Recurrent Buns Graduates - Pregnancy and Beyond

[Glitterybits]

Thought it was about time we had a new home for all those lovely ladies who used to frequent the original Recurrent Buns thread, or anyone else who has been through the hideous journey of miscarriage, recurrent miscarriage, infertility, testing etc. and now finds themselves either pregnant and in need of hand-holding (or better yet) with their long-awaited bundle(s) of joy.

I know it perhaps seems a little inappropriate to start a thread in the miscarriage topic but it still seems the most relevant spot for those of us who haven't yet completed the journey - and nowhere else really seemed right or fair to everyone.

I do hope you'll come along and say hello. I do miss you all!

I give in, I'm too ill to do a catch up.

E has been snuffley for last few days and she seems to have passed on full blown cold to me

Why do I feel like I've been swallowing razor blades?? I don't even have tonsils ffs!

Will try harder tomorrow.

frazzled Ooh family arguments. I'm not very good at them either! Parenting is a sensitive subject though and your Dad's already had his shot at it, so to speak. The way you and your DH choose to raise your children is your choice and, in my humble opinion, it's generally more helpful when grandparents help with a united front rather than showing the child they disagree - at least until after the initial blowout anyway. It doesn't help that you weren't there to witness what actually happened though. I don't think you can do anything unless someone actually tells you what happened! Glad the rest of your holiday went well, but I know what you mean about ending things on a sour note.

Lunatic I remember your account of that visit rather well, because I thought it was so unbelievably hideous. I suppose it's fairly natural for them to direct their hostility at you, given that they probably want to keep on side with your DH should they ever hope of having a relationship with L. Having said that, why has it taken them so long to bring up this unresolved problem? Surely they could have done it about a year ago, when it happened, rather than just after L was born?! How does your DH feel? Sounds like he's in a particularly wretched place in terms of family politics. It also doesn't help you much at this particular point in your life, does it? Mind you, I suppose if they had bothered to maintain any kind of relationship whatsoever, they'd have a better idea of what was going on in your daily lives. I'd love to know your SIL's view regarding what happened last summer. Very selective memory from the sound of things!

Sorry to hear about your aunt, but glad you managed some sleep for once and am pleased to hear there are ups as well as downs.

MummyA Hope your faculties have returned to you and you aren't too hot!

mumatron Hope you are feeling better?

I suspect your prediction may be slightly premature, although for an hour last night, I would have said you were bang on. My body is a strange one and seems to do pre-labour for a very long time. Thankfully, I'm not having contractions like last time, but I am having shooting, stabbing pains in my hoo hoo which are enough to cause me to bend double, take a sharp intake of breath and put down anything sharp/ hot that I may be holding. There is no warning about these, but I can be completely fine one minute and then have a series of them over the space of an hour, before they disappear again. Quite annoying, because I keep thinking...is this it? Then an hour later, I think I've made up the whole thing. It's also no good for DH's nerves, because it's such a strong reaction. I have decided to stop driving for the foreseeable as a result! Hoping I'm not waiting too much longer, but I don't expect anything will happen any time soon.

Waves to Coconuts. Hope you're okay. xx

Oh, and I meant to say, I will have my phone with me to update if anything should happen. Or DH will be given instructions to log on and post on my behalf. xx

quick catch up time while E is asleep.

glittery I notice you are very quiet. hopefully you are snuggling your lovely dd already. how exciting! if your struggling for names i can highly recommend Emma, There are some great emma's around

frazzled good luck for l's party. It will be fine. try and enjoy it as much as possible. it'll be over before you know it. very jealous at the holiday pic

julez good weight gain there O! he's doing so well. how's the new milk?

lf sorry to hear that you have pnd too. seems like a real kick in the teeth after what you have been through. good to hear that your getting a bit more sleep though. had a little chuckle at dd1 playing mum, she sounds very cute. at C's family. they sound a right charming bunch. Ignore as much as possible is my only advice.

laff how are you?

coconuts vv sound awful. poor thing.

mummya max is a lovely name, I had it on my potential boys list.

well, i'm feeling much better now, one of the joys of having dc is getting all the lovely bugs and viruses they bring home.

