Due in Jan 2009 - 3 have popped, Christmas is coming and we're all fed up with this pregnancy malarky, bring on the babies!!

[LenniEd]

MsSparkle - won't be long now, you'll soon have babe in arms. Maximum wait is 10 days, not long for a lifetime of baby and you've done 283 days!! Keep going, know it's hard .

And know what you mean on the signs and not believing them. I've all but given up too, and I'm not over yet.

What about a regular vest for in the pool if you don't have time to get a maternity tankini, or a maternity bra. T-shirt will just float up and be annoying. TBH, I think I'm going with naked. Have always imagined I'll be leaning over the edge of the pool so boobs wouldn't be on display anyhow.

What happens about being examined etc. with a waterbirth? Do you have to get out? Does anyone ever get in?

got all the baby stuff out of the loft today - pram, carseat, bath, steriliser, baby gym, bouncy chair -my goodness there was a lot of it

evening all. I too have stopped the is this it stuff. MM I also lost some weight in the last week or so but have started eating like a horse in the last couple of days and have actually been getting some sleep.

I remember last time round I absolutely dreaded going to bed and did everything I could to be sleepy first as getting to sleep was a nightmare. This time I can't wait to get to bed; sleep or no!

To add to the sickly thread, I'm feeling like I want to be sick but can't. nasty. not taking Gaviscon as if its something yucky i want it out!

Has anyone else had single painful contractions? I was woken this morning by something that felt like a bus driving into my back. Seconds later it had passed and I wondered if I had dreamt it! If they are like that, gas and air will have to be bloody good....

I ended up wearing a bra-type top in the pool for ds's birth but that was more because I didn't get round to taking it off than anything else. Plan to be naked this time as clothes felt a bit restrictive last time anyway, only thing is that I am a bit worried it'll be too cold (shivering as I type!!)

Ouch. have indigestion from eating steak pie in too squashed a position in front of the TV.
How do I shift it so I can happily eat the apple crumble currently in the oven?

and Lenni - with examinations - had to get out of pool once for an internal. Other than that the mw had some kind of monitor for ds's hb, and a mirror & torch which kept him as informed as he needed to be I guess!

GTDAB - problem is hospital transfer and time of year. I live very high up on the edge of the Dales, at least 45mins by road from hospital. It's very windy here and generally inhospitable. If I needed to transfer would have to be an air ambulance job as distance by road from ambulance station to here and back to hospital too far (about 70-75 mins if they can find us). My midwife was supportive, but I decided to go for domino care instead, where I can come home straight away.

Spink - did you have a male midwife??

oh yes and moses basket, cot, newborn clothes, baby toys,....

glad I'm not buying it all from scratch again!

just had to get a new monitor (this will be the third ) new nappy bin and some 0-6m grobags...

For you first timers I can recommend the following

grobag with travel feature

nappy bin

angelcare monitor

plus www.kiddicare.com is about the cheapest around an usually even beats eBay.

I was stunned when i got dds newborn clothes out. You really forget how tiny a newborn is don't you! I recoment to all first timers though not to buy loads of clothes because you get given more than you can use when the baby arrives! People seem to love buying newborn clothes, even from relatives that you didn't know existed.

Yes I did have a male mw! I was very surprised to find I didn't care in the slightest. think it was helped by the fact that he was very hands-off (in fact, my lasting memory is of him leaning nonchalantly against the window sill saying 'good stuff' lots)
Also, being in the pool means I felt less exposed than when trotting around in the fresh air...

Not sure I'd have been so ok about it. Not sure my DH would have been either am impressed though, didn't know they really existed. Quite an interesting vocation choice for a man. Am impressed with you being ok about it too - must have been a very different experience.

DS was only in 'newborn' for 2 weeks then into 0-3 months.... so really really don't buy many newborn clothes!!! (he was 9lb 2 BTW)

I'd have liked to have asked him about his career pathway but he buggered off before I delivered - shift change, unfortunately.. apparently the rest of the mw team think he is fab!

Well if you get him again Spink can you ask him lots of questions between contractions please Would be interested to know what motivated him to become a midwife. Was he young?

I think I would have been ok except I wanted my midwife to be quite hands on a lot of the time near the end rubbing my back and things during contractions. Although earlier on I didn't want anyone near me really so wouldn't have minded then.

Right, better show some interest in DH. Poor sod has started answering his own questions lately since I'm otherwise engaged

can I just ask so what if you had a male midwife.. haven't you noticed that most obstetricians are men?? would you have been shocked or husband 'unhappy' if a male doctor came in to assist for whatever reason?
At least midwives (of either sex) are not up their own backsides & desperate to make you into a 'complicated case' just because you've had the nerve to set foot near a hospital

That said if you are a complicated case they are very useful - I'm not anti-doctor, needed them myself for both my DS's births..although I am a midwife! (female in case anyone cares)

Wow... you ladies have been busy.

Sorry i forgot who asked about the name verity ... while it isn't on my list, i think its very pretty.

male midwife Wouldn't bother me in the slightest, and i can't think that mid labour that anyone would really be worrying about that Especially as like flippyflop points out.... a large proportion of Obs are men!!

oh.... Fymandbean / others - i thought / always got the impression from others that those nappy bins were a total waste of time?!?! I haven't got one.. infact i've totally neglected to even get a bin! oops... So you think those nappy bins are worth a shot?

Flippyflop It is just something that hadn't occured to me before. Was thinking out loud, not really got an opinion either way, was just thinking it through. OOI - my obstetrician was also female when I was pg with DD, so not had any experience of seeing a man. And I meant that my DH might have been uncomfortable with me being 'comforted' by a male midwife rather than any of the physical aspects of childbirth, but that's down to his personality rather than anything else.

Anyway, I really must go to bed. Apologise if offence caused.