December 2010 - good-bye flat tummies (as if I had one... ha ha ha)

[Persnickety]

Right, I've done the honours. This is our new thread.

And don't forget the stats thread

japhrimel - try not to worry. I've been feeling kicks on and off from about 13 weeks, but they are not every day or regular in every way. I had a couple this evening which was nice but first for a couple of days I think. At this stage I wouldn't worry as it is very common not to feel regular movements, or anything at all. Obviously when things are further on lack of movement is worrying, but I think only after at least 20 weeks, maybe even later. However, as you're worried no harm in giving mw a shout. I'm 16 weeks btw.

mumatron she was lovely but so so young. I say that because I am so so old. I suspect she doesn't have any kids which is a shame because it would be nice to see someone with that experience.

Japhrimel I am pretty sure I haven't felt a thing apart from wind I am not sure what I am supposed to be looking for though.

Hope everything goes ok with the midwife tomorrow.

Evening all, just wanted a quick whinge about work. I'm going to be off for a week and a half after next Tuesday and I have about enought work to comfortably fill up 2 weeks to try to get done before then!! I've got 3 working days to do it in. I even resorted to bringing some home with me (breaking one of my self imposed rules). Not helped by DH ringing me up this afternoon to give me a running commentary on what one of our cats was doing in the garden and then telling me he'd had a nice nap this morning!

I'm also impressed with all this forward planning re hospital bags and the like. I'd just say to anyone that you can't really take enough nappies and baby gros. I had a problem last time as we'd brought exatly what the hospital recommended and we ran out of clothes in the middle of the night. I was still under the effects of an epidural so couldn't do anything to help but I discovered that the hospital I was in really didn't provide anything! Poor DD ended up having to wear a baby gro she'd got milk all over inside out for the rest of the night. Not her finest moment! DH also got sent by the midwives over to the local sainsbury's at 10pm one night to buy more nappies.

japhrimel and mumatron it is quiet normal to not feel them for days or even weeks. I am saying that since I already panicked asked a freind doctor and received the response that you only feel the movements lasting longer than several seconds as the fetus is still too small, so she/he is moving but you don't feel them.

DF I am sure you are feeling it but not knowing. I was expecting kick or as they explain it on internet fluttering bubbly movements but mine is nothing like that... It is just suddenly feeling my lower beely and noticing that something is there. Not sure how to describe it... It is not a kick! mOre like bowl movement but in wrong place! Now I do recognize it... There is nothing to be felt from outside though and that they say takes several more weeks to come...

pjen i think the way you describe the baby moving is spot on. i explain it to dp that i just know it's moving. can't describe it.

I've been looking at the bugaboo cam to notso. It is really an amazing pram isn't it. I just have to convince DH that we really really need it. Still want to try it out first though but living out here in the desert I could really use the off road sand mode

For anyone using natural nappies, what would you say are the best ones?

like Wholelottalove I am loving the bumgenius ones but they are so expensive!

I can't remember where i saw it but someone recommended Little Lamb (I think maybe on another forum). I'd love to know if anyone else could recommend - I might drop in on another forum to see what the word is there (but don't worry, I promise I'll come back).

I'm not really preparing or thinking seriously about hospital bags yet - all that happened (I think I started this) was that I mentioned that I'd been given "The List" by a friend and it had scared me witless!

The List is one of these standard lists that has been tried and tested by actual friends, who've commented on the various elements (they've all said don't bother with a large t shirt for labour and have all said they preferred to buy a bumper pack of cheapy tesco knickers rather than getting disposables).

Getting paranoid that I have no bump (just flubber) and feeling nothing (16 weeks on Sat). Its these long delays between mw appts and scans - seeing a consultant next week but no mw till 20 weeks. And the internet is a Bad Thing for scaring me, as its all too easy to find stories of women having mcs at 16-20 weeks.

will read back properly later, but can I have a whoop whoop

i'm 19 weeks today

Whoop Whoop

Japh, don't worry - I definitely don't feel it every day.

WWSB do not worry at all - at 16 weeks I was flubber with no movement - no movement till 18 weeks for me this time and 20 with the first baby. (And with the first baby I didn't even need mat clothes till around 20 weeks.)