E is doing well, she has 2 teeth that have popped up out of nowhere. just checked one morning and there the first one was, never heard a peep out of her. She's getting mobile now too not crawling but doing a strange mix of commando rolls and bum shuffling whatever works for her I suppose.

she'd developed a bit of eczma on her back, i need to get her some steroid cream, i was a bit worried that it may be linked to cows milk as it only startd when i introduced cm to her cereal in the mornings. Dr says it's unlikely though.

A bit of good news, Dp has finally found a permanent job, YAY! the last year has just been a series of temps and long periods of nothing at all. It will be lovely to have a bit of spare cash at the end of the month for a change.

bigger dc are over their dads until tues so i'm going to enjoy the peace while it lasts.

back to work in about 8 weeks, I'm going to need some serious support then!

off to tackle the kitchen and the giant washing pile and then try to entertain E while dp sleep's off his celebratory hangover.

Hello hello :) Hope everyone is well. Finally got some sunshine here today, on a day I decide to stay in my joggers and not go anywhere!! Typical.

glittery I'm actually beginning to worry how I'll cope when it finally hits me that this is happening tbh Me too. I can't ever see myself having a baby. I feel like I still haven't let that attachment kick in, this is someone else's baby and when it's born I worry the attachment still won't be there. I still call it 'it' when I know it's a boy. I have no names. I'm buying things out of practicality not out of desire or enjoyment. I have all receipts and tickets on everything and am trying to get quite a bit of second hand clothes to save us money so that when this doesn't happen then we haven't lost much

Sorry the twinges are still keeping you waiting. I did get rather excited when I read your first post about losing some gunky stuff and thought perhaps thing had moved along but never mind, she'll come when she's ready, as they say. I never had a show of any description with DD until I was in established labour so if I were you I wouldn't have a clue what I was looking for Have you got any names in the pipeline?

frazzled Shame about the tantrum and falling out, I think sometimes GPs don't like to discipline their grandchildren as they would have if they were their parents. I find the same with my mum. DD goes there and comes back a devil child. It's sad everyone couldn't have a united front, especially in front of DS, and as glittery has said if you weren't there you'll never know the full story. It is yours and DH's job to discipline your children the way you see fit and if someone doesn't agree then that's their problem.

Good luck at consultant tomorrow and hope you have fun at DS1's party today :) Relax and go with the flow :)

lunatic Pleased you managed to get some sleep, and hope the ADs are beginning to make you feel better, slowly but surely :) So sorry to hear about your aunt. I hope she isn't suffering too badly.

DD1 sounds adorable, my DD is doing the same things with her dolls, pretending to change nappies etc. It's rather sweet :)

mumatron glad you are feeling better :)

poor E with the excema. I suffer with it terribly and has been even worse during pregnancy. Oilatum cream from the pharmacy is very good stuff if you wanted to try and avoid the cortisones/steroids.

But great news that she is getting about a bit now. Can't believe all these babies are being weaned/crawling already. Time flies.

Any huge YAY for DPs job. Great news :)

And Emma is a lovely name. I am a Jemma. If we were having a girl we would be having an Emelia Rose.

mummy hope you aren't too wet with rainy season, and hope things are going ok on the doctor front.

LAF Hope you're doing ok x

I am really uncomfortable now. Walking has turned to waddling. Back ache all the time, my bump aches from stretching, stretch marks from DD are coming up badly now and splitting. I was scooping out some ice cream the other day and the spoon slipped off the ice cream and stabbed my bump with it, so I have a spoon shaped bruise

The VV is pretty much the same size so far and not too uncomfortable, but I can't stop checking it in the mirror

Am claiming another bag of second hand bits today from an old friend who has an almost 4 month old and then we'll be pretty much done on the clothes front. Not bothering with newborn things, I definitely won't need them!

Off to go cook some lunch now and have a lazy afternoon. Taking DD shopping on the bus tomorrow to the big town. She loves the bus :) This week is going to be pretty hectic so might not get online much, so if you could all pause things for me til I get back that'd be great! DH is off all week and we have something planned every day so far. It's his birthday Thursday and whole family getting together for a meal, which I expect will be a bit strange as it will be the first big family gathering without his dad here.

