due Dec 08-the one were we are so brain dead we can't think of a thread title.

[Veggiemummy]

hey there will this be the last one do you think

Yay for my mobile. Nearly finished moving the big stuff. I've been having braxton hicks and i feel quite dizzy. I haven't eaten since 1 so dh is going to get a pizza.

hi Rosemerta, it was good, todays class was about communication and listening skills, which i have done all before because of my nursing but is always good to do updates and also good to chat with others anyway. The girl i gave a lift to was really nice and we had a great chat in the car, her daughter was a bit sad about being in the car so long so DS was brilliant and kept her entertained so P.E. was also a treat for being so good, and also for putting up with a grumpy mummy yesterday.

I have another online assessment for the other course or the 3rd but i want to try to do it before DS gets home so we can all have a little holiday next week.

hi poisondwarf these are my first girls. can u believe the shock when I found out it was natural twins...

hattyyellow it is nice to know some else already has 2 critters. Right now I am at 28 weeks + 2. Just want to get past 30 so I know even if they came early, they'd be fine. when did you deliver yours?

abbeymeg my baby was breech at 32 weeks and today at 34 week appt I was told s/he has finally turned and is finally head down . I tried all fours and bouncing on my gym ball - no idea if it helped or if baby would've turned anyway...

SL I'm with you, I often feel like I know nothing atall, my poor wee baby

Jollybear ikwym about being on the 2ww thread 5 mins ago - where did the year go and how on earth did we get so close to our due dates ?!

I got lovely wine coloured PJ 3 piece set with wee cardi thing and pink spotted vest which should be good for feeding from George - cheap as chips, about £12

pixsix glad all ok, best to get checked out though.

Verso sorry meeting didn't go well, hope you got some answers.

How exciting they're back.

Have a fab wkend all. Will catch up over the wkend and attempt and prob fail to write massive post.

Oh while I remember is anyone else feeling tremendous pressure when peeing now, feels like mini munch is trying to escape.

Also has anyone started packign their hospital bag had a sudden realisation that time is creeping up on us I am now 34wks!

LadyT can you send me your legal contact please? I will need a letter drafting and may have enough savings to cover that at least - even if I don't have enough to cover a full case and tribunal.

Put it this way, the reason I was turned down is that the other candidate "had done the job before". (This was not listed as an essential requirement in the job description.) They never made her an offer - but they now want someone who has done the job before - which basically rules me out and means it will be impossible for me to gain promotion within the company.

BUT - "let's not put a timescale on this - but say in six month's time... if we've looked at the market again and haven't found anyone, then of course we'll come back to you. You were a very close second - and I still stand by everything I said to you about your aptitude, attitude and ability in the interview."

Morning everyone...tiny catch up but sorry if I forget anyone as I haven't written stuff down!
Verso what are you doing up at 4.30!! Sorry about all the traumas...
Thats it...I've forgotten what everyone else said .
Had a really nice day with DS yesterday..went to Kew Gardens and spent about 2 hours in their soft play and then came back and we both went to bed together! Lovely! DH was out gallavanting so we went to the park and then had tea together and then I spent about 30 mins teaching him the essential life skill of pencil sharpening! I'm going to have a house full of wickedly sharp pencils!

I hope you are all managing to get some sleep. I keep waking to wee! DS slept all the way through last night (which isn't that common I'm afraid) but I was up about 5 times to go to the loo.

Taking him to the local 'bouncy castle house' this morning to keep him out of a headachey DH way for a bit!
Hope you all have lovely relaxing weekends ...will try to catch up again at some point this weekend!

Oli and Veggie am all tearful at your lovely days out with your little ones - especially Veggie promising DS to arrange babysitting so you can dine out again - that's just lovely .

Have had some really special days out with my girls recently, both together and one on one and you really do start to make the most of them in a whole new way don't you.

Verso you make sure you have a nap today young lady! That does seem a bit of a catch 22 situation - and annoying to have to wait around for 6 months while they trawl the market. Is it easy to move jobs in your field? I think I'd be tempted to..

Mibbes great news that mini-mibbes has turned!

Anjlix I got to 38+ with my twins and I'm pretty sure they'd have gone to full term if I hadn't begged the consultant to do my section early! My first twin was stubbornly breech from about 30 weeks so they decided a section was safest. Twins can of course be hard work but when they play together or grab eachothers hands and run off giggling to play some hysterical game - it's just heart-melting! Hope you're feeling okay, it's soooo tiring being pregnant with twins!

