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

Aw, well done Master Bendy Legs!

You are right to be proud BBL; he sounds like a wee gem

Thanks beepbeep and fruitpastels for the stories! With my dd I was 5 days overdue whenmy water broke in the middle of hte night, didn't have any signs announcing it eithe (certainly not a decrease in appetite, sigh).

Just had an internal exam and the doctor swept my membranes (excellent reminder of how labour feels - not good). He also said I was 2 cm dialated, but that was just because it was the 2nd time around and not a sign really.

Am excited that the sweep might get things going, yet starting to freak out about the state of the house (how is it a 2 yo can wreck such lasting havoc??)and general unpreparedness for anything really. Well. Will nevertheless walk my legs off tomorrow and eat my 2nd pineapple tonight.

I tried the pineapple thing with DS1. Didn't work. I hate pineapple now. We tried everything: long walks, curry, sex (how we managed to have sex when I was 10 days overdue I don't know but we did, just), speed bumps.

Some random woman suggested cold liver oil, or was it caster oil? I didn't try that. Yuck.

I have been given Clarie Sage and told to only use it at term. Any one tried it?

comma how on earth did you manage a sweep so early? I thought mine was early at 40 weeks...

oooohhhh cod liver oil. Big no no. Cons MW said some women have had dangerous results from it for themselves and baby - much dehydration!

hobnob ..and I didn't even ask. It was just really really uncomfortable, and then he said: well, I tried to separate the membranes, so let's see where that gets us.'
I told him beforehand I wanted the babe out, but that was unexpected (not unwelcome though, though bit of a liberty on his side maybe).

becky ha, speed bumps. all the crazy pregnant ladies going well over limit in the residental streets.
Lots of women take castor oil here, which is really dangerous, as it can make baby poop and swallow meconium. V. bad idea indeed.

Regarding books: I am reading Jane Austen in an endless loop, it's insane. Last pregnancy I read the Harry Potter books, can't read half a page of them now. In between I read Henning Mankell's Wallander books, which are fantastic if you like a good murder.

I just cried at the "mummys pregnant" video on the cbeebies website! God I'm daft.

Baby is being really active, bouncing on my bladder it would seem. I'm going to go and have a wee and hopefully that will give her room to settle enough for me to sleep.

I was reading in a magazine about someone who took caster oil although it is highly discouraged, like comma said, it can be dangerous for both mum and baby. I've got more pineapple to eat today (good job I like the stuff so much!). Baby must have dropped too as the heartburn that was almost constant hasn't reared it's ugly head for the last two days - yippee!! That might also account for the even greater pain in my pelvis and still constant feeling of needing the toilet!

Well done to your DS Becky, what a gem he is. And what a sweet 'treat' he asked for. Most kids would probably ask for sweets!

Hope your dd finally went to sleep Pavlov and didn't do too much damage to your newly painted walls.

Morning all

So much to catch up on!

Nappies - afraid I'm too lazy here too so going with disposables. Am v green everywhere else and as I had bad pnd last time am trying to limit the amount I put on my plate this time.

If anyone is interested ... I have a birth to 9 months set of cotton little lamb nappies from a friend who wants to sell them? There are 20 shaped cotton nappies with velcro fastening, 10 booster pads, 10 fitted wraps and a nappy bucket. It would retail for about £120 but they'd sell them for £30 plus postage. They would go on eBay for about £50 probably. Look here for info.

Books - Call the midwife is a brilliant read and great for pregnancy

No more twinges this end so think it was a bit of a red herring Sunday night. Mum is travelling over to our side of the UK later today though as it's my niece's birthday Friday so actually, over the next 4 days would be really coinvenient!! She's going to come when baby is on the way but she's 5 hours away. We'd feel so much happier knowing she was only 1 hour away for the kids, so praying it kicks off soon!!

Re labours - never had any internals before or any sweeps, and both have been spontaneous starts with waters breaking. DS (8lb 10) was quicker and did feel like he was plummeting through me, but the downside was that it was more intense than DD. Still, think I'd go for short and intense than drawn out ... as long as the gas and air is on tap!!

Hello all,

Haven't logged on for best part of 2 weeks! Feel like a newbie again .

Basically have been off work for 2 weeks with a "bacterial infection" in groin - which manifested itself in the most HORRIFIC rash you have ever seen - sorry if TMI . Couldn't sit down, walk, go toilet without screaming in agony. Doctor didn't want to prescribe antibiotics so only used a topical steroid cream. Moral of story is this - don't use cheap Poundland razors to hack at your lady parts, they just tear the skin and result in all kinds of misery . Will invest in a decent feminine razor and not remove all the hair next time - lesson learnt.

Anyway - hi everyone, so pleased to be back!

wook thanks for mentioning that book again as I wanted to read it last time you posted about it, but then forgot. Claire I just looked and Can Any Mother Help Me is by Jenna Bailey. Call The Midwife is by Jennifer Worth. Think I'll pop down to the library in a bit with my list...

Although my 'what to read' dilemma is put on hold slightly as I've been asked to review some erotic fiction . At least it won't make me cry... (except perhaps in a nostalgic way )

Speaking of which, Becky I know what you mean - I managed to have sex at 41+6 last time - but it was really desperate measures: I had my induction booked for the next day. I had curry, sex, and did loads of rolling on the birthing ball, and labour started in the night - so it might have worked, but who knows?
Hooray for DS1! He sounds very sweet.

castor oil: I was very sternly told in Boots that NO shop would sell it to me. I didn't even know it can be used to induce labour at the time, I just wanted to try out that oil cleansing method of skincare. I was 20 weeks pregnant, just showing, and the pharmacist looked horrified .

