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!!

Bisou I might have to get some fabric ones. I had some from Boots that were left over from having DS and they are just as horrible. Maybe toilet roll will have to do.

MIL has just dropped off DS. He climbed out of his cot this morning at hers, well he half fell out. So now I am going to be expecting to hear a thud in the middle of the night or he'll jump on us at 3 in the morning.

Congratulations to poisondwarf, your daughter sounds fab

Mibbes ? thanks for your birth story, sounds like a few scary moments were had (and probably better for you that you were unaware of them at the time), but what a lovely, happy ending. Sorry to hear that you?re disappointed to not be able to BF, but as long as Evan is well fed and content, then you are doing the right thing by him.

Rosmerta ? have you tried hot ribena with honey and lemon? My Mum always used to make it for me when I was little and I still have it now whenever I?m poorly (think it?s a comfort thing for me now, but it is lovely and soothing). I hope you get a chance to rest today, after your early start.

Oli ? have lots of fun tonight.

Trace/hatty ? sorry you?re both feeling down, hormones are mean, making us feel so down in the dumps

In the last couple of days I?ve been getting nasty heartburn ? my own fault as I was feeling a little smug that I hadn?t had any and pride comes before a fall etc etc. But its all the time and doesn?t seem to matter what I eat. Grr, have got some gaviscon now, so hoping that makes me feel better

And further to the mince pie chat, I?ve just learnt this ?Yorkshire superstition told that eating one mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas, each in a different house, brings twelve months of good luck. However, London custom dictated that eating as many mince pies as possible before Christmas was the way to bank good luck.? Based on this, I recommend that we all follow both traditions in order to get lots and lots of good luck, which we can then trade in for babies who sleep well/feed well/don?t cry/don?t do smelly poos (delete as required)

Just dropping in quickly between visitoprs - Dad very happy with his first grandaughter! We're about to ask my best mate from college to be a Godmother, fingers crossed she'll say yes

Massive congrats PD, wonderful news!

Now then SummerLightning's not been on in a while, and our midwife visit was called off today as she'd been doing an all-nighter at a HB in the city - I wonder if this means anything [conspiracy icon] If not, SL do check in and let us know you're ok! I've got some bed protector mats if you want them to protect against unexpected waters going, just say.

Will come back and check in fully later on

Hi All,

Congratulations PD!!!!

Got my nursing bras today so now I am all set .

Had terrible insomnia last night (not sure why) and am feeling pretty tired as a result. Think I will head off the sofa and watch some junk TV and wait for DH to come home (work then playing golf). I didn't bother getting anything out for dinner so am factoring in a take away

Has anyone else lost all interest in food as they near the end of their pregnancy? Its not that I feel sick or anything, I just never feel hungry and fill up really quickly. Keep having to force myself to eat.
This is sooooooo unlike me. I LOVE food. Didn't happen in last pregnancy either. V odd.

Arti- i am quite off food too, and i think Rosemerta is also.

Kayz- i used non disposable breastpads, one side is quite soft and i never found them itchy.

Trace- i got a bit paranoid the other day that my SIL has been coming on here to skulk around. Dh has been telling people how helpful i find this thread and how great it is for me, and i'm sure he would have mentioned it to her so suddenly got paranoid that she has been on. Not, like you said, that it would really matter but i guess we all really open up on here and i guess sometimes that can make us feel a bit vulnerable, thats what i put i down to anyway.

Well DS loved madagascar, i completely balled all the way through The secret life of bees. It doesn't help that i ahve read the book and know when the sad bits are going to happen so was crying in anticipation. Also they had a trailer for the new Baz Lurhman film 'Australia' which also made me cry. Poor DH & DS i came out to meet them completely red and puffy faced.

ZJ- sorry to hear about your heartburn, but love the advice on eating mince pies as we consider ourselves londoners having lived there 10 years. Luckily i have some waitrose all butter ones coming in our delivery this afternoon.

I've had a few little twinges this afternoon. Could you please think non labour, staying in thoughts please? Just until tomorrow morning when there are 2 mw's.

Arti and Veggie I will have your food if you don't want it. I am so hungry all the time!!

Lol Kayz - our poor babies will never know when to come, we beg them to move and when they do we beg them to stay put due to illness, mws etc. All week I have begged mine to stay put, today I feel better and now I am cross that I am showing no signs of labour... I wish you luck in this being a false alarm .

I know, I've wanted him to come for the last 2 weeks. Now I just want him to stay still for another 24 hours.

Kayz not stress from the game is it?

Hopefully that is all it is. At least we won.

I'm going to be really boring and watch QPR vs Wolves. There is nothing on tv at all.

Can anyone give me a virtual hug please? Last night has really knocked me for six and I find I'm really worried tonight will be just as difficult. DD2 has been great during the day, feeding and napping - hugely better than DD1 ever was - so I feel bad for complaining, but I just deal with sleep deprivation really badly . Am feeling very fragile and could do with a pep talk!

Oh Verso I am so so sorry. I wish I could help you practically. I don't know if you are or if it is possible with DD1 but are you trying to catch up on any sleep during the day when DD2 sleeps?

