*Due in June 2005*

[PinkArjuna]

The thread was getting far too long and taking ages to load.

London meet is a week away. I don't have to get the train until 10.30 this time Could someone tell me which tube line to get from Paddington?

I'm so bored I have even be studying those horrible Seamus Heaney poems I should enjoy it... I'l never be bored again after June, Just tired

Hope everyone is having a good easter

Hi Pink!

Not many of us around are there? What cradle/cot/whatever have you got (I assume you already have one?) I've decided this weekend that I want a bedside cot where you can take the nearest side off so it's like a bed extention. Then it'll be like co-sleeping, but I won't worry about rolling into him etc.

Don't know Seamus Heaney, don't think I'd last long before I'd nod off though if it were me.. Glad I'm not studying anymore

Haven't got a cot yet as I didn't want to have to put it up. I'll get it after because I am borrowing a moses basket. I'll get a tutti bambini Filip cotbed though with a drop down side

I am considering going to the college and claiming discrimination of their timetabled lessons. They are only offering my course in the evening and I have been trawling through childcare and it just isn't going to happen unless I get a nanny which I could never afford. I will put an arguement forward that they have to let me study my classes with the day time students otherwise I am being deprived of an education. They have to make concessions for people who are disabled and the more I consider this pregnancy it is a disability specially seeing if I can't even get 3 hours off a week to go to college.

Hope you are having a good day Charley

I want an Easter egg - I forgot to buy myself one

Hi Pink, thanks for the link....still haven't signed off. We didn't get eggs either but look on the bright side they should be discounted from tomorrow so I am going to treat myself then ha ha.

Aw Pink! Tell me again why they can't put you in with the daytime people? Is it not taught duing the day? It sounds like a nightmare for you. What about a grant for childcare in the evenings?

I scoffed the whole a massive Gordon Ramsay egg yesterday and felt

Hi everyone

Yes, Pink, remind us why they can't put you in with the daytime people??

A good idea to go for a cot bed by the way. I didn't really think of it and we just have a standard cot (which I still recommend over a travel cot btw and not that difficult to put together). However, in our case it's ok because dd wouldn't have been able to use it as a bed because no 2 will be in it, using it as a cot. Phew! Thought I'd made a total 'waste of money' cock-up as now we're getting dd a toddler bed, but apparantly not!

I know we'll get told off for talking about the 'c' word (I am of course talking about chocolate, not the other ) but I haven't eaten any today. I don't think I could.

I started making the curtains today, voile actually. Annoyingly, the material kept snagging on the machine (which is very old) so I think I will have to patiently hand stitch them

Is this the... 14th thread??

Hi everyone!

Is good to be back! I only had a chance to skim over the latest gillions of messages. So apologies if I am not responding to anyone in particular.
I did notice though that Scraggy is back! Wellcome back! and that charley has a diamond ring! Congratulations!!

I also noticed some discussion about travelling through the third trimester... I spent 3 hours on GP's office to get the damn letter and the airline never asked for it! On the other hand, I was really paranoid the whole trip and evrytime I felt something weird I panicked!

We had a good time away, but I think I am getting to old for vacations . I just don't know how to take it easy anymore!!! We spent the whole day long walking everywhere and worried about what to eat and still my blood glucose shot up at unbelievable highs! It is really bizarre! I can eat the exact same thing two consecutive days and have completely different blood sugar depending whether I had a row with DH or not....

So, anyone else panicking at the though of single digit weeks left ?

