Due in June 2009: The final quarter - packing our bags and remembering to squuueeeeeeezzeeeee!..

[Ineedmorechocolatenow]

Here it is!

Hiya,

Physio went well, she said my hips hurt because I did too much and I should slow down.
AN class was really good (smaller class than usual). They showed us a couple of birth videos at the end, nothing too drastic, and no fainting on our part ;)

Quick question about announcements cards. This is quite big in France so everyone is going to expect a card from us with a pic of the baby saying when she was born, her name etc, usually within the week.
Sooo, I am looking at online websites at the moment, any recommendations or price guideline?
Ideally want something that will print the picture on the card for me and come with an envelope that matches the card, you should see the fancy/funky stuff I receive from my mates over there :D

Hi June, glad physio was helpful and that the birth videos didn't cause any fainting!

Announcement cards - blimey, as if you won't have enough to be doing! The only people I know who did this in the UK got them done in Harrods and there was some protocol whereby they HAD to be cream card with a bit of blue or pink ribbon attached. Madness. But, if your friends won't accept a move into the 21st century method of birth announcments (which usually consists of a brief misspelt email sent by a bleary-eyed OH, accompanied by a fuzzy photo of you looking exhausted holding a little bundle ) - have you looked at places like photoshop.com? I know they make photos into all sorts of cards, are good quality and aren't expensive, so maybe you'll find something there?

june I've had very good results with Vista Prints. Reasonably priced and nice quality.

God I am so tired. I am hoping it is good practice for when LO arrives!

I used this company for my christening cards but they do all kinds of cards announce it. They were very good.

May lots of lovely wonderful things happen in your new home mrsmcjnr

A very sporty friend of mine swears by arnica. She rubs the creams into her injuries. She had a nasty fall skiing and had a bruise down her whole leg - she rubbed arnica on every night and it was gone in a week. I couldn't believe it.

Oh dear never did get to catch up, was too busy trying to translate my birth plan which I need to show to my consultant on Thursday. Naat - would be so grateful if you would cast your eye over it for me can I email it to you? just one page I promise

Re announcements - I really wanted to do them last time but never got round to it, instead DH sent a very graphic email to all in my email address book including clients, my parents' friends and eBay contacts

Sleep well ladies and may the night wakenings be few and far between

hey mrsmcjr Glad you're back and that you like your new place. We moved almost every year for the first seven years or so dh and I were together and I never got tired of moving in, unpacking stuff, making it our "home"

LOL @ your husband sending a pic to all these people . It would be unfair not to let them know this time as well don't you think ;)

I also started my birth plan yesterday, just went through the notes on the maternity records page and wrote it down. It's something at least.
Easy things like "do you want the baby on your stomach straight after delivery, time alone with your baby and partner just after the birth, do you want to breastfeed straigth away etc.
For pain relief, I wrote I was open minded as I don't know how I will cope with the pain, but would prefer to keep it to water, or gas and air and Tens.

Actually, quick question for you, can you have gas and air if you're in the birthing pool?

Thanks for the announcement cards links, I'll have a look this week!

June - I'd quite like to annoucement cards but I think most people would wonder what I was up to!

I don't know what these sites are like but wouldn't it be great if there was one that you could put all the names and addresses of your friends and family in, choose design and so on and then when baby comes all you have to do is fill in details and pictures and then they send them for you. Or maybe they already do that!

MrsMcJnr - Glad to hear the move went well, now you can get in some serious nesting. Although my nesting has been rather stop start, I have enough trouble keeping up with everyday cleaning at the moment...

Morning ladies!

Uber quick post from me...

MrsMcJnr - welcome back! Great to hear you are in your new pad! ROFL at your DH sending out that graphic email to all and sundry!! . A friend was telling me she received an email from a proud new dad w a photo attached showing the baby crowning! . The mother was apparently furious.

Have to run and get some vest suits before lunch and then lovely day spa outing - so excited!!!

Enjoy the rest of your days, Juners!

littlesarah That's exactly what we were thinking yesterday, just give them the addresses, they can charge you for stamps in advance and just send them once you have uploaded your pics.
Unfortunately not found anyone that does that yet...

DH is actually nesting more than I am. He's put shelves up, fixed door handles, moved furniture, tidied up the office, finally taken the acountants files that had been sitting in our hallway for 2 months to the loft, cleaned patios & cars & bbq, and now in the process of selling our old car

Morning Juners!