Sorry to continue on the retail theme but I am definitely getting one of these:
www.sweetiehome.co.uk/store.php?id=164&title=babynomade?-wrap Perfect for a December baby!! (Can you tell I'm starting to get excited now?!)

why is everyone so quiet today?!?

Just a quick suggestion as too much to read and catch up on - when I was having DD and thought she had stopped moving the midwife suggested drinking a glass of iced cold water. Supposedly this helps chill your blood a little and "wakes" little one up!
Probably only worth trying once a day otherwise we will all be giving birth to penguins

I sometimes wonder if it is still there. Never feel anything (and never did in previous pregnanacies until long after all the books said I should). But then I look down and remember something must be in my fat belly. I just hope it is not my own fat.

My twenty week scan is on 13 Aug (Friday) so we all know that has to be lucky.

No reusable nappies for me. Life is too short for additional domestic chores. I told DD (7) the other night that I was going to need her to help out and her job would be changing all the nappies. She looked horrified until I said I was just kidding. She said she could feed him. I said ok, then she said "As long as he doesn't throw up on me." to which I replied "I'm afraid there are no guarantees with babies". I think she is still cautiously willing to hold a bottle.

She then asked the most shocking questions about pregnancy and childbirth. The kicker was when she said "What happens if a woman has a baby in her tummy but she doesn't want it. Does she just kill it?" Dh walked into the room at that point and I very cowardly said "Ask Daddy"

I am a bit crabby today on account of bloody headache... why oh why did God make heads ache????

I'm quiet because I have a mountain of work and I can't do it! Its too hard and I want to go home

Very odd question from your DD, Strix, I wonder where she picked that up from?

IIRC Strix, you're quite a skinny person anyway, so you're probably quite safe in assuming you've got a baby in there. I'm prone to lard arse tendencies anyway and my weight fluctuates madly (I have jeans in sizes 8,10,12 and 14 and get through them all in the space of a year) so I'm convinced my flubber is all pie (or, more like, salt and vinegar crisp) related. Speaking of which, I think a packet of S&V crisps is just what I need to re-write the crappy document I have to re-write.

God made heads ache to remind us to sleep more and drink coffee. The only two things that stop mine in this awful nurofen-less wilderness

Thanks for the reassurance. I've been drinking cold drinks and prodding my tum and think I just had a baby movement! I'm another one who can't really describe it - butterflies in the tum is pretty good as a description, but it's just this weird sensation that makes me smile.

I'm starting to buy a few bits but we've yet to finish clearing out the room that will be the nursery, let alone decorating it, so I don't want to get too much as I've no where to put it yet!

I'm so annoyed with myself- I bought a great wrap jumper in the JoJo sale last week and I just splashed bleach on it! Gaaa. Why ddn't I take it off before cleaning??????

Strix - sympathy on the headaches. I had my first migraine of this pregnancy last night. Pretty horrible but not a very bad one thankfully. DH was great with massaging my neck and getting me heat pads. Think I got dehydrated in the afternoon - not drinkling is not an option in this weather for me!

Hospital Bag - Last time we followed "the guidelines" and took most things, ended up only staying in ward for 7 hours before we went home so hardly used anything.

I would suggest

For you
something to wear to labour in,
something to wear afterwards to rest/sleep in
something to wear to go home in,
something to wash/shower after with and something to dry yourself with,
something to keep yourself clean - breats pads and maternity pads,
something to eat and drink after (it took them 3 hours to bring me a jug of water first time round )
something to read or listen to if you can't sleep plus earplugs/eye mask,
anything that may help with pain relief - TENS, aromatherpay oils etc,
something comfy e.g. pillows for BF and your bed,
some change for car park/phone
some means to phone friends for help - mobile with credit and charger,
CAMERA to take photos!!!

