Due May 2009 We're Nesting and Napping, Squeezing and Holding

[FiKelly]

here we go

ooo DSM was on last night... off to check my btvision box to see if it was smart enough to record it

it didn't record it but it's set to record from now

Oh I can't keep up. Momino I had meant to say happy birthday to you - how disappointing you didn't get your proper mojito. You'll just have to join me on my imaginary beach with my imaginary cocktails. Or you could always have another go at a real one, just because your birthday's done doesn't mean you don't still deserve one.

Gosh. You all are worrying about how your children are dealing with expected siblings - here I am worrying about how my cat is going to survive it! He thinks he is our only baby. Sometimes he'll be on my lap and baby will give him a right good kick. He doesn't even blink. He has no idea.

FiKelly Thank you!

EmmalinaC I got a new mattress for #2 because there was almost 5 years between him and #1 and I thought the mattress was probably past it's best. #3 used the same mattress, but she's terrible for pulling off her nappy during the night and peeing on the bed (which is converted from the cot) so I will be getting a new mattress for this baby when she goes into the cot. I'm not a huge believer in buying things new just because the books say so, but you can probably judge for yourself if your mattress is up to the job. I start mat leave next week but I'm on sick leave just now as I can't bloody walk!

sophietom Thanks! I'm off to have a look at your blog now. Hubby loves Dexter but it's a bit bloody for me!

llareggub Great minds think alike? ;)

I had my 28 week midwife appointment today, everything is perfect, measuring spot on with dates and had bloods taken. My BP was 104/74 though - is that quite low? I'm not feeling as lightheaded as usual today but she looked a little surprised at the numbers.

I thought a bit more about shoes as well. "Trippen" are a brand I have a couple of pairs of (beautiful little shoes) and Campers can be good too. I haven't been able to wear high heels since about 10 years ago. After many years of grief counselling I have almost come to terms with that and have become queen of the flats. What about something wedgey? And theres loads of nice sandally things about for glamming up. I like my biker boots - with my cane (mmm, I walk with a cane btw) I look like Helena Bonham Carter's character in "Crash" you know, the one with - oh bother this placenta brain, can i remember for the life of me? No! Yes! James Spader! Kinkiest movie I ever saw.

don't worry Polony, it wasn't my birthday -it was a friend's but thank you for the early wishes. My birthday is in July so I'll be sure to have a proper mojito then .

about your cat: try to give him the same attention after baby arrives (if possible). and as baby grows, watch your poor cat's tail (very tuggable).

Oh yeah! For you crafty lot, have you checked out Crafter..oo? It's a brilliant UK crafty forum, quite a few mumsnetters on it and very friendly too

Shoes - I'm of the cheap and cheerful budget shoe school, but the comfiest shoes I own are Rocketdogs. You used to be able to get them in Qube for £15 but I've only been able to find them in Schuh lately. Between my rocketdog boots, rocketdog flats and my vans I'm sorted shoe wise. I am the least glam person you're likely to meet though ;)

Good grief, this thread will have filled up by the end of the week! I can't keep up with it at all.

Am at work at the moment ( in body only ) as am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I have 4 weeks to go till I finish, and am just looking forward to being able to have afternoon naps! At least on Mon Tues and Weds whilst DS is at nursery.

Went shopping on Sat and bought the following for hospital bag:
Big pack of maternity pads
Swaddling wrap
3 unisex baby grows.

Doing well aren't I?? Looking back on Ds's birth, as I was induced it all seemed less frantic as had chance to get it all properly sorted including sandwiches for me and DH for labour. I guess I may have a better idea by the end of March when I've had my blood pressure taken ( it started rocketing at 36 weeks with DS). I think I need to sort a BAG though to at least put some stuff in.

logged for later!! Need to catch up on all the past 7 pges - wow you lot can talk! when do you get to do all your nesting??!!

divedaisy only a small amount of nesting getting done when ds is asleep... or maybe it's just clearing out and tidying! i wish i was getting to do regular napping... but ds rarely does even when he's been up since 5am

blotted i didn't know about crafteroo... will check it out later. I'm on ravelry and quite a few mumsnetters on there too.

polony it took our dog douglas a while to get used to our new little one last time. We took a few muslins into the hospital to use with ds and dh then brought them home to get douglas used to ds smell before we came home. It must have done something as he didn't react badly to ds... wagged his tail and was v happy to see me. DH carried ds so i was free to give douglas a huge fuss. I also made a point of trying to devote some time to douglas every day... even if it was just 5 mins of cuddles. We'll try the same tactic with him and our new one when the time comes

Having another nesting day today. Cleared out a cupboard or two and swapped some drawer/wardrobe contents between rooms. Most excitingly, I washed all the newborn clothes It really is unlike me to get excited about laundry!

