Due in September 2009: we are now officially blooming!

[StealthPolarBear]

Even if it doesn't seem like it most of the time

fairysparkles - I would love a HB, but yesterday I foolishly read a thread about some woman who had written an article for the Times saying that HBers were spoilt and putting their babies lives in danger, dont agree in the slightest, but obviously a fear has set in now so not so sure....not usually so dithery about things.
I am totally with you on the name forgetting, I work on reception as well and my collegues also find it really funny, Consultants in the hospitals who ring to speak to the Drs dont have much of a sense of humour though..! Also forgot how to use the stapler this morning..LOL !

Phew - glad it's not just me then

Congrats Tiger on your little girl. I keep wondering if this one will be a boy but then keep thinking no it will be a girl.

Neddie It musit be strange being the only twin person but we will support you. I can't believe I'm the only one facing a VBAC.

daffodilli, talk to your midwives (who actually have experience of these things) and make a decision nearer the time Choose what is best for you, where you feel most comfortable is the place to be, home or hospital.

Hi all! Congrats on the girl tiger, how lovely that your dd will have a little sister! Was always my dream as a child to have a little sister Cruel parents didn't oblige.

daffodili, that was a stupid one sided article, there are a few threads on here having a go at her. i had a home birth for my first, and it was fantastic. if things went wrong, it would have been easy to transfer to hospital. it was so great, i'm planning it exactly the same way again.

if you feel nervous in the slightest, hiring a doula can really help.

Congrats on the scan Tiger! such a relief and a pink one to boot Brilliant.

Daffodilli, that article made me very cross. I'm planning the same as you. The midwives wouldn't support you for a home birth if they genuinely thought it was dangerous and 'spoilt' (FFS - that woman ought to have her typewriter taken away from her) - talk to them about the risks and when you have to make a choice (I get to choose in labour). Having the choice is the thing. I'd much rather feel like FairySparkles, but hospitals make me feel very unhappy, because I spent too much time in them in my twenties watching my friend get sicker and sicker, and I have white coat hypertension - when I'm in the doctor's surgery my blood pressure is about 145/90, but at home it's 120/72. I'll avoid it if I can, but I'm not averse to the idea of transferring - I'll have two midwives with me at all times, and if I want/have to transfer they'll be there to arrange it in about as much time as me and DH could get a taxi. If I knew I had to have it in hospital I'd already be dreading it and feeling anxious, so for me the open door feels like the best policy. From what I understand it's easier to transfer into hospital than out of it

God sorry for the essay. It just seems important to me to do what's best for you personally.

Anyway, enough of ranty mcranty, I'm off to the zoo with my niece today

Liz I totally get why you would want a hb. Agree with you completely. I hate hospitals too (and am a nurse ). Nurses make terrible patients - fact. Unfortunately I will be having baby in hospital though because I foresee a complicated birth (ds was large and stuck)and would just rather be in hospital in case I need an Emergency CS.
But I love the idea of hb and think you will have a much nicer experience labouring and giving birth in your home.

Now, is it too early for an ice lolly?

Morning. Interesting to hear about the HBs (still intend to stick with the maternity unit for myself). And I'm considering the washable nappy idea, too, now.

A couple of days ago there were some comments about holidays. I'm going to Glastonbury, by which time I'll be about 27 weeks. We're going to get a bigger tent, as mine is cosy enough for two anyway (DP is 6' 6") and I'll want space for a proper airbed instead of the usual self-inflating bed roll. Is this whole camping while pregnant thing a crazy idea???

Pleased to hear the positive scan results, Tiger.

Enjoy the zoo, Lizlemon!

Still no movement being felt here (17 + 4, and impatient)...

Liz - enjoy the zoo. Nice day here, hopefully the weather will be good for you too. Are there any animals you need to avoid touching etc? Though I imagine in a zoo you wouldn't be handling them anyway. I know pregnant women are supposed to avoid touching lambs but unlikely to see lambs in a zoo probably.

Thanks Liz and Audrey, you've made me feel much better, and not so anxious that I'm doing what is best only for me not the baby.

Am about your trip to the zoo Liz - have a great time!

have fun at the zoo Liz. i was considering taking ds tomorrow if the weather is good again.

re homebirth, i think they are great for the baby as well as the mum. you can have instant skin to skin and put baby to breast straight away. not saying you can't have that in hospital but i like that you are so much more in control of everything in your own home, it's like the midwives are visitors in your space.
i particularly loved my doula as she made sure everything happened the way i wanted it. and when faced with a question from the MW if i didn't know what to choose, i just looked at her and said 'is it fine not to do that? eg. and she'd said yep, fine, your choice. it put me at ease.

