The berries in the chopper (thread 5). All together now... clench

[CatsCantFlyFast]

For pregnant berries at any stage. Scary thought but this is the one where some babies will appear!

Sorry boom I'm off out- places to go and all that....!

Pah thunder, don't blame me if your waters go while you're off gallivanting

Booooored! Can't even take dogs for a wander because he'll definitely show up if I do! And can't do housework because, er, I hate it and can't be bothered!

For those disorganised berries, (like me!) here is the MN thread merk posted on FB on what to put in hospital bag:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/115636-top-tips-for-hospital-bag?reverse=1

It's on my to do list this week as well, mainly because neither me nor DH have any confidence that he would pack anything useful on his own!

Hi guys, just a quick hint re the changing bag, if you join the boots parenting club you get vouchers for a free changing bag. About 85% of the new mums I've seen have it. Its worked ok for me so far

Oh my god boom did you jinx me with that curse??????

What, what? Does that mean your waters have one, thunder??? Do we have another mini-berry countdown on the way?

Good grief berries, I have a very trying houseguest for the weekend bet you can guess who it was and didn't get any time for MN and now I have all sorts to catch up on! But today's my Harmony blood draw and I can hardly keep my mind on anything other than the "what if" Spiral of Doom. Really wish I could fast-forward a couple of weeks!!

Charming the knicker question I can answer easily, my recommendation would be to go for the lacy Gap ones, they're super stretchy and just order them in a bigger size. They're usually on a fairly good sale. I've ordered a couple of mat t-shirts from the Isabella Oliver outlet sale but apart from that am living in yoga/sweat pants, Gap mat jeans (which are sooo comfy but might be bc I bought them a size too-big; maybe they'll shrink in the wash?) and sweatshirts. I dread being big in the heat but alternately am dying for it to get warm so I can bust out a bump-baring bikini and for once in my life revel in being in a bathing suit in public!!

Anyway I've a train to catch but will be obsessively checking in in case Thunderkitten has decided today's the day!

Not really... Only messin ...
Everyone look at someone else now
boom are you sure yours aren't ready yet?

Haha, you had us there!
Boom, I'm only a few days in front if you, so I suppose if full term is 37 then yes I'm nearly there.

Best things in my hospital bag were disposable maternity pants (they're huge) worn under big sainsbury tummy hugging black pants. The former catch leaks and I've just been taking them off with the pads in and chucking the whole lot. The latter keep everything in place!

Also I am making a stand as I don't have a changing bag. Have a portable folding change mat which holds nappies and wipes and have thrown that in my hand bag with a clean babygrow!
How bizarre, I should just be going for my midwife app and sweep right now

Thunder you are a very naughty berry, I got so excited I almost popped out a twin!

sounds good merk. I have a bag that mil made that snaps open to make a mat and can hold what is needed. hoping it's enough.

Ha boom!

Appointment went well, baby has started moving- hooray! 3/5 engaged and not OP altho it is lying along the right. She would have done sweep today altho said I could give it a couple of days til 41 weeks to happen naturally so I'm going for that option- balancing act between letting nature do her thing and avoiding induction.

Ooh sounds as though the cramps are working Thunder. So it's just a test of patience now! Hope you're feeling better too as waiting it out while feeling crappy is not nice. Btw I seem to remember you having quite a drive to the hospital, is that still the same or are you closer now you have moved house?
Tally -apologies if I missed this- have you got any closer to a decision on your labour?
Sid well done for surviving the MIL. How's the sickness? Try to plan some nice things to take your mind off the wait for the bloods
Bunny, can not believe you are 12 weeks already! I remember ages back you posting that I would have given birth before you got your bfp, and I'm so glad you were wrong.
Sorry I missed the excitement of your scan, is there a pic?
I'm going to re read the list later as have totally lost track of everyone. Now if you could all please hurry up and give birth it would be great as I feel in lonely limbo now I no longer belong in the chopper!

