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

[BabyCRIMBOlat]

New thread here (I hope!!)

I don't mind non-alcoholic wine, particularly the fizzy variety. The only problem with it is if you expect it to be too much like wine, then you may be disappointed. I've only drunk the Sainsbury one though - I don't know if they vary much?

I cry all the time at the moment, mainly at the television

Springy, DS (15 months) only slept 3 hours on the way out there and we spent the rest of the time doing laps of the plane. We met EVERYONE on the flight including the pilots and DH and I were cross-eyed by the time we got there. Then I did the trip home without DH! It's not the glam jet-set jaunt it might sound!

Non-alcholic wine is just grapejuice isn't it? Bleugh!

Hallelujah for the Horn...

or my personal fave, TitWankMania

loving your work Nutty!

Happy new year!

This is all feeling very serious now. OMG am I going to have a BABY?!!!

Boffin - thanks for the pram tip, I have to get my head around all this but it is like a special science of its own.
Sorry you haven't been well. I hope things are looking up.

And to all who hate the smirking know-alls - GET ME AWAY FROM THEM. I go back to work tomorrow and I'm afraid that is what I am dreading most - not the workload after 2 weeks off and many redundancies, not the horrible packed trains, but all those evil smirking nosey parkers who ask INSANELY personal questions, EXPECT you to answer, then tell you that you have got the ANSWER WRONG, because of my friend who.... blah blah blah... and the thing that really gets me is when they insist on inspecting your figure (MAKING you stand up when you are hiding behind your desk for a reason and making you look like a right grumpy cow unless you unwillingly comply) and then say, "you hardly look pregnant!" YES I DO I was never svelte but I had a fat arse, not a fat belly, not like you who has a darts player's front with no baby as an excuse, and if we are commenting on each others' physiques please can I gently inform you that if you are an 18 it is fine to wear 18 clothes because the bulging buttons down the front of your straining bulk are making me feel very insecure.

that is all.

Hello folks.

AIBU that DH should be out of bed by now? So far today I have hobbled around (albeit not on crutches today, but still not entirely mobile) and:

Done a wash. Dried and folded it
Made pancakes for the kids for breakfast (he did come down and have one, but then went back upstairs)
Done roast chicken with three kinds of veg and roast potatoes and stuffing (ready if 15 minutes if you ladies want some - bring a bottle but not that non-alcoholic crap)
Entertained 2 extra 11-year-olds for one hour
Encouraged the kids to do 20 minutes on Wii fit each
Written and printed off version 2 of the infamous BoffinMum guide to domestic management at Chez Boffin with new recipes for a new year.
Mediated in enough child-to-child disputes to make Butras Ghali's jaw drop.

OMG, I hear footsteps ... the beast has awoken!!

Boffin - he needs to pull his weight. tell us more about the infamous domestic management guide... what does it do? sounds fab. I hope it is clear about plenty of things for Mr
Boffin to do...

Happy new year everyone. It's three months today until my due date ... starting to get really close.
Nutty - please can I borrow your DH??? Mine has gone to Gibraltar for a long weekend. I'm trying to tidy up the house cos its a state, but literally do not know where to start. Fortunately DS is asleep (hurrah for swimming wearing him out) but I've ended up on MN instead of cleaning the kitchen

The legendary BoffinMum domestic management guide has a weekly cleaning schedule with itemised stuff to be ticked off by the person responsible, four rotating weekly menu plans based on children's cookbooks with associated shopping lists (for cutting and pasting into Express Shopper function on the Tesco website); children's daily and weekly timetables with PE, homework and music equipment needs included (even I find it hard to remember who is doing what and when); contact names and phone numbers of school and relatives in case we die in a horrific road traffic accident leaving the kids orphans. That sort of thing. Stops me repeating myself 350 times a day (in theory) and stops people arguing about turf. In a household with up to 7-8 people at any given time it's the only way forward, tbh. Sometimes I think I am running a hotel (and customer service is not my forte, believe me).

DH has now done the bins, sorted out the recycling, made the gravy, set the table nicely and done manly carving, also cleared everything up and made me a coffee, so I am in the process of softening towards him. He is now repairing a socket. His argument was there was no sound of WWIII downstairs and everyone seemed contented, so his presence was not required!!

He is a very good DH normally, it's just he lies in bed so bloody long given half a chance, moaning about bad backs and headaches and all sorts of nonsense. I sort of let him off most of the time because he works a 50-hour week plus a 25 hour commute, which is pretty punishing for anyone, but I have become a bit less sympathetic since starting to do my own 50-hour week plus 15 hour commute whilst pg (admittedly now only 3 hours commuting since the SPD kicked in).

Nutty, I think may I actually need two DH's, an earning one and a household one, so borrowing yours for a little while would allow me to usefully test this theory out. LOL pregnancy simulator suit - I don't think mine would get up at all then!! He thinks he is very sensitive and understanding, but I think he would be really seriously shocked if he realised what it felt like.

Haha - what has grape juice done to you?

The figure inspectors keep telling me that I am tiny and only just starting to show I'm like WHAT????? I used to be SLIM!!! I still look kind of the same from front and back and boob growth has been very disappointing but my stomach is massive!!!! I am still a bit that if you didn't know me in some outfits I just look a bit fat rather than actually pregnant, however.

My OH is brilliant and will do anything I even nearly managed to get him to clean my car today - then realised it was below freezing so probably not the best choice of day if we ever wanted to be able to stand up on the drive again!

