The wagon needs to make room for the imminent arrival....

[glaskham]

New thread ladies... lets hope its a good un!!

Births:
Kay - 12th December - 6:49pm - Dylan George - 10lbs 5ozs
Teuch- - - boy
Pop - 23rd December - twin boys, Hugo & Henry
Nat - 27th December - 8:36pm - Mikey Bradley - 6lb 10.5oz
Gin - 16th Jan- Girl - 7.25am- details tbc
Tink- 19th Jan - Girl - 1.51pm - Bracken Hope Willow - 8lbs 7oz
Astarte - 16th Feb - Girl - 8lb 12oz
Glask - 20th Feb - Girl - 7.47pm - Ruby Marie 4lb (8wks prem)
LardyBump - 21st Feb- Boy - 8lb 12oz
HappyNappies- 27th Feb- Boy - 12.01am 9lb13 Edward James Roy
Playing - 4th March - boy - 5 lb 12 oz - Edward Lewis Stainer
Starshinetiger - 15th March - girl - 7lb 1 oz - Charlotte Carys Rose
GYo - 22nd March 9.55am- girl - 10 lbs 12 oz -
Cosmo - 2nd April - girl - April Victoria - 8.51am - 6lb 9
Gruff - 15th April - boy - 8lb 2 oz - 6.02am Zachary John Graham
Ses - 9th May - boy - 8lb 9oz - 10.17am Owen Edward
MINM- .......

Weeks list:
Diege - 38 weeks, 2 left to go. Boy!!!!(21st June)
LBOT - 33 weeks, 7 left to go BOY! (24th July)
KookyKid - 26 weeks, 14 weeks to go (2nd Sept) BOY!
Idreamofbeanie - 24 weeks (due 27th Sept) GIRL!
Sparklytwinkletoes - 19 weeks (due 6th Oct)
BB - 18 weeks (EDD 30th oct)
Moosy - 14 weeks (EDD 6th Dec)
Claire236 - 5 weeks (EDD 7 Dec)

Girls = 8
Boys= 9 (3 more still insitu)
Surprise = 10
Unknowns (yet) = 3

Scan list:
STT - 20 week scan 21st May
BB - 20 week scan 11th june 09 (not finding out sex)
Moosy - 20 week scan 22nd July

MW apps list:
IDOB- 24 week apt 9th June
BB- 17th july MW, Antenatal clinic 15th june
LBOT - 36 week appointment, 25 June
Diege - 38 week appointment, 11th June.

Mat leave countdown:
Diege - Annual leave, proper mat leave starting 15th June.
LBOT - last day 17 July (I think!) 26 days to go
BB- AGES!!!
IDOB - 4th September, 13 weeks.

Babys Age
Kayz's Dylan - 26 weeks
Tinks Bracken - 20 weeks
Glaskham's Ruby - 16 weeks
Gyo's small giraffe - 10 weeks
Cosmo baby - 8 weeks
Ses's Owen - 3 weeks

Probably not that easy but if I don't go back it will probably be worse as my in laws already slag me of for not going back straight away.

You probably can't win! Has MIL looking after them already been talked about?

I'm already dreading having to go back to work in Jan. I'll try and get them to agree to me just doing 3 or 4 days but in an ideal world I'd want to do just one day a week to keep my hand in as a pharmacist. When we moved house though I knew I'd have to do more to help pay the mortgage so I can't really complain...

No we haven't asked her yet. I keep asking DH to do it but he hasn't.

morning

quick hello before nursery run

Morning all!

Ses - I'm sure your DH is just worried about expenditure so why not ask if you can have a weekly or monthly budget for 'activities' you can do with DS. That way he is more likely to think it is controlled (ie something he is in control of ) You may be surprised at how well this works. My DH is generally very sensible with money. When I asked if I could have a weekly budget for cafes and classes etc he said that me having a support network was very important and therefore I was to spend what was necessary. I think by me suggesting a budget DH thought I would probably be sensible with it anyway. Does that make sense?? Its worth a try anyway. And if all else fails - just go and dont tell him how much it costs

Morning Tink!

