Due April 2009 - Festive bumps explode into crimbo, April mums wait in limbo

[BabyCRIMBOlat]

New thread here (I hope!!)

Frekkles, doing some research for you. Does the fluid smell plasticky?
Does it stop or does it just keep running out?
It might be a mix of discharge and cervical fluid (most likely option).

Take a stapler with you then Bolat, for strategic redesign!!

lol!! The whole thing is so undignified!

Ok I am definitely going to get my hospital bag sorted soon

I am packing my hopsital bag today - DH bought me a lovely new one for Christmas

Snowy, VBM is right - better to be safe than sorry. Even a little blood is worth checking out. VBM - yay for you, hope things improve. Well done on making Snowy go in and get checked - hope its not due to sad things for you. And on the general mental health front, you sound completley normal. MY poor brain is in turmoil with the old 'but I hate this..but I love this..' dilemma and DONT even get me started on the PND..I just know I'll get it again

Hi all

Haven't been around for a while what with Christmas, DSS staying and DS2's birthday party tomorrow and then birthday on Thursday!

Snowy, hope you're okay, best to get checked though. I had a big bleed after sex when pg with DS2 and was crying my eyes out in A&E in Spain! It was something to do with my cervix though and the blood vessels there bulging so sex was just a bit too much for them! Was told to rest for 24 hours and then it all stopped - best of luck to you.

Have just put a post on the pregnancy threads about no weight gain - anyone else not gained weight yet? I'm not particularly worried but others keep commenting.

Anyone else get a few period type cramps lately? mine take my breath away sometimes and I have to kneel on the floor.

I don't have a hospital bag yet - or anything to put it in. really should get organised as DS1 was 6 weeks early, although DS2 was 1 week late!

Hope you've all heard about the 'health in pregnancy grant' for anyone due after 6th April? £190 for all! Can claim from 25 weeks but they won't given the money out until April - forms available from midwife or GP in Jan!

Sorry I haven't had time to read all the posts yet but will try and catch up now!

Take care all x

good news ladies, I rang a different midwife and got annoyed and upset and so she sorted it out! hurrah! so i have a liquor volume scan tommorow morning. She also said that she'd arrange another scan in a month or so to check my fibroid. so maybe they aren't all bad, these midwife types. Let's see what news snowy has on her return

VBM, tis completely odourless and has been in three disinct gushes with nothing in between. thanks for the research. I'm thinking it most likely isn't amniotic fluid, the hospital in glasgow seemed to think that. But tis most odd though, pregnancy sure makes your body do some unusual head fucky stuff and no mistake

I'm now wondering what a liquor volume scan is , and how it compares to a normal scan? time to test my google skills me thinks....

you're all scaring me with the hospital bag thing, we've got aaaaaaaaaages yet haven't we?

Surprisenumber3, I had heard about the HiP grant, and found you needed to have a due date on or after 6 April 2009, so funnily enough I checked an old diary and surprise surprise I realised I had originally miscounted by four days. It's funny how that happens, isn't it?

BTW I went into labour at 3am a week ago but it all stopped again (fortunately). Apparently this can happen when you're a bit older, like what I am.

Snowy is clearly away at A and E for a bit, so gather around, and I will confide I was just worried because a friend of mine had the same experience and ignored it, and was later found to have galloping cervical cancer because of the pg. Mum and baby died leaving DH and five-year-old DS. Now Snowy if you read this, it is incredibly rare, so don't you be thinking you've got that. But they always say to get bleeding checked.

Virgin - you went into labour? that would have been scary, what happened? Hope that's not what these pains have been. They are like contraction pains but my bump doesn't particularly go hard at the same time.

Sorry to hear about your friend, that is really sad. But it's not what Snowy has

Hey frekkles, xpost, but that is brilliant and you now get 2 scans!!!! We girls are on a roll today, NHS wise. Let's hope Snowy gets on OK too.

Liquor scan is quicker than anomaly one, but you can ask them (with a quivering hornomal lip - "I have been sooo worried!" etc) to have a quick look around at the heart, brain, kidneys, spine etc while you are there, and they will also be able to tell gender by this stage with a good degree of accuracy.

You don't need a proper hospital bag yet but if you pack the basics then if you do have to be admitted for observation then you will probably end up with more appropriate and cleaner kit than if DH/DP does it for you!

If you have a spare £425 (a mere) then why not go for this one??

www.48hourbag.com/

Or if you're on a budget..

www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-Hospital-Bag/dp/B001CGE89U/sr=1-2/qid=1230566721/ref=sr_1_2/275-750000 2-3125711?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=42799041&mcb=core

Mine is enormous and pink and full of stuff(hold on, my HOSPITAL BAG people)..