Hmmm, just looking around, I think I'd better not spend so much time on baby things I neglect the basic housework stuff. Off to have a cup of tea and think about hoovering (just think, mind )

Anyone else had some antenatal classes yet? I am 28 weeks and just had my first today. The midwife told us we shouldn't bother exercising at all! Very random....

Have a 2nd time mums ante natal class a week tomorrow. Its 2 hours long and thats it. I know I've done it before but it was 4 years ago (give or take a month or so). NOt sure what to expect with this class as the main aim of the first time one (for me anyway) was to meet other pg ladies.

MrsExton I've got my third NCT class tonight (I'm 32 weeks). The absolute best thing about them is that she teaches the DH/DPs massage techniques & makes them practice every week. It's nice to meet others in the same predicament too (actually there is one 2nd-timer who's there as it's her DH's first). Everyone seems nice & friendly but we haven't particularly clicked with anyone just yet - I think everyone's still in polite mode.

Re the exercise, that reminds me - my friend who had a baby a couple of months ago is seeing a physio as her stomach muscles have 'split'(?). She asked what could've been done to avoid it, with hindsight, and the physio said to avoid using stomach muscles whenever possible. So for example don't pull yourself up from sitting with the tummy muscles, use arms/legs. Sounds bizarre as you'd think they need to be strengthened but I guess during pregnancy they get put under too much strain already.

Hi all,
this thread moves so fast!

re TV progs, seems like we are all liking the same things! I love the West Wing and I'm planning to borrow the whole lot from a friend for mat leave and then hopefully will have at least one of them in the DVD player on standby for breastfeeding duties... a friend recommended this, she watched all 10 series of Friends in the first three months as her little boy was such a long feeder

re crafts, I am so impressed with you all. I've been wanting to take up knitting for a long time and thought it might be time to try, do you know any good 'idiots guides' I could look at online to get started?

re hospital bags, mine is packed and ready to go but only because of the house move so I know where everthing is in case we're living in chaos for weeks

Fi I would seriously recommend negogiating with persimmon. We had heard the same thing about bovis and managed to negogiate over £30k off the asking price of a house we were going to buy. We ended up going for a different property in the end to give me more flexibility re going back to work and give us more disposable income BUT they were deadly serious. Our estate agent basically said they were desperate for the cash! Good luck.

Off to yoga tonight which I am really looking forward to. 28 week mw appointment tomorrow.

polony

Don't worry about your cat - I had my beloved Dopster when pregnant with DD1 - he was very large, smelly, grumpy and had 1 eye (God, I loved that cat!!!). He was very protective of me when pregnant and incredibly protective of DD1 - she could 'pat' (ie. clatter) him and he would sit very patiently. I think this was because he knew she would eventually drop food somewhere!!!

Ooh almost forgot, anyone into superhero/graphic novelly type things I really enjoyed Watchmen at the cinema last night, a bit violent (I'm def more squeamish since being pg) and unusually for a film, there was probably more male nudity than female... I'm talking full frontals didn't know where to look! twas good tho

hi all! just checking in and so surprised to a shiny new thread with 7 pages of messages just over the weekend.

i have not really bought many maternity clothes and i am practically living in my one pair of maternity jeans when i go out . i am hoping for the weather to turn warmer so i can wear other thinner and looser-fitting clothes but that may not happen for a while.

does anyone think a moses basket is absolutely necessary? we'll have a cot, a flat lie-down pram, a portable car seat and a baby rocker so will a moses basket be really useful for us? i feel the use of a moses basket is very limited as a baby can quickly outgrow it in 3 to 4 months. a travel cot/play pen will make a better buy than a moses basket, won't it? does anyone else agree with me?

