*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?

AW Welshie! That is lovely

Morning all! Back from the midwife, all was okay, no glucose problems despite massive consumption of Mr Kiplings miniature cakes (I didn't tell her about that, obviously).

Charley - I was at uni in Leeds so I know (or rather knew) the place quite well. Dh is less impressed, he has never lived 'up north' (except in Sweden, and we were right in the south albeit it was north of here!) so we'll see. We'll move up there but not til after the baby's born now, I reckon. Even if they want me to start work beforehand I'll go and stay with friends or something. I have family in the area as well (Hebden Bridge) so I am well set up!

We stayed at the Hilton in Garforth (I have a gold card so we get upgraded to a posh room. Unfortunately 'posh room' and 'UK Hiltons' don't go together very well). Not recommended, really, although convenient for the motorway. The TravelLodge is very central, though.

I might stick myself back on the pregnancy supplements to help with the cramps - bit rich considering I have been anti-supplements for iron! But I don't drink tea (hence problems with tea-making presentation) so can't see myself getting round to drinking any amount of raspberry leaf tea. Perhaps I have been neglecting my calcium levels by not eating enough chocolate, that must be it

Welshie - congrats to your friend, it's funny how life can change so quickly. This time last year I had no idea dh and I would be married and expecting a baby.

Your DD is so lovely Welshie. I think I'd burst into tears if DS said anything like that to me. This morning he came into my room, told me there was snakes in his bed, then ordered me to put my jim-jams on so I could go downstairs and put the Incredibles on for him.

Charleypops, where is the music college? Sorry to be dense, I've only lived here for 13 years .

Trib, fantastic news about your brother.

MrsW it's on Quarry Hill - have a look here It's the biggest music college in Europe apparently! They do lots of concerts and stuff that the public can go to if you're interested in that sort of stuff. Do you think he could walk there from the Travel Lodge?

Trib - glad your blood sugar's ok - got my test tomorrow at the crack of dawn I went on a painting trip with college to Hebden Bridge a few years ago - it's so lovely round there.

I think there may be more calcium in white chocolate Trib - you could try my personal favourite Green and Blacks
I do paint a very rosy picture of dd don't I? I try not to dwell too much on the less 'ladylike' behaviour.

Welshie - alas I loathe white chocolate, perhaps I can just eat twice as much milk or plain to make up for the calcium?! (Apols to those diabetics among us).

Btw, I forgot to say, midwife has told me to keep a note of baby's kicks, not on a chart or anything, just to get an idea of a pattern so that I can detect if said pattern changes. I assume other people are doing these? Unfortunately as my life lacks any kind of routine, I don't think the baby really has one either, but I guess we'll see. How do you decide what a 'kick' is, is it any kind of movement you feel or only the definite ones? Either way, I can see this being a full-time job given the amount of kicking the baby does!

Quarry Hill, hmm, it's a bit out of the way of the Travelodge.

I've had a look on a website, found a couple of things:

Golden Lion

They are cheap (ish) and in the city centre so you could easily get a cab. Sorry, not sure whether that's helpful or not!

Metropole

All the more for me then!
I keep reading about kick charts but I'm afraid I'm a bit crap (was last time too) I'm just aware of the space invader kicking every so often and pretty relaxed about it....as I said probably not concientious enough.
Anyone else planning on watching the baby film on C4 tonight - the trailers look fascinating.

Aw...my Dd is being lovely at the moment too...yesterday i picked her up from childminders and she flung her arms around me and said 'i love you mummy' (cue tears in eyes)

KVG - I 've always had cleaners on reccomendation (neighbours, friends etc), rather than through an agency. I'm paying £6.50 an hour, the going rate seems to be that or £7, but I am in London. If yr outside I'd expect it to be less.

Raspberry leaf tea tastes OK, nettle is awful, but as I said before lucky pants rule!

yeah, me and my Dh moved in together straight after uni. We were going to live separately with friends, then they all went back home. We considered living separately but realised we'd just end up living with whoever had the telly and central heating, so decided to get a flat.

duck feeding - takes a while before the fantasy is fulfilled. Spent many hours with Dd in pram going look ducks! bread to blank looks. Now she's older it's great fun, though I'm scared of our local ducks - they're bigger than Dd.

Off to the local shop to get chocolate, only because I should be extra careful to maintain my calcium levels and i"m off sick.

I'm not doing kick counts - what should I be doing? I'm not due to see the midwife for another couple of weeks, so haven't got anyone else to ask about stuff like this.

