Hi ladies

Gee I've hardly been in here lately - slack! Not a heck of a lot to report from me. I had my 28 week check at Waikato Hospital last week. They freaked the bejesus out of me to start with because the scanner told me baby was measuring 2 weeks ahead and that I had way more amniotic fluid than I should have...but then the obstetrician wasn't too concerned about it (although everything indicates that I've got gestational diabetes!). They suggested that I get some pressure stockings (gosh they'll go well with my beautiful tent dress mmmmmm lol!) because my feet and ankles are now MASSIVE and they don't fully deflate overnight so are constantly swollen.

Had midwife appt on Tuesday and she seems happy with everything so far. I had my 2hr glucose test on Wednesday and hope to get results back within a couple of days. I've been feeling crappy lately so wonder whether my blood sugar levels are a bit iffy. Time will tell....

Bluebear - I know what you mean about hubby's attending antenatal classes. My DH told me after the first night class that he felt 'seedy' and yet the tutor had only mentioned each function of a woman's anatomy. Pretty basic and hardly cringe material really. Gawd knows whether DH will harden up and be supportive when I'm in labour?!

Update on house situation...the valuation came back $50K less than what the owner was asking so the ball is now in the owners court and we're waiting to hear back as to whether they'll reconsider their asking price etc. I'm not stressing about it though. It's not our dream property but we'll be happy here for the next year or two before moving on and possibly renting it out afterwards. If we haven't purchased a house before bubs arrives then I reckon I'll be happy to keep renting this place and then start house hunting later on.

Right, better get my butt into gear cause it's super late and I've got a big day tomorrow. Hubby and I are doing a road trip down to Welly to catch up with some of his family. We lived in Welly for 3 years so it'll be cool to visit some of our old haunts and see what's new.

Hope you all have a fantastic long weekend!

Hey Ladies

having a very "blah" day today, managed to find the energy to take the dog for a walk (well it was more of a waddle on my part haha) but have actually gone back to bed. Very naughty I know , but I just feel so drained!

Sezzy - It's a shame about possibly having gestational diabetes, hopefully you get your results back asap! (p.s I'm sure the pressure stockings will look absolutely fab with your tent ensemble hehe - man pregnancy is so glamorous) Also, good luck with the house negotiations hopefuuly everything works out for you. It's good you're not stressing over it though, I'm sure everything will work out.

Have a lovely trip down to Welly!!!

Caterpillar - YAY for getting your results back and everything being all good it's a shame they forgot to ring you though, all that stressing for nothing.

Anyone have plans for the long weekend?? Our plan is to hopefully finish "junior's" room (that might be a bit too optimistic hehe) and do our final baby shopping.

How is everyone going in the naming department?? We have been putting it off because we can't seem to agree on any names, but I suppose we should get cracking because he will be here before we know it (eeeeek)

well I had better go, not that I can see today being very productive hehe. Tootles

Hi all

Sezzy, the swelling sounds uncomfortable. I've only just started swelling nicely in the calves and ankles at the end of the day, and that is bad enough! Good luck with your GTT results - I hope that you don't have gestational diabetes, just because it would make things more complicated.

Glad that you got the valuation done on the house. 50k is a lot! It will be interesting to see how motivated the owners are to sell .

Have a good trip to Wellington! I'll be in Wellington too, but only because I always live here .

I am getting quite tired again, not sleeping well as my wriggly boy keeps waking me up! Also finding it hard to resist junkfood - mid-afternoon I start craving anything and everything that is sugary. Really bad, especially as I want to put on as little weight as possible from now on.

DD tried to play with tummy-baby yesterday - she lifted my top, patted and rubbed my belly, gave it a kiss, got her toy car and gently drove it all over my belly, got her doll and gently walked it across my belly, and when I asked her what she was doing she said 'My playing tummy-baby. My playing tummy-baby with toys' (she says 'my' instead of 'I' or 'I'm'). Made my day. Hope they get along this well when he is on the outside!

My best friend came over yesterday and returned all my baby things that she was borrowing - bassinette, bouncer, frontpack, baby-bath, cloth nappies, playgym. Eeek! It suddenly seems all so real!! Oh, and I am a bundle of hormones at the moment, so later in the day when I saw the pile - I cried . How weird is that?