I read the HB article and unfortunately it was written to mock people who choose homebirths.
I have a friend who had all three of her children at home over a beanbag with gas and air. All well and healthy with no problems.
Mine got stuck (and would have at home too)as they had massive shoulders and one decided to try a sideways exit! I am glad I was in such a great hospital where I was reassured that if something went wrong I didn't have to be moved.
It helps if you know what type of person you are when you are in pain as well because you might want an epidural.
It is important to have a choice- mine is now a cesarian despite all efforts to persuade me otherwise. The doctors don't have to suffer the scars of 40 stitches or a rectal hernia from pushing out 2 heffalumps.

I agree you need to know your own personality. I have some friends I'd never recommend a homebirth too, because they are quite worried about medical type things and don't think they'd trust hte process at home. i don't know why, but it never occurred to me that something would go wrong, i never even packed a hospital bag 'in case'. maybe that's naiive of me, but i think it helped me feel comfortable giving birth at home because i never really entertained the risk side of birth.

I think homebirth has definitely got its place and everybody should have the right to choose - and that's got nothing to do with being spoilt.
It's not for me personally, not for the first one anyway, and luckily I don't have an aversion against hospitals (apart from St George's in Tooting), maybe because I haven't had to spend a single night in hospital since my own birth.
I'm not exactly expecting anything to go wrong at the birth, rather the opposite since I'm a natural optimist, but I do find the idea reassuring that everything would be at hand if there was a problem. My boyfriend thinks he may have been a forceps delivery as he has a mystery groove on his forehead, and he certainly has massive shoulders. He can't know for sure though since he's adopted and has no interest in finding his birth mother.

Weather is lovely here by the way, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to bring the book-buyers out. It's been the most quiet Saturday I've had in a long time. So far. Three hours to go so there's still hope.

sometimes i entertain the thought of a hospital birth though to get a few hours break from ds nah, not really.

afternoon ladies

just thought id update you all on my scan - a am having a boy

so ds will have a little playmate to get up to mischief with!

have lovely weekends everyone and enjoy the sunshine!! xx

woo hoo, how exciting iamamummy!! i take it the scan went well then?

congrats Iamamummy!

Lizlemon and ladylush We went to London zoo on Wednesday and had a great time. DD loved it all.

We didn't come across any sheep but did avoid the petting zoo area beacuse we could be bothered to walk round it at the end of the day.

Our higlight was seeing a teeny tiny meercat baby. DD's was probably the ice cream

congrats iamamummy

I quite like the idea of a homebirth but my house is badly laid out for such things... downstairs is quite open plan, no loo, upstairs there isn't enough room anywhere. Paper thin walls to next door. Also dd will be looked after at home by IL's whilst I'm giving birth and I'm not sure I'd want her around unless I could guarantee that all the action would take place at night. I would have a fight on my hands for one due to my weight - I was told at booking in that I couldn't have a waterbirth because my BMI is just over the threshold so I assume the same would be true for homebirth. Not sure I can be arsed to fight tbh. If all goes according to plan, I will give birth in hospital and be discharged asap.

Has anyone been dying their hair? LAst time I only had highlights so it was fine, my hairdresser used a cap so nothing touched my scalp. Now I am older and greyer and the whole lot gets done... my roots have to be seen to be believed

Great news iamamummy!

Tigerfeet I don't want ds here when I give birth either. I still haven't figured out how its going to work yet. We live in a tiny compact 1st floor flat, his bedroom is the living room away from ours (where I plan to be) so at night it should be fine, but if I need to go to hospital then we would still need someone here to take care of him. I am hoping my mum will come and take him back to hers for a day/night but at 3 am this might be tricky. My MIL would come down from oop north but would have nowhere to take ds to, they would have to hang around here which is not ideal. Its all a bit complicated really! After my waters broke things happened very quickly last time and I am panicking that no one will have time to get here! Ahh well we shall, plenty of time to make decisions.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Forgot to say my mum is 2 hours away and mil is in manchester, so may take a while for them to get here in an emergency.

Congrats on your blue bump iamamummy!

There is something on the homepage of MN which says hair dye is ok in pregnancy as the chemicals have to be in huge quantities to do any harm, the only thing I suppose might happen is you might be sick due to the smell, or have a bit of a reaction due to hormones! x Have to admit I have never dyed mine as I'm too scared in case I get a reaction! I think this is the time in pregnancy that hair stops falling out and as mine is mega thick,curly and frizzy I'm going to look like a loo brush!

Great advice on HBs,will speak to my MW when I see her next.Am not adverse to going into hosp if needs be and would like to be able to decide when the time comes,but my gut feeling is that I want to be in my own home with DH and my mum,and to be able to snuggle with bubs in my own bed in peace

Neddie I would totally agree with you on the CS though, I think only a man would urge a VB for twins...!

Hope everyone had lovely weather and a lovely day x

belly dancing man on britain's got talent!!!!

bigbang, we're much the same, the IL's will have a 2 hour journey to get here so I'm counting on a long enough labour for them to make it My Mum is a 5 hour train journey away, she's oop north too, so there's no way we can ask her. I'm sure that one of the Mums of dd's mates would step in if need be

Thanks daffodilli, perhaps if I do a patch test first then I can assume all will be OK.