Due May 2009 - our bellies are getting as big as Santa's

[FiKelly]

It'll be an alternative merry Christmas for us this year ;)

Go for it!

Moonlit- although i said to go for the scan and don't tell DH, I must say I never have secrets from DH so would probably tell him i was planning to do it, but would keep it secret if he didn't want to know. At least then i'd know how strongly he felt and if its my money, then i can spend it on what i like!

Ooh thanks. Got a 'nice' re Iestyn it's on the list! A hmmm re Osian tho. Think it's a bit 'different' for his delicate English ears

Runningmonkey- my favourites on your list are:

Huw
Owen
Dylan

Although I guess with Huw you may find some people spell it "Hugh" so you might have to spell it out.

Hi all. Just a quick one to pass on good news if you didn't already know.
Went to the mw today, and she told me about the new Gov't grant (not means tested) of £190 that is available to most pg women due after 6 April 2009. She gave me a form to fill in and I've sent it off . I haven't really heard about this so thought I'd fill you in. They can't give you the form until you're 25 weeks though (that's me today!).

Thank you for voting; pulapula, runningmonkey, EmmalinaC, delightedoldbag34, sausagenmash and momino

Luckily, my DH is slowly starting to cave in. My feminine charms are working wonders on him .

I would rather he came with me and shared the experience. IT wouldn't be the same without him by my side

So fingers crossed!!!

Runningmonkey what lovely names. My favourites are; Evan, Owen, and Dylan.

Divedaisy Did you find your moses basket useful? And how long did you use it for? What about the Quinny Buzz you can get a new one for about £260 now. I really want one , does anyone have one?

Thank you Reggiee I have already spent mine and I don't even have the form yet!

runningmonkey, I like Rhys and Huw.

Hello May ladies,

Sorry not to have posted for such a long time, I have only just managed to catch up on today but I hope you are all well.

On the home birth debate I was really hoping to have one but had my 20 week scan this week which showed that lo is doing well and is a girl (good news) but also that the placenta is completely covering my cervix (bad news). Hopefully it will move, but even if it does I wouldn't feel safe at home now I think. Which is not good because I was utterly miserable in hospital after c-section last time.

However the prospect of the placenta not moving is much worse, as complications range from bleeding to premature delivery under GA. I am very shocked actually as I didn't know that previous c-section is a risk factor for this. I am going for another scan in a few weeks so I am hoping for a different result but the sonographer didn't give me much hope on that front.

Anyway, I'll just have to stick to the positive that the baby is well and that I don't have to buy a whole set of new baby clothes!

Take care all.

PS Runningmonkey - I'm in Cambs too - just north of Cambridge. Where are you?

moonlit I have a Quinny Buzz, and used it with DS1. It was great, I used it in the rear facing mode once he was old enough to come out of the carry cot. We also used the carry cot as a moses basket, so it was well worth the money!

We bought it because the sales blurb said it is suitable up to 3 years, but TBH once DS got to around 14 months or so he really was a bit too heavy to cart around in the Buzz. We ended up buying the Zapp as a lightweight alternative to the Buzz, although the PILs much prefer the Buzz.

The Buzz is great if you are lazy like me, as it is really easy to unfold, you just need to give it a tap with your foot. On the flipside, I got really fed up of taking the damn thing apart to fit it into our boot, but obviously if it is never going in the car then you'll be fine. Stupidly I bought a really small car last year which is too small for anything but the smallest buggy (Fiat 500) so we're looking at swapping it for a Punto to make sure we can fit DS2 inside.

I did find it useful to be able to clip the maxi cosi car seat onto the chassis for short trips, although I wouldn't recommend it for long periods.

All in all, if I had to make the choice again I'd probably still buy one. Most of the mothers I met on the mother and baby circuit had the Buzz so I haven't really seen other buggies up close, but I reckon they are all much of a muchness! This time around I'll be making more use of my sling to allow me plenty of hands free to keep DS1 under control!

Moonlit I'd stick to convincing DH - prob easier to get your way than have to sneak off to scan and keep a secret!

Just took me an hour and a half to get DS to bed - this is not good with only 4 months to go - I think he knows.. But whilst sitting there on the chair I have decided to BUY a Bugaboo bee (red, not pink, sniff). Have a M&P pramette and I'm bored of it and want something I can push one handed whilst tugging DS along. Nothing like retail therapy to cheer me up, tho have to buy it in UK and send it to my mum's as it is 500 euros here (with pound parity!) as opposed to £330. Am paid in pounds, so feel it! What do you all think? Waste of money? Anyone have one?

alapala dunno if she's around, but detsy has a bugaboo bee and says it's really good. I'm seriously thinking of buying one as it ticks a lot of my boxes but I haven't tried any out yet. From what I can see on here, they get loads of positive feedback and most of the negative comments seem to centre around the price/pretentiousness factors rather than performance.

Hi alapala I don't have a Bug Bee but have a Cameleon which I've had since DD2 was 6 mths. Love it, absolutely wouldn't swap it for any other buggy. Have seen lots of good reviews of the Bee, but I have to say my ONLY concern with it is the size of the seat and distance between the seat and the hood. I think if you had a large toddler it might be a bit of a squeeze as it's nowhere near as roomy as the Cameleon/Frog (or at least it doesn't look it). It looks quite narrow? But I can't fault Bugaboo as a brand - well made, light, manouvre with one finger if you need to! (am a buggy bore, sorry. Also had M&P previously and not impressed).

