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

not cheap but some lovely stuff and you might be able to resell on Ebay for a good amount

oh and a reminder: if you want to add your details to an email list for the due in Dec ladies, please email me at personalnotbusiness at gmail dot com. I'm taking details of email addresses, first names and any other info you care to volunteer (like if you can offer bf support). We can hopefully use the list for things like birth announcements for those who can;t keep up with the thread or access MN when the nippers start to arrive!

Youngvisitor and WG - It is comforting to know others feel the same about their mums. i too feel like everyone I know in RL has huge, warm families to welcome their babies and help support them. I have no siblings, my mum is dead, my dad is dead, all my grandparents are dead and my aunt is pretty distant. My in-laws live nearby and are fine but like YV said you just can't ask your MiL to do the same as you would ask your Mum. If Mum was around I would have happily called her at anytime, day or night, bawling my eyes out if needs be and she would have been over like a shot. I could never imagine having a similar relationship with MiL (even though there is a possiblity she would be great if I did actually open up to her).

EG - If you live in London why not pop into a branch of Isabel Oliver and try stuff on? I agree that it is dangerous to catalogue buy when we are such odd shapes. You could aldo try Formes which has lovely stuff and several London branches. it is expensive too though. JojoMaman and Blooming Marvellous both have some smart stuff and are a tiny bit cheaper and I saw a lovely smart black dress in Gap Maternity the other day. It was very JackieO.

Re missing Mums - I miss my Dad, and my sister . My sister died unexpectedly and shockingly from an undiagnosed brain tumour at 19 (I was 14 at the time). My Dad died, again quite suddenly, when I was 18 - he had me and my sister quite late (he was 68 when he died).

My sister was fantastic with children - and in some ways used to 'mother' me, which made up for my Mum's lack of emotional warmth. She was a real emotional support and comfort... and I know she would have been wonderful with my babies. It may all be years ago, but something about creating new life makes me think more about those who have died...

Sorry. Don't mean to be all gloomy! I'm actually in a reasonably good mood today - just wanted to empathise with those of you missing people.

arti - does isabella oliver have shops in london??? i am looking on the internet now - can't find a link. have the rest of the day off so could get to one - might go to hampstead to seraphine and formes, but if there is an IO shop, that might be worth it

she callously and superficially says as people reminisce about their loved ones...

Did someone say we need an updated list?? That's my favourite job!

I've added our newest people; melissa72, penny99, amy123, hennaly (DC #7 - wow!!), traceface, Ninii, anjlix, and mybumpsaboy

Welcome to you all!

flumpy & abbeymeg have put in your CS dates

penny99 - I just haven't put in what DC this is for you? Is this your first bub?

Will write a 'proper' update soon. It's a bit late here in Australia for it tonight though.

Flumpybumpy scheduled c/s 19/11 (due 02/12) DC#3, (GIRL!)
LadyThompson scheduled c/s 25/11 8AM (zzz) (due 03/12) DC#1 - St Mary's, London, (GIRL!)
Verso scheduled c/s 25/11 (due 04/12) DC#2 - St Helier, London
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
melissa72 due 02/12 DC#1
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!)
Doozie due 3/12 DC#1
penny99 due 3/12 DC#?
amy123 due 3/12 DC#3
goneundergroundtillfamilyknow due 04/12 DC#3
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!)
hiccymapops due 07/12 DC#2, (BOY!)
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, Homebirth, Cambridge
JezzaJ9 due 08/12/08 - Hope, Manchester
JamInMyWellies due 09/12 DC#2 - St Johns, Chelmsford
Natalie537 due 09/12 DC#2, (GIRL!)
hennaly due 09/12 DC#7
ChutneyMary due 10/12 DC#3
Artichokes due 10/12 DC#2, London, (GIRL!)
Webbi due 11/12 DC#1
Bisou due 12/12 DC#1, Australia, (BOY!)
fishnchips due 12/12 DC#3
Jackstini due 12/12 DC#2
kayzisexpecting due 12/12 DC#2, Malton, North Yorks, (BOY!)
Alliebongo due 12/12 DC#3 - West Suffolk
KutilPutil due 13/12 DC#2
traceface 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!)
abbymeg scheduled c/s 15/11 (due 21/12) DC#2 - St James, Leeds, (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
Ninii due 20/12 DC#2
Indith due 20/12 DC#2 - Homebirth, Durham
hotmama due 21/12 DC#3
RhinestoneCowgirl/MaeWest due 21/12 DC#2 - Homebirth, Bristol
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?)
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
anjlix due 24/12 DC's#1&2 - St Thomas', London (TWIN GIRLS!)
Missmama due 25/12 DC#3 - Birmingham Heartlands
EnchantedWithEdwardCullen/DisenchantedPlusBump 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
mybumpsaboy due 25/12 DC#1, (BOY!)
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
babblington due 29/12 DC#3
emmanbump due 29/12 DC#1
Kimberly1979 due 29/12 - St. John's and Lizzies (BOY!)
EffiePerine due 30/12 DC#2 - Homerton, London (BOY!)
march29 due 31/12 DC#2
TheInvisibleHand due 31/12 DC#2 - Royal Free, London

