**August 2010** Part 6!! Starting to show with gusto now ladies.

[CherryPie3]

Thread 6.

You lot talk too much.....

Happy chatting

what with FB and MN I am surprised that I have time in the evening to do anything!!

Hi coffeelady, and welcome to fb too - I accepted your friend request this morning!

Well, I'm slightly miffed this morning. No work today as I have an exam this afternoon (aaaarrrgggghhhh) for my MA (last one though....hurrah!) but I woke up before DH's alarm at 5.30am. Very annoying considering I have to drag myself out of bed almost every morning for work . I blame blummin house negotiations, which have been going on for over a week now. Cash buyer came in yesterday and has upped the house price by £15k so far. Full and final offer going in this morning so keep your fingers crossed for me ladies! Quite a big day all round I suppose. I just hope I don't get bad news before my exam otherwise I'll be sitting there sobbing trying to write about HR strategy while all the young and green students look at me like I'm a mad woman, although I'm used to that by now!

That's the hardest thing I'm struggling to cope with - being so emotional. I don't think DH has ever seen me cry (other than at sloppy films) and it's an almost daily occurrence at the moment!

I went to the docs about the dizziness, v strong heart beat, plapitations etc on Friday. He told me all is well and that anxiety is a big issue for me at the mo, considering I've got the house buying, MA and work to contend with at the moment. I would definately tell your MW for anyone else who's suffering it (I can't remember who mentioned it, sorry) so they know, but I suspect it's the normal stuff, as I've been told. I MUST try to calm down and de-stress, but I'm sure we all know that's easier said than done! I just keep counting down to the end of July, when hopefully I won't be homeless any more, my dissertation will be submitted and I'll be on mat leave. I plan to do jigsaw's, go for long walks and eat cake.....before madness ensues!

Anyhoo, wish me luck for today and I'll update you all tonight.

Have a great day girlies xx

Morning all!

Seem to be feeling better this morning ladies, feeling relitavely normal at the moment anyway! Going to give going to work a try!

Tried to persuade DH about these lovely 4D scans again last night! Still having none of it! Help me out with some more persuasive argument ladies! Haha!

Glad you've been reassured by the GP Hilda - hopefully all the stress will be gone soon! Lots of luck for your exam today and for good news on the house!

Chulita - sorry to hear of your friend. I can't imagine how they must be feeling, what a heartbreaking situation.

Star - hope your little girl gets to see the consultant regarding her fits soon. It must be so frightening to witness a seizure as a parent - seeing them at work every day upsets me enough when they are full on ones.

Hope everyone has a good day! I better go shower and dress! Running late but gave myself a "lie in" this morning to make sure I felt better before I rushed up. (7 instead of 6am)

Ok so I'm not going to work because my DH has finally seen sense after much guilt tripping from me and his sister laying into him last night. We're going to the hospital and bypassing waiting on the GP referral (as they are obviously useless at it and don't refer properly) regarding this lack of sensation/feeling issue. (Currently can't stand up for longer than 10 mins, having to tense to stay stood up cuz can't feel his chest, stomach or lower back, or feet and can't use his hands properly. e.g. cant use a knife and fork properly anymore, can't open jars, bottles, keeps dropping everything.)

DH attitude is still if the GP thought it was serious enough they would've sent him in already and that we are all fussing, but he can't go on like this, it isn't normal, especially for a 29 yr old man! I've lost absolutely all faith with the GP. And GP's can make the wrong call. So I'm making my call, and my gut instinct is a month is long enough to be feeling like this without any tests being done, and hopefully somebody will order some tests at the hospital today and we can start getting to the bottom of it. If they are not interested I'll try a stressed pregnant wife approach.

Our baby will be here in 12 weeks and she needs her Daddy fighting fit. He wouldn't be able to hold her they way he is now.

So I'll update you all later!

Hey ladies!

Glad to hear people are feeling better, including your dd Star. That must have been scary!

