*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 am going to try to catch up now...

Sorry that a couple of you are having a rotten time, particularly Lynny and Lua, hope you manage a restful weekend.

Good news on the GD, Charley. And good luck to the job-news-waiters, it's torture when it goes over the weekend.

I'm with you on the waxing Bubbaloo - I shamed myself by actually crying the last time I had my legs done, so the thought of going any higher up is . I will get dh to 'tidy me up' before the big day (lucky, lucky man), as one of my abiding memories of my section last time is of them coming at me with a dry Bic razor - and the last thing I want afterwards is razor burn...

Feeling generally crap today, thanks to takeaway pizza last night - I have not learned at all this pg that takeaway food makes me feel yukky for a good 24 hours. Dh and ds are mercifully fully engaged in lego bliss, though, having got all of dh's childhood lego down from the loft yesterday.

Not doing a kick chart either, the midwife just said I should try to be aware of how much movement I feel, and what the pattern of it is (related to my own activity rather than time of day). This is definitely a nocturnal baby though, as soon as I sit down in the evening it starts, and any time I wake in the night it's bouncing around.

I had back ache after my spinal. Worse, I had a really really painful backside, it was agony to sit down on the v uncomfy hospital chairs. Will be taking a lot of pillows this time. Then I had a totally numb bum for months afterwards. I clearly remember the day I scratched my bum and actually felt it for the first time, when ds was about 5 months old.

Can't believe that talk of maternity leave is cropping up already! How can we be this far along? I will get precisely no maternity leave I don't think - this is what you get for allowing your dh to become self-employed and working for him! I am currently desperately trying to arrange the workload so that a) if the baby is early it does not shaft us workwise and b) I can have at least 2 weeks post-birth where I do not have to think about work. Dh will be really pushed to take time out, fortunately MIL will probably be around for the first week. Right, enough about that, going into a cold sweat thinking about it.

Hope you're all having lovely sunny weekends.

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Lovely and sunny in Bristol - am just despatching dh and ds to the park so that bump and I can have a lie down for no other reason than I fancy one!

Glad you're having a nice day, and hope dh brings home the fishy prize!

theres no sun here in essex either,although its rather blowy and i have managed to get most of the washing dry

Hi Everyone, not been on for a couple of days, so I'll desparately try and catch up..

Trib, re parents interfering in name choices ? yes. When I told my FIL our choice of boy?s names, his response was ?Lets hope you have a girl then, I don?t like XXX at all.? Urge to punch him was overwhelming. How rude is that? A few of my friends have said they dont like our choice of boys name. Luckily, DH and I are the stubbornest people i know and it wont change our minds . I?m with Nogger. If/when there?s a no. 2, I wont tell anyone.
It does sound positive news about the job. Surely she wouldn?t waste her time calling if they weren?t interested in you. We'll make a northerner out of your yet....

Lua, glad you are off the insulin, for the time being anyway. I can?t remember what my levels were - sorry. I think I?ve been less tired since going on the tablets, but I have no idea what is ?normal? tired for 7 months prgt. I am still fairly knackered all the time, especially if I do something stupid like some housework etc. Sounds like everyone?s suffering with this (other than our resident campers/tilers )

Charley ? glad the results were fine

Waxing does hurt. I can?t pretend its painless. But I was also laughing with my beautician - if I complain this much a bit of wax, how am I going to cope giving birth??

Hello all,
The Army won . It was a good game although dh got whacked in the face near the start and has had a tampon wedged up his nose since to stop the bleeding . Not at his most attractive. I have left him down the club and so I am in charge of getting myself ready, dd fed bathed and to bed all in the space of an hour. I am only on here as I am 'supervising' dd's scrambled eggs on toast tea. Great to hear from everybody again so just popped on to say hi really.

