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........

dandy I'm not feeling brilliant at the moment. Total lack of energy to do anything, I would prefer to just sit on my throne (i.e. sofa with all cushions in the house either underneath or behind me ). I'm feeling not really huge, more tight skin and uncomfortable, I'm unable to walk without any discomfort for even just one step, etc... Enjoying baby's movements and that's about all I'm enjoying about being pregnant at the moment. Even my skin stopped looking good the last few days and I'm starting to get spotty , though maybe that's because of the hidden stash of chocolates I've been eating over the weekend

My next jeans have arrived and I've tried on skinny and bootleg under the bump jeans and bootleg over the bump jeans and it's the over the bump jeans that won. I tried each one on and then walked round and round my bedroom and went up and down the stairs, they all stayed up fairly well, but it's the over the bump ones that stayed up the best and were the most comfy, so I'm taking the others back and keeping the 'good' ones.

I'm planning on going to Ikea next week. I'll be off work and we need insides for our new wardrobes. We got some big sliding doors along one side of the bedroom and now we need hangers and shelves and stuff for inside. I thought Ikea would be the cheapest. I'm lucky enough to live only about 15 mins from an Ikea (the birmingham one), so I don't need to make a day out of it.
I've also got to get a new wardrobe with internal shelves for ds, so the baby's stuff can go into his chest of drawers. It's not all that easy to find a wardrobe with internal shelving too, so I'm going to have a look in Ikea too. Actually I did see a wardrobe I really really liked, but it would have been nearly £1000 that's a bit too much for a child's wardrobe for me.

I wear a bump band from topshop to cover the gap and keep my tummy warm. They are £5 a pretty good for the job. I can still wear some normal trousers and tops with them.

Saw a new doctor today as the bureaucrats at work (who pay my medical bills) are insisting I use the poshest and most pricey hospital in madrid (where Posh had baby Cruz no less). We vaguely saw eye to eye and he was at the limit of smarmy so there might be a solution there - I just need to get over some of the cultural differences though. He did another scan (still a boy!) to justufy his enormous bill so that was nice.

Hello ladies... would you believe it?s taken me a week to catch up after being too busy to post? I hate posting without having read everything up first? It?s good to see that most of us are doing well? I have had a few trips to the hospital recently ? which have been interesting. The consultant at one really wound me up ? She goes... how many weeks are you? I said 25... And she goes... ?Oh you have come a long way haven?t you?!?!?? I was like... what is that supposed to mean?
I?m feeling pretty tired now... and have a pain in my groin area... could this be the start of SPD? It?s so painful I could cry?. I have thought about doing a hospital bag but didn?t get around to it yet as we have been doing DIY ? the house looks fab but we have not got a nursery yet... I think we?re waiting until baby arrives... I am pretty amazed that I am 25 weeks pregnant and still find it hard to believe... it?s only the back pain and the huge belly that reminds me?
I can?t really reply to everyone individually but I can honestly say it was very amusing to read the posts from the last month or so?..I am going to try and stay more actively in touch... but it is hard at the moment... so much going on.
But I?m sending big hugs and thinking of you all... thank you for your posts that made me smile, welcome to the newbie?s and I?m sorry you?re not feeling so good to the ladies... who aren?t feeling so good!

Belgian I know what you mean - I am feeling decidedly rubbish at the moment.. tired and down.. Valentines day was a total flop as well.. we went to a fish shop to look at fish tanks! my sisters were laughing that we went to a pret shop for valentines day and didnt even get a pet!

it was then our 3 year anniversary for the day we met.. that was even worse! We did nothing and I got a toy donkey!

sorry to hear your feeling down dandy but i know how you feel too im feeling abit like that at the moment too spose it must be hormones!

i dont quite know whats up with me at the mo, on friday night i had a really bad ear ache that was really painful all night but by the morning the pain had got much better but now all weekend they just feel blocked and my wole head feels all bunged up. dont know whether to go to docs or just ride with it and see if it improves itself first, coz i hate going to th doctors to just hear them say its a virus and will get better itself! it is really making me feel down and find i have to make a real effort to do anything.

spose to be going out for a late valentines meal tonight, hope i feel bit better by later on today.

Quick post:
Gert2a - when are you due? How many other kids etc. Give me this info and I'll add you to the list.

MrsG - I must have dropped you off the list - so so sorry.

Glad you all like the new look list. I feel so proud of it myself!!! SHould make updating it easier for me!

