Due May 2009 - Childbirth is getting closer and it's giving us the (blue) willies!!

[SpangleMaker]

In honour of llareggub's DS's painting experiments........

I am so looking forward to having my LO to cuddle Llareggub. I haven't held a newborn for months and months and don't know anyone due before me, so will just have to wait til May. I did see a friend's new baby in Dec but didn't have a cuddle as i was worried i might be coming down with a cold.

I know its still a long way off and I don't have to decide now, but nursery have said that there is space for DS and LO to go 3 days a week when I go back to work in Jan, which means if DH does a 4 day week still, then I could do 4 days too rather than the 3 i do now. Whilst I do feel restricted at work from "only" doing 3 days, I'm not sure if 1 day off a week is enough.

You are right belgian it was probably latent labour, but the killer was the sleepless nights in pain. I felt lost and lonely and was totally out of it by the time it came to labour proper. Good news (?) is that in Spain they like to rush things along so that will not happen again, and as a second it should be better (+ DS had his arm up so was not pushing down with his head properly - was and still is a little MONKEY).

My new Bug BEE arrived yesterday with my mum and easyjet. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Can push it one handed (full of shopping to recreate LO), whilst holding DS' hand and skipping down the road with him. Nothing like a bit of retail therapy to cheer me up!

Evening,

Where is everyone?

I'm sat here watching ten years younger on channel 4, scoffing thorntons mis-shapes when i should probably be at aquanatal .

I'm here, but had some drama this evening! I'm on my own with DS and about 2 hours ago a man was shouting outside and hammering on the door. He did the same with our neighbours, and kicked their door too. I called the police as I felt really threatened. The police were great, here within 5 minutes, but I'm feeling very vulnerable now!

evening sounds a bit scary llareggub did the police cart him off or had he gone by then?

alapala I've heard stories from British mw's who moved to Spain about the medicalisation of maternity care down there. I know it's tempting to want to be moved along, but interventions can cause more problems + can cause more painful contractions, so I hope for you that this time you'll get on much more quickly.

My ds asked to listen to baby's heartbeat again today. He loves it. I happen to have my own sonicaid, so I can do that. It's just a shame that lo is always asleep about 8 o'clock, so he can't see it kicking away at the same time. Afterwards while reading a story I had a big yawn and it made something feel pop along my belly (not my waters!), which made me jump and throw the book up in the air, which in turn made my dcs laugh their little heads off, of course!

DS has also volunteered to take some pictures of my bump. They're not bad, albeit headless. I'll put them up on my page for you guys to have a look, because it's a huge bump for 28 weeks. Somehow I seem to have managed to gain another 800grams (nearly 2 pounds) since monday . Lo must be having a growth spurt. I see my mw tomorrow, so I'll see where I plot on the growth chart [scared emoticon]

Oh llareggub sounds very scary. You deserve a drink to calm your nerves before you go to bed
I happen to be watching 10 years younger as well.

Well seems all my swelling has gone very relieved at that. But now i'm back to wondering what a natural labour is like and whether i'll actually be able to do it after the cs last time with ds! I'm not doing very well in building up my confidence that I can actually do a VBAC without problems/interventions. I've never laboured at all so i think it's a fear of the unknown getting in the way. Daft thing is I wasn't this worried about a natural labour when pregnant with DS... I hired a tens machine last time (with cs it never needed)and have suddenly realised i've not got one organised yet... for those that have used them is it worth it?

Belgian

Your bump looks like a normal 28 week bump to me. Plus, love the colours!!!

Pula

Need any help with those mis-shapes?

Llareggub

Sounds a bit scary

Had a few Braxton Hicks - I had forgotten how strange and uncomfortable they are.

fi You can do it! I had a VBAC recently and it was lovely and straightforward. As for a TENS machine. It didn't do anything for me, but I think I left it too late. Instead of starting to use it at the very beginning I only put it on when I was already 5cm. They work best when applied early enough. Unfortunately at the time I didn't know it and I thought that I'd save it until I felt the pain was too strong. On top of that I kept getting confused with the boost button and I think I kept it on boost and then switched the boost off during a contraction

Grumpy, which colours are you talking about? My bedroom or my clothes?

hi belgian your bump looks very like mine!

