June is approaching, the end is in sight, time to sort our lady gardens so the midwives don't get a fright - Due June 2010

[ConservativesShouldWinSurely]

30/05 GoodName, 31, #1 BOY
31/05 RnB, 31, #3
31/05 dinosaurinmybelly (DIMB), 37, #3 GIRL
31/05 - mampam, 30 #3
31/05 - minimoonumbertwo, 33, #2, BOY
1st - Appu, #1 Girl
1st - ELM, 29, #2
1st - whenwillisleepagain, 42 #2
1st - PogueMahone, 36, #3 SURPRISE
1st - madamefreckle, 34,#2 GIRL
2nd - meggymegmegs, 31, #1 SURPRISE
2nd - Justbeme , 41 #3
2nd - AlwaysHopeful, 35, #2 SURPRISE
2nd - roundabout1, no 2,
3rd - nickytwotimes, 35, #2
3rd - Jenba, ?, #3
3rd - Flossysmum, #4
3rd - marmiteaddict, 31, #1 SURPRISE
7th - MrsC09, 29 #1 SURPRISE
7th - perkster, no 1, SURPRISE
7th - Zeel, #1
8th - LittleRobbo, 35, #3 GIRL
8th - Saucepanman, 31, #4
8th - MrsAlwaysRight 31, #2
9th - greensnail, 28, #2 SURPRISE
9th - Boobz, 30, #2 SURPRISE
9th - Petitfilou, ?, 1
11th - shipsladyg GIRL
11th - woofie, 33, # 2 BOY
12th - Georgee, 38, #1 GIRL
12th - Elena67, 43 #1
13th - sobloodystupid, 34, #3
13th - WaiteH, no 1
14th - Fillybuster, 36, #3 - NOT TELLING!
15th - Ponymum, 41, # 2
15th - Millymollymoo, ?, #4 BOY
16th - NizzyNoodles, 35, #3 BOY
16th - Flossie69, 40,#2
17th - Bluesnowfalcon 28 #1 BOY
17th - Summerhols, 31, #1
17th - Barbeasty, 31, #1 GIRL
17th - chestnut100,30 #1 GIRL
17th - LateforWork,#1, SURPRISE
17th - Plum100, #3, SURPRISE
18th - Virgo1979, SURPRISE
18th - theperfectbaguette 34 #1
21st - Gizmo, 40, #3 GIRL
21st - Bubs1,?,SURPRISE
21st - Sunworshipper, 36, #1
22nd - gaelicsheep, 33, #2 - NOT TELLING
23rd - Bobolana, 29 #1 GIRL
24th - GibberingGinger 34 #2+3 BOYS
24th - lifeinthesun #2 BOY
25th - Ilovemyterrier, 38 #1 BOY
26th - herewegrow 31 #2 GIRL
26th - imkeepingmum, #1, SURPRISE
27th - muchchocolate, #2
28th - Wheredidmyfeetgo 32 #3
29th - CantSleepWontSleep, 36, #3, SURPRISE
29th - MrsDmamee #3
29th - playftseforme, 36, #2+3 BOYS
30th - MonkeyMargot, 36, #2+3 SURPRISE
30th - LaTrucha, 36, #2 BOY
30th - NotGrownUpEnough, 29, # 1, SURPRISE
30th - EssieM, 37, #1, SURPRISE
30th - Monthlymayhem, No.2, BOY

greensnail my 18.5 month old DD absolutely loves Lego - you can buy the Duplex kind suitable from 18 months+ and it's a real hit.

Alternatively, BabyTV on Sky is always good!

Congrats to all the new babies! Can hardly keep up. And such quick labours!

RnB at least you have more time for labour to kick off naturally.

ooh, fab idea CSWS. I bet she'd love a kitchen. Will have to have a bit of a clear out to convince DH we have the space for one though! CBeebies does work very well, must try to stop feeling bad about having it on so much at the moment. Drives me a bit bonkers after a while too.

