So when the UK sleeps, we know you other MNers are out there part II

[tadjennyp]

I was looking for thumbwitch's recipe for that cake and found the old thread has disappeared so Linzer and I thought we'd resurrect it!

Ooh, how exciting jenny - good luck! Keep us informed.

Good luck Jenny - do you know if it's a boy or girl and have you got names ready?

It's a little boy and we don't tell anyone names till he's here! Thanks for the good wishes! Will go to bed soon to get some rest, just in case it takes a lot longer than it should.

Hope it's all going well/gone well Jenny!

Fingers crossed for you jenny!

Interestingly (or possibly not) I've just been reading a set of papers about English as an international language and the differences between the different 'native' varieties of English. Whilst most people rate phonology as the biggest difference I'd be inclined to agree with everyone here that the lexical differences are the biggest barrier to understanding. Trust MN to know better

Baby Samuel Jude born 5th February at 8lbs8oz. Really short and powerful labour that was so painful. Had a bit of help with a vacuum extraction in the end as he'd turned his head into an awkward position. There won't be a next time but I think I'd go for pain relief if I had to do it all again! He is yummy and his big brother and sister are very excited about him!

That's a big baby, jenny! congratulations and lovely name. Sounds painful thought!

and congratulations on this thread too!
love the names. (we wanted samuel, but it wouldn't have suited dd )

Congratulations!!!!

You did it with no pain relief?! Respect! That's a great size and I adore the name :) Samuel gives so many possibilities and Jude is just a great name.

Congratulations jenny! Lovely name, and I'm sure you'll have forgotten the pain soon. Hope you're both doing well.

Congratulations again Jenny - I love it that we get all the gory details on MN but not in FB. I guess you know we can all sympathise!

I mean SOME of the details - I'm sure there was plenty more that you don't want to even think about

It felt like he was doing a star jump in the birth canal! He is totally gorgeous and I love snuggling up with him. DD and ds1 are taking to him really well though dd can be a bit over enthusiastic! Hope everyone is having a great week.

I've heard that labour can be very intense when you're induced (they tried to induce me with DS, but it didn't work so I had to have an EMCS - the doctor found me reading a book so decided my contractions weren't strong enough!). He does indeed look gorgeous on the photos; glad to hear that the two older ones are taking to him well - I'm sure they'll have even more fun with him when he's a bit older.

Ouch to starjumps! DS used to do those in my belly - and then when he was born, he did them when he was about to go to sleep! He still does sometimes, even now he's 3 - occasional massive twitch just as he drops off.

Sorry, have just realised you didn't say you were going to be induced jenny - just that you were having your waters broken. Maybe that sort of counts as being induced, though...

DD2 and DS have just finished a week's skiing course; DS needed a bit of persuasion to start with (although he'd been very keen beforehand) but enjoyed it in the end, and DD2 made great progress and now wants to go on a skiing holiday. That may be a little tricky, however, as I don't ski and have decided I'm too old to learn!

You're never too old to learn, Linzer! I've decided that the forties are going to be my decade (not that you are there yet)! I will have finished feeding etc and will be up for all sorts of new things - maybe a new career, etc. But for now I'm just going to snuggle up with my newborn!

Sounds like an excellent idea, jenny.

Well, I do have plans to learn certain new things (I've bought that Italian course!). One of my friends learned to ski in her mid-forties so I know that I'm theoretically not too old, but I've just decided that skiing isn't for me (I'm not a fan of the cold - or of most types of sport, in fact).

Linzer - I sympathise. I never really took to ski-ing. I will admit that when it was all going well it was great but I spent so much of my time falling flat on my face, freezing my arse of or spending hours struggling into all the gear I decided it wasn't really for me. Ironically, I love one of those other "too much gear" sports - scuba diving - but that is because I only dive in the tropics so you are at least warm while you struggle!

Jenny - glad it's all going well and agree that the 40's are a great decade to do something new. I am 42 now and now the dd's are growing up about to start on all sorts of new (ad)ventures (hopefully).

I am another non-ski-er. I have always had dodgy knees and an aversion to going downhill out of control - therefore skiing was never realistically going to appeal to me! I like ice-skating though... but my back couldn't take any major fall-on-the-arse scenarios now, it would crumple. :(

Shame really cos DH quite likes skiing, although he prefers snow-boarding (comPLETE no-no for me with dodgy knees - at least with skiing the pressure is all in a straight line, so to speak!) - but then I guess he'd rather do it with a bunch of blokes than with me anyway so not really an issue. He considers me to be rather unathletic anyway, which is a bit of a cheek really as I used to do a fair bit of sport but not to any great level - but still - I didn't used to be a couch potato (unlike now!)

I live 40 minutes away from the 6th biggest ski area in America and I don't really fancy it either! I do want to try snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing though. That does sound like fun.

I did try cross-country skiing once - about 15 years ago - and quite enjoyed it, although a morning was more than enough for me (I'd quite fancied the idea of a skiing holiday before then). I've just been looking at a friend's photos on FB; they've just come back from a skiing holiday (she learnt to ski last year) and had a wonderful time apparently, and it did look lovely... But then I start to think about the reality of it and all the equipment/clothes I'd need, and decide that actually I was quite happy sitting in the cafe with my book last week, looking out at DD2 and DS doing their skiing course.

thumb I like ice skating too, but it can be a little tricky when I'm usually having to hold at least two children up at the same time as trying to skate myself. And I do wonder whether it's worth the risk... Last time we were at the rink, we saw a woman lying flat on her back and blood all over the ice; it was quite scary. I remember an ambulance having to come the time before that too. Sometimes being a couch potato seems like the safest option!

Linzer - they have these plastic seals you can push while the smallest members of your group (eg dd2, 3) sit on them at the ice rink we went to a few weeks ago. It made the whole trip worthwhile as I don't think she would have lasted otherwise. However I had terrible pain in my feet from the boots - don't think I was doing it right.

I find the boots start to get quite painful after a while too - I'd always assumed it was because they didn't fit properly, but I suppose it could well be due to my skating technique (or rather, lack of it!). They have big plastic penguins here for small children to hang on to/push around, but neither DD2 nor DS have wanted to use them for more than about five minutes.

I've promised DD2 that we can go ice skating next weekend, so am hoping that DS will want to stay at home with DH. DH seems to be one of the few Austrian men who can't ice skate, but apparently ice skating was "for girls" where he grew up.

oooo, blood on the ice NOT good! My mum was a bit of an ice-skater in her day, had the white boots an' everything (although she never let me use them, but to be fair by the time I was allowed to go iceskating, my feet were too big for them :() and she scared me with the "don't fall with your hands out or someone could skate over your fingers and cut them off" thing. Good advice though!

I don't think I'd be too happy taking DS skating on my own for that reason, Linzer - it's hard enough holding myself up without having to worry about holding him up too! Do they still do double-bladed skates for tinies?
I don't think DH can skate either...

On a plus note - I have started DS at dancing classes. Half hour of tap, half hour of "jazz" straight after - he adored his first session last week and wanted to carry on to the ballet class as well! But he was too young, they have to be 4. Oh the tantrum when I took him away! He is the only boy in the class but that doesn't matter to me, or him.