July 2010: We’re ready to drop; Not long to go until we pop!

[DesperateHousewife21]

Possibly our last ante-natal thread ladies!

Spent the evening embroidering baby clothes, no strictly necessary, but very cute. If it turns out to be a boy we might have a problem though...

DS stayed up until 9pm playing in the sand whilst we watched cricket at school. It was so light we didn't realise what time it was until 8.30pm, then it took 30mins to get him bathed, milked, and into bed.

Good news is that it's 9am and he's still asleep! Might have to do this more often!

Still pretty shattered though as DS gets night terrors when he is over tired, so we spent half the night trying to wake him up. DH ended up sleeping on the floor in his room so he could gently poke him as soon as they start.

We won a cot and change table on eBay (mum picked them up as she lives closer) and won't be seeing them for two weeks. My mum says the runners are broken and you can't put anything in the drawers as they just fall out. She has been to diy shop and bought new runners (12 in total) and is fitting them, which seems to be working. What kind of feedback would you leave?

It's a bit difficult, because I haven't even seen them, but I'm annoyed that she didn't mention all 6 drawers are unuseable.

rant cont................................
I think you go through a stage in ur relationship where you work a lot of stuff out, that was about 8-9 years ago for us and i remember it well. I stopped doing his clothes washing and outlined some definate jobs for him one of them being taking the kitchen bin out if it was full. One day the bin was overflowing so i took the bag out and put it on his computer chair before he came home. he was really really mad and launched the bag half way up the garden!! But it made my point! I didnt do ANY of his washing for years and if he ran out of clothes it was his fault. I worked more hours than him and put the same amount of money towards the house and bills so why should I take the lions share of the house work simply because Im a woman. Things are changing now of course but I told him the other day, if im going to take on more in the house i expect my car cleaned inside and out at least once a month if not more!! I sound like a cow but he would get away with doing exactly what he wants if it was up to him.

Gracie I would re read the ad for them, she may say something ambiguous. She really should have mentioned that they were in need or some repair, i dont think its right that she didnt, i would leave honest feedback.

Morning all,

I had an awful nights sleep last night. I got to sleep ok around 11 but woke every couple of hours for the toilet and at around 2am it was so stifling hot I had to put our ceiling fan on, then woke a couple of hours later for the toilet again and had to turn the fan off!

Its another lovely sunny day today so going to sit in the park with my friend and have a little picnic type lunch, very much looking forward to it!

wwsw good luck to you if it is all happening, very exciting

Also had awful BHs last night, DP and I had sex and have read you can get them after having sex but these were the worst Ive ever had, they eased off a bit when I laid on my side.

I still havent finished packing my hospital bag that was my aim for last week as I posted on here lol, will def try to do it this week!

viksam The hospital list (I'll get onto husbands later)
For me
Nightie x3
Drinks and snacks (caprisun, cereal bars and bananas)
Maternity pads
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shower gel
Deodarent
Dark towel
Lipsalve
Hairbrush and elastic
Camera
Book and magazine
Knickers
Bra
T-shirt
Slippers
Notes

For baby
Cotton wool
Nappies
Vest x3
Sleepsuit x3
Scratch mits
Blanket
Vasaline
Muslins
Red book
Car seat in car (obv)

I've added a few things I missed off the original list - I think I have covered everything?

Morning all! I hope everyone has a good day today. It was a bit warm last night for my taste, I had trouble sleeping. I might indulge in a nap this afternoon, since I have nothing really planned for today.

Congratulations, Violet!! I was starting to wonder whether any of us would give birth before we filled up this thread! Hopefully we'll get a few more arrivals before we have to start a new thread.

Well, there's nothing exciting happening for me. No niggles, no shows... But then I'm not 37 weeks until 1st July, so I don't really want anything to kick off before then anyway as it'll stop me from having my homebirth!

Besides, I get the feeling that my LO still needs a bit longer to cook. I could go into August, depending on whether I end up going overdue. To be honest, I have a suspicion I will end up going overdue and I'll be the one everyone is left hanging around waiting for!

At my latest MW appointment she established that LO is properly head down now, though not yet engaged. But that's fine by me for the moment. Means unless something goes a bit wrong on the day or I'm hauled in for something unexpected, I'm currently fine to give birth at home in the pool. Woo!

