Theres loads! but not always very well advertised, dont know if anyones mentioned boots, you can join online and when pg you get vouchers for lovely pampering bits and a free baby bag and a voucher for a disposable camera, handy when the batteries run out! and magazines every 4mnths or so with more vouchers!
i think its only local but we have sprouts magazine here, theres piles of it everywhere you find bumps and babies, thats pretty good, its all about local groups facilities etc, ill find out if theyre all over or its suffolk only!
Lola slept better last night only 6hrs in total but it was at night!!! and today both babies let us have a 3hr nap, so were slowly becoming more human!
Laura glad you had a better night the other night,and a nice nap time to.
Cat like laura said Boots are great for this kind of stuff to,they do a fee mag which you can pick up in store and it has tons of advice and info from the 1ft few wks to birth and after. It lists all the boots products for mum and baby as well. I used boots for everything for riley growing up and the points soon mount up and then its great to have the money on the card to treat yourself.
Laura we get kidaround over here,i no it covers a wide area,do you get it.
not that i know of, but i only go to monkey music, need to get confident and go more groups, only braved mm as i kno the leader and she gets sprouts for me, ill have a look at surestart centre when i finally brave it! x
Tourist info should have it in as well as boots at times and if you no anyone with nusery/school age kids ask them to check for you as they all have them here,mind they do only come out every 3mths but they have dates to cover the whole time.
Pretty good, so far I've been lent a Miriam Stoppard and given a few others by the MIL - haven't really had a chance to go through them yet, but should do this week.
I have also discovered the joys of freecycle, so far I've been offered a food processor with liquidiser - fab!
you sound so organised compared to me Cat.. i haven't done anything for sproglet yet.. must really start thinking about sorting some stuff out!
have you heard anything about good books for looking after newborns and getting them in routines?? also, are you planning on hospital birth or maternity unit - can't remember (pg brain!)..
Hi Lucy it's not being organised, it's procrastinating! You see I really should be using my 2nd trimester of health and energy (ha ha) to clear the house and empty the spare room ready for the bump to arrive, but no, surfing the web is much more fun!
I have had so many recommended to me, but Miriam Stoppard seems to be the one for newborns according to my friend who dropped her 2nd 4 months ago.
Oh and I am in the Stroud area (answering Emma too!), which has a lovely maternity midwife led unit, so all being well I will be having the baby there.
Umm, obviously I'm not really that provincial thinking the world revolves around the place I live in to assume everyone knows where it is - I'm just being dippy! So in the Cotswolds, very pretty especially with all the frost and snow this week
Must be nice to have the option of the midwife unit.We have one very large hospital that does any and everything.While it's all new,well Bridie was one of the first born there in 2000,it is big and cold and impersonal.It's home or hospital here,nothing in between. Ilove the Cotswolds ,Cat.My Nan used to live close enough for us to visit there when we were kids,it's very pretty.Bet it's lovely all frosty and snowy,well if you don't have to be anywhere.
Sounds very pretty - has been beautiful here today - so frosty that everyone looked like a christmas card (nr brighton, sussex)!
don't worry about clearing the house - wait until right at the end when you can't move because your bump is enormous - when the nesting instinct kicks in! i remember with ben i went mental cleaning everywhere - i was obsessed about spider's webs and hoovering every ceiling in sight!
you have given me a kick up the bum though - i should really start organising myself. i thought i was going to have the next two weeks off work, but have swapped to a quieter job so i don't get my planned leave.. am getting quite excited now, but not quite enough to get off the sofa and sort the house out!
Yes, it has been just beautiful all week, even leaving the house at -5 degrees C at 8 am and having to scrape the car, I have still been admiring it!
I know I am very lucky with all the birthing options where I live, there are also 2 large hospitals which both have midwife units separate from the main hospital maternity units, so there does seem to be a lot of choice.
You should come camping here next summer! Loads of places around...
I agree with the cleaning tho i didnt get the nesting thing,i was always on the go as as it was just me and adi the place stayed tidy.
No lovely views from here altho the new shed did look col in the snow the ther day,i hav taken pics so will post at some point as also need some ideas on garden toys and bbq's.
