June-ior middleweights - fighting on through the second trimester (Due June 2010)

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Here we go ladies - I'll C&P the stats in a tick. Don't forget to add the gender on if you find out at your scan

gizmo we're in oxfordshire at the moment. We used to be quite outdoorsy but DH's health has put a stop to most of that over the last few years. I'm really hoping that this move will help his recovery and we can get back to doing some of the things we used to love doing.

mampam being behind the rest of the country will suit DH down to the ground as he grew up in Shetland he's definitely much more used to that way of life, than what we currently have here. Might be a bit more of an adjustment for me though
I also think that you'll definitely have earnt a hobble around the shops after your sphincter scan, hope you can manage to enjoy it.

I managed a little nap this afternoon so am now feeling much less sorry for myself than I was earlier. Also, DH has volunteered to sleep on the airbed in the living room tonight to let me have our bed to myself. Am really looking forward to stretching out and getting comfy. Fingers crossed for a better sleep tonight.

Thank you for your comments everyone - We're still both constantly walking on thin ice with frequent, frightening cracks but on the plus side, yesterday I spotted DP surreptitiously looking through my 'Birth and Beyond' book - then he later came to find me (curled up in the spare room feeling pretty spare) and sort of apologised for being so utterly uninvolved and for snapping at me, being overly defensive about everything etc... I think he's obviously got a bunch of the pregnancy hormones too and with two of us in the house like that it's just hellish!

justbeme - so sad for you all - just to second everyone else, your body has amazing coping mechanisms and I'm sure your baby will be fine.

greensnail - love love love Exeter! Lived there for a few years and would move back in a heartbeat if I had the chance. Great city and excellent location for coast, Dartmoor etc. Beautiful.

Gizmo - You're so right to stay positive. It sounds like there is only a teeny chance of your baby being infected/affected. I'd imagine also that if you are healthy otherwise and therefore giving your baby the best chance then the liklihood is even teenier. (Often statistics don't note that those women whose babies were adversely affected were also drinkers, smokers, unwell in other ways etc)

I fear I may be starting to waddle . Finding it hard to believe that I really still have over 3 months to go.

Morning ladies,blimey,i fancy moving to Exeter myself now after reading all these raving reviews!

Gizmo I am in awe of your rational and positive thinking

Monkeymargot i am on cooking mode too,made a huge heart shaped victoria sponge yesterday,i guess i will be having regular tea & cake intervals today

Justbemehope you are ok.

Hello all,

We have sleety snow in Cambridge (lovely) and I have just realised that today is a normal school day when both my nanny and I have been operating on the assumption its a teacher training day so DS1 is at home right now. DS1 is going to be thrilled .

I'm pleased to hear about the slight thawing in the freckle household...sometimes just having the door held open a tiny crack is all it takes to start things improving although it's always tricky when both of you are under stress. Nice of your DH to come and find you.

At 23 weeks I have just realised that we are approaching the sixth month, ladies! It's always at this point in pregnancy when I realise what a crock of sh*t the whole '9 months' thing is: if people just said it's actually 10 months less a day or two I'd spend a whole lot less time counting on my fingers!

Mampam I think you live very close to where my husband comes from: you're perhaps nearer the sea, since his folks are midway between Newton Abbot and Plymouth. Beautiful, beautiful - it gives us the best of both worlds to be able to holiday there, but I can appreciate you might feel a bit 'buried' from time to time. A quick look at shopmobility in Plymouth turns up this which might help a bit, but I hadn't realised that being in the car for any time is a no-no...good grief you must be longing for this pregnancy to end .

I think Exeter is a bit more 'connected' though? We generally find it's a fairly straight run down to Exeter and things slow down a bit beyond that, when we drive down. And there's a good train service to London, of course, if Greensnail starts yearning for the bright lights. Sorry your DH has had problems, Greensnail: perhaps all the more reason for a fresh start, sort of thing?

Hi ladies

Justbeme I'm so sorry about your sad news, I can't imagine what you must be feeling - just take it one day at a time and do feel assured that your baby will be fine throughout this - they really are built to cope with every type of situation that might accost a mother in a nine-month period. Do look after yourself (for you, rather than the baby!).

Gizmo - what a positive example you are! You are right to be of course, the odds are really slim that things will be anything but fine, but not everyone would be as calm. Glad you're getting the best monitoring and care, that must be reassuring in itself.

CSWS Am onto the table booking situation, will let you know when confirmed. I'll be getting a 7am flight from Edinburgh that morning which means I dress in the dark and generally look a complete state all day so don't expect any glamour from me! Plus I haven't had my hair cut since September. Once I've booked the table I'll be in touch via real e-mail. Does anyone else think they'll be able to come along? 8pm in Hatfield area, tomorrow night, you know it makes sense ...