I can't remember which of you said yesterday it had been really hard to get out of bed... Well, that was me today, I managed to do it at 11 I guess not sleeping well last night, waking up twice and having a nasty pelvic pain are responsible for it

I looooooved the idea of birth announcement cards, June! We don't do that in Arg but I guess having everyone away gives us the excuse... although an electronic version might be better for us, given the distance and the time it'll take for them to arrive I told DH about it and he said something quite similar to Ermin and that made me laugh... Oh well... I'll look at the sites anyway

MrsMc of course you can email it, no problem at all In case you didn't write it down last time it's natmarmol at gmail dot com. I'm so glad you're already in your new home! Lots of nesting on your horizon now, lady Hope all the rest is fine. Don't worry about catching up, just post

LittleS I know what you mean re. cleaning... I completely sympathise

Choccie so glad you had a grat time in Kerry and that your pelvis behaved and let you walk around and enjoy your stay.

Bunny you reminded me I also need an airer for baby's clothes. I'm also taking PJs in my hosp. bag. at your friend's friend!!! I'd have killed my husband!!! Enjoy your spa day!!!

Insy for you re. the car door! Is it a big/noticeable dent? I hope it's tiny, girl... Oh, so sorry about your friend. According to what you say she's being so strong

Laura Hope you enjoyed Mothercare yesterday! Nice dreams, lady!!

June great male nesting at your place! Milk it!!!

Anyway, over here the news are that our letting agency called us and offered to move us to a ground floor flat they have right opposite our "building" (it's only 3 floors so I don't know if it qualifies as such ) Of course we jumped at the opportunity as it means we don't have to house hunt and move farther away at this stage of my pg (the flat is literally 30mt away). So this evening 3 people are coming to see our flat, hope one of them likes it and wants to move asap, if they move, we can move before our contract ends at the end of May so... Please ladies, keep your fingers crossed for us today

Going to work now. Have a lovely sunny day, Juners! ((((waves))))

Hello all

Glad you're in and settled MrsMc and Naat, hope someone likes your flat and you can move to such a convenient location

bunny and at the new dad emailing a pic of crowning. omg, can you imagine how embarrassing that would be? Not particularly pleasant for the recipients either. Another reason to stay upright for the second stage if at all possible, makes it harder to get a camera up there

June can your DH send my DH some of his DIY magic please? The list is long and time is short...

daisy I'm v interested in this arnica business. I knew it was effective externally but didn't realise its healing properties extended to your insides as well - will look into those tablets for sure.

Someone asked about raspberry leaf tea - 8 wks before due date to start building up is the recommendation. I'm not sure this time - I don't think it actually brings labour on any earlier, just makes the uterus contract more effectively and tbh I'd be worried if mine went any faster than it did the last two times... maybe I'll stick to curry, pineapple and lots of sex from wk 38. What an exhausting thought

Silly question alert!

I want to wash the baby's clothes. I know you use non-bio powder or tablets, but... do you use softener? Can you use it or will it harm the baby's skin?

Naat - that's a contentious issue! I've always used Comfort Pure fabric conditioner (or the cheapo Tesco version) for DS with no bother, but I know people who say it's awful. I think if there's a history of eczema in your family it can be irritating for the LO's skin.

Just back from a picnic in the sun with friends at Alice Holt in Farnham. It was fab (tho DS was in his toddler-tantrum mode and didn't want to leave).

Had a cup of Raspberry Leaf tea yesterday. It's horrible (but I'm not a lover of tea, or fruit teas at the best of times). 34 weeks this week and it all feels so close!

Hello to all of you. Hope you are able to enjoy the sunshine today. It's my first free Tuesday since I left work and it couldn't be nicer xx

Thank you, Ineed! I imagined it was not a clear-cut issue There's no history of any skin condition or sensitivity in either of our families so I guess that means I could use one, though a mild one just in case?
Glad you enjoyed your picnic in the sun Here it began quite nice today but now it's completely covered in clouds

I forgot to say, Bunny thanks for the Zara scoop! I'll definitely pay them a visit! Although I have to wait till May begins as I went a bit too far buying things in April But May starts next week so, not too long to go

Ermin thanks for the crossed fingers

Right, back to dissertation.

Naat if you're worried you could always use a sensitive or eco-type conditioner, but most people don't find there's a problem if there are no skin complaints in the family. I really like Ecover so use their stuff for all of us and buy in bulk. But I'm not as bad as the woman who started an AIBU thread recently which was complaining about the fact that her (elderly) neighbours used cheap fabric conditioner whose pungent aroma offended her delicate nose . Can you imagine knocking on next door and asking some old dear to use a less offensive cleaning product because you're used to the subtle delights of Ecover? . Most posters said she should FO and go indoors...

hahaha I think I know the thread you're talking about, Ermin but I just saw the title and moved on... Yeah, that sounds a bit OTT.

I've seen Ecover but never tried it. I guess I could give it a go. Up to now I've always used Fairy non-bio (even without a LO) but using a softener from Ecover sounds like a good idea. Thank you!!!

