Fantastic 40+ Mums To Be

[10000fireflies]

A lovely shiney new thread for us to keep chatting on.

eagleray so sorry about your rubbish step-family. the loss of an elderly parent / grandparent often brings out appallingly bad and selfish behaviour in different factions of a family, whether unthinking or deliberately cruel it still makes you feel sh*t, taints important events like funerals, and it is difficult to 'heal' rifts afterwards - you really have my sympathy. Hope you can focus on your last trip to see your dad instead and the happy news you shared with him. My baby's quiet in the car too! I remember dad having to go out and drive my siblings round for ages to get them to sleep, so I'm also hoping that's not our future...

hpbp - brilliant mw advice - did you get a breast pump in advance? The advice I've had here is not to bottle feed at all if you want to breast feed, even if it takes milk some days to come through - interesting that your advice there is different, but obviously works well! I think I'll be worried about having a hungry baby, so am I'll be glad to have a plan B (and equipment) in place that doesn't mean giving up with the bf. I month! that must have gone so quickly :)

lrm please, please come and organise me too - I could really do with a foul-mouthed domestic goddess at our house too. I'm in charge of organising our house move as I'm working at home, and usually it's much more my kind of thing, but I'm being hopeless! Keep falling asleep instead of ringing removers, crying about having to phone incompetent utility companies etc, and do everything at a snails pace ...

hi everyone else too - hope you are all OK. Nice to have ankles back now it's not so hot :)

Eagleray, sorry about your Dad and don't pay attention to stepfamily behaviour, I am convinced there is a justice somewhere above us and people will one day or another get a pay back time... How exciting, 20 week scan tomorrow and turning 41 the day after ! This is quite a present, isn't it ?
Somewhere, hope MS will leave you soon. I promise, it does get easier !
Seaside, glad to see you on the pushchair section too. We will certainly be pushchair buddies ! I quite like the Versa too. Re BF and equipment, I have bottle fed a little bit in the first week after putting Anastasia on the breast so that she could still have colostrum and full stomach, she would take both but not more than 10 or 20ml on the bottle. During week 2 and 3, I decided to give her 2 bottles a day and expressed while my Mum or DH was feeding her, I rented a Medela eletric double breast pump, it is really the Rolls Royce of breast pump, easy to use, very quiet, I did not feel like a cow being milked.... :) By mid week 3, I had enough milk for all the feeds and dropped completely the bottles. Anastasia now is on the breast only. And I had her weighed today, she is 1.300 kg heavier than her birth weight and thriving, 4.320 kg today after one month. Some nights she would wake up only once to feed.
I know that la Leche League and other BF support litterature and groups recommend no bottle at all for the first 6 weeks but I do not agree at all. For my first baby, I followed their advice and made my life hell, I was exhausted, feeling bad for not being able to feed my baby enough, and baby was crying a lot as he must have been starving, poor thing.

The other good news is that Anastasia has slowed down the number of poos... During this first month, litterally,one poo at each feed. I did not know when to change her, at the beginning of the feed to wake her up a bit or 15 minutes after the feed because she was soiled again ?!? That was a lot of nappies... :) For the past 2 days, I noticed that poos were less frequent but wees are still flowing, which is a sign of good milk intake. Sorry if TMI but I thought I would share this as it surprised me a lot to have a poo at each feed, I don't remember having the same with DS1, but I was doing combination feeding then and formula fed babies can spend 3/4 days without a poo.

To wiggling babies and mother to be, enjoy the foetal movements, I miss them a lot !

Hbpb, glad to hear how well Anastasia is doing and that her poo rate has slowed ! Somewhere, hope you start to feel better soon, it will pass, I promise! LRM, enjoy your maternity leave! Eagleray, so sorry to hear about your shitty treatment at the hands of your step family, sounds bloody awful! But good luck for scan today, are you finding out the sex?? And have a lovely birthday on Friday. KMR, your MIL sounds delightful! Mine can be similarly "tactless" but luckily we only see her about once a year as she lives overseas. I'm not bothering with antenatal classes this time - they were called Parentcraft 9 years ago and in this area seemed to consist of talking you through the birth (I can remember it well enough, and having ELCS this time) and then basically telling you how you have no time to yourself with a newborn (yes, sort of worked that out as well!) so I'm not bothering.