Invisible will look at milk meds today - thanks for that.

Better dash - keep waking up horribly early and I can hear DD's chattering upstairs. We are going to our favourite local cafe today which shuts during winter so it's the last day to go and enjoy it They are doing lots of fun halloween stuff for kids

Ooh Hatty that cafe sounds fun. Have a lovely time!
I didn't add but there was an additional half hour spent playing with the pencil sharpenings all over the dining table!!! Apparently they were 'milipedes' and we had to wear gloves to hold them and feed them with broken up sharpenings!! And to think that I was twitching about the shavings being spilled on the table. You really just have to let the mess ride sometimes don't you! I love their little imaginations!

veggie your course sounds really good & your ds sounds like such a sweetie!

oli ikwym re letting them make a bit of mess! Our favourite activities atm are collecting leaves & glueing them onto paper, & making biscuits, both of which seem to end up with stuff all over the floor!

mibbes glad your baby's turned!

verso again, no advice I'm afraid, just sounds like such a difficult position for you to be in. Not what you want to be concentrating on right now [hugs]

oh dear, i hope mine come out by week 37. that would be christmas eve. I am normally a very active person and pregnancy got me down lately. I also started my mat leave now so it is a bit of shock to adjust to 5 mph life. ordered some books on amazon and will likely go to a knit store today to start some knitting projects for the babies.

what else are people doing to keep entertained. esp ones with no kids...

i had a dream last night that i was having quads and some how forgot to name two of them!

ds and i are on the sofa watching a dvd and eating popcorn we are both shattered after a big week, including football group this morning. we also bought a load of chocolate for later. hooray for rainy afternoons.

Verso-sorry to see you were up at 4.30am. But good luck with it all we are 100% behind you. Remember they need have to prove they didn't discriminate against you more than you have to prove that you did. I bet any employment lawyer would love your case.

On reflection, I don't know if I'll go down the legal route (which I bet they know). I want my maternity pay, and more importantly I need the job to return to. Going in all guns blazing isn't going to be constructive longer term. I was just SO angry - still am - but one way or another things will come right in the end - either I'll eventually get recognition at this company (doubtful) or I'll find something elsewhere.

Thanks for your support for all my ranting.

Back to babies!

Had a tour of the maternity unit this afternoon. It's not bad. Bit emotional about seeing the birthing pool (I wanted a water birth last time but they'd lost the plug! ) but asked to see the operating theatre and although it was upsetting and I had some flashbacks I'm glad I did as it won't be so bad when I finally go in.

Quite exciting, actually!

they lost the plug??!!!!

how long until you go on leave. Just wait it out Verso, enjoy your leave and your baby and see how you feel afterwards, you can pursue it later if you wish. You could always in a constructive way express to your boss how it has all made you feel. I'm not sure how well you get on with your boss, but maybe an informal meeting to express yourself. It is better for them if you aren't seething about it and they end up losing you. Or is expressing yourself not really an option.

i have just watched an incredibly soppy brainless movie (yes there were tears and not quite sure why wasn't eve at the really saddish moments) and have worked my way through almost an entire block of Galaxy dark choc. Am quite proud of that, there are about 6 pieces left, how well controlled am I!!

hi all again..sorry i keep pondering off for a few days and then it takes me ages to even try and catch up with everyone!thankyou all for being so welcoming, pls can some one do the list and add me on as i am clueless...due on the 13th od dec