Well still at home. Still contracting but every 7-11 minutes now. Seem to be varying in intensity though. Am managing just to breathe through them at the mo.

Have had a curry for dinner as didn't think DH would refuse to buy one while I'm in labour

Not sure whether to try and get some sleep although don't think its that likely or whether to just stay up and see what happens.

Am worrying that when I do go in they will tell me I'm only a 1-2 cm's dilated compared to 4cm when in labour with DD and unsure if it was the real thing!

Had loads more clear mucus about 9pm (sorry if TMI) so hopefully thats a good sign.

How are you now MrsAlwaysRight? Hope things have progressed overnight & you are now well on your way.

Congrats MrsC09 on the birth of Rufus!

Re your utility room earlyonemorning - would you like to come and do mine??!! The whole nesting thing has somewhat passed me by

The nesting bit seems to have passed me by too Jo maybe it's something in the name as I am a Jo too! Did have high hopes of attacking the bathroom and scrubbing tiles today but got to go and stay at my mums as my grandad is in hospital and they've got to go there while I stay at theirs waiting for the roofers.

Anyway I guess there is still morra to clean bathroom tiles - I've gotta see midwife again on Sunday and she's said about a stretch and sweep the following saturday when I'll be 4 days overdue.

Glad everyone else is still getting on ok and that there are lots of people contracting and having babies! I can't wait for my turn and to hold baby

Morning ladies.

Lets hope that MrsAlwaysRight?s silence means she busy having baby or looking after new born. I love reading about people's progress!

I am 39+4 today and starting to get v. impatient, I think my DH was relieved to go back to work after the weekend as I was bugging him going 'I'm bored....lets do something'. I made him play scrabble with me yesterday instead of watching the football .

So any suggestions on how to pass the time or let me know what you guys are doing. Don?t suggest cleaning as all done, though I keep on hovering for some reason? So far today I have the following organised...going to the charity shop to take old bits and bobs in and plant some tomatoes, cucumbers and corgets. Woo hoo that?ll be exciting [going slightly stir crazy emotion].

Come on baby!!!!

Echoing Summerhols", come on baby. Nada happening here, will schedule curry for tonight. Dying to hear about MrsAlwaysRight*

Good luck MrsAR,can't wait to hear some baby news from you.

Congratulations to MrsC09.

It seems really strange reading about all of you who are still PG, seems like ages ago that I was, although Tilly's only 17 days old!!

I wonder how many babies we can get born before we have to start a new thread?

Not much to report here, I'm on 2 lots of antibiotics for my wound infection and possible infection in my uterus. Have been given pills to help lactation but so far haven't needed them........(hopefully) Tilly and I seem to have finally got the hang of this breast feeding malarky!! I'm walking around rattling like an old pill bottle, still a little sore but apart from that feel great and just to top it off I'm back into my jeans today

Good luck to all of you who are due any minute now, look forward to hearing your news. xx

Summerhols, any cooking to do if you're into that sort of thing? Have been baking myself but DH has nearly eaten it all so time to make something else I think. Also cooking stuff for the freezer. I technically have plenty to keep me occupied as am studying for a degree so no excuses! However I'm also in come on baby mode!

madamefreckle - I'm in a similar position to you, having been booked in for induction on Wednesday. I've decided to go for a sweep today (I'm 41+3) just to see if that gets things going!

Have you decided what to do/whether to delay?

Hi all

Another one waiting here. 40 + 2 at the moment and very little sign that things will happen soon. I too have done all the cleaning I can do. Personally, today I am online shopping and I might take a long walk to see if that will make a difference! I'm getting a lot of DVDs through LoveFilm and they always make me cry, no matter what type of film they are! Quite enjoying having the outlet though - sometimes it does seem a bit overwhelming that currently I'm not a mum, that I may well be within a couple of weeks, and that then, life will be changing beyond recognition!

