Due November 2009 - who is going to go 'pop' first?

[BeckyBendyLegs]

Here it is!

lemon what a handsome content baby he is! He looks like he is just so relaxed, just chilling out after this whole being born malarky well done you. How are you feeling? Are you recovering ok?

pavlov I'm ok but knackered. I haven't had any time to rest as have been running around from the hospital home and back since he was born. Now we're home I'm planning on spending a lot of time in my pjs, cuddling him while eating cakes. Just got him off to sleep. It's been quite a week!

OH Lemontop he's GORGEOUS So glad to hear he's home with you and you're both well.

Lissy I hope you feel better soon, that sounds horrible

Pavlov, your builder is blatantly an idiot. Would you like me to come sort him out? I'll run him over in my wheelchair Shame I couldn't record the calls, but as DP said earlier, the fact they've admitted it will stand in good sted for us when they do take me to court.

Thank you for the well wishes Just got to see what they do next, now.

DP and I had a lovely meal out, despite the terrible weather! We almost didn't go, and am so glad we did now. I very rarely get to see him during the week. Dinner was lovely, the company was brilliant, and as ever I giggled for hours because I was with him. In between the soppy moments, of course. He's been so tender to me recently, its lovely!! And he admitted he's been watching baby videos on youtube - he's going all broody, its hilarious

Man alive, I've spent ages trying to catch up and I've only got up to 17:30 today! MUST go to bed.

broodzilla hearty congrats for you, DP and Lukas (what a good weight!). Revel in those hormones and give him a big new-baby sniff from me .

laugs you will pass immunity on to LO through breastmilk. The likelihood is that if you have the jab and then swine 'flu is around, you'll produce antibodies against it and by symptomless yourself. LO will get their share of those antibodies and either be symptomless too or at least be protected from the worst of the symptoms. But I'm still not sure myself of having the jab so late in pg. MW hasn't mentioned it either.

maman2tom I'm planning on a VBAC and seeing the head midwife next week @36 weeks. Apparently she has transformed ideas in my hospital - previously I'd have been in labour ward, strapped to a monitor and watched like a hawk with the likelihood of an unfavourable outcome. She has made midwife-led VBACs more likely by allowing VBAC mums into the midwife unit and even into the birth pool for low intervention births. Either way, I don't think epidurals are routine unless you ask for them. In fact, I think I've read that they may even be discouraged with VBACs because they mask the symptoms of scar rupture? My yoga teacher (a midwife) was saying tonight that the key thing in hospital is to remember not to surrender yourself to the medics and remind yourself that you are just undergoing a very natural procedure in a slightly unfamiliar environment. Apparently there is NO requirement EVER for you to wear a gown, which was news to me. Your t shirt is perfectly adequate as long as you don't mind being cut out of it in a worst case scenario.

pav hoorah for the new builder! (and is your old one actually doing you a favour by giving you a winnable hormonal rant?{grin])

If its any consolation for those of you having crappy-feeling days, I definitely had one of those yesterday. I was dozy all day, got home and my bump was swollen and I'd had full on braxtons all day. I had also felt like I had an imminent massive headache all day that never appeared. And I was off my food and a bit nauseous........and it was all cured by a massive visit to the toilet today. I felt like a new woman . Amazing what effect the bowels have on things at this stage!

Off out for lunch with my department tomorrow, and off out for dinner with colleagues on Friday night with DD staying over at Granny's so we don't have to rush home and do the early shift on Saturday morning. Feeling very indulgent and very excited about stopping work! So many other things to concentrate on, work really gets in the way!

hobnob, I had quite enjoyed my drinks (apple juice for me) with my colleagues as well. As I am already on maternity leave since a couple of weeks, it was quite nice to see everybody again.
kyte, I hope you got some reassuring information over the phone. I would think, the baby is taking what he/she needs. It's probably just annoying for you. And I hope you could sleep the rest of the night.

erica they won't take you to court. I promise you. They just won't do it. There are so many reasons why they will not do it, but certainly they will not take you to court if you dispute it, which you do, and will continue to do so. It would be thrown out immediately, especially when you talk about being intimidated into signing a contract for a product which you clearly cannot afford and when you tell them you have tried to resolve it and they have not worked with you. honestly. They of course will still threaten you with it, they will keep telling you they will do it, because the more pressure they put on you, the more likely it is you will pay them something, many of those working in credit management are on commission, so the more money they get from you, the more they get paid (the one who takes the money from you).

Today i am having a day of mostly sorting out legal stuff, and your letters are on my list

kyte that you are sleeping so badly. Sleep apnea is not nice at all. DH suffers from it and from my perspective it can be very frightening. I really hope the Dr does something to help you quickly.