your already on Kutilputil

MrsMattie due 28/11 DC#2
LadyOfTheFlowers due 30/11 DC#3
badkitty due 01/12 DC#1
twinkle183 due 01/12 DC#3
pwcbird due 01/12 DC#2
pixsix due 01/12 DC#1 - St Thomas', London
rosmerta due 02/12 DC#2 - Homebirth/West Mid, W London
RawChocolate due 02/12 DC#3
Flumpybumpy due 02/12 DC#3, (GIRL!)
theyoungvisiter due 03/12 DC#2
Modernlove due 03/12 DC#1
daisydora/cc21 due 03/12 DC#2
DonnyLass due 03/12 DC#2, (BOY!)
LadyThompson due 03/12 DD#1 - St Mary's, London, (GIRL!)
Doozie due 3/12 DC#1
goneundergroundtillfamilyknow due 04/12 DC#3
Verso due 04/12 DC#2 - St Helier, London
Hanni22anni due 04/12 DC#2
BrightShinySun due 05/12 DC#2
Nolda due 05/12 DC#2 Princess Anne, Southampton, (BOY!)
mibbes due 06/12 DC#1 - Stirling Royal
majormoo due 06/12 DC#3 - Royal Sussex, Brighton
elenamaesmummy due 07/12 DC#2
jenduck due 07/12 DC#1
Beans33 due 07/12 DC#1 - St Thomas', London
Ebs26 due 07/12 DC#1 - Darent Valley, Kent, (GIRL!)
poisondwarf due 08/12 DC#2 - Homerton, London, (GIRL!)
toratora due 08/12 DC#3
Mina30 due 08/12 DC#2
lal07 due 08/12 DC#2 - St Thomas', London (GIRL!)
jumpjockey due 08/12 DC#1
JezzaJ9 due 08/12/08 - Hope, Manchester
JamInMyWellies due 09/12 DC#2 - St Johns, Chelmsford
Natalie537 due 09/12 DC#2, (GIRL!)
ChutneyMary due 10/12 DC#3
Artichokes due 10/12 DC#2, (GIRL!)
hiccymapops due 11/12 DC#2
Webbi due 11/12 DC#1
Bisou due 12/12 DC#1
fishnchips due 12/12 DC#3
Jackstini due 12/12 DC#2
kayzisexpecting due 12/12 DC#2
Alliebongo due 12/12 DC#3 - West Suffolk
KutilPutil due 13/12 DC#2
cococat due 14/12 DC#1
pootleflump due 14/12 DC#2
Katie3677 due 14/12 DC#2
monkeydops due 15/12 DC#2
Veggiemummy due 15/12 DC#2 - Homebirth, Derby, (BOY!)
bunnysgirl due 16/12 DC#2
chinchi due 17/12 DC#2 - Calderdale Royal, Halifax
Purple79 due 17/12 DC#1 - St Thomas', London, (GIRL!)
Kmp1 due 17/12 DC#1 - Queen Charlottes, London (BOY!)
IceCube due 18/12 DC#1 - Homebirth, Cheshire
snorris due 18/12 DC#5, (GIRL!)
SummerLightning due 18/12 DC#1 - Addenbrookes, Cambridge, (BOY!)
moaningminnie2020 due 20/12 DC#2
reban due 20/12 DC#4
hotmama due 21/12 DC#3
RhinestoneCowgirl/MaeWest due 21/12 DC#2 - Homebirth, Bristol
abbymeg due 21/12 DC#2 - St James, Leeds, (BOY!)
waitinggirl due 21/12 DC#1 - Whittington, London
preggiejane due 21/12 DC#1
georgiepig due 22/12 DC#2
NineUnlikelyTales due 22/12 DC#2
hattyyellow due 22/12 DC#3 (GIRL?)
Indith due 24/12 DC#2
Turniphead1 due 24/12 DC#3 - St John & Elizabeth's, N London
zoejeanne due 24/12 DC#1 - Scarborough
HollyMiranda due 24/12 DC#1 - Chelsea & Westminster
Missmama due 25/12 DC#3 - Birmingham Heartlands
DisenchantedPlus Bump due 25/12 DC#3
kitkat9 due 25/12 DC#3
Annagt due 25/12 DC#1
strikey due 25/12 DC#2
GettingBiggerBird due 25/12 DC's#2&3 - Homerton, London (GIRL & BOY!)
purplepansy due 25/12 DC#3
PinguRocks due 25/12 DC#1 - St Thomas', London
Lowrib due 25/12 DC#1 - Homerton, London
Jollybear due 26/12 DC#1
tm2 due 26/12 DC#1
GordontheGopher due 26/12 DC#2
Twiga/okaythen due 26/12 DC#3
LitterBug due 26/12 DC#3
Crazycatlady due 26/12 DC#1 - Homebirth/St Thomas', London
Olipop due 27/12 DC#2 - West Middlesex, London
simmo14 due 27/12 DC#2, (GIRL!)
rowergirl due 27/12 DC#2
feb due 28/12 DC#2
emmanbump due 29/12
Kimberly1979 due 29/12 - St. John's and Lizzies (BOY!)
babblington due 29/12 DC#3
EffiePerine due 30/12 DC#2 - Homerton, London (BOY!)
march29 due 31/12 DC#2
TheInvisibleHand due 31/12 DC#2 - Royal Free, London

thankyou!

anjlix I know it's weird slowing down at the start of maternity leave - last time round I found it REALLY BORING... but honestly, take time to rest. Take naps. Sleep. Put your feet up. Have baths. Do whatever you usually do to pamper yourself. Go to the cinema without a buggy and baby and changing bag. Go and eat in child-unfriendly restaurants. Do things that require uninterrupted concentration - like reading complex novels or doing crosswords.

