Pickle

Oh goodness, of all the nights to decide to check in on my old ?life? on the EDF! Erica was my midwife, through the DMC, for all three of my pregnancies. I had a pregnancy complication, called obstetric cholestasis, with all three pregnancies. This is a condition with a high risk of stillbirth from 37 weeks onwards. She took my seemingly innocent symptoms seriously with baby number 1, meaning I saw the right people at Kings quickly, and delivered a healthy baby by induction at 37 weeks. In the following 4 years I had two more babies, with the same condition. Her care was reassuring and professional. She sat with me through long inductions, and was there for the delivery of my 3rd child in 2012. I remember being really sad when my little girl, Kate, regained her birth weight and we were discharged from her care, but we kept up contact for a while as her daughters were our babysitters. We have lived in New Zealand since 2017, my ?babies? are 13, 12 and 8. A wonderful lady, we wish her all the best for retirement. Pippa, Graeme, Callum, Emily and Kate

Posting for the first time in a while, feel like I shouldn?t be here (I live in nz now). We had a 3rd, planned, but I don?t think it really makes a difference. Personally I found my 3rd a whole lot easier than the previous 2. When she arrived I had one in reception and one in nursery (there?s 5 years between #1 and #3, 16 months between #1 and #2). It felt like she was an only child in a way, we had the days to ourselves while her siblings were at school. Definitely echo what was said above. Space, both in cars and in homes, becomes an issue. Third children just have to fit in, from day 1. I?ll never forget doing the school run on a cold January morning with an 11 hour old baby (hubby had gone to Heathrow to pick up my Mum). That was just the start of her life as a baby sitting in the wings of ballet, school, football, music lessons etc. My baby is 7 now. She?s infinitely more pleasant than mr 12 and miss 10 (going on 16). Sometimes it?s nice to have 3 to choose from :) It changed our family dynamic for the better - My two youngest play well together (both girls), as do the two oldest. Wouldn?t change it, but would never have considered having any more!

Sem, I miss you! Don?t suppose you fancy a trip to NZ?! Nearly two years since I left ED and I still haven?t found someone that can thread as well as you do. Pippa x

Can I say hi? Been a while since I posted, but I do very occasionally still have a read, and do the odd bit of moderating duty for my sins, all the way from New Zealand. I first registered June 2007, was a pretty avid user for 9.5 years, until we moved away at the end of 2016. Made many friends, sold lots of stuff, had many a laugh over the years.

I had one in London, and they're very common here in NZ. They cope with pretty much everything except bones, corn cobs, and fruit stones. Just a note though, the chopped up food goes down the drain with your waste water, it's not (as far as I'm aware) able to be collected to use as compost.

We used to go dentist near the Herne, they were lovely with the kids, and saw them every six months since they were 2. However... we've now entered the dental system in NZ, and both of my older kids have needed work done. The dentist was shocked to hear we had been seen 6 monthly and the issues missed, one in particular was something that she said would have been obvious for a couple of years at least.

We moved from London to NZ at the beginning of the year, it's been interesting looking at names here. My youngest is Kate - I wasn't aware of any other little Kate's at our old school (Goodrich). Now, in a school less than half the size, there's a Kate in pretty much every class. Sasha is very common too. My daughter has 3 girls called Bella in her class, so it's a worldwide trend. But boys names are very different, there's a real trend towards using surnames as first names - Hunter, Fletcher, Taylor, Hudson etc. Go to a busy playground, sit with a coffee, and just listen. You'll soon get a feel for what names to avoid 😉

My partner went privately to "Harley Street Hearing" and saw Dr Palaniappan. Total of 3 appointments, 1 initial consult, 1 to perform the Epley manoeuvre, then a follow up. After a frustrating time trying to get to the bottom of it using our NHS GP, and weeks of feeling terrible, it came as a welcome relief - money well spent!

For years, before we moved away, I used the post office on Forest Hill Road (it's in the newsagent, just up from the Co-Op). Lovely guys in there, will make sure the photo is right for you.

5 😇 Don't even know what made me look at this thread, Uber doesn't exist where I live now!

We sold just before Xmas through KFH. Communication pretty awful, but they got people through the door in a tough market (we listed in September, and moved abroad in December, so had a pretty tight timeframe) and found us a great buyer. From the research I did prior to listing, I decided they were all pretty similar.

With the two eldest children at school it won't be chaos at all. My older two were 3.5 and 5 when I had number 3, and even the half day my middle daughter was at school nursery made life easy. Mornings won't be as bad as you expect, but make life easier by getting as much ready the night before as you can, even just to begin with (school stuff, breakfast bowls laid out etc.). Evenings just seemed to work for us - if dealing with the 3 alone I would feed the baby while reading bedtime stories to the other two. I found it a lot more stressful when number 2 came along, as I had a newborn and a 16 month old. A baby with two school age kids will be a doddle if you had a small gap between your first two. I've hardly seen my kids today (we live in NZ now, I haven't quite broken my EDF habit!). They all play together brilliantly (now 10, 8.5 and 5). Good luck, and enjoy the baby phase x

We have just left Goodrich to move abroad, after a 5.5 year association with the school - my children were years 5, 4 and reception. Sport and music at the school are outstanding. There is an amazing dedicated PE teacher who the kids love, and also additional sporting after/before school clubs. Likewise, music at the school is brilliant. They have three music teachers, all excellent, and in the more senior classes they are given fantastic opportunities as part of the choir, if they are so inclined. My two older children got to sing at the VSO Carols Concert at Westminster just before the end of term, Goodrich were the only school involved! My kids were all very happy there, the teaching is of a high standard.

I have found donations are appreciated at the hostel near Dulwich Library (in the big church). I took a number of children's clothes, toys and books there before Christmas and they were thrilled to take them. They often have refugee families staying there who only really have the clothes they arrived in.

I'm on it, all cleared (for now, anyway). Have to hope it's a messed up bot, rather than someone who has nothing better to do on Xmas eve than spam a local Internet forum. Merry Xmas all.

In NZ its standard for your shopping to be packed for you at supermarkets. There is a cheaper supermarket (the aptly named "Pack & Save") where you do it yourself to save some money. I found, many years ago when heavily pregnant, Sainsbury's were good at offering to help pack, but switched to home delivery a long time ago so don't tend to go there for large shops any more. It would be a nice touch at this time of year.

Echo what the others have said. Try to relax about it, it won't be too bad at all. An "essentials" kit easily accessible is handy - wipes, nappies etc. I always took a sling when they were babies, useful for getting on/off the plane and through passport control, and if your baby ends up being unsettled it makes it easier for you to walk around in the plane. I've travelled between London and NZ with my 3 kids many times over the past 10 years (my 10 year old has been there 12 times!) and we've never had a problem. People are nice, and understanding. When I see people with small babies on flights I always offer to help, as my 3 are self-sufficient now. Good luck x

Hi there, Norwood Roofing are great, have carried out a few jobs for us over the past few years. Here's a link to my initial recommendation (and subsequent happy customers): http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1382497,page=1 P

I'm about to move abroad, and Sem came today to do a final eyebrow threading for me. Once again, a huge recommendation from me, she is brilliant. I have been using her for years now, and the thought of having to find someone else scares me! Not only is her threading painless, she is meticulous about her work, and such a lovely person to have in your house. Sem can be contacted on 07882 161 467

Search for Norwood Roofing in the search bar on the forum. Lots of happy local customers, myself included.

No, that's a ridiculous price!

Lego has been the staple gift for my son (now nearly 10), since he was 4/5.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1753268 This one made me laugh.