We appear to have bought rather a lot of stuff over the last week or so, including the pushchair (due to be delivered around 25th Sept), bottles, bottle warmer, steriliser, a couple of outfits for Rosa (DS's choice), swaddling blanket. Need to slow down a bit now or we'll have nowhere to put anything (2 rooms out of use at the moment as DP due to start laying new floor in a week or so). Hope everyone has a nice day xx

LRM - please come and organise our spare room (which will be baby's room) - how do I clear out books??! Must find the inner strength..!
I have just handed in my official letter and Matb1 form to HR, so will be working up to 38 weeks, all being well. If all not well, or weather closes in and I can't drive to work, I'll start leave earlier. DS1 is 8 today - how did that happen?? DS2 is 5 next saturday - seems like not long ago they were just teeny tiny.
I have to say I am much more relaxed about things this time round - feeding the baby etc, having all the stuff - I find I can't really remember the (gory) details but I managed the last 2 times, so hoping will manage with this one too. I am deffo trying not to think too much about the actual birth...!

i can barely follow all this debate about prams and bottles!
LRM you need to tell people your secret!
hbpb anastasia's poo is absolutely not too tmi - come on - it's a form of self expression at that age!

i know i'm like a broken record but because of MS i am plonking my DS in front of the telly a lot. i did make pancakes this morning with him and we had a fun trip to the supermarket and this afternoon we have a playdate but between times, it's telly cause mum has to lie down. Should i be trying harder?

thanks for all your positive sentiments re MS. i am someone who hates pregnancy and if this one goes all the way i will NEVER DO IT AGAIN. i love babies and children. but i can't abide pregnancy. [grumpy]. being on here helps pass the time like anything.

i am also having a sensation that i can feel the baby. i know this is totally mad but i can feel these flutters. it's probably just blood flow or something.

anyway i'm pleased that i'm 8 weeks today - just 3 weeks to my nuchal. not getting carried away, prepared for anything, but things going well.

oh yes - big cry in the cinema at Brave, and also at Coldplay's Fix You - does anyone else think it sounds like it's addressed to a newborn child?

I'm lucky with my MiL - she's not very bothersome. On first impressions she's a very beautiful, wise, witty, old lady. But scratch the surface and she's a depressive. My DP has a love-hate relationship with her. She has lots of lovely qualities - she's really creative and loving - but she has this depression and that is tough for her and everyone who is close to her.

hey ho can't write forever on mumsnet.

Good morning!

Am sat up in bed having eaten a lovely cooked birthday breakfast and I have the day off!!! Nothing terribly exciting planned but it's just so nice having a day of pottering and staring at the dust which has been collecting everywhere when I wasn't looking

Scan went pretty well yesterday - DP couldn't be there as it was just too difficult for him to get time off and get to the hospital in time (200 mile round trip) but the sonographer ladies were lovely and they made me laugh so much I nearly split my stomach muscles!

I already knew the baby was a girl from the amnio results and I slightly naughtily made the sonographer guess from the scan - luckily she reckoned it was a girl too. All the measurements are fine but she absolutely refused to turn to have her spine checked and so I was sent off to do a wee, then had to jump up and down, take a walk, eat a Double Decker, lie on my side and be shaken roughly, get on all fours and shake my bum and still refused to budge. Funny eh that I counted nearly 40 movements in the hours before the scan... So now I have to go back again in a couple of weeks for the final measurement. They gave me a stack of photos for free too, which was really nice.

I don't have any MIL issues, apart from the fact that she sadly died years ago (long before I met DP) and I think he is really feeling her loss now that the baby is on the way. However, I do have an evil stepmother who hopefully I will never have to see again (I have a feeling she will disappear off the face of the earth now that dad has died) and a slightly nutty mother who is STILL in shock at my announcement but is now demanding that I name the baby as she doesn't like the fact that she doesn't have a name. So no pressure there, at all...

Well done on reaching 8 weeks somewhere - I had almost forgotten how slow those first few weeks took to pass and I think I was close to going mad by the time the first scan came around

It's a lovely day out there today, but a definite chill in the air. I always see my birthday as the last day of summer as it is the end of August - better get on and book a holiday somewhere nice before I get too big to fly...

Morning ladies

Somewhere - My secret is lists I have them on the fridge and work my way through em. As stuff pops into my baby brain I write them down in groups of baby me hospital and other domestic crap.Also been looking on line for months selecting stuff we need then finding the best prices and offers. Would love to walk through Mamas and Papas with a large trolley going this and this and this but he ho it is expensive.
Job for the day is to look into child benefits and child care vouchers, which look a pain in the ass. Does anyone else have any pearls of wisdom regarding which benefits you get and how these bloody vouchers work. Having a dim day today

Morning all,

Right - must take after LRM and get some lists. I have so much to do.Nearly finished DD's new room and she is safely ensconced in her new pink palace (tastefully so I hasten to add - honest guv). LRM you seem to have so little time to go - where are the months flying past too? They drag so slowly in the first 12 weeks (heres looking at you Somewhere) and then suddenly its all a bit real .