Hello all.
I am panicking at the thought of 11 weeks left (ie now) Eeek! Exciting too though. .
DEF don't anyone rely on a travel cot instead of a real one. I had to use one for 6 weeks at my Mums when we were moving and our stuff was being shipped before I moved out here and it was a nightmare for my back! Not very comfy for dd either I don't think and she endd up in with me most nights. Still regret not sorting anything else out for her. If you have back probs I really recommend a cot with a side that goes up and down. I don't think cot beds do that do they? We just bought a cheap second hand cot and then a new mattress which was over twice the price of the cot! We can actually get the RAF to provide a cot for us (for a fee)but didn't find this out until too late so I am glad we didn't buy a brand new one.
Charley - Glad you have finally made a decision on your buggy. They certainly have a good reputation. I would still recommend the swivel wheel as we go on the beach, up and down hills, on tracks etc all the time and have had no problems with it shaking....but I see what you mean about the comments on that website. My four wheeler had swivel wheels at the front, however my silver cross pram won't have and so I will have to learn to manouvre that one and I suppose you get used to it. Please try them in a shop if you can though....only speaking of my regrets (Have had two three wheelers, thankfully secondhand and tried the Mountain Buggy someone was selling here and found it hard to manouvre because there was NO give in the front wheel...)
As for running with the buggy does it have a hand brake or wrist strap? Sorry to throw more things in the equation. DH is a Physical Training Instructor and wouldn't consider running with a buggy as he thinks the positioning would be all wrong and poss cause injury?? I know lots of people do run with them so this could be dh's paranoia and obviously it would depend how much you did it. I thought I would share anyway. Hope it helps and doesn't confuse you even more! I sound like I am preaching so don't take too much notice as what you are using the buggy for is the most important thing.
Lua - Glad you had a nice if busy time, but sorry you had worries over all your twinges..
Lippy - Making curtains? I am impressed. I am so rubbish at that sort of stuff I don't even try!
Well have to go and get ready for the day as I am still sat here in my dressing gown. Have to sort out the spare room for my Mum's visit and clean the veranda today as DH is going to mossie net it so we can go out there now the weather is warming up. We are out at 1400 for an Easter BBQ too so had better get a shift on. Bye for now..

Morning All, hope you?ve all had a lovely easter. Just skimmed the messages so sorry if I?ve missed anything really important out.

Scraggy ? good luck with the eviction. Sounds really stressful. I hope it all goes okay.

Trib ? sorry to hear about your friends messing you about. People are so funny, aren?t they? What on earth does she think is going to happen over lunch, with both partners in the house and you heavily prgt? Well played for when they turned up though! Hopefully they wont do that to you again?

Charley ? my DH?s in 2 bands. The gig last Thurs night was his own stuff, but he?s also in another covers band which plays wedding, works do?s etc. The former is his love, the latter helps pay the bills .

Lua, I?ve past the 30 week mark and I?m panicking big time. Especially as I keep seeming to meet girls who delivered at 34-35 weeks. OMG!! That?s less than a month away! That is frightening. So saying, I?m hardly rushing out to mothercare to buy the necessary supplies .

I?ve had a lovely weekend. My 2 close friends got married on Sat and a friend came to stay for the weekend. Quite tired now. Uwila, I thought of you on sat night, when the evening buffet consisted of bread and massive platters of every conceivable sort of cheese money could buy. It was cheese heaven!!!!

Hi everyone

Back to spring weather here

Anybody understand 'Tip Of the Day' ??? It has me completely baffled, or am I being thick? Might put up a post about it.

Am rather to say that I can't remember how many weeks I am!!! I think just gone 26, but it could be 27. Like I said, I'm being far too blase about this pregnancy. The only time I tend to panic is when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the loo and I see the total mess in the upstairs landing. Then I freak that the builders will still be here in 3 months time Oh god.

I toyed with the idea of jogging with one of those 3 wheelers. You can't run with the Jane swivel model, the wheel wobbles. I also doubt that it gives a brilliant 'posture' for running. Then I decided that if I couldn't get half an hour to myself to go out for a run, something was terribly wrong

morning all,
hope everyone had a nice easter filled with plenty of choccies
congrats on your engagement charley-im really pleased for you!!!!
decided to put the border up in the baby's room yesterday,only to find we hadnt measured the walls,ran out and the m&p shop wasnt open-doh!!
i also cant believe we've only 11 wks or so to go but the best bit is only 3 more wks left at work-yipeeeeee
when is everyone packing their hospital bag?
i havent read through all the messages over the past week so i'll apologise in advance if you've already mentioned it,but i just wondered as i haven't a clue
had a bit of a panic yesterday and was convinced i hadnt felt the baby move by about lunchtime but after a tub of haagen daz it seemed to do the trick so that cheered me up.
sorry your having a tough time at the mo pink,what with college and your neighbours-they sound horrendous but good for you,for standing your ground

Lippy, I think you are due the day after me are you not? (I'm due 24 June). If so, you will be pleased to know that you are 27 weeks pregnant + 2 days (as I am 27 + 3).

