March 2013 time for shoes!

[Plonkysaurus]

New thread ladies...

How did you manage to go that overdue? I thought they always induce after two weeks.

lentil weaving hippy that wanted a home birth and just had a feeling she wasn't ready to come out. I had extra scans and monitoring those last few days. If I had have been induced the home birth would have been off. luckily my waters broke on day 19!

I salute your patience! I went into labour two days before my due date and finally got her out on said due date, but I imagine if DD hadn't been so punctual I'd have been begging for a caesarean by a week overdue. Never wad any good at waiting for things.

20 days overdue? Wow.

Ds was a good boy he came 2 days early so I could enjoy my first mothers day with him. This time last year i had period type pains and thinking is this it? The waiting was not fun. I actually sort of enjoyed my last trimester. I finished work a month early so i enjoyed trashy tv and ironing baby clothes in preperation. Work stress and tiredness made the sickness worse. I say sort of as the spd and heartburn got worse. I used to sleep sitting up.

I think I had just signed off work this time last year. DS was 14 days overdue. I had to be induced in order for him to be tempted to make an appearance, and even then it took 12 hours of labour, seven contractions in every ten minutes and many "his heart rate is dropping again"s before an emergency c-section.

yummy how sweet that this will be your second mother's day. I cried in the shower on Mother's Day last year. My sister had secretly entered a florist's competition to nominate a nearly-mummy and I got a huge bouquet delivered to my house. Lots of tears.

Books though eco flappy ones are a hit here too. And so is Row, Row, Row Your Boat. DS has even started bringing it to me and saying "row row", it's unbelievably adorable.

stormy nothing like the feeling of a landlord organising new windows, is there? When we were renting a couple of years ago, we got them all done as they were a complete bodge job. I enjoyed not having to fork out for it.

Ahh the time, I'm up at 6am. Hope it's peaceful, sleepy nights all round

Hi, belated happy birthday to your dd Betty. The cake story sounds so sweet Eco, sounds like you opened up a whole new world of wonder!

Thanks again for all the kind messages and apologies for not replying sooner. Unfortunately we still don't know anything-had his MRI yesterday morning and we were supposed to hear by lunchtime, then by mid afternoon and then by 5pm. At 6:30, they told us that his results would be discussed at a big radiology meeting this morning. Trying to stay positive but I don't think that sounds great. On a positive note, he slept great last night-it was probably down to the MRI sedation but it was so needed! He's still not eating at all and barely drinking and has cried himself hoarse but hopefully we'll know in a few hours and can start planning what is going to happen.

He's 11 months today and arrived on his due date. He was a very big baby so the last few weeks were extremely uncomfortable and I was very, very happy to see him!

morning cantturn. Hopefully you will get to have some discussions after their meeting then. We'll certainly all be thinking of you. It's good to be starting the day with him having had a good sleep. I suspect you're not feeling quite so well rested yourself?

A due date baby? How lovely! But how big is big?! Good job he didn't go over by the sounds of it!

Now, being as it's over familiar Friday I'm going to start the day by sending you and the babies all lots of hugs xx

Eco I'm currently watching the Babysaurus smush a banana in his fists then pick the dregs out of the high chair straps. Manners aren't our strong point here either.

We had a shocking night after our jaunt between bath and bedtime. Never again. I'm sure it was mainly teething related, but I think I've learnt not the mess with the routine.

cantturn at least he's had it done now, I hope they get back to you with the results soon. At least you'll know what you're dealing with and can focus on that. I bet you can't wait to leave that hospital.

DS was ten days late. On my 9th day overdue I went to see my midwife for yet another failed sweep (bloody TINY hands that woman had). She booked me in for an induction for 11 days over. I cried. Buckets. We went to Morrisons looking a right pair. DP cooked me dinner and we watched Argo. Halfway into the film my contractions started and DS was with us a nailbiting 24 hours later.

I bloody love Argo.

Betty the cake pic on FB looks fabulous! I think you may have inspired me.

Eco he was 10lbs 6oz so pretty large but smaller than DS1 was! Despite all my hypnobirthing plans, he arrived by C-section...hence the due date arrival. Said he would have been a few more weeks had they allowed me go over-I shudder to think what size he would have been otherwise. He's now a very long, lean baby who looks like a toddler! Over familiar Friday sounds lovely this morning-all hugs gratefully accepted.

cantturn - think of you today and hoping you get some information at last.

eco the sugar free birthday cake recipe we are using is this one: shealynnbenner.com/2014/01/sugar-free-birthday-cake/. Tests so far have worked well although I have used some coconut flour and coconut oil substitutions and ground flax seed to pack some extra nutrients in. Can't help myself to ply DD with as much nutrient rich food as possible - even on her birthday. However judging from her reaction to the test cakes she couldn't care less and loved every crumb!

