AVIDly purchasing lavender, orange, yellow and pink for spring is a WISE thing.

[FritziGreenEyes]

Sorry for poor thread title but I am hopeless at rhyming at the best of times...
Unbelievable how quickly we filled the last thread!

Had one hour on Friday before the meeting started and used my time very efficiently and bought these. They are not quite as high as the 50/50s but suit me better. Was hugging the shopping bag close to me on the train back home yesterday .

ollie Such a shame that your DH isn't going to go with the job offer over here. Oh, the fun we could have!

hopefully Having you on this thread is great and I enjoy reading your posts a lot. I hope your mother doesn't find any more tidying tasks for you today. You look fab in your wedding pictures.

annie Hope you got all your work done last night and have the chance to get some rest today.

red We have our hob on our kitchen island too. We couldn't decide on backsplash for ages. Haven't had one for ages and it is absolutely fine. I do most food preparation stuff on the island anyway.

Have lovely Sundays everyone!

Ooh yes, Ant that'll do nicely!

Looby I've had 2 - DS was an EMCS and recovery took a while - but it was a 3/4 day labour and I was 2 weeks overdue, so understandable. DD's birth was amazing - I took all of the drugs I was meant to, didn't do too much too quickly (housework wise, I lifted DS who was 22 months and shouldn't have really) and recovery was great. I imagine because it was done at 39 weeks I wasn't fed up yet and didn't have all of the exhaustion of labour on top. It was absolutely the right decision for me, although it took a long time to make. Would need to know some bump credentials before guessing .

I was up and about within 36 hours with dc2. She was in ICU and I wanted to see her. Hated DH pushing me in a wheelchair. It's the power of the mind over the body. Lifting DS led to bleeding like mrscb said, and that was a week later.

Those shoes are so you ants.

Oops - C-section was at 2pm and was lifting DD at 7ish, feeding immediately and no problems with bf'ing (milk maybe a little delayed coming in, but DD wasn't too bothered). My scar is below my bikini line (had a very thoughtful obstetrician who commented at the time that she wanted to make sure I was bikini-ready ) and had no problems with infection. Painful yes, but had to be slow and steady with everything - by day 5 I wasn't worrying about laughing or twisting sharply.

Looby I found recovery from CS a piece of cake - much easier than my (admittedly fairly awful) natural delivery with DS1. I was quite careful about not lifting, and really felt pretty comfy very quickly. Feeding was easier (but prob more to do with me knowing more), was able to go for little walks within a week or two, felt really absolutely fine by 6 weeks (managed to pretty much avoid lifting DS1 till then, which I think helped hugely with efficient recovery), and was Shredding by 10 weeks. No scar pain since (which is more than could be said for my natural delivery scars 10 months down the line), no wound infection or anything alarming like that.

No snow here, boo.

Ants that is a gorgeous bag, good treat choice. Rubbish about having to work two jobs though, what a crapola deputy!

Lol at moose do Red

I splashed out on the Eve Lom face mask today, as my skin is a bit congested despite good skincare and pretty 'clean' diet. Any other tips? Ooh, and tinted moisturiser. I need help. Is the Laure Mercier one the good one? I think a lot of my congested skin might be down to wearing proper foundation most days (albeit it a very very thin layer of it) and I'm wondering if tinted moisturiser might be better.

Oh, and my CS scar us well below my bikini line, so should I choose to really really scare people don a bikini, it wouldn't be visible.

Laura Mecier is fab Hopefully - the illuminating one is a bit more dewy - I use it on top of the ordinary one now if in need of illumination as using it all over was making me look a bit oily. But it's great stuff - JL are selling a tube which is twice the size of the normal one for £8 extra at the moment,.

You ladies who had CS are heroes, I would be such a wuss over the pain!

I love my LM, but I only wear it in summer.

hopefully Second Laura Mercier. I have the tinted moisturizer.

No snow here, but so so cold.

ant Sorry to hear about stress at work. That bag is gorgeous and more than deserved. Stay strong until April! And yes to snakeskin shoes. I also like the first two Boden tops you linked to.

How are you today mim?

Enjoy dinner with your neighbours ollie. Your choc roulade sounds spectacular. My mum always used to make a strawberry roulade for my sister's birthday in May. Fond memories.

hopefully Hope you had a great day in your Agnes

Lots of good basics at Great Plains at the moment.

bloss I have Jillian's Master your Metabolism Cookbook and have been cooking a lot from it lately.

apuski Have you bought anything at Boden party today?

carciofi Is it your weekend away already?

portia Such a lovely pic of your DD on FB.

Cannot watch Marni video either, grr. But I couldn't pull of Marni anyway.

