OK... been trying to catch up - but still at work, so this is a quickie!
First of all - PIXIE!!! Twins?!! Bloody hell - I only went away for a few days and I missed this! Huge congrats though, how terrifying exciting!
And hello and welcome Manda...! It's like riding a bike, surely? It'll all come flooding back...
Annamama - very at your haircut... looks luverly. I look like a tramp as DD is systematically destroying my hair, as it has inadvertantly become her comforter whenever in reach. Lots of split ends... thanks DD! Anyone else's do this? Want to get it cut properly, but am either at work or have DD is tow...
We're currently living twixt Crouch End and Highgate and Archway - weirdly pretty much equidistant from all of them, but maybe closest to Crouch End. 'Tis lovely, but we could never have afforded to buy there... We'll be relocating to Wimbledon (not the village, obviously...) in Jan/Feb/Mar/Who Knows... Where are you, you're London mum too aren't you?
One of my biggest regrets is leaving my NCT group of girls behind and their lovely babies, who are all firm friends already. They've been like family, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do without them. That's my endorsement of NCT - and has very little to do with the actual information provided, which like someone else said, did give me unrealistic expectations of what my labour would be like, and is a bit "pain relief is bit of a cop out and if you do it like we say you won't need any... which is frankly bollocks". Don't get me wrong, there was good info too, but you need to realise they kind of have their own slant on things and may not be the most balanced or realistic info you might get. But as a networking tool, fantastic, and for that reason alone I'd highly recommend it.
Having spent a lovely day with one of my NCT friends and her DD and DS at the park yesterday I've done my intercostal in again, heaving DD on and off play equipment... which I'm mighty about as I'd just got to the point of getting decent sleep again... grrr. Still, what can you do, stay in all day? DD would go nuts...
Re: blood pressure, I've suffered with low blood pressure on and off since my teens. They don't tend to medicate for it here (as they do in most other parts of Europe) but yes, keeping fluids up is very important _ I'm bad at it, but know I feel much much worse when I don't.
And, incidentally, salts. Obviously not to the extent that you turn your arteries to concrete, but another sign my blood pressure is low is a craving for Marmite straight out of the jar on a spoon [gross emoticon].
Also keep an eye on your iron - low BP plus anaemia (even slight) is a very bad combo indeed!
Hope this helps - better go if I ever want to go home tonight!?
db
xx