Hilda Loads of luck for today, fingers crossed the house is yours!! And I'm sure you'll ace your exam!!

Chulita So sad for your friend, I really hope they get their miracle!!

Got to admit I'm a little bit of these 4D scans. I decided not to have one as I didn't have them in my other pregnancies and I want to have the same things to show them when they're older (me being OTT I think but hey!)
Will console myself by looking at all yours

Well I went to the consultant yesterday and what a faff that was! No-one told me they'd moved buildings So I hobbled over to where I thought it was (about a million miles from carpark of course!), to be greeted by a sign that says "good news, we've moved! We're now on floor D of the new hospital"

Floor D is the top floor - who's idea was that? . So got to the top floor and theres nothing there except white corridors. No signs as yet you see!! So I toolf a guess and turned right when I got out the lift - must have been the longest corridor in the history of the world, honestly. Imagine having to walk down it when you're in the throes of labour (the MLU is also down there). Eventually found it. my appointment was 14:10, I was seen by cons at 15:15 . Anyway, my blood pressure is waaaaaayyyy up again, got headaches and also flashy spots in front of my eyes so they wanted to keep me in. I said no!! But I have to go to the hospital every week now to be monitored, they had me on the CTG and everything .
Twas not fun at all, it was scary. The consultant was talking about what would happen if baby had to be delivered now .

And then I fell down the stairs this morning (only 3 or 4). Pelvis screaming at me, feeling sicks as a dog and have got the period stylee cramps again, will call hospital if they get worse. Sometimes I wonder why I bother getting out of bed - I'm a walking disaster!!!

I hope all you ladies have better days

CazEm Thank god your dh has agreed to go. Sounds like he needs you to do the talking tho hun, he sounds a little in denial of how serious it all is?

You hit the nail on the head tho, your little girl will be here in 3 short months and he will not want to miss any part of it through being ill.

Something is obviously wrong and needs looking at sooner rather than later!!

Good Luck

chulita for sling advice check out www.thebabywearer.com. Pretty sure they have a really good comparison page.

Good luck today Hilda! Fingers crossed for you.

Cherry I sincerely hope you are NOT at work young lady. Your body and that little baby are telling you to SLOW DOWN! Start listening woman! seriously sweetheart, please be careful!

Feeling all serene this morning after yoga last night. I adore my yoga teacher and we had a lovely energising class last night followed by some beautiful relaxation. Going to make more of an effort to do some yoga every day - I always feel so much better afterwards.

Another busy day at work for me but the sun is shining, so it doesn't feel so bad

CazEm good luck at the hospital! Hope it all goes well.

Blueberries I must confess I am at work, but only because the cramps/sicky feeling didn't start until I got here. Thats why I'm watching them - have told everyone here that I may need to leave and although they're not exactly fine with it I've told them it's not negotiable.

If these cramps carry on, I'm off up the motorway to pick up dh and we're off to hospital again, hopefully not to have a baby!!!

CazEm how stubborn is your DH?? Good on you for taking him to the hospital, and don't let them fob you off!!

cherry you need to relax, your body's obviously needing you to put your feet up. Hope everything calms down for you. Hope your baby stays put a bit longer!

I was fine this morning but went for a blood test early to see why I keep feeling dizzy and nearly fainted. Ever since I've been feeling cold/sick/dizzy - I'm never this bad but I just feel rubbish and DD's being full-on.

blueberries thanks for the link, I'll have a look.

CazeM that sounds incredibly frightening. I hope you get someone sensible at the hospital and all is OK.

cherry take care of yourself - hope you're doing better soon. Makes me quite irritated about all the monitoring I am having to have - I know they are just being cautious, but it seems to me that it is wuite clear when there is a problem which needs monitoring (as in your position) and when there is just over-reaction (as with me)!

GYA - I think we're both Discovery H&H addicts!!