20 day overdue must have been hard but I would have done exactly the same. I was going with the French policy that you are not overdue till 43 weeks! The hospital actually were trying to persuade me to induce at 38 weeks (for no medical reason - they just wanted to "control" things for me after they messed up with DD1) so this time last year was actually pretty stressful. Luckily I went naturally into labour at 38+3 and had DD within 3 wonderful hours so didn't have to put up with the stress for long!

Really can't believe that it's been a whole year - feels like only a few weeks ago!

Thinking of you today Cantturn.

Must start thinking of birthday cakes etc... Have a couple of weeks though. Will prob do a Harry Eastwood gluten free and fat free vegetable cake. Not totally sugar free but much sweetness comes from the veg so heavily reduced in many cases. Always turn out well...

My birthday today! Must get dressed in a mo and head out before the predicted snow arrives!

I was still working this time last year. He wasn't due til toward the end of the month, and I planned to work to 38 weeks. I only did 2 days of that last week. And he turned up exactly 10 days later at 38+4. My waters broke when I was glossing the picture rail in the nursery . I called dh, the birth unit and my mum and went and finished it. Poor dh though, spent our first few days running about painting the nursery to all hours and visiting us inbetween. Everyone says you'll be late, esp when it's your first and a boy... Also had house full of storage boxes etc which I'd bought to help me sort out cupboards and properly nest in my final couple of weeks. Drove poor dh spare as he didn't have time to do anything with them and they took up tonnes of room. I spent all DS early naps getting them sorted when I should have been resting - oops!

This time last year I thought I was in labour. Turns out I'm one of those women who goes completely into themselves in labour, because for some reason I didn't tell DH, sent him to the pub, and spent the whole evening in and out of the bath, throwing up, timing 'contractions'. After about 6 hours, I fell asleep. When I woke up, DH was back and snoring, and I'd been asleep for 4 hours. Just thought "well that wasn't it then" and turned over and went back to sleep. Good thing really as I was only 36 weeks. Dd arrived a week later very speedily and with the same symptoms, so I guess that I had my latent phase a week early, because when I actually went into labour I was 5cm within 3 hrs of my first contraction and had her 2 hrs later!

thanks for your recipe Rainbow.

Loving hearing about you birth reminiscences everyone.

Yikes Gerry, I'd have loved a labour like that! Mine seemed to go on and on, and then we had the dreaded meconium and cord wrapped around the neck. My lovely calm breathing it out turned into a big fat needle full of pethidine and a ventouse. Still, he's gorgeous so we can forget all about that.

Although I did finish work at 29 weeks. Ahem.

Mmm, pethidine. That stuff was fun. Not much to reminisce about though really, I had a stupidly easy labour and delivery. I did send the man to work though, knew he'd be no use flapping around. And of course the previous night's curry meant quite a lot of trips to the loo that day, so no pooing myself during the big finale. But this time last year, the thought of potentially having another three weeks to go wasn't making me terribly happy. Human babies are born ridiculously young compared to other mammals, because of the huge heads. Equivalent to other mammals would probably mean giving birth to a baby the size of a two year old. Imagine being pregnant for that long.

All our births were so different as are all our (nearly) one year olds. It's so lovely to hear how they came into the world and where they are now. And how many different types of cake they're eating! DSis is making DS a Mickey Mouse one. I don't know what kind it'll be and I won't ask, my job is to just eat it.

Happy birthday pud! What are you doing today to celebrate?

cantturn I hope you get some answers today. I thought I had the biggest on this thread with my 9lb 13oz lump but your little (ahem) one outdid him! How big was DS1 if DS2 was smaller??!

I had a OOPS moment last night. I went to see a show with my friend and our other friend (who is newly pregnant and I'm the only friend who knows) was working there. My friend was with me when she hinted over text that she was pregnant so he just assumed she was and that was that. Cue last night, him coming out of the toilet and saying "Congratulations, I heard the news." I've never used so many expletives at him!

My waters broke 3am whilst asleep. 39hrs later he was born. Thankfully contractions started naturally. My biggest fear was doing a poo during delivery but i kept going toilet soo many times during labour so i didnt need to worry about that. Dm panicked and was telling me to go in hospital. Hospital said they had no beds so i had to wait in hospital corridors. Thankfully they was a room when i arrived. I had epidural in the end as i couldn't take the pain anymore. The gas and air was not working. I couldn't have done harm to the midwife who said i was only 1cm dilated. I was so exhausted. my funniest moment was when a contraction came just as the lift doors opened at the hospital. Dm had to block the doors open and wait for the contraction to be over. The not so funny moment was when i fainted in the shower after birth because i lost so much blood. Oh and I also swore at the person who called dh's phone. They heard but she is a midwife so all was ok no one got offended.