Catch you all soon :) Much love x

x-posts with you earlier glittery i'm always wrong with my predictions, dunno why I even bother!

hopefully all these pains will be doing something down there.

ah well, consider my bubble well and truly burst :( Dp's 'job' lasted a grand total of ooh 1 hour. turns out there was no job at all. when he was offered it, the manager told him there would be a 2 week trial, minimum wage. not ideal but we can cope with that. turns up today to find out it's a 2 week trial on NO pay. that's piss take number 1. Piss take number 2 is that the job they are currently on is 2 weeks long and, surprise surprise, there is no work after that. So they are basically looking for 2 weeks free labour.

I'm sick of just 'getting by'.

we must be the most unlucky couple ever. :( :(

Finally DH is out of the house and i can hijack his poota!

First of all frazzled I did hold off! We had bad news at DS1's hospital appt and the week was a bit of a whirlwind with fursther tests and appts, just awaiting results now.

I WILL post them first thing tomorrow, I have infact just packaged them up and I have put a fuzzi bunz in as well :)

we are cloth full time now, we braved the nights 2 nights ago and all is going well!

Glittery I hope things are going ok

mumatron that sucks about DP's job :( and I hope you are feeling better!

lunatic hows the poo situation? We are struggling with pooing atm, in fact hes been awake and screaming since 5am (yawn)

mind has gone blank! Sorry ladies, no sleep last night.

New milk started Sat, umm he hates it so far, vomited a fair bit, esp when i tried to introduce lumps in his food! I did a bit of reading yetserday though and now adding vanilla essence to bottle, just two drops, it seems to make the difference and hes taking 6oz now :) I have seen an improvement in the crying, not a massive improvement but i said to DH last night at 9pm, O has usually been screaming for an hour now and hes actually sleeping!

HV came and did his 6 month check and is coming back in a few weeks to check on us, development wise, he is fab, sitting, babbling, on the move (eek!) but we are struggling with feeding still so shes going to work closely with me. Its nice to know tbh and shes had a few phone calls from me in tears at the end of my tether.

DS1 went for his community paed medical wrt schooling, and he is now being invetigated for ADHD and austism and they found his grade 1 heart murmur is now a grade 6 so has been referred to a heart specialist. Was a bit of a shock tbh! He's 9 years old now and off to secondary school in a few years so we need to get him statemented really before he gets there.

coconuts hows the sickness? I remember a few of your threads a while back about how horrendous it was. Just wanted to reassure you I was sick once after he was born and havent been since :o it will go straight away!

Lunatic, I do remember your account of the disastrous visit last year - funnily enough I think I was fuming about my dickhead BIL disowning us over something DH couldn?t remember ever saying at the time. If any consolation, that?s now twice that you?ve made me feel better about members of my family acting like twats, on the grounds that they could be worse

Glad you?re getting some ups - and more importantly some SLEEP -as well, and L?s obviously taken to weaning like a duck to the soggy stuff . F?s not doing badly either, scarfing down mashed avocado, banana and yoghurt and fruit and rice, while giving me looks about Nutritious Carrot and Sweet Potato Mush. Can?t blame him, I tried it and it mings.

Hope you?re feeling better, mumatron. Most impressed about E?s teeth, F spent two days last week miserable and feverish and we still don?t have a tooth to show for it.

I wrote that bit before I got to your latest post. That is absolutely bloody disgusting, I am so angry on your behalf. How dare they take the piss like that? Is there anyone higher up in the company/at an agency that you can tell about offers being made under false pretences?

Glittery those pains sound vile. Have no idea what they may indicate, having had two children without ever once having gone into labour properly my body is clearly a bit incompetent about these things. But am still checking in every few hours and sending you birth-you-want vibes. I also applaud your dedication to keeping us in the loop!

Coconuts hope you had a lovely lazy afternoon and the spoon-bruise is fading (ouch). Don?t worry about the bonding - between anxiety and the utter drag that is the last few weeks of pregnancy, feeling a bit detached sounds totally understandable to me.

