Due Fab Feb 2009 - here comes the easy peasy (?!) wee-wee sneezy third trimester (if you please, no baby arrivals on this thread)

[dinkystinky]

Here's our sparkling new thread and the latest list - have stuck Munteria at the end (Munteria, just put in your details)

TinkerbellesMum DC3 (3rd baby. Lily-Hope born 20 weeks 28-29/9/05, Tink born 31 weeks 17/7/06, age 27, Birmingham) Official due date 01/02/09 but expected from early December
florrieandme DC2 26/01/2009
laidback DC4 27/01/2009 (age 34, North Devon)
nkweto DC2 30/01/2009 (age 34, West London)
oooggs DC4 30/01/2009 (age 34, Cornwall)
MamaGoose DC3 30/01/2009 (age 32, Spain)
MissMitford 31/01/2009
Plethora 31/01/2009 (age 37, East London but moving soon)
Ethelredtheunready (age 40, 2nd Baby, Tilly born 19/2/06, DC2 01/02/2009- Currently Chichester, soon to be Epping)
AngelDoll DC1 01/02/2009 (age 31, Sheffield)
Supersteph DC2 01/02/2009 (age 24, Torbay)
jenandbean DC2 02/02/2009
ruthmollymummy 02/02/2009
plantsitter 02/02/2009
idontbelieveit DC2 02/02/2009 (age 31, Leeds)
Tummytrouble 03/02/2009
Questionkid DC1 3/2/09 (age 33, living in Wallington, Surrey)
jamescagney 03/02/2009 (aged 33,Clare, Rep of Ireland)
Pregnantpopcornprincess DC3 04/02/2009 (pregnant with twins)(age 31, West Sussex)
MsLucy Boy 04/02/2009 (age 38, North London)
PinkTulips DC3 04/02/2009 (age 24, Roscommon, Ireland)
Davidsmom DC2 04/02/2009 (age 39, Cheshire)
MissDelighted DC1 05/02/2009
m2alyssa DC2 05/02/2009 (age 30, Isle of Man)
Jelliebelly DC2 06/02/2009 (age 37)
Swampster (HasAWarmFuzzy) 06/02/09 (age 40, south London)
Gettingbigger 06/02/08
Guitargirl DC2 07/02/2009
Aila DC2 07/02/2009
Littlemissnorty DC2 08/02/09 (age 39, Kent)
Biscuitytrousers 08/02/2009 (age 31, Thames Ditton)
MarkStretch DC2 07/02/2009 (age 29, Norfolk)
KT1983 09/02/2009
Tinasan DC2 09/02/2009
Herbgarden 09-11/02/09 (age 38 Berkshire)
Ewemoo 07/02/2009
Singingintherain DC3 10/02/2009
KazzaL DC2 10/02/2009 approx (age 34, Ciren, Gloucs)
littleboyblue DC2 due early-mid Feb (age 27, Surrey)
Jenniferturkington DC2 11/02/2009
thehouseofmirth DC2 11/02/09 (age 38, Wimbledon)
Clarabumps DC2 12/02/2009 (age 27, Glasgow)
BumpVLump 12/02/09 (age 29, Surrey)
Louisebunny 13-15/02/09
Mapleleaf 13/02/2009 (age 38, Cambridge)
Nadssss 13/2/9 (age 29, living w. london)
Jelliebaby DC2 14/02/2009 (AGE 29, Cheshire)
Loopylula DC2 14/02/2009 (age 28, Sussex)
Dinkymum DC2 14/02/2009 (age 28, Notts)
Francesrivis 15/02/2009 (age 38, Devon)
onwardandupward DC2 second week of Feb (age 35, south west)
Americas 16/02/2009 (age 32, London)
MrsThreads DC1 16/02/2009 (age 36, Cheshire)
shubiedoo DC3 17/02/2009 (age 37, Canada)
Pluto DC2 18/02/09 (age 38, Kent)
CassandraB DC1 18/02/09 (age 35, Hampshire)
Catstar DC2 18/02/09 (age 35, Surrey)
Ugg first baby due 18/02/09 (32, Cheshire)
Fruitstick DC2 19/02/2009 (age 32, London)
Imaginewittynamehere DC2 19/02/2009 (age 32, Cambs)
McDreamy DC3 19/02/2009 (age 37, Cyprus but will give birth in Bucks)
Dinkystinky DS2 19/2/09 (age 31, London)
DizzyBrummie DC2 17/02/2009 (age 36, Berks)
Rachrox DC3 20/02/2009 (age 28, Glos also!)
Calico1 DC2 21/02/2009 (age 40, West Herts)
Mentalpup DC2 21/02/09 (age 30, Glos)
Rosieposey DC4 21/02/09 (age 36, Wilts)
mrsy first baby due 22/02/09 (24, Maidstone, Kent)
scubagroover 22/02/09 (31, London)
Winemakesmummyclever 23/0/09 (age 34, Lancs)
Neeerly3 DC3 23/02/09 (age 32, Mansfield)
Mirry71 DC1 23/02/09 (london)
LardyBump 24/02/09
Spottyshoes DC2 24/02/09 (aged 28)
Chilledmama DC2 25/02/2009 (age 31, Hampshire
dd1ofcolandgerry DC2 25/02/2009
Cocodrillo DC3 26/02/2009 (age 34, south london)
MrsBick DC2 26/02/2009 (Age 25, living in Surrey)
charlie7 DC2 28/02/2009 (Age 33, living in the Inner Hebrides)
Babyignoramus DC1 27/02/2009 (age 27, Brighton)
Mumoverseas DC4 28/2/2009 (age 40, Saudi Arabia/West Sussex)
Blinamouse
Elkiedee
Nellstar TBC
zikel DC2 TBC (23, Coventry)
theSuburbanDryad DC2 (age 26, living in South Bucks)
Munteria DC2 (38,London)