Still have to decorate the nursery, --this could take 5 minutes as it is the smallest room in the world, sort and wash clothes, buy a few things,(still buying very little despite my big promises to VQ finishing touches to DD's room, throw out all the shit that was in the spare room. Can I ask where does all ones crap go when you don't have a spare room? Shed full to bursting, attic may collapse - may just have to bite the bullet and get rid of things but I find it so painful - although pregnancy seems to have made me a little more ruthless. Can I also ask where the hell is VQ?

Everything fine with me and baby seems to be staying put. Although I had a 32 week growth scan last week and he is a boy beast. Already weighs more now than DD did at term. This has thrown my birth feelings up in the air. I am never going to get a baby that big out of me if I am induced, laying flat on my back and all the shit that comes with that and my worst nightmare is a really long labour and then EMCS. So think my plan will be: If I go into labour naturally - birth centre and try an active birth. Any sign of intervention then I am not messing about and will go straight to ELCS. The consultant seemed ok with this and I will discuss next week with my midwife. It is great news that the baby is growing so well but not what I expected after having IUGR last time. Shows not two pregnancies are the same and that aspirin really is a wonder drug!

Looks like I missed it but happy birthday Eagerlay hope you had a lovely day, despite all the sadness in your life right now. And yay for good scans - I also have a very uncooperative baby - needs a lot of star jumps and pelvic tilts to get him to cooperate.

HP lovely to hear about Anastasia - even her poohs - you forget so much about newborns, and that is something i had chosen to forget - although in all fairness I think DH dealt with most of them. KRM I am with you - I think you delete the gory bits and the pooh bits.

Anyway I best go - off to the west country for a 4 day break from this Topsy turvey house before the nesting really begins. Big wave to you all x

Morning all. Hope you are well. Just popping in for a quick hi. I need to do a lot of reading to catch up with everything. DS lovely and snuggly and getting more interactive so becoming lots of fun. Have a good weekend. FF xx

afternoon ladies
10000fire - Glad to hear from you . xx
Earerlay- Happy birthday x

Today is operation cooking and fill the freezer, done 6 chiilis and 6 Spag Bogs, next is currys. Give us a least a month of not having to worry about food. Bloody house stinks of onions and spices. Cat thinks he is in heaven with the smell of chicken .
Got my letter saying my growth scan is delayed till Sept 11 by then I will be 37 weeks !!! So he will be a very big boy by then judging by the massive bump I am carrying now.

Hope you are all well and dandy xx

I?m trying to write this through the background of loud MGPjr on telly (a junior eurovision with kids) and copious cupcake and chocolate eating. Feel like hiding under the duvet. Cripes! Am I too old and fuddy duddy to parent??? Will need to go through this again in my fifties!!

Sorry I haven?t been on for yonks. This GD has taken some managing and I?ve been chocka with appointments, meetings etc. This coming week I have the midwife, hospital tour, dietician, 34 week growth scan and ObGyn appointment and probably a couple of ante-natal classes as well! Finally getting the hang of keeping my sugars down after a blip (very very low carbs and low GI/avoiding anything sweet ? except strawberries and mango - or with more than 0.6g carbohydrates as sugar) and starting to feel less miserable and mortified about it all. On the upside, I met 3 other lovely ladies for coffee on Friday who are also due September/October and are all expats in Stavanger. I?ll be with 2 of them & their partners at the hospital tour on Monday and I may be delivering at the same time as one of them. It?s nice to meet some nice local women who?ll have babies at the same time! :)

I?ve tried to log in and read as often as possible and have tried to get caught up with all your news :).

eagleray - very sorry to hear your news. Also very sorry to hear about the step family issues. They will fade with time but it?s the last thing you need right now. I hope you had a lovely birthday ? only just seen yesterday?s posts!

bytheseaside - lovely to hear you settling into the new house! I?ve just dropped the price on my flat so trying to think positive. We?re in our little cave until at least Christmas I fear so I?m nesting for Norway trying to get it in baby-proof shape.

somewhere - it?s good to hear that I might be able to get into the kitchen with my little one :). Also had a major obsession with cheese and tomato and had it every day for breakfast for most of my pregnancy. However, this GD has cured me of it as the tomato (let alone bread) seems to knock my morning blood sugars over a little. Now I rock lots of meat, avocado and 2 seedy crispbread (like the Dr Karg ones). Ah joy. Roll on a return to at least semi low-Gi normality after I?ve delivered (endocrinologist says I have to stay on low GI while I?m breastfeeding to protect baby from diabetes and obesity risks.). Midget - resisting carbs? I?m on an almost ?no carb? regime and it?s quite horrible. Curiously I feel ?fuller? than I thought possible but it?s really increased the indigestion and other ?ahem?digestive passage difficulties.