Kayz - sounds like you are well prepared. I really dont know what I am going to do. I wasn't going to go back but might have to do ^something as I really want to buy a bigger place for if we have another child. We dont have any family nearby to help with childcare.

Hello to everyone else! Its dull here but still warm.

Morning! SES, jo jingkes class is fab, and I second what GRUFF says about a monthly budget for things like that. If I remember, jo jingles is paid for in blocks, so may be easier for dh to keep account of the spends?? It's really hard going from having your own wage to maternity pay. Also dreading going back in january - hope you can negotiate a shirter week if that's what you want, although know what you mean about mortgages!
KAYZ, sounds like you're thinking through options - is MIL keen? Good luck with the driving too; I abandoned lessons after several years of having them on and off - just never had the confidence I think, and got really anxious when driving. I don't like to think how much I spent on them!
Doula here at 10 for last visit (cough up time), then parents here mid-day. Have sports day and school fair this afternoon too (is it wronbg to hope for rain so that it's cancelled?? )
Hope everyone is well!

Morning Jules, Diege and Gruff
Sorry, didn't mean to come across as moaning about DH - we do have to keep an eye on expenditure. Like the budget suggestion though so will ask him what he thinks.

Diege - I'll do a little rain dance for you

Hello again

DS is in bed - been there since 8.30 - so unlike him! I am doing GF routine so should wake him really as has has far too much sleep by her standards but Im enjoying the peace and quiet too much

oh he just woke up

BRB!

hi dd1 does swimming which is paid for 10 weeks @ a time on tues, i take dd2 to jolly babies on wed paid up front to and take them both to tumble club on thursday £3.20 a week.
when dd1 @ school will be taking dd2 to sign and sign which is great and that i paid 10 weeks @ a time,swimming both dds will be going

Hi everyone:

I was just talking about the dreaded work thing yesterday. Ugh, don't know what we're going to do! Not sure we can afford for me to not go back, but the amount I would bring home after paying for nursery is pretty pathetic. I can probably find a way of making the same amount doing something from home. Diege and Ses are you both taking 9 months? that's what I'm doing.

I really wanted to go on ML with some savings, but that doesn't seem to really have happened so I guess we'll see. I agree with Gruff, though, the budget idea sounds very good. And Diege is right, it's just dreadful having to ask DH for money when you're used to having your own.

Bump - glad things picked up a little yesterday

Diege - yay for clever bewbs!

Just realized that yesterday was 9 years since DH and I met Where did the time go?? And now he's off to Barcelona this weekend (plane probably just took off) I miss him already I swear I think I'm going through a stage of separation anxiety. The night before I left for New York I actually cried because I didn't want to be away from him

Good morning, in fact it's not, Diege, got a bone to pick with you - it's sodding raining, I am blaming you and your bloody rain dancing entirely!!

Have just booked my theory test, 8th Aug, I did a practice one on line and passed it easily enough, so fingers crossed a few more practice's and it'll be fine. Last time I did the theory, the hazard perception bit was filmed on roads around Bedford (where I'm from) so I knew what was coming up - junctions, lights, tricky bends etc. even knew what cars and vans would be parked on the drives around the corners! Can't see me being that lucky again!

As STT said, the car is pretty handy around here, but the areas we're looking at moving to are mostly little village's, so it will be essential.

Goodness me it is absolutely sloshing down now, with any luck it will clear the air a bit, we had a short but frenzied thunder storm night before last, lightning was that close I heard it crack, but it was if anything even muggier after it than before. Hadn't seen it rain like that for ages and ages, it was only coming down for about 10 mins in all but our local Asda (down in the town) had to close due to flooding, and because the roof fell in! Luckily, we'd need a rain for 40 days and 40 nights scenario to get flooded up here.

Friend is back off hols tomorrow, am almost as pleased to have her back as I am to stop having to look after the cat the dog! Don't know how you's with dog's cope! They are beyond me! 10 times worse than the kids!

Morning LBOX, think the separation anxiety is all part and parcel of it, I know I got the point with all of my pregnancies of ringing DH at least once an hour thing is, neither of us even realised I was doing it so much because it builds up so slowly, and then after I've had the baby it just stops, so it's only when it stops we were aware!