Another here who swears by LM. Don't even bother with foundation anymore, just stick on the LM primer then the tinted moisturiser and touch up any blemishes!

Am laying in bed (malingering due to bout of cystitis) and have just noticed dusty cobweb hanging above me which means:

a) I don't Hoover the ceiling enough; and
b) at some point there was a spider RIGHT ABOVE MY BED.

Not good.

Thanks for the tip red. Just ordered the bigger size.

So it's a yes for LM then . Am going to JL on Tue (en route to returning the unwanted Aldo boots), will get them to match me up.

Amber after giving birth naturally once, a CS was definitely the easy option for me!

Glad to be of service.

Yes Amber, like hopefully an ELCS was the wuss option for me after DS' labour!

I'm still here; no exciting news yet I'm afraid. Feeling low tonight, I think because I am nervous and just yearning to be fussed over by DH and it just doesn't happen. We've had a hectic day and another tomorrow, oh well.

Sorry, back tomorrow feeling brighter hopefully! Think I may go for that Stella and dot necklace, although not sure it'll suit me as much as you zembo.

Oh and LM great hopefully! I find the tinted moisturiser enough even in winter (admittedly with concealer, blusher and powder but still).

SNOW!!! We have woken up to a white blanket of loveliness!! DCs are beyond themselves with excitement and are off to park build their first snowman of the year!! Have ordered flowery Boden top!

Hang in there Blue, hope you manage to put your feet up at some point today. The S&D necklace is good quality (although I've managed to pull one of the threads a bit), I bought mine for around half the price on eBay so may be worth looking out there as it is overpriced otherwise. Does silver suit you? I'm rubbish with what suits very fair people etc... Your DH sounds good at stepping up to the mark usually (the surprise Alexa!), maybe he's just conserving energy for the days ahead?

I'm babysitting for my friend today - she's dropping her 3 children off for the morning (aged 10, 7.5 and 3), my DC can't wait! We've had snow, but not quite enough for a decent snowman, may still have a go though.

Amber you've reminded me of the no. of spiders people swallow in their sleep over their lifetimes (hopefully an urban myth, the thought of it is gross!)

Enjoy the snow!

I'm back, and home!

Thank you all for such kind words and well wishes. I have just read some of my posts - please accept my apologies for some cray writing..I was truly off my head.

Basically I developed sudden pain in my right lung on Wednesday lunchtime. Took gaviscon etc and thought it was the baby. By tea time I was in agony. DH came home and I went to the maternity ward myself to get checked out. It all went down hill from there, x-ray showed by right lung had collapsed at the base and I was pretty sick. Ended up in CCU.

Anyway, I don't have a blood clot on my lungs, but have developed pleurisy from my cold last week, would you believe? My goodness, the pain is like the devils work. Its better now, I am on lots of painkillers and whilst being in hospital is rotten, I did get loads of rest. Thankfully, my parents have taken DS to their home until Wednesday so I can rest.

However, they are now worried that the baby is big or that I have loads of fluid. I am booked for a scan on Tuesday and consultant appointment straight after. I am trying not to stress, although the thought of a VBAC and a big baby is slightly disconcerting.

DH has taken the week off which is fab. I have to say that he came good over the last few days, and although we have been through a rocky patch lately, he has been great over the last few days. Made me realise that I am lucky.

Anyway, enough hospital stuff from me!

Looby I had a EMCS with DS, after 24 hours of labour. To be honest that was the biggest problem, I was knackered and that made my recovery worse. Had I gone in for a ELCS then it would have been much better. Even on a EMCS (performed at 1am) I was up at 5pm that evening, and felt significantly better the following day.

Ants lovely boden links - think the Blossom top is 100% you.

Blue, you are entering the grotty phase. Go with it, look after yourself as best you can. Remember the end is soon in sight. I understand what you mean about needing a but of fuss. Took me to be reviewed by an intensive care team to DH to start fussing this week. . However, when the chips were down, he did. I am sure if you tell him how you are feeling he may crank it up a bit.

Red fingers crossed you hear from the interview soon. Your outfit sounded lovely and spot on by the way.

I know I have missed loads of posts - I am really sorry if I have missed anyone's big news. I am going to read the thread properly now.

Verity Can you report back on the Me and Em dress if you do order? I love the grey version but am confused by their sizing.

So my revised post hospital fashion magazine over-dose wish-list:

Denise Welch style frosted lipstick.
ME and EM jersey dress in grey
Oushka Black Dover
Gap Fushia Jeans (Thanks Red for thinking of me)
Muted gold ballet flats to go with above jeans. (As seen last summer on someone very stylish looking on the train)

MiM so glad to hear you are home and feeling a bit more rested. Also really pleased your DH and parents have stepped up and you are getting the support you need. Hopefully the concerns re. big baby will be unfounded. Your list sounds great (lipstick aside!)