Oh Lynny! What a nightmare experience for you with your fist birth. Of course you are worried - Your questions were never answered - pre eclampsia and strep b happens all the time! Don't you feel like trying to find out now? You were probably not taken very seriously at 19 sadly. Why don't you make an appointment with your obstetrician and tell her/him about your concerns. I'm sure s/he would understand. Hopefully those white cells are just the ones that helped get rid of your nasty rash and will filter away on their own. What a sh*tty weekend you must be having though even though you sound perkier today - I bet Monday seems a long way off Please please don't feel like you can't post stuff like that here - it's exactly what you should do. There's people on MN who've had all kinds of experiences, probably a few very similar to you who would love to help and who you could help with your wicked sense of humour Have you had a look at the SN threads? Did your dh come back with a fishy prize?

Berolina - nasty scare there in the shower! I'm certainly not my normal self either in that dept without gettting into too much detail.... I'll have to have a look at Lua's link re GBS - I haven't heard of it.

Coop- Lol about your dutch soldier - there are definitley men out their who have a real "thing" for pg ladies - it's true - there's plenty of websites out there if you don't believe me. I'm sure I was getting stalked around a gallery in Venice... think I'm going to order the pushchair on MONDAY. I'm scared. A decision. Aaarggh. pmsl at dh's nose tampon

Bubb - I've stated on my birth plan that no one's allowed to examine me internally unless absolutely necessary - showed the whole thing to a mw a few weeks ago and she said that was fine - they don't do that sort of thing as much as they used to anyway.

Lua - I'm going easy on the old choccy from now on just to be sensible really. But I will have the odd bar in your honour

Lippy - funny you mentioned that about a exercise ball - I got one today and I'm sitting on it now!!! My back is much straighter and Pod seems to like it - he's squirming around like mad! I keep bouncing on it - hope he's not sea sick like his daddy lol! I like your longer posts btw - you don't post half as much as you used to it seems - I guess you have one of those "life" thingies!

I also bought my very first baby stuff today!! it's for the hospital bag - 5 sleepsuits and 6 muslin squares - well, it's a start............

MrsF - they didn't try to shave you? with a DRY razor?!! What on earth did they want to shave you for? I thought they'd stopped doing that sort of stuff?? Do you mean the cheeks of your bum were numb? How odd! Must've been a nerve thing.

Got my 31 wk appt next week so I'm going to ask doc about tests for: Strep B, GBS and ECM, once I've found out what they are

thanks everyone for your support over my GTT

yep, dry razor - for a section they do shave down a couple of inches. I had been warned of this so I got dh to do it for me the night before and use his v expensive girly-man Clarins shave stuff on me (like I said, lucky lucky man). But it is the TMI titbit that I tell everyone I meet who is pg. My friend has trained as an NCT antenatal teacher and she includes it in her class on c-section.

Those exercise balls are fab - really good for sit ups afterwards too when everything is a bit more effort than normal. Not that I did that many last time - must do better this time.

Have just put ds to bed with no bath, story or milk, screaming tantrum getting ready for bathtime (him not me, but it was close), so am feeling a bit fragile and thinking about having my weekly glass of wine...

Hiya Charley,

My midwife told me to bounce on the ball from 36 weeks on, I didn't even ask her why...what a dope crosses eyes so maybe hold off the bouncing for a few weeks.

It's good that you're putting things like 'no internal exam' in your birth plan, it's a good way to get the message across. I really don't remember being examined internally, apart from the catheter As I said, my birth plan was taken very seriously, one of the extra midwives was about to wrap dd in a blanket and the mw who had been looking after me for 12 hours, jumped in and said "No blanket! Lippy says in her birth plan she wants skin to skin contact" It was great!

I've been busy this week, which is why I haven't posted that much this week. Plus, still pre-occupied with the loft

Meant to say Mrs F, a dry bic razor Ouuuch!!!

Which buggy are you getting Charley? Mountain thingy??

Wow Lippy - you had the same midwife with you for 12 hours! Was that a lucky one off? Or is that part of their job? I'd hate to have a mw that I trusted suddenly disappear at the end of her shift and have to get to know stranger all over again when in pain and stuff, (although this is what i'm fully expecting). Hope my birth goes as smoothly as yours . I've stopped bouncing for now after what your mw - I'll have to look up what the reason is - you never know, bouncing might help him turn. Although his position defo has it's advantages - I generally only have to get up for the loo once a night, and a couple of nights this week, I've not had to go at all!