I think I had a period of about two weeks when I was actually feeling (a bit) confident that I?d have a baby, and it came to an abrupt end when we realised he was going to be prem, and tiny, and in hospital for weeks. At which point I just wanted to run away. I?m ashamed of that even now, but the second he was born the bond was there so I think it was a rubbish attempt at protecting myself. Am hoping that sounds empathetic rather than me-me-me!

Julez OMG what a week. Glad O?s doing better and the vanilla is helping - is it just the taste, or does it have some soothing effect?

But as for your poor DS1... So much to take in at once, you must have been frantic. Had you had any idea about any of it?

Thanks about the nappies, our postie has a maddening habit of leaving parcels on the step and naffing off so relieved to know it wasn?t that!

Waves to everyone else.

DS1?s party yesterday went really well - 12 kids showed up, great time had by all and because it was at a soft play I didn?t have to clear up. Think my phobia has now been downgraded to normal nerves .

One thing I am wondering about, though - our good friends have a DS of nearly three who is REALLY aggressive. In the course of 90 minutes he managed to hit at least five of the children in our party that I know of and there might well be others. His parents do discipline him, sort of, but seem to be under the impression that (a) boys will be boys and (b) other kids need to be watched in case they hit the lad (reverse true IMHO). Would you say anything? I saw him corner and beat up a boy of nearly five, who was too nice to hit him back!

Spoke to mum briefly, was a bit stilted. DH and I still really upset, feel we?ve been labelled dreadful over-strict borderline-abusive parents, which I know realistically we?re not but when it?s your parents? Am inclined to not visit till this is cleared up, as not going to subject DH to being blanked.

Got F?s consultant appt later today and wibbling a bit. He?s cheerful and chubby and lovely, but I have the strange feeling that I?m about to sit an exam and I haven?t revised enough?

julez my Jack has dyslexia (not comparable to adhd/autism i know) and he has made massive improvements since being getting his statement. I had to really push for the relevant tests though, so please do keep on about it. like you say he will be in high school in the blink of an eye and the more help he gets now the better. Gosh, O is doing well to be gaining as much weight asa he has considering all the probs he's had with milk. well done that lad!.

frazzled glad the party went well told you so . Not sure what you can do about friends ds though. the only experience I have of that situation is not a good one. An old neighbour of mine had a dd a few weeks before I had dd1 and they would always play together etc. when they got to about 18mnths her dd started really ripping into my dd. she would lunge for her face everytime K tried to touch a toy and we would often come home with huge scrams on her face :( whenever I would say something she would just shrug it off and we very nearly had a serious argument over it. sorry, no advice there, just sympathies I suppose.

coconuts I can 100% understand your detachment. I could of written that part of your post. I was dreading the birth because I was petrified of feeling nothing for E. I think thats why subconciously I wouldn't let the mw touch her and I delivered her myself. I needed to see for myself she was actually here and she was alive. I can remember everytime the mw listened to her hb with a doppler I asked If she was still alive in there. As soon as she was born and I lifted her out of the water i felt that rush of love everyone say's you should feel. i never had that with the first two dc. Don't get me wrong I still panicked and refused to let her be left alone for even a few minutes. I still can't belive she's here tbh. If i wake up before her in the morning i'm convinced she wont be alive in her cot when I go in there. sorry for being morbid but I'm just being honest. that said she bring an amazing amount of joy and happy times to the house aswell so i'm not a complete basket case! I guess what i'm trying to say is the worry and anxiety will always be with you, more so because of what you've gone through to have the baby, but it does get easier in time.

fuck me, I've managed to depress myself now!

about the job, there's no point in taking it further because he hasn't officially been told there wont be a job in two weeks. basically someone told him because they thought he already knew. They are likely to deny it and then come up with some other excuse when the current job ends. If it was just two weeks paid work he would do it anyway, but he wont be working for free.

it's not the end of the world, we will get by. It's just so frustrating for me. Tbh i'm sick of paying for everything and just making do. i've got a good job that i've worked hard at. i've managed to get some good pay rises and and currently at the top of my pay scale. that used to mean i could work less hours and still earn pretty much a good full time wage. now it means we still struggle through the month. especially while i'm on ml. I'll probably have to go back to work on longer hours then i planned to. all our savings are gone.

