Dec Mums - Christmas is coming...the Dec ladies have got all fat...time to have our babies...the novelty's worn flat

[Beans33]

Here's a new link for us all - think it needed doing asap as running out of space!!

I'm pretty certain that if you can't get to the hospital then they have to send someone to you regardless of whether you've booked a homebirth or not.

Out of curiosity, are they closed the same day & times every week or does it change?

Congratulations Mibbes Kayz sounds like a very good question to me. We have a similar problem round our way. One lady in our area ended up having her baby at the police station! Not sure why that seemed the best option at the time.

Penny the mince pies I like best come from Waitrose, not the luxury ones, the ones in the red box.

It varies. It is a different day every week. I am starting to think that persuading DH that a homebirth is the best option.

kayz can you ring them a bit earlier and say "I'm not quite ready to come in yet, but I wanted to check you are open today as I don't think it's going to be long"

Mibbes congratulations!!! Hope you are recovering well and enjoying and snuggling with your baby. Thanks for letting us know Katie! kayz that's annoying about your nice maternity road. Personally, I would not rely on them being able to send a m/w to you. Even at one in 5 you should be able to make it to Scarboro (I have a 30+ min journey to my hospital and made it fine for my second labour - obviously that doesn't apply if you go really fast). I know you don't want to go to Scarboro - but unless you are booked in for a homebirth I doubt they would be able to provide that service on the day their ward is closed.

I imagine that if you went into labour on that day and you felt you could not make it to Scarboro' in time - they would treat you as any other labouring woman "caught out" - ie send an ambulance to you and try and get you to Scarboro/deliver you en route. Obviously, it's worth asking the midwives what would happen but I can't see how they could staff appropriately to be in a position to send a m/w to any lady who gave birth on their closed day (bearing in mind there needs to be 2 for the catching!).

Arti so sorry you are feeling so rough. A m/w once told me that you are unlikely to go into labour when you are sick etc as your body does the minimum necessary iyswim. Hold onto that thought. And you know what, if it does start, don't panic, again your body will find what it needs in terms of adrenalin to get you through. Take care.

Abby best of luck with your growth scan. Hope all well in there.

Trace hope it's Snow White (or Sleeping Beauty) for you this afternoon. I had to be Anastasia's grandmother this morning for DD as I did breakfast. It's quite tricky to do a Russian accent that early in the morning

verso sending you much luck on the feeding/sleeping!!! Really sounds very positive. Hope the boobs heal. Ouch.

penny I love mincepies (as my ar*e will vouch - have already been tucking in...). Presently I am loving Tesco's Finest Mini Mince Pies. My sister and I decided that they must have negative calorie value (like celery) as they are so teeny tiny. Yum!

rosmerta how sweet of your DS. Lovely!

Beans keep us posted!!! Sounds promising

kayz crossposted with your posts about it being a different day each week. I am very on your behalf. That kind of uncertainty is just not good for women about to have babies. I have to agree, that a homebirth sounds like it will have many benefits for you and let you relax (which will help the baby come.....

It is so sad, just heard on the radio that one of the cojoined twins, Hope, has died. Saying a prayer that her sister Faith survives.

hurrah, hooray, hooroo for mibbes.

ouch ouch ouch for verso, followed by another set of hoorays for the sleep and easier feeds.

beans - am v excited for you - mainly because you are one of the few i have actually met, so i can really put a face to a name, but it sounds like stuff is happening.

arti, i too seem to have developed somewhat of a cold (although no way as bad as yours). i can't believe it, i've been as healthy as a healthy thing this entire pregnancy and now i'm sneezing, coughing, have the sore throat to end all sore throats etc.

now i went to be fitted for nursing bras yesterday - good lord, that was depressing. not only do my boobs look like two droopy and yet strangely horizontal sacks of potatoes resting on my enormous bump, but i was convinced that none of the girls in teh 3 shops i went to, knew what the hell they were talking about. these bras feel relatively full in the cup already (38F). surely there should be loads of room in there for when the milkman decides to deliver the milk on day 3?

i know we've had this conversation before, but please could someone recommend good, comfortable nursing bras which don't cost a fortune (although have now heard agent provocateur do them - might blow the MA on that - mind you, i'd probably need a few weeks worth for their bras). thx

Congratulations to Mibbes.

Sad news about that twin Hope dying, that's our planned name for our girl twin.

Can I ask a few stupid questions? I live very close (400yds) from the hospital. As I had a HB last time, I didn't have to work out how to get there. Obviously under normal circumstances it's walking distance, but in labour (especially if I wait until labour's really established), I'm not sure I'd be able to manage it. Driving round there is a pain (one-way systems, no parking etc), and once there it's still quite a walk from where I'd be dropped off and almost the same distance as the walk from my house. Do you get put in a wheelchair if you're heavily contracting on arrival? Or do you just inch your way to the delivery suite with gritted teeth, possibly moaning and groaning and leaking water ? I told my mum I was expecting to walk round and she's horrified - and now got me a bit worried too.

Morning,

Congratulations Mibbles!!!

Oooooh sounds promising Beans let us know how you get on.

Arti sorry to hear you are feeling rough, hope baby hangs on until you feel better.

Ouch Verso that sounds so painful!

A bit of news for me. I had a show this morning nothing much else going on so far. I'm 36+ weeks. Right really must go and finish packing my hospital bag. I keep talking about it and not doing it. . . .

Emma - a show - how exciting!! Wonder when it will kick off.