Sad for those of you missing loved ones too. Hope my list update doesn't come across as insensitive in the midst of all these posts which I read a bit too late...

WG - IME experience Isabella Oliver are really great with prompt delivery and no hassle returns (if you are willing to splash out and go for it). Also, there are almost always discount promo codes around, so you may be able to get a more reasonable deal. I'm also a fan of Topshop maternity wear - there shop on oxford street has a mini maternity shop that is worth a look.

don't worry bisou I have very much come to terms with the notion that life (and more importantly mumsnet) goes on the face of everything else .

It's funny though - having a baby should be such a cheerful time but it's also definitely when your thoughts turn to absence and death. I remember last time I insisted on making my will the week before I gave birth - very Victorian !

Good work on the list bisou! I just noticed that my due date is still down as 3rd Dec (which is my dates) but my hospital is now using 9th Dec (their scan dates) so that's my official date.

However perhaps I won't bother to change it on the list - 3rd Dec makes the waiting seem more bearable!

Also, meant to say, Beans, so glad to see your MIL is on the mend!

thanks for all the advice re: glam outfits - will have fun over the next couple of weeks trying to find something.

now, i may be being a bit previous here, but just thought i'd direct you to this www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/TravellingAbroad/PassportsAndVisas/DG_10014984 re: children's passports. we're going to italy in april and i need to renew mine, and i wondered if i could get sproglet on mine, but apparently not. you will need a separate birth certificate to get a child's passport. all explained on the website.

we had to get DS a passport in a hurry and my god - the biggest faff was the photo!!!

It's a total nightmare - they have to be facing the camera, with no other person in shot (ie no parent), with a neutral expression and with both eyes open. I never realised how little time a newborn spends with their eyes open until I tried.

And the joke of course is that you could have a photo of the cat on DS's passport now - it looks so little like him.

Hi everyone,

beans really for you that your MIL has picked up again, my fingers are crossed that she continues to improve

wg I ordered a couple of outfits from Isabella Oliver and they were really prompt, and came in the most beautiful packaging Sadly neither fitted, one too small and one too large, despite both being the same size If time is tight, then I'd definitely not rely on any mail order, in case sizing is dodgy. Hope you find something

tyv I've got a bee in my bonnet at the moment about getting my will sorted before baby arrives - glad you did it too and I'm not the only one!

jj our carpet is also to hide bare floor boards - I can't wait to be able to walk around without shoes on! (we only covered our concrete floor downstairs about 6 months ago!)

Had an upsetting dream last night - I dreamt the MW told me not to eat anymore cheese til after the birth, just in case I needed a c/s . For someone who loves cheese as much as I do, that was practically a nightmare! So pleased to wake up this morning and realise it wasn't true ...

ZJ - that's awful! long live the cheese!