EUROMUM!!!! Glad you came over!!! I'll add you to our list too - jsut give me your due date details etc.

I'm only half way down page 22 so still a bit to catch up with - will do tonight (provided DH doesn't get hold of the laptop - I could use the PC but it's slower and not in front of the TV!!!). Taking ds out now for tea then JuJitsu.

Anyone seen Countdown on Channel4 recently - al new looking! Where's Carol gone???

hi all.
hope those of you who are down are feeling better. Dandy, esp what you said about failure... i feel that way sometimes and it's a destructive, devastating feeling that is difficult to counter. can't give great advice except give yourself a break, try to rest.

i've been feeling mainly down but am ok at the moment. just don't have any energy to do anything. I feel really lazy and worthless. I'm supposed to take the dog out now but can't bear the thought of getting 2 toddlers in coats, pushing a heavy P&T, chasing dd1 when she gets out to walk... huff and puff.

i'll wait till DH gets home to do it (even though he was out there at 4am with him this morning. i feel like I'm not helping enough.

anyway, you've helped me decide against Seamus! All I can see are older, bearded men. So, Atticus is top contender at the moment and Harper for a girl (no other choices at the moment).

I got my health in PG grant form today so have filled it out and will send it off immediately!! I am spending it on a Kari me sling and a second hand Phil and Teds buggy. My friend and her family are relocating to singapore in april and her DCs are 4 and 3 and both huge so she is giving hers to me. I will offer her money for it but maybe the gods might smile on me and she will give it for free. If I don't have to pay the rest of the grant will be absorbed into our huge debts!!

Febes thats really nice about the buggy I still havent sent that form off... No body seems to have it to give to me!

Febes, sounds like a good plan for your grant. I got mine on Fri from MW but need to fill it in and send off - will try to do that for tomorrow's post as the sooner I have it the better!

I'm spending it on natal hypnotherapy cds, a couple of new bras and whatever is left towards a nice brown leather handbag that i've been wanting for years.

I think i'm going to put mine away for babys 1st Passport! I really desparetely want to go on holiday and I'm hoping the money can go towards that. With the credit crunch and fixing the house I dont think we'll get a holiday this year still not to get a car for us as well... its so expensive isnt it.. having babies!

I got my maternity grant form today, but have already spent it on 2 ju ju be changing bags (£100 ), some cute newborn outfits, and other bits and bobs for the kids on ebay.

Febes- my friend gave me her old P&T for £100 in the end as it had a cocoon, rain cover and paniers and I figured i was getting a good deal as they sell on ebay for £200+. I really love it and would have never considered taking the DCs out in my old double buggy (too heavy and too many hills) but not a problem in a P&T.

By the way, my MW advised sending the form off asap before you forget, but that they won't start paying out til April when the scheme officially starts, so guess there may be a backlog in processing them?

By the way, my MW advised sending the form off asap before you forget, but that they won't start paying out til April when the scheme officially starts, so guess there may be a backlog in processing them?

I agree Pupa anything under 200 will be a bonus as thats what they are going for on ebay. I have an urban detour that I love-should I keep it or sell it. I bought it second hand on ebay for 120. I guess it will depend if we can store it easily.

dandy glad your feeling a little better now, im hoping after i nice night out i might feel better 2moro too, if not then think i will go to the docs just to get it checked.

we've just booked to go on a haven holiday in april (towards the end just after easter holidays) do you think im mad? im not due till may 31st so will still have about 5 weeks to go. we just thought it would be nice for ds to have one last holiday with us when it will just be him and we can make a fuss over him before this baby comes. seemed like a nice idea now im thinking i hope dh is ready for the run around coz dont think ill be doing much of that by then!

we really cant decide on a boys name for this lo. everything dh likes i dont coz there too common or traditional (i know matthew (ds) is really traditional but i think its one of those names that never really ages and its the only traditional name i like) so dh doesnt like any of the names i like, hes got a negative opinon about all of them. so we really cant decide, i know we've still got a while to decide but its just weird coz we had ds's name as soon as we found out he was a boy last time. anyone got any nice boys names they can suggests? (not to traditional but also not too out there!)

hope everyone is well

Hello.

dive how can I put myself on the list? Should I cut and paste your list into the thread with my details on it?

dandy whats going on? Is there something particular that is weighing on you/ making you feel like a failure? If you think its depression don't try and stick it out without speaking to someone, its not at all uncommon for pg hormones to make people depressed and emotional. I was feeling a bit rubbish, just a little shaky I think, but full of all kinds of doubts and anxieties. I had some full on nightmares though and I swear I've been feeling a bit better since. I also find that I get tunnel vision emotionally if that makes sense and seem to be able to "reset" myself by getting out, getting some exercise. Seeing that movie last week (the new woody allen film) helped, had a good laugh. Be kind to yourself if you're feeling low, esp with all that guilt/failure stuff, which can be such a downward spiral...at least let us know how you, don't let it eat you up.

