Those near the end come moan with me!

[prolificwillybreeder]

Labour must be close because not only am I absolutely starving, exhausted but unable to sleep let alone well!
But I swear if DP's elbow touches my arm one more time I will throttle him!
I cannot stand anyone near me and nearly everything is driving me mad with misery.
I am also highly emotional.

Come moan with me, please bring warm donuts

So everyone else's existing small children are being little fuckers too then? Not just mine? Thank God.

Phew. Time to sit down. I have hung out another load of washing (saves time in the morning if you know it's going to be nice!) and cleaned all the windows on the top & middle floors (expect ds's room as he's wide awake playing sleeping). Also cleaned top bathroom so there's a possibility it'll still be looking nice when MiL arrives on Friday if the dds don't breathe between now and then.

Tomorrow is busy too - off to accountant's first thing, then VAT return and PAYE, then more invoicing, then more cleaning. Got my final 3 students tomorrow night before breaking off for the summer.

Anyone got one of the ultra cheap Mothercare bouncing cradles? You know the spotty ones which are about £10-12? I've borrowed one from SiL and although it says the cover is washable the only way I reckon it can be is if I could get the whole frame into the machine! I can't get the cover off any which way but it's a little bit grubby from their ds. Any tips appreciated!

Ooh Button, some serious nesting behaviour going on there.... I rushed out and bought a moses basket mattress and some granny knickers today. Can't say I've done much housework...

Nah - just fear of the MiL

I had one of those bouncers - the frame comes apart. There should be some little plastic joins in places - just pull these apart and slide the rods through the fabric... HTH

Button when I washed mine the metal legs at the bottom popped apart - have you tried pulling them? Once the first bit was apart the rest just collapsed and could be slid out. Hope that helps! Mine isn't a Mothercare one - (Woolworths one from eBay & £2.20 inc p&p, shhhh!), but just looked it up and looks similar style :)

I've tried that! It's like they're stuck with superglue or something!

I think I'm taking exception to being spied on Are you trying to learn from our crap foolproof coping strategies or simply laughing at the fat ladies like the rest of the world?!

X post with Outthere whoops!
Got a bit excited again about 2 hours ago when started to get sharp pains every 30mins or so. Decided to have a bath and not had one since . Will just have to hold on till Friday.

Anyone else having a sweep not had one before? I'm a little worried tbh as every time I go for a smear they comment on how "long and narrow" I am with one exclaiming "ooh it's going to be a struggle when you have your babies!" Guess I'm worried she'll just not be able to do it. Or can they always? Do they just keep at it or do you have to be a bit dilated for them to be able to do a sweep? [ignorance emoticon]

button a bit of both to be honest Sorry for being nosey, just excited about all your impending arrivals. I'm in the enviable position of being able to be excited for all of you but without any of the pain and discomfort you're all experiencing. I'll get there in a few weeks though!!

Good luck to everyone, hope you don't mind me lurking - I love getting up in the morning and thinking "eek I wonder if anyone's popped overnight..."

Tis ok. Learn from us you can, young skywalker

Luke: "I'm not afraid"

Yoda: "You will be. You will be"

button i have the design before the spotty one came out (from ds3 so about four years old) the legs kinda pop out on that as i've washed ithe covers many a time. otherwise will be scrub in the bath job not too much fine at this stage is it, but might bring baby before friday you never know lol!

I am reusing this chair as an upstairs one, handy when in shower or bath the younger two boys etc. Have nice luxury chair for downstairs really went for it this time, got the m&p Nest and using it with sheepskin. Looks so snuggly i could get in it!!

Same boat as you orbinator i have also been told im quite petite down there - only place ever been described as petite in my life! But i might be able to give my sweep experience tomorrow... We will see!

Orbinator I think your cervix has to be favourable, whatever the fuck that means - flirty and pliant, I suppose, rather than thin-lipped and disapproving. They've offered me one in a couple of weeks so if anyone knows any useful ways of improving favourability, I'm all ears Didn't have one last time as DS managed to shift himself before they could oblige.

Georgimama yes, my DS is also being rather more, um, challenging than usual. Lots of running away and not listening/being defiant. He is nearly 3 though so hard to tell what is what.

@ flirty & pliant. Got it.
I have new aspirations for my womb!

Good morning all. I'm still here. I can't believe it 40+6! I see the consultant tomorrow so let's hope I have a flirty cervix . I've never had a sweep before either.

I wonder if I should put more stuff in my bag. I reckon my chances of ending up with another Cs must be going up.

Well I've been up since midnight with contractions - started off every 15 min but were down to every 5 mins after an hour and a half. Called the hospital at 3am and they said the contractions probably won't have done anything yet so to try and hang on at home :(

They're getting more intense and I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to cope with them for much longer despite TENS/paracetamol/hot water bottle. I'm just waiting for the boiler to finish heating up so I can try a hot bath. So much for the natural birth I wanted - I have a feeling I'm going to need an epidural I officially have a crap pain threshold!

Ooh Spanner, how exciting. The "latent" phase you are in (which no one bothered to tell me about when I had DS ) is awful because the contractions were pretty full on for me too but didn't seem to be doing anything. If it's any consolation mine didn't actually seem to get any worse once they actually were making me dilate, it just seemed to take a while for my cervix to catch on to what it was supposed to be doing! Have a bath, eat something light, you need the energy.

Phone the hospital again to touch base if it makes you feel more reassured (it did me) and whilst it is a PITA for you, they really don't mind you going in and going home again if it's too soon. It was v v hard for me to judge when it was "time" to be there because as I say, it really didn't ramp up much until the very very end.

Good luck SP if it's too painful go on in. You may be further along than you think.

I agree - a valid reason for going into hosp is also to get pain relief! Don't downplay your pain until you know how far along you are.

In fact - don't downplay it at all. Who is someone else to tell you when you should be allowed to feel pain?!

Good luck - looking forward to the announcement!

agree with mumblebum, go in don't feel as if you 'aren't coping' or not 'along enough' you may be surprised. With DS1 I stayed at home as kept thinking it would get worse til my contractions were pretty unbearable. I got there at 2.30 and had him at 6.30 don't think that was bad for a first birth. All my labours been quick once in hospital as I like to stay at home as long as as im more comfortable at home.

I had weird dreams last night about having baby and horrible pains, but I think I was just stressed about going into labour in night and missing DS3 waking up on his bday!! All fine this morning tho.

Morning all.
I agree with everyone else sp if you are in pain go in and see what's happening.
The latent phase is long and dull. :(
Let's hope we get your birth announcement ASAP!

Hope your cervix is flirty mumble!
I'm getting back on the RLT today after rebelling and not drinking it for a while as I'm never going to into labour!

DS thankfully slept better last night I feel a bit rough but I've given up saying anything to DP. As soon as I do the pains stop. This is obviously all his fault!

Having another quiet day here, got told yesterday I looked tired- I was wearing full makeup! I'm a full term pregnant mum with a non sleeper, humph!

Hope everyone is ok

I'm at the hospital now - about to go home again but apparently my cervix is anterior, soft and 2cm dilated with bulging membranes! I've had a sweep (really not painful at all) and the baby is finally fully engaged. I'm hoping some nice breakfast and a warm bath will help the pain for now.

Hope it all goes well SP!

sounds good your on the way! X