Due Dec 08 -- Getting Ready for final push (in every sense!)

[Beans33]

Here's a new thread for us all lovely Dec Mums!

Effie Cranberry juice is really good, but I hate it. I normally have Cranberry and Raspberry juice which is lovely and the GP said it will do the same job.

I've had a moment about nipples too. While I was waiting to see a MW at the labour ward I heard a lady telling the MW she can't BF as she doesn't have normal nipples. What are normal nipples?????

I was going to post something else but it has completely gone.

Kayz: you can get cranberry tablets as well, not sure how effective they are.

A mw complemented my on my nipples while in hospital with DS - not sure what is good or bad though! Sure all different shapes and sizes work...

I have a fear that the MWs/ Drs etc will all recoil in horror and disbelief when they see my fandangle/nipples/ whatever, saying "well I've never seen one like that before"
a real medical query... I seem to have a kind of hardish lump kind of in the middle of my chest, just under the bottom of my bra...my bump seems quite high but i think the lump is above the uterus rather than in it - it feels like theres a loose Malteser beneath the skin! Is it my ziphisternum ?

oh Trace- you made me a bit teary then, and i'm not quite sure why, maybe because it made me remember one of the situations where i stepped back. I had been trying to settle DS to sleep for ages (he was about 9months) and he just kept crying he was a pretty settled baby so i wasn't used to not being able to settle him. I cuddled, rocked fed him did everything but he was just so unhappy. finally i said to DH (it was about 11pm by this time) thats it you take him i need a shower and some time away, i stormed off to the shower while DH held him and i just cried and cried in the shower i just didnt know what to do. Then i stopped crying and listened to his cry and realised that it was different to his usual cries and he sounded somehow to be in pain. So i got out of the shower and gave him some Calpol (that was before i discovered Pulsatilla) and sat in my nursing chair and cuddled him until he eventually stopped crying and fell asleep. the next day i took him to the GP and it turned out he had an ear infection, poor little man.

Foxytocin, that is such a sweet thing to say.

oh missed page 28 completely.

Trace- last night in the rough guide to pregnancy for week 36 (I read it to DH every sunday night as we turn the next week on the monday) they talked about 'breast-tails' that are something to do with getting ready to breast feed, she had hers in her armpits. I think it is worth seeing your GP or MW about it but it could be one of these 'breast-tails' things.

finally just felt like eating and as i was just in sainsbusrys i got some crusty white rolls and had them with mozzarella, tomato, avocado & pesto, yum not quite Giacobazzi's but still yummy my tummy feels better now.

Kayz-the cranberry tablets might be as good, but the raspberry & cranberry juice will do the job too. Also regulat water but don't skull large amounts of water or overdo the water drinking too much as your poor kidneys are a bit overworked at the moment just the usual 8 glasses spread evenly over the day or get a few bottles of water near you and sip them regularly.

CatDean and Veggiemummy - I have persisted with the bikini waxing all through pregnancy but must admit it hurts so much more than when not pregnant! My waxing lady said that most pregnant women have heaps of hair on their tummy.

I feel so spoilt at the moment with various baby presents arriving. Its so nice to know that people are thinking of us.

penny I've persisted with the waxing too, and by god it hurts. Although oddly the underarms and legs are less painful ... But even worse then the pain is my (normally very lovely waxing lady) watching me wince when she does my bikini line and telling me she's toughening me up for labour - she's just mean!

Message withdrawn

foxy I never knew you cared!

kayz what with the cold and the kidney infection and the NHS messing you about it sounds like you've had a rubbish time of it. I hope you start to feel a bit cheerier soon. (I find chocolate oranges work wonders... which now I come to think of it probably explains my potato face .)

I went to visit a friend today who had her baby two weeks ago. He's so CUTE! I'd forgotten quite how small they are when they're new (even though I've washed all the babygrows recently). Perked me up no end seeing such a happy contented baby .

daisydora what day is your c-section? Have you done a birth plan? My NCT lady said I should, even though it's an elective c/s but I'm not quite sure what to put (or whether to bother!). Anyway - I hope all goes well for you next week - exciting times!!