We just had a chance of a move to Exeter - but we passed it up. I'm beginning to wonder if we did the right thing

Yes, can someone explain how long pregnancy actually lasts to me? I have tried to work it out in passing moments, but I usually get distracted and mean to sit down with a pen and paper. What week is your due date caluclated for.

LaT now feeling her woeful ignorance.....

It took long enough to explain to DH the whole 'two weeks free' thing at he beginning of pregnancy

Is there anyone else on here is going for a VBAC? Sorry if this has already been done BTW. I can't recall!

I'm getting confused about how long a pregnancy lasts for now as well. I know I carried DD for exactly 8 months as she was conceived on 24th April and born on 24th December! So if she'd be born on her due date (15th Jan) it would have been just under 9 months since she was conceived and just over 9 months since my last period. So surely we are actually pregnant for about 9 months with an average pregnancy

gizmo I think you're right, this move could be exactly the fresh start we need. We'd been considering moving back to Scotland for some time but knew DH would struggle to find work so we'd need me to work full-time and him be a stay at home dad. This way, we get to keep things pretty much as they are but in a fresh new location.

madamefreckle glad there's been a slight thawing in the freckle household - hope things continue to improve.

LaTrucha more information on that vexed question than you could ever want can be found here

Of course as we all know the real answer to 'how long is pregnancy?' is 'About six months too bl**dy long'. Honestly sometimes I wish I was a rabbit.

justbeme so sorry to hear about your sister, I cant even imagine how I would cope with that. A close friend of mine went through the same thing a few years ago and we were just talking it the other day. She found it terribly hard to cope with but she is now actually a therapist, helping people deal with their grief(and other problems) No idea if it would be useful for you to speak to her but heres a link to her website just in case. www.eastneuktherapies.co.uk/

gizmo glad you are staying positive and the news is pretty encouraging. I really admire you as I find myself worrying over nothing all the time, such as the fact baby has been kicking less for the last couple of days than normal. I actually stay awake for some time most nights worrying about nothing

so sorry there is such a lot of sadness on this post for everyone.

I have a question and am not sure where to ask it so will ask you all. My sister has given me a pram which she kindly bought from her sister in law for me. It seems like an excellent pram/travel system but it has been stored in the loft and has mold on some bits. The moldy bits have been through the washing machine but are still visible (just a little bit). Just wondering if it is safe to put the baby in the pram/car seat? Would the mold be bad for baby or will it all be gone and just a stain left now? Was going to try lemon and salt and then sun drying (in the spring) as well but just wanted to see if it would be safe. Sorry for a very mundane worry compared to everyone elses problems. Also if I shouldnt use the pram what is a good travel system to use. Have big boot so size doesn`t matter.

goodname My pram liner also got left out in the porch after DD stopped using it and got a little bit mouldy, I've put them through the washing machine and seem and smell nice and fresh again although like yours seem to have a little staining. I'm planning to hang it out in the sunshine when we get some to try and bleach out the stains and I will use it for the new baby. I'm sure I would have been more concerned about it for my first baby though. I'm not too concerned as my plan is to have baby in the sling and DD in the buggy most of the time so the baby will not be in the pram much anyway. Sorry if that's not very helpful!

I'd try to get the stains out with sunlight, but I'm not sure I would use it if they didn't come out. I'm sure it's not dangerous really but I'm just like that. DD's older baby seat has a little bit of mould on the canopy and I've not put her in it since (although we're using a lightweight buggy now anyway), though will try the sunlight thing too.

Will investigate the 10 month thing. I must say, it's not sounding good at all!

Anyone else sleeping horribly? I have been from day 1 (almost) and I'm really fed up of it!

Yes to sleeping badly. Am either awake because I need to pee, awake because I am hungry, awake because my head is buzzing with stuff, awake cos the baby is kicking me (or awake wondering why he isn't kicking), awake with sore hips or woken up by nightmares about baby or husband dying. So basically not getting lots of sleep.
I have a really tight sharpish pain up the front of my belly just now esp when standing straight. Is that normal?

I'm raising my hand to the sleeping badly too,if its not baby kicking (which is still quite a lovely feeling!) its DS2 stirring in his cot,or the worst out the 3,its DS1 on his bloody xbox,which,incidentally,is going to end up through the window,closely followed by DS himself

goodname maybe you have pulled something? I doubt if its anything to worry about.