I'm definitely getting a Mountain Buggy now, and I'm 85% sure it's going to be the Terrain (fixed wheel)
model) rather than the Urban with a swivel wheel as apparently it's the best pushchair available for off roading. I figured I'd end up with a Maclaren thing for busy shopping environments anyway, so thought I might as well spend the serious dosh on a great outdoorsy one that'll last the duration. Do you know what you're going to do yet? Buggy board? Double?

MrsF - I daren't let dp anywhere near my bits and pieces with a razor or even an electric shaver so I've been practicing using a bikini trimmer by touch alone - I don't think I've been doing too bad a job, although I've not been attempting anything too elaborate - just tidying, but will make sure I get rid of the top two inches just in case....

Hope ds has settled down and you're relaxing with your glass of wine Hope my boy never has a screaming tantrum. What do you think the chances of that are??

When I got into the delivery suite it was about 6pm and after about an hour there was a mw shift change, the new mw stayed until dd was born at 6am. She was absoutely brilliant , so caring and sweet and sensitive to our needs. I think she hung around a little bit after dd was born, I was definitely lucky. Who knows what will happen next time.???

My labour was actually long and tedious 'cause dd wasn't in the right position and did get a bit distressed, but, it could have been worse. I didn't need any instruments to pull her out, I think the sight of those would really upset me

Good choice of buggy, they were all the rage in NZ . I haven't decided what to do about transport I think new bubs in a sling and dd in her buggy until she can stand on a board or walk.

Hello all.
I have been bouncing on my exercise ball the whole way through. Eeek! Let us know any feedback anyone gets about this one. I love the way it makes me sit up straight too and it is great for leaning on when watching the TV. This position should allow the baby lots of room to move too.
Mrs F - Sorry to hear about DS's screaming fit. I hate it when dd does that. I would have done exactly the same as you. I hope he fell asleep quite quickly having worn himself out. It is exhausting when they kick off at the best of times. I have found all dd's tantrums very upsetting recently and have been taking them far too seriously feeling sorry for her in her frustration. Hope the hormones settle quickly after this baby is born. I seem to remember crying alot in the first few days/weeks though so I am not counting on it.
I don't think I mentioned internals on my birth plan last time. I will have to have a look. I only had one when I went in to have my waters checked and then one when I first arrived at the hospital to confirm I was at 3 cm and then one before I could go to the pool to confirm I was 8 cm. Then I was just allowed to push when I felt like it. It was great. I really didn't enjoy being handled at all. Was this amount normal any of you second/third timers? I didn't even think about it before and I think it is a good thing to mention. Good thinking on Bubb's part.
I have been out having my bump manhandled by all sorts at the rugby club. I was quite the centre of attention at one point but thankfully not for long. DH is in no uncertain terms hammered and so I have left him there. He is quite funny and very affectionate when drunk but has a tendancy to lean on me. He hasn't drunk anything for about 8 weeks and so is not handling it tonight at all. V amusing. He will be full of regrets tomorrow of course. Anyway I had better be off to bed as it is midnight and there is no doubt that I will be in charge of dd tomorrow.

Maybe I don't remember internals because I had an epidural and couldn't feel anything If they need to check how dilated you are, I'm not sure there is any other way!!

All this talk is making me very glad that I didn't have MN when I was pg with dd!!

Lippy - That is great about your midwife being so good and caring. I was lucky enough to have the same one too. I got into hosp at 830pm and they made me wait till the shift change at 9pm before examining me etc so I had the same lady till dd was born at 0434am. She came to wish me luck the next day on the ward as she wouldn't be in again before I left the hospital which was lovely. How old is your dd? I am wondering what age my dd will graduate to a board? She will not walk anywhere at the moment.

My dd does like to walk, but it's slow going and not very far!!! She'll be 2 at the end of May Coop, so still quite little really. Fortunately, where I live I can walk to most places and everything is nice and close.

I was thinking of splashing out on a new sling. One of those material ones that lets baby lie flat. However, the ones I looked out seend to have the baby lying with a slightly curved back, which I didn't like the look of. I'm hoping that once Charley finally buys her Mountain buggy she'll concenetrate on finding a lie-flat sling for newborns and then I wont need to do any research at all!!!

My dd was two at the end of March. We have a toddler seat on a pram set up for round camp and then we are thinking about a sling and the maclaren for if we go out and about. Actually it will be too hot here for our Wilkinet so I am hoping Lua's sling will be just the thing. (Hope that is all still OK Lua).
We are back in the UK in July hopefully and will take the toddler seat as my mum has access to a silver cross too for us to use. Oooh decisions decisions. I can see us coming unstuck somewhere.

What pushchair do you have at the moment??

Are you going to make him sleep in the spare room Coop? I do that with dp if he's had too much otherwise his snores keep me awake. Horrid aren't I

Not found a lie flat sling yet Lippy - not done too much research yet though.... And guess what? With all my deliberating and procrastination, they've only gone and run out of the Terrain I'd just about decided on!!! It says on their website that they're not getting any new ones in until MID JULY!!!

Oooh Charley what a nightmare about the pushchair! Has no-one got any at all? How can they run out for so long? Grrr. We had to order our travel system last time and dh picked it up the day after I had dd. This was because I insisted on the grey and burgundy though so my fault. I naively thought I would be using it for years not 7 months. (Got longer use from the car seat though.) Hope you find one somewhere.
I have no idea what time DH arived home but I found him snoring on the sofa, TV on at 4.30 this morning. He made it to bed about an hour later. I don't mind hime coming to bed with me as I am always glad to know he is home, although I certainly make sure I am facing away from him! He will be full of regrets today but as it is the end of the season I think he will have a big break again until our Spring Ball at the end of May. I have just noticed dd has a big mossie bite right on her cheek. Poor thing. They are a nightmare here at the moment, huge and can bite through jeans! DD and I obvously can't wear the Deet repellant at the mo either and although we have a natural alternative it is not as good! Right I am off to get ready for my day. I think a roast chicken might be in order.

Oh no Charley!! Am I right in thinking the Mountain Buggy is a Kiwi or Ozzie make??? Do you mean there are none in the country whatsoever until mid July?? You never know, if you are guaranteed one then, you might be able to cope with a sling and car seat to get about for the first month or so of Pod's arrival..?? You just have to hope for no hiccups in delivery!!

Coop, at the moment I have a Jane and a Mac Quest, use both equally depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing. I also use a bike seat for dd if it's a little too far to walk, but that wont be possible with the teeny one as well. Are you coming back to the UK for good in July, or just visiting your mum? Where does she live? It may be an opportunity for a quick meet for some who are near??!

Charley - any chance you can order the travel system from a different place? Not cos they will have stock in but I know that when my Swedish friend ordered her travel system (also sold out throughout Sweden and the UK, we checked) the shop offered to lend her a pram til hers arrived. Guess an internet site won't do that but a normal shop might.

Needless to say, after spending a ruddy fortune on whatever travel system she wanted, she now wants another one as the first one is too heavy for traveling. So she's chosen something else ludicrously expensive - this is the same person who was complaining to me about how expensive babies were and how she hadn't had any dosh off the dad yet.

Well, spoke to my bro last night and his ds has arrived, I think they are all in shock. Ds had them up most of the night (they've never had a one -year-old before, their dd was 18 months when she arrived) and dd has been playing merry hell demanding that all ds's toys belong to her and only she may play with them. What joy. We're off for a visit next weekend to inspect the mayhem for ourselves.

Re: slings, I can't quite see how you could get one that a baby could lie completely flat in, surely they're always going to be somewhat curved? (Or completely upright, as per the Baby Björn). I would have thought well-supported and against your body, bubs would be fine.

Jonah - they did say they would call after the interview to see how it had gone in any case so we'll see. Re: making a northerner out of me, before I lived in Sweden I lived in Edinburgh, so I am very much a northerner in temporary exile doon sooth

Yes Trib, I don't see how a baby can lie completely flat in a sling either, I don't think that kind of sling exists. When I look at the material ones, the babies look very curled up, and it doesn't look comfy to me..?

It will be fun and games at your brothers for a few weeks wont it? Good luck to them

hello All

just a quickie to add a link to pictures of my nursery as promised

nurserypics