I have to have it written on the calendar though as I get quite confused about it all now.

Jonah, I think the g/f is just terminally insecure. Ridiculous! Shockingly, rather than have an orgy on Friday (as was obviously my initial plan) we had a nice lunch, general chit chat and then they headed back to London and we went round to see the MIL.

Who is famous, btw. At least in her mind. I am sure you were all glued to Songs of Praise last night, but if you had have watched it you would have seen my MIL singing with gusto in the choir during the first number (We recorded it so we could watch it in fast forward looking for her).

It does feel like the countdown has really started now doesn't it? Like Jonah, I still haven't actually done anything useful in terms of shopping, but I have thought about it now - which is progress! I'm waiting to hear about a job interview oop north before heading over to Chester to see my sister-in-law and find out what I can borrow/steal from her. The results of the job interview will probably determine whether we more before the baby comes as well - what fun!

Morning all and happy Easter

Sorry I've not been on for a while - work-catching-up frenzy (still continuing) followed by several days offline due to computer's sudden demise and it taking literally 3 days to get the new one set up, updated and virus protected .

I know what everyone means about the countdown having started. Am 30+5 now by my reckoning! Eeeeek. Had a bit of a scare at the end of last week because - after a very very long day with a great deal of stress - little one, who was actually already head down, seemed to be moving very very differently - almost like 10 weeks ago - and I was worried. So off we popped to the hospital I'll be giving birth in, which we hadn't seen before - it was LOVELY, the MW and doctor were really really nice, and I got to lie for half an hour hooked up to a machine and listening to baby's lovely strong heartbeat . Now I've got another scare - went to church yesterday and saw someone I haven't seen for ages. We shook hands and then he announced he'd had shingles since Christmas and was only just recovering now. Now, I am pretty certain I've had chickenpox, but I don't know for absolutely sure - I'm wondering what to do, or whether I should do anything. Apparently at this stage of pg there's no danger to the baby (please correct me anyone if I'm wrong) but it could be pretty unpleasant for me if I get it, and as an asthmatic I don't want to risk penumonia.

Next dilemma is work. Legally I get to stop at 34 weeks on full pay - and I would love to. (For 8 weeks after the birth women here are not allowed to work full stop, and after that it's semester break for three months, so I don't have to worry about work after the birth - when I start again in Oct dh will be at home and I will be at home when not actually teaching). But the problem is that if I do stop at 34 weeks I'll have to make up my teaching load in the second half of the semester break, which I REALLY don't want to do. (If I'm not there the students don't get taught, and the semester was planned in Oct/Nov when I, after my last m/c, really didn't want to say the pregnancy was definitely going to work out). My doctor is not that keen on me working, but I don't see any other way round it, as I think it's more important to have more time with him (the baby! ) after he's there. Semester starts again (for me) next week. I will be at uni three days a week, and not always the whole day, and the rest of the time I can work at home, so it's actually not too bad a load. I'm going to make sure I sit down when teaching and don't get disturbed in the breaks. But it's certainly a dilemma - the kind of situation in which it's really difficult to know what's for the best. Any ideas?

Oh gosh, sorry for the ramble.

Thanks for the check Trib I did go away and work itout and mark it in my diary and so forth, so's no to forget again!!

~muttering to self~ Must get my head out of the sand and start thinking about the new baby!!!

aarrrggghhh, the one day I can come on and everyone's off, enjoying the bank hol probably, while I've been stuck in marking essays

Sorry berolina, it has been very quiet today - but it's good to see you again!

Sorry also to hear about your various health woes, I would definitely talk to the midwife about the shingles bloke - honestly, what was he thinking?

Re: your job, I can completely understand why you want to save your time off to spend with the baby, what do you think the doctor's basis for wanting you to finish at 34 weeks is? Is there any non-teaching work you could take over for a colleague, something less stressful or that you could do at home in return for them covering your classes?

