Feb 2010 part III,

[mamaloco]

Sorry I couldn't wait anymore half of us is in the 3rd trimester and half will followed soon
Welcome sharon I have added you to the list

27th Jan Devotion DD1 6yrs & DD2 3yrs
1st Feb Moth2, 1st but also stepdaughter 3 yrs
2nd Feb Raindroprhyme DS1 8y, DS2 4y
2nd Feb Ktpie DS 13m
3rd Feb sunangel88 1st
4th Feb mothrof2boys
5th Feb chinook Dd 3.6yo
7th Feb grin DS 1 yr 6 m
7th Feb mamaloco DD will be 5y near due date
8th Feb fiziwizzle, 1st
8th Feb gingerkirsty, 1st
8th Feb PinguCarrier, 1st
10th Feb Lovelymonster, 1st
10th Feb T4tastic 1st
11th Feb Woowa 1st
12th Feb Fluffycoo 1st
12th Feb Yummylilmummy 1st
13th Feb mignightsun DS 3y
14th Feb tryingtobemarypoppins DS 21months currently!
14th Feb Clappedout DD 21m
14th Feb Pops78, 1st
14th Feb Glynnispig 1st
14th Feb Threeplusone- DD 12.11yrs DS1 5.2yrs DS2 2.1yrs
14th Feb Stoofadoof, DD 2.11
15 Feb AngelaCarleen 1st
15 Feb flyingcloud 1st
16th Feb GuernseyFrench 1st
16 Feb Watercress DD1 2y 10m
16 Feb esselle - DD 5.1y, DS 20m
16 Feb hannahsaunt - ds1 (8.11), ds2 (6.5), ds3 (23mo)
17 Feb Bethylou - DS currently 16 months
17 Feb Becks130 - DS 3.5 yrs
18 Feb Sunnybump - First
19 Feb Sharon137-
20 Feb Gert ds 22m
20 Feb Cluny 1st
21 Feb Pyjamababe - First
22 Feb Skibelle
22 Feb Scoobydoo
23 Feb 2Happy ds1 4y ds2 2y
23 Feb (twins!!) Insanitybecomesme DS1 9yrs, DS2 7yrs. DD3y 3m, DS3 21m
23 Feb TheOldestCat DD 2.9y
23 Feb Phee96 DD 9m
24 Feb Elebereth
24 Feb TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied DS 15m
24 Feb MidgetGems
27 Feb Westlondongirl
28 Feb Mawbroon Due DS 3.10yo

AWW Mawbroon.. sorry to here about your ankle.. As you said though atleast it will make you rest. Havent read what has been going on so hope all is ok with everyone else..

I have started nesting I think as I am constantly thinking of jobs and doing them.. washed the baby whites the other day hopefully will get the colours done tommorrow then they can all be put away. I have asked DH to put the pram up but he wont yet.. he said maybe next week.
We have our hospital tour on wednesday.. tbh not looking forward to it.. only because I know it is going to remind me of what is to come!!.. I feel guilty as cant get excited about the pending birth and meeting my little man even though I want to , but I just keep thinking I cant believe I have to do it all again.. I know i will be fine when the toime comes.. well I dont really have the choice do I !! My friend had a baby new years day so I will go over for a cuddle soon..
Just saying to my hubby if I have Little man on hid due date it will be funny as one friend had hers xmas day, then another new years day then I will be Valentines day.. not holding my breathe though I am thinking the 16th as both boys were 2 days over.. if like DD it will be 14th Jan... My DD has a gut feeling that baby will come on the morning of the 12th Feb..
Re names we have one picked but I am not overly sure of it I really like the name but dont think it matches the others.. My children are called Nicole, Scott and Lee and we have Oliver picked for this one..