I'm not feeling crappy today merk which is bloody marvellous after sobbing a couple of times over the weekend- how pathetic! So my patience is back, happy to stay calm and wait for Mother Nature... Could all change tomorrow. My MLU is 5 mins away, hospital about 45 mins. I've booked myself some reflexology tomorrow for extra relaxation

28 week appt went fine today, actually saw the same MW as last time!
I have quite good veins so let the student do my bloods.
Am measuring ok and although I get to feel baby fidget all the time it was really nice to listen tot the heartbeat.
She went through their check list of stuff about breastfeeding and skin to skin.
Got whooping cough vaccine booked with nurse before nest MW appt in 3 weeks.
Was a quick appt but did not feel too rushed.

Works felt like a long day though. Bumps gets heavy and tight in the afternoon and does not want me to sit forward or move at all really. Gets sore just walking about a little bit. Don't think there is much I can do about this - does anyone know when support bands are good? I have one but was not sure when they are meant to be helpful from. Might do a bot of gooling.

yay to baby moving thunder*!

I think I need to start a list of all the things we need, monitor, bath changing bag etc. Not sure whether to get a steriliser and some bottles before giving BF a go or would it be silly to not get them and need them?
Also thinking I might bookmark a good breast pump so OH can order the right one if we need it. I had previously thought I would express a bit so OH could be involved in the feeding, but I also know its not recommended to use any form of teat/dummy/shield unless you absolutely have to as it can affect the natural sucking and might make BF more difficult?

The sobbing is not pathetic at all, I cried so much in pregnancy i thought I was going mad. I have my cheerleading Pom poms out to give Mother Nature some encouragement

Mini Merk had more bloods this morn which were ok (they want a final set in a week) and we've seen the midwife to be weighed and checked and they're v happy. Also after a tough evening and night of feeding yesterday things have got much better today so hoping this continues (but not kidding myself that tonight might be just as bad). Feel on a complete high (probably hallucinating after so little sleep )

Ahh that's ace that mini merk is doing so well- enjoy your hormone high as well. Can you believe you have a real proper baby? am clearly still in denial
Isn't it around now that your hormones go mad as milk starts to come in?

foody hooray for good appointment! Glad it went well.
Re equipment we don't really have anything but we too learnt that if you can avoid artificial tests in the first 6 weeks it can help with bf. when it comes to it though I'm sure you just do what you gotta do...

Foody I took two boxes (12 bottles) of starter milk (pre made milk with sterilised teats) in case we needed them. I bought a steriliser as we will start expressing but I'm not sure at what point it is less likely to cause nipple confusion, it's quite a while I think

Yay thunder - glad things are moving in the right direction
merk sounds like you and mini-merk are thriving, which is excellent news - and gives me hope!
Are we creating a new graduates-with-babies thread soon, to avoid the previous berries problem of lurking in 'pregnancy' for far too long?

foody congrats on a great appointment. I've been getting those heavy/tight feelings in the afternoons for a while. Changing position or walking around helps a bit, and I do think it's worse when I'm tired, but I haven't found anything that reliably helps.

Re: BF and bottles, the breast feeding counsellor who took one of our NCT sessions suggested that expressing &using bottle was probably ok from about 4 weeks, if everything going well, but more important to feel happy and comfortable with BF before adding in expressing as well. I saw a Tommee Tippee starter kit for half price a few weeks back, so have a steriliser and bottles to get going with when/if we need them.

Have two days off now before final two days at work - so looking forward to a little rest!

Think I'm going to have to spend some time with the nit comb. Not sure I do have them, just itchy after hearing about it in my class.

I have a phillips avent breast pump, bottle starter set and steriliser.

from what I have read you can start to express once bf is established, from around 5-6 weeks.

Im hoping to start expressing as soon as I can so oh can feed and means we can be flexible, bf and bottle feeding when it suits.