OUCH mumsie, that sounds horrible! Nice to see you back. I have been having to work out my dates all on my own

will catch up in a mo - just had to tell you that if you sign up to BrandAlley, they have hotmilk bras on sale for the next few days but buy quick as the sizes usually sell out quickly. I've ordered a cupsize larger than my pre-pregnancy size. The bras are half price or better. And if you enter 'paypal' as a discount code you get free postage too!

Morning,

ooch mumsie that sounds sore! Welcome back.

ninjacat I used clarie sage oil when trying to get ds2 out (water had been gone 36 hours) Dh rubbed it on my tummy and ds was born 2 hours later!

On the nappy front, I'm with scarlotti and easy eggs, having suffered from depression and finding it hard enough to keep on top of things with just 2 ds's I'm not going to put myself under any more pressure than needed so will stick with disposables for no.3. I must say I do feel a bit guilty though!

Well done to your ds becky*, we have ds1's parents eve tonight

Laugs sorry about that! . Will try not to go AWOL again.

Thanks Tigger .

Oh hobnob I'm a member of Brand Alley - off to take a look....

morning everyone, no news here, tho did sleep better last night which was good. hope everyone else is well this morning.

Oh mumsie that does't sound nice! Making me cringe thinking about it! Hope it's feeling much better now.

I've spent the last two days desperately trying to find a 'Gogo Pets funhouse' for dd for Christmas. Apart from Hello Kitty things (which I already have) it is the only thing she wants but of course it is sold out EVERYWHERE. I can get it from an Amazon seller, but it's twice as much as it should be, and same goes for ebay and don't want to have to do that! I'm just hoping that stock comes back in before christmas, but given its also out of stock in the USA its not looking likely!

Thanks everybody for sharing your experiences with reusable nappies. My mom bought us a bunch, and we definitely want to try them, although I have to admit I am completely confused as to how they work at the moment I'm not above using disposables when convenient, though.

I keep reading that (disposable) baby wipes are more likely to cause rashes! Is this true? (Yea HI first-time mom here! If you couldn't tell!) I like the idea of reusable wipes but they don't sound terribly convenient.

Sorry to continue along the mememe lines, but I fell on my face today and nobody was around to notice so I'm feeling sulky. Skinned both my knees (started bleeding through my favorite maternity trousers) and my hand and tore up my new shoes (which I now realize have zero traction on rain-slicked pavement). Totally fine otherwise. Nothing as bad as pav's heartburn or mumsie's infection or even the thought of 10 lb babies! Just needed to tell somebody about my humiliating morning

mumsie you poor thing..are you better now..I use men's gillette disposable razors..they are great. Women's razors just don't do the job..having said that, I can't see anything to do any gardening work..

Going to the hospital next week for an hour's q&A and tour with an english speaking lady..not that my french isn't good but I dont know all the pg words like dilated, third degree tears and sweep!!!.. Here they won't do anything until you've reached term....Some douche bag male weighed me in hosp yesterday and wrote it down as 91kgs...muppet..poor thing was mortified.

Don't forget to slap on extra oils and creams on your bellies ladies..the really nasty stretching happens now and the stretch marks appear from no where..

BBL well done to your DS!!!!..how proud you must be..he is a real gem.

wook and laugs - I've made a note of Nightingale Floor, haven't heard of that before. Also the midwife/mother ones - will look for those too, thanks, they sound just right. I've just re-read the first chapter of Hilary McKay's Saffy's Angel which contains such a good description of a health visitor's visit...

comma2 hope the sweep does the trick. My mw did one last time when the contractions had started and I was just 3cm - she figured she may as well help things along whilst she was there anyway. Don't know if it made any difference but ds arrived 4 hours later so it might well speed things up for you.

I think I'd only accept a second hand car seat from a close friend so I could be sure it hadn't been in an accident. Anything else second hand I don't mind (except mattresses). Have ordered a mattress for the moses basket now so that's most things sorted. Must get round to digging out a bag for them in case the home birth plan doesn't work out. Still awaiting the house-cleaning frenzy lots of you have had. Really need it to kick in now - four weeks of constant cleaning and tidying should just about do it...

Longway you poor thing! are you feeling ok...Ouch.Where did you do it????

Re wipes..we used very very sensitive disposable ones. we had no probs. Also used Moltex disposable biodegradable nappies..I couldn't hack reusables..good on all of you for doing it..

laugs sex at 41+6!!!??? I bow down in awe.

longwayaway not surprised you are feeling sulky, it is rather startling falling whilst pg, glad you are okay and hope the mat. trousers clean up well. In a way it's nice no-one was around to see (less embarrassing) but then again, no-one to offer sympathy, helping hand, chocolate, Savlon, etc.

3rd time round here but also find the reusables idea baffling. I agree with those who said they are just doing what they can. I tried them (briefly) on dd (years ago now) but she could wee for Britain so terries were sopping within the hour then she did a monster sloppy poo so I abandoned all thoughts of being green and stuck with Huggies. Ds didn't sleep so I had enough trouble stringing two thoughts together the first 18 months but managed eco-disposables. Have noted down peoples tips about Bumgenius/Fluffles etc. so hope to try again this time.

Boo hotmilk doesn't go up big enough for me so no bargains to be had this end.

longwayaway sorry to hear about your fall, hope it's more embarrasing than sore. Think it's fine to feel a little sorry for yourself when heavily pg so go get some chocolate!!

Have used wipes with both of mine and no rashes. I'm taking some to the hospital too as trying to get meconium off a bottom with cotton wool and cool water is impossible! Poor baby lies there for ages whilst Mum frantically rubs at the skin - can't see how that's good either! We just use the sensitive varieties.