house, FIL's behaviour is almost like asking for the little boy to get ill.
Am I crazy for thinking such behaviour is unacceptable?!

How many bedrooms do you have, elk4baby? Unfortunately, we've already turned one bedroom into a nursery so we just don't have the space to put everyone up... what a pity!

We do have another spare bedroom but because of turning the bigger one into a nursery, we've had to move DH's computer and all his stuff into the other room and there are boxes all over the bed... would you believe it?! Obviously I can't lift heavy boxes, so it's just not possible to invite people to stay.

I reckon you need to find another use for any potential spare rooms REALLY fast. As soon as DH mentioned local hotels (and prices) to his mother, her plan of coming to stay for a week immediately after the birth immediately changed to an afternoon visit!

Get a big bottle of antibacterial hand gel and hand it to your FIL every time he coughs. With any luck, it'll annoy him as much as he's annoying you. And I know what you mean about parents-in-law walking into your bedroom - last time they stayed, my MIL came into our bedroom at 6am one morning, sat on the bed and started chatting away! Maybe a big notice with the words "Private - please knock" would get the message across? But somehow I doubt it. When do they leave???

Tuesday meet-up

I sent round an email, am cross-posting here for those whose addresses I don't have:

tomorrow. Weather doesn?t look too good, so I suggest:

Time: 12 noon onwards
Venue: If fine - Greenwich Park, grass in front of café (Cow and Coffee Bean) by King William Walk entrance (I thought this was king William Gate ? think it?s actually St Mary?s Gate ? anyway, it?s the nearest to Greenwich town centre, at end of King William Walk). Bring a rug and some food, or buy food at the café (limited range).

If raining, Paul?s at the National Maritime Museum. It?s on the mezzanine level and there are lifts. You need to get a (free) entrance ticket on the way in.

Slightly OT, but I'd like to apologise in advance for my grumpiness tomorrow at Robert Owen. Bloomin local kids have been playing knock down ginger and kicking at our front door tonight, unleashing my inner tigress protecting her cub persona . Hence I'm still awake... Would I be unreasonable to return the favour when I'm up for Tupperbaby's first breakfast at 5am?

Hello,
tupperwife Bloody hell. Hope they've got bored by now. Brings out the inner daily mail reader - I blame the parents etc. Since birth of little one I have been completely intolerant of any late night disturbance at all (and now define late night as after 9pm!!). Hence slanging matches on the landing with downstairs neighbour who thinks its ok to have loud parties and band practice in block of flats.
Elk sorry to hear about the in law problems. Hope they've made their departure. In general I find its best to get my other half to "negotiate" with mine.

Haven't been in touch for a bit. Are people still meeting on Tuesday lunchtimes?

Hi girls, haven't been on here for ages so thought I'd say hi and congrats to all the new bumps! Hope you're all getting on OK??

Yes Tues meet-ups are going ahead... it seems to be done by email now but don't think you're on it Ellie. Tomorrow, if the weather's nice it will be in Greenwich park (in the same spot as mentioned in Bump's email above), if the weather is iffy then it will be in Cafe Rouge. See some of you there.

Clare & Layla xx

Hi Clare,

Thanks for putting this on. I meant to put it on here as well as sending the email and then O cried and I totally forgot...

See you tomorrow.

Hi everyone. I haven't been on for ages, either. Looking forward to seeing lots of you tomorrow.

Tupperwife and ellie - grr at knock down ginger (we had a spate of that at around 4pm most days for about six weeks around the time M was born - drove me mad) and noisy neighbours - I think we live on the noisiest street in the world (and don't get me started on the bloke that visits our opposite neighbours every Friday night and sounds his horn to say goodbye at 2 in the morning every week without fail) .

Yay! Looks as though tomorrow is shaping up to be a nice little gathering!

Lets hope its sunny as I'm not sure cafe rouge can cope with all the buggies we can bring!

Rosa XX