I loved hearing these stories. Our birthday cake is ordered. It is a square cake with a big 1 on it. No lentils though. A fatty sugary sponge cake.

cantturn i have been thinking about you. Hope you get some answers today. It must be so frustrating for you.

Im at home again today. Ds woke up with diarrohea (sp?). It was everywhere poor thing. Im too scared to venture out with a poorly leaky baby.

I meant I loved hearing the birth stories.

Love the variety of birth stories but also makes me glad of my quick labour! My waters broke at 5am and I stood in the shower for what seemed like forever before I finally stopped leaking! I couldn't believe how much liquid was in there and couldn't stop laughing the whole time (probably nerves!). I then wandered around the house half naked for a couple of hours, listened to beautiful piano music and cuddled DH until about 7:30 am when independent midwife arrived and the contractions picked up. I had various areas set up around the house which I wandered between to have contractions, had a half hour bath when the most intense contractions started, got out then midwife suggested I squatted, I reached down to feel DD head and suddenly she came out straight into my arms. Just amazing. It was only when I was back in our bed that I realised that I literally hadn't given a single thought to pain relief - not even a paracetamol. Couldn't believe it as have an incredibly low pain threshold and was very please!

Wish I could go back and experience it all over again!

Waters broke 18:15 but nothing else happened then. I had to crack open the maternity pads as then randomly gushed for hours . No contractions at all til I went to bed at about 11pm. But almost immediately were too much to sleep through. I left dh in bed and went and watched tv on the sofa. At 4 I woke him to put the tens machine on and went back downstairs. At 6 I called the midwife to say I was less than 3 mins apart and had been for an hour. She asked me to come in for 8 when the shift changed. I woke dh and told him and at 7:10 said we were going in and hang the shift change! I had 4 contractions between the front door and the mlu - about 150m. The cleaner at the hospital still recognises me bless her! Much to their surprise but not mine I was 6 cm when I arrived. Got in the pool and at 10 am felt the urge to push. Sadly after 2 hours we weren't getting anywhere so I had a 40 min ambulance lights and music transfer to hospital. I started on the gas and air for that - being told to stop pushing at that stage was impossible! (Not helped by them not securing the trolley so first corner I went flying across the back of the van and followed by the gas and air running out half way there ). When I arrived they very promptly did a local jab, episiotomy and ventouse and DS was with us in 3 contractions at bang on 13:00. Half an ounce under 8 lb.

Do I win the award for latest breaking of waters? They went a few minutes before DD appeared. And I managed to be 8cm dilated on arrival at the hospital (having had two paracetemol and deciding ten minutes later they weren't going to be any use at all and heading in for the good drugs). Everyone else had been tellingme for several hours that I ought to go in. Didn't want to risk being sent home again. Pud, I think it's a similar distance from my front door to where my dad was parked - took about a dozen contractions to cover that distance. And they were coming so fast I couldn't manage a cuppa when we got there. Could've killed for one!

Rant time!

Whenever DD can see me, she gets a bit screechy and wants to climb my legs or be held, because she's having a clingy phase. We've been chilling on the sofa this afternoon, cos the floor's a tip what with the windows. The man's come to see her. I held her out to him. He did nothing. I had to ask him to take her. After a couple of minutes he put her in the cage. Cue screeching until I picked her up. So he put her on the floor. Right next to a lump of broken glass that came in on the sole of his boot. I grabbed the glass just before she put her hand on it, then picked her up, and told him I'm trying to keep her off the floor until it's all tidied up. Handed her back to him, she screeched, he put her on the floor again. FFS! Is he here to spend time with her, or is he here to watch her screeching at me and risking injury?

Hi, the birth stories are lovely to hear-seems like a lifetime ago.

Not really sure how to write this because it sounds like someone else's horrible story but a tumour was confirmed this morning. We've been transferred to an oncology hospital but were allowed home for the weekend. The four of us have spent the afternoon napping, cuddling, playing and crying. We won't know anything more until next week. I might retreat a little from posting on this thread for a while but I'll keep reading. Thanks for all your messages and support and please give your little ones an extra squeeze today-they are all so precious, x

Awww cantturn so sorry to hear that. You know the results now and can focus on the appropriate treatment. Please try to stay positive. If you ever need support we are here for you.

stormy rant away. unfortunately some people do not have common sense. If she is clingy to you would have thought he would have cleared the mess on the floor. He seems the type of person where you have to tell him exactly what to do.

I too have an extremely clingy baby. We have snuggled up together all day but still wants me even though dh is here. Don't get me wrong i love the snuggles but I do need to go toilet and make a cuppa now and again. Does anyone have any tips? He sits on my lap gets down then whinges for me to pick him up again.

Oh cant and also for you. Thinking of you, keep us posted