I know there are people out there in worse situations but I kind of just feel I've paid my dues I should be in a good financial situation now. instead I'm back to square one :( . it's not Dp's fault, he tries his best but I'm starting to get resentful.

t'is crap.

oh ignore me I've waffled on long enough! off to do a bit of gardening, the dog has decided to go on a bit of a rampage out there and has digged me some lovely holes to fill.

oh and frazzled good luck for cons appt. F will be fine. let us know how he gets on.

Went pretty much OK. Dr v pleased with his health and his development, his head circumference has increased massively and he's on the charts for weight for the first time (whee!).

Thing I really am worried about, though, is that his height is following the same curve, below the 0.4th centile, and Dr said she'd have hoped to see some catch-up on that by now. And if he doesn't catch up in the next six months he probably won't, in which case he'll need to be referred to a growth clinic.

I thought seeing him on the weight chart would be the best feeling ever, but I actually now realise weight not nearly so important as length.

mumatron and here I was thinking you were the one with the crystal ball and that you were the orderer of the powers that be! Not to worry. Still very much 2 people at this end and hoping something happens sooner rather than later.
Not surprised you are livid about DP's job offer. What a joke! How dare they think they can get away with not paying someone for 2 weeks. It's so tough out there for everyone right now, but I know that doesn't exactly make it any easier to bear. I'm sure things will come good eventually. Keeping my fingers crossed that you get the luck you deserve soon.

Coconuts I understand buying things out of necessity rather than enjoyment. I'm due in 3 days and I haven't entertained bringing the car seat and bouncy chair down from the loft or putting up the crib. There's still a huge part of me that's completely in denial. Having said that, the skin on my tummy is now so taut that I can't touch it. I am in absolutely no doubt that there is a person in there. I've tried really, really hard to write her a little baby book this week, with her scan pictures and month by month pictures of me as the pregnancy has progressed. I've only managed this because I did it for DS and it seems wrong not to do the same for DD. I promise to be here as much as I can after whatever happens happens to hold your hand through the last weeks. One thing we can be sure of is that it will happen whether or not we think we can bear it! The days keep ticking by.

Julez I'm really glad you have a supportive HV. It must be so hard when feeding your baby becomes such an unknown thing that isn't just instinctive. Presumably, weaning will open up more doors in terms of the foods you can give him, but I suppose it also presents more concerns too. Sounds as though you're really going through the mill with DS1 too. No wonder you've been struggling over the past few months. I'm sure Karma needs to be a bit kinder to us all now!?

frazzled So pleased the party went well, but about aggressive child! Personally, I probably would mention it to the parents. If they're good friends, they should be able to deal with it without getting defensive. Mind you, it's a bit concerning that they have a 'boys will be boys' attitude at this stage. Were the parents of the other hit children around?

The other day, I was at a playgym and a mother approached me and said my DS was being a bit punchy, but she didn't want to tell him off, because he wasn't hers. I generally have no such qualms and, if I see another child smacking mine, I'm quite quick to calmly ask them to stop doing it, because it isn't nice. I doubt every parent is this keen to intervene, but a lot of parents seem to have a tendency to treat playgyms as a place to ignore their children and it's often the only way you can prevent injury!

My intial reaction was that of embarrassment and upset, but the first thing I did was ask him what had happened, as it's really out of character. I admit that I was a bit irritated at the time since the incident had nothing to do with her 3 month old in a pram and she'd approached me because her friend was scared to, but can understand that fear now I think about it in hindsight. None of us want to hear bad things about our little people. I know you can't be with them every waking second, but you do need to be a bit aware! Thankfully, my DS is still at the honest stage where he'll tell me if he's been naughty, but he told me that the little girl in question had hit him in the face and so he'd reciprocated! I couldn't help but have a little snigger. Part of me is slightly grateful that he'd stood up for himself, as he used to be the child who just took the abuse, though I obviously didn't tell him that! It's so sensitive a subject but, if you're going to remain good friends, they may appreciate a spot of tactful suggestion. Is aggressive boy an only child by any chance?