Hope everyone is ok and will speak soon

Take care xx

woowa thankyou so much for the links, i feel i have more of an idea about everything now, any chance you want to come and be my birth partner?? my dps relaxed attitude to it all is starting to worry me!! dont think he realises he will have a big part to play in the labour thing to, im the one doing the pushing he is just there to watch the show!!

maybe im being overly critical i dunno. my mood swings have started to become a little more erratic recently. had a mini spaz at dp in costa in front of mil, which the led to the "is there anything your worried about or want to ask me speech" as much as the normal rational person in me knows full well she was just trying to be nice it all felt very patronising and i wanted to tip her skimmed milk coffee over her head!!
she keeps asking about who i want at the birth if dp is stuck at work or something saying how she would gladly step in if i wanted her to. after having read how its important to stay relaxed and calm im thinking thanks but no thanks!!!!! as i write this i feel like such a horrid person!! she is lovely really and has done alot to help me an my dp through this which i am truly grateful for. i think there is jus something biological inside us that makes our patience disappear when around mil!!

Oh I'm sooo glad that lots of other people are moaning! I feel like a right cow at the mo, can't stop whinging, I hear myself and I just can't stop! My back hurts, my pelvis hurts, I have awful sciatica type pains in my legs on a night, it takes a crane to turn me over in bed and on top of that I've had really painful cramps across the bottom of my bump (which go away so I assume are nothing to worry about ). Then tonight I nearly started crying in the middle of a restaurant because I decided that we'll get this baby home and we'll have no idea what to do with it and I wont be able to get up in the night with it, and how can they possibly let you just have a baby and walk out of hospital with it without taking a test first? Anyhoo, mug of hot chocolate later and I'm fine. Poor, poor DH , heaven help him if he complains of any aches or pains, poor man gets his head bitten off!

Sorry to hear about your leg Mawbroon, those injections don't sound fun either.

Sorry about the rant everyone , only 6 weeks to go (or seven and a half if the little so and so wont come out!)

mawbroon how unlucky, I hope you are actually putting your feet down (or up as recommanded), and the paracetamol is enough for the pain. take care.

woowa and ems, I did a birth plan last time because the midwife told me to, I am sure they never read it in hospital. So if you don't want to do one you probably don't have too. My main point was in big letters, "I am deaf on my left side, please talk to me on the right side", they keep shooting for the door (on my left) and not waiting for any answers, and getting annoyed. Even during the surgery (I understand that they have a place assigned and can't change it, but they should have make sure I could hear their questions properly) they keep getting upset about my lack of responses, or very silly ones because I misheard what they said . I kept trying to tell them I couldn't hear them but they completely ignore it .
If you go with one, I would recommand to put "I want to be kept informed of the developments as it happens", because I was told a lot of things afterwards and if I knew on the spot I would have make other choices (not that I really could!).

I envy those giving birth in France actually This time around I had 2 appointments in france over the summer and was really surprised that the doctors and midwifes were so nice, competant and listening, even if they knew I wouldn't be with them all the way. No such luck here (romania) though! It is more give me your money and shut up...
Sorry for the rant, I didn't know it will come out again... I am probably worried about my next appointment today, and if the doc will listen to me this time .

flying hope you find what you want, I always found mothercare expensive (may be a money convertion problem? the pound as dropped a lot since 2 years ago )
For verbaudet and la redoute, get the catalogues, the trick is not to order straight away, after a while they will send you offers (generally 20%, can go up to 50%) their sales are very good too, sometime up to 70%. Verbaudet is really good quality and resist many washes (sized a bit small though), I had things for my daughter which lasted for ever (3 years with us and still good enough to pass it on). Of course we had plenty of tesco too.
Remember you will be swamped by gifts too, usually newborn or 0-3 months, and if it is a girl, all pink from the UK side, my french relatives were more varied in their colour choice.

Oh mawbroon what a thing to happen, sending hugs. Was coming on for another moan but you put me to shame! Hope you are ok and managing. I know someone who broke both ankles slipping on the stairs when 8 months pregnant with twins. She had to give birth in plaster and her MIL moved in for 2 months to help with her 3 yr old and the new babies. OMG. Maybe that'll make you feel better I'm not sure??!