It's lightning, I will be back, but I have a date with the window sill and lightning spotting - I love storms!!

Ses we do two mother and toddler classes a week and they are donation only. Why not look at mother and toddler groups in your area, they accept babies and are a good way of meeting new mums too.

We do singing tots at one church as well which is also free... You should look it up...

DD is playing up big time at the moment and so is getting told off a lot.. Last night she slept walked (dp found her lying in the hallway at 2 this morning) as well so i think she is very unhappy at the moment and I just dont know what to do about itl..

Glad your day turned out better yesterday Bumpy - sorry about car, is not good news, hope you find a good one to exchange.
NJ - yay for valuations, keeping my fingers crossed that sale works out for you.
All this talk of going back to work - I logged onto my work PC yesterday to contact my manager about going in for an early chat about going back. Saw the new org chart and it did cross my mind that I'm actually not as bothered as I thought about going back, but it would mean a real change in needing to budget much more if I don't. We'll see what happens - there might not be a role for me...
Anyway, onto far more significant things than my job - DD had her next stage procedure on Tues and it went well. She coped remarkably well with nil by mouth after 4.30am, which considering she only slept for 30 mins after that and then finally fell asleep again about 20 mins before she went under (it actually made me realise that I don't have to give her the boob every time she needs to go to sleep ). They were really pleased with how she's progressing and now she's on the waiting list (1 year) for the next operation, which will put her at about 15 months, which is a good age to have it.

Right, enough about me - am so glad it has cooled down here today, as agree with all you other ladies, it does make bfing a very hot business indeed!

BTW, can you remind me of your tips for continuing with bfing when you were told to top up by HVs? My friend's DS is 4 weeks old and has dropped from 7lbs10 at birth to 7lbs1oz - he feeds for an hour each time, every three hours. She really wants to bf, but her DH is not being supportive !! Have only spoken to her Mum about it, but have suggested she feeds lying down, that she check out for tongue tie (I am guessing that feeding for an hour each time, he is not really feeding for all that time), any other suggestions? I have also of course directed her to MN and given her contact details for her local NCT, so she can talk to a bfing counsellor.

Hope you're all enjoying Friday (what time is wine o'clock?!

Might be going out in evening for first time since DD was born this eve. Is DH's snooker presentation evening and Jimmy White is going to be there - In-laws are coming over, so if I can settle DD, I will go with DH and FIL, while MIL stays here (she's not bothered about going). Have painted my toenails in honour of possible outing an' everything!

Sorry for rain everyone . Poor dd2's sports day for this afternoon will be cancelled and we'll all have to cram inside the school hall for the school fair - bleedin' rain... At least it is cooler though
LBOX, ds will be 7 months when I go back in Jan, which includes hols added on so just have the one month of 50% pay, on top of full pay until then, so a good package. Could take off longer but drastic drop in pay while outgoings stay the same! Not thinking about it yet...
STAR, wow Jimmy White! Think I mentionbed ages ago that I just to be a big snooker fan and go round the tournaments with my dad as a teen. Fond memories of all the big stars, Jimmy White a fave
NAT, sure you will sail through your test, theory and practical. I did the theory myself and got 100%, but nowhere near test standard for practical.. As you say, will be great of you move to villagey area
Doula been and gone, quite sad seeing her go. Think she felt a bit embarrassed at how the whole borth had gone - not that she should, just a bit ironic in the circumstances how things went. She was a great support though, and would recommend doula to anyone.
Right, better grab some lunch while J is sleeping.

Diege very of your mat package! Ours is just SMP.

Nat - if the test here is anything like it is in the US, you'll do absolutely fine. I've been toying with the idea of taking lessons here. We don't have a car, but it'd be good to know I could use one if I needed to. I've only driven a manual car in the states a few times, so there's that and then the whole being on the wrong side of the road business! And good to know that I'm not the only one with Separation anxiety! And also good to know it goes away as I was beginning to doubt whether I'd actually be able to spend chunks of time in the US with my parents while on mat leave like I thought I might if DH isn't able to come with!

Hello Star! So glad to hear that DD was such a little star throughout her procedure!