Redheadmum, when is it ok to start drinking the tea? I'm 30/31 weeks now.

Yes, I'll definitely be watching the thing tonight. Should be fascinating to see what's actually going on inside...sometimes I wonder if baby is break-dancing in there, I'm getting kicks all over the place. Some of them are starting to be quite painful.

Hello everyone, just been catching up as not been on mumsnet for a couple of days.

Who else seems to have given up sleeping for the duration of this pregnancy (and of course, beyond!). I just seem to be awake all night at the minute and am getting v cross. Absolutely cannot get comfortable , despite use of copious amount of cushions (which are then just annoying when you want ot turn over)and worse, my brain just can't seem to switch of at all. its not like I'm stressed or have anything to worry about! Any tips from those of you out there that sleep

Me noggermum! Takes me ages to drop off at night, then I'm up every two hours (if not more) to go for a wee. This, combined with DS who keeps waking up, and DH who is restless and grumpy because of my snoring, means that I'm hardly getting any kip.

Hello ladies!!! How are you all? Did you miss me?? No chance to catch up on all the posts although I have tried to scan them. Anything exciting I MUST know about??
I have had a lovely lovely time with my Mum here and was very sad to see her go. We have done loads visiting mosaics, forts, abbeys, castles, the time elevator (!), crap reptile house, appalling art exhibition and having lots of lunches out. We went over to the North of Cyprus for a night away in a hotel which was great and I paid for 6 mths worth of insurance for our car so DH has no excuses not to take me back for a couple of weekends before the baby arrives. The weather was awful when we were there but it will be great when the sun comes and although hotel wasn't posh it was clean with good facilities and cost just £25 sterling per person including dinner and breakfast. It has a HUGE pool and three kids pools, an indoor pool and gorgeous beach. Only 9 and a half weeks to go though so I need to plan these weekends asap. My Dad is here in two weeks and so we will go over with him and then again on our own. It is just over a two hour drive so I am not worried about getting back here if things start happening.
Red - I have a cleaner despite being a SAHM and it is the best thing ever!
Uwila - Glad all resolved with your Nanny
Pink - Sorry to advise you my dd LOVES the Fimbles and the Tweenies. Not Balamory though. Too young I think. Loves Bear in the Big Blue house too. (All DVD's we have as not much TV for kids here)
I was completely naked when I had dd. I am very surprised by this too as I am quite body conscious and had a very long t - shirt to labour in. I whipped it off when I went through to the pool room for the water birth although no one told me too, it just seemed like the right thing to do and I couldn't have cared less. I was in my own world. All our first photos are with me wrapped in a towel. I hope I will keep a t-shirt on this time as I won't be in water, but it may be so hot here in June that I may strip again who knows.
Charley -Def cellulite probs here too.
I was so exhausted climbing up the fort and castle walls too I had to sit down at the top like an old lady! Huffing and puffing. I am ok on the flat but hills or stairs finish me off.
Had m/w appt yesterday and all is well. Baby is head down and well down too which is exciting and explains my constant need for the toilet. I would like this one early as it will give us more of a chance to get the passport for the baby in time for our planned flights on the 6th July Eeek. (baby due 13th June)
There was a discussion about childcare too...I have finally got my head out of the sand. My best friend here should have been having dd but she is now posted and flies back to the UK at the end of May. This is a real shame as dd adores her and would have been thrilled to spend time with her and her dd who is my dd's best buddy. One of my other friends approached me about looking after dd though. I thought this was so thoughtful. She said I must speak to DH and that we must arrange for dd to spend time with her and her family at her house etc. She had 3 gorgeous kids and had really thought about it all. I am thrilled that she offered and have gladly accepted today. I am quite relieved I have it sorted now. My baby planning starts in earnest on Sunday. I have set myself a deadline. My mum has done my nesting for me cleaning out all my kitchen cupboards and washing and ironing etc. I was quite emabarrassed by how much she threw away, especially from our medicine cabinet. So much was out of date.
I have some raspberry leaf tea tablets to take. Anyone know when I can take them. I didn't have anything with dd as I was in no rush for her. It is all different this time though, although of course I don't want baby born early if it is not ready....

MrsW - the mw wasn't very clear on what to do, it's not so much counting the number of kicks (i.e. they used to say 'you have to feel 10 kicks by 6 p.m.) but getting to know the times of day the baby kicks so you notice if it isn't doing it any more. Or something like that. I'm not going to get too stressed about it - if I ever worry the baby hasn't kicked for a while, I just go and lie down for a bit and normally that will get a response. (Obv choc and cheese play their parts too!).