Chulita please post back your conclusions on the infant insert. I have the ergo with infant insert which I understand can be used for bf but I was always torn since most people go with the stretch slings for bf which I don't like the idea of. Close baby does will in comparison charts but has some bad reviews especially for summer babies/smaller ladies as there is reams of material.

cramos still there, tummy tightening with them

rung the hospital and I've got to go in, hope they don't want me overnight...

Thought I'd let you all know before I toddle off on my merry way...

good luck cherry and tell that baby to stay put x

Gosh, good luck Cherry - I've got my fingers crossed for you.

And also for you Caz - I hope you're DH is okay and you can some proper answers about this.

Was coming onto Mumsnet for a good old moan, but my pathetic problem has been well and truly put into perspective.

I will ask a quick question though - our new place is infested with moths and the property management people are (supposed to be) getting someone in to fumigate. Does anyone know if I should avoid sleeping in the place for a while, in case the chemicals are bad for the baby?

well ladies, it's taken me all morning to catch up on what I've missed, but don't ask me to remember specifics!

aussieng I'm no sure what you mean about lambskin.. is that merino wool? It was Merino kids that the swaddling is from... excellent product although I've not actually used it yet, so can't really comment, but can't wait till LO is all cozied up in in

cherry hope your ok chick.. will keep an eye out on your Fbook updates

If it's ok with everyone I will now make the fbook group secret, so if anyone wants to join drop me a line and I'll let you know how to find us

Hope everyone is doing ok despite the aches/pains & general grumbles...a lot of you seem to be having a hard time at the moment - poor wee things.

I'm 24 weeks tomorrow - wooopee! and feeling great, really think excersising is helping, I'm doing my pregnancy yoga dvd, aquanatal and swimming, and occasionally using the cross trainer in the gym.

love to all xxx

Oh cherry good luck honey - you stay put where you are little-cherry!

question for your knowledgable ladies:

I'm planning to breast feed as long as I can but want to be able to express as I may have to be away for the day etc.

I'm not sure wether to get the kit just now or wait? or indeed what I need. I've got on my list:

1 breast pump
(looking at medela swing)

2 bottles
(to start with)

pack of milk savers

steraliser

with regards to a steraliser, what would you reccomend. My DH is always worried about putting plastic in the microwave, as something to do with the chemicals so I'm not sure about a microwave seraliser... do you have to get one that works with specific bottles.. e.g. if you get a tommee tippee steraliser do you have to get their bottles?

obviously this stuff isn't cheap so I don't want to buy the wrong things! any advice would be much appreciated

Good luck cherry! mrsZac I've got the Medela Harmony and it worked really well for me. I usually expressed about once every other day, DD went through phases of breast refusal so I'd be expressing every feed for 3-4 days. Manual was quick for me (I tried an electric Avent one but it was soooo slow!) We have a small microwaveable Tommee Tippee box that we used most of the time, but also a huge one that didn't fit in the microwave but I used sterilising solution and changed it every evening when I was expressing a lot.
I had the Tommee Tippee closer to nature bottles, 1 tiny one and 2 bigger ones.
I froze milk in bags but you can equally put it in ice cube trays inside a plastic bag and pop them out into the bag once they've frozen - saves money on bags!
If you have a local breastfeeding support group they often lend out breastpumps, worth checking out if there's one near you. (We lend out these awesome pumps that I've never used but they look impressive!)
Sorry it's so long, HTH!

Can't help with the moth thing nat but I hope it gets sorted - I don't mind them from a distance but they're so fluttery up close!

thank you so much chulita that's very helpful I didn't think about the manual being more effective than the electric... did anyone else find that?

Cherry fingers crossed for you today .

MrsZac I would say there's no harm getting a couple of bottles and a steriliser now, as there's pretty much no doubt that you'll need them at some point. Personally I found a microwaveable steriliser wonderful - very easy to use, and you can stick other things in there to sterilise as well (e.g. dummies). I had the Avent one, as I was using Avent bottles. I don't think you need the specific steriliser for the make of bottle, but you're probably more likely to be able to fit more bottles in it if you do get the same make.