No advice on the BF front, sorry!
Except to say that the Gap website has some really cute nursing tops...I wonder if they have them instore anywhere...

Hi again! DS asleep AGAIn! Hooray

Hot sun here now I was going to go to town but getting unbearable again.

LBOT - when I was pregnant DH could barely go to another room without me asking where he was going and to hurry back Luckily he thought it was quite sweet

Local school closed here due to swine flu. 200 cases. Scary stuff. My mum in Scotland supposed to be coming down on Sunday but has been ill and been swabbed for SF too. We are just awaiting the results to see if she can still come!

Diege - I got 100% in theory test too! and i did it in 8 mins the guy couldn't believ it when I came out the little booth thing!

Hope school fair goes ok! Hope DD's and DS behave

Star - Great that DD is doing well!

I cannot wait til wine o'clock As soon as that boy is down for the night is my plan of action

Hello all!

Gruff, hope your mum makes it down and doesnt have SF. Went to docs this am with SG and there was a note on the door saying not to go in if you with any flu symptoms

We got officially diagnosed with thrush so getting prescriptions later.

Star- glad your DD was ok with her treatment.

Re friend feeding, it reminds me of how i fed in the beginning and regretted it later as it wasnt helping DD gain weight (we also fed for an hour each time every three hours). I would advise feeding her DC literally all the times she can, rather than sticking to the 3hr mark. I used to stretch out the three hours and looking back DD was clearly hungry for food before then. I had been misinformed by my MWs that I needed to wait for my boobs to refill and somehow in my new baby haze I hadnt realised that more feeding=more milk. Good luck to her, i remember those painful days.

Read all your posts about work > - anyone guess Im burying my head in the sand on that one!!

Hi Gyo

Thats good that you are getting treated for thrush. GC is just coming to the end of his treatment - I'm hoping it stays away now.

My mum just phoned - she hasnt got swine flu I told her she may not have it now but she might have by the time she goes back

Just put work out of your mind Gyo - at least you have nursery place sorted. You can worry about work later...much later

Oh god I am melting again.

afternoon

no rain here!! just hot and sunny

changed amazon book order as received one lot of books not so keen on one for dd1 abit strange!!
am getting tiger came for tea,arggh spider and room on a broom all books that i know and luv

Star - your DD sounds amazing. In fact, a little star
Re your friend... I think I'd advise her that if she's clear in her mind how she wants to feed ( eg: exclusive BF, BF with FF top ups, etc) then to ensure HV knows that up front. I somehow managed to let everyone know my intentions and I think that stopped them enforcing different things so easily IYKWIM. I would also recommend getting a feeding advisor involved if any worries or concerns or if she just wants reassurance.

GYo - hope thrush clears up quickly.

Gruff - pesky swine flu!!

DH has been really good this evening. He sensed I'd had a long day and looked after DS for a couple of hours and gave him a bottle of EBM whilst I got dinner and did some more more expressing. DS settled really well with him for the first time

Shame Andy Murray got knocked out but Andy Roddick did play better.

Morning,

DS2 is being a real pain!! He woke up at 2, we gave him a bottle and he finished it. But he won't go back to sleep so i have got up.

Got a really busy day ahead of me. Need to make and ice 36 cupcakes and decorate the big cake. Plus got family arriving. Might pop on later.

Hope you are all asleep!!

Kay - I'm awake! Have been pretty much every hour on the hour...
Hope you manage to grab a nap at some point as you'll be exhausted otherwise!
Cup cakes sound good. How many guests do you have coming to the christening?

My stomach is rumbling! At 4.10am!! DS must have a full stomach by now. Will try and go back to sleep.

Not sure how many people, hardly anyone has replied.

Mum didn't come round to help me redo the cake as their car broke down. So at 4am i have just done it again. it looks much better now. i didn't roll it out wide enough so 2 sides are a bit dodgy but the top and 2 sides look great!!!!

My Dad is up today so he'll be able to look after the boys while i get a nap.

Hello

Busy night on here! cupcakes sound great. Im always starving when feeding in the night!

Hope DS2 settles Kay so you can go back to sleep soon.

Feed nearly done here.