June 08 - 79 days (and counting) til Christmas, has Deb started her shopping yet?!

[KnittingisbetterthanTherapy]

Thought we should update the thread!

Oh dear God - feeling awful today - having constant rows with Mark and Luke is playing up really badly. I am almost entirely housebound which doesn't help. I have burst into tears 3 times already today and it's only 9.50. Why does pregnancy have to be so hard?

Oh Amber, you poor thing. I hope the last hour or so has been a bit better. Is Luke going to be home all day?

No that's the thing Luke is at nursery all day as there is no way I would be able to look after him completely solo when I can't stand up for more than 5 minutes. I felt like this when I was preggers with Luke. I had bad SPD and couldn't get out and I felt very lonely. It's worse now as I have the same but have to get up at 5.30 every morning (thankyou daylight saving). I sound like such and old whinge and I'm sorry as I should be counting my blessings. Only 8 more weeks.

amber pregnancy sucks. It's a miracle of course but I was still pretty miserable most of the time and then I felt guilty for not enjoying it so you can complain to me! I agree wholeheartedly (and am very jealous of women who glow throughout...). And I fight with DH when I'm upset so I'm sure it's all related.

Deb this is very exciting for all of us to hear about your move but such a huge change. Do the boys have friends living anywhere near where you're moving too? Are they relatively outgoing with strangers? I'm sure they'll settle in fine but it must be a bit daunting to DS2.

I guess you need friends to come over and keep you company, who know you well enough to make their own coffee. Are you comfortable if you are sitting down, or do you need to lie down? Or is everything uncomfortable?

Amber, hope those 8 weeks go very quickly for you!

Abdn, we will be about an hour away from where we moved from so we can see old friends but they are going to have to make new friends obviously. Ds1 is loud but shy and not very confident, but having said that he has coped really well with the move to high school here this year, much better than I expected so I hope that in an English school it will be even easier. Also it's a small village primary with only 3 classes so quite a family atmosphere.

Ds2 is quite different, he has the problems with speech BUT he is very confident and the most popular boy in his class.His worry is about the academic work and also he divulged last night that he thought there might be more nice boys in his class in the UK , implyiong that he'll have more competition with the girls!!!

I just know that in the future ds1 will have his heart broken regularly and ds2 will be breaking hearts!!

Back to packing to the noise of Ethan in his room defying an afternoon nap for the 2nd day. I know I am lucky that they have lasted this long, but surely he could wait until we move and then stop???

Hey thanks all for the sympathy! I have the lovely Dewin and Puree coming on Friday. Unfortunately other friends are all working. Hey ho - have to get Mark to take a few days off here and there I guess.

Deb - did you work out what to do about continuing the German for the kids?

Quick post to mark my place.

Have just booked some flights for next year's summer holiday . We're going back to the same place we went to this year. Part of me thinks that we should really have a look around first, but the place was fab, the owners were fantastic and there was loads we didn't get to do/see.

Where are you going DG?

I want a holiday!! God knows what kind of 'holiday' you can have with a toddler and two newborns though. I have told Mark to start saving so we can maybe get some childcare abroad. I do know someone who works in Tenerife who comes to live with you and nannie for your holiday - bliss!

I had a scan today at 28+6. The babies are both breach which is why I feel all the action down below. They are huge - 3lb 8 each already! Both of them have tummy measurments over the scale for singletons - no surprise as Luke was the same. ALso big femur measurements so they'll be tall too like their brother. People actually stared at me yesterday when I got a coffee - I think I am humungous!

A holiday nanny sounds like a fab idea - worth it if you can!

Great to hear the babies are doing so well - if you are getting stares now what will people think in a few weeks!

We're going to France Rolf - here. It's where we went this summer and really loved it. There was loads that we still wanted to do so we thought we'd go back. The owners are really lovely and helpful and we know it's perfect for S so all good. We stayed in their smallest gite last year, but have bumped up to a two bed this year.

