Due June 2009 - Fattening Up For Christmas!

[Ineedmorechocolatenow]

Here's the new thread... hope you find it!

Bumpsadaisie 28th May
CoteDAzur 28 May by dates, 1 June by scan (37, dd 3)
swottybetty 30th May (31. DD 07/03/08)
llynnnn 1st June
Myneaux 1st June
Bigcar 1st June (37, dd 18, dd 9, ds 8, dd3 2)
joyfuleyes 2nd June
marmotti 2nd June
gems27 4th June
Mrs McJnr DC2 4 June 2009 (34, ds 8mths)
Ineedmorechocolatenow 5th June 2009 (31,ds 2)
summerbird 6th June (35, 1st one)
daisy5 6th June (41, dd 2)
LittleSarah 6th June (26, dd 4yrs)
thisisyesterday 6th June (ds1 3.5, ds2 1)
DreamyDorrie 7th June (30, dd 19/11/07)
Yoshimi 7th June (ds 18nths)
Aligard 8th June (one dd)
Leaky 10th June (39, ds1 5, ds2 2.5)
DawnoftheDead DC1 11th June 2009
Champagneforlunch 11th June (27, DD 4yrs)
NickelSodium 12th June
travellinglight 13th June
Sparkle73 13th June
Froggy16 13th June (27 ds 6 yrs dd 4yrs)
Nemoandthefishes 14th June [30 DS 5[+2days],DD1 2.9yrs,dd2 21mths]
Irishmama3 17th of June (36) [dd 9 ds6 and dd2
chocciedooby 18th June (37m ds1 4, ds2 3)
onehitwonder 18th June (41 DD1 3)
snowwombat 21st June (31)
TTCnumber3maybe (36) DC3 22 June 2009 (DS 4.5 and DS almost 3)
StrawberrySam 22nd June
Diege, 22nd June (38, dd1 7, dd2 5.8, dd3 2.8)
Heebeejeebee - 22nd June (36)
BobsWendy DC3 26 June 2009
TheLittleMermaid DC2 26 June 2009
Tee2072 DC1 26 June 2009 (39)
Sweetie34 - 29th June (37)
Wilsonmummy 28 2dd edd 30th june NotSoRampantRabbit
tessofthedurbervilles
boundoriginals
helpivegottogivebirth
Lionstar
Li lacpink
mel1981
flynn1984

Sweetbroody, babies are as expensive or cheap as you choose them to be! If you insist on buying new everything then yes, it costs a bomb. If you're happy with NCT sale bargains, Ebay purchases and hand-me-downs, they can be cheap as chips. Breastfeeding is free so even their board costs nothing, and they don't need large or lavish lodgings. Childcare is expensive of course, and so is not earning because you're looking after baby, and by the time they want football, dancing, music, tennis, swimming lessons etc. you'll be absolytely skint, but the baby bit can be simple and cheap and lovely with just you, your DH and your little bundle. You can't even go out so that saves lots of money! Glad the scan was good and hope you can put your fingers in your ears and go lalala when the doom-mongers tell you about the cost of babies

Hi everyone.
strawberrysam so sorry about everything you are going through. It is impossible for you to relax. So pleased your baby is fine though. I hope they find out what is going on so you can relax a bit.
For those of you with constipation - I suffered with this with both dc's and unfortunately if you don't get it under control you could end up with "rockford Files"! if you do then I would recommend Anusol cream and suppositories. It is safe to use when pregnant and is brilliant and helping everything "settle down"
As for the constipation - well I am not suffering a bad so far this time and have been drinking lots of fresh orange juice, eating brown high fibre bread, lots of satsumas, and drinking lots of water really helps too.
BEWARE of bagels - my kids always get gunged up if they eat a lot of these. I would try to steer clear.