valium - very sorry to hear about the return of the MS. I have had a couple of days of it as well ? bad enough that I assumed I must have eaten something dodgy. I know the hormones are changing again as I got a zit on my chin! Haven?t had one of those since my last period. Hope your moon boot is now off. My midwife and GP also measured me very big but my gynae measured me within normal limits. He said to me ?some people don?t know how to measure properly? in his stern, matter of fact way (oops! ).

cadmum - a very belated welcome! Also to crazyforbaby. Nice to have some other internationals in the group (I live in Norway :)).

Hpbp - lovely to hear news of you and Anastasia. Your mum sounds great and your DS sounds like he is coping very well with it all. So cute that he is being so loving to her! Great breastfeeding advice btw. Since I am one of the only women (it seems) on the due in October thread that hasn?t leaked any milk yet (at 34 weeks) I?m guessing my milk my take a few days to get going. I?m going to a pre-birth breastfeeding workshop with a doula lady/ante-natal class leader here in the next couple of weeks so hopefully she?ll have some pointers too.

On the Moses basket/cot debate, I?m with Knottyhair. If we had the room I would have started straight out into a cot but we only have room for a Moses basket in this flat so the poor LO will have to be in that until the sides are splitting or we move (hopefully the latter will come first).

KMR - how unnecessary of your MIL! (although sounds a little like my own mother ). Nice to see you back! :)

LRM - great to see you and great to hear you?re taking it a bit easier! My next scan is next week Thursday (6th?) but I also had one on 22nd August I?ll admit. I have gestational diabetes now so getting them bi-weekly for growth. LO?s a little on the large side (although still within the limits of normal) so I?m on ?watch? for early induction, any time from 36 weeks if necessary. Quite likely to not go beyond 38 weeks all things considered but am managing to stay off the drugs for now (although think I will need IV insulin for the birth ). In other news it seems you?re being outrageously organised!! Stop already!! I?m feeling like a domestic slattern in comparison!!

Midget - you are a decorating diva! Absolute kudos to you. I spend time planning the nursery surfing Pintrest for ideas and might paint a small chest of drawers we bought for the baby?s stuff and add cute draw knobs to it some time in the next week and hell ? that feels like epic mission enough! I empathise with your thoughts about your potential birth as I'm looking at all sorts of unideal scenarios now. Please don?t tell me they make you lie flat on your back if you have induction? My new ObGyn here reassured me I could still walk around, even in the medical birth bit with a drip in my arm! Have just got myself used to idea of induction ? even feeling quite up for the idea of short/sharp labour rather than long and drawn out. Having similar thoughts about possible outcomes to you too though ? just without the prior experience to draw on. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing?

Posting on my phone from deepest darkest Cornwall so apologies for the rubbish lack of name checking post.

Fjord I am cringing at the thought of the Euovision thing you just described and feel like doing a little bit of sick in my mouth. Hope it wasn't too painful. I am sorry I was so negative about induction. I was projecting my own fears. It doesn't have to be like that at all. I am just scarred from my first rather silly birth experience. In fact the induction itself wasn't too bad, I could push DD out myself and I did have some feeling but the rest was pretty shit. So I get a bit hysterical about it. I am, a midget, the baby is not (97th centile if his growth continues like it has done) and I am letting this panic me. Not fair to blame this panic on inductions. Inductions don't have to be shit. I just think maybe for me with such a big baby and such a small pelvis it probably will be and I am getting a bit ansty. I think the only way this baby may come out naturally is being really active. They do say sometimes big babies are easier as gravity plays a part do I may need a light jog to get him out! Anyway I feel bad that I have been so down on inductions after previously saying they ain't so bad.

LRM seriously STOP IT. You are on a roll. My freezer is full of ice cream, lollies and fish fingers. You are my hero. But I am a little too.

Fireflies big wave, be lovely to have you popping back when you have time. How old is DS now?

Well I am still in bed, enjoying my first full day of the last mini holiday before d day. Watching lovely little birds outside the window and pondering when to get up. Rick Steins tomorrow and not a lot planned in-between. Staying at my brothers so DD having a blast and not interested in me at all. It is bliss. Wish they lived closer to me as I could do with some more of this when DS arrives! Work seems a million miles away and pregnancy seems more manageable when bit trying to work and decorate and sort and tidy.