Good news moonlit - keep those womanly charms going. He'll be at that scan with you in no time!

rek21 sorry to hear you have a low lying placenta. You are right there is a chance it may move up and away from your cervix but I'm sure you know that if it stays put you do have a chance of bleeding, early delivery etc and will need to take things very easy as your pg progresses. Fingers crossed it all works out well for you x

Hi everyone else. Hope all well. Have had a very productive day today and so am feeling quite chirpy for a change! Might have an early night and see if I can be as on the ball again tomorrow with work. Spreadsheets are calling me......
Meant to be seeing consultant tomorrow too to discuss my last delivery and plan for this next one but somewhat irrationally I don't want to go and would rather stick my head under the duvet and not think about it. Anyone would think I'd never had a baby before, the state I've been getting in about it. Anyway will shut up now.
Byeeeeee

Oooh yes ask detsy - isn't she off somewhere exotic with work again though.....can't remember when she's back.
COME BACK DETSY WE NEED YOU!

(FWIW by the way the various friends of mine with Bugaboo Cameleons love them, totally love them. My other friends who have bought other buggies (eg Britax the Bebe confort Loola thing lately) look down their noses at mine as a total waste of money. I think they just don't 'get' how good they are, or perhaps don't want to admit they have bought a rubbish buggy instead!) - both of these other buggies mentioned have been used for about 6 mths when the carry cot bit was useful and now reside in the garage having been replaced by a McLaren. So actually it's cost about the same as a Bug by the time they've spent another £150 on the McLaren Techno in addition.

See - I'm SUCH A BUGGY BORE.
Not going to comment of buggies anymore. Promise.

Sorry - spelling and grammar are terrible - bit tired think I'll head to bed shortly. By the way I was talking about the Britax Vigour and the Bebe Confort Loola - don't think my garbled sentence construction made that very clear! Duh.

Talking to myself again.
Lalalal lalalala lalalala la la la la

Did someone say something?!

Oooh I'm after the bugaboo chameleon - nice red one - anyone else know anything about it?

Hi, I'm new on this thread, but I am due with my third in may, so I thought it would be OK to say hello. I'm planning a homebirth too, like quite a few of you. I had to previous easy hospital births so I thought this time why not to go for it.
Someone mentioned women being disuaded from epidurals in the UK due to staffing and more intensive monitoring. As a midwife myself I feel quite strongly that I should react to this comment and I'd like to say that's not true. Even if you're not being continuously monitored, midwives still have to listen to your baby every 15 minutes when you're in active labour, so being left for 4 hours should never happen when you're in active labour (4-5cm or more). It's actually easier to leave a woman with an epidural on her own, because midwives know these women are comfortable. Woman without an epidural tend to need a lot more attention, because they are more difficult to communicate with, move around, panick,... so really if staffing was the issue, midwives would encourage epidurals, because you could then just go from room to room every 15 minutes, quickly check blood pressure and baby's heartrate and leave again! The reason some midwives don't like epidurals is that they feel epidurals medicalise the whole birthing process and stops women moving around and e.g. feeling the urge to push. But at the same time no midwife I know would ever deny a woman an epidural if she really needed one.

A fellow Midlander!

Yep, but only a pretend one.

me too...

Moomino

My 2 DD's were born in York, before we moved up here to THE WORST PLACE IN THE UK TO LIVE IN (according to Phil & Kirstie I believe).

I had horrendous experiences with both, I was on my own for the first and was treated with utter contempt, left in pain, as I wasn't making enough noise apparently, they couldn't believe I could possibly be anywhere near fully dilated. Of course I was and it just went tits up from there.

DD2 was induced, born quickly and shocked, just whipped away no explanation, I was then harried and harried to get out of the bed as 'there are others you know', left standing in the middle of the corridor not knowing what the fuck was going on, eventually I was advised where to go and what was happening with DD (she was fine, just born cold). The hospital was FILTHY too.....

I have requested a home birth this time (James Cook Hospital here has a reputation for dirt and MRSA style evilness).

Long post, sorry, but have taken deep breath and feel better.

Thanks for the posts re restless legs everyone, does banana bread count as a banana?

Saw physio today, got my Fembrace thingy and was given execises to do, she told me I looked neat and didn't seem to have put much weight on, I said "I've put on a stone actually" and she gave me a filthy look and tutted.

[mutters covertly to sausagenmash - just buy one, buy one, they are fab and I like the red too]
[runs away with bag on head]
[runs back to say]
hello belgianchocolates 3rd baby here too! Welcome to the thread. Also a trained midwife but haven't practiced since qualifying about 12 yrs ago (eeek I feel old)
[scampers off muttering about buggies to nobody in particular]

Grumpyoldcaaa

I'm going to the physio soon. How's the Fembrace working for you? I had SPD with both of mine, but now with no3 it's even worse and I can't take a step without pain. Being on my feet all day at work doesn't help off course. I'm hoping a Fembrace will do something, but I'm a bit sceptic.