I am also finding it hard to resist the mincepies although I am not so keen on chocolate as I normally would be. I have gained 8.5lbs and I'm only 14 + 4!!!! I piled on the weight the last 2 times so I feel like I am doing quite well this time around

Poor old you strawberry. It must be such a nightmare. It's also really shit when you speak to a different person every time and they've all got something different to say. Grr. I hope it all starts to settle down soon.

I've just returned from the midwife, and all went well. I got to hear the baby's heart beat, which was lovely and brought a tear to my eye! I now don't see her til I'm 28 weeks! I saw them so often in my last pregnancy, you forget that they hardly have to see you when it's your second an all was normal last time. I've got my scan on the 28th Jan tho, so I will see the little muchkin before then, and hopefully find out the sex. Very exciting. I am sure it's a boy, tho it's because I've had a boy and I'm just used to it. I'll be thrilled either way.

It's Harry or Evie for boy or girl, BTW....

strawberry - They can see neural tube defects like spina bifida at 12 week scans. Have you had yours yet? If not, maybe you can have a detailed one that will definitely say if your baby has spina bifida.

cote just because they can see it then doesn't mean they look for it then, if you see what I mean? My 12 week scan was just a confirmation of due date and heartbeat, nothing else.

StrawberrySam glad the scan went well, so sorry it's all been a bit up and down for you. I had one bleed early on and was quite shocked, I can only imagine what you're going through

cote I think you'd be appalled by some of the nhs treatment, my first scan didn't even check the heartbeat...it was just kinda "yeah there's a moving baby in there, good on ya, see ya."

Well, my dad has cancelled his trip to come and visit for xmas because even though he should not be contagious anymore by tomorrow evening he feels it's not leaving us enough margin. I am poorly as well so I guess it's the right thing to do. .

Don't take the risk of a nasty vius. I'm still sick and in bed. In fact, don't remember being this sick, ever. Lost some weight (1.5 kgs) because I've eaten only a few bowls of soup and some tangerines since Friday night.

I ran up a fever last night and passed out for a few hours when DH wasn't here. Battled with fever with repeated paracetamol all night. No fever today, but still no voice, bad throat, coughing and sneezing. AND I'm worrying that the fever may have damaged the baby

I'm also debating whether to cancel Christmas eve dinner for 6 people that I am supposed to be hosting in two days. Oh happy days

Cote, hope you recover in time for being the hostess, though I'm sure people will understand if you're not up to it. I'm not looking forward to cooking lunch for 11 on the big day itself, but that's just with the ongoing morning sickness. Anything else on top would wipe me out!

June, have you looked at your hand-held notes? The sonographer should have had a look at heartbeat and stomach and put them down as Findings or Foetal Anatomy in your notes, even if you weren't told at the time. Ours also pointed out the 'nice straight spine' and chatted through the whole thing; why on earth they wouldn't is a mystery, unless they were taking their bad day out on you, which is hardly fair. Hopefully you'll find the details noted; but if not it should mean that nothing abnormal was detected.

StrawberrySam, that's not the most helpful comment from a doctor I've ever heard but if they've discovered the cause of the bleeding that will be a step forward, and I suppose at least if you know the SB test will give a false positive you can be prepared. Or you can just ask them not to do that test; they're not mandatory.

A point I've made on the 40+ thread is that getting hung up on the results of every test can just stress you out. They're not always accurate and they only exist for a few things like Downs and Spina Bifida, simply because that's possible - but lots of physical and neurological issues are undetectable pre-natally, and even until several months/years post-natally (like hearing/vision problems, autism/aspergers, various learning difficulties, cystic fibrosis etc etc). Good results on every test might rule out some things but doesn't guarantee a baby with absolutely no problems - that's not in our gift. So we can only do our best to keep healthy, be sensible, and try not to get too anxious. The vast majority of well-nourished pregnant women in the developed world have healthy babies.

