Due November 2009 - Remember, remember we're due in November, but not yet quite ready to pop!

[Fruitpastels]

Hope everyone can find us!

Beepbeep I was chatting to my mum about it as they might be putting me on iron tablets to try and perk me up a bit. She said that taking the tablets with a glass of freash orange juice can help. Hopes that's of some use

Erika - That's what I did, was hoping that may help a bit. Got to take 2 a day, hoping it does perk me up a bit - could do with it!!

Just going to try and get chrismas cake in oven before have to pick up DS at 5.30 - everything's measured out, just need to bung it together and put in oven - til about 10 tonight!!

Orange juice will help you absorb more iron, I think it's the vitamin C but am sure someone else can confirm that.

I'm on 2 Fybregel sachets a day and that's helping keep me regular. I really feel so much better for it, much less bloated and full up down there and less crabby too. I read somewhere that the build up can give you mood swings too as you're not eliminating toxins regularly enough. Doc gives me mine on prescription so they're free.

Other things: kiwis are very good as are grapes. My Mum swears by a kiwi a day

Have been quite productive today, sorting out the piles of paperwork we had floating around (we're not neat people, we're pilers!) There's something strangely satisfying about creating a pile to shred, pile to recycle, pile to bin ... or is that just me and my quirks?!

beepbeep x-posts ... Christmas cake??! Now I'm scared!!

Boo everyone! I've just been to my first aquanatal. I'm knackered. Not from the aquanatal but from walking DSs to and from school (20 mins walking), walking to the dentist (55 mins walking) and then walking to aquanatal (55 mins walking - next to the dentist). Am I bonkers or what??? I was by far the oldest by between 10 and 17 years at the aquanatal class and the only third timer. I felt so old!

Hi everyone,
I too can confirm the glass of orange juice for taking iron tablet, it is the vit c that helps you to absorb the iron better. Also have been told to avoid caffeine.

Koumak sorry no good at doing links but the "daft birth experience predictor tool" is in the childbirth topics, its quite a way down the page and was last looked at on 25th August.

pav sorry but what is spatone BBL I'm sure no one else was checking ages! hope you enjoyed it though?

beepbeep Christmas cake!!! That's very organised!

Beepbeep they've put me on one a day (just got back from GP) so will let you know if I come across any miricle cures Haven't had the delights of constipation thus far, so fingers crossed I stay as lucky! And at the Christmas Cake. Yours will be perfect. I really need to get to making mine...

Scarlotti you're so oragnised!! Glad the sort through has left you feeling good.

Becky Have you ever seen Two and a Half Men? There's a Hallow'een episode where the mother turns up dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West and enters by saying, "Boo everybody", and that's what you just reminded me off!! And yes, you're bonkers Incredably healthy though... I walked up and down the slight hill today - from doctors to chemist, from chemist to co-op, then back to chemist to collect meds, and am knackered!!! You're not old

Would anyone like a dog and a tweleve year old boy? They're both for sale!!!

Erika I'll have the 12 year old boy if he is nice and polite, helps around the house, etc. This house needs a good clean. The dog is tempting too!

Tigger I did have a good time - feel v. refreshed. It's funny how similar aquanatal was here to how they do it 100 miles away / three years ago in Chipping Norton - same riding around on those funny floats peddling legs, same sorts of exercises, etc.

Beepbeep Christmas cake - wow. We always do ours at October half term. Well when I say 'we' I mean DH.

Oh by the way - that birth predictor thing..? HA!!

The day you deliver, outside will be warm. Your baby will arrive in the late afternoon. After a labor lasting approximately 12 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 12 pounds, 14 ounces, and will be 18 inches long. This child will have light blue eyes and a little patch of red hair.

1. It will be November. In England. Warmth??
2. He's definately a boy. Trust me.
3. 12 pounds??? Bugger off.
4. Only if the hair dye has leaking through my body

Becky x-posts, sorry. You don't want this 12 year old if that's what you're looking for!!! And the dog will probably only come if you have a TV that regularly shows the Direct Line and Churchill adverts so he can bark at them...

Helloooo!

Whew, been a hectic first week at school! Just check out who'se not been around for a bit: raggie and katster the teachers!

Had two full days teaching (covering for teachers' time out of class) and KNACKered! Luckily(?) have a day of admin tomorrow

By the way, that survey about the names really is a load of crap!