Some advice please any non first-timers: Went shopping for hospital bag/essentials yesterday expecting to enjoy myself and instead got close to tears with how overwhelming it is. Bought breast pads, maternity pads, cotton wool, nappies sacks and wipes, arnica, lucozade sweets, vaseline, one small cellular blanket and a starter pack of white vests, sleepsuits, hat mittens and booties in 'new baby' size (up to 10lb).

1. Should I get a range of sizes in babygros in case of early/small/massive baby? Can you take them back if unopened ?(skinflint I know!)

1. Breast pump (hoping to BF) - manual, electric, recommended brands? Or not bother yet? Emergency bottles/formula/sterilizer or wait and see how bf goes?

Suddenly feeling really worried and inadequate Love to all with much bigger problems than mine xx

mawbroon hope you're taking it easy - ouch!

threeplusone i dunno whether to do the hosp tour thing for similar reasons... i figure one is pretty much the same as another - we know where it is and have had an antenatal appt at the clinic next to the labour ward, so am thinking will just stick with that!

pjbabe 1) IME i'd stick with a pack of newborn and some 0-3 months... better for them to be too big than too small... having said that, if you're early and have a tiny baby, i think the hosp sort you out until you can get to the shops (certainly has been the case for the few people i know in this situation - in fact, all of them have later taken a load of 'tiny' clothes back to the hospital for others in their situation).

2. i have an avent manual pump which was ok, but didn't get a lot of use - the people i know who have successfully expressed for lengthy periods have used the Medela mini electric pump. I intended breast-feeding until i returned to work so when i saw a 'starter bottle set' on offer (steriliser & bottles etc) i bought this and stuck it in the cupboard... didn't buy any formula tho until we needed it... i reckoned there was a 24 hour supermarket within a few miles in an emergency! i do know other people tho who have had everything ready just in case. i've got all the avent bottles, teats etc and steriliser you could shake a stick at now as this is no2... i've noticed amongst most of my friends however that they tend to use the tommee tippee bottles, or the Dr Brown anti-colic ones... if i had my time again and hadn't already got all the avent stuff i would probably go for the Dr Brown, or one of the other less well known (and more expensive) bottles - glass ones maybe cos of the lack of chemicals vs the plastic etc... HTH!!!

Mamaloco thanks again for your kind advice, I really appreciate it. I think I am going to stop buying stuff now though, as I am going to end up with too much in one size. I have been handed down lots of clothes as well from French relatives, but the sizing difference is amazing, quite a lot of their 3 month stuff is the size of English Newborn stuff when I measure them up together.

AngelaCarleen I have been having the same pains as well as constant period type pains but as they go away and as the baby continues to kick me to bits I have decided not to panic and sit tight.

Pyjamababe I am hoping to BF too and someone on another thread advised me to do the research on pumps/expressing now but wait until after the birth to buy a pump as you have no idea how it will go for you. Supposedly expressing isn't that straightforward for everyone. However the pumps I have been recommended are the Medela Swing and the Ameda Lactaline Double pump, both electric. I have ignored advice and bought the Ameda Lactaline, partly because getting electric pumps is a bit of a hassle here and if I don't use it I will sell it on again.

Re sterilisers - again been given differing advice, some people say get one but some people say you don't need to bother (but it was too late when we got the don't bother advice as we had already bought it!)

So that's my uninformed first-timer advice for you, best to listen to those with personal experience though!

PJbabe, as a second timer I would definitely get some emergency stuff in for formula feeding (and have done). Last time, I was all set for BF and then I found that I just didn't have enough (should have guessed when I walked out of hospital two days after giving birth in my size 10 jeans that maybe something was amiss!). It was late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and nothing was open so I had to struggle on, with both me and DD (and possibly DH) crying. Did I learn my lesson? No. The next weekend, exactly the same happened. As soon as the supermarket opened on Sunday morning, we were there!

