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 think i need to do more exercise. I've been to aquanatal twice, and i got the davina DVD for my birthday last month (which I'd asked for too) and I've not put it on yet

I get out of breath climbing the stairs and once a week i walk to work and back (just over a mile each way) and that does me in.

My LO has been low this weekend with some ligament stretching pains in my sides. Lots of wriggles and kicks too.

DH is snoring away on the other sofa. Must wake him and get him to bed soon.

re. hospital bags, a few more additions:

• I found my ipod was useful last time (especially when i had 4 hours of waiting for my cs and was nil by mouth and really hungry so it took my mind of things)

• arnica- if you are having a cs i found it really useful to take this just before the op and then for a week or so after- its meant to help with bruising and my lack of bruising was commented on a lot so maybe it works

• fruit, cereal bars, lucozade ... something to help with that first tentative bowel movement after delivery and also to give you some energy

Not planning on packing my bag til i'm on maternity leave, although i keep wanting to take a sneaky peek at the newborn clothes in my bottom drawer and imagining my LO

pulapula I hope that Davina DVD is good; I've just bought it from Amazon.

The thing with maternity towels is that you loose more blood after a baby than during a normal period, so you need something thicker or you'll be forever changing pads. Women that bring the thin ones often end up wearing 2 on top of eachother. Also sometimes we get women getting worried that they fill up a pad in an hour and when you go and check they're wearing an ultra thin always. Well of course that'll fill up quickly. If your waters have gone same thing, it's actually difficult to check your pad if you wear an ultra type pad and we always give women one of ours to wear. So proper thick maternity pads are, although old fashioned and uncomfortable looking, the best choice for the first few days.

that's really handy to know about everyone's experiences of pads.. with having the emergency cs last time & PPH by the time i was moved into the ward my blood loss was reasonably light. i had bought a few packets of thick mothercare maternity pads and some kotex night.. and passed the unopened packs to a friend.. didn't realise that with a normal delivery some pads might not be comfy! makes sense when i think now..

feeling very tired this morning as ds fell out of bed at 00.30am (even with the bed guard!) and got a fright.. it was a while before he settled back to sleep. could have done with a lie in but he woke at normal 7am this am..

btw my belly could get a part in Alien today! lol

Hi everyone, hope you are all OK. I've got a bit behind with this but have just read quite a few posts. Spangle, glad you are all right, that must have been a worry.

I'm really relieved to read some of you have been finding cycling difficult. I cycled to the supermarket yesterday. It takes about 8 minutes, but I was sooo knackered by the time I got there! It's slightly uphill some of the way, and it was windy, but even so, I was a bit at how out of breath I was! I'm not sure I'll be able to cycle for much longer, but I find it easier to bring my shopping home with the bike than on foot. Think I'll just start online ordering more, really. I find the whole process of being in the supermarket more difficult and tiring these days.

I really want to start going swimming regularly but the pool is a half hour walk away and it's been such crappy weather lately. Excuses, I know...

My bra size shot up at the start from 38E to 40G, but I'm still in 40G so I wonder if they'll go up any more? I must look for some of those bra extenders if my back widens anymore!

My stomach is massive now - it's great - I don't think anyone could doubt that I'm pregnant.

I have become (even more) clumsy lately. Every meal, I spill food on my clothes. Is that just me?!

xx

I wonder if my bra size hasn't gone up so much is because I was overweight to start with? Really I should probably be a size 36 I reckon, but I was carrying about 2 stone more than I ideally should before I got pregnant.

Also - I have developed such a sweet tooth lately - devouring cakes and pastries! Hope the urge stops soon.

Been sweeping away the old snow that's now turned into ice on the path in the back garden. Now DH is back to work it's my job again to lock the chickens in for the night and yesterday it was so slippery, so went to work with a deck brush and some muscle power and now it's safe again.