Gosh, I've been so busy at work the last couple of days I haven't managed to get on here. But heee haaar I'm on holiday now till the 14th Feb I've booked myself a pregnancy massage for next week with one of my Christmas vouchers and DH and I are going to lunch all week basically and chill out

Sezzy, what a sexy lady you are. Should have seen me this morning too. I put all my clothes (the ones that currently fit) in the wash so I had nothing to wear out. Scrambled something but looked awful. Was like a fat farmer with my top not meeting my, ahem 'sexy', leggings with a long cardi trying to cover up. So embarrassing Fingers crossed for your house negotiations.

BB, We reckon we've got a name for our wee princess. We can't agree on a backup though incase she comes out and doesn't suit the name we've picked. We've even got a boys name incase they have it wrong Glad you got out to walk the dog. How are those BH? Mine seem to be quite frequent but random and a bit scary at this stage

Caterpillar you must be so excited about bringing a wee sibling for your DD. I'm sure she'll be smitten You going for cloth nappies? I don't think I could handle them

Hey Stanley, do you know what you're having and what's your EDD?

Jippy you still here?

32 weeks today here and I can feel it! Last couple of days I've been thinking about how nice it will be to not be pregnant anymore. Don't get me wrong, being pregnant is amazing and such a special experience, and for me I feel so honoured given the journey to get here, but the idea of not being pregnant is getting more and more appealing.

I have my next obstetrician appointment tomorrow, and I plan to discuss in more detail with him what the pros and cons for both baby and me are in terms of any induction or trying to push out a mega-baby. Hope my options are straightforward.

We set up the changing table yesterday. At the moment we are setting things up in the spare room because I don't want to move DD yet. She's been quite unsettled lately and has just over the past week accepted day sleeps again and slept through the night a few times. Given that we are going away at the end of this week for a couple of weeks, I don't want to unsettle her any further at this stage. We'll decide when we get beck from holiday whether DD will move rooms or stay where she is. Tummy-baby will be in our room while he is in a bassinette anyway.

Oh, and I should mention I am SO looking forward to travelling up north with a 2-year-old and a 33 week preggie belly next Sunday . 7 hours of driving, so probably at least 10 hours travel once we have some decent stretch stops for DD and me. Madness! But we have to go. But still, madness! At least once we get to my parents' house, I can collapse and know we will be fed and stuff.

KJBHOPES, yay for a name! Hope it suits her perfectly when she arrives. Naming is so hard. We're still back and forthing a bit. When I finally decided to stop worrying about it DH suddenly said 'I'm not sure now'.

Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!

Take care

Hi all,

Just me again!

Had an obstetrician appointment this morning, and while this little guy is still measuring rather big and off the chart, other than that all is well. He still has some room and plenty of fluid in there. Next appointment will be midwife appointment at 35 weeks to write up birth plan! Yikes!

hey Ladies

How was everyone's long weekend?? Our plans for the weekend ended up going out the window haha, DP ended up working saturday, then we went on a day trip up around the caitlins coast on sunday, and just relaxed on the monday. so much for getting Junior's room done haha

We had anti-natal class on monday which was...interesting haha. lots of pelvic floor exercises and perinium massaging (eeeeeek) all the talk of ripping and snipping made me want to sign up for a c-section right then and there lol. Next week we get to watch the famous birthing video from the 70's YAY (not), we get the option of arriving after the video is done, was sersiously contemplating this option but DP surprised me and said we should probably watch it. Getting rather anxious about the actual birth, especially when everyone reckons I must be having a HUGE baby Makes me wish the Stork really did exist.

KJBHOPES - YAY for having decided on a name! I'm sure it will suit her perfectly!! Hope your week off is going fantastic, pregnancy massage sounds amazing - very jealous hehe How are your BH's? thought mine had gone away but seemed to have come back with a vengeance this week, everytime I even think about using my tummy muscles my whole tummy goes all hard and tight.

Caterpillar - YIKES about the 7hour trip definately take lots of stops so you can stretch your legs and if you're anything like me you'll have to pee every hour anyways haha. Thats a bummer about your wee man being on the larger side, did you come to a conclusion about induction??