Lovely names everyone, by the way. As a totally unsuperstitious person, the one thing I've never done is say what I'm thinking of calling my babies - no idea why - so will keep schtum, but am having a few ideas

I think I just coughed a chunk out of my throat. It felt like a tonsil, but mine were removed thirty years ago

And on that note, I hope everyone is enjoying their dinner

Hi all and my sympathies to those who are feeling poorly I feel like there has been one illness or other in my house for the last 5 weeks but desperately hoping everyone will be better by xmas. I too can feel the flutterings of the baby and have my scan on 28th january. We have thought of Joseph for a boy and Evie for a girl. Ive done quite well and havent put any weight on as of yet Im very overweight to start with though so am desperately hoping not to put more than 1 stone on. I seem to have gone off sweet things cant face mince pies or chocolate or cakes so hoping this helps. The crisps and cheese and crackers im craving might not help though . Got all my kids and my granddaughter for xmas dinner so will be cooking for 11 going to try and prepare as much as possible on xmas eve incase I feel sick xmas day

strawberrysam - cote has a point. There is top of the range equipment out there but unfortunately the NHS cannot afford it. Is having a private scan an option? It costs around £140 (in London), less in some other areas. Cote knows more about this than me but I think General Electric (GE) makes some of the most advanced equipment, and the best always has 3D (or 4D) features it seems. There is a clinic in London called The Fetal Medicine Centre with a very talented doctor (just Google it - on Harley Street). His scans don't actually cost any more than anyone else's it seemed - but he comes highly recommended. I'm sure there are others too.

Maybe you could ring them and explain your history, and they might be able to tell you if it is worthwhile or not and whether they can pick up spina bifida at this stage.

Just a suggestion. It seems as though you are having a tough time and it must be worrying.

Hello ladies

Flynn ? nice names we like to use family names as middle names too. DS ?s middle name is ?John? for DH?s Grandpa and this baby?s middle name will be ?Rosemary? for my Granny, I?ll be telling her that on 30/12 when she arrives over here and finds out I am pg ? didn?t want to tell her before as my cousin has just had a baby girl and she is my Granny?s 1st Great-granddaughter after 4 great-grandsons and I didn?t want to steal her thunder!

Ineedmore ? sorted then! Nice names I like the girl?s name we have but I don?t LOVE it I don?t think think I need to keep looking. Was on www.nymbler.com today which is quite a good site. Glad the scan went well

June ? lol it took me 6 yeas to talk DH out of some of the names he said he liked! Sorry to hear about your Dad not coming

Tee ? I like your names I trust your surname doesn?t start with an ?S?? We have friend?s whose surname does and their daughter?s initials are ARS

Sweetbroody ? so glad the scan went well and that your Dad is home Pregnancy is overwhelming, having a child to look after does change everything forever but in a wonderful way and I now wonder how I thought my life had meaning before I had my lovely son, he gives DH and I and all our family so much joy. I agree with Ermintrude, I have not found my son particularly expensive in his first year, yes babies can be if you just have to have all the stuff and have the best but there are great deals to be had and at the end of the day all they really need is somewhere safe to sleep, a car seat and a buggy. I personally feel that my DS benefits so much more from my presence at home with him than anything I could have bought him. Keep an open mind on the maternity leave; you may want every minute of it and some!

Strawberrysam ? great about the scan remember I said to you weeks ago to ask them to look at the placenta? I?m glad they did. Mine is low lying this time but I have been told that it will more than likely move up so I hope yours does too. Are you going to bother with the triple test now that you have been told that about the false positive? If it were me, I wouldn?t put myself through the stress. I would pay for a private nuchal scan if you can for peace of mine at this stage and then rely on the 20 week scan to look at the anatomy of the baby. Good names

Cote ? poor you, hope you feel much better soon!

Ermintrude ? very good point on the testing and I agree with you on the superstition front, I would speak of names in the real world but I feel that MN is different!