Oh and...told managers at school I'm not coming back and they were SO nice and supportive and jealous - tehee! - of us moving to 'lovely Oxford'. Couldn't have asked for a better response. Now can't believe I was even worried!

skorpion and mumsie enjoy the new cars!

tigger spatone is a tasteless iquid iron supplement you can buy from pharmacies, or if you are very good at persuasion you can get the Dr to prescribe, especially if the tablets you get prescribed are giving you constipation. Otherwise, they are quite pricey (£7-8 for 24 I think). You put the liquid in with some orange juice or grapefruit juice to aid absorption of the iron (you can put it in any liquid but these two are highest in vitamin C which aids absorption of iron) it is easily digestible and does not give constipation. I like drinking it with orange juice as it is the same amount as a single shot of vodka so I pour DH a vodka and orange and myself one of these and pretend I am drinking alcohol with him . You can take 2 sachets a day when pregnant.

Also, other tips for increasing iron -
do not drink caffiene of any kind for one hour before or after taking any iron (supplements or food),
try to eat combinations of vit c and iron (tomatoes pulses, meat and greens, dark meat and veg/green foods (iron) combined with red/yellow/orange food (vit c) will give the highest level of iron absorption).
Avoid eating/drinking calcium products at the same time as iron, as calcium slows the absorption of iron
Spinach is not a good source of iron. It is high in iron, that is true but it is in a form that is impossible for our bodies to absorb so we discard it.

Becky - we usually do ours oct half term too, but will be away so doing when i can, really not that organised, the fruit was meant to be in the brandy for 12 hours - mine's been in for nearly 3 days cause i couldn't be bothered to do anything with it! just got to stay up til 10 tonight to get it out of oven!

raggie - glad you got good response from your school, makes life so much easier doesn't it?

An excellent source of iron is a cooked breakfast
Fried/poached/scrambled egg - very high in iron
Sausage/bacon - high in iron
baked beans in tomato sauce - iron, vit c (fortified)
fried/grilled tomatoes - vit c
mushrooms - iron
brown toast - fortified with iron and vit c

Black pudding as some-one mentioned, would compliment it completely if you can stomach it!!!

Fortified cereal is packed with iron too, so you could try stuffing your face with chocolate rice crispies and chocolate cornflake cakes (puts on list to make at weekend!)

scarlotti i like organising paperwork into piles for shredding, filing, recycling too! But, do you actually do those things? I find I have piles lying around for ages, after running out of steam! Usually manage the recycling as that involves emptying bin bag of said waste into recycling bin, the shredding on the other hand - can stay in the 'shredding box' for months . Last time, we took some camping with us and put it on the fire

Raggie you are spot on there!! Absolutely blo*dy shattered. Had NHS antenatal class on Tues straight from work til 9pm, then NCT last night, so left the house at 6.30am and got home at 9.30pm two nights in a row and I am feeling exhausted!
Sorry not checked in and read all the posts. Want to read about feeding tops as had been wondering about them.
How is everybody?
I am finding my new class tricky. It's a full class and they need a lot of training, so to speak! Plus it's a new year group for me, so am finding my feet and it's not really what I want to be doing when I am 30 weeks pregnant!
Finding NCT really good. Is anyone else doing it?
Also, do you find baby movements to be now verging on slightly painful when he/she elbows/knees you? I am finding I wince a bit when he wriggles. Not sure about his position either, he still seems to change around a lot but I guess he won't settle on a final position for a few weeks. Will catch up now, sorry!

Katster I'm attending NCT and attended my first class. Really enjoyed it. As it's a refresher class it's much more relaxed, I wish I had done it the first time around rather than the NHS classes. I hope to make friends with the group as this was my main reason for joining NCT. I also find the baby movements slightly painful and make me wince too. I'm a small build and don't seem to carry that small when pg. I've noticed the baby movements slowing down now and I can't imagine there is much more space left. I'm not sure how the baby is positioned, the midwife said she would tell me on my next check.

