Morning All
Hooray for Broodzilla! (Cue happy waddle dance!) So pleased that Lukas is here and it's so reassuring how quickly you dilated! Take care of yourselves and look forward to hearing about your experience when you have time xx
Kyte I'm glad your mum has helped you feel more assertive. If it's any consolation, despite doing the job I do and challenging things on other people's behalf, I'm rubbish when it comes to standing up for myself and my care. We bought a Phil & Teds pram with the double bit a few months ago but it's still sitting in its box. We must get round to setting it up some time but I think it'll make everything seem too real if we do!
Erica Glad to hear you had such a lovely day yesterday . Correct my hormone-frazzled brain if I'm wrong but is this your first baby? If so, your HV visit will be different from mine but I still remember my first one. It basically involved doing a sort of assessment of your circumstances, so ours highlighted that we don't have any family support nearby and that DH works away quite frequently. She discussed my childhood and how my and DH's parents raised us (didn't mention that my MIL used to tie her kids to their chair with a scarf until they'd finished their tea!!) She also talked about postnatal depression, breastfeeding or bottlefeeding correctly if you decide not to go down the boob route, how the pregnancy was going, hopes and expectations for when the baby comes, reducing risk of cot death etc, I think that's pretty much everything. Although it sounds a bit daunting, it suddenly makes you realise that you're bringing a little tiny life into the world!
Tamlin I had to laugh at your replacement HV's mistake! Sounds like the mums in the village need to run both HV's out of town with their buggies!
Pavlov I'd love a water birth but there's only one pool at the hospital I'm going to so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be free when I get there. I'm hoping it'll help soften my stitched bits ready for delivery. Last time was sooooo medical, constant monitoring, stuck to the bed after an epidural etc, that I just want this one to be as natural as possible. I think I'd like to be naked in the pool in the hope that it will remind me of wallowing relaxed and happy in the bath... it's reassuring hearing other people's accounts of how the water helped.
Laugs Where are you going for your crafty bits and bobs? That sounds like a great idea! DH's cousin is a teacher and gave DD a load of crafty things for her birthday last week which are currently residing in a shoe box that she decorating with random stuff herself a few weeks ago (she has an unsettling fetish for leopard print a la Dorian from Birds of a Feather it seems!) but no doubt she'll run through it all quickly.
Skorpion I'm with you on the wrapping front - it's almost my favourite part of xmas! I usually have a glass of wine, a box of chocs, get DH and DD out of the way and stick a cheesy xmas cd on to sing along to. Admittedly my wrapping deteriorates the more wine I drink but by then I'm past caring! This year will be a bit strange though. I'm going to have to get everything, wrapping included, done before I have my gall bladder surgery on 10th December, since I'll apparently be uncomfortable after it. No wine or chocs this year either, since I can't drink alcohol or eat fatty foods until the damn thing is out... Still think I'll put the cheesy cd on even if I end up wrapping in October!
Becky Love your new poem - you're officially the November poet laureate!
Fruit Hope all goes well tomorrow...
I'm stuck waiting in for a Tesco delivery then the nursery nurse who came last week to discuss DD's biting and sleeping is coming this afternoon, so hopefully she'll have some more tips for us. Some days I think she's getting better and then others I feel like we're back to square one