I'm also feeling a bit over this whole being pregnant thing. The I feel guilty because I know I shouldn't be because we wanted this baby SOOOOO much, but why oh why is it sooooooo long and exhausting to get the end result Secretly wishing Junior will make a healthy but slightly earlier than planned entry into the world.

What about you Jippy, how are you??? feels like forever since we've chatted! hope all is well up your way

Well I had best be off, might try get out for another walk so I don't end up the size of mt Fuji haha.

Tootles

Hi

BlueBear, I would also love for my little guy to "make a healthy but slightly earlier than planned entry into the world" and do it naturally. Let's cross our fingers and toes for early babies!

Starting to have more aching in the pelvis now, I can feel it stretching. For a few days it has been getting more uncomfortable in the afternoon and evening, but today it has been sore since about 10am. I'm also getting off balance, which is a really odd feeling. I suspect the waddling will come next .

KJBHOPES, hope you are having a lovely week off!

Hi everyone else!

Yoohoo! Is there anybody out there?

I might just talk to myself then!

Been thinking about the end of the road today. I guess with going away for a couple of weeks, and having all the baby things on the 'when we get back' list (eg, wash baby clothes, pack labour bag, bulk buy long-lasting regular food) I'm suddenly realising that we're about to go away - and that means we're not far from coming back! (You can tell I'm intelligent, eh? )

So I'll get back and then a couple of days later see midwife for birth planning. Last time our plan was pretty open ended, and I will go for the same again (basically, get the baby out as safely as possible and with regards to pain relief, remind me often what my options are and let me decide at the time). This time I will ask some more specific questions about how best to stop this baby getting stuck. Last time I just wanted all options left open - didn't know how I'd feel in labour, so how could I make any decisions for labour-me? I mean, beforehand I could imagine that a birthing pool or the shower would be relaxing, but little did I know that labour-me would HATE the feeling of being wet! I lasted in the shower for about 2 minutes before I had to get out and get thoroughly dried! I wonder if I will be the same this time?

Anyone else have any thoughts on what they'd like or what they envision?

BlueBear, your mention of pelvic floor exercises and perinium massage reminds me I must find some information to remind myself how to do those things!

I think I need to write a list soon of the things I still need to do. All the odd things that I would rather not leave to DH to do. DD's carseat needs to go forward-facing after our trip (she's in a Radian and still rear-facing) so that the capsule can go where she is now. Oh, and hire said capsule! And at some point we have to tell DD that the baby will be coming out one day. Still leaning towards waiting until either a couple of days before any planned induction, or until I go into labour for that one.

Pregnancy threw me a new curve-ball today! Had to change DD's nappy this morning and my body said 'Oh, you want to sit on the floor? Well in that case here, have pins and needles in your hands!', so I got to change a fabulous pooey nappy with half-numb hands! Thank goodness DD was in a co-operative mood and could move her own hips as I needed her to! My hands have felt just a teeny bit not 100% there all day today since then.

Enough of me prattling on! Hope everyone is well, happy and as comfortable as they can be!

Hi everyone

So, we were supposed to go on our holiday today, but very early on in the journey we had some mechanical issues so now the car needs to be checked out before we can go! Glad we were still close to home, but all that packing and sorting and DD prepping...

we get away easily tomorrow.

I was looking at my ticker before and got a shock - it says 50 days to go! That doesn't sound like all that long, especially given that this guy might well be early! Funny how these things creep up on you even when you're counting down .

Getting some really intense pelvis pain over the past few days. Very sharp pain and it feels like my pelvis is trying to split in two. Things are definitely moving down there. Am so glad I still have the big sexy pelvis-holding-together belt from last pregnancy.