Anyway girlies im gonna get of as was gonna have an early night but i should be able to nab a few extra mos in the morning.night all.
ooh camping in the cotswolds sounds fun.. although not at the moment. saw some crazy people out camping today - they must have been FREEZING!
when i walked in to my first midwife appointment and they heard i'd delivered with gas and air with Ben she said 'oh, you'll be having a home birth then', but having worked in a hospital and seen every horror birth story possible, i can't bring myself to plan a birth outside of the hospital, even though i know the likelihood is i'll have a perfectly normal labour. do you think i'm an idiot?
We don't camp anymore,Cat.My awful confession,the last camping holiday was so awful,we would've burnt the tent and the gear and driven off,except it was too wet.We did however,leave it by the site dustbins.yes,I am ashamed.Camping,6 kids including 2 babies,last years weather,up to our knees in mud,on Dartmoor,drove me to it.This year,we were going to do a cottage but we cancelled it two days ago.We're definately moving this year instead.Next year we'll do a holiday again.Don't know if I'll be brave enough to camp yet.Wouldn't mind visiting the Cotswolds.Been years since I was that way. I always get the nesting thing really bad in the last month.With Arwen,I decided the kitchen looked,and it probably was ,dirty,so I just ripped it up.Then I couldn't stop cleaning the tiles underneath. I was shifting furniture and cleaning walls with Matilda,oh and bleaching cielings.Then you suffer for it the next day.
Lucy - no, you're not an idiot! I love the idea of a home birth, but again I am aware of my age and the fact that if I did need to be rushed into hospital if anything went wrong the ambulance can't get within any distance of my house so it just seems very impractical.
The midwife unit seems like the next best thing to me, with an added dollop of comfort that everything is a bit more monitored.
And Jo - we nearly got to that stage last year after one night with my SIL and her 2 boys - the weather was not kind to campers last "summer" at all! I wouldn't be ashamed at all, I think camping with 6 kids is pretty brave even to try it!
Lucy we had a lovely,lovely homebirth with Arwen.Darren was able to put the kids to bed as normal.I just disappeared to my room when I couldn't hide the contractions any more,then soaked in my own bath in nice bubbles for a couple of hours,chatting to the midwife,with a cup of tea.My biggest worry was that the midwife would go home,it was that easy.The bath helped it along naturally,the minute I got out I could feel her right there.Don't think the midwife didn't believe me at first.She had to get her skates on to get the gas and air in time.I think we had Corrie on the telly,and then the Bill,which we never watch but it was a distraction.It was so easy,Arwen was born in my own room,wrapped in my towels then dressed in her own clothes and spent her first night in her own home.I'd like to say her own little crib but I seem to remember feeding all night.The midwife clears up every thing,she checks you're all okay,then leaves you to it.It was the best birth experience I had.I would love to have this one the same way if I had the choice.Most of the kids were asleep before she was born,so they met her in the morning,but Harry managed to stay awake and met her ten minutes after she was born. I did all my homework before,and they tell you all you need to have ready.Medical intervention is actually more common in hospital births,cos they're more likely to follow procedure.You're more likely to have a natural birth in your natural surroundings.If it's what you want go for it,I'd still say that having had a bit of a nightmare with Matilda.She could have had the same problems born in a hospital,the only difference would be I'd not have had the embarrassment of two ambulances outside my house,and waddling out to the ambulance in my old tatty dressing gown and slippers covered in goodness knows what for the neighbours to see. I'd at least look into it,can be a lovely experience
Replies
Good tips thanks Laura. I've already signed up for the NCT one, will get the Tesco one as I have a clubcard anyway.
There is just loads of free stuff around, it's just finding it!
Hope Lola is sleeping OK x
Theres loads! but not always very well advertised, dont know if anyones mentioned boots, you can join online and when pg you get vouchers for lovely pampering bits and a free baby bag and a voucher for a disposable camera, handy when the batteries run out! and magazines every 4mnths or so with more vouchers!
i think its only local but we have sprouts magazine here, theres piles of it everywhere you find bumps and babies, thats pretty good, its all about local groups facilities etc, ill find out if theyre all over or its suffolk only!
Lola slept better last night only 6hrs in total but it was at night!!! and today both babies let us have a 3hr nap, so were slowly becoming more human!
Laura glad you had a better night the other night,and a nice nap time to.
Cat like laura said Boots are great for this kind of stuff to,they do a fee mag which you can pick up in store and it has tons of advice and info from the 1ft few wks to birth and after. It lists all the boots products for mum and baby as well. I used boots for everything for riley growing up and the points soon mount up and then its great to have the money on the card to treat yourself.
