Due in September 2009 - waiting for an August baby!

[StealthPolarBear]

Hi everyone Can't believe we could have our first baby in 4ish weeks

Well done big bang.

We have a rocking crib for in our room amd a more portable moses basket for use downstairs/at the outlaws etc as I found it easier than trying to juggle the moses basket up and downstairs, manage a baby, a toddler and an anoying cat!

Mine is not allowed to arrive early as it will clash with too many family birthdays. Would appreciate it if followed siblings leads and arrives about 7 days late (not the 16 that ds managed thank you) so that I am not in hospital round the 22nd as that is ds's birthday!

oh it's so reassuring to hear that you're all having the same symptoms that I've got.
So uncomfortable, lots of vomiting, and generally fed up of being pregnant. Willing this baby to come early - don't think I can last until the 13th!

Congratulations LadyEm - so exciting. And Well done big bang. Was the examiner nervous about having you drive?

My lovely friends threw me a baby shower at the weekend - so many generous presents. Made it all seem very real.

Well done bigbang perfect timing!

audrey and lizlemon I asked mw about cramping last week and she said it's completely normal - just a bit of an irritated uterus getting ready for the big day...

jrocks good luck with GTT test

Just to let you know - Tesco have got half price Tommee Tippee 'closer to nature' stuff at the mo. A friend of mine is combining breast and bottle and has been raving about the bottles in that range.

Advice needed here Does anyone know how to defrost breast milk? My friend has asked loads of people and nobody seems to know the answer

My appetite has gone - feel sick at night as well as regular BH. Not due til 20th and really would prefer LO to be either on time or slightly late...

Congratulations Bigbang on passing your test!!

Lizlemon we had the cheap £29 moses basket form John lewis and it is still like new. I just moved it up stairs and down stairs by sliding it . I also used the pushchair lastime and will probably do so again this. and we had a bouncy chair but DD didn't fit into it for a couple of weeks as she was so tiny.
Stealthpolarbear I think mothercare do the head huggers if you get really desperate
ahh yes here
You may be able to get them on ebay too, a good wash and they will be as good as new.

I've been a bit of an ebay queen lately. I have several bargains for DD to go back to nursery in , mostly T shirt dresses which she is finding easier to cope with with the grown up pants.
I also sold a doll which I have had for a very very long time for .... £285!!!! Thats our new shed paid for!!!

Well done Bigbang on passing your test, I love driving and can't imagine not being able to!!

Blue - I was told to let breast milk defrost in the fridge for 24 hours and that it was ok to give LO it cold, (although if they're used to having warm milk that might not be the easiest?) and someone else told me that to warm it up just do it as you would a bottle, putting it in hot water. But second timers may have better knowledge...

Everyone seems to have an opinion about BF it appears to me, 'don't mix with bottle, it's ok to mix with a bottle, don't do this, do that, blah blah blah', it's quite overwhelming!!!

Re: Morning sickness, the all day nausea I had in the beginning has made a comeback which is lovely not quite as bad as it was for the first 15 weeks but with the extra weight and indigestion it all just adds to the discomfort!! On a good note though I had a lovely 2 hour sleep this afternoon

defrosting bm - I used to just store it in small quantities so it only took half an hour or whatever to be pourable then I'd run it under the hot tap, or stand it in hot water to melt the ice cubes

I think DH just defrosted it in hot water when he had DD and I went back to work. He also used to add the bags of minimal amounts together which I also think is not recommended. It was all fine.

If you want to mix feed, do by all means, but try to leave it for a few weeks to get your supply going.
We mixed fed from about 5 months but I finally gave up bfding when DD had her 1st birthday

Hi ladies, hope you are all well.

well done bigbang, great timing. I cant imagine how I would have felt not being able to drive when I had DD.

Neddie, good luck for thursday again i am jealous.

Had 38 week appointment today and bubs is still fully engaged and has been for 2 weeks now, why does he/she not want to come out.

