The Berry-Copter!!!

[Bunnygirlie]

The Berry thread - berries (over 30s) pregnant with first baby after trying 12+ months.

Support, advice and hand holding from the grads.

Don't forget to CLENCH!

RP have you done your hypnobirthing course yet? I've got mine mid-January.

Freebies? I'm all for free stuff.
Lying in bed this morning DH has decided that right now we have a babe-let as it is not yet a baby.

And what is Emma's diary?

There's a website for it with a cheesy weekly diary but it has vouchers and competitions. I got the booklet from the midwife and there was a form to fill in and take to Boots, where they gave me a bag with Johnson's wipes etc. Lots of junk mail, similar to the bounty pack (which I got at my 12 week scan). It's nice to finally get some of the benefits that people with children get, I won't qualify for child benefit but I can't wait to use a parent-and-child parking space!

I chucked Emma's Diary and I can't say it's been a huge loss to me

Lady I thought that too, but then, I thought well it's all going to get stretched anyhow so might as well practice! I considered the Epino quite seriously but can't find any actual evidence that's not invented by their marketing team to suggest it works any better than regular old perineal massage so we're starting that next week.

Also raspberry leaf tea - I think it is safe to start that at 34w right? Win, Feather, are either of you doing that?

Lady I'm doing the Maggie Howells hypno cd, no actual class, but it is working well so far and definitely making me less stressed.

Lost you but am back now

I did perineal massage (on the advice of my chiro). Came out without any perineal injury (I had a labial tear) and believe it did help. I was of the view there was no harm in trying!

How are you all getting on?

Ooh I didn't know that was what perineal massage entailed.. But I suppose it makes sense as it's going to hurt a heck of a lot more when the baby is coming through it!!

pip like the babelet term.

I wasn't sure about all the free stuff like bounty. Won't you get plugged by a load of junk mail & I thought mumsnet had a campaign against them for being a bit unethical/dodgy although I don't know why.

Has anyone else seen that safe the children advert- giving. It makes life better. Makes me well up & have already donated on phone.

I've tried to be heAlthier eating a banana this morning but have now polished off nearly half a big bag of M&S Christmas tree crisps. Meant to do food shopping later but haven't done any Mel planning or list yet. Dh will come down all showered & expect it to be ready straight away. Watching Friends instead.

Got bad cough now & snotty nose- boo!!

pip stuff the work trousers. I think I might need some of those waistband extender things. Has anyone tried them? My tights were a bit tight yesterday so am thinking of, gulp, getting some maternity tights. I find tights a bit cut you in two anyway so hoping they will be better.

Just back from Sainsburys which was a bit of a scrum! We now officially have more pounds' worth of chocolate in the house than the baby currently weighs. Ah well....

Bushy I switched to hold ups rather than tights.

I think Bounty were going round maternity wards, hassling new parents to buy photos and get their personal information when they had only recently given birth

I've borrowed my mum's trousers, they're slightly more roomy than mine!

Went shopping whilst hungry today, spent about twice as much as normal and came back with loads of stuff we don't need, not sure how I can avoid shopping whilst hungry as I'm always hungry at the moment, will have to get OH to do it, don't mind missing out on supermarket scrum at this time of year

Rp I wear stockings for nights out but I've found particularly recently they are irritating my skin. Mmmm, chocolate, might just have to open a box!!,we were doing the supermarket shop & dh was picking out cheese & asking what I could have. No Brie!! Agh, he was asking about white Stilton and I said no, I think I heard somewhere that Stilton was ok but to be on the safe side I'd rather not. We bought mexicana ( that spicy cheddar) & applewood- I presumed that was ok.

lentil totally know what you mean about being hungry all the time!!

Bushy, my understanding is that hard blue cheese are ok. Soft blue cheeses are not.

I thought cheese was ok if made from pasteurised milk, didn't realise soft cheese is off the menu, I've only eaten cheddar anyway. Does that include stuff like mozzarella and Philadelphia?

Lentil, it's mold ripened soft cheese like Brie or Camembert and the only problem is that there is a chance of getting listeria.

Friend of mine is French but has lived in the uk since childhood. She discovered she was pg (unexpectedly) the day before she went to visit her grandmother in France. When she was there she turned down wine and soft cheese. Her grandmother asked her what was wrong so she had to confess she was pg. 'Thank god', said the grandmother, 'I thought you were on drugs'.

Mmm cheese...I love you. Think it's what I'm missing most at the moment. Not bothered about booze as I don't drink masses but I do love my brie and gorgonzola.
Survived the outlaws this wknd..quiet day visiting bath Christmas market then down to my folks tomorrow. Not long now berries.
Thanks RP for the massaging explanation...! Well now I know...lovely.

Pixie when you get past 30w it will start to seem like a strangely good idea

34 weeks today Waiting for tomorrow morning's MW appointment and hoping against hope my blood pressure hasn't shot up, as if it has they will take me off the homebirth pathway......... Meant to check it myself at the surgery this morning but stupidly drove right past it on the way to work!

I think Bounty are quite dodgy from what I've heard on here and from what friends have experienced in the hospital. They basically pay NHS hospitals to let them come onto wards outside of visiting hours, dress quite similarly to nurses, and claim you need to give your details to them to be able to claim child benefit, tax credits etc. They then sell your details on. I read the Bounty thread there was a year or so ago with a kind of horrified fascination - it was amazing how many women had had really bad experiences.

Article about Bounty, it's horrendous how insensitive people can be sometimes

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2013/sep/26/kick-bounty-out-maternity-wards-parenting-clubs

I didn't know they were paid to hand out the child benefit forms, what a waste of money.

RP I'm starting mat leave at 38 weeks with annual leave from 36 weeks.
Pixie have you got a scan this week?

Lady I wish! not til mon nxt wk. Time is draaaaging.

So that's me done. No work till up to a year now. Strangely emotional! Will write more and properly later. Hope you're all well. x

Is this normal? I feel annoyed at pretty much everything, Boss is usually annoying but today I've felt like walking out, I've also just lost the plot about a friend naming their kid after a person who has been really nasty to me, I feel betrayed, angry, ridiculous, melodramatic, isolated, still convinced fetus has died, unable to look forward, make any plans about it, doesn't help that I haven't told anyone about the pregnancy, apart from you guys

Sorry for bringing the vibe down, haven't got anyone to talk to

I was getting furious over nothing last week.
I think pregnancy rage is a thing.

Deffo a thing. I flipped out at my boss last week and it wasn't the first time I've done that in pregnancy.

Haven't actually flipped out at anyone, I'm just a mess of righteous indignation and going quietly batshit crazy in my own head, not enjoying life one tiny bit right now