As for shaving etc I think I should - because apparently if you don't then the m/w does it for you with a blunt Bic but I can't reach. I'm sure DH would do the honours... but I don't like the thought. Can't believe I've already been through one birth - which pretty much removes any sense of modesty - and I'm being prudish about this!

cause back in 05 we both went thru a lot of trauma postnatally. [t'is kiskidee / alux]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello! >waves< You told me that before I think. I am stoically blaming my poor memory on pregnancy hormones. (Although obviously it's actually YOUR fault for changing your name and challenging my poor pregnany brain .)

Oooooooh just been on Facebook and the countdown thing says 25 days!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!

Message withdrawn

Mmmm Cat that sounds good. We're having fish fingers, peas and macaroni cheese and I don't have any children yet either!

Cat sounds like you will be well up on what kids like to eat.... my Dc would eat fishfingers every night if I let them (indeed come early Jan that may indeed be what they will eat every night because it's easy)

Loving the Foxy girl crush !!!

As for nipples, well they never go back to what they were before, bf'ing or not. But they don't look quite so dark or big once all the pg hormones gone. Oh - and your tummy button will never look the same again either. There will always be this tiny pooch of skin just above it. (Of course I will get that sorted when I get the tummy tuck and designer fanjo....).

For those dying to get a flat tummy back (I don't think I have ever had one...) be sure not to do any sit ups etc before 6 week check as the muscles are separated and you can end up with a point cone shape from doing it too early. As with sex, I don't find the 6 week "rule" on exercise a hard one to abide by I must say.

Was a bit at the friend of a friend who was at it in the hospital. I do remember my old secretary at work saying that her and her Dh did it on the kitchen table on arriving home from hospital. Given that she said that most of the time she had a hard time getting him interested in it, I did wonder at the time was it some kind of reclaiming her body on his behalf...

Anyway - each to their own. I did think Hatty's twin book advice would probably go down with most DPs and would be a lot less errr...messy than the full monty IYSWIM

Oops I meant to say "go down well" but said "go down"...How freudian is that???

Hi all - crap day here - tired, worrying about £ when go on SMP, plus tenant problems - anyway, I have forgotton who said what but I remember a few things!
Veggie my M&D are bringing me a sheepskin over from Australia - grey one - yay! They are getting the bigger size one rather than the buggy one so I can also use it as a rug like you did
I've really opened a discussion about the colustrum / syringe thing haven't i and I can't remember who said what but someone mentioned they may have been referring to if you are choosing not to BF so now I'm wondering if that is what they really meant as I did glaze over for a short part and seem to have a very short atention span these day - but that makes more sense! I might try and do a bit more research on it or make a call to the midwife who ran the course.
Also - on the baby clothes things / terminology subject.... how many of each do the 2nd timers advise getting (vests short and long sleeved / sleepsuits etc?)
Also I would like to join the email list but can't find the original post with your email address Effie?

kmp: my email is personal not business at gmail dot com

I'd get about 10 vests and sleepsuits in the small size and see what your baby is like - you can always buy more if needed . Also top tip from someone about not washing stuff before you need it, then you can swap for a larger size if necessary. People will prob buy you things as well.

Evening all!

kayz hope you're feeling a bit better.

trace you're the second person I've ever heard use the word ziphisternum, the other was a singing director talking about which bits you feel moving up and down when you breathe! I'm sure it's nothing to worry about but can you get your midwife/doc to take a look at your next appt?

veggie that's such a good example of mother's instinct, it's really encouraging to think how well you get to know your own baby's cries and how to tell exactly (well sort of!) how they're feeling.

Had my 37 week appt today. According to the schedule of care I'm meant to be checked every week now, but the next appt she's got free is on my due date! just how many babies are being born in Cambridge this December?! She said to phone if I've got any questions, and of course DH is very handily medical, but still I feel a bit uneasy... And have realised I don't know who I call if labour starts - not the delivery ward presumably as we're planning an HB. Time to give her a call methinks!

The MW is very calming and relaxing and went through the birth plan without a single titter at any of the home-woven muesli type of stuff I've said so I really hope she's the one free when the time comes. AND she's cut her fingernails since I last saw her!

KMP, sorry you are having money worries. I get quite panicky when I think about cash, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. Sympathies too on the tenant thing. Hope it resolves itself quickly.