Dreamy ? sounds like a lovely family Christmas Nice names

Hey Daisy

Just a quick Hi and Merry Christmas to everyone.We are another ill hausehold(DD just recovering from chest infection and conjuctivitius while DP just starting whith sore throat and blocket nose!!)
I have a bump but Im some veird hibrid between a woman and a puffer fish!Got a bump straight away with DD too.I think its baby pushing on all the mince pies that does it!!
StrawberrySam-try to keep sane and best of luck..Big, big hug!I dont know if this is going to help at all but friend of mine bled a lot throu her pregnancy and it was due to fibroids in her blood.

ermintrude13 The midwide has not given me my notes, I was told at the maternity centre that I will only get them back after my 20 weeks can.
I had a private scan since though and my results from the Down tests by post so I'm quite happy waiting for the 20weeks scan on 21/01 now.

cote oh my god you sound really ill Can your guest come and cook at your place for you? My Fil said he was going to buy the turkey and come and cook it at ours on Thursday, he loves cooking.

bleh, just got a message from my brother that he's also ill and can't come for the xmas break either, I guess my dad is still contagious after all...

Ah man june what a shame!

So we head up to my in laws in a few hours so I won't be around much until Saturday.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas!

Hi girls, sun shining here in Sydney and lovely and warm this week!One more day of work then 3 weeks off.Taking DP on a road trip along the coast Planning a swim or two on christmas day!

Sorry to hear so many are poorly but great to hear than scans are coming along well.

StrawberrySam the ongoing bleeding is so scary. I had this last pregnancy and seems to be the same for this one so I share your worries. Last pregnancy I had a large bleed 2 weeks before my triple test bloods and the alpha-foetal protein (AFP- common marker for spina bif)came back sky high. They were happy to do the detailed scan early in light of the bloods.Scan at 15 weeks showed no spina bifida. The AFP is associated with bleeds in pregnancy and lots of other things too. I ended up seeing a maternal+foetal medicine consultant. Perhaps you could ask for an early morphology scan to ease your mind? As to placenta position- it is usually low and covering the cervix at 12 weeks and starts moving up about 16-18 weeks. Here's to bleeds settling down for you.

As for constipation, liquorice works a treat- I remember someone (sorry I can't remember who )mentioning they had found Darrell Lea Aussie liquorice in Sainsburys- works a treat! I know I could get it in London but never in Wales!

And nappies! I have no idea yet- disposables to start I think, as we will move back to the UK when wombatbaby 4 weeks old!

Merry Christmas from downunder. Take care of yourselves and see you next year!

Ooh yes snowwombat, I found the Aussie liquorice in Sainsbury's and it's delicious but didn't make any difference to my constipation. Or maybe it did and I'd have been even worse without it . I'll have to crack open the syrup of figs at this rate - had to take that horrible fibrogel last pregnancy, yuk. I'm very envious about the sun, the swimming and the road trip. Have a great time!

Tee, you too, hope in-laws spoil you rotten and you have a lovely restful Christmas.

June, here in the East Mids we get our notes at the midwife booking appointment and can call the midwives any time if there's anything we don't understand or if we need 'translations' from something a doctor said or whatever. If you feel like people aren't being helpful maybe you could identify a sympathetic midwife or even see your GP to express some concerns and get a bit of help? Sometimes you have to do a bit of light foot-stamping to make them realise you're not the type to just smile and nod and go away without any questions. But I'm glad you've managed to get a scan sorted yourself, and are more relaxed - the 20 wk one is lovely, really something to look forward to.

What a shame about your dad and your bro. Could you maybe postpone some celebrations till New Year when they're all recovered?

MrsMcC, I know what you mean about happily talking about baby names on mumsnet whilst not mentioning them to your friends - it's a good halfway house in that respect.

To all who are about to go off on trips and family visits, have a very peaceful and happy Christmas!

Morning all

Haven't been on for a while, the kids have been keeping me really busy the last couple of weeks Dd2 and ds are totally hyped now and can't wait for christmas day.

In our house christmas dinner is always cooked by dh, he sees it as one of the MANS jobs (bit like the BBQ!) and who am I to argue

Hope you all have a wonderful christmas ladies ho, ho, ho and all that. I'm off to track father christmas on the norad site, for the kids of course.......