I slept like poo too and spent the last hour or 2 trying to sleep sitting upright propped with pillows, cannot get bump or back comfortable apart from on my back, and then I get other pains! Oh the home straight. I forgot how hard this can be!

Kyte I really hope you get somewhere with the doctor today, it must very frightening for you, crying may well be the way forward!!

ursi glad you enjoyed your time out.

Erika so glad you and dp had such a lovely night together.

lemontop great to hear from you, little Isaac looks gorgeous, you must be so glad to be home.

hobnob enjoy your free time

Lissy hope you are ok after your pain.

I had another bad night, my back is painful all the time now and I feel like a beached whale every time I try to turn over.

We have a frost here this morning so I'm going to go dig out the boy's hats.

Not had a chance to read all the posts but just wanted to say lemontop love the pictures of Isaac, he is a real cutie! very excited now!

pavlov wish I could be a fly on the wall in court, you go girl!

maman2tom I'm planning a home vbac as the less intervention the better as far as I'm concerned. Can't believe the doctors would want you to have an Epideral if it's not needed, surely that will just slow things down and make it harder for you to be mobile, unless thats what they want! SWtay at home for as long as possible before you transfer in, that sounds like the best option!

Right, off to read the rest!

kyte You're having a rubbish time aren't you? You must be so fed up. I find it hard to be assertive with doctors too, but you really have a genuine need that hopefully they will recognise. I'd echo whoever said about writing down the things you want to say. I nearly always leave the surgery and remember something important I wish I'd said.

lemontop Isaac looks just perfect! What a cutie. It's still not really sinking in that I am going to have one of them in a few weeks... I hope you can get a bit more rest now he's at home with you. Remember to nap when he does, as you'll be on a 24-hour clock for a while. I'd totally forgotten about the other boob leaking too. And I've just remembered that hot, tingly feeling that comes with the let-down. That day when it happened on the bus, that as I realised I'd forgotten my breast pads...

Lemontop what a gorgeous little boy you've got there!

cant remember who said they were sleeping badly, i am sleeping badly too. the bump is just too big, any position is uncomfortable.
last night I had to get up to pee twice, and managed to do so without waking up ds, which is a challenge as there is no carpet on te landing so the floorboards squeak a lot and have to walk right past ds's room to get to the bathroom.

Good morning!

lemontop Isaac looks great, what a chilled baby.

kyte so sorry to hear you're suffering. I hope the dr can help you very quickly.

The sun is shining in Oxford! The city looks so beautiful in the morning, especially the uni parks, all golds and reds swathed in mist. God I love autumn. Enjoy your day all!

ugh, Kyte, so sorry to hear about your sleep apnea I hope they find a way to resolve your problem quickly. Lack of sleep sends me over the edge.

Love the photos of Isaac, lemontop. He's a handsome fellow.

hobnob/ longwayaway thanks for the info about the swine flu jab. I think this will make me inclined to take it, but like others I'd want to know if there are any added risks to having it so late in pregnancy (particularly as we have to have 2 jabs, at different times, I think). Obviously there is an element of risk to either taking it or not, and that is for everyone to decide for themselves. I'm guessing the medical establishment has decided that the risk for pregnant women in general is greater if you don't have the jab, but how does this assessment change when we have only a few weeks to go, and so have a much reduced chance of catching swine flu in that time (but also will have newborn babies at the height of flu season)?
Like others, I'm surprised my midwife hasn't mentioned it, so it might be further off than is relevant to us anyway.

Skorpion It is a lovely day here too. Cold and crisp with bright blue skies: my favourite weather

to all of you who didn't sleep. I did keep waking myself up every time I attempted to turn over, but DD slept through for about the first time in a month, which was fantastic!

Happy Birthday... really sorry who's birthday was it again? Enjoy you're child-free night in Birmingham!

Oh, also meant to say comma2, did the contractions stop completely last night? I hope they weren't too painful. How long do you have to go?

Lemontop, I'm so glad you've got him home. He's a lovely baby.

I don't think that the dual boob leakage happens to everyone, but I used to have to surreptitiously stuff a muslin inside the other bra cup while feeding. My friend never leaks at all, though.

Kyte sorry to hear about the apnea, really not what you need right now I hope the doctors do something quickly for you. So odd that its happening whilst using the backrest...

Hobnob glad you're feeling better

Pavlov I dunno... My dad reckons they will as well, he always has. The guy said to him yesterday that they don't care about my ciricamstances, they want the award so they can keep hounding me every year to see if my circamstances have changed so they can get the whole amount of me. I considered writing and offering them something like £5 a month but again, one of the letters says I can't offer a different payment. We'll just have to see, I guess. If they do take me to court, I'll get you lot there to get them for me Thanks again, though. Bloody people.

