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]

I do Tesco online for my food - would love our local Sainsburys to start delivering, I much prefer their food. Then I just get meat from the butcher (only for DH and DD, I'm veggie) and we have a veg box during the spring/summer from a local farmers co-operative. We grow our own veg which see us through autumn and we muddle through winter.

Since we moved to the sticks and had DD shortly after I have done most of my shopping online since can't really justify driving an hour into Manchester, and there is no public transport that does the journey in under 2 hours. DD is an appalling traveller which doesn't help.

MM - whereabouts in the outfit is the security tag? DH runs a clothing business and we have seen it all in terms of getting those things off. There are ways and means, but depends on where it is. We only have shops at events, we don't have a permanent store so we do occasionally get people saying a tag hasn't been removed over the phone and you can always tell if people are genuine. You'd be surprised how often it happens, so they should help you out.

HI everyone. Have just hopped [wombled] into bed with tens and a hot water bottle on order. Feeling very like I might have a baby but I can't believe I wont go over. I just can't. So am having a false alarm.

Own fault did too much waddling about today, but realised no one had done laundry for 10 days so had to skoot about and hustle. DH out mountain biking till 1pm, so I have done all the cooking todays as well AND been to town. Thats more activity than whole of last month I'd say.

Got a tommee tippee breast pump for £12 in TK max and it comes with little steriliser so am very chuffed with that. Did heaps of expressing with dd1 to increase supply on hungry days etc. Have had a go and given myself tightnings. Painful one side grand the other so will have to see if get on with it long term.
Also got essential oil clary sage [blooming £9!!!!] which helps to stabalise mood and hormone fluctuations and is associated with the uterus. Sadly is stinks but will but a bit in some oil for labour. Have had it on coat all day.

Thanks for names feedback - feeling Elizabeth too. Maisy is a bit of a family name [great Aunt in Africa] but I dunno.

fingers crossed for you tree! how exciting, about time we had a birth

I know there is a shocking lack given this is the January thread and all. I can't believe its me though.

Thank the Lord for TENS. Haven't packed bag, shit.

Ladies, anyone with any experience of DH being unsupportive with breastfeeding? I couldn't feed DD myself 'cos the meds I was on at the time for my arthritis were contraindicated. Had assumed I'd be BF this time, but DH told me today that we needed to get some formula in the tesco shop and he wouldn't bother with BF if he was me. He seems very unkeen on the idea despite me telling him about the health benefits etc.

I've not ordered any formula.

I have rather large boobs, and we have a relatively active social life (his parents are socialites and we are expected to attend various events family in tow) so I'd have to get pretty good at feeding discreetly but I wasn't expecting him to be quite so anti-BF. He is a boobs man too, which prob doesn't help. He's not an ar$e BTW, I just don't think he was expecting me to want to BF and has been over-honest with his feelings about it.

OOOOOOOOhhhh... Tree hadn't seen that!!!

Fingers crossed.

Don't panic. Bag packing a good distraction. Plus you must be an expert on what to pack...

tree - fingers crossed!

small one spun around in the night, little feet poking out of my left rather than my right side today. wondering if this is something i need to worry about

stripey - mines that way round too. its annoying as its now more comfy to sleep on the right side, which means its less likely to move back. if I sleep with its feet 'down' the kicks wake me up!

Lenni, I think the other halfs will take the line from us; he hasn't got any experience of you feeding so do you know why he thinks that? Is is cos he doesn't want you to feel a failure if it doesn't work, or that he is worried about exposure and the whole 'bitty' thing? Maybe its also because with bottles the boys can help, but with BF the onus is all on you, which can be both exhausting and make them feel shut out. It is such a difficult subject, but you really do need their support on this one, so I feel for you!

sorry all crashing in looking for fourlittlefeet.

Am I right in remembering that L had trouble with wind when tiny and you had a magic solution?? We are having probs with DS2 and mucho wind any advice. If I am wrong feel free to ignore.

Good luck ladies, as you were.

haven't tried sleeping on right side really, have been trying to stay left even though it means waking up on the hour with a sore left hip... hopefully she will spin herself back tonight. am perched on ball at the moment in the hope that it'll orient her correctly - bit worried she has inherited my sense of direction...

lennie, have you mentioned that it's far less hassle with bottle sterilising and so on? the whole thing with the formula and sterilising looks a right faff to me

Jam! how lovely to hear from you! whats DS2 called? how was the birth? how exciting. will find the winding post we did; you are right, L was a blighter for wind and I had to become an expert!

Still here, awaiting paracetamol, clary sage, rescue remedy and tens to kick in!!

Lennie - I'd get him sold on the health stuff. Stick him infront of something like the LA leche leauge or unicef websites on benefits, one's where the real details are on how it prevents bone disease and diabetes etc. I've found men really respond to these facts in antenatal classes[as do we women of course!]

I think they like sterilisers and bottles and all that stuff - more technology and equipment they like tinkering with plus they love to have tasks. FF appeals to many men I think!

I have 36G big danglers and no one even noticed me feeding after we had it sussed [say 6 weeks] so can reassure you on that - careful use of pashmina is the way forward.

Good luck Tree wish it was me!