Hello everyone,

I made a brief apperance at the beginning of this thread and then got lost but glad to see its still really busy round here!

strawberrysam - sorry to hear you are having such a hard time with the bleeding, if it helps (from what I have read) I had EXACTLY the same thing with ds2, they couldn't find a reason and I haven't had a problem so far this pg so they think its pg specific - for me it happened when I was about 10 wks, out shopping with dh and ds1 and I suddenly felt damp looked down and my jeans were soaked with blood to my knees, rushed to nearest toilet and sat on blood poured out like I was going for a wee - went to hosp but was sat of BH weekend so had to wait till the tues for a scan. I then had regular bleeds every few days till I was 18-19wks (prob as wobmat says placenta was moving). At my 20 wk scan the placenta had moved from covering my cervix to up the side of the womb, the bleeding stopped and I was 'down graded' to low risk pg and had a home birth - ds2 is now a bouncing 12 mo. Not saying this is exactly what you are experiencing but I found it scarey that I would be told 'its just one of those things' by my doc but I couldn't find anyone who had experienced anything similar - rest loads and make sure you are keeping your iron levels up x x

I can sympathise with all of you being ill at the moment - just getting over cold/flu here. had terrible ear ache yesterday - I'm considering inventing a placebo for pg women because I did have to stop myself crying in sainsburys last night when pharmasist said steam inhalation to me again - as if I hadn't been trying it all day!

excited you're all taking names - I agree we're not doing it in rl at the moment I've got fed up of peoples opinions in the past - looking for suggestions of boys names as no idea what to call a ds3! needs to go with Oliver and Toby and in dh's opinion not sound like a public school rowing team on that premise Henry was veto'd this week! I like Rupert but again I can't seeing it making it to the third trimester....

Morning all

June shame about your dad and bro being ill, hope they recover quickly! Re the maternity notes, I got them at my first meeting with midwife and carry them to every appointment.

snowwombat wish it was sunny here it's so dull and wet in West of Scotland today.

Tee hope you have a good relaxing christmas at your in laws!

Cote hope you feel better soon

Sorry for the ones i've not replied to will hope to catch up more regularly during my 2 weeks off...roll on tomorrow

To everyone have a wonderful Christmas and bring on the New Year as we all have something wonderful to look forward to!

StrawberrySam - What a difficult time you are having! It seems your baby is a fighter though.

looouise - I'm glad your friends were so supportive, I do find that most people will show their true lovely colours at times like these! Great to be showing off your bump. Mine is not quite ready for that yet, in fact when I saw the midwife last week she said I had no bump at all, which is so not the case!

MrsMcJnr - Is that what raspberry leaf tea does (could make sense I went from 6cm - 10cm in under 2 hours)? My memory is terrible, which I suppose explains why I have ordered What to Expect again. I gave my other copy to my brother-in-law.

Yes, his girlfriend is now pregnant (accident) as is my dh's stepdad's girlfriend (accidentally on purpose we're told). Stepdad is 62 and not at all well but there you go... I am due first (at least!!), then stepdad baby, then brother's baby. My thunder has been well and truly stolen!

Dreamy and Ineed - I really love Evie, but dh not up for it. Boo. I liked Sophie but now found it's no 1 girl's name in UK so have decided against it. Like Isla instead. I though Ivy was very sweet too but no from dh again! ARGH. Boys, I like Finlay and maybe Lewis...

My scan was pretty rushed this time I found, general well everything looks fine and dating about right, off you go. I'm hoping for a 20 week scan which they're supposed to be (finally) starting here in January, but my cousin's midwife said she had no idea what was happening with that yet. They've been told nothing apparently which is not very hopeful.

I am still nauseous fairly regularly, in fact have started wretching in the morning which is new! Apart from that feel pretty good, looking forward to Christmas! Dd is going today which is obviously sad but going to try and make the most of one and only quiet and grown-up Christmas.

HELLO and HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all!