Amnber, sorry to read that you're having a tough time. A colleague of mine is expecting twins and she's exhausted. I see on fb that Iestyn's poorly - what a shame when you had plans to see them.

Warning DGIT - my Dad wanted us to see the whole of Europe as children and get 'cultured'. We started off going to a village in northern Spain, I think probably so he could take us to the Dali museum which wasn't far off. We liked the village so much we thought we would go back there the following year too .... ended up going back every single year for the next 10 years!!

It was lovely though, holidays were never stressful as we knew exactly what to expect, had friends in the village that we grew up with, everyone was so pleased to see us it truly was a home from home. Even the local dogs knew us!

[huge nostalgia attack here]

That looks lovely DG. I'd like to start trying a few European holidays. We've been to lots of cottages in the UK, and went to Ireland the summer before last but haven't been further afield. We have family in the US but that's such an expensive holiday, and a summer in France would be brilliant.

SA we have friends who spend the whole summer in the same house in Italy. They have a fabulous time, all speak good Italian and the children have grown up with the local children as they've been going for years.

Anyone else have anywhere they can recommend we try visiting? DH is a real homebird and when he likes somewhere he likes to revisit it.

Yeah DG Iestyn's got Croup poor lamb. Puree is still coming though so I'll get to use the Nespresso machine!

Domestic I remember how much you enjoyed your hols last time and it looks lovely. We used to go to the same place every holiday up until my first holiday on my own aged about 20! We always went to Malta which is where we're from so always had loads of family to see. I recommend Malta for families - it's lovely and the Maltese are very friendly and family orientated.

Quick update from me.

We got discharged yesterday lunchtime, but have to go back every 12 hours to complete William's course of anti-biotics. Luckily we live a mile from the hospital so it's quite easy.

Yesterday afternoon at home was a bit grim as my parents had decided that P didn't need a sleep after nursery school, we we turn up with the new baby to find a toddler who is already hyper stimulated and extremely tired, you can imagine the rest... Last night was a little eventful because as well as W waking as you would expect, P woke twice and the second time because he had completely leaked out of his nappy, through pjs, sleeping bag, sheets. He hasn't done that since I don't know when. I then went to the loo and found a massive blood clot maybe walnut sized which freaked me out enough to phone the maternity unit. I got checked out when we went in for the a-bs this morning and they aren't worried about me. We also got some of the path results back relating to W's infection and the placenta came back +ve for ecoli and group b strep, but again the paeds and the obstetricians aren't concerned. So it looks like they won't find anything specific that they can pin W's infection to, and because he is doing well in all respects we should get the all clear tomorrow. They explained a bit about group b in terms of future pregnancies (!) and then I relayed (that was cos of group b wasn't it?) to DH who found the story v funny.

We have now traded one set of GPs for DH's. So far MIL is on best behaviour (no weight comments), although last Friday I completely chewed her head off over the phone when she complained that during P's labour she wasn't kept informed enough. Will keep you posted...

Quick post - yes, Iestyn has croup and he really is quite ill indeed. Part of it is - and some of you may have spotted this! - that he's never ill normally - we haven't had any dramas, no major d&v or anything, so this is a bit of a shocker. Plus, I'm in London and I have no backup, and boy did I need it this morning when I had m/s! (But I don't normally - just tiredness due to being woken every 2-3 hours last night.)
And now I'm seriously wondering about this second one...this is a nasty little taster!

Really sad I won't be seeing Amber and Puree. DH has got himself free for tomorrow, so will have backup, but can't really go visiting given that I'm probably covered in germs.

Otherwise...
Names - please nobody use Emlyn for a girl: it's a very masculine boy's name in Welsh!! (It was on the list. )
Rolf I recommend Anglesey for a holiday! But seriously, though, some friends were staying, and they were just saying how lovely the area is with children, which it is. Plenty to do. It gets boring once they're teenagers (I guess - I was bored!!) unless they're outdoorsy types. But, there's castles, beaches, things for toddlers, countryside, Snowdonia is 20 mins (but the weather is infinately better than Snowdonia!!) and Ireland is 1 1/2 hours away.