I'm wondering if any of you have experienced this funny sensation I get. I don't know what it is and can't find anywhere what it could be. I never had it with the other to. I get this funny sort of internal vibrating feeling just behind my pubic bone. Really weird and I don't know what to think about it.

belgianchocolates i'm just feeling very stretched and taut across my belly.. some days worse than others. I've not had your vibrating sensation.. maybe it's your lo tickling some nerve endings?

I am surprised at others still cycling - as soon as i knew i was pg I put the bike away - I was worried about falling off or being knocked off (i guess i'm not that confident as i only got the bike in the summer and just getting used to it after years of no bike). Not sure my fitness is up to it now (Sheffield is very hilly).

owwwwwww..... I'm in pain today! I did way too much dancing last night for a 6-month-pregnant lady, most of it in high heels too (had to take them off towards the end of the night though), so I'm very stiff and achey today. My brother's wedding went really well, he looked very happy and new SIL very beautiful in her gorgeous dress. AND I don't have a hangover AND we avoided an expensive taxi fare as I was driving. The only thing I'm disappointed about is missing a free bar at my brother's expense!

I'll be back for a proper catch up later but off for a nice relaxing bath now to ease my aching muscles

Spangle- you have a lovely bath- sounds like you need it.

I have a wedding at Easter (DH's youngest brother) and again its a shame i will miss out on all the alcoholic celebrations (might have to have something for the toast) but it's the last wedding of all our siblings so will be a special occassion. We are staying over at the hotel, which would be very pleasant if we didn't have 2 toddlers in our room too. At least we can go to the evening do and take it in turns to keep an eye on the kids in bed.

For anyone having a "normal" delivery, my 2 hospital bag essentials are a sport water bottle - I use it to spray on my bits and pieces on the loo 1) while I do a wee to stop the wee stinging and 2) to minimize wiping as this can be sore - (sorry if TMI!!).

Also, Tucks pads - I don't know if they have the exact brand in the UK, but I'm sure they must have something similar. They are actually designed to treat hemorrhoids and are basically circular cotton pads pre-moistened with witch hazel and other soothing things. I put them on the top of my pad. Blissful for your rather battered and bruised nether regions!

Good call on the ipod pulapula - I hadn't thought about that because I didn't own one with the other two, so it hadn't entered my head!

It's going to be 16 C today here - can't wait - bring on Spring!!!

DandyLioness, glad it's not just me!! I've always had a sweet tooth too, but for example, yesterday I had muesli with strawberries and blackberries for breakfast and I put SUGAR on it as well, then went shopping where I bought a cream doughnut and two Danish pastries. I did let my DH have one of the patries, though. I also bought a lemon meringue pie but we were too full to eat that last night after a Chinese takeaway, but no doubt we'll have it tonight.

On Thursday I went shopping and bought an orange and carrot cake, which we ate in two days... Today I have "only" had a Creme egg so far... Do you think it's normal?!

Ooh, yes, Sheffield is very hilly, pulapula - I wouldn't cycle there! I live near Hull and it's very flat round here! I don't worry about falling off or getting knocked off (although I did fall off in December as it suddenly became icy!) but I do worry that I'm cycling too slowly and could really piss drivers off at roundabouts and when turning etc. I only use it for short journeys now because it saves me so much time, but I think I'll be putting it away soon as my stomach is getting bigger. I think if you're used to it, it's good to try to do it as long as you feel safe/comfortable.

I have gone from craving salad, yep, salad, and friut to craving cake and pastries as well. Its encouraging that I'm not the only one but I don't know how much longer I can hold out, once started these things are hard to quit... Not very long apparently; bought a humungous slice of carrot and hazelnut cake at farmers markets today, its waiting in the kitchen. Maybe its the colder weather. But yes have def noticed the sweet tooth lately - earlier on the thought of sweets really turned me off, was feeling very smug about it too.

Can't you get a creme egg mcflurry around this time of year?

spangle glad to hear you had a good time at the wedding.