I hope she settles down soon so you can catch up on your sleep overnight.

Hey Verso as DS would say. You are doing brilliantly. I think there are going to be days and nights that are really difficult and the best any of us can do is accept them for what they are and know that it will pass - it will get better. really hard to believe but otherwise it's possible to get caught up in worrying about whether you'll be able to cope with it being like this for the next day/week/month when in all likelihood will be different. For me it helps to see the bad stuff as a flip side to the good so all part of the same experience and not to beat yourself up about feeling bad.

And it's a complete ass when bfding is painful. have you tried distracting yourself during latch? by watching something or (in my case tonight) having glass of wine? Last time I used to try to make me and DH laugh by coming up with more and more foul cursing in response to pain. Not so practical with DS around and copying everything (he spent some of this afternoon going round saying "crazy granny" because I'd been moaning about something my mum did). From the sounds of things you are getting some good feeds in - so every one of those is money in the bank.

For now can you try and sleep more in the day when she does? The other thing I would say is you have to be as kind to yourself as possible - and do everything to make you feel just that bit better and more alive. So far for me this means - a lovely body scrub to wake me up in the shower and so I at least smell nice- total indulgence with what i want to eat and drink and being as selfish as I can (taking everyone up on all offers of help). Oh and wearing snuggly clothes/watching shit TV/mushy films/not caring at all that house is bit of a mess.

Am sure none of this really helps. But another in any case and hope tonight goes ok. off to change nappy now - had totally forgotten how often you have to do this when they're tiny

Thanks, kayz. Yes, I had an hour this morning and then a couple more later in the day. I could never do that with DD1 so I guess I should count my blessings! Just find lack of sleep makes me hyper-emotional. Been chatting to DH just now and trying to work out little milestones to aim towards, to put me in a better frame of mind - eg MIL visit, Christmas, six weeks - start driving again etc.

And thanks lal too - crossed posts. I do need to make more of the opportunities to sleep in the daytime... will definitely try to do that.

Verso-i'm not surprised your finding the lack of sleep difficult to cope with you have just had major surgery, and your body while recovering from that is still growing a baby, make sure you are getting all your B vits and protein carbs etc. And is it possible to find a hairdresser where you could take bubby along and have a nice haircut, or treat yourself to something a bit pampery.

feeling really washed out, i have had the beginnings of a migraine, for some reason they don't go full blown when i'm pregnant, but i still get that shattered washed out feeling.

We still haven't heard from SL, hope she's ok, and having a baby at home.

Verso: I so remember worrying about the night to come . The thing I found vaguely useful was to remove any clocks and watches so I didn't know what time it was, and to try and relax and sleep when DS was asleep, rather than lying awake worrying about when e would wake up again.

We're struggling yet again with names - first name as been decided for a while but we need to do the middle names, DS has 2 which makes things more complicated. Any ideas for German/English names?

OMG I need to stop being pregnant. I am an emotional wreck. I'm watching X Factor and blubbing like a big baby.

evening all, am typing one handed so please excuse lack of proper punctuation and caps

still no news from SL? hope all's well with you!

verso honey have some more big hugs, it's so hard when you're tired. Can our DH help out with domestic jobs so you can relax and get as much rest as possible?

mibbes what a lovely end to your birth story, worth all the difficulties along the way! Please don't beat yourself up about bfing, every drop you express will help and give him a good start and you've been through a tough time so doing any at all is a fab achievement.

effie when you say german/english do you mean german names that also work in english? will have a think.

lal nappy changes, i'm not sure we're doing enough - when she's dirty obviously but it's hard to tell when she's just wet and if she's sleeping i hate to disturb her just to check. She did an outstanding stream of liquid poo across the changing mat this pm just as i'd finished cleaning her from the previous nappy but before new one was in place still at least we know her bum's working!

Effie- wish i could help but having enough trouble thinking of names for this one. Also only German name i can think of is Hans, i know a very lovely Hans, not sure if that is what you are looking for in a middle name though.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Verso))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) you poor thing - I remember dreading the night to come. Things are so hard when you're tired.

Can you feed lying on your side in bed and doze?

I love Effies tip of not looking at the time, I tried that last night when DD's kept waking up and somehow it really helps.

DH really doing my head in tonight. Even whistling is getting on my nerves. I so want our nursery finished and he has taken weeks to shift his stuff/files/boxes of random rubbish out of there - I know its going to cause a fight

Verso, big hugs. I know how you are feeling, I am not very good at lack of sleep either and slightly dread bedtime at the moment as I know that bed does not = slee. Also, my nipples feel like they are going to fall off any minute!
Effie I amhalf German so also spent alot oftime looking at German names that work in English. I wasn't terribly successful though. If it helps, here are some of my German family names (you might now understand why I didn't choose any of them!)
Girls:
Ingeborg
Gunhild
Gisela
Mariequita
Marilis
Mariandl
Amelie
Frederika
Franzis ka
Fee
Angelica
Clara

Boys:
Emerich
Marcus
Walter/ Wolter
Felix
Hugo
Edmund

Hope that helps, but doubt it!

Sorry for bad typing, too tired!