I don't think you need much though: a couple of bottles and teats, sterilising stuff (you could always get those microwave bags for emergencies) and a couple of cartons of ready to feed formula. Expressing usually starts a bit later - I had a hand pump, though obviously it was useless as I had no milk. All of my friends who expressed properly had electric pumps, but I can't see it ever being something you need as an emergency so you could always get one as and when you need it.

As for birth plans, I'm firmly in the "don't do one" camp. I didn't bother last time, figuring that I could always say what I did and didn't want, and if I couldn't then DH could (or things would be so bad, then it would all become very medicalised anyway). Nobody asked for one at the hospital either! If it makes you feel better, then do one, but don't beat yourself up if it doesn't go as planned.

Oh, and on clothes sizes: last time I just had newborn and 0-3 months. DD was 7lb 10oz but for some reason, even newborn sleepsuits were too big, so we bought some "small baby" sleepsuits from the supermarket when I came out of hospital which we used for a couple of weeks. Best to stick with NB and 0-3 and just see, I think.

Hope all those with aches and pains are feeling Ok today, and good luck to all those still working x

Mawbroon - how awful about the fall, glad you have some help with your DS.

Birth plans - they just leave you to do it yourself, I found it useful last time as it made me do the research on all the options and talk to DH about it all. Not sure I will bother this time.

ems - I get on allright with my MIL but I can't think of anything worse than her being there when I'm in labour!

On emergency formula I think I would say the opposite to Watercress and avoid getting any in. I think if we had had any in the house last time there would have been a few occassions where I would have been tempted to use it and as it was I am glad I perservered with BF. But we did live 5 minutes walk from a 24 hour Tesco and I didn't have issues with producing milk, in fact it was squirting out all over the place so I guess I'm coming from a different angle to Watercress!

I didn't express last time until a few weeks in and started with just a hand pump then got an electric one later on. If you are going to express then you will need a sterliser for the pump etc.

It's really easy to get carried away with buying loads of stuff just in case and I'm doing it again this time but I need to remember that the shops will still be open when the baby comes! Last time DH got sent out for bread and milk the day after DS was born and had a list of things like maternity pads to buy (luckily these things don't embarass him). That is one thing you need a lot of, last time I naively bought one pack of 10 maternity pads, that only lasted a few hours.

I'm supposed to be seeing the midwife this afternoon but the appointment is too early for DH to be able to come with me and they don't have any later ones. I'm being a bit pathetic about it but I can hardly walk as it is, it's really icy out and I will have to take my 18 month old toddler with me, plus you can't always park at our surgery and I often end up in the P&D down the road. The idea of trying to walk down the road on ice with DS terrifies me. I'm paranoid about falling over or slipping and pulling something and ending up in bed, mainly because we don't have anyone else to look after DS. The midwife is meant to be ringing me so will see what she says.

Re birthplans.. I will do one maily stating things like pass me the baby as soon as he is born, no dummies.. let me try and feed. I also state in mine that no intrervention unless necessary and DH or I must be informed first.. Also will be putting in that I want to come straight home providing everything is ok..

Re formula I will be getting some Cow and Gate in as I really struggle to breastfeed.. I only managed to get Lee latched on out of the three of mine and that was when he was 2.5weeks old just before he was diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis.. I did express for them all and gave them all formula.. But i do think the choice is yours..

I have started taking the Rasberry Leaf tea capsules this week and bouncing on my Gym ball everynight.. i did this for the last two and reading the research it is supposed to shorten the 2nd stage of labour..and I had very quick second stages with no intervention or tearing.

