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relisting in for sale...

Hello, we are hoping to turn our spare room into a bathroom and I wondered if anyone could recommend a builder/bathroom fitter please? Struggling to find someone who isn't booked up for the next year... Many thanks, C

HI, I'd recommend Frank - he did our bedroom and stairs carpets. He's reliable and reasonably priced. 07956 969433

I work in a gallery. and there's a bottle of wine on my desk right now (unopened sadly). i talk about my son sometimes. I don't know what cool is these days. This is real life to me. I'm not planning on doing an NCT class this time round, so would love to meet up with other mums when number 2 arrives (ages away), to look at some art or something....I'd better post nearer the time cos you'll all have forgotten, and so will I! cx

that's a good point Chantelle. I guess when Grotty said that I attached to the fact that I was 3-in-10 times likely to get another c-section which seems high. I'm sure I knew those stats the first time round, but not having any experience then, and with a huge amount of optimism that it would all go swimmingly, (I even remember saying at one point that the women in my family have been having loads of babies no problem for centuries, so what could go wrong for me!) it felt like there was a good likelihood that I'd have a straightforward natural birth. Amazing how one's experience can skew how one feels about it all so massively.

hi all, I just wanted to say a massive thankyou for all the posts and pm-s I've been sent - lots to think about and mull over. It's such an emotive and personal subject, and for all the stories of how badly it has gone for someone there are many stories of dream births - which has made me feel better about it already. I haven't seen a midwife yet, but even knowing I can go over my notes is really useful. No doubt I'll be back on here soon with more qqqs! cxx

not silly at all - thankyou. But where do I find it?

thanks so much for all your replies - I have to say Grotty, I didn't realise the success rate for a vbac was only 70% - that makes me even less keen to try it, esp as I think I'll be completely freaked out and I can't see that that would be good for the baby anyway. I'm only just pregnant, prob shouldn't be even telling people, but I need to get my head round it from the beginning. A part of me does want to try for a natural birth, kind of what I'd hoped for the first time round. Part of the reason mine went so wrong is because it was going wrong anyway and we had just one student midwife - or newly trained, I'm not sure - between me and another woman - she was much further along so I got left to get on with it. Fine, but I wasn't being monitored by anyone, so when it went wrong nobody realised. I'm so keen to not be in that situation again. Don't want to alarm anyone going for a Kings birth - I've heard loads of good stories too, just my one own experience was horrendous. Would love to meet up for a coffee - when are you about - pm me? cx

thanks everyone - I'll try anything at the mo, I need to not spend the next few months quietly freaking.... cx

hi, we had one with fixings that were sort of sprung so it was able to stretch to whatever size needed - I think it was probably from Mothercare, but was ages ago.... It was good, but not massively strong - it was ok for us though. Maybe have a look - it was a grey collapsible frame , with a grey fabric centre - I think we chose it as it was the only that fitted in the weird space....probably planned to get soemthing more solid then never got round to it....

we went to the Hazlitt for my husbands 40th and it was so lovely. I definitely want to try the Rookery next, and agree that St Johns is maybe a bit trendy - might be fun for the curiosity factor, but might not feel like a treat. Don't have the breakfast though - it was those rolls you get half-frozen and then reheated - yuck! might have changed by now, it was a while ago.... have a great time wherever you choose, cx

thanks Ruth - did your doc/midwife let you choose? did they try to convince you to have a vbac? I guess I'm worried that I'm going to have to fight to get an elective c-section....

thankyou both for your advice. the things that went wrong for me last time round were really specific to that pregnancy, and i've got no reason to think it might go similarly this time round. But it was pretty awful, and the main reason I'm having a second child nearly 5 years after the first, it's taken me this long to get over it! I've got friends who've had a V-BAC after a c-section, and they'd recommend it everyt ime, really positive experiences. But I'm starting to feel really anxious just knowing I'm pregnant, so I think for me it will be too much to be in that situation again.... Weirdly, I'm kind of a hippie, fed my son for ages, all natural food/toiletries etc, so it is odd to want to go down a non-natural route, but hey ho.... thankyou so much for your advice, cx

I've enjoyed stays at the Hazlitt in Soho, and they have a sister hotel in the city called the Rookery which looks lovely, both quite old-style - if modern is your style then they might not be for you - we chose it