Lemon top 1st to pop then ensued impatient Brood. Who'll be next? Come place your bets and join us on our November thread!

[Ninjacat]

Because you chat sooooo much!!!

ursigurke dd 31st Oct, 37+2
VenusInfers dd 1st Nov, 37+1
Tamlin dd 5th Nov, 36+4
Scarlotti dd 6th Nov, 36+3
Fubble dd 6th Nov, 36+3
Kyte dd 6th Nov, 35+0 (CS)
Helips dd 9th Nov, 36+0
Sleepless dd 9th Nov 36+0
Southernbelle77 dd 14th Nov, 35+2
Tigger dd 14th Nov; 35+ 2
Pavlovtheforgetfulcat dd 18th Nov; 34+5?
Ninjacat edd End Nov (a little secret, as Lissy)
LissyGlitter dd 22 Nov 34+1
longwayaway dd 23 Nov 34+0
Laugs dd 26th Nov; 33+4
skorpion dd 29th Nov; 33+1
raggie dd 30th Nov; 33+0

Hobnob Your poor little one. I hope she is feeling better today. I remember chicken pox? Ugh.

Helips glad to hear about baby?s position, that fab news And total ?awww? at you being your DS?s favourite thing!!!

Lissy glad the DWP have seen sense, a bit of positive news is great for around now

Raggie nope rabbits or hamsters not quite the same. My soppy fool of a dog keeps cuddling up next to me, which is lovely for a few seconds ? and then he starts farting. Thanks Sonny. Love you too. When are you seeing DH next?

Pavlov total bargain. Do you reckon they do them in adult sizes? Looks remarkably comfortable Oh, and I?m on the cranberry juice at the moment. Curious

Laugs I bought him a present yesterday I found the most adorable octopus toy in ELC, and simply couldn?t resist it. He won?t need much, obviously, but I will get him a few little things We?re doing stockings too, though shall be interesting ? will be doing DP?s too, and I?ve never done that before.

Lemontop two weeks?! Blimey, that?s gone so quick!! Glad he?s doing well though, I hope the family visit is nice this weekend.

Tamlin hope it goes well for you today, will be thinking of you x

Scarlotti was so lovely yesterday, thank you for such a nice time

Longway awww at your DH, what a sweetheart! And happy birthday

Thanks everyone for your kind words. Just really got quite annoyed with it earlier!!

Anyway MW has just been, says she doesn?t think it will be necessary to have a CS just because of my ME, but to run it past the consultant on Monday anyway. Said I?m measuring slightly small ? 33cm ? but that she?s not concerned. Looks like I?m getting a small baby after all Showed her my birth plan, and was told that was fine too. Though the lucky bugger is disappearing the week after next for a tango instruction week, am SO jealous But she deserves it, so really hope she has a good time. Has asked if I?ll call our friend who is the local midwife if I want a check up while she?s away, which I?m sure won?t be a problem

Am a lot calmer now Sorry for the rant. I was up at 4.30am because? I remembered I didn?t like the way the baby blankets were folded in my wardrobe Bonkers this pregnancy lark?

Hope you?re all well.

I've picked up a messenger bag from Ikea that I'm hoping to use for a changing bag, but now I can't find somewhere to buy a compact changing mat to put in it. Shops around here are rubbish. Any suggestions?

Also trying to decide if it is worth getting any special nursing tops or just using regular clothes and throwing a blanket over self and baby if out and about and wanting to feed discretely (sp?). What are your experiences?

Erika, you have my sympathy over your IL's presumptions. You just can't know now how you will feel at Crimbo yet. Esp as your LO will be so tiny at that stage. We've got the opposite problem. Because I work in theatre it's rare for me to have more than a day or so off at Christmas, so this year we thought we'd brave the roads and drive from Herts to the MIL's in Perth (a good 8hrs each way) and stay for several days. Seeing as she hasn't said yet if she's coming down after the birth we thought she'd be delighted at the suggestion. But not so. Some other, more distant, relations may or may not be coming over for Xmas so until they make up their minds she doesn't want to commit to welcoming us and her first grandchild up for the festivities. Nice... We get on really well, so don't really understand where she's coming from. DP a bit upset about it.

skorpion & sleepless Me too! Glad I'm not the only one. Baby is still growing, but my weight seems to have just plateaued. Despite making and scoffing back Banoffee Pie earlier in the week. Normally I put on 3lbs if I even LOOK at cake, so was beginning to feel odd about it.