I was wondering if anyone else was shattered...I'm not making it through the afternoon without passing out at the moment and sleeping for 2 hrs or more and still sleeping at night no problem. Simple tasks are feeling like chores. Wake in the morning feeling tired. Its like the first trimester. I thought I'd have a bit longer before I got tired again as I'm due at the end of May.

momino I was loving Seamus! Don't give up on Seamus! My one opinion is worth way more than the majority as I have supoerior taste in everything...

We like Amos as a name. Thats a bit old manny but so is Elijah and thats had a bit of a work out lately. As has Eben (as in Ebenezer - and thats about as old man as you can go, mean old man at that) to a lesser extent.

Anyway you women with little ones already, I have been wondering how on earth you cope with all of this. I know that for however tired or useless I'm feeling it must be a lot harder if there is a toddler to look after as well...so be nice to yourselves. You're not useless, you are building a person. A person!

Well i'm cream crackered after taking my mum, dad and ds to our local john lewis etc at the mall at cribbs causeway as my mums electric blanket had developed a fault and we needed to take it back.... a 40 min drive on the motorway. I wanted to check out the storksak nappy bags & the mama mio tummy cream. Unfortunately they only had one of the bags I wanted to see the 'emily' and they were sold out of the tummy cream... but at least i got to check out the tester to make sure i liked the smell . So my grant is going on a new storksak nappy bag... pos the 'claire' if my local baby shop is willing to order it for me to see & some mama mio... whenever I manage to get my hands on a form as no one seems to have them here yet. So I managed to trail round the various shops (checking out the last of the sale stuff for ds) and ended up coming home without buying a thing!

Also does anyone know if it's too early to have braxton hicks? (27+3) at mo. I was never aware of any with DS last time but as we were wondering back to the car to go home I suddenly had a sort of tightening feeling across the front of my bump. It happened so fast it stopped me in my tracks and made me go 'oohmph' what was that? It didn't occur to me until we were doing ds bed and bath routine that it might have been a braxton hicks. Has anyone had any... what do they feel like?

Fikelly, I've been having tightenings which i assume are braxton hicks for about a week now (i'm 26 weeks)- some days i don't notice any, other days i notice a few. They also stop me in my tracks and i have to "breath through them". I mentioned it to my MW who wasn't concerned really and just said the obvious which was if they come and go then don't worry, but anything more regular then obviously call her/the hospital!

Had my bump measured (was about 25cm but i usually measure slightly under or spot on) and HR varied from 140-160 depending on whether he was wriggling so all seems quite normal.

Ooh, another Braxton Hicks now- breath, breath...

Fikelly- you asked what the braxton hicks feel like. To me, its like a tightening across the whole of my bump (strongest at the top). Physically the bump feels harder, and this can last for anything from maybe 20 seconds to a couple of minutes and i find i have to focus on this feeling and slow my breathing down/deepen it. I was trying to worry my DH the other day as i had quite a few . He wasn't that fussed though...

Hi Girls

Just posted some bump pics for those who are interested! Goodness knows what will happen by 40 weeks - think I may explode!!

Febes hooray you're back, it's nice to have a partner in crime (ie due on same day!) who posts regularly

I get Braxtons too - agree with the tight feeling which you can feel from the outside, I also get mild period type pains as well.

Interesting about the Ikea visits, I have decided to get a sliding door wardroobe for the nursery as its wasted space behind the door and think it would be better used and provide more sstorage for 2 sprogs and toys, bedding and all the other "stuff". Ideally want to tget this done soon ie before May. BUT seeing as Lotti's cot is still held together with Gaffer tape after some 3 weeks, I'm not holding out much hope....

wow pulapula from what you've described that was my 1st braxton hicks! (that i've noticed) It didn't last more than 20/30 secs but felt just as you described. Suddenly i'm very aware how little time we have to go till our due dates!!!