Yey for F's weight, but sorry you've come away worried about his height. It is still early days though. He may just take a little while to catch up in every department. Fingers crossed it will even out over the next few months.

Lunatic Oh I agree. Life is far too short for family politics. I think you've definitely endured enough and their loss is their own fault. Taking things out on/ ignoring your children is definitely a no-go area in terms of voicing upset with you. I feel for your DH though. He sounds like a miraculously normal, lovely bloke in spite of the people he grew up with! Curious to know what was so important to your SIL to bring on the playground behaviour. Hurling abuse at everyone probably won't actually help her get it!

So pleased you've finally had some sleep. I don't know about you, but it makes everything seem that bit more bearable for me when everything else is a bit pear-shaped. Oh, and yey for arranging stuff. Sounds like the days are becoming a little more normal if you can entertain the idea of making plans. I'm a bugger for overuse of !!!!!!!! Can only assume I either wrongly assume I'm witty and feel the need to point this out, or I'm trying to pretend I'm jollier than I am. Either way, you're in good company!

Not much change at this end. Had my last day at work today and feel a bit daft because the pains have all but disappeared over the past 24 hours. Better than the endless, very painful latent stage I had last time. Having lots and lots of BHs though and backache and pressure down below seems to be getting stronger. I am a bit scared - probably why I'm up writing this at stupid o'clock - but having moments of relative calm in between the insanity. Trying to keep myself as busy as I can. Hoping to get my hair coloured and cut tomorrow so I at least feel a bit more feminine. Should kill a bit of time, too. Oddly, after weeks of nothing, I'm suddenly suffering the most appalling heartburn ever. I've also completely lost the use of the little finger on my right hand. If I clench my fist it won't open again without assistance and is totally numb. I had very weird hand pain with DS too, but it seems so odd that it's back this time around at such a late stage. Anyway, forgive the epic...

Love to you all. xxx

Hi all,

Wrote massive post this morning and computer ate it, and now haven't got time (or memory) to reconstruct. Gaaah.

Had fairly bad day. Still feeling shitty about rift with parents, and am horribly horribly worried about F's growth. Googled for about five minutes and then realised there was lots of conflicting info and some of it was scary so best to leave it.

I know there are lots worse things than being weeny, but the growth clinic sounds both scary and not nec a good thing, and I also fear that kids (and girls, and let's face it workmates) won't see the gorgeous smiley person F is, but just a small person to take the piss out of.

I'm now asking myself if he's not got longer because I messed his iron drop dosage up the first month, or drank wine while I was bf.

For some reason I hope that each weigh-in or doctor's appt will bring a resolution, someone saying 'it's all going to be fine now', and of course that won't happen for years, if at all.

DS1's birthday tomorrow, so we're off to London to have a picnic, ride at the top of a double decker bus and do the London Eye. But also have to pop into office for quick catch-up in preparation for going back to work in TWO MONTHS.

Like I say, bad day. Sorry for the pity party, hopefully tomorrow will be nice and you've had better days anyway.

love especially to the pg ladies and will do a better post tomorrow.

Hey frazzled I hate when that happens. MN is a bugger for signing me out without me realising occasionally and then I lose a whopping great message.

So sorry to hear that appt has upset you so much. I can totally understand your concern, but try not to panic about it too much just yet. It may well never be an issue and he could have a mass growth spurt in the next 6 months, or even way, way down the line. Easy for me to say I know, but the medics don't know everything. FWIW my brother had real problems as a baby and hurt his back later in life - both of which caused the doctors to say that he'd never grow properly. He's now a strapping 6 ft 7" with size 14 feet and wishing he were a bit smaller! I believe Lunatic has a similar tale about her brother? I seem to recall an analogy about hands like bunches of bananas - which continues to amuse me to this day!

Wrt the iron dosage and drinking wine, I think you already know that your behaviour will have done very little to alter his growth. Pls don't beat yourself up about that. It's pointless anyway, because you will never have an answer and it will only make you unnecessarily miserable. You are a wonderful, wonderful Mummy and if having the odd glass of wine made us lousy parents, then I would get the gold medal in poor parenting.