I am off to read the papers and maybe watch the Olympics. Chilled holiday love to one and all x

i simply cannot follow the convolutions of advanced pregnancy except to say whoever is doing all the cooking i salute you. i find food so involving during PG.

may i just download my food situation.

i'm less craving-y now i'm on preg vitamins. the thought of a pecorino and salami sandwhich is however very vivid and real to me at this moment.

pecorino with whole peppercorns in it.

also found simple pasta with lloyd grossman and cheddar like nectar of the gods last night. was upset when my tummy said i couldn't have any more.

slight fresh fruit and veg craving today.

also think the cream craving is making a few mutterings - has anyone else had the cream craving?

i know i'm just burbling - it helps.

best wishes to you all - you are all going to be fine. i saw some stuff at the beginning of this thread about how freaky being pregnant is for the first time in your 40s. try reading it's the best book - it's about the mother not the baby, and her journey, written by a sociologist. Also i remember what someone once said to me at a baby group 'there's all this identity stuff when you have your first baby'. personally i felt i was shattered into a million pieces and had to rebuild myself. once i had, i liked the new me much better. it took a long time but eventually my life grew again to ecompass all the important things about the 'old me'.

hmmm. pecorino cheese.

Good Morning ladies

Sun is shining and cant be arsed to do a damn thing today . Happy days. Woke up at three this morning and thought it wont be long till baby Dylan takes most of my day and the idea of doing feck all for hours will be a thing of the past. I have been pretty good these last 2 weeks of my mat leave so sod it. Feet up. I am finding it very unusally to be on mat leave all seems a tad strange. Not complaining rather be at home chilling then at work.
I have arranged a session this Friday with a breastfeeding consulant so I can get my head around the whole process and try and stop worrying about it all.

Somewhere - Food cravings, anything that is on the biscuit aisle at Tesco is dangerous. Not seen my weight since I got pregnant and will be sticking two fingers up to it till after Christmas. As for cream craving as long as there is some pastry around it in some form then yep!!!

Midget - Hope you had a good time in Cornwall . I would not mind a couple of days away. May look on line for a treat for me a other half as a surprise for the weekend. You watch I will book something and little un will pop out!!!! Oh by the way I like the sound of your freezer with icecream and fish fingers. Will purchase next trip to Iceland

Fjord - Thinking of you Thursday for your scan. I was told they would not let me go past 40 weeks as I AM OLD! . Groovy !!! Sort of thought about birthing plan. Will be in hospital, will be having some drugs and gas and air, not thought about position. Scared to death to be honest with you.

Bythesea - Hope you are enjoying your new home xx

VQ - How are you honey ?

Hope you all have a lovely day xx

good news - weight stable. the longer i can keep it stable the better.
good/bad news - sicker than ever. The word 'grievous' springs to mind.

eagleray hope you are well - i've seen some of your other threads - i didn't realise you'd been through so much! was it you who wrote about the nip in the air? that was lovely.
fjord is it the 20 week scan? good luck!

lrm i enjoy hearing about your sweet cravings. Wierdly i am all about savoury and - normally i love sweet stuff but when PG sweetness feels pointless. a waste of my mouth. very strange.

i am wasting so much money on food. yesterday it had to be pecorino and salami in ciabatta. so i bought all that. today that makes me feel pukey so it's going to sit in the back of the fridge. today i am all 'nachos with salsa and melted cheese with yoghurt and guacamole on the side'.

it's like my body is searching around for something to make me feel less sick. i'm really not enjoying this. anyway thanks for the moan.

xxx

Midget - Cornwall sounds lovely. Hope you enjoyed Rick Stein's. You deserved a good rest after all your mega-industriousness. Inspired by you I'm about to head outside to paint the baby's chest of drawers (finally). You weren't particularly negative about induction - you hear much more bad than good about them. I just felt nervous that it might mean I would have to give birth on my back. However, an ante-natal class visit to the hospital yesterday reassured me that they would still let me at least stand, bedside, even if on monitoring and attached to a drip so I feel a little better. The medicalised birth rooms at the hospital even have big baths in them so all is not so bad perhaps.