Re clothes.. I have mainly newborn and up to one month.. not expecting to have a big one as my biggest so far has been 6lb 15oz and smallest 4lb 14oz(she was 35+3weeks)
I have about 25vests whites and blue.. two cardigans white.. waiting for the others to arrive, 10white sleep suits, 15 blue and patterned sleepsuits, 3 snow suits, 4 outfits.. and 3 fleece sleepsuits. Scratch mits, booties and cotton hats as well as wooly ones.

Will be doing my hospital bag next week I think.

I was hoping the snow was going to ease of, but we have another 10days atleast of it here.. which is a pain as I hate driving in the snow but I am going to have too as Lee goes to creche twice a week and that is 20min drive away..
My DH has built a bar in our cellar and we were going to have the grand opening so to say on Friday night for friends as it is my Bday on Thursday but with the weather being the way it is i cant see many people coming as most of them have to travel 20mins int he car.. one set 3.5hrs so we may postpone.

My PILS have just booked there flight to come out in feb they are coming the 10th feb till the 17th that baby may not be here before they go back.. or if like the boys could just have been born the day they go back or the day before..

I have another scan on friday so looking forward to that and seeing how much little man has grown.

Hope everyone is ok and getting enough rest etc etc.. Take care xx

chinook -ask your MW about the itching. I had a rash on my bump and they took bloods to check liver function as itching can indicate something wrong. Probably nothing but definitiely better to be on the safe side.

I've been very itchy too, mainly on my bump and back and worse at night (tiredness and slouching mean clothes start rubbing). It can be a sign of obstetric cholestasis so does need checking out - but with OC you usually have itchy palms of hands, so please don't worry too much chinook.

I have also found that my skin has become super-sensitive this pg. I have to be really careful about the laundry (it took me a month of mad itching to realise earlier this year that I had become sensitive to our usual brand) and the types of toiletries I use. So could that be it? Keeping my skin really well moisturised has definitely helped (I have been known to wash using DD's emulsifying ointment when things have got very bad) and if the itching is driving you totally crazy, you could try an antihistamine. But it's worth getting it checked out first.

On the formula thing, sorry if I sounded too militant and insisted that people should have it in. I just really wished I had last time (I too thought that the local 24 hour Tesco would provide if required, but got caught short two weekends in a row when it is momentarily shut between Saturday night and Sunday morning and it felt like a loooong time). Obviously it's a completely individual choice.

Commiserations and on your fall and break Mawbroon. I hope you can enjoy the enforced rest (if you're not in too much pain - you poor thing).

Re expressing, I was advised just to see how BF goes before trying expressing and certainly before buying a pump. Having said that, we've been given a manual so I'll start with that (although I've heard they are rubbish!) and think about investing in an electric pump (I've heard that Medela is best) when the time comes - a few weeks in?

I'm perhaps very naively not getting any emergency formula or bottles in case I am tempted to use it as ktpie said, and I really do want to BF. We live in town though so would be able to get some in an emergency I'm sure.

Good luck with your appt ktpie, it has just started snowing really heavily here and I was planning to go out this afternoon but am rapidly rethinking. I hope your MW advises you to stay at home! You don't want a broken ankle too.

Best of luck to all those still at work. I'm sleeping so badly, I'm so looking forward to my post-lunch nap . I now this has been done before, but what brand of maternity pillows (if any) are people using? I'm using two extra normal pillows, but it's such a performance even turning over in the night, I wonder if a proper maternity pillow would be easier. I would pay any price for a good night's sleep .

I am also on the side of no emergency formula in the house. i probably would have been tempted at 4 weeks when I run into a few problems, but I was glad that our dash to tesco ended up with me buying a breastpump instead of formula.

But it's up to everyone to make their own choice.

Do you all know about biological nurturing? As with everything, there is no one size fits all answer to anything, but it is definitely worth reading up on and giving it a go if it's something that you think might work for you.