In march we moved into a new build house and at the time I noticed one of my neighbours to the back of us looked about the same size as me pregnancy wise. I have never spoken to her and I have just noticed her this evening coming home with new baby. Do you think its really stalkerish if I popped over with a card tomorrow? Baring in mind she probably doesn't even know I exist as you cant see our house from hers

Had a lovely "encounter" with my step mum this weekend. She really is a very nice women and is great with DD but not all that tactful. I told her I was fed up and wanted baby now and she said "don't worry you wont always be FAT...." I could have cried and slapped her all at the same time. DH said hang on she isn't fat she is pregnant but she was pretty sure I was fat

as if my last post wasn't long enough. Have any of you ladies bought any bedtime nursing bra's for a reasonable price?

sprinkle I didn't get a choice with DDs. Neither of them took to a bottle (or dummies, to my relief). Do want to give these closer to nature bottles a try though. My friend is combining - her LO is 2 months now and sleeps from 8.30pm to 7.30am I think they suggest just bf at first and then slowly introduce the bottle. Seeing her tomorrow so I'll ask her what advice she was given

i have a friend who breast and bottle fed from her ds being 2 weeks old, she has never had a problem with him latching on or taking the bottle. The combined feeding meant she could feed around 9 o'clock then go to bed and her dh would do a breast milk bottle feed at around midnight before going to bed himself. Then she would do a breast feed around 3 after having a good 6 hours sleep and her dh would do first morning feed around 6 also having 6ish hours sleep, it sounds too good to be true to me but we will definately be trying this kind of routine I think. I am officially horrid without enough sleep and having dd to look after too I dont know how I'll cope. I think breast feeding is worrying me more and more the closer my due date gets

littlecheese that sounds perfect! I ain't that lucky so I'm not even going to try and hold out any hope. You'll be fine - DD1 was 2 when DD2 came along. I fed her for 17 months without a problem. Not one to bizz around cleaning when kids are asleep, I slept when they slept

I think I have my head firmly in the sand, too, Tigerfeet, StayFrosty, Daffodilli, et al. Really can't believe that I'll be going through the birth stuff, or dealing with a baby, and it's getting fairly soon. It looks like I'm not the only one, though

Lizlemon - sounds like a good idea, regarding getting the cat used to the baby parerphanalia. Might put up the moses basket when we get back from this weekend's family visit.

Congratulations, BigBang!!! Freedom!

Still no nesting instinct here. Not even a little bit. Hibernating, yes. Nesting, no.

I've invited the girls round on 11th Sept, and baby is due 22nd, so she's not allowed to be any earlier than that.

Sweepstake, Daffodilli? I'm going to randomly guess at 7lb 11 oz at 5.32am on 25th September.

SprinkleofStardust - been to a bf clinic today - both the mw and experienced mum who came in said the same - the odd bottle (expressed or ff) isn't really going to upset things, and might just give your nipples the chance to heal if they are cracked... Expressing ensures that your supply comes in OK, though. All babies are different and we'll all find our own "routines". MW reiterated that they are there to help us get started, and that we'll get lists of numbers to call for advice when we leave the hospital.

LittleCheese - shame on your step mother - never ceases to amaze me just how insensitive (or downright nasty) people can be when they speak to a pregnant woman. Like suddenly it's ok to make really personal comments!

Day and a half left at work. It's horrible - not looking forward to tomorrow, when I'll have to have follow up conversations with my "displaced" team members. Doesn't help that another round of voluntary redundancy has just been announced. Roll on Wednesday lunch-time.

I often wake up with aching hips from lying on my side at the moment and complained about it to DP yesterday morning - he called me his "achey-breaky baby-pod"

Thanks everyone Such a relief having that extra bit of freedom. Dp is pleased I can help with the driving but also a bit miffed at having to share 'his' car!

WRT bottles and boobs- I think they say you shouldn't introduce bottles till after 6 weeks to avoid nipple confusion if you are trying to establish bf. However ds had bottles for about 3/4 days when he was two weeks old as we had a rough old time breast feeding to start with. It caused him no problems though and he went back to the breast just fine and carried on till 20 months. We used the Dr Browns ones with a weird teat in a teat thing, so he had to work harder to get the milk out and didn't find it 'easy' compared to the breast. When I went back to Uni when he was 9 months we used the closer to nature bottles and they were great, though it took about 3 months of persuasion for him to drink from them at that age! I expressed using a mini electric medula pump I bought from ebay, I must dig it out I don't know where I put it when I stopped uni.

well done bigbang! It's such a great liberator. I only passed my test four years ago so I still remember feeling as pleased as punch when he gave me the certificate

Have found lots of pop up cots on ebay so might get one of those, but I think we'll indulge in the basket so I can move it about with me downstairs while he's wee.

littlecheese your step mum does need a slap.