Congratulations to all those with recent arrivals!

I'll race you, Georgee! I'm trying to maintain a sense of zen calm but it's eluding me... I knew it wouldn't be on time and yet I made sure everything was ready for Saturday so now I am passing the time drumming my fingers on the table and prodding the bump, which is fairly quiet, just to add to my galloping neurosis!
I might take up your idea of a walk - even if it doesn't work, it'll please the dog.

Well, 40 weeks today and no sign of any movement here at the moment, although I had an optimistic hour or so when I woke up with lower back pains at 6am

Greensnail, the ELC has a small 'foldaway' kitchen (its a box that opens up, about 20cm x 30) which is totally fab and come with 'food' and pans etc. We bought it for DS when he was 18 months, as we didn't have room for a free standing kitchen and weren't sure how much he would use it. We open it up on the coffee table so its at standing height. Needless to say, its probably been the most played with toy (apart from his garage) with both dcs so far...and even though its fairly small, its big enough for 2 to play with at once. Best of all, it goes away when they finish with it I think it was about £20 but that was 3 years ago...they definitely still have them.

Mampam, glad the feeding is going well, hope the infections clear soon....am very at you wearing your old jeans tho

Summerhols, gardening (well, as much as I can - basically trying to keep stuff watered and the slugs off my potatoes) and cooking here. Thats about the sum of it, I'm afraid!

I must admit that my 'nesting' doesn't extend to cleaning, tidying or anything especially useful. I probably should do some real cooking now that there is freezer space post-dh's party but feel very uninspired today....think I'm going to have a very quiet one I've got a pedicure booked for later this afternoon, am going with my DM, so that should be fun...have bought some very silly new colours for my toes from Urban Decay using my Boots points so am trying to decide whether I should go shocking pink or tangerine

mampam glad the feeding's going well now. Is great to be back in your old clothes isn't it. I had to go and buy some new stuff as my pre pregnancy trousers are mostly too big now

Have had a great morning with as we went to messy play at the children's centre and DD1 seemed almost back to her usual self. She spent quite a bit of time with the play kitchen there though, so off to look at the elc website now for the fold up kitchen. Great tip, thanks fillybuster

I'd opt for the shocking pink filly!

Mampam - So pleased things sound like they're going well with Tilly and despite your infections you sound brilliantly upbeat! The jeans thing would be enough to put a big smile on my face! - I really doubt I'll be back in my normal jeans before June 2011.

Suzy1975 Hope your sweep was ok. My second one was AWFUL and actually the midwife couldn't even do it despite being horrifically rough with me.

I am still undecided about my induction tomorrow. I'm hoping (probably in vain) that I'll go into labour tonight then i won't have to make that decision. Otherwise, I think I'll probably ring the hosp in the morning, say I want to delay it but still ask to go in for monitoring and a proper consultation about it to put my mind at rest. If they think everything's ok, I'll possibly book in again for Friday or Saturday in the hopes that it happens spontaneously before then.

The worst bit of all this waiting is how it's affecting ds. We were fully expecting the baby to arrive at some point while my mum was staying here to look after him, so he was convinced it was going to happen (we didn't say that it would but he definitely senses the anticipation). He's gone really clingy over the past week or two, screams when I drop him off at nursery and I think he's just finding all the uncertainty, anticipation and comments from friends and family very off-balancing. Maybe that's an argument for having the induction tomorrow - I can just say that I'm off to have the baby and then do just that - no more uncertainty. Except...I just don't want an induction!!

madamefreckle Well, I went for the sweep but the midwife said my cervix was too far back/posterior to reach, so it was a failed attempt, I'm afraid. Found myself blubbing not because the 'rummaging' hurt but because I'd built everything up into being a big deal and felt scared! God knows how I'm going to cope when things really start to kick off

Hopefully, we'll both go into labour tonight or, in my case, tomorrow! Good luck!