Another piler here! And, like pavlov I seem to run out of steam and leave the piles to be covered with other piles. The number of times I swear I'll get more systematic with stuff... Must be short attention span.

beepbeep chapeau! (sp?) Hats off! I've never made trad Christmas cake, or pudding in fact. But I do make a mean Nigella Christmas cake - from her tv show. And last year I made a batch of Polish ginger cakes as presents. So much nicer I think than useless tat that nobody wants. Oh, every time I think of Christmas shopping I bristle. I hate coming up with ideas as to what to buy for whom, I'd much rather bake something for them.

becky walking is such a great way to keep fit without actually thinking about it! I really wish sometimes I lived closer to the office so that I could walk. I cycled to Oxford a couple of times - two hours each way, not a habit I could ever keep up!

The car is here. It is dinky. I'll take it to work tomorrow I think. In my pocket

pavlov the recycling gets dumped in the box and the shredding pile gets added to the other shredding pile on top of the shredder!! When it gets done it's used as bedding for the guineas. Maybe I might get around to it sometime!

Some of the movements I get now are quite painful too, sharp digs in ribs or organs aren't comfortable!
I've found though that he seems to have dropped a little over the last day or two and that's eased things a little. I feel more comfortable bump, than squished up ball now if that makes any sense.
Of course, now I'm a little worried he's not growing properly

Re. iron tablets - I was on these last time and actually they sorted out my constipation! Pavlov had the lowdown on vitamin C and iron.

My mum works in a nursing home and all her patients are given a kiwi a day to keep them regular . Thank goodness constipation is yet another thing I haven't suffered from this time - when will this bubble burst

Nursing tops - having BF a December baby before, I'd recommend a strappy nursing top or two to layer under other tops in order to keep yourself warm when all else is pulled up. Some recommend bump bands for this too. I had a strappy top that I used all the time but initially it occasionally gave me blocked ducts because the 'peep holes' were quite small. Maybe I just bought a size too small... I'll be looking for a couple more when I finally get around to thinking about this baby.

we're still (!) getting quotes in for this sun room and the decision seems agonising. I don't think there's much between any of them. I'd just like to toss a coin and be done with it. DH would rather meet them all again and pick over details. It's like a role reversal of the usual status quo!

Concensus at work seems to be that I'm having a boy this time.

I really liked the JoJo Maman Bebe strappy nursing tops with DS - I put them under sweaters, and pulled the sweaters up. I tried other nursing singlets from Mothercare and Next (I think) and they were rubbish in comparison - less support, and the material didn't 'hold' its stretch so well. They just had them in black and white when I had DS, but I see now they're got 'em in blue and dark red so I think I need two more...

I'm jealous of all the walking. I used to walk DS in his pram on the tracks around the village for an hour or two every day, and on the weekends, DH and I would get our tramping kit out and go find a good walk in the Chilterns or out on the downs. Now I can't walk for more than twenty minutes before I start hobbling and limping, even with my fab belly brace and orthotics. I really do miss it - found it was a great stress relief. Oh well, last time around the SPD got better the moment DS was out of me, so I'm hoping I bounce back similarly this time...

Morning! Was woken by hunger super early this morning. I've started getting BH contractions in the evening. There was a moment the other day when me and DH both kind of shared a 'uh oh is this it' moment. I imagine there'll be thousands of those in the next few weeks!
Hooray for Friday. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend but have a feeling a trip to Ikea might be on the cards.........

Morning! lemontop that's brave - Ikea at the weekend [shudders]

I've noticed a different kind of movement, too. It's more like a fluttering, like she's shivering in there. Anyone else had this? It comes on sides as well, as if she's lying transverse, but it's so hard to feel what position she's in really. Tried to have a poke the other night but can't really tell.

Hey all, been very ill with a cold this week that I couldn't (still can't) shake..and pretty miserable to boot. However am back from hols and now its countdown time!

Katster wincing YES!!! the movements are a little painful and we have another 8 weeks or more to go

Re IRON tablets..i have to have a glass of redexon VIT c to help absorb the tablets as my levels are so low..so try that. Like hobnob Iron tablets sorts out my constipation...

Who mentioned Fybogel???? shivers down my spine from DD1...those were days I want to forget

Feeding tops..???yikes...forgot all about them..where are they???

Very of all you lot doing NHS classes... I'm hoping things will come back to me.

Anyone else suffering from back pain in bed?..just one side for me..same place..its awful..my pillow is in London..boooo

hi all, lots of posts since ive been on, had a good birthday even though i wasnt looking forward to it. did too much walking yesterday too, went shopping with dh, ds and the pils, which was nice but was aching as soon as we got home. At least I have most of the stuff for hospital now, all ready and packed.