sillywoman

Ah Moos, that's lovely & makes me feel very sad. I've had the opposite experience & have become more distant & angry with my crap mother since having children of my own. I feel it's opened my eyes to just how crap she really was (is). Having said that I can see that I am like her in more ways than I care to think of. Mainly; lack of patience (especially when tired), like Mrs.lotte I can go from feeling 'a bit irritated' to 'losing the plot' in about 10 seconds flat, much to my poor kids confusion. And I swear too much (awful habit, must stop) Also my mouth makes the same shape hers does when I'm disapproving of something - I hate it!

skip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- such a precious resource to go to waste. there's a school of thought that says that the cord should be left to finish pulsating before it's clamped and cut. That way the 'precious resource' of the stem cell rich cord blood goes to the person nature intended to have it (your baby) and they get the full benefit of it. Of course the feasibility of this depends on a lot of other factors such as condition of Mum & baby at birth, medical interventions in labour, and so on - but might be worth some further investigation, no?

I used SMA initially, can't remember why (13 years ago), then switched to Hipp organic because it was, well, organic. But I've had loads of friends who use and swear by Aptamil (v good for brain growth someone said(?!)). Sorry I wasn't more scientific about how I made my choices - Looking back It's a bit embarrassing really!

I don't think Terry has the resources to attend homebirths, at least that was the last I heard - would be very interested if anyone knows differently.

We're going later this summer with 4 kids between 5 and 13, will report back if I survive the experience!

naughty ed_pete.

OOh, John, Congratulations! I'm so glad it was such a good experience for you & that you had such lovely midwives. Well done. And such a pretty name too ('Rosalind', not 'John'!) SW

check out the thread on MumsNet, some of it's outrageous. Like the woman who wouldn't take her PFB to a christening because his absolute gorgeousness would outshine that of the baby being christened!

http://www.nctshop.co.uk - The NCT shop (wish I could do the clever word link thing) has them, loads of them, all lovely. Go for it . . .

Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Contact the NCT re a tea group. . . .or not! (see NCT Dec daytime options thread)

Don't lie down! It might slow the process. Rest, but keep upright, kneel leaning forward over a beanbag, or birthball, or the arm of a sofa piled up with cushions. Fingers crossed for you. SW.

BB, does Stella do births? I understood she only does antenatal & postnatal care? Sherwick, if you want one of the good teams you'll have to do the footwork your self. The best ones are The Lanes midwives, based at Dulwich Medical Centre on Crystal Palace Rd, Oakwood midwives based at a GP surgery in Forest Hill Rd, and The Albany based at Peckham Pulse. I'm afraid to say that the recent feedback I've had about the level of antenatal care Stella can give hasn't been good, a lot of appointments with GP (good, but not experts) as unable to get an appointment with Stella due to extremely limited time slots (only Tuesday afternoons), conflicting advice to that given by GP at previous appointment, when people do get to see her she's often running late, and I've heard of a couple of women who had specific questions, one quite close to her due date, that Stella refused to answer as she didn't have time due to running late. When one woman asked who could answer her questions Stella just shrugged! On the basis of what I've heard recently I would suggest investigate another maternity care provider asap. Sorry.

about 5k, the midwifery practices are NHS and all affiliated to a local hospital. Kings for the SE22 ones. They offer the best level of care currently available, probably anywhere in the world actually. We are so unbelievably lucky to have these teams available at no cost to us in our area. Some, The Lanes, Oakwood and particularly Albany are world reknown for the work they do. They are the gold standard of perinatal care.

Keep her where she's happy & make the decision at secondary level. If she's of average intelligence she'll get in wherever you want to send her at that point. We've got a couple at secondary (local Comp - no cash!) and a couple at primary so have seen the process a few times. It seems to me what people who wanted to go private at secondary did was got a tutor from yr5 onward. This does seem to be important as the child needs to be trained to sit the entrance exams. As an aside I have to say it was the kids who weren't the sharpest knives in the block from our school who went to Alleyns - so maybe not so hard to get into as people like to say. She doesn't need to be pushed at primary level. At this stage kids need to learn to read & write, take an interest in the world around them and feel safe and happy in their own small worlds. Don't move her yet, is my opinion.