On the breast pump, though, I would personally recommend waiting a bit, just to see how bf'ing goes first. You're unlikely to want to express for the first couple of weeks anyway (unless the 'normal' way isn't working), and that will give you a chance to see how you're getting along. And if you're able to try out a couple of pumps, once you get started, then so much the better. I inherited a manual pump and bought a Medela one, and I never got anywhere with either of them. (Yes, I had lots of problems generally with bf'ing, but I still regret buying the pump too soon.)

Hello everyone! Just wanted to drop in and see how everyone was - it's been v manic in RL for me over the last few weeks, nothing bad just stupidly busy.

Have skimmed over the last page and hope that you're going to be ok Cherry, am keeping everything crossed for you.

Must dash but will be back soon, take care everybody. I've missed you all

MrsZ can i join the new FB please I got a great deal at Toys r us the other day. It was a tommee tippee electric steam steriliser, 8 bottles, extra teats, milk powder pots, electric bottle warmer, bottle brush etc half price, so £60 instead of £120! I had a manual pump last time but did a lot of expressing so got through a couple. Planning on getting an electric one this time if i need to express as much. The Surestart Childre's centres loan them out FOC.

Evening ladies!

Cherry - I really hope you and baby are ok!!! Thinking of you...

DH saga continues. I'm very disapointed with the NHS at the moment. Completely lost faith and feel really deflated. A+E Drs did what they called some 'gross neurological tests' (by gross I don't think they meant disgusting, I think they meant broad) - poked him with paper clips to determine sensation etc and that was about it. Said they couldn't determine what was the root cause of the problem (funnily enough from poking somebody with a paper clip I wouldn't expect them to be able to!!!) and that they didn't think it was anything really urgent or life threatning so his best bet would be to wait on the neurology appointment (which would be in Cardiff, not Newport where we were today), and to keep pressuring the GP to ensure an urgent referral has been made, get seen within the next two weeks etc.

Basically I don't think they were very interested. A little pregnant wife routine made no difference. How bad does it have to get then? Till he loses all hand function completely? or can't stand up anymore before anyone takes any real notice? So we wait another 2 weeks, by then baby is due in 10. And who knows what he'll be like in another 2 weeks.

Completely deflated. What else can I do? I finally made him go (after much guilt tripping) somewhere where I thought they would move it on at a quicker pace for us and take it more seriously instead of just 'referring' and they've basically said the same thing as GP. I suppose I should be glad they don't think he is in any danger, but I'm so worried and wished the Drs who we have to put our complete trust in shared my sense of urgency. There obviously something wrong with him. I wish we could afford to go privately after today.

Alice - I think my FIL bought us a simular kit. Tommee Tippee starter kit thing. He got it from Argos though. I don't intend to use it until we start expressing or if BF doesn't work out for us, but I thought it good to have it there just incase, and I will definately express after a while so DH can be involved in feeding her too, so the kit will defo get used. Interesting about electric pump not being as good as manual. A manual one came as part of the kit so I was going to see how I got on with that before investing in electric...

Hilda - hope your exam went well.

Ok so car seats - ours hasn't got a head hugger. See here - www.mamasandpapas.com/product-primo-viaggio-ip-mimi-isofix-compatible/419218700/type-i/

How essential are they? Experienced Mummies - does the seat look like it will support her head enough as it is or should I get a head hugger insert thing or a little neck support cushion thing for when baby is tiny?

Really hope Cherry is ok!

Ladies... sorry not got time to post really (will explain all the middle of next week.... and Cherry good luck sweetie....

But can someone please explain to me how I can join the FB group?

Thanks! xxx

Cherry - I hope you are OK and not having your baby...but how exciting if you are we are off the starting posts

Caz -men are crap but so is the NHS. AfterDH had his head injury in America I had to call in some HUGE favours from friends to get him seen on the NHS as the best doctor doesn't do private... really badger your GP acoording to my friends when I was fighting for DP they realy do hold the power in their hands