Colostrum - I have never heard that with either baby. I would only bother expressing if there were a reason why the baby couldn't have milk from the boob. I would also hand express as otherwise it'll all get lost in the pump. A MW will show you how if you need to do this.

Amount of clothes for newborns - I would say I've got about ten vests and ten babygros. A lot will depend on whether or not your baby vomits a lot as possetted milk really stinks. Mine didn't but the BF poos are very runny and can be a bit leaky so I'd be changing the vest and gro fairly frequently. Plus if you are knackered you don#'t want to HAVE to do a wash because there is only 1 gro left.

Kimberly and Kayz - sorry to hear you have been in the wars. Hope you are both feeling better now.

Turnip - fishfingers, beans and vegetables is the specialita della casa chez mary. It's what I cook whenever we have DDs' friends over for the first time as most children will eat at least some of it. Mine would eat it every day and, as you say, probably will fairly soon. If you buy decent FF though, I think it's actually an OK meal.

Bonking - I am as likely to fly to the moon as have sex in hospital or indeed in the first few weeks. If there is any time for that kind of malarkey, I'd rather be in the bath or asleep. I think you are advised to wait until you have stopped bleeding but other than that, go for it once you feel ready. Be warned, though, that BF can alter your hormones and make you rather, er, dry downstairs (sorry for TMI) so you may need a bit of KY or something. Plus DON@T rely on BF for contraception unless you are doing it very frequently (the BF not the sex), inc overnight, the baby is under 6 months and you have not had a period. I didn't rely on it, but have not had a period since June 2006 and only have had unprotected sex once in that time - here I am expecting baby no 3! You have been warned .

Hatty, I think my DH would die and go to heaven if I showed some wifely compassion soon after the birth. Trace, I am as sexual as a bag of chips just now, and have been with each pregnancy. Am the size of tescos, knackered, have thrush and am warding off piles. Arms and legs rival the michelin man's. Randy I am not - and neither is DH thank GOD. Some women are rampant and others just not. I'm just not - well, not when pg anyway.....

Verso, I do have a birth plan for my elective section but it's very short. Simply covers what I will tell them anyway - don't wash the baby, let me have skin to skin asap, let me have my own CD on in theatre rather than radio 1 (this really helped with DD2), give me an anti emetic as soon as the baby is born as I vomit really easily, don't let the baby and my DH leave theatre without me unless they need to for medical reasons. Makes me feel much more in control to have it written down.

Looking forward to Wed - Verso, do you want to meet for coffee another day? I could do a quickie on Thurs am if you are free? Otherwise let's hook up with our babies in tow.

Hello everyone else, hope you are all well. LadyT am deeply envious of the Fat Duck. Be sure you let us know what you both ate. I have had 7 funsize crunchies over the course of the day, so I think Heston's gastronomy would be wasted on me just now.

kmp it's not me that mentioned the sheep skin, i'm a bit anti-animal skin, not so much because i'm vegetarian but my dad had loads of cow skins around the house when i was a kids & they scared me a bit. However, if anyone is interested a few people sell them on ebay some from Australia and NZ and others locally.

Cat- you should have asked about the yoga on here, i had a really crap DVD for last pregnancy so i really looked into it this time and got the Tara Lee DVD a few other girls on here did too and have found it really good. I haven't een doing it so much lately as have been doing a yoga class that is also mixed with an active birthing class and have found it good, but a little tiring so not much more energy for anything else.

By the way anyone looking for a post natal yoga thing, the Baby Om book is great it's expensive so if you can find it on ebay cheaper it's might be worth it.

chutney i feel like a bag of chips to eat now.

Verso my section is on 25th Nov (first on list tahnk goodness). No one mentioned birth plan to me....best get something written down.

Might have to ask DH to do the honours re: the shave as well. They did a dry shave with a bic with DD, althoughh it was new - I saw her take it out of the packet

turnip DD would starve if it wasn't for fish fingers ( I get the ones with Omega 3 in, makes me feel better)

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm chips!

A DRY SHAVE!!! OUCH thats a bit unnecessary daisy!!!

DS loves sausages and fishfingers, have managed to get him into more vegetables lately but good thing about living out here in the almost countryside is locally made sausages from the farm shops. i get those Omega fish fingers too but also look out for M&S fish goujons when they are on special or 2 for 1 and pop them in the freezer.