Tamlin I hope you come back with good news.

Right, better get to work. Today is Tax Return day for me. First task - find the flipping paperwork. Urgh.

Happy Birthday Longway!

I had my 36-week check and the midwife has changed (like Dr Who?). This one said the baby seems quite big but she's not worried yet...eeek.

Just finished catching up on the episodes of Criminal Justice from last week on iPlayer - lordy, for something that started slowly the last episode was explosive and had me sobbing at the end of it!! Feel better for it though

Weight wise, I'd plateaued for a while but now seem to be creeping up again slightly. Not overly concerned though as nowt I can do about it!

Tamlin thinking of you and hoping it's not to uncomfortable for you around now. Fingers crossed it works.

Changing bag wise, I've done all varieties with the current 2 DC's but this time opted for a Pacapod bought on eBay as far too pricey for me otherwise. I like the little feeding and changing pods that can be taken out of the main bag. Means DH can go do a nappy change whilst we're out without having to take my whole bag with him or juggle various bits! A good bag is a good investment I think though as you'll be taking changes of clothes out for a good 2.5 years - leaky nappies, sicky babies then messy ones that feed themselves through to toilet training!! Ds is almost 4 and it's probably only about the last 6 months or more that I've stopped taking a change of bottoms out with me.

Tamlin should be having her appointment now. Hope it's all going well.

Venus That does seem quite odd of your MIL... maybe she's just got used to not expecting to see you at Christmas.

I've just had to book DD in for a full day at nursery next week (she normally only does 3 mornings) as I have to interview a radio DJ who does the breakfast slot, so can only talk to me in the afternoon. This should be inconvenient - after all, I have to pay for the extra hours at nursery - but I am really excited about a whole day on my own just with work to do and no chasing DD around. That sounds so mean! Sometimes I just wish we had family nearby so I could ring up and say "Mum, I'm a bit tired today please can you help out?"

Good luck to all the pineapple munchers...

Happy 30th Longwayaway. Great that you are having a fab day.

Thanks for all the bday wishes, everyone

Wanted to second VenusInfers's inquiry about nursing tops - have no idea how many I should own or what of my current wardrobe will work? My aunt bought me two of these, which other nursing friends have raved about, so I'm thinking it will be more important to own nursing bras, ultimately...

I just had nursing bras and made do with normal tops. You need tops that are fairly loose, so pull up easily and still drape down a bit around the sides so the whole world can't see your tummy. Your maternity tops would be fine, if you can bear to still look at them. I just wore tops I had already. Also avoid shirts and blouses because they offer up a big eyeful of cleavage. You can use a muslin draped over your shoulder to hide your boob. To be honest, although I am quite a shy person, once I got used to BF I realised that the baby pretty much covers everything anyway. It was nice to get back to normal clothes after the birth. I think if my wardrobe had been limited to just specific nursing tops, it would have really p**sed me off after the first few weeks.

Longwayaway I can't believe they're actually -called- 'Hooter Hiders'. That's hysterical. Happy birthday btw!

Laugs I like your thoughts on the whole tops thing. Feeds into my natural disinclination not to spend any more money on practical clothes that I don't actually like. Sure I'm not the only one sick-to-death of flamin' maternity trousers.

You know the 10-15 kicks thing? Is that 10 actual kicks, which might occur all at once, or kicking sessions ten times a day?

Tamlin everything crossed for you today

erika NOTHING prepared me for the sheer force of granny love and devotion that hit me last time. My mum came over from NI for the first week we were home with DD (which was fine and very useful), and MIL was there at EVERY visiting time for the 5 days I was in hospital and called round EVERY day for 2 weeks after that ('I was just at Tescos and thought I'd pop in' - she lives 30 mins away) and we had dinner invites ALL THE TIME (and presents - it got ridiculous). Combined with the baby blues and feeding problems and exhaustion after an emcs I felt under so much pressure. DD was born on 5th Dec so she was 3 weeks old at Xmas and we did the whole family thing with MIL and the extended tribe until 11pm, and boxing day, and other days that week too. It was exhausting (but great to get proper feeds with the BF Appetite). In the end we had to say something to her as we didn't feel that we had had a chance to get to know our own daughter and just needed some 'us' time to get to know each other as a family and get the feeding sorted without having to do it in public the whole time. It didn't go down well, but if MIL wants to act like a toddler we'll treat her like one and ignore her! She got over it eventually.

sleepless I'm about you going to NI for Xmas. I'd LOVE to go but DH feels like he spends all his annual leave there so Christmas is his family thing over here.