Spider great news about William, and glad it's nothing serious. Hope the inlaws are bearable...

I really hope Iestyn is better for Saturday - he is supposed to be going to the zoo with GPs, and he's already excited becuase he has repeatedly said he wants to see a frog there.

Doesn't this Anglesey cottage look nice: www.angleseyislandcottages.co.uk/moryn.php

Hope I is feeling better soon. Early pregnancy is the pits isn't it. And mid pregnancy with twins, too, from the sound of it . And late pregnancy .

I had a leaky lady appointment yesterday and was all ready to cry when the physio made me crack up laughing by showing me her poo diagram . It was fabulous.

was it the Bristol Poo scoring chart rolf?

Dewin never fear, Emlyn is not on our short list, Emlyn Hughes is the first thing that springs to mind! Sorry Iestyn is poorly and you're feeling sick, hope it was just ms and not all day sickness. I'm excited for Iestyn about the zoo - imagine how much he'll like some of the other stuff if he's excited about a frog!

spider fingers crossed for the all clear tomorrow for W.

ooh holidays. Jealous.

amber glad the twins are doing so well, and you look great in your fb photo. mMy colleague's wife is due twins in mid dec, and when I finished work 2 weeks ago he said she was ready to topple over in the wind!

oh we have the Bristol poo chart here it's great, was the highlight of my fireworks party!

Bristol Poo? Someone is going to have to explain that... Took Iestyn to the GP today because I was concerned, but it is 'just' croup. Had no idea croup was so scary, though.

I'm ok - feeling queasy at various points today but this is amazing compared to the last pg I had! (Sick all day every day for the entire 9 months. Sorry, no, 8 1/2 months. ) This is early days - or maybe not so early depending on my dates. Can I confess something? I swear I can feel something moving down there. (No, not down there, but in my tummy!!) But it's a 2 week wait for the midwife appt!

Rolf that cottage does look lovely - and Moelfre is lovely if a bit exposed. It's a little fishing village, made famous (and a touch richer) by the Royal Charter's sinking. There's a lifeboat station there, and the coxswain a few years ago got an award for an absolutely amazing act of heroism where he saved all the people despite his boat capsizing twice. (I have a big thing about lifeboats - I think it's the bravest job of all because you can't assess the risk and have to take what you get once you're out.) Great cliff walks there, and scenery. Moelfre is a bit like a Cornish village - so is quite a lot of Anglesey, and whilst I like Cornwall I'm not one to rave about it: it's like home but with more tourists!

Biscuits meant to say, I so want Iestyn to go to the zoo too! His claim that he wants to see a frog is a bit odd (although he does like frogs) but like you say, frogs and some...

Very quick post to mark my spot. Rolf, I don't have any experience of any other family friendly destinations in Europe, but if you do fancy France then I recommend the place we went to without hesitation. The nearest airports are Tours and Poitiers, and the owners of the gites couldn't be more helpful. Play stuff on site, as well as rabbits and chickens and loads of places to visit between 10 minutes and 1 hour's drive away. The owners have two children themselves and are great at recommending good places to visit depending on ages of children. Plenty to do to suit all tastes.

Yes it was Biscuits . Do you have one on your wall? .

ooh Anglesey, I could actually envisage that. Normally holiday destinations scare the crap out of me - the whole idea of packing up and getting there puts me off. But Anglesey feels near enough the North West of England that we could probably cope with it. Hmm.

Just had a lovely evening, met a mum of a 4 year old boy with autism who lives about 6 doors down from me and has had extensive contact with the child development centre that we have been referred to for L and she can't say enough good things about it. Which was very very reassuring! Whatever they come up with, it sounds as if they are very professional and will know what they're doing. Also nice to talk with someone who understood the wearing down effect of the day to day issues we have been coping with ... or rather not 'nice', more complicated than that, a combination of it being worrying that so many things in our experience were similar, and incredibly reassuring to talk to someone who 'got' it and didn't just dismiss it all.