The baby will come and your life will be so surreal for the first six weeks (at least!) that you won't have time to be bored any more and you'll really wish you'd taken advantage of the break. Newborn babies need 24/7 attention - and if you're breastfeeding, that means YOU! It's really hard to explain how exhausting that much responsibility can be... it's certainly a very intense experience.

It's a wonderful thing, having a tiny baby, but this 5mph maternity leave is just a brief interlude. That's why I finished work a few weeks earlier this time than with DD - so I actually get a break!!!

Veggie I get on really well with my boss: or at least thought I did! She was very supportive of my two miscarriages last year (I took five days' sick leave after each ERPC so felt I ought to tell her why) and then when I got pregnant this year and had to have a lot of consultant appointments early on. She has two (grown up) children herself and we have talked about how to manage motherhood and a career (she's a Director).

She sent me a lovely email on Friday as she was out of the office in the afternoon when I left and I was out in the morning at antenatal. She said she'll miss me and that she'd love to meet for lunch while I'm off.

I'm certain that IF there was any discrimination involved, it didn't come from her. I think someone has put pressure on around "you don't promote pregnant women". Obviously I can't prove it - and they know I'm not about to start the formal grievance process, let alone lodge a complaint with an employment tribunal, the day I go on leave. (I'm on annual leave for the next week and a half and then my maternity leave starts the following week.)

I am trying to comfort myself with the thought of going back next year and working my notice while I find something else. Something with a better commute. I've only been there two years - being made redundant last time pushed me into finding this job - so I'm sure I can find something else and establish myself somewhere else. Just really sad to have made lots of friends there and be pushed into moving before I'm really ready. Oh well!

(And yes, I DO KNOW THE CLOCKS HAVE CHANGED . Unfortunately my DD's body clock doesn't so she woke me up chattering!)

verso my ds's body clock hasn't changed either. Unfortunately, mine has & so ds has a bit of a grumpy mummy this morning!

I forgot the clocks went back! we had a late night last night - meal at friends and put DD to bed at theirs then came back at midnight and swapped her to her own bed so was hoping for a lie-in. She usually wakes around 6 but we have a " stay in your room and do what you like till 7am" rule - except that means today she was awake from 5 and I let her get up at 6 because I forgot about the clocks!!! How annoying - I could have tried for the extra hour!!!

anjlix - I started my leave early as my DD1 was born at 30 weeks so DH insisted that I stop and 'rest' at 32 weeks - I thought I'd be bored stiff but actually am loving it! I've been to the library and am reading loads of books...I've bought my Christmas cards but not written them yet - am hoping I can include a baby announcement and send it all off at once!...have bought a few Christmas pressies so I can wander round town without being too fat and rushed...am making slightly more creative meals at home...and generally catching up with friends who I haven't seen for ages! Just make the most of the time because you won't get it back!

Yes - clocks changing -not quite the hour extra in bed it used to be. DS was singing medley of shaun the sheep and incy wincy spider from about 5:00. Think you're doing exactly the right thing Verso. If you want to pursue it legally you still can when you go back - this is what I ended up doing with my work although I knew I would have to from the moment I went off. In the end I only had to threaten a tribunal (lodge a complaint but not actually get to the hearing) to get them to be more reasonable.

Or like you say you can go back and start looking for something else. Leaves a bad taste though - I really hope you can try to push it out of your head and think about your lovely baby instead!

Sigh - am slightly of real maternity leave. Not quite the same thing when there's a toddler about. anjix if you can be bothered really good idea to cook food for the freezer to get you through those first weeks when both you and OH will be exhausted.

Realised last night that I've eaten all the halloween chocolate we supposedly got for trick or treaters.

Lal lol at you eating all the chocolate, i have a handy tip for making sure you don't eat the next lot of treats, when you buy them include lots of grownup chocolate (i can recommend green&blacks dark) and then when you are tempted just gorge on the grown up stuff, and youcan do so guilt free. Obviously if this runs out, well you had better start on the Halloween treats.