The pain is kicking in with my ankle today. i think maybe the swelling has gone down a bit and the cast isn't so tight. I am going to the fracture clinic on monday, and there was talk of putting a new cast on then. And I am getting a commode today so I don't have to haul my sorry arse up the stairs to the toilet. The glamour eh? The midwife said I can take co-codamol if the pain gets really bad, but not to go daft on it. DH googled and there is some stuff saying not take it when pg, but mostly I think it is erring on the side of caution.

Birth plan? Didn't bother last time because I didn't know if baby was going to turn. not going to really bother this time either unless I get told for def that i am having a section. I guess it depends on this ankle. I don't know if labouring with a leg in plaster is a good idea!

Hello all! Hope you are all managing alright snow or no snow. We had about 4 inches here (Sheffield) in the space of a couple of hours, so I didn't wait long before giving up on the bus and awarding myself a snow day. I reckon that this is one time in life when you can justify being a bit of a wuss!

Now, I (or more accurately DH) has finally got round to inflating the gym ball that I got at the NCT sale... I shall be taking up threelusones's advice to do some bouncing on it, any other tips? Not entirely sure what to use it for to be honest but it seemed a good idea at the time!

35+2, looking forward to our day's antenatel prep on Sat and hope it will give us more of a clue about this whole giving birth thing. Looking forward even more to a couple of weeks time when I start mat leave!

thankyou all, your advice on birth plans has been very helpful! i feel more informed of what my options are and your experiences have also shown what i need to make sure i put in.

my midwives clinic seem pretty pro bf, they have told me not to even express or give dc a dummy till after 6 weeks as it will confuse dc, this has thrown me a little as i was gonna try bf but also express a bit to give dp a chance to feed dc and me a bit of a break if i need it. not sure what i will do now.

on the clothes front, im not sure i have enough now, wanted to stock up on neutral clothes as have been freaked out by peoples stories about how they were told it was a girl and it came out a boy. have alot of pink but hardly any neutral. dont want to go overboard tho as i keep getting told they wont be in them for long and we will get alot given as presents. what would you advise to stock up on?

forgot to say Mawbroon hope all your appointments go well.

Fiziwizzle, I got one of the beanbaggy type ones from the NCT catalogue (just checked it's called a supersac) on a friends recommendation. To be honest I haven't really used it for sleeping... I find itchy restless legs more of a problem than positioning (I keep getting told I have quite a small bump) so it just annoyed me somewhat. Instead, I have a separate duvet from Dh and so whichever side I'm lying I just tuck a layer or two of duvet between my legs. Works quite well.

I do feel I'm getting value for my supersac though as it's fab at helping me sit in more upright positions on the sofa and assume it will be useful for feeding, so still a good investment.

ems MILs at birth. Sounds like the worst idea ever! I've always got on well with mine, but there seems to be something about being pregnant which doesn't agree with us - she wants to help (tidy and clean house)which I find suffocating. So I have declined further visits until after the birth (PILs live very far away, as do parents), when I will hopefully return to being a normal person. My dad said that it's worth maintaining good relationships with PILs because you never know what could happen, which sounds like good advice. So probably best not to pour coffee over her head.

I bought 48 maternity pads yesterday which mothercare says is ONE week's worth! eek. The hepful lady on the till looked at them and said "such a shame you have to buy them because you might not need them and it'll be such a waste" which was bizarre! Perhaps she's never had children, or everyone else who has is lying when they describe what comes out after birth!!! I've so enjoyed these 10 months without periods (IVF = even longer!), i can't believe i've got to start again soon. boohoo!

threeplusone - where do you buy raspberry leaf tea capsules? health food type place?

ktpie i read similar advice on getting FF stuff in, so i've decided not to buy anything but cry my way through it. Hopefully! A friend recently went SIX WEEKS with cracked and bleeding nipples because she was discharged without being shown how to BF. Now that is perseverance!