Husbands - tbh dh turned into a bit of an arse last time I went on mat leave, I picked up most of the housework and he just assumed when the baby came I would carry on doing that, even though I clearly couldn't, he seemed to see his role as breadwinner, and that was enough. Then he changed jobs and was on gardening leave when I went back to work, so had dd full time for a couple of weeks when she was 9mo - it saved our marriage tbh - he finally got how had it was to look after a baby - and how much easier is 9mo to 1mo?? Anyho he has been better this pregnancy, I've been pretty ill and he has been a superstar working really hard. But now I'm on mat leave I'm getting the deja vu feeling. He is generally really grumpy in the mornings, I'm sure it is his nicotine addiction - hasn't had a fag for x hours so is bear with sore head - he said I was being silly because he would pick up after me but a) he doesn't need to and b) he never sees the mess. He also made the point the jacket was expensive - which hits another nerve because he spent all our Christmas money on him and I got very little.. but I need to let that one go. He does the classic heroic effort round the house every now and again (after which I can never find a thing and he has no recollection where he put anything), whilst I spend my life picking up.

MLIC it does seem our dh's are similar - I'm glad I'm not the only one. He doesn't think 'oh wonderstuff will pick that up for me' he just doesn't think about what he has just done at all, goes off to do the next thing.

Viksam you are right now is the time to set out expectations - I think marriage gets a lot harder after having children and it took a lot for us to get back on track after dd was born - I was really hoping that having been through that we would be OK this time around - seems I may have been optimistic about that.

happy due date to me still here! Went to bed with lots of pain and tightenings....promptly fell into a deep sleep lol. Lazy baby! Started up again this morning so keeping active today. Baby has gone central again instead of being on the left which is better. I am achy and twingy but it's bearable, don't need paracetamol just yet but it does make me stop for a minute. This is all completely different to dd though, had no pains with her, plug went, waters broke, ta da!

jojo i think it's you before me, I have a horrible feeling that this could go on for DAYS for me now...

wonder what a nightmare...my dh used to be like that but I seem to have sorted it by just ignoring anything of his that's on the floor etc. He still leaves clothes on the bannister then says then says "have you washed x?" and I just point out that unless it's in the washing basket then no. Seems to work Hope you can get some rest today. He's more like mlic's dh - leaves the washing up directly above the dishwasher - why?!

gracie you are good with the embroidery Re the ebay, I'd leave neutral and email her as well to say that sh didn't say it was broken in the ad.

spirael we don't mind hanging about for you! I'm still prepared to go another week seeing as my dating scan said 3 July...but at least I get the sweep today instead of next Monday!

Hope everyone enjoys the sun, I'm off to do some housework before the sweep at 1pm. Anyone had one before who has any good tips for after? Keep active or rest?

Happy due date wwsw! spirael we're due the same day and DD came out at 42 weeks so we'll probably be popping together (although I keep telling DH we've only got 8 days left!)

I would love DH to look after DD for a couple of days without me around at all. He says he knows what it's like but he's got no patience with her unless she's in a really good mood and being gorgeous - which toddlers get in fits and spurts lol! I try and explain that you have to be a sponge and absorb their tantrums - if you shout at them you're just feeding their agnst...doesn't listen though.

On the plus side he's very tidy and on the weekend he gets on with loads of stuff. He never hoovers/mops the floor though which is strange but he's always on top of the washing/grass cutting/bins and tells me off if I leave clothes lying around

spireal just tell baby to take its time, we'll wait for you!

gracie i had a similar issue with ebay- i didn't leave feedback but emailed seller who offered refund and apologised, seemed to have been genuine error??? anyway perhaps you could email and sugest that she refunds something (perhaps the total cost of new runners and travel costs?). Thats if nothing was mentioned about the faults! read her description again!

wwsw happy due date good luck with sweep this afternoon- home its not too bad- how come your having one so early? or is that normal? i thought they didn't do that til well after edd?

stac sounds like your having a terrible time with your sleep lately- noticed a few posts in middle of the night Hope things improve for you soon! is your DS enjoying 1st monday of summer holidays?

We made mistake of telling nieces and nephews that baby would be hear during summer hols- now they are wondering where it is!!! lots of questions, its so sweet they are looking forward to their new cousin so much! one niece (there are 5 girls and 2 boys) 8yo likes to sit and talk to my tummy- makes me fill up with tears now!

I went to go swimming this morning and forgot all about school hols, there was a que right out the door! i didn't even bother parking, just drove away as not way it would be relaxing swim i wanted- feel very cheated! lol!

viksam- No, didnt go round town, we are often in yeovil though both for shopping and my bf lives up nr the lyde inn so we pop in to see her, I prefer yeovil shopping to taunton tbh. didnt see the waterfalls, we parked to the right of the swimming pool and just walked along to the play area and then back and had a picnic outside the swimming pool. Will definately go over again when baby is here but for now that was about as much walking as my hips could take! combined with it being roasting on saturday!