I have decided and DH has finally agreed to have a HomeBirth. Hopefully MW will just say yes tomorrow and not say that I can't.

Emma Sounds exciting.

kayz how exciting! Hope you get a pool in time. The girls on your other thread seemed to think it was feasible notwithstanding how far along you are.

kayz can't you book for a homebirth and tell your DH that's just insurance in case you go into labour on a day when the unit is closed? Then if you want to transfer or he is very anxious still, you can do so easily - I mean it's very easy to change from a HB to a hospital birth, but trickier to do the other way around!!

I'm just thinking that maybe if you present it to your DH as just "keeping your options open" he will be more open to the idea, rather than feeling that he's totally 100% committing to a homebirth.

As an aside, I don't really understand how it works about the unit being closed out of office hours - what happens if you turn up at 4.59pm - do they give you one minute to deliver the baby? Surely most labours go on 12 plus hours anyway, so they would have to have round the clock staffing in practice?

GBB have you thought about a taxi - is the drop off area any closer than the parking?

oo crossed posts!! Congratulations - hope it all goes well.

PLus i can't believe I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS MIBBES - so pleased for you all

We can't really afford a pool though. We've just spent loads of money on Xmas pressies. We looked at hiring one and it seems to be more than buying one.

He has agreed to it so I am very happy. I think I'll be able to relax more now.

Good luck Kays hope your MW says yes tomo!!

I doubt whether anything will happen anytime soon (famous last words) Have packed my bag. There is stuff that I just don't have yet (nursing bras etc as I was planning on getting them next week) If it all kicks off before I have what I need I will just have to manage without. No drama.

I really hope she does. Life would be much easier.

I'm still waiting for a delivery from Mothercare that was meant to be here last week. If BabyKayz comes first he'll have no socks.

Waitinggirl - I went to John Lewis and they were very good. The lady there explained to me that they don't give you a size that a lot bigger than current size because they are also expecting that the ribcage will contract a bit, which should give more room in the cup size. I only bought two anyway because I was told that its not an exact science to pick the right size.

Beans33 - you are not supposed to go before me, you have always been a week behind me in yoga when we announce our week count! Keep us posted.

penny - thanks for that (also a face i can put to a name). suppose that makes sense. i'll wait until after this mythical day 3, see how bad it gets and maybe buy some more if i'm still breastfeeding (hope so)

Morning

Mibbles - Congratulations. I hope the emergency cs was not too traumatic.

Kayz - Good news about DH agreeing to the homebirth. Don't let you MWQ say no - they have a duty to provide you with home care.

Emma and Beans - Exciting about the shows and waters!

Verso - Glad you got some sleep and are feeling brighter.

Well, I am feeling a little better this morning. My temp is only just above normal (it was 103F on Monday!). I still feel achey and rough but its now more like a very bad cold than flu. No more show this morning so hopefully I have a little while longer to recover.

I think I might be having John Travolta jnr. I swear he is doing the Night Fever dance at the minute.

Kayz maybe he is excited about his imminent homebirth and not having to brave the chilly December night ?

You girls in the North and Scotland are in for a lot of snow tomorrow I think. Hope we get some too!

I know Turnip I really hope its not too bad. I have MW tomorrow morning and I don't fancy having to go out in all the snow and icy. It is very icy here as the snow melted and then refroze overnight. I do try to go for a walk every other day but I am not risking it today.

Hello ladies, Just a quick one as I've been a lurker really. Waters broke in early hours but contractions not regular so after being seen at hosp have been sent home to see what happens. Having a play with my borrowed TENS machine and may head out for a walk with DH.
Congratulations to all the new mums so far.
Looks like my curry (with 6 green chillies) did the trick. If no progress by tomorrow morn they are going to induce me.
Best wishes to everyone. x

good afternoon all. I'm feeling loads better today, DH was sat chatting to me while is was doing one of my 500 pre bed wee wees last night and he was trying to reasure me everything would be ok, when i just burst into tears, poor thing he just came over and held me while i cried and cried, and while still with my pants down on the loo. I felt so much better afterwards. and then we jumped into bed with DS who was in our bed after his nightmare it was really nice to all cuddle up. He has just rung from London and doesn't think he will be home late and it is sunny here so no chance of a snow storm to keep him down there.

Kayz- so excited about your homebirth, i'm not sure about how to get the cheapest birthpool as ours is provided by our MW but have a good shop around on the interner as you maybe able to find a bargain.

Verso- i love hearing that you are doing well, but know what you mean about speaking too soon, i always found whenever i yold someone that DS was doing something good, like sleeping better or whatever he would suddenly do the opposite. maybe telling on this thread might be different to RL.

Hooray for Mibbes, hope it wasnt too traumatic, ut end result is the same.

Trace- i wanted the ox of maltesers and still and bit sore that he bought the small one.

Beans & Emma- good luc could be imminent.

Jam- sounds lie you need to rest your crotch muscles maybe less dogwalks?

Arti- sounds like you need a hot toddy. I think i am coming down with DS cold, and will have a little one if i need it. better than paracetamol.

Rosemerta- i am the same with food (except chocolate obviously) i find i am eating because i know i have too, i forced myself to have a fig yoghurt this morning and don't feel like any lunch. though taking heart from the fact that Lal was living on coco pops and has had a healthy weight bub.

Penny99 good luck on your quest for the ultimate mince pie, i am the same with Tiramisu. So far a small cafe in the lakes district of Italy does the best. we actually had tiramisu as our wedding cake, i love it so much.