Congrats to all mums on the new arrivals!!!

Grrr

MW came today- Gabriel only put 20g on since Thurs despite some mammoth feeding sessions. She was still concerned re jaundice- I declined to be referred to jaundice clinic. However since her visit he has been v sleepy so I asked my mum to get some advice- she works at the hospital where I delivered, and very closely with Head of Midwifery and Paeds. They said it would be a good idea to be checked, so we are heading back there this evening, with him and me possibly staying in. No idea what to expect, dreading it. V v upset. Oh and he has thrush to boot

Sorry to hear that saucepanman. At least he has put on some weight, better than losing weight. I know you don't want to be back in hospital with Gabriel, but at least you would be getting the best advice there (i hope), rather than differing advice from different midives.

Good luck and keep us posted. I'll be thinking of you.

saucepanman - in terms of what to expect, I had to pop back to the hospital with dd due to her jaundice not clearing up, and they did a heel prick on her to test her blood (a very botched heel prick in our case with too many staff members who didn't have a clue what they were doing ), but didn't readmit her. Hope that Gabriel is discharged after a quick once over too.

Hi Ladies,

Well after deciding to go to bed about midnight on Sunday I felt and heard a pop about 1am and then lost a small amount of water. Nothing happened for about 15 mins then contractions really intensified and were every 5 mins or so.

Called the Midwife led unit who said to come straight in. Quickly finished flinging a few last minute things into hospital bag. Threw up, jumped in car and got to hospital in about 15 mins after having about 5 contractions on route. Arrived at about 2.15am.

Blood pressure checked as soon as I got there as has been at high end of normal all the way through. Was 160 something over 90 something so quite high. Midwife called main hospital who said I should transfer there but to check how dilated I was first. Contractions about every 2 mins at this point.

Was 8cm's already so midwife said I wasn't going anywhere which I was relieved about as didn't fancy 20-25 mins in car or ambulance!

Almost straight away I started feeling urge to push so they started filling birth pool. Midwife didn't usually work at that unit so couldn't find anything! Managed to climb into pool only to find the thermometer was faulty and the water was far too hot to have baby in so had to stand in it until they got enough cold water in to bring temperature down.

Baby Alice Rose arrived 4 minutes later at 3.18am weighing in at 9lb 7oz! All very surreal as happened so quick at the end after a very drawn out start. Total labour timed at 2 hours 40 mins - 1hr 55 mins 1st stage, 20 something mins second stage and 20 something mins 3rd stage.

Had 2nd degree tear which required a few stitches but nothing major. Was home just after 9.30am this morning.

DD1 was so excited to meet her new little sister and ran round saying "Baby is sooooo sweet!"

Both girls are currently asleep, I'm chilling on the sofa having just scoffed a massive Wispa bar!

Sorry for massive essay but thought I would write it all down while its still fresh in my mind.

Sorry for being lame and not keeping up with the thread - had good intentions but life with 14 mo old DD (Penny) got in the way towards the end. I have been updating on the homebirther's thread, but in case anyone is interested, here we go...

Constance (Connie) Ella Reed's entrance:

DH and I got some action in on Monday night last week (a week ago today), to try and encourage the baby out, and straight afterwards I got mild period type pains which came and went during the night, but nothing to get excited about. At noon the next day I went for a MW appointment and she did a vigorous sweep (at 39+6, which was early but we wanted to maximise the chances of getting baby out with DH still in the country -- he is going back to Sudan on the 24th) and I started cramping later that evening. Woke up on Wednesday morning and we went out for the dog walk as normal at 8am and by the time we got back to the house at 9am, I definitely started to suspect I was having mild contractions. By the time we got to soft play with DD, I had the tens machine on and was having to stop what I was doing to have each contraction, but they were totally fine at this stage. Got some funny looks from the other mums at soft play: me with a tens hanging around my neck and leaning against chairs every 10 minutes!