Nice to have you back Lua! Glad you had a nice time, I can understand your worries though. Hope you can get your levels under control now you're back. You should tell dh it medically important for him to just do everything you ask so you don't have an argument

Lippy - you know there might be a special needle you can buy for voile that would make things easier. Don't envy you hand stitching them, but I'm sure they'll be worth it.

Coop, I've been looking at link/{http://www.urbannursery.co.uk/Global_bedside_cot_bed.htm/this} You can have it up right next to the bed if you want to co-sleep and with 18 different height adjustments there's bound to be one that brings the mattress to exactly the same level as your bed. Both sides can be removed for later too. I'm definitely going to find a shop where I can compare the Mountain Buggys. I need to have a look at the 2004 Urbans if I can find one. I've photos of them on the net with a strap hanging from handle and I'm sure there's a handbrake - or at least an option for one. you're not preaching at all - I'd thought the same thing about running with a buggy, but dp said today he doesn't want to do that anyway. I think our dog would miss his one to one "daddy time" too much anyway if he was suddenly left at home while dp went running with Pod instead of him

Lua/Jonah - AARGH! NO! don't say it could be anywhere near a month before our events - please!!! I'm so scared! I still haven't bought a single thing or finished the goddamn tiling (ran out of tiles). I have a busy week ahead of me....

Hi Bubba! I'm so ashamed - you've nearly put borders up in your nursery - it was only yesterday I managed to persuade dp to finally remove some old redundant pipes hanging off the walls in our spare room

Trib/Lippy - very strangely I always know precisely what day I'm on - today I'm 28+4 - I am almost infamous in my lack of domestic organisation skills

Jonah - ah, so the g/f came to keep an eye on things did she? Good luck with the job interview - when will you know?

Berolina - Gosh! 30 weeks does sound close Is he still head down? Mine's breech apparently. What a worry for you meeting that guy recovering from shingles. I seem to remember from a few threads ago chickenpox in pg was discussed - I think there's a 20 week cut off for the danger period or something. He probably wasn't contagious anymore anyway. If I were you, I'd call NHS Direct in the first instance and see what they say. Hope you come to some solution to your work dilemma

this (drop side cot bed)

I've just remebered why I'm not looking at stuff for the new baby... it's too bloody complicated !!! Had a brief look at baby slings today, I'm looking for one of those material things where the baby can lie down in the early days and weeks (already have the Wilkinet and BB). It all got too much! Hugabub, probably, I know it's been discussed ad nauseam, but what's everyone else going for?

Sorry to gatecrash, but I need to ask Uwila something. Uwila, I've left a question for you on the May thread. Cheers...

Thanks trib and Charley. I'm not too worried about the shingles thing, because unless he actually had blisters on his hand (might have done though, didn't look) not a lot can happen, and as I said I think I've had chickenpox, but I'll ring my doc tomorrow and see if I need a blood test.
Little one is still more or less head down (well, downwards) - he had actually turned after the very stressful day, so I was right that the movements were different, but there was nothing wrong. It was just the most amazing thing in the world listening to that heartbeat

Charley, just reposting your link - that looks like a pretty good cot. I think if I don't get a freebie from SIL I will think about that one myself.

Lippy, a sling is on my (short) list of things to buy, I think it'll be easier for out-and-about breastfeeding than the Baby Bjorn we have from my cousin. Probably a Hugabub just because people here have been keen on them, I cannot see what the difference is between long pieces of material, charged at extortionate rates!

know what you mean about complicated,lipstick.
went to mopthercare earlier today and ended up with a steraliser,bottle warmer,swing,monitors,sheets and lots of other bits.what a choice though-didnt know if i was coming or going
i got a babybjorn carrier from ebay but wasnt happy with it so we've decided on a 3 way carrier(from babies r us)instead.we're probably not going to use it too much so that should be sufficient.they've also got some of thoses slings that you mentioned which are rather nice-infact we were debating whether to get one of them instead
hopefully we'll buy the laminate flooring at the weekend,then i can order the cot,changing unit and the wardrobe once thats down which will only then leave my hospital bag to pack