Sleep? What's that? grumbles I must confess I really wouldn't be complaining very much if at all if I went into labour soon... I know the nights will then be interupted to feed, but at least I could be comfortable when I do sleep. DP and his work mates have got a poll going at work apparently for when I'm going to pop

Pavlov did the CD play ok?

Koumak yours is in the post.

Erika I think there is a set period of time for them to get an agreement of payment off of you. ie they cant chase you for life! Pav probably knows more than I do.

Off for coffee with an old friend now. Sun is shinning here.

Morning all

Been to the docs this morning and it would seem I have a virus [annoying emoticon] so am feeling pretty rubbish. Paracetamol and rest is all they can suggest ... but I still have some work to finish off! Was hoping to get it sorted by the end of Monday so I could put it all out of my head but all I want to do now is lie on the sofa and watch drivel on tv!

pav glad in a way your old builder has stirred up the hornets nest, now you will have to follow through and you'll get great closure which will help you love your loft

tamlin glad it's not just me that's dropped then. have been having BH for a while and movement has lessened a little now so will be grilling mw at 12 to see what she thinks.

As for medical visits - I've only just moved to fortnightly appointments so rarely see anyone as it's not my first. Think I've seen the mw about 4 times so far

lemontop so glad you and Isaac are now home and gorgeous pics

erika sounds like the issue with that company is moving in the right direction, just hang in there.

kyte hope you're feeling better about it all soon.

Waves to everyone else as mind has now gone blank

Lemontop what a gorgeous boy!! so pleased you're home and i def recommend staying in your PJs eating cake and keeping your strength up for all the feeding. Eat as much as you can! I hope you're recovering well and that DH is handling it all in his stride too. What a beauty!

Scarlotti i had/have a virus..its been here for a month now and just won't budge..no amount of vit c is helping. I'm sorry you're reeling rubbish..but i can sympathise.

Leaks! I remember waking up to wet bras and pj tops..its a treat..breast pads are awesome.

SPD in its element at the mo as baby's head is down..it so hurts and I can't even walk..making supper is diff..

Burst into tears yesterday as DH said he has lots of holiday to take and may take a weekday here and there to go skiing!!!! Here I am stressed out about managing two children and he's thinking about skiing..I don't mind him going but funny how priorities are so diff for blokes When the dickens am I ever going to get a day to myself....?

sleepless sorry to hear you're still feeling rubbish, guess our immune systems aren't strong enough to get rid of any bugs properly.
I'd put your foot down with your DH if I were you. You need to get some rest and I think one or two of his days off would be better spent relieving you of your DC and allowing you a day in bed.
Maybe you could fill a shopping bag with enough tins/bags of sugar etc. to show how much extra weight you're carrying around and give it to him? I've thought of doing that for my DH a few times to get the message to sink in

I've just been back to bed for 2 hours and it was amazing. Kept waking up feeling really guilty, but then going back to sleep again. It feels so self-indulgent, I thought I might as well go the whole hog and am going to take DD for tea and cake in a cafe this afternoon

sleepless poor you, that would probably make me cry at the moment too. Can you not suggest he take DS with him? I can't remember how old he is, but my cousin went skiing at 2 and loved it. It might also make DH less inclined in the future... Seriously, I think if he has plenty of days off to take a few skiing days, it's reasonable that he also takes some days to be at home with you and the DCs. I, too, am terrified at the prospect of 2 to look after. I don't know how we'll cope, but I'm sure we will.

scarlotti get well soon. Curl up with a honey and lemon on the sofa. You might feel a bit better by tomorrow and can get back to work then.

Laugs - just wanted to add, pregnant women are regularly given the season flu jab if they want it, regardless of the stage in pregnancy. The only reason that there's been such a ruckus about getting pregnant women the swine flu jab is that the swine flu has been disproportionately harmful to pregnant women compared to normal flus. So on balance, the known risks of getting a flu jab are virtually nil, whereas contracting swine flu could be a problem (although if it's caught early you'd get Tamiflu or whatever and probably be fine). They won't give infants the swine flu vaccine, so if you wait until after the birth to get the jab, LO will be relying entirely on your breast milk for antibodies. Which may be the boat we're all in, anyway, given the current lack of timeline on the vaccine delivery

Also find it curious that the MW hasn't mentioned it, but as there's nothing we can really do right now, maybe it's not that surprising.

Completely unrelated - I weigh myself a bit obsessively and I notice that I often lose a kilogram (!) overnight. I only go to the loo once or twice in that time, so it can't just be wee - but I'm really curious where it's all going! (Of course it's back by the end of the day.)