Gracie123-Thats pretty poor about ebay purchases, Im a bit of a ebay queen so I would not be impressed. The key is what they said on the auction page-did they specify good condition etc? Id be writing them a email explaining the faults and the fact youve had to buy new runners, Id then be expecting some form of partial refund as goodwill. very naughty of them imo. I wouldnt leave feedback until you have had a emailed reply-give the buyer a chance to redeem themselves a bit and go from there.

wwsw-Good luck with the sweep, fingers crossed your cervix is reachable and you had a thorough sweep! Remember to wear/take a pad-you may end up bleeding a little. I would keep active afterwards, some walking/bouncing on birthing ball if you have one, dont go overboard though-if it works you need your energy for labour!

Lots of tightenings/period pains yesterday for me, though came to nothing, also lots of sharp upo the fanjo pain which is babys head engaging further, good sign as mw said 4/5 palp last week and Ive had a good feel and reckon 2/5 now, pretty pleased as other two dc did not engage till labour!

Thank you wonder for the list again.
You set me off on a right rant, i just want to say I love my DH very much and I actually admire him in a lot of ways e.g starting up his own business as well as being successfull in his job and he always seems to get what he wants too, which sometimes does my head in but at the same time i wish i had that single mindedness sometimes. Thats why we are the careres on the whole.
I have my last class tomorrow and MW on wednesday and today im off to the hairdressers for the last time before DD. Also i have the health visitor on thursday, anyone got any idea what she will be looking at or asking? Im sure things will be ok but i feel like im having an inspection like shes going to mark the house out of 100!! I hope not!!

thank you ladies such a mega anti climax isn't it?!

becky policy here is to offer you one at 40 weeks, but only if the mw thinks you're ready for one. It's lucky timing that it's clinic day today and my due date, otherwise I'd have to wait til next Monday.

thanks for the advice glasto, I've cleaned upstairs this morning so only have to throw the hoover round the bombsite downstairs. HAve lined up some ironing this afternoon and I'm informed by a friend that the order should be: sweep, walk, sex, walk, housework = baby Bit warm for afternoon action with the old man though, but dd is out with my mum all afternoon so I should make the effort I suppose... Sounds good for you too! I wouldn't have a clue how to feel how engaged the baby is, I'm v impressed!

vik not sure about the hv, we don't see one until baby is 10-14 days old here. Also mine with dd was unbelieveably shite so I'm probably not the best person to ask

Lol I only know because Ive done a year of my midwifery degree, have done many many antenatal checks on other people so I know what Im feeling for!

They are talking about hyperemesis on This Morning - I'm welling up. I'm so glad I stopped feeling sick this time around the woman said as soon as her child was born she felt instantly better I remember that feeling of sheer relief. They're talkng about sleep problems later should really get off my bum and do something though.

viksam I had HV last week - she was here for about an hour - she went through a mountain of leaflets and gave me the red book. Discussed safe sleeping, meningitis, vaccinations, asked about relationship with dh, dd, any health issues in the family - did we have any alchol or recreational drugs issues (oh yes now you mention it my crack habit is getting a bit out of control )Also asked about any history of PND, was I feeling lonely or unsupported, any history of domestic violence.. Essentially I think they are trying to flag up any potential issues and point people in the direction of Sure Start etc. before things get bad. It was all a bit tedious, but I guess I can see why they do the visit, I do wonder how much people are going to disclose to a HV they have just met and are unlikely to see again.

I saw my health visitor a couple of weeks ago viksam. She didn't really want to see much, really. I tidied the whole house just in case, but she never actually left the lounge. DH and I were almost a little disappointed. We're quite proud of the nursery!

Mostly she just introduced herself, explained basically what health visitors do and how they log down information. Also covered how to contact them and make appointments if any help is needed over anything.

She also handed over the 'red book' and explained its purpose then went over a whole load of common sense stuff. (i.e. don't shake the baby, etc.) She checked that we'd thought about and arranged somewhere for the baby to sleep and some way to feed the baby.

I think the appointment lasted about 45 mins in total? I guess it was mostly her getting to know DH and I, and for us to get to know her a bit better. DH didn't have to be there, but he happened to be around so I figured he may as well meet her as well.

I seem to be quite lucky, despite all sorts of HV complaints you see around on MN, mine seems really nice and grandmotherly. She supported my choices and seemed fine with stuff I thought she might be concerned over, such as the cats. (Apparently she had five when her first child was born!)