Just about sleep time for me I think. Take care everyone!

hey ladies

Thought I would pop on and keep you company Caterpillar hehe

We finally bought our bassinet in the weekend (we ended up getting the Mothers Choice Coco one) So I feel pretty sorted for Junior's arrival (not that he couldn't have gone straight into the cot, it just won't fit through our bedroom door haha). It turned out Sat was "national anti-natal day" so we got 20% off which was a bonus. We ended up also getting the electric Pooh Bear swing DP has had his eye on, so he's happy hehe

I went to see the midwife this morning, she said something which has got me rather freaked out..."ooh he's feeling rather big for your dates!" This added with the fact I found out DP had a HUGE head at birth has got me panicing about having to push this apparently "larger" baby out

Also had our 32 weeks scan this morning which went well. The placenta has moved well out of the way of the way of the cervix which is good! I also got him to estimate Junior's size after the midwife's "large" comment, and he is apparently just under 2.2kg's already (4pd 7oz), which the scan tech was in the 80th percentile - so on the large side but not big enough to freak out about. (easier said than done haha)

Caterpillar - What a shame about the car but like you said, good thing you were close to home and not in the middle of no-where. Hope you guys managed to get away ok today and have a lovely time away!!
Sounds like you've got your birth plan pretty much sorted, I myself haven't really thought too much about it - partly because I'm in denial about the whole thing haha and partly because we were waiting to see what the scan said about the placenta. I think I would like to go as natural as possible but open to other options if needed.

Anti-natal class tonight so I'm sure the birthing video will give me an idea of what to expect haha, and apparently we are learning birthing positions which open up the pelvis an extra 28% which sounds good to me with Junior being on the bigger side

Right I had better go an do something productive, hope you're all having a good day. Tootles

Hi ladies,

A bit to catch up on but I'm still here. Had the best week off work I just chilled, slept, organised a few things and pretty much did nothing. DH sorted the garden and we had great weather for lunch dates, walks on the beach......... can't believe I'm back at work bring on maternity leave.

We did our mega shop at the weekend. Spent a fortune but at least I get paid for another couple of months Pram, pram accessories, cot sheets, blankets, towels, bassinet, bottles, ordered the blind. Almost everything except stuff for me - feeding bras, breast pads etc. Baby room went from empty with a new cot in it to being full of boxes and bags. Somehow need to get all that sorted.

Glad to hear your placenta has moved BB. I've got a scan and Obs appointment tomorrow to get finalised my placenta issues too. So i'll report back and update on the outcome then. Bubs doing well though, she's really active but it feels more like rolling and bouncing than kicking I think (unless I'm squashing her during the night then it's defo angry kicking me)

Hope you managed to get away on your break Caterpillar

Sorry, gotta get back to work

hey Ladies

KJBHOPES - Your week off with DH sounds absolutely lovely. very jealous hehe. Hope your first day back at work wasn't too exhausting

YAY for doing your mega baby shopping!! how exciting It's so easy to spend a fortune ae?! that's why we decided to do our final shop in two lots, just couldn't bare to part with that much money all at once haha. You decided on the Mountain Plus One ae? how do you like it?? We have our eye on the Swift but need to clear some room before we get it so we have somewhere to put it haha. Do you need to do much prep work on the room itself before you can start arranging furniture etc??

Oh and I hope your scan and appointment goes well today! looking forward to you filling us in later.

Thought I had my hospital bags all sorted then realised I had completely forgotten about nursing bras will have to drag myself into town at some point and get fitted for one I guess. Then at anti-natal class on monday we were given a "hospital bag checklist" and it had all these things I hadn't even thought of so I think I will be doing some rearranging this week. Then again if you took everything they recommended you would need a truck and trailer just to take it in with I'm hoping to take as little as possible so might ask Caterpillar when she gets back what she would recommend as essentials since she's done all this before.

Need to get onto doin the final organising for my baby shower which is this weekend. I had a friend who was supposed to be helping me plan it all etc but she packed a shit and isn't coming anymore so am doing it all myself Oh well I don't have much left to do - finish making a keepsake book for everyone to write in and just do some baking and food prep on the day. May have to enlist the help of someone to actually set up on the day, since I'm not exactly nimble these days haha DP calls me Clumsy Smurf.
Anyone else having a babyshower???

Junior seems to be just as active as ever, would think he should be running out of room now. His favourite pass-time is do this odd stretch/push right into the right side of my ribs and just stay there, not exactly comfortable but I love feeling him move round in there

Well I had better be off and get cracking on the baby shower stuff and the housework, yay lol.