Hi Everyone hope you are all well Its been ages since I posted I know so will give you all a run down on my last few weeks. Our holiday in Aberystwyth was fantastic the weather was absolutely lovely and we got to go on the beach in the pool and went to a farm on Easter Sunday. The children all enjoyed themselves and we even managed an egg hunt and a full roast dinner in the caravan for 11 of us.
In spite of everyone mucking in I did come back feeling a lot more pelvic pains and have been having a lot of strong braxton Hicks and pains at the top of my bump recently. I was glad I had a midwife appointment this morning as was starting to get worried. My ankles have been very swollen in the heat too. Anyway midwife measured my bump and although im 32 weeks today Im measuring 36 weeks so I have to go to the day unit tomorrow for a scan to measure the fluid around baby.
Ive been looking on here about excess fluid and it seems it may mean an earlier labour so hoping all well tomorrow.Dhe was also concerned about the three pluses of sugar in my urine but apparently my gtt was fine must be all those easter eggs will hopefuly let you all know tomorrow how I get on but am packing an overnight bag just in case

Do let us know dreamy I'll be thinking about you!

I also saw OB today. I am measuring right on, and apparently LO weighs 4 lbs! I have no idea how they can know that based on a 2d scan!!

Hope everyone is well!!

afternoon all

Glad the hols went well dreamy and ermin!

MrsMcJnr, must be great to be in your new place!

june, have you tried moonpig.com, don't they send direct? I know they do birth announcements with photos but have never used them myself so don't know how they compare.

dreamy, I'm also measuring big, 39 at 34 weeks and am also going for a scan tomorrow! Looks like another big baby for me.

Tee, glad your appointment went well! Any opinions on metformin, I'm starting it today? It cost me £6 to get out of the car park at the hospital today, they were running 2 hours late in clinic, GREAT!!!

Waves to all

bigcar I don't know anything about metformin, sorry! Never been on it. I did think oral meds were contraindicated in pregnancy, but maybe that one is an exception? I honestly don't know!! Sorry.

Hi all,

I have been keeping up, I just haven't had the energy to post.

DD2 is now home on her IV's 3 times a day, which is fine but the last lot end about 2330 and the morning lot start about 0600, so I'm not having huge amounts of sleep dh has been great though so I can't complain.

However she gave us a horrible scare on sunday afternoon, her tempreture shot up she was drowsy and breathing vvvfast, with really cold hands and feet, I thought she had septiceamia from her line, so we rushed into hospital ( dh doing 85 on the big road and me mentally thinking faster faster...) but we'd given her nurofen on the way out of the door which started working as we got into the hospital, and she got progessively better over the next couple of hours. Fortunately our usual doc was on call so he gave her the once over and added in a couple of meds to help her breathing and she is much much better still got a slight cold but hopefully after 9 more days of meds that should go too!

As a consequence I haven't had much time to do (or think) baby things. (Good job I started nesting weeks ago!) I really need my 34 appt this week so MUST MUST MUST phone the GP's tomorrow. OMG that's 6 weeks till d day arrrggghhh I'm not ready.....

Hope you all have a better night tonight, at least when I do get to bed I do sleep!!!!

night all

Dorisx

Oh, Doris, I hope your DD gets better really soon. I can only imagine your worry You're super mum, lady Glad to hear you're not having problems sleeping once you go to bed. Happy thoughts going your way.

Dreamy and Bigcar good luck on the scan tomorrow Let us know how everything goes.

Hope you all have a good night's sleep (((waves)))

naat we use fairy non bio, anything else irritates ds1?s skin, it was a case of trial and error tho and we don?t use softener (that?s just me being cheap tho I think does make clothes smell lovely when you do)
Dink in door wasn?t a big one, it got worse today when I took it to kwik fit to have wheels balanced (horrible wheel wobble at 70mph) and they refused to do it as tyres are apparently illegal so I took it back to garage I bought it from to question how it passed its MOT last week, they were ok about it but only managed to get a bit of money towards new tyres and an air con recharge (that also isn?t working) out of them and wasted a whole day that I had taken off just for me (boys in nursery) sorting it out ? didn?t even get my daytime nap I?d promised myself, but at least my car is safe now!

Just come back from having Maternity shots done, loved it, will post some after I?ve gone and had a look at them all if I can, did some naked silhouette ones too and was great dh thinks they look good too which is lovely

mrsmcj happy new home, hope its all going well

erim was me asking bout raspberry leaf tea, thanks, am starting it this week then, I found I def had more BH the days I drank it but my labours were 12hrs then 8 hrs and last one at home so don?t mind if it is a little quicker?

bunny picture of baby crowning not exactly one for the family album either!

tee not long till we finish work - I'm on serious count down

xpost doris sorry to hear dd not well but glad doc was able to help her with meds, hope her cold goes soon and you manage to get everything in order for baby x x

x-post Insy
at your garage! Illegal tyres!?!??! Glad you got some money back to put things right but sad you couldn't get your well-deserved nap. Oh, so happy you liked your photo shoot!