I just got back from having my eye test - all fine - I decided to go by bus and a weird thing happened - the fumey, exhausty, dirty, dusty bus smell smelt really really nice and I wanted to stay on the bus for ever just so I could keep smelling it! It must be hormones!

afternoon all, feeling a little better today, cold def on the mend, indigetion stayed away all night until 5am when it hit me with a vegence. But had my lovely MW visit today, veggiebaby is bang on 34cm at 34 weeks so 2 fingers up to all those bloody 'oh your so huge' people. He is lying to the right head down and very low, i asked about the engaged thing and she said he is so low down and back that it is difficult to assess but she said she has never bothered too much with all that as they tend to pop up and down anyway and for now he seems on track to be in a good position at birth. She let DH listen to the heartbeat through one of those old fashion listener things and he loved it as it sounded so much nicer than on the Doppler. She then put the doppler on so DS ad i could hear, it was so sweet watching DS's face beam when he heard it. He then leaned in and said to the MW 'are you going to help get my brother out now' bless him he is desperate to get him out.

She also gave me a list of stuff to pack in case we need to go to hospital as well as list of stuff that we might want to discuss on the next visit for the birth plan. I could scan it for you Beans but a lot is geared to homebirth so may not be helpful but would be happy to scan and email it to you

We got both DS's australian & british passports by the time he was about 3 weeks old. We layed him on a white sheet on the floor and took a load of photos of his head, then took our camera to a 'happy snappy' shop and the guy in there found an appropriate photo for both passports (australia is even pickier than britain) and then made pictures that fitted with the necessary parameters for each.

JJ for DS i definitely needed to be told what to do as as much i had prepared myself i had no idea. I have warned my MW that i was like that for last birth but i feel this time i might need less input.

trace how strange about the bus smell? Must be a hormone thing, that surely isn't normal!! Was it you who said York is black and white today, because its so miserable? I totally agree - just looking out the window is despressing me

That is so funny Trace. I am becoming obsessed with the smell of damp. I suddenly find I adore the smell of underground carparks or cellers. We were viewing a house the other day and they had a big damp celler and I just stood in it breathing deeply. I was in seventh heaven - DH had to drag me out. I also love the smell of wet earth and they are digging up the water pipes in our nieghbourhood do sometimes I stop by the big holes in the road and just inhale .

i suddenly feel like eating cheese.

Hello All,

Hatty great news re your placenta!

Beans Thinking of you and your family hope MIL continues to improve.

Trace where did you buy the dove gift set for £6? I got some cheap nighties £3 from Primark that partially unbutton down the front.

Mibbles shame about your leak, it seems that stuff like that happens at the worst times.

Hugs to everyone with colds and generally feeling yuk.

My pram came yesterday. So exciting. Have nearly got all my bits now Still need to wash everything, pack my hospital bag and make some more dinners for the freezer.

Feeling very exitable today.

emma the Dove set was from Sainsbury's! In the Christmas gift section.
There's no Primark in York so I maybe need to attempt a waddle to Leeds...

arti - i agree with the damp thing too, and musty old places, and when you first turn the air con on in DH's car, and walking near a busy road with lots of lorry fumes...!

i have always loved the smell of damp cellers, i could sit in our lovely cool damp celler for hours.

i got some cheap PJ's from Matalan, they were the same price as what i had seen in Primark, but seemed a bit more durable. I'm not sure if they had button down nighties but they ad a lot of stuff.

Also, crave has some good stuff. A bit spenny, but not as much as Isabelle Oliver. Also, for seraphine is online as well.

So sorry for all of you without Mums - I am lucky that I've still got both my parents, but it must be tough, especially with a nipper on the way. Love to all. xx

Ah, thanks for the offer, Veggie of scanning your birthplan. Don't worry, though - think I've got mine vaguely sorted - I copied someone at works and added a couple of my own foibles into it.

MIL still stable so far - oh yay!

I'm also just about ready for bed today - had a lovely chicken and leek pie for lunch. thought my stomach was meant to have shrunk by now, but I still have room for a surprisingly large amount - and I'm hungry again an hour or so later!!

Effie, did you mean your email address is [email protected]? Sorry if I'm being useless not knowing, but just want to check! Oops!

Wet earth - mmm, also freshly-laid asphalt and Vosene original shampoo. V v v yummy smells!! Like them even when not pg, but at the moment even more so!