Right, here's how you know it's labour and not just mucking about:

1. It wakes you up.
2. Your tummy goes hard at regular intervals and starts to get to work.
3. There is period pain with a rhythm to it at regular and fairly frequent intervals with a predictable duration of about 90 seconds every 3 minutes.
4. You find yourself getting into the zone and gearing up with all the pillows, kneeling up on the bed in time honoured BoffinMum tradition.
5. DH looks seriously alarmed and gets ready mentally to get the car out.
6. You both then decide to look it up in the pregnancy book because this has not happened before to you during 3 pregnancies apart from right at the end.
7. There is a lot of swearing.

Here's how you know it's not labour.

1. It goes away suddenly after 45 minutes and you both think "Bugger that then" and go back to sleep!!

Bloody hell ladies, how are so many of us being treated shabbily, it's appalling. I'm counting my blessings that have not had to contend with anything serious or painful like some of you but I too haven't seen a midwife since October 2nd as she cancelled our appointments and said she doesn't need to see me until Jan 29th. I have made a GP appointment for next week because I would really like a urine test and my blood pressure taken.

VBM - so glad things are looking up. You sound a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for.

BB - I totally understand the loss of identity sentiment. It takes a while after your baby is born to feel like your old self again. But when it happens it's great, for DH and I it was like we were dating again. You do come out the other side eventually, and you find you have gained so much along the way. God I sound waffley .

Brettgirl - I was convinced I was going to be a terrible mother when I was pregnant with DD. You will surprise yourself.

Nutty, Mathsmummy - What is all this talk of hospital bags. You are way too organised. I'm hoping I won't need one as I plan on a homebirth but I know it's best have one just incase. I took 3 bags into hospital with DD and didn't even open two of them. I shall be interested to hear what everyone else considers the bare essentials.

Frekkles - You have my sympathies. What an absurd policy.

Snowy - I assume you are at the hospital now. Please let us know what they say. Take care.

Ps I really want the Huddle and Bliss 48 hour bag even though I am not going into hospital!!

oooh VBm that bag looks lovely - I intend to copy everything in it but for a fraction of the price care of the internet and the supermarket!!! I can't even imagine what DH would bring me if he had to pack - I'd probably end up in old period pants and one of his oversized t-shirts with goodness knows what toiletries!

I am so annoyed about the grant, my dd is 20 March but my original date was 5 April - 1 day short!!!

Frekkles that is amazing - although very annoying that you have to get all uppetty in order to get basic care!!

VBM what a horrible story - fingers crossed Snowy will be absolutely fine but the moral of the story is that we should all go with gut instincts and get everything checked out even if we feel a little bit silly about it at the time.

Frekkles - Cross post. Finally some professionalism, you must be relieved. I'm sure everything is ok, it will be great to have some peace of mind though.

Surprisenumber3 - Somebody linked about the grant further down, great isn't it! I have pretty much everything from DD so don't have much to buy for this baby so I figure some can be gift time for DH and DD from the new baby.

Oh sorry BB, that didn't look great coming after your post.

Ah thanks puzzle, I know I will get there, I know it sounds silly but feel like I am going inside myself, am quite a chatty, happy, (bossy), and not confident person but find myself backing away from things and just letting it all go around me! And when people ask me why I am so quite and comment on the baby changing me it kind of makes it worse!

But as I said having a really good day today and hoping that mood will stay for a while so trying to put all the confusing things to the back of my mind! I still haven't cleaned the house but I have paid all the bills, organised the car and watched a great deal of Grey's Anatomy so today really is a good day!!!

Just have to also say I love my mum - she just drove an hour to pick me up and take me all the way to the garage to pick up my car and is now driving back! I really do need to become more independent seeing as I have to look after a baby and all but she is ace!

ah don't worry frekkles, I have come to terms with it (humph!) - If i am late I am going to apply and tell the midwifes to support me or else!!

meant confident, not not confident (duh!!) also meant quiet rather than quite! baby is also making me dumb!

Pants about the grant BB.

To be honest if I thought I was going to get it from the start and then realised I wasn't getting it I would be more annoyed but as it is I never thought I would get it so while it's annoying it's not something I knew about or expected! having said that, if I can get it I will!!!

haha!! you know you will buy it!

Honestly VBM you have scared me in to being organised, have just booked a tour of the maternity ward / midwife centre on Saturday, have started a list of questions for the m/w on Monday and I will be putting the basics of my hospital bag together this evening... I have even found out the antenatal class form that I was supposed to book about three months ago and am now just deciding what days to go on!!

There is no way in my present situation that I am shelling out £425 for a chuffing holdall. I am not that daft.

But I would like them to send me one for free like they obviously did for Ms Kaplinsky.

BB I am so impressed with your organisation. Could you some and sort me out when you have finished please?