Hopefully and red I had a horror 3 day labour with DS but even when they said they wanted to do CS I asked for a second opinion and got forceps, am just totally terrified of them!

Snowy here too, so doubtless I will be forced out in it for snowman fun, though will try and palm that off on DH, as his winter wear is more polarfleece than cashmere!

No snow here, boo. Although at least it's not too cold.

MIM so pleased you're out of hospital and recovering. And don't worry about the insane posts, they were charming

just got Brand Alley email about Muubaa leather jackets, so have ordered one, and it's (theoretically) an in stock one, so should arrive next week. Hope it's nice! £115 instead of £330, had to be worth a shot.

Zembo I meant to say, I cannot believe that was a year ago. Such a stressful time for you, were you not taking the DC's to school when it happened if I remember? Dreadful.

We are snowy here too, 'tis freezing.

MiM great you are home. You poor thing with the pain. Hope it subsides soon.

Snow is lovely. And finally, it meant ds2 was keen to put his Hunters on.

MIM - so glad you are home and feeling a bit better. Pleurisy and pnuemonia was what hospitalised DD last year and she told me 'that the pain in my side is terrible mummy' so I am sure you must have been in a lot of pain.

Just had a quick wardobe clearout and managed to streamline a little - two tops, a skirt and a dress have gone.

Looby - no CS advice here I am afraid, although interesting to read of people's experience. I know that some friends of mine seemed to be up and about after a CS quicker than I was after a difficult forceps delivery! There was a lovely Chinese lady in the bed next to me who had just had her second baby - 20 years after the first!! The lady who I assumed was her sister visiting her was her daughter . It was very sweet as her and her DH were told they could have no more children, and the baby had came as a complete shock to her at the age of 45, but her DH and older sister were both so in love with the gorgeous new arrival - it was very sweet to see. She had a a two hour labour and jumped on to her bed and sat there cross legged chatting to me whilst I was finding it difficult to move an inch (manual removal of placenta etc....) As you can probably imagine, I don't do 'immobile' very well and found the first week when I was really quite ill really difficult. It goes to show that even two VBs can be like chalk and cheese, as she looked like she had just finished a tricky yoga class .

Loving the make-up chat as my skin is still not playing ball, even though I rarely wear foundation, cleanse thoroughly etc. Think it is stress, and pre-menopausal hormones...

BTW this was the hotel that DH had booked for us in Paris. Can highly recommend!

Right, off to play in the snow!

(PS: Those of you who have Ripped in 30, I did L3 and the first 2 circuits of L4 yesterday. can officially say that the cardio bit in circuit 2, L4 (jumping burpees straight into scissor squat jumps...) is the hardest cardio I have done in any of my JM DVDs. May have been because I was startting to tire as had done 40 minutes already, but bloody hell it was tough!)

MIM delighted that you are at home. I had pneumonia when pregnant with DS. Like you I was in the last trimester. My GP told me that pregnant women are much more vulnerable to chest complications. Something about pregnancy hormones relaxing your bronchial tubes? Anyway that was one of the reasons they offered the swine flu vac to pregnant women as chest complications were more likely....Anyhow am waffling now. Really hope you are feeling better and so pleased your DH has stepped up to the plate.

Hotel looks amazing NY. So pleased you had a great time.

fritzi you so could pull off Marni!!!

Rosy cheeks from being out in the snow and sun
DH has taken himself off iceskating - on a frozen lake/canal..... He hasn't been outdoor skating since before I knew him so was v excited. He dug out a pair of proper speedskates which quite frankly looked flippin dangerous!

I know I am sounding a bit smug but was really pleased with the roulade - it rolled up really well (top tip a la Mary Berry: keep sponge moist with a damp teatowel and cut along the edge to help with the first rollover). Filled it with cream and grapes in the end which went well with the chocolate mocha flavour of the sponge. I think its my new signature dish . Meal with neighbours was nice - nice to catch up with street gossip news.

Ants thats such a great top for you, lovely print on it. MJ bag fabulous too.
MiM I know you are still feeling the effects of being ill but what a relief that it wasn't a blood clot. Really pleased about DH stepping up too.
Blue agree with Zembo that you sound as if you are in that pre-birth dip. I remember that feeling of just being so fed up with everything and everyone. You have every right to feel like that tho - just make it really clear to DH how you feel.

I'm off to see The Help this evening and squeezing in a pre-cinema dinner with a friend too - far more civilised than skating on a canal!