Happy birthday longway!

Changing bags - I didn't bother last time and just used a day sack that I had. But DD was BF. We had a drawstring bag with clean nappies and change of clothes in it (again, she was never sicky either so it wasn't a pressing issue for us), teddy, blanket, etc. and later on sippy cups and formula and measuring bottle. It always fitted in, just wasn't always easy to find what you wanted. I agree also with whoever said that you end up bunging everything under the pram anyway.

DD seems to have turned a corner and is on the mend. At least her appetite is back and she managed pancake, cheese, yoghurt and raspberries for lunch. She's quite good fun at the moment. I just wonder if her difficult nature over the past few weeks has been to do with this pox. Long may the chilled out and entertaining DD stay. As I was putting calamine lotion on her leg spots the other night with a cotton wool ball she came out with, 'how is it possible that I have a circle on my leg?'. What a random way to use the word 'possible' for the first time! I love her experiments with vocab

Oddly I dreamt that I gave birth to a baby girl at a school function last night. I didn't have a labour - I just noticed a pair of feet emerging and pulled them out calf-like. I took her into a side room to get cleaned up, left her with a friend while I went to get a babygro from the bag and then couldn't find them again. And then woke up feeling most weird about it. Perhaps I'm subconsciously linked to Tamlin?

tamlin hope everything went ok for you this afternoon and that it was not too uncomfortable for you or the baby.

longwayaway Happy birthday to you! what did your dh get you?

When I breastfed ds I didn't bother with nursing tops. I just wore a vest top underneath a normal top so that I could lift one top up and the vest top down without exposing tummy or boob. Hope that makes sense!

Picked up my new car this morning, it is so nice havinf 5 doors instead of 3 and getting ds in and out is so much easier. Hopefully that will help my back. Saw the Chiropractor again and he has given me some exercises to help move the baby off my nerve so will give that a bash shortly and hope it works. Just eaten a big bar of dairy milk nut, very addictive! I just cannot stop eating chocolate at the moment, it is getting ridiculous!

I'm the proud owner of a new hotmilk bra . I bit the bullet and bought online. I get my usual back size and a cup size up and the cups are a little saggy, so I'm wondering whether to try a different size or to hope that my chest size expands to the proportions it did last time!

Any opinion welcome. Not often I entice others to comment on my chest!

Hmmm, starting to think I should get a changing bag now. We somehow manage to be utterly skint each pregnancy (something to do with me getting ridiculous illnesses that stop me from working, and our habit of moving house at daft times probably) so with both babies we have only been able to get the bare minimum. However, this time the DWP have helpfully saved up the benefits they were meant to have given us for the past three months and given them to us in a lump sum, so we do actually have a little bit of cash, and of course we already have most of the essentials from DD anyway.

Also, this time we got the Maternity Grant before the birth (somehow DDs birth was what made us eligible last time) so we have actually got a fund that is meant to be for the baby. Obviously some of it will have to go on living costs, but I think she can have a couple of things

Anyhow, has anyone seen a nice changing bag that can be worn by either me or DP or hung on the pram, has enough room for stuff for a potty training two year old and a reusable nappy using BF newborn, and is reasonably cheap? Would rather avoid anything with any obvious branding on it if possible.

hobnob I found that my boobs and ribcage both expanded massively after the birth, before gradually going down to slightly larger than during pregnancy, if that is any help?

southernbelle I saw this whilst trying to work out how to take up to 6 raspberry leaf tablets in a day (in 1's or 2's?) and thought of you. See Pie's post Thu 20-Nov-03 14:15:32 here

I have done nothing on my list yet today - other than some washing for my hospital bag. I tried to pack it yesterday but got frustrated by too many unknowns and too many things that I still need that can't be packed like comfy clothes and some of my toiletries .