Hope that info helps, and I hope your HV is nice too!

viksam- I had a prebirth meeting with hv when ds1 was born, she basically came to my house, introduced herself, gave me a surestart bag with some leaflets and weaning bowl and spoon and a baby book and said shed she me again in a few weeks.
with ds2 I didnt see one till about 2 weeks after he was born, just popped in really quick, introduced herself, weighed him and told me about clinic times.

mlic glad ds feels better. Maybe
your mum being home will speed things up.

jojo how you feeling? You nervous? Just think by this time tomorrow you'l have your lo in your arms

wonder dp's the same, his boxers get dropped were they come off, dishes left, car mags left too and ds isn't much better. I got to the stage i was fed up like you so i left the stuff so he had to do it. May be worth a try. Don't get me wrong the mess drove me insane but at least he does stuff. I blame thier mums and myself for the way ds is

viksam i was awake most of the night, could probs sleep all day but have stuff to do, no sign of rain here and its still to warm

The ad says 'excellent condition'. Thing is, I actually haven't seen them, but my mum says they were unuseable as they were. Just feel a bit embarrassed about complaining about something when I can't genuinely see the fault. (what if my mum is just being fussy?)

those who won't be induced until august, will you still get ctf vouchers based on due date? Or is it tough luck?
If you are due to be induced on aug 1st, couldn't you ask for one day early to get the full amount?
Counsltant should understand that it makes between £200 and £450 difference to the child and be sympathetic, surely?

wwsw hope things get moving for you! just keep active i say.but not too active that you'll wear yourself out.bounce on your ball if you have one.
wonder i know exactly what you mean. dp goes through phases of being really good around the house and then gets bored of doin it so have to come after him with the poker and buck him up again!lol! it does drive me silly though his side of the room is always clothes left and i keep sayin with a crib and changing mat and stuff in the room its going to get very annoying if he leaves his mess there too. but it goes in one ear and out the other! i just leave his stuff there now though
stac your having it really hard with the sleep arent you. i finally had a good night last night. i swapped sides of the bed with dp and slept like a log!

Probably sounds a bit awful, but I'm not too worried about the CTF, Gracie. In some ways, going into August would be better as it would mean I've even less reason to claim it, as £50 (especially in 18 years time) is hardly worth the hassle. Especially considering all the ridiculous restrictions and limitations for the account.

DH and I will be setting up a savings account for LO, but we'll make an account of our choosing with good rates that our family can easily contribute to. Also, considering we're in the process of emigrating, it'll be an account we can transfer between countries - we can't do that with a CTF account.

Since we're hoping/planning to have more children, it also makes things a bit fairer as I would want to set up equivalent accounts. I'd find that difficult to do if CTF was involved, as the second child likely wouldn't get anything from the government.

Anyway, since this thread is getting near its limit, here are my new thread name suggestions!

(I have way too much fun making silly rhymes up...)

July 2010: Start the count, it's time to get these babies out.

July 2010: Struggling in the heat, we can barely reach our swollen feet.

July 2010: Our babes are due! Within the month, they'll all début.

Incidentally, has anyone heard anything from Anifers recently?

I think there will be a lot of people asking for early inductions just before 1 Aug! Unfortunately if they induce at 10-14 days here that takes me to 4-7 August so I'd be too late. Never mind, I still think my original date of 18 July is more accurate so I have hopes of LO arriving before his or her own accord before 1 Aug...

First proper day of mat leave today - yay! I have washed all the white and cream newborn/0-3 month stuff and it's all hanging on the line looking very cute. Hooray! Midwife appointment this afternoon.

I am actually feeling great Stac. Thank you Glasto and Vik and DH - your DD will come very soon! ;)

My DH has been fabulous - he has been doing everything all weekend looking after DD cooking, cleaning, and treating me lovely. He is doing the school drop offs and pick ups today and just told me he is taking me out to lunch;) I feel truly spoiled. I am sorry for you who's DH's are being a little ego-centred. I think knowing the date makes a huge difference! Because it actually is our last weekend etc... I slept great all weekend and feel relaxed and well. I think it's because I know he is here for me!

But tomorrow still feels a little unreal though! I bet it will all come together when I hold baby in my arms.
Have a lovely day ladies! xxx

emster My first day of proper mat leave too! I plan on doing bugger all today. Meeting friends through the rest of the week but only locally so plan on having a lovely week.
spirael I like all those names!

Does everyone have a health visitor come? I'm 39 weeks on Friday and noone has ever mentioned it to me. Not seeing midwife again now til day before my due date. Does the hv contact you? I guess it's different around the country. i'm in London - so what's the experience of the other Londoners?

spirael CTF is very easy to set up and involves no paperwork if you just leave it (govt will set it up for you whether you want one or not!)

We also found it incredibly easy for relatives to contribute to, especially as they send us Christmas cards/birthday cards to send off to relatives with all DS details on so they can contribute regularly.

I do know what you mean about keeping it fair though. Between govt and relatives DS (2yo) already has over a grand in his (not from us!) and I hope people will give as generously to LO. DH says she can suck it up and life isn't fair, but I would feel pretty bad if he could pay himself through uni and she couldn't!