TBM - thanks for those lovely detailed descriptions of how the hormones work in labour. They're really helpful, and having awareness of how it all works is something I'm going to be trying to make a mantra of mine to prepare for labour. The woman leading my NCT class explained it all in a similar way last week and it made SO much sense. I'm now convinced that state of mind is as important a part of labour as physicality.

On another note I had another midwife appointment today following my scare with increased BP and sugar last week. Get this -after my wee tested completely normal the midwife told me that she discovered at the end of the session last week, after most of the women had tested +2 for sugar, that she had a faulty batch of sticks and I was testing normal all along. My DH then pointed out that she had given me the sugar result at the point at which she put the cuff on my arm to take my BP, which no doubt explains why it was high. So the worry seems to be for nothing as my BP was normal today too. How ridiculous!

Any news Markstretch? Hope all is ok.

QK, there is a name for that (white coat something) some GP's have self testing in the waiting room because your BP can go up so easily.

You're right, knowing how and why it works can be really helpful, if you can be thinking "I'm feeling this because..." then you won't be so stressed out by it.

I've said it before but I highly recommend The Water Birth Book to everyone, even if not having a water birth as it explains things so well. I read it when I was pregnant with Tink and I recognised so much of it from my labour and birth with Lily-Hope. I never pushed, but instinctively raised my hips, I found out from the book that's normal! Someone once said to me that pushing is like when you hold your breath, you have to breathe. But you only have to breathe because you're holding your breath. It's the same with labour. Usually people don't get to go to the primal space so their body doesn't take over so they have to push. It's natures back up.

Sorry I'm rambling, but I find birth so fascinating!

Good news QK - it's weird how one random dodgy stick can cause such ripples and create a whole big thing.

Have had a pretty pooey evening sorting out family Christmas-related dramas, and listening to my sister about childbirth - I quote: "it's like someone slicing open your stomach with a rusty saw..." way to be positive, Emma "everyone things they can cope with labour until the pain starts" and "home birth... (sucks air in through teeth a la dodgy mechanic) it's not something I would ever consider..."

Tsk!

Hello all.

Just to let you know I am home and all is well. Had a thorough check over, bloods taken and anti-d given and knackered now so heading to bed.

Ha, mrsy! Post that on a new thread and see what people think!

I always thought I was a wuss and wouldn't cope with it! I coped far better with labour than I did with a CS.

MS, glad you're home, I hope you're feeling better in the morning.

clearly I meant Have n't been on for ages...but never mind I killed the thread anyway!!!!!!
I miss the halloween emoticons.

Really glad to see that TBM is still with us with a big belly and the thread is nearly at 830. Need to think of another title to keep tinkette all sticky!!
How weeks are you now TBM??

LOL I have 165 more posts to hang on for! I'm 28+2. I think at the rate we're getting through I can probably last through one more thread.

hadn't killed thread...computer just refused to refresh obviously!!

The whole birth thing facinates me too...

Ultimatley, your birth experience is based on the luck of the draw but your attitude entering it is probably the 2nd most important factor to that luck.
With DS I was adamant I wanted a home birth and in water and didn't want to go to hospital unless there was a problem. Labour came and bugger it was sore (duh...its labour) but bizarrely the further in I got the easier it was...becauswe I just immersed myself in it. When I got in the bath I was 7cm and it relaxed me so much that I had a snooze!!!In the middle of labour.
You have to accept that if you labour naturally or with induction it will be painful...that's what labour is. There are a few lucky women who don't seem to experience the pain but they are few and far between.
When it came to the pushing part...the only pain I experienced was when I tried not to push because I was going against what my body was telling me to do...
long and short of it...listen to your body...it generally knows what it needs.