Oh and Blottedcopybook

I love my Rocket Dogs - they have the most gorgeous purple and orange soles which cheer me up whenever I see them - I like bright footwear but tend to wear only black clothes

Runningmonkey Check out knitting.about.com

andrina If you get a travelcot/playpen with the moses attachment then go for it - personally I love the Moses basket because it's portable, soft for baby and supportive of their little spine plus it's cute ;) I'm not a fan of using the car seat because the recommendations when I had my last babies was not to leave them in the car seat for more than two hours at a time. A pram is a good solution too - I just don't use mine in the house because the wheels tend to be filthy

Think I am going to persuade my DH to go to NCT classes with me, the hospital classes I have been offered are women only for the first 3 sessions, then the men are allowed in for the last class. Need to get him up to speed with the back rubbing etc! We are both doctors, and he has already said he will find it really stressful seeing me looking sore etc and not be in control of the situation. Any other Glasgow Mums due in May?

andrina my DS slept in his moses basket for one or two nights at the most. He just wouldn't settle in it. I wouldn't, however, recommend leaving baby to sleep for very long ie more than an hour or so in the car seat. It is supposed to be quite bad for their backs.

My DS slept in his carry cot most of the time, which was great as we transferred the carry cot into the cot after 5 months or so to help with the transition from our room to his room. He had a lot of colds and we were easily able to prop up the end of the carry cot to help him breath easier.

He slept in his baby gym too, as it was very well padded.

For this baby we have invested in a small crib rather than a moses basket, as I don't trust DS not to knock over the carry cot or try to climb in too!

re - trainee midwives - when I was induced with ds I had a lovely older mw who was really 'with' me at the early stages. She attended to me - held my hand, really massaged my whole back, laughed with me, encouraged me etc, you know what I mean then by 'with' me - dh wasn't there at the hospital at the time, so she really looked after me. Then she finished on a half day & I got a second mw - what a difference!! She spent her time at the other side of the room, I don't know how many times she flicked through my notes, she kept on peeping out of the door or peeking through the door's window, and her back 'massages' consisted of a rub in the one spot that eventually hurt more than the contractions. She just irritated me all afternoon and evening. Eventually dh arrived around 7pm and he took over. Thankfully at 8pm (after she examined me and declared I was 3cm dilated - what??) she got a SHO to examine me on my insistance who informed me I was 10cm!! Bit of a difference!?? anyhow she went home and I got another lovely mw how helped me (&dh) through the birth bit with a Registrar delivering ds. This time dh will be with me the whole time, and if hte mw starts annoying me again I think I'll address it with the Sister on charge.

Re bags packed - there are some things in mine that I've had lying around - with some things yet to go into it - must make a list. Baby's bag I think is packed. Must also pack a bag for ds incase he needs to go to his Nans in an emergency!

As for expanding tums - I dont know where I'm gonna put another 9 1/2 wks either. Was at the mw today and baby is really lying at right side, head is down, shoulders just to the left of belly button, with back, bum and legs crammed under my right side ribs and round towards the back - if I put my hand on the side of my waist I feel baby bits. Yet below my left side ribs there is all this free space. It is getting really really uncomfortable and sore. Also when the baby starts moving about it makes me feel so sick - like going down rollercoasters! Whilst it is a reassuring feeling, it isn't a pleasure... especiallly at night when I'm trying to get to sleep! We put Lego people on my bump and see which one Baby Bump kicks off first!!!

Anyway only on page 3 - so a few more to catch up with after I'm back from Ju-Jitsu!! See you all later.

Blottedcopybook- my BP at 28 weeks was 90/60 which i thought was low too but MW didn't say a thing or look surprised so guess that means its ok (usually i'm more like 110/65 so guess its usually quite low but if yours has changed a lot then maybe thats why she was surprised?)

Andrina- i borrowed a moses basket for DD and bought a second-hand one off ebay for £15 (including stand) for DS but i wouldn't have splashed out on a new one. Mattresses are around £10 off ebay. I like moses baskets because you can put them down to sleep in different rooms (for DS we used our room at night and DDs room in the day as it was darker). With DD we used to transport her from room to room with us (PFB and all that) which i guess is harder to do with a travel cot.