I think i have started nesting too,and i have developed an obsession with antibacterial wipes,i am actively seeking out places in the house where i would never dream of cleaning,or at least very rarely,i.e, skirting boards,doors,doorframes,behind the loo,i could go on! PG OCD anyone???

Hello everyone, just back from a very lovely weekend in Paris with dh - we managed to remember what it's like to be adults without small noisy appendages. Back to the grindstone this morning

I'm so sorry to read about the terrible things that some of you have been going through. justbeme - so very sad about your sister I experienced someone very close to me taking their own life a few years ago, and it just throws up such an unending series of questions and what-ifs... Fwiw, I found that counselling with Cruise (the bereavement charity) really helpful, though of course it depends on the individual counsellor. I hope you have good support to help you through this very painful time.

madamefreckle - I second what someone else said about there not being a hierarchy of misery... Glad that you and dh seem to have opened the communication lines a little - and good that he made the first move. It must be very difficult going through pregnancy and looking after a l.o. while feeling unsupported in your relationship. I hope this is the beginning of a better phase for you both. Oh, and I have been waddling for several weeks now - felt like a hippo compared to the elegant femmes de Paris!

meggymegmegs - hope you're OK.

gizmo - it sounds like the chances of everything being fine are pretty good. Serious respect for your equilibrium though.

I slept for 11 hours at a time in Paris but it was back to ds's dawn awakenings this morning. Don't seem to be suffering too badly with insomnia, though - I'm so knackered most of the time that it would take a pneumatic drill to wake me. This isn't at all how I remember the blooming stage from my first pregnancy!

'Blooming'. ROFL. This is something I do not do!

LittleRobbo - when are you and your antibacterial wipes free to visit?

Sleep would be much better if ds wasn't going through a phase of screaming all evening for reasons unknown. And last night was also interrupted twice by dd getting up, also for reasons unknown!

I wouldn't worry about a stain from mould as long as it's just a stain, and the actual mould itself has gone. Although the sunlight treatment sounds good, assuming we actually manage some sunlight before June .

georgee - justbeme is considering joining us tomorrow I think. I'll email Nizzy to check whether she's managed to free herself up too or not.

I had a much better sleep last night after DH vacated the bed to let me stretch out. Can definitely recommend it. Still knackered today though as I've slept badly for weeks and hardly at all for 3 nights before last night. Sorry to hear about your DS CSWS sounds like a nightmare. At least you can enjoy an evening off tomorrow!

I seem to bypass both the blooming and the nesting stages of pregnancy, although I think DH lives in hope that I might get some nesting instincts this pregnancy!

DH vacated our room entirely MONTHS ago. He remembers the last time I was pregnant! That's how bad I am.

We do feel a bit sad about it, then we remember what it's actually like and part company!

I don't feel sad about it at all. Quite enjoy the space! He was asking to leave at about 10 weeks this time but I made him stay a bit longer. He won't be back until the baby is in its own room either so I have quite a few months alone to look forward to. Its quite nice to invite him in in the mornings occasionally thougy

I've been sleeping appallingly too (weeing an average of five times, hip pain, back pain, general itchiness of skin) with last night being the one blessed exception, we both slept amazingly well. I think it was because I weed not at all because we had quite a salty dinner (it was this paprika chicken and rice recipe with bacon and olives). Can't imagine that level of saltiness would be good for me or the baby on a long-term basis though so I'd better not do that too often - hey ho!

At present DH won't countenance sleeping apart (after all, we've only been married four months), but I can see that when I'm bigger and it's like having a grumpy whale in the bed he might change his mind ...

Found a mould solultion greensnail, apparently soaking in milton sterilizing fluid gets rid of mould stains without damaging fabric. Am trying it now, will let you know if it works.

Ooh, great tip thanks, will wait and see how you get on before buying some milton!

LittleRobbo - I think I've got a lazy variety of PG OCD - Like never before I see dust and grime everywhere but it's only in the kitchen and the bathroom that my Dettol spray sees serious amounts of action. It's as if pregnancy not only enhances sense of smell (the 'spicy bean' thing I made last night actually smelled of dog food therefore inedible to me) but also the brain's grime receptors.

I'm still sleeping pretty well - except it can be hard to get back to sleep if ds wakes up having lost his teddy (for the umpteenth time). DP and I have not slept in the same bed for ages - mostly due to the friction between us(mental not physical ) - but I definitely sleep better on my own. Sad but true!

Hi - all being well, I would like to join the meet up, seeing as its only down the road from where I live!! Ive FB'd CSWS my mobile number in case you all decide to abandon ship,as I wont want to be billy no mates!
We had about an inch of snow here today, but it melted by the afternoon.