pyjamababe I also did some hospital bag shopping yesterday - i didn't end up crying but i did have to sit down in mothercare because of the acid, sore feet and general exhaustion!). I bought myself a gorgeous nightshirt in the Laura Ashley sale to cheer myself up at the end - it has buttons down the front for BFing and is so soft and warm (our house is freezing and the thought of BFing at 0degrees in a thin cotton nightie ala mothercare is not an attractive one). Have packed it in bag but SOO want to wear it now. Am currently sleeping in tracksuit bottoms (low slung) and old tshirt and look like the pregnant teenage girls I see at the hosptial whose bumps all hang out the bottom of the tshirt. Makes me laugh every time I see myself in the mirror!

hmm - i go on too much - 5 of you posted while I wrote that one!

fiziwizle i have a dreamgenie (loads in my local TKMaxx at the mo), which i'd give 6or7/10 for. When it's brilliant it's brilliant, but sometimes I find it very annoying and have to fold it in half. Not sure why, but perhaps DC wriggling about and some positions better than others?

On TKMaxx - i know they're all different but mine had some amazing changing bags in yesterday (tho i didn't buy one as I have to use twoshouldered rucksacks). Also more grobags. Worth checking out for bargains (tho not as bargainous as NCT sales!)

Am going to be quiet and get on with work I need to do now!

woowa i agree with keeping pil on side! she isnt all that bad just worries and fusses ALOT! my mum lives on isle of man so dont get to see her alot just chats and whinges on the phone mainly, so i think mil has taken it upon herself to slot herself into her place a bit more than normal. it is sweet that she cares and does so much for us. and dont get me wrong we do get on very well. i just feel a bit suffocated by her. and hate being told not to buy stuff (like a thermometer because dc isnt sick! or a baby towel with a hood on because thats wat towels are for.) and made to feel stupid for worrying about things. im one of those people that needs to know the ins and outs of everything so i know wat to do if something goes wrong. think i will try and stay away from the coffee over head thing. il jus practice my labour relaxation breathing instead...

Take it from me. You want your ILs on side! I would be well and truly stuffed if my MIL wasn't around to look after DS just now. I really don't know how I could look after him with my leg in plaster!!

Watercress - I think I perhaps sounded a bit militant! Being stuck with a hungry baby in the middle of the night sounds awful.

ems - I think it is a good idea to wait a while if you can before you express or introduce a bottle, there will be plenty of time then for your DP to take a turn at feeding.

Last time I hardly bought any clothes, just some neutral sleepsuits and babygros and we got so much stuff as presents I didn't need to get any more. As long as you have a few to keep you going you can always send someone out to get you some more if you find you haven't enough.

Woowa - that woman in Mothercare sounds a loon, unless I've totally misunderstood it surely everyone bleeds after they give birth?

I got some of the raspberry leaf capsules from somewhere on the internet last time but I like the taste of the tea so have some of that at the moment which I got from a health food store.

They have moved my MW appointment to Thursday when DH can make it which is a relief.

My Mum just rang up and said the snow is expected to be about for the next 3 weeks, I hope she is wrong, that is a bit close to the due date for me, we are hoping that the ILs are going to be able to come over and look after DS when I'm in labour and they are a couple of hours away so snow may cause a problem for us if it is still about.

Mawbroon, sorry to hear you're in pain. Co-codamol is OK in pg but it's worth trying to ration it as it may well constipate you (you're right, pregnancy is one long glamour trip).

And can I ask something a bit silly? Is anyone else slightly freaked out by all this snowy and icy weather? I may just be being hormonal but it makes me terribly anxious - after my horrific pre-Christmas commute to work (so glad I've given up work now) I find driving quite stressful, and my SPD means I can't walk in it (fell on the drive a few weeks ago because of the ice and had to phone someone to come and rescue me as I literally couldn't get up).

Where I live isn't rural, but it's a quiet cul de sac that never gets gritted and is on top on a hill so is always a skating rink.

Am I alone in feeling like this? And hoping that it doesn't last too long for all our sakes because of our due dates? Or am I just being a wuss?