LRM- don't be scared! Did you read any of the website tellmeagoodbirthstory.com/? I agree that the idea of breastfeeding is somewhat daunting. I'm going to an ante-natal class about it tomorrow night. Have these horrid visions of us all having to get our tits out . Glad you've had a lovely sunny day - I must get outside and paint my chest of drawers - this is likely to be the only non-rainy day for the next few weeks here in Stavanger.

somewhere - great book recommendation! I've heard great things about that one. I may have to invest. 20 week scan! lol :-) It's my 34 week growth scan but I have scans so often now it's almost silly! I've lost track but I must be on 9 or 10 now...they're not so fun later on as you only see little strange sections of body and they're mostly about getting measurements and checking the placenta/cord-flow so there's not that much to look at. Nice to have baby checked on though. Moan away about the food - I'm also relentlessly searching for things that will fill me up without spiking my blood sugar - and any kind of selective feeding is a complete bore in pregnancy, whatever the stage! :)

Had a big drama yesterday after the MW visit - baby's heart rate was soaring and wouldn't settle so I got packed straight off to the hospital, to the maternity unit proper to get monitored. After a while she settled down but was fighting like a heavyweight boxer inside the whole time. Not sure what spooked her? Perhaps she got a bit tangled up with the cord (which she is always playing with) or perhaps when the MW was manhandling my pubic bone (which REALLY hurt) she poked baby and spooked her? I also had ketones in my wee which isn't great news for my GD management. However, I've got the dietician tomorrow so I'll be able (hopefully) to get this carb situation sorted a bit. I'd do almost anything to avoid drugs. More news after my growth scan on Thursday as to how many weeks I have left.

Waves to everyone

Sorry Ladies, I just can't keep up with all your news as I can't log in every day. It is just too hard to do so with a 4 yo to entertain all day and a newborn. But tomorrow is a big day for my 4 yo, his first day at school. I hope he will wake up early enough so that we don't arrive late the very first day. I hope he will enjoy going to a French school. I hope my second child/newborn will not mess up all my plans by waking up later than usual. I am a bit overstressed, DH is in Hong kong, on my own here with my Mum... I keep thinking I am not the only one but it does not help ! Sorry fr being so sad tonight

Evening all

Sorry to hear you are feeling sad Hpbp - it must be really hard having DH so far away, especially when you have a newborn. I will probably be in the same situation next year as DP and I are nowhere near reconciling our separate living arrangements and am merrily kidding myself I will cope somehow!

I had a very nice, quiet birthday last week, apart from pulling a calf muscle going up the stairs too quickly. It was ever so sore and I could barely walk afterwards so rushed to the docs as was worried it was something sinister as I never normally injure myself like that. Luckily, surgery is very close to my house and they managed to rustle up a free doctor within minutes who reassured me it was a muscle injury and not a dvt or anything like that. Worst part was realising I hadn't had my legs waxed and having to offer the doc a very hairy leg to feel. I am sure worse indignities will be coming my way soon enough though.

Then yesterday I had a trapped nerve in my back which crippled me but luckily seems to have gone away now. Am disappointed to have so many bits of me going wrong when I have only just reached half time in the pregnancy!

Now I bring you some shopping news... I seem to have acquired a terrible habit of buying posh babygros on Ebay! It's only a couple of quid here and there (all second hand of course) but it's probably not the most practical way of acquiring baby clothes. It is so much bloody fun though - latest purchases are a diddy Petit Bateau one and a summer romper suit which I fear might be a bit impractical but looked really nice...

LRM the day you mentioned your breastfeeding consultant, I was looking at a book online called The Food of Love by Kate Evans. If you look at it on Amazon you can read the first few pages and it seems a great combination of humour and practical advice. I am thinking of buying it at the end of the year when I start to really worry about the practicalities of everything. Apologies if this has been mentioned before by anyone else!

Bythesea - I have some great Baby Bay news!! Like you, I had been eyeing up these cots but was was put off by the price. There's been a few for sale on Ebay but even second hand they go for a small fortune. And then yesterday I read on another thread that you can buy them from Amazon in Germany and they are as cheap as chips. If you go to the website and do a search, you can then paste the url into Google Translate in order to get the full descriptions (unless you are good at German). They have the full range there, including the maxi one. I'm probably going to buy one this way as getting sick of scrabbling around on Ebay chasing after bloody cots.

Somewhere - I am with you on the guacamole - I had a nacho craving tonight and had a minor strop when it wasn't on the menu at the pub where I was eating. I had a bit of a nauseous morning today (still get them now and again) but a cooked breakfast sorted me out. I hope you continue to find foods to keep the pukiness at bay!

Fjord - the baby heart rate incident sounds really scary - I'm really glad it all settled down again.

Midget - so glad you have been having a nice time down in Cornwall - sounds like you are being looked after really well and getting time to focus on yourself. I hope you had some of this nice late-summer weather too.