Hope you all have a good day

Hi all!

I'm finally up north . BOP is SO muggy though! I feel like I'm going to melt. We managed to drive up on Monday, DD was super-good and only required one stop where she actually got out! She ran around outside the Army Museum in Waiouru for about 30min, and we went and had a coffee and fluffy, and other than that she was content to eat in her carseat. I was so impressed.

KJBHOPES, so glad you enjoyed your time off. Maternity leave won't be as great, I'm sorry to say, simply because you'll be more pregnant and less able to do stuff. I remember looking forward to maternity leave the first time around and being rather disappointed with it, so thought I'd just warn you!

Hope your scan goes well KJBHOPES, and that everything is straightforward.

BlueBear, exciting about the baby shower! Shame your friend pulled out in a grump though. I'm not having a baby shower - not that long since last baby, I figure.

I'll have a think on the labour bag(s) thing - trying to remember what we brought last time (way too much stuff!) and what stuff we found was really useful and what we thought we should take next time that we didn't have. I do distinctly remember we should have had real food for DH though as we went to hospital at 6pm and he hadn't had dinner, so was starving and had to find food at about 10pm but all the hospital food places were closed. This time I plan to have something substantial in the freezer we can grab that he can reheat or leave to defrost. Will think a bit more on it all.

Gotta go, hopefully be back later!

Hi everyone. I was exhausted yesterday but slept well last night. Only a couple of visits to the loo

Appointment went well this morning. My placenta has moved out the way and is 1cm from birth canal so all good for now. Obs very happy but they like it to be more than 2 cm for natural birth so things are still touch and go and I don't know what's really happening yet Next scan in 4 weeks from now which seems ages away? Not sure when I can finish up work now Baby is measuring pretty much on the 50th percentile so not a huge baby if I need to push her out. Suits me cause I'm not exactly huge myself

Nothing to do in the room other than get it organised. Maybe a few wall stickers or something and it's very plain at the moment. Can't wait for the blind to turn up though, that will transform the room. Oh, we have same basinet BB but I got mine in white. Should arrive today or tomorrow. Taken them ages so I'll have to go to depo to collect it now I'm back at work should have arrived while I was at home lying on the couch all last week Love my pram and very excited by it. The +one is a bit bigger than the swift which I liked but we know too many people who have had to buy another pram once number 2 comes along so DH is thinking ahead

Sounds like you're having a nice time Caterpillar. Last night was first night in a while I didn't need the fan on. You must be melting up there.

Hi Sezzy, how you doing?

It's FRIDAY

Handed in my letter to work yesterday and said I'll try and get to end of March. That puts me at 36 weeks which I think is good enough. Might be persuaded to do a day or two the following week but we'll see

Hi everyone!!!

I've just been catching up on all the recent activity and realise that I've missed you all! I reckon I've been busier since moving to quieter Waikato than I was up in Auckland. There seems to be midwife appointments, hospital appts, trips back up to Auck etc....

I have to confess that I'm on Facebook daily because it's easy when using my ipad, but I hardly ever log onto the PC these days which is super slack of me. I've also been wondering whether we should start up a 'private' Facebook group so that we can all keep in touch without any old Tom, Dick or Harry reading what we've all been up to. It's weird to think that everybody in the world has access to our blogs. I also feel that I know you all just that much better after sharing stuff for the past few months - but I can't bring myself to put EVERYTHING into my messages because I know that everyone else can read them. Just a thought....let me know what you think though and I'd be happy to set up the private FB group and add everyone to the group.

Caterpillar - I'm so pleased you finally made it up North. What a mission to get there! Your DD did really well to only need one stop though. Way to go!! Yup, if you could have a think about what you put in your hospital bag last time vs what you actually ended up using that'd be a great help. I dunno where to start.

BlueBear - I hope the planning for your baby shower is going ok. I had mine last weekend and although it was a great arvo it was the weirdest hosting I'd ever seen. I'll tell you in detail if we ever get the FB page set up. Call me paranoid...but I'd hate to get 'found out' by bleating on about something. How embarassing! Anyway I got some lovely gifts and felt thoroughly spoilt by everyone.