Nogger - I have the same thing, can't get comfy, brain won't switch off. It's awful isn't it? Unfortunately no tips on how to overcome this, I think it's very harsh when your body should be letting you maximise your sleep before bubs comes along.

raspberry leaf tea - my book says you can drink it all through pregnancy, but more conventional advice is for the last trimester. My book says it helps the uterus contract, reduces pain in labour, nothing about bringing on labour.

sleep - i'm having trouble too - can't get comfortable. I've just got my yoga video, so gonna try to do the relaxation exercise before bed, and if that works start doing some relaxation stuff if I awake (warning I am an alternative/hippy girl)

kick charts - i haven't been asked to do one this time, and only did one last time when I got paranoid about the baby's movements (totally unnecessary of course). The chart was split into hours of the day and I just had to tick in the right box every time I felt the baby move (not just big kicks)

Just me getting confused about the raspberries then Red - sorry.
I'm usually crap at sleeping - was really bad with last pregnancy I remember. Not that bad yet with this one.
Would writing stuff down help - off load it from your busy brain somewhere else maybe? Just a thought.
Exhaustion seems to be the answer for me.

Afternoon all, quick catch up?..

Welshie, to answer your waxing qtn, I?m getting it done. Like you and KVG I cant see ?it? anymore to do it myself, so needs must and my poor beautician has to deal with a heavily pregnant lady. Actually, it was quite embarrassing last time, as she asked me to stretch my skin for her. As I couldn't see where I was putting my hand, i put it straight into the recently applied wax. She then had to dewax my fingers . After that, she placed my hand for me, in the most suitable place.

RHM ? do you know, I think I am feeling better on those tablets. I?ve felt quite good for the past few days, so either it?s a coincidence, or it?s the tablets.

KVG ? keeping all fingers (20 of them?) crossed for you DH and this new job?

I?m not keeping kick charts either. Should I be? I?ve read that if they kick 10 times a day, its all okay. Seeing that Trouble is usually up past 10 kicks by breakfast, I?m not too concerned.

Noggermum, I felt that I haven?t had a good nights sleep since that little line went blue! Sounds like this is quite common. In between aching and not being able to switch off, not mentioning countless trips to the toilet, it's hard to doze off.

I'm a bit worried about waxing as I've never done it - how painful is it?

I've only been waxed down there a few times and it hurt. A lot. And it hurt even more when I was pregnant. I might just be a bit of a wuss though.

LOL at JonahB, having your fingers de-waxed.

Thanks for those links MrsW!

KVG - what have I missed/forgotten - why are you going to the obstetrician? Nothing horrid I hope?

Coop - I missed you! oo you've had a lovely time haven't you? Cyprus sounds gorgeous - I think we'll have to try to get over there in the next couple of years ourselves. Do you think our cellulite will go/lessen after baby on it's own, or are we going to have to excercise/cut out radicals and nightmare stuff like that? I'm the same with stairs and hills - I feel about 90!

I get worried when people say they ended up naked even though they're body shy - I mean, just how painful is being in labour/giving birth to make you lose your inhibiitions like that??

I'm still sleeping well and only going to the loo once or twice a night which is great, but I am concerned it's because the baby is still breech I really don't want him to be turned by the doc.

Redhead/Nogger/mrsW - do you read before going to sleep? This works all the time for me to get me off. To sleep(!). Have any of you tried my tip of thinking of names beginning with the same letter to get you back to sleep if you wake up?

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Charleypops - not thought of names beginning with same letter, might try that - sounds v dull! Did start fantasising about my "ideal" birth scenario at about 3 am this morning (two hours start to finish, starting mid moring on a day DD is in mursery, no pain, out of hospital within 6 hours and the food was even edible etc etc) but that didn't help much either! Sounds like I'm not the only one suffering, which perversely makes me feel better. I have a horrible suspicion that this baby has a definite preference for night time activity as she seems v quiet all day and v active all night - could explain why I never had this much trouble sleeping with DD who seemed to be born knowing the difference between day and night and, while she absolutely refused to take day time naps and grew increasingly horrid thoughout the day, by 7 weeks she was firmly in bed by 7 and did not resurface until 7 the next day, with just one v sleepy feed at 11pm! Why do I think this baby might be a rude awakening!

me too Lynny, other than v small pack of buttons. oh well, its bad for her.....

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