Right - am off to get a crumpet out of the freezer. Night night

hpbp i found a book on kindle called Pregnancy Blues by Shaila Md Kulkarni Misri - it's an intelligent look at how SOME women around childbirth are vulnerable to depression (not saying this is you - statistically most women aren't). but anyway she's an indian who settled in canada and has this international perspective and writes a bit about motherhood in cultures across the world. it's not the perfect book but there were bits in there that were so resonant. lots of people brush the toughness of having a child under the carpet - family members, doctors, even or should i say especially your GP will do it - and this book just looks it in the face. which is of interest to anyone who has bad days i'd have thought.

Fjord i had an incident exactly like that at 36 weeks. HB soared - no explanation. it all settled down.

good luck with it - you are so nearly there!

eagleray sorry to hear about your ailments. i hope it all gets better. i am inspired by your ebay stories. ebay is so lovely when it works isn't it - oooh another present, for me? through the post box? the post box keeps giving me presents! amazon similar but more sinister and corporate - the tesco of tomorrow.

the nachos were amazing go to a supermarket and nacho yourself up is my advice!

i had a scan yesterday - strong heart beat right size for dates. am in a ridiculously good mood as a result despite feeling sick. need to keep my feet on the ground - not there yet.

xxxx

Hi ladies

I'm back again - I introduced myself a while back and haven't reappeared for a bit. Think the nausea and sickness got the better of me, and probably to some extent my anxiety that everything was going OK. I see some familiar faces on here

I had my 12 week nuchal scan yesterday - am now 12 +4, and it went better than I thought it would. I thought my risk of anomalies would be higher due to my age (40) - I was told that the background risk is 1 in 99 for downs, but added with my blood test results 1 in 1988. Strangely the sonographer still suggested that I could consider having an amnio if I wished, though did say that the risk of the amnio far outweighted the risk of DS. I don't remember being offered this choice with my DD a few years ago, and wonder if they just offer it because of my age now? Anyone offered an amnio with a low risk? All a bit strange I thought.

Need to have a read of the last few pages of this thread so I can get up to speed with everyone. Anyway, hello for now!!

Greetings old birds, I am back in the land of the living, will do my best to catch up properly...

Knicky Glad your scan went well - I had a similar risk but was not offered the amnio and I am 41 - does seem strange considering your risk is pretty good.

Somewhere Big at both your scan results and your description on ebay - it does feel like people send you presents. And I get so carried away with the winning element - I kid myself I really have won something. Which in fact makes me a total looser.... So happy the scan went well - keep basking in the glow and thinking positive.

Eagerlay I am going to be inspired by your purchases and stick some of DD's old stuff on ebay. Sorry your body is having a few twinges - I find my calves seem to strain much easier in pregnancy - not sure why just always happens.

HB I share your sadness as DD started school today and I don't have a new DC to contend with. Seems such a milestone. I only let myself get a little teary - she was happy as larry!

fjordmamma you really have gone through the mill a bit with all these scares and GD to contend with but sound like you are coping admirably. remember - having to use drugs is not a sign of failure with diabetes - and it can make things a lot easier so don't be fearful or beat yourself up if you need them. Some people just do and as the bump grows there is more strain on your pancreas so sometimes it is inevitable. I hope you have got the dietary advice you need. And you now have a date? Blimey oh riley!

LRM still envious of your mat leave. I may bring mine forward a week but if I don't I have 5 weeks to go - seems like a bleeding lifetime. I found pregnancy much easier when doing nothing in Cornwall. How did you get on with the BF consultant? It never crossed my mind that it may not come really naturally but for various reasons I had to go through quite a bit to BF DD - good to get knowledgeable about these things before they go wrong. I was very lucky that I had good support to help get me back on track - I cherish the time I spent BF DD and hope I will be as lucky the second time round. Hope your freezer is now suitably stocked with fish fingers and ice cream and you have stopped with all that home made meals nonsense .

Things fine with me for now. Still tossing up the ELCS or natural birth conundrum. When I discussed it with the midwife she was fairly clear the birthing centre would not accept me. They would be worried about PE, even though so far (touch wood) there is no sign of it. This makes me fearful and suspicious of the labour ward approach and ended up with a EMCS because of the sheer size of the baby so still very undecided. Can someone make my mind up for me? Big waves to you all.....