We got home around 11:30am and the cleaner arrived (oh good ? a nice clean house for baby to arrive in!) and we went out for another long walk with the dog and DD ? the dog barks at the hoover otherwise, so we have to get her out of the house on cleaner days. Ctx were now every 7 or 8 mins and I had ramped up the tens to 5 out of a possible 15 in strength.

We walked for about 45 mins and the ctx suddenly started to come much quicker ? maybe every 3 or 4 mins, and quite a bit more intense. We got caught in a down-pour ? very atmospheric, DD and the hound wondering what on earth was going on as I had to stop walking every 3 mins to lean on a post or a garden wall! Eventually got back to the house at 1:30pm and we decided to call the MW as they were getting quite close together now and I was starting to need to moo through each one.

MW came at 2:30 and examined and I was 4cm ? woop woop! Compared to last time, it took me 3 days and nights to get to 4cm, so the relief was immense! She said she would stay, and a student MW was with her, and I was her first homebirth! She was really lovely ? very relaxing but enthusiastic at the same time. DH took DD to a friend?s house and then the Ctx started coming at a rate of knots and I asked whether I could have gas and air but was gently encouraged to try a bit longer without, so I didn?t have any until I got in the pool at about 4pm. Chugged my way through it, and then suddenly we ran out and the next canister that was dropped off was faulty (!!) so I was told I?d have to wait until the second MW arrived before I could have any more. An hour passed with maybe 15 ctx in that time, and I screamed the house down ? giving DH and the MWs evils that I was having to cope on my own. All the ?I can?t do this ? please help me? moans came out... poor DH was not allowed to leave my side for that hour, but when the second MW arrived at about 6:30, I got my gas and I chilled out a bit (still howling though!) Waters went in the pool, got out and was examined and was 8cm... didn?t get back in the pool at this point.. was about 6:50 when I started to want to push, which I did (and was a lot easier than with DD!) and out she plopped at 7:06pm! Quite a lot quicker than the first time around, thank the lord!

Placenta delivered with injection 5 mins later, and Connie was feeding within minutes (and fed for ages!) so all fabulous in the end. I was still shell shocked when she arrived, despite being much more awake this time around.

DH went and got DD from our friend?s house and we all piled into bed together, but in the end, DH and Penny slept in one bed and me and Connie in the other for our first night ? which was lovely.

DH was amazing, again, and Connie is a little star (a bit of a puker) but a total darling ? we?re all smitten!
A little video has been put together by DH (no gory bits, promise) which is the first 18 hours of Connie?s life. Hope the link works (it might take a minute or two to buffer).

Connie's birth

Hope that wasn?t too long and detailed... am planning to go back and read everyone else's birth stories over the weekend when DD is being entertained by someone else! Good luck to those still to pop...

fillybuster - you would be proud - I baked a cake today, my Dh was v. impressed when he arrive home. Though it did not rise very well but still seems to be very tasty.

Hope all Ok saucepanman and I hope that madamfreckle and suzy go into labour tonight!

Woohoo - congratulations MrsAlwaysRight and welcome Alice Rose! Another weighty baby for the thread!

Well I had my final scan today and all fine. Baby still head down, and they measured it a bit smaller than the last scan (not actually smaller, but lower centile iyswim). They are prepared not to push me yet to be induced (anytime from 38 weeks is normal with GD), on condition that I go for a trace on the baby's heart this friday and again next Friday, and then I go back to clinic in 2 weeks at 39+6 to review the situation. A bit of a pain, but have managed to arrange some childcare so that I can go in for the traces, and the dc will just have to come with me to the next clinic appt if necessary (dh will be back then, but should be working from home).

Wow Boobz! Impressed that you have been organised enough to not only video stuff, but get it all edited and onto youtube already! Lovely to watch . Congratulations on Connie's arrival. Another great name choice too (Constance will be middle name here in the event of this being a girl).