I have just found out that my brother and his wife are pretty much over - its very sad. They have only been married since 2005 and I haven't seen much of them as we came here to live three years ago from across the indian ocean but I'm absolutely staggered at how they have managed to mess it up so royally. Lots of cheating. Very nasty and very sad. No cousins for our LO anytime soon then! (cause its all about me)Damn.

Sorry to hear about your brother and his wife, Polony - that's sad.

Who knows what went wrong. I thought they were "committed"...evidently not.

My mother came out with a good one. She sighed and said, "I suppose it could be like that time when he was little and he vomited on his starship and I was devastated but he really got over it very well " (she was hoping he wouldn't be too damaged by it - breakup not starship). I had been thinking something along the lines of crapping in ones own nest, but vomiting on ones starship works quite well as an analogy as well.

belgianchocolates is this thread any good for you? Weirdly someone posted earlier this week on the subject of weird vibrations.

llareggub Thanks for that thread. It was actually very very funny, but seems like most people that have had it had it explained to them as a trapped nerve. Still, it's a very odd sensation. It's mainly when I bend forward, so maybe lo is pressing on a nerve when I'm in that position.

I'm suffering from a sweet tooth as well, though being Belgian I was born with a sweet tooth (hence my name) I'm trying to control it by going for 'healthy' sweet options, i.e. dried fruit or yoghurt coated raisins or apricots (discovered the latter only yesterday and they're delicious). Saying that I do have my weak moments and I have finished off the dcs lollipops this week and have my own secret supply of chocolate. I have to hide while I eat it though, because the dcs not allowed to have any sweets before dinner and if my dh finds the chocolate it'll be gone quicker than you can say 'chocolate'

LOL at the vibrating vagina thread!! Haven't noticed anything likewise of late... jealous!

polony - sorry to hear about your bro - it's never pleasant when things break up. I've just been told my Aunt & Uncle (who are semi-missionaries) have split up after 24+ years of marriage - she ran off with a church elders wife!

Dandy - I'm not really getting my hospital bag together yet. I jsut found some stuff from last time and wondered what else to pack. I had made a list out but it seemed as if something was missing! But from all the suggestions (thank you) it appears I had most if not all on my list already!

MrsG - I have my moments of dropping things too. I can be OK for a good while and then I go through a phase of dropping things one after the other!

DS and I were reading his 'What's in Your tummy Mummy?' book. we're on a new chapter now I'm 27 weeks. Just to inform you all - at 27-31 weeks (7 months) baby is the size of a loaf of bread (don't think it's brand specific!). For those of you around 24-26 weeks you're the size of a pineapple!! Then we are the size of a pumpkin () and finally the soze of a .... baby!! Seems VERY close!

Another of my Aunts phoned me today to ask if I was arranging anything for my mums birthday. She's gonna be 65 in about 3 weeks. Shit! I knew it was her birthday, and I kinda acknowledged to myself it is a milestone one, but I completely forgot about it!! I tried to phone my sister, but she's the type that will hear the phone and chose not to answer it, nor does she have an answering machine! I don't want to let mum down - I want to do something nice, but really do not want to be suggesting/organising etc alone. Was also looking at Radley bags for a pressie for her... they are expensive! But she's worth it!

My sweet tooth - Lyons Midget Gems!!! I love them anytime anyway, but now is a good excuse to indulge! And cadbury mini eggs still!! And Starbursts. And sour fizzy things - eg Haribo!!

I got a new Felt mountain bike a few months ago but havent been out on it. We'd planned on going out for a cycle today, but the weather turned nasty. My local leisure centre doesn't do ANY antinatal things how is that! After I leave DS off at school tomorrow I may go for a walk/waddle to the lighthouse though depends on the weather... DH tinks exercise and keeping mobile is a good way to help SPD. I understand hsi logic, but he should try being mobile with it! It sometime feels like driving a car with the hand-brake on and everything is grinding together!

Away to get a bowl of cereal! ANd then get ds ready for school tomorrow and bed. then I can sit and watch 'Wild At Heart' in peace!

polony sorry to hear about your brother and his wife

belgianchoc I too have been vibrating thing - most odd