I apparently just look normal but with a widened girth, but as I have put on 2 stone 5 lbs and that is unlikely to be baby (unless I am about to have the birth from hell) I think there might be some lard there.

Boffinmum, that is an awesome system in every sense of the word. the cut+paste Tesco bit is inspired.

I hope you don't mind me asking if anyone has ever suggested you might be a bit too competent - outwardly - if it all seems to be happening, and happening bloody well for that matter, can people who might otherwise help find it all to easy to miss that you might have panic / anxiety / exhaustion inside?

Perhaps I am just projecting and should butt out. I think I do this thing that my mum does, which is drop vague hints about things that people might do to help, if they felt inclined, without giving any sense of urgency about it or any clear direction, and then find that I have reached my internal (unshared) deadline for when x needs to be done for me not to get mega stressed about it, and do it myself (perhaps late at night or something) and then resent the fact that I have done everything myself again. I am not suggesting you do this, certainly not the resentment part, but if people think you are a well oiled machine it can be hard for them to see how to help.

BB about the random crying... ouch, me too....

I have a breathing problem which is stopping me do things (along with my 45" bulkage) and I am lucky not to be in any pain but dammit I wish i could run upstairs and just get on with stuff. I had a dream last night that I was slim. That won't come true for a good while!

Yay babypringle - the countdown really begins!

This is going to sound stupid but I have put on a lot of weight which I know has to be more than baby (and placenta and fluid!!!) but (at the moment and this does change depending on my state of mind!) it doesn't feel like actual fat - I have a a big beach-ball tummy which is pretty firm, just soft around the edges depending on where bubs is laying! and have put a bit of weight on on my legs and hips (hence the cellulite on my thighs) but only I seem to have noticed that (everyone else thinks I look the same and I have a very very honest DH and family so I know they are not lying) but in actual weight gain there has been a lot so maybe when it comes out I will realise where is has all gone as I have 9 months of chocolate to lose! I am actually a bit embarrassed by how much physical weight I have put on hence I no longer allow myself to go on the scales as I think it is not productive to allow yourself to get that upset about it when there is nothing you can do and have come to the conclusion that I have to deal with it once baby it actually here (wow that was a long-winded blurb!!)

Brettgirl, the figure inspectors can bopp off - I always want to turn around and say to those people something along the lines of 'I will never know why people think it is ok to comment on my figure just because I am pregnant' - my pre-pregnancy personality would have said it, my pregnant self is too scared!!!

I have a pretty good DH too, he has his moments but mostly he is pretty good - especially this morning when he went and made me tea and toast in bed as it was too cold to get out!

Gingersarah - has been 24 hours and no random tears so today is a good day!

Ah very cute cat Nutty, it's like she is helping you prepare for the baby!!!

Evening Ladies,

It's been a long time since I've been on here what with a busy Christmas with visiting relatives, a busy new year and a hellish time at work.

I've started getting loads of comments about how huge I am and how low I carry. I'm not surprised as I'm even bigger than I was with DD and spent most of the second half of my pg with her being asked if I was expecting twins or being told that I would never get to term. I used to get really pissed off at random people remarking about my size and then ended up delivering 5 weeks early. This time I'm fed up of people trying to explain away me being big when I say that baby is probably quite big and may well come early just like DD. I am really annoyed that people keep telling me that this baby may well not be early at all. I do know that, I'm not stupid. But, I also know that DD was a big early baby, as was DH, SIL and MIL. I don't know any further back in the family tree than that because MIL was adopted but I would say that there is a strong family history of big, early babies.

Hey swaliswan - hope Christmas was fun - why is work so bad?

I have just made DH call his mum to find out whether they were all late / early and big etc - they were all big but apparently around about the right time, I was early but sisters were both late and induced so have no idea what I will be like! Although my mum had very fast labours (all under six hours) so hoping that runs in the family!!!

Work was really quite at one point as most of the doctors took leave. I couldn't stand it as there was nothing to do and it was so frustrating. It was also really difficult to get some of our sickest patients seen by someone with adequate experience which resulted in people getting arsey with me if they didn't get to see a consultant straight away. Then, loads of people got sick and I ended up being rushed off of my feet. Patients have been fed up with 45 minute delays for their outpatient appointments and doctors are fed up with being overbooked for the clinics they are doing. Doctors are getting very rude with how they request things because there aren't enough nurses around for there to be one nurse per clinic. And to cap it all, I went in on friday to do some extra hours otherwise six surgical cases would've been cancelled and when I got there I saw that the word 'excess' had been scrubbed out of the book that had my hours in so now I don't know that I'm going to be paid for them or expected to take them back as time-in-lieu. They already owe me 4.5 days that they aren't willing to give me because they reckon that they don't know how they are going to afford it.

nuttytaff and babybolat - me too. I was quite assertive before. now I don't feel able to be so much - this is a surprise.

when people notice that i am pg and offer me a seat on public transport, it makes me feel very unworthy and humble and almost tearful - I used to be militant about this before I was pg!

Here are some random questions for non first timers - any thoughts welcome:

what are muslin squares for? how many do you need?
is it insane to have a baby and no tumble drier?
how do you know when it is time to put the baby in his / her own room?
is it best to try and get everything sorted (bought) for the foreseeable future before the baby comes, on the grounds that less faffing about in shops after that the better, or better to just prepare for the first few weeks on the grounds that you don't really know how it will be and what you will need till you need it?

Nutty - cat envy!