For baby
something to wear - probably nothing more fancy than a babygro, hat and mitts.
something to do the business in - nappy
something to be sick on- muslin cloth
something to clean the business end - cotton wool yes but also baby wipes (don't pay extra for sensitive ones just rinse them in clean water before putting them near baby's bottom - this helps prevent rash in very young ones)
something to keep business end "smooth as a babies ....." - cream/nappy cream
something to "eat" - depends on if you are BF or not as to how much this will entail for you.
something to keep warm in - baby blankets etc as it will be chilly
something to go home in - car seat if driving or pram if walking

There is a really good book we used with DD called what to expect when you are expecting - there is a follow on called what to expect in the first year and then what to expect toddler years - they did us form pre-pregnancy to about age 3 and then we kind of realised we had got the hang of it and didn't need a book sitting on the shelf.

Just a few ideas and I'm sure others can add more but as we are all different it may be easier to think of what you will be doing as to specific items.

Strix, I agree on the reusable nappies point. I tried them last time - spent a small fortune on them - and quite frankly it was a nightmare. You have to change them pretty much immediately because despite my special expensive liners that were supposed to wick the moisture away from baby's skin, they get very heavy and soggy very quickly. And that means you have to change them A LOT every day - which means the washing machine and dryer are constantly going (cannot see how this is better for the environment). And the brand I had made baby's bottom enormous and she didn't fit into any of her clothes. I also lent them to a friend who was adamant that she wanted to use cloth nappies and she lasted two days. Nope - it will be Huggies newborns all the way for me this time around.

I also have a headache, and a mountain of work to do which I can't be bothered to do. Must be midweek blues.

Oh, if you are having a section:

ARNICA, ARNICA, ARNICA - Get the strongest stuff you can find and eat lotsof it starting about 24 hours before section is scheduled.

music for the delivery. Most hospitals will let you play music in theatre. It's nice to choose it.

Food. Post section it is quite common that they won't let you eat anything solid until you go for a poo. So i have learned to smuggle food in. But, beware, a common side effect of the anaesthetic is that it make you sick. After DS was born I was soooooooo hungry. They gave me toast with jam. I scarfed it down... then threw it up. I was so mad because I was starving again.

Oh, maternity wards ar HOT. So bring light weight PJs. US EBAY has some that have breast feeding slits in the pleat down the front. They are fab. I stupidly gave one away thinking I was having no more children. Wish I could get it back now.

Oh, if you have a toddler, it's nice to get a pressie from baby to toddler so they feel part of it rather than jealous of new baby.

Oh, constipation is common post surgery (don't know why) so might want to bring something for that.

That's all I can think of just now...

Hi girls, does anyone has the link to free eBook of "what to expect when expecting"? My friend send it to me but stupid me deleted the email some how... don't want to pay if it is available online for free...

A quick question.

I have constipation but have (TMI) managed to 'go' in the last 24 hours. However I seem to have a problem where I have a pain in my bum which only hurts me when I get up after sitting for a long time.

Is this piles?

Oh I'm so glad I'm having baby at home looking at all your lists of everything. Although even if I was going in to hospital or a mw unit then I would still take barely anything at all.

We bought our 1st baby bits today. We went up to the big asda and they have loads of neutral baby stuff, so we bought a couple of bits. Also got myself some big knickers as mine are all getting really tight and uncomfortable now. (My legs & bum are about as big as my belly ) and some super cheap crap ones for post birth.

I'm 18 weeks today & less than 2 weeks now until my 20 week scan. Can't wait, and then I'm going to book a 4d scan for 28weeks.

Ooh, PJen, if you find it, please post it here. Thanks.

Strix - Piles are painful, particulalry immediately after you'e had a poo, but are also extremely itchy. Also if they're bad enough that they hurt, you will most likely have bright red blood when you wipe.

Oh the conversations you have when pregnant just would not be acceptable at any other time.

OI! I'm not the one with piles.

Strix did you get a section or are going for a section?

The closer the due date is coming the more afraid I am becoming. Could I ask for a section? Is it something that I can ask for under NHS? I read a thread about a woman's stitches coming undone in the pregnancy section and am terrified since then about giving birth. My sister's pelvic bones were broken during birth too and her legs were hanging from ceiling for 2 weeks!! I think I need a section! I am sure my face is green right now after reading that thread!