Laura we get kidaround over here,i no it covers a wide area,do you get it.
will have a look thanx emma xx
hows the book search going cat??
Pretty good, so far I've been lent a Miriam Stoppard and given a few others by the MIL - haven't really had a chance to go through them yet, but should do this week.
I have also discovered the joys of freecycle, so far I've been offered a food processor with liquidiser - fab!
you sound so organised compared to me Cat.. i haven't done anything for sproglet yet.. must really start thinking about sorting some stuff out!
have you heard anything about good books for looking after newborns and getting them in routines?? also, are you planning on hospital birth or maternity unit - can't remember (pg brain!)..
Hi Lucy it's not being organised, it's procrastinating! You see I really should be using my 2nd trimester of health and energy (ha ha) to clear the house and empty the spare room ready for the bump to arrive, but no, surfing the web is much more fun!
I have had so many recommended to me, but Miriam Stoppard seems to be the one for newborns according to my friend who dropped her 2nd 4 months ago.
Oh and I am in the Stroud area (answering Emma too!), which has a lovely maternity midwife led unit, so all being well I will be having the baby there.
Ilove the Cotswolds ,Cat.My Nan used to live close enough for us to visit there when we were kids,it's very pretty.Bet it's lovely all frosty and snowy,well if you don't have to be anywhere.
Sounds very pretty - has been beautiful here today - so frosty that everyone looked like a christmas card (nr brighton, sussex)!
don't worry about clearing the house - wait until right at the end when you can't move because your bump is enormous - when the nesting instinct kicks in! i remember with ben i went mental cleaning everywhere - i was obsessed about spider's webs and hoovering every ceiling in sight!
you have given me a kick up the bum though - i should really start organising myself. i thought i was going to have the next two weeks off work, but have swapped to a quieter job so i don't get my planned leave.. am getting quite excited now, but not quite enough to get off the sofa and sort the house out!
Yes, it has been just beautiful all week, even leaving the house at -5 degrees C at 8 am and having to scrape the car, I have still been admiring it!
I know I am very lucky with all the birthing options where I live, there are also 2 large hospitals which both have midwife units separate from the main hospital maternity units, so there does seem to be a lot of choice.
You should come camping here next summer! Loads of places around...
I agree with the cleaning tho i didnt get the nesting thing,i was always on the go as as it was just me and adi the place stayed tidy.
No lovely views from here altho the new shed did look col in the snow the ther day,i hav taken pics so will post at some point as also need some ideas on garden toys and bbq's.
Anyway girlies im gonna get of as was gonna have an early night but i should be able to nab a few extra mos in the morning.night all.
ooh camping in the cotswolds sounds fun.. although not at the moment. saw some crazy people out camping today - they must have been FREEZING!
when i walked in to my first midwife appointment and they heard i'd delivered with gas and air with Ben she said 'oh, you'll be having a home birth then', but having worked in a hospital and seen every horror birth story possible, i can't bring myself to plan a birth outside of the hospital, even though i know the likelihood is i'll have a perfectly normal labour. do you think i'm an idiot?
I always get the nesting thing really bad in the last month.With Arwen,I decided the kitchen looked,and it probably was ,dirty,so I just ripped it up.Then I couldn't stop cleaning the tiles underneath.
I was shifting furniture and cleaning walls with Matilda,oh and bleaching cielings.Then you suffer for it the next day.
Lucy - no, you're not an idiot! I love the idea of a home birth, but again I am aware of my age and the fact that if I did need to be rushed into hospital if anything went wrong the ambulance can't get within any distance of my house so it just seems very impractical.
The midwife unit seems like the next best thing to me, with an added dollop of comfort that everything is a bit more monitored.
And Jo - we nearly got to that stage last year after one night with my SIL and her 2 boys - the weather was not kind to campers last "summer" at all! I wouldn't be ashamed at all, I think camping with 6 kids is pretty brave even to try it!
I did all my homework before,and they tell you all you need to have ready.Medical intervention is actually more common in hospital births,cos they're more likely to follow procedure.You're more likely to have a natural birth in your natural surroundings.If it's what you want go for it,I'd still say that having had a bit of a nightmare with Matilda.She could have had the same problems born in a hospital,the only difference would be I'd not have had the embarrassment of two ambulances outside my house,and waddling out to the ambulance in my old tatty dressing gown and slippers covered in goodness knows what for the neighbours to see.
I'd at least look into it,can be a lovely experience