I fancy 09/09/09, which would make him 09 days early.

The cat thing depends on the cat I think Minshu - we have one cat who doesn't care about all this new stuff once she's sniffed it but the other just regards it all as potential nap places. Luckily he's the one that terrified of water so we just spray him and he runs a mile.

I got a set of the closer to nature bottles when I got a subscription to a magazine, so they're there if I decide/need to use them. My friends do combined feeding and their boy sleeps really well so it does seem very tempting.

HI all
Well done bigbang how brave to do your test now. I bet the examiner was a bit nervous!
I am booked from 9 am on Thursday but there could be emergencies before me. So 48 hours till they are with us. Yesterday we sorted absolutely all the stuff out and prepared for their arrival home. They chuck you out after 2 days in Salisbury which I was quite surprised about. I will try to let my RL friend give a message on here if she can find it.
Ps.Moses baskets are good and you can take them with you if you have to stay anywhere overnight.

Hi everyone, I have exclusively breastfed both of my previous two and dd slept through the night from 6 weeks and ds slept through for the first time at three weeks so it really is alot more to do with the baby rather than the method of feeding

Morning all,

Wow, Neddie, so close now!! Enjoy your last couple of days before everything changes (in a good way!!)

Re: BF I'm just going to go with the flow (excuse the pun!!) and see how LO and I get on with it all. Be flexible and not put a lot of pressure on myself, there's a lot of support available with a lot of contradictory advice so I'll just stay open minded!!!

After the little bouts of nesting that I've had, now I have finished work... nothing, nadda, no urges to clean at all!! Would really like to though as I'm bothered about things that I think need cleaning but can't actually be arsed to go and clean them!!

My tooth broke on Saturday so had to go to the emergency dentist who bodged it so it wasn't hurting, but then went to my dentist who is going to put a crown on it, have to go to be measured on Saturday and then (hopefully) it will be fitted next Friday which will make me 38+6 really hope it is done then as I can't stand the thought of going into labour as it is now Also it looks horrible so has got me down a bit, just not what I need now, so close to D-Day!! So providing they fit it on the 4th I will go for labour coming anytime from the 5th instead of the 1st!!

My guestimation however is the 8th, weighing 7lb 7oz (due 12th) DH's guess is 14th weighing 8lb, as he and his dad both weighed 8lb and he would like to continue the tradition

Thats the word Minshu! One thing I'm looking forward to getting back is my brain..am sure its still in there somewhere...

Will keep my fingers crossed for a nice quiet day on Thursday for you Neddie so you get to go in first! x x

Has been raining here for the past 3 days, might start a thread ''AIBU to want to move to the South of France at 37 weeks?'' !!

sick of work
should be nesting!

OMG, so many posts on a Monday. Hard to catch up.

Great news on passing your test bigbang. I passed mine October last year but tbh haven't done that much driving as London traffic still freaks me out.

My Mum arrived yesterday so now the LO can arrive, and pronto please.

Due date tomorrow. Went for acucpuncture yesterday in the hope that it will speed things along. Another appointment on Wednesday night so fingers crossed.

Best of luck for Thursday Neddie, will be looking forward to hearing how the LOs are.

I had heard that you need to introduce a bottle before 5 weeks for the baby to sucessfully use both. No idea if that is true, but I am all up for DH doing 10:30 feed of expressed milk. Planning to get that rolling after a couple of weeks. May be dreaming, but they're free right??

Sending positive labour vibes BabyLady!

I've spoken to my midwife today, she chased up my GTT results and I don't appear to have GD, hurrah!

Now I just need to convince the consultant tomorrow that they can start things off in about a week and I'll be set

Hope you're all having a good tuesday

Bloody hell...the home birthing equipment's just been delivered and I was lying fast asleep on the couch with my trousers undone when dp let the bloke walk in with it all!!! The shame

Also, letter for consultation with anaesthetist just arrived - next tuesday. Want to know whether I can have an epiduaral if I end up having CS [if she doesn't turn]

Good luck for Thursday, Neddie.

Can't believe due dates are here already!

Possibly insane, but I say that's no reason not to