Whatever happens, I'm certain F will be adored, adorable and will always have a greater sense of perspective on this than most. He might be a bit smaller than others, but he is a fighter, who survived against all the odds and kids/ colleagues will always find something to pick on, regardless of how well we protect our babies, because it's human nature. I suspect, with parents like you, F will always be quick witted and able to fight his corner quite capably. On the opposite side of the coin, my DS is really tall for his age and I find that it is upsetting for the opposite reasons. People assume he is older and expect far too much of him. I also had real trouble convincing people he was only 2 when the cut off point for paying for stuff was age 3.

Oh, and it doesn't come across as a pity party at all. It's been a bloody long slog for you to get here and it's not fair that the worry never ends. On a slightly more upbeat note, I hope you all have a lovely time together for DS1's birthday tomorrow. Sounds like just the sort of outlet you might need.

Just read that back and it sounds really preachy. Sorry if it comes across that way, when I have absolutely no idea what you're going through and am just trying to make comforting noises!

I'm also a bit distracted today. Went to the midwife this morning, who said the baby's head is so low, she can only feel a neck and it's about time I gave birth because she doesn't really know how I'm still able to walk. I booked a stretch and sweep (yuck) for next week in the hopes I wouldn't need it and then headed home feeling very pg and fed up. Then got out of the car, felt a slight gush and, upon investigation, it seems I've had a bloody show. It's so far removed from my experience with DS that I didn't know if it was normal. Just looked like the start of a period. I'm now sitting here trying not to think about it, or the potential start of contractions. No sign of anything else yet. Few twinges here and there, but nothing more than that to report. Hopefully, I won't be waiting for much longer...but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if I was!!! x

glittery ooh, bloody show sounds good (iyswim) I had E a few hours after my proper bloody show, ds was born 48 hours after so either way not too long to wait. My cosmic powers ran out after all the cosmic orders I placed last year but I'll have another guess and say I think your contractions will start early hours and you'll have baby tomorrow pm.

Will catch up better tomorrow, off to bingo now with the mother. Wish me luck!

Glittery I can't believe you sat and calmly typed out all that good advice and support (not preachy At All, BTW) when you've had a show! Truly you are a lovely person and have given me the sniffles again.

I read the bit about the show on the train back from London (fab day, BTW, although we could have saved the London Eye money and just spent the day taking DS1 on all the usual transport options, which he adored). I squeaked. People around me looked.

Hoping you're busy having the baby - or better yet, composing the official thread birth announcement - right now. Although have to say I had a sweep with DS1, then a bloody show, and then an induction four days later. My rubbishness at going into labour has been mentioned before, though...

Mumatron I don't suppose fate came through and gave you a nice big win on the bingo? ?

aaaaggghhh I am so far behind... just tried to skim read to catch up.

DS and I have got the sniffles (again!) so he is off nursery school and I have only just got time to say...

Glittery looks like things are getting exiting Seems like a lifetime ago that your bump was just a little bean and before that just a dearly wanted dream! and now he/she is nearly here!!!!!

oooh, I am super excited for you!

MummyA, sorry about the sniffles. Is so miserable when you're pg and can't take anything decent. Have you tried saline sprays? Was v good for my blocked nose.

C'mooooon, GlitteryDD! It occurred to me, is this LO the last baby of the first thread regulars?

Lunatic, thank you for understanding. One more reason why this thread's so important! So sorry you've been having a bad time with L, but don't say it's your fault - you can only deal with what's in front of you, and the reflux had to be tackled, right?

How come your MIL didn't hold him? Because he wanted you, or is she a bit squeamish?

Hmm no sign of glittery I hope I haven't jinxed you with my prediction!

Only a quick post from me, I'm on my phone as dp has discovered the joy of football manager on the laptop.

E has decided that sleep is for wimps and she would much rather kick hell out of her cot at 2am. No tears, just play time

On the other hand she is keeping us all entertained by clapping hands and giving us all kisses. Poor thing is like a performing seal atm.

Dp is out and about later so will try and do a real catch up then.