LenniEd I was a 34J and K respectively and fed both boys for 6 months each, in both cases had to give up as was given medication which I couldn't take while feeding. I never liked feeding in public and if I was going somewhere I knew I would need to feed I took some frozen expressed milk in a cool bag with me. Worked great, milk was usually just defrosted in time for the feed and while the baby still got breastmilk, I didn't need to feed anywhere I felt uncomfortable.

Security tag is on the back of the neck in the middle by the way.

I had the Avent breastpump both times before and it was great. Am thinking of investing in their new mains powered one this time here. Apparently you start it off manually then it mimics your rhythm and takes over. Will probably start off with the manual one though as have been given an unused one by SIL.

Oh yes, pashminas and given the time of year a couple of nice ponchos should do the trick nicely.

We called him Lachlan. Birth couldnt have been more different than last time, start to finish 6hrs, gas and air with a fair amount of bellowing.

I've got the avent isis and found it great. It does let you set the rhythm which is much less hassle then doing it manually. Having said that, it does have the manual bit, which I used when I went back to work at it seemed to suck much harder and get milk out more quickly! Definitely try both modes. And make sure you put the rose in the right place and take it off if it hurts; managed to crack my nipple a couple of times by being lazy!

Wind Advice for jam - had promised to bore everyone with this anyway...

I knew they went bluish around the mouth with wind but didn't realise:

to wind them on your shoulder they have to be high enough for your shoulder blade to be in their tummy - this is what pushes the wind up..

sitting them upright in your lap and gently 'pulling them straight' is most effective

if the wind hasn't come out after a couple of mins its prob too far down and you need to do baby gym cycling/circular tummy rub/pushing ankles to chest/raising bottom by lifting legs/tiger in tree

wind will make them come off the breast so if they've only done 10 mins its wind if they are bluish - should wind then reoffer - otherwise they'll keep waking up either hungry or with the wind, then kep getting too much foremilk and sleeping only for short periods.

if you can get this right they should feed more, be more comfy and sleep more

there is also this thread on it.

god. have majorly squirming baby and am sitting on ball. not sure if its a good or a bad thing, or its enjoying the weak gin and tonic I just had (my mum said it was a sure fire way to get them out - actually she said a bottle of gin and a hot bath, but this is my milder take on it ).

well done you! will pop into may thread to say hello properly very soon x

On the subject of winding, DS2 was a nightmare with colic and wind, screamed for hours every single night. Took him to see an osteopath and it was a revelation! After the first session he slept for hours and was really peaceful, after the second he was a different baby, colic gone and no problems winding and everyone commented on what a happy contented baby he was.

I would highly recommend taking newborns to see an osteopath. Its such a gentle process, they barely touch the baby and they can help with all sorts of problems from reflux, colic and other digestives problems to grisly unhappy babies that need to be held constantly.

I can vouch for osteopathy personally as well as had a course of treatment a couple of years back that helped sort out a neck and shoulder problem I'd had since I was a teenager, realigned my pelvis after spd and relieved my migraines for months. DH also had his labrynthititis cured by osteopathy.

We are really lucky as we live across the road from a really well respected guy who is also a parent at the local school. This one will definitely be going for a visit fairly soon after birth.

Thanks FLF - will have to remember where you have posted that.

I think DH is a bit coy about BF - it embarrasses him. He also enjoyed feeding DD - but that isn't going to stop me BF this one. Will be coming back to you for discreet feeding advice once I get the hang of undiscreet feeding! Will def sit him in front of LaLeche though.

MM - is it a ribbed neck or a plain cotton one? If it is ribbed then I'd just cut down to the seam where it joins the body and take the tag out by unstitching a bit of the seam. If it isn't ribbed cotton then there are ways of unlatching the tag - easiest is to saw/cut through the pointy part of the plastic bit of the tag and take the middle part out of it (which holds the pin in). If you do this then put some greasproof paper around the tag to protect the garment in case it is a dye filled one. This is what we have to do when our tags break, which happens quite a bit. The vast majority aren't dye filled, they are too expensive for mass use.

Tag is actually through the fabric below the ribbed neck and the fabric is a sort of velour.

Its a weird looking tag actually, one side is a shiny dome and the other looks like a plastic exclamation mark with a large 'i' embossed on it. Don't think it is a dye one as its too small.

Thanks for the advice, DH says he will have a try your suggestion when he has a bit of spare time (ha ha ha - spare time - what's that?!)

I really recommend the H&M nursing tops; they are cheap and come in many colours. The main thing is to make sure the double layer is loose enough to allow a large amount of nipple through. THere are some that have poppers in the front that only allow a small arc of boob through, which is completely useless as the babies need to get a good mouthful. Once they are latched, it just looks like you are having a cuddle!

tree hope this is it for you!

I am just about to mop the floor. Have asked dh to dust some surfaces. He is rolling his eyes and asking the baby to save him. No signs of that happening any time soon. Mw tomorrow morning. From tonight til Tues evening we have no childcare cover for ds so labour definitely not allowed. From Tues eve it'll be my parents, over from Poland, and I am a bit apprehensive about that as we've had some problems with 'boundaries' before....

Stripey & FLF - mine is ROA too now I think, has been for a few days and not shifting however much sleeping on the left and ball bouncing I'm doing. I am giving up trying to persuade this baby to do ANYTHING

night all, hope you all sleep deeply and well. Apart from those (there must be some!!) labouring - hope you labour smoothly, calmly and in good time!