Hi all! Well, looks like another lovely day here :) Still not moved - another week to pack / fail to pack, but gradually getting ready. We've got rid of so much junk already, just another house-worth to go - must keep going ... even freecycle isn't that keen on some of it.... Other news: I had a lovely 7 month growth scan - all looks good -baby is littleish, but with a biggish head and she was playing with her toes - so cute! And still looks like a 'she' so the search for a name can continue in earnest now. Oh, and my hands have started to go all funny, so we are going to have to get removers to pack our fragile stuff - otherwise it will be all over the floor! Is this an spd-type thing do you think?

midget - I have similar conundrum as you about birth options - and am (this week) leaning very much towards elcs. mw, gp and my mum all agree - obs not so sure but will let me. Going to write a plan 'a' for elcs and plan 'b' for not. We have a lovely birth centre near us, and I'm going to try to go there afterwards for couple of days r&r (haha! I have no idea about life with a baby, do I?) lrm btw I'm also very scared like you

knocky welcome back - that's such brilliant scan news :) I had a similar NT score too - slightly worse I think, and no-one discussed amnio with me either, I think I'd have been a bit thrown if someone had. Worth chatting through with mw if you are worried?

somewhere another good scan! I feel for you with the sickness - hope it goes away soon. I just wanted carbs on the sick days - but also couldn't stand them iyswim. Acupuncture helped me, although mine wasn't as bad as yours, and it needed to be regular rather than one-off to keep the effect.

eagleray thanks soooo much for crib tip - that's really cheered me up. I'm def going to try and do that as soon as we move. Please let me know your experience if you do it - I had a look at german amazon, and worry a bit I may have bought 10 already accidentally as some of the key bits didn't translate and I was too impatient to cut an paste! - I think I need to get my german friend to help me when I do it for real - my o-level german not really up to the job.

hpbp I'm sending a hug - you are doing absolutely amazingly - your baby is still so new and teeny!

fjord that sounds scary - very glad all is now fine. Sometimes it feels like there's one thing after another, doesn't it? What a bu**er with the diet too. I'm just starting to feel really hungry now - and want stuff like cake and crisps mainly ... don't know how i'd cope with all the gd restrictions as I just want to cry if I look int he cupboard and there's no hoola hoops left

vq you ok?

ps eagleray can you send me the link to the german babybay thread? cheers! I'm really feeling like getting organised.

i've been digging into DS1's paperwork knicky your results are actually better than mine were for my DS when i was 36.
I'm interested to see my background risk was 1 in 199 when i was 36 (1 in 1700 after adjustment) and now it's 1 in 83 - so different but not as different as I'd thought.
sorry to ponder in advance but i'm keeping so schtum in real life that i can't keep zipped on mumsnet. i just feel so pregnant that on one level no denial is possible.

bytheseaside that is PERFECT description of MS - you want it (nachos in my case) but you can't stand it! it's like an S&M relationship with food!

i had a little MS reprieve this morning but now it's coming back.
i am sort of living for the evening after my DS has gone to bed and the MS is lower and i know that all i need to do is have a snack and go to bed.

i am hoping that it means i'm having a girl.

not that i'm getting carried away.

hpbp good luck hope today is a better day.

midget and seaside good luck with your ELCS/natural dilemma. I"m not thinking that far ahead yet. I would say i had emergency caesarian last time and my impression after an anxious attempt at natural delivery is that caesarian is a lot more predictable and routine than natural childbirth, ie it's actually quite a reassuring route to take - you know what you are getting.

xxx

Thank you all, for the reassurance re the results. I thought they were good results too, just threw me a bit with the convo afterwards about the amnio.

somewhere so agree with bytheseaside about MS. You want things but then can't stand them. Had a shocking time a few weeks ago. Craved for a Big Mac. Devoured the damn thing, then spent the next 12 hours hugging the toilet. I never want a burger again (DH has suggested he's doing a BBQ tomorrow as the weather is nice- I've already put a pre-order in of sweetcorn and jacket potato, with absolutely NO burgers on the side......) I'm still having waves of nausea so completely sympathise as I know how hard this stage is but yesterday I managed a hot meal early evening. Exciting stuff. Amazing to eat something different to cream crackers, toast or cereal....

midget and seaside - re the ELCS/natural dilemma. Given your situations, ELCS sounds preferable. Knowing a few people who have had to have ELCS, things went smoothly, they were able to plan with the certainty of baby arriving on the date (look at Posh Spice she's gone for an ELCS every time and pays to do this so there's something to be said for it .....)

eagleray your doctor and hairy leg tale made me smile. I seem to recall an almost similar situation when a few years ago, when heavily pregnant with DD, I had to go to the maternity unit in a bit of a rush, turned out to be just indigestion, but I had to be examined....hadn't done my bikini line in some time, and knew that the poor midwife was dealing with a very hairy situation down below. Remember apologising for it and her saying 'oh gosh don't worry, I've seen FAR worse.....' Note to self, regular bikini line trims are the way to go in later stages of pregnancy

Thank all for making me feel so welcome!