Evening Ladies, so much to catch up on today

dinkystinky funny isnt it? Re the grass is always greener, Do love my job just wish i had more money! But then the last job i had was very well paid but too stressful!

laidbackinengland HI there I teach street dance and cheerleading, mostly to kids but i have a mums class too who are fab, 1st place at the last competition! How bout you what do you work wise?

onwardandoutward and pinktulips thanks for your very detailed crowning descriptions! I have worried about this myself and glad to have someone to explain!

tinkerbellesmum you are so knowledgeable! Everyone you say makes so much sense x

TinkerBellesMum - DC3 (girl), due: 01.02.09 (not expected to get far into December) (age 27, Birmingham)
Laidbackinengland - DC4, due: 23.01.09 (age 34, North Devon)
Nkweto - DC2, due: 30.01.09 (age 35, West London)
Mamagoose - DC3, due: 31.01.09 (age 32, Spain)
Questionkid - DC1, due: 03.02.09 (age 33, Wallington, Surrey)
PinkTulips - DC3, due; 04.02.09 (age 24, Roscommon, Ireland)
MsLucy - DC2 (a boy), due: 4/2/09 (CS a few days early)(age 38, North London) 
Swampster - DC3, (a boy), due: 06.02.09 (age 40 , London)
Rosieposey - DC4, (a boy) due: 06.02.09 (age 36,Swindon,Wiltshire)
MarkStretch - DC2, (a boy) due: 07.02.09 (age 29, Norwich)
onwardandoutward - DC2, due: 07.02.09 (age 35 South West)
LittleMissNorty - DC2, due: 08.02.09 (age 40 in a couple of weeks, Kent).
KT1983 - DC1, due: 09.02.09 (age 25, London)
KazzaL - DC2 (suprise flavour), due 10.02.09 (age 35, Cirencester, Gloucs)
herbgarden - DC2, due: 11.02.09 (CS 02.02.09) (age 38, Berkshire)
TheHouseofMirth - DC2, (a boy) due: 12.02.09 (age 38, Wimbledon)
Littlesez ? DC1 (a girl) due: 15.02.09 (age 28, Manchester)
America - DC2, (a boy) due: 16.02.09 (age 32, London)
Rachrox - DC4, (a boy) due: 18.02.09 (age 28, Cheltenham)
Catstar - DC2, (a boy) due: 18.02.09 (age 36, Chessington)
Dinkystinky - DC2, (a boy) due: 19.02.09 (age 32, London)
Pluto DC2 (gender unknown), due 19.02.09 (Age 38, Kent)
DizzyBrummie - DC2, due: 20.02.09 (age 36, Berkshire)
Calico1 - DC2 due: 21.02.09 (age 40, West Herts)
mrsy - DC1, (a girl) due: 22.02.09 (age 24, Maidstone, Kent
Scubagroover - DC1 (a boy), due: 22.02.09 (age 31, London/ Kent)
Winemakesmummyclever - DC2 (a boy), due: 23.02.09. (age 35, Manchester) expecting cs @ 39 weeks.
Spottyshoes - DC2, due: 24.02.09 (age 28)
Lardybump - DC2, due: 24.02.09 (age 34)
Chilledmama - DC2 (a girl), due: 25.02.09 (age 32, Southsea)
Cocodrillo - DC3, due 26.02.09 (age 34 at the mo, London) expecting a CS at 38-39 weeks.
mumoverseas - DC4 (a boy), due: 28.02.09 (CS 2 to 3 weeks early) (age almost 41 Arabia/Crawley West Sussex)

~~~ End Copy Here, please include ~~~

The pain comes (beyond the normal pain) when people are allowing adrenalin to take effect but people (and I say people because men need to play a part in it all too) aren't having it all explained properly and being taught the process properly.

When I was in hospital last week there was a woman who delivered in her sleep and freaked out when she woke up and couldn't get her PJ's off and her baby was inside them!

I mean everything! not everyone

Sorry littlesez, I missed your post before. I just soak up everything I read, which isn't always a good thing! I do find pregnancy fascinating though, I do find it slightly sci-fi so maybe that's my fascination (I'm a Trekkie!)

Hopefully I can put my fascination to good use though as I'm hoping to start Doula training next year.

morning all, MS, glad all ok and hope you manage to get some rest.
TBM, she delivered in her sleep? Bloody hell, she must have been, well, rather large down there not to have noticed? That is weird!
hope everyone has a good day. Just started packing for return to real world on Saturday and can't wait. Just done a huge Tescos online shop which appears to be mostly bacon, sausages and sausage rolls! counting the hours til my first bacon baguette (really love bacon & brie but don't think we are allowed brie are we?)

Tescos sausage rolls are the best!
I always buy loads of them if we have a party and they are snaffled within seconds.

dammit, am having a real pork craving now!

Morning all!

Sleep well?

I've been craving mince pies and bought a couple in Greggs today.
Managed to hold off on buying the six pack - now that would have been lethal.

Morning - no mrsy I didn't sleep well....my DS was wide awake at 3.30am and I didn't manage to settle him until 5.45!!! ARGGGHH