Ah Emma G, the joys that await you. On the subject of boobs; I found it difficult initially to adjust to the state of mind that I needed to be able to breastfeed & keep my sanity. This state of mind is as follows. Your boobs are no longer the entities (no pun intended) they once were. You know, a secret source of pride or anxiety (are they too big, too small, nice shape etc.etc?), they have now become public property, any attempt to keep your dignity is pointless and an added stress in your strange new world. You will answer the door to postmen, milkmen, gas men, Jehova's witnesses and random callers with one boob out - sometimes two, or maybe just the nipple(s). You might have the baby attached, over your shoulder, in the moses basket or out with Granny (you might be expressing). You soon get over caring about it and can get a perverse pleasure from the startled/ embarrassed response of callers. Midwives will come and grab your boobs in an attempt to show you how to breastfeed. One of the hardest things I found was other people's embarrassment. I think we're conditioned from birth to do nothing to embarrass and here you are being compelled to get your boobs out in all sorts of scenarios by the small controller. Actually I think it's good practice for being a Mum. One of the lessons I learned quickest was to toughen up about other people's feelings. I do (did) with my kids what feels (felt) right to me and if other people find it embarrassing, well tough. But it took me a while to get the steel necessary to feel that way. I'm well 'ard now!

It certainly is, speaking of which, I'm just going to lurk on the State v Private education thread & try very hard not to post anything. (Goes off muttering; "don't get drawn in, don't get drawn in" . . .)

Moos Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not that you're making assumptions or anything, > sillywoman? I know, I did add the wink icon in an attempt to show a tongue-in-cheek intent for the tone of the post. I guess it didn't come across though? Sorry:-$

Though it's likely that if Mrs Sherwick is of the 'private hospital for having a baby' mentality she may hold up her hands in horror at the thought of something so unmedicalised as a homebirth ;-)

ymenik21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi All > > This is a very handy thread guys. > > Does Anyone have a simple casserole recipe please > .I ve never made one and do not have a slow cooker > .Is it a must to have ?? > Am bumping this thread shamelessly cos it's really good. Easy hob top Chicken casserole: Dice chicken breast (or whatever part of chicken). Brown it. Remove from pan. Chop an onion. Heat until soft. Add Chicken, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato puree, 1/2 pint-ish of stock (maybe 3/4 can't remember, add more if you think it needs it) and some marjoram and oregano. Cook on low heat with lid on for about 40 mins. Add button mushrooms (or big ones chopped). Cook a further 5 - 10 mins. Eat. With rice. Dead easy. No slow cooker needed.

Has anyone heard of/ tried an 'Epino' to reduce tearing? I wonder whether they work? The recovery tips are really useful. Also I would add to avoid citrus fruit drinks in the early days post birth as it will make your wee sting more. Supplements of Zinc & Vit C can boost your immune system & aid recovery. Dried apricots are good to help with constipation, along with loads of water.

That's the one. If the weather's good we're thinking to go to Roman ruin this weekend it's out near Shoreham if that's the one you mean?

Did you meet up? Is there another get together planned? Hope the weather held for you.

Fourways cafe Bellenden Rd. In the greasy spoon vein, but they are always really friendly to our crowd of noisy monsters, in spite of the fact that we must be losing them custom. In fact you probably don't want to go there if we're there! Husband & boys love it though.

after baby 1 realised I couldn't go back to work so found myself as an unplanned SAHM. A bit of a shock & I mourned for my job for about 4 years (I had loved it, but just loved her more). After a few years, and a few more kids, I retrained and now I can work from home doing a job I feel privileged to do. It took a while, but I just needed to adjust to the different person I had become and the different priorities & passions in my life. In a few more years I hope to retrain again to do the job I've been wanting to do for 14 years. Life eh?

Def agree with the Southbank, and for good family days out Godstone farm is lovely, but our top family day out is Hever Castle in Kent; massive adventure playground, squirty water maze (take swimmies & a towel), jousting, rowing boats, picnic, running around gardens & enormous 'how we lived' dolls house display. The other place that's really good to go on hot days is the water meadows out in Sidcup. They're called Craysfoot meadows, it's about 40 minutes in a car. the river Cray is shallow, clear and pebbly (kids might need jellies/crocs) but take a picnic & a fishing net & they'll be happy for hours. Probably better once you're past the pushchair stage.