DD has slept for ages - must get her up as we have the library to go to to get 'mummy laid and egg' and some more potato printing to do. Yesterday it was silver stars, today might be glittery green Christmas trees. Any other easy Christmassy shapes suggestions?

Ooh - need some more potatoes too. Add shop to my list (darn, been there already once today!)

Oh and laugs, thanks, I will get him to print off some CVs and do a wander in his suit. Although, in more good news, an agency he has interviewed with before phoned today and said they are almost sure he has got a job!

It is full time and permanent, working in a call centre for a bank, and starts at the end of november. So just enough time for him to help me and the kids get settled into our new routine before he starts work. My fingers are crossed for him, it sounds brilliant. Obviously call centre work is a bit soul-destroying, but he has done it before and he managed, and was actually quite good at the whole sales thing. He can always carry on looking for something a bit more up his street, although god knows what that would be. His problem is, he is really clever, but he doesn't have a degree. Something like University Lecturer would be perfect (and in fact when he has done courses at the uni, the tutors have remarked on this) but he will keep dropping out!

I'm just holding out hope that he writes some kind of bestselling book. Obviously the money would be nice, but I think some recognition would be really good for him. Some kind of outlet for his intellectual energies. He keep threatening to go into politics, but hasn't done anything to that end apart from long arguments with local councillors over a beer!

Just skimmed through, there is just not enough time for 2days posts.
Hope those with pains and BHs will soon feel better (maybe because of a child in their arms )
lemontop, 2 weeks already! Time passes so quickly. Glad to hear that everything goes so well.
Still waiting for internet at home, but at least we already got the landline.
Do we actually have to bring some papers (except the notes) to the hospital? I'm quite sure that you would need your passport in Austria. And I've read on my favourite Swiss pregnancy homepage that there you would even need your marriage certificate! And what happens next anyway? Do I have to register the child or is it done automatically? How about the birth certificate? I think I need it to apply for the Austrian proof of citizenship which we will need for the passport which we will need (I suppose) to see our families over Christmas.
How about all the other foreigners on this thread? Do you have the same problems? Or will your child be British, if you don't mind me asking? We haven't been here long enough and are only staying for a couple of years, so it would even be a bit strange to suddenly have a British child when we go back.

not that I know of Ursi all I had was my notes, you have to register the baby yourself as its not automatic, with your local Birth, deaths and marriages registrar office. last time it took us ages to get an appointment to register ds, they were really busy.

thanks, Trikken. I am really worried that we won't have enough time to get that passport as it seems to go step by step only. I have to find out if there is any way to fly without a passport for a newborn.

think they are pretty strict about passports nowadays, think even the tiniest babies have to have one, but it is definately worth checking as im not really up to date on all the rules. maybe phone up the passport office and have a chat? they might have a solution to the timing issue.

ursi with dd (2.5 yrs ago) the register people came into the hospital, and we just went into the office there and did it. I can't remember if we needed any ID or anything, but I did need DP there as we aren't married. I think they only came in on certain days though, but as we were in for a while we were fine.

I'm not sure what will happen this time though, as the baby will be born in a different area to where we live. I am hoping we register her in Gateshead (where she will be born) as that would make her a Geordie, which DPs family are quite keen on. Otherwise its Sunderland (where we technically live, but no-one from round here ever goes to Sunderland, it is an hour away by public transport as opposed to Newcastle which is 20 minutes or so) and she will be a Makem. Apparently not as good.

Not sure how I feel about the fact that it is likely both children will develop Geordie accents. Don't get me wrong, I love the accent, it's just I have a Lancashire accent, and I always thought my kids would speak like me. I shall have to be extra broad with them and talk entirely in dialect so they become bilingual

Ursi you should check your embassy's website or the like - every country will have different rules. I found step-by-step instructions on the US State Dept website, for instance. (We'll be heading home two months after I'm due and she'll need her own passport to get into the US.) I'd imagine travel within the EU would be a bit easier - e.g. I know my German coworker doesn't have a passport and she travels between the UK and Germany frequently - but I understand the concern. And no, the baby won't be British People keep asking us that!

ursi will you be allowed to fly so soon after the birth? I'm presuming you are planning on flying...it's just, if you end up with complications, wouldn't you be at risk of DVT?