He's got some molars coming through and a cold and is so miserable. I popped into my local chemist this morning to get some Medised in case tonight is similar but was told that they are no longer able to sell Medised to under 2s. DS is 19 months and he has had some a couple of times when he had chicken pox / bad teething, etc but I'm a bit baffled that they are now not selling it. Apparently all the boxes are being repackaged as it currently says from 3 months on the bottle. Makes me worried that I shouldn't have given it to him before......Anyone else heard that?

Glad to hear all is well MS.

Calico1,

It is a pretty new ruling (changes were made about 9 months). I think they found that parents were combining medicines, ie calpol and medised or medised and kiddie cough mixture and unwittingly potentially overdosing their children...

I had thought that the ruling only applied to cough mixtures.. so we have stopped using that but still use calpol/medised sparingly..

dont know if it is useful.

MS.. glad to hear all is well

Re the labour.. absolutely pain management can be impacted by attitude.. but sometimes it is appropriate to have pain relief! i managed 24 or so hours on G&A before epidurals and other inventions were required and i was pretty relaxed and positive throughout the whole experience.

Still aiming for a 'no intervention birth centre ' birth.. but will not beat myself up if interventions are required. Hope, I am not being contraversial(sp?), but I would hate to think that anyone on the thread felt that they had done anything wrong by taking something to make them more comfortable.

Raging indigestion kept me awake last night! Though did sleep eventually and DS didn't wake me up until 7.50am so not all bad. Then had a cup of tea which set off the indigestion again...

Am also feeling very teary today. My house is an absolute shithole as I've been doing a bit more paid work and haven't stayed on top of things. Then I wind myself up by mentally compiling a list of all the householdy things that have to be done before the baby comes, even though they probably don't...) I am seething with resentment that DH cannot see everything is a mess and just wade in and help. So instead I get snipey and sarky and then of course he does nothing. Or he does something like empty the dishwasher & expects a medal for it...

Poor houseofmirth.. i too am mainlining rennies at the moment!

set up up housekeeping routine with DH and stick to it. Make a list of activities you both need to do before baby comes and agree a plan together

i too am guilty of taking on too much and then getting resentful..have found talking about it (without getting angry.. a big step for me!) and agreeing a plan together works alot better... ignore me though if this advice is not useful!

Morning THOM - I have the opposite problem to you as my DH is obsessed with tidiness and always makes me feel useless and rubbish if I leave a coat not on a hook or don't put something away after I've used it....it's exhausting! As I result I never know where anything is and DH has 'tidied it away' before I know it. The scary thing is that DS is now tidying his plates after a meal and tidies the toys up after the other kids at nursery...I fear there is no escape for me.

Can I swap with you??? I'd love a bit of homely mess - I feel like I live in a 'show home' sometimes.

Calico- My DH would love to live in a show home but unfortunately he married me so he now just tuts a lot and does dramatic 'falling over' things that get left lying about.

I do like it when he tidys up though, he seems to find a place for everything.

Without wanting to scare anyone, I found my time on delivery suite last night a bit terrifying. I was in a waiting room with some poor lady who was having regular contractions, her waters broke and a midwife came in and made her sit on a pad. I had completely forgotten what having a baby sounds like and according to the shouting and then small crying there was about 4 babies born in the time I was there!

On a more positive note, I took the time to bombard the midwives with questions about my VBAC choices and they were really supportive. They said their policy would be CFM, but I can request to be monitored less frequently and have the active birth I want. They basically told me to write a birth plan and then get it signed off by one of the midwives. They actually said 'Whatever you decide, one of the midwives here will support you'.

Bring on the water VBAC I say!

I rang the hospital where I had dd this morning to request my notes and was told it would cost £50!