KJBHOPES - you sound super organised!! It sounds like you had the best holiday off work too - well overdue I reckon. Fingers crossed that your work is happy to let you go at 36 weeks.

I've been feeling so guilty about spending money on baby things - I guess it's because I'm not working. I find myself trying to justify things to DH - when he really doesn't seem bothered about the purchases I've made so far anyway. Guess I just need to psych myself up and finish getting the things that I need. There seems to be so much that I'm still to get: nursing bras, breast pads, feeding pillow, cot blankets, cot sheets, hooded towels etc - and they're just the items off the top of my head!

It's been so long since I last wrote in here I don't think I've shared my good news....I've been given the all clear for gestational diabetes! Bubs is still measuring on the large side though and the hospital have mentioned they'd like to potentially induce me - but they'd have to give me a bloody good reason for doing so as I've heard that inductions can be far more intense labours and generally require more intervention.

Right, I'd better get going. Do have a think about Facebook though and whether you'd be happy to put updates into a private group rather than here. Everybody that normally contributes into this group can be added into the FB group. It's worth a thought.

Sezzy, yay for passing the GD test! And I hear ya on the big baby vs induction thing - I'd really prefer not to have an induction due to the increased intensity and increased risk of 'extra drama', but I have a big baby on board too. With DD (4.48kg) it was a rather difficult birth, so I want to avoid that same experience if possible, but... well, it's a bit of a pickle to be honest! I also am not likely to have the option of a stretch and sweep, due to an extremely sensitive cervix, so I'm just going to cross everything that my body and this little guy conspire to go naturally early!

KJBHOPES, 36 weeks is a great time to finish work . Fully recommended. I worked until 37.5 weeks when pregnant with DD and I really regretted the last week - was just too big and distracted. Has your blind arrived yet? Also, for moved placenta!

I'm happy to be part of a Facebook group

Oh, just remembered I was going to ask - does anyone get really short of breath regularly? I have times where I can lose my breath while just sitting on a chair! Sezzy, anything like this happening for you, so I can just attribute it to the joys of a big baby? Sometimes my heartrate goes really fast too. Will discuss with obstetrician at next appointment. Just wanted to ask if anyone else gets this because it is happening more and more frequently now (often a few times a day) and it is annoying and tiring! I can't function at all when it happens and have to sit down.

Hey Ladies

Caterpillar - Glad to hear you got away on holiday all good the second time around, and it sounds like your DD did amazingly travelling and only needing one stop! Enjoy your time away Oh and it would be amazing if you could have a think of what you would pack in your ideal hospital bag, half the stuff on the checklist's I've found on the net I don't think I would even remotely need (then again that could be me being naive)!!

KJBHOPES - Yay for handing in your letter at work, not long to go now!!! Glad to hear that your appointment went well and fingers crossed for you that your placenta keeps shuffling outa the way That's a good point you make about the MB PlusOne, I hadn't even thought about what to do pram-wise when #2 or #3 arrives?! I guess I just assumed Junior would be out of the pram by then (eeeek) now I'm all worried lol. Perhaps if we still wanted the MB Swift we could just get a monkey board of one of those MB Scooters for Junior once #2 arrives?

Sezzy - I'm all for a private FB group!! and YAY for no getsational diabetes one less thing to have to worry about! A bit of a pain that your wee one is on the larger side and may need induced. do you know what percentile bubs is measuring in??
Junior is in the 80th percentile for weight/size and unfotunately has inherited his fathers large head size too was hoping he might take after me since I was just a wee 6pd baby but alas lol. I'm only little and every time I think about having to push this "large" child out I have a minor panic attack, I wonder if it's too late to sign up for a c-section hehe.

Having a bit of a down week this week...so exhausted and drained throughout the day yet at night I am having such a mission trying to sleep, am feeling so big and awkward I just can't seem to get comfortable and I'm getting this odd cramp/tingly/restless-leg feeling which pisses me off the longer it keeps me up. Oh and the heartburn I'm convinced this child is going to come out looking like Chewbacca the way it's been the past couple of weeks haha (or so the old wives tale goes).

Right, enough bitching and whinging from me. Hope you all have fab weekends

Tootles