Fikelly- i found the tens machine great during my early labour and it got to the stage i thought it wasn't helping so stopped it- turns out it was doing quite a lot!

Mis-shapes all eaten, sorry

Llareggub, glad to hear the police came so quickly. Hope you are feeling OK.

Actually I'm a bit scared but I think mine might be [quivers in horror] even bigger! Will try to take a pic and put it on (can't promise as am rubbish at such things).

ooo didn't realise the pics were up.... Belgian your bump is lovely and the outfit too love the dress it looks v comfy & is v flattering. lol at turning off he boost button just when you needed it... sounds like the kind of thing i would do. If i hire one i think DH can be in charge of the buttons when i'm not able to function!

Belgianchocs- your bump does look bigger than mine but i am only 25.3 weeks. I tried to take a photo of mine but as it was quite dark, the flash just reflected in the mirror so i need someone to take it for me.

llare - was it a drunk? or someone in trouble? hope all quiet now for you. How scary.

Just about to start watching Hustle (once DH has finished eating his dinner). Have just had 3 (yes, that's 3) cream eggs. Hmmmmm, not so good. And have been eating so healthily for the last few days too to ward off the itching (which, by the way has been much better).

fi am glad your swelling has gone away.

Your clothes Belgian!

I dress in black pretty much all the time as I am very boring.

Even bigger Frazzled. Gosh, and I thought I'm big. I'm quite a big bigger than my 32 week pregnant colleague.
There's another thing I'd like to find out from my mw. In a funny sort of way I'm looking forward to my 28 bloods. I've been taking Spatone (a natural iron supplement) and I'm really curious if it's worked. It's like a little experiment on myself.

Quick question: this has been bothering me for a few weeks now. Sometimes when I pick up DD2 (who is quite heavy now - was 2 in Sept) I get this feeling like something tearing under my skin. It just lasts a second and I wouldn't say it's exactly painful but makes me jump and doesn't feel good at all! It's not low down, but usually around tummy button level to one side or the other, and really all I can describe it as is a sort of ripping/tearing muscle sort of feeling. Any ideas? (sorry if that's a bit gross)

Hmm, really need to learn to type faster. This sort of plum colour seems to be my colour scheme for this pregnancy, I've got 2 dresses and 2 tops in that colour. I've tried to stay away from black tops on purpose, but that's not too easy, because there's soooo much black out there.

Well, not sure belgian. Will try to post a pic and let you judge! Maybe I'm just feeling big and fat today (definitely) or maybe it's just how LO is lying. Sometimes I feel a lot smalller IYSWIM. Or maybe it's just that I keep tumble drying my maternity tops and I think I've shrunk some of them. That's not helping.

llare am so with you on the having a plan to get out each day. I get seriously fed up if trapped in the house all day with no plans / adult conversation lined up to keep me sane! And with a new baby it's even more important. I just wish you girls lived nearer..........

Thanks for your messages. I have the curtains shut now and I'm pretending I'm not here! DS loved seeing the policemen though, and has gone to bed happily talking about police cars. The man was definitely not in trouble. He sounded drunk or crazy and was shining a torch into the house. I think I picked up something about wanting to show me something but I was too busy running around the house locking the outside doors. DH will be home soon, thankfully, but the alarm will be going on tonight!

Does anyone else get more anxious during pregnancy? I've really noticed a difference in my ability to tolerate/deal with unusual circumstances.

belgian love your bump! I would say I'm a similar size, but I look smaller because my norks are huuuuuuuge!

ginger cake...already had a creme egg
Fed up with my maternity clothes - can never find anything I want to wear. Inspired by Belgian's plummy gear tho..

Frazzled. I think I know the feeling you describe. I get it sometimes, but more during sneezing or laughing, especially if I'm not sitting perfectly upright. I don't know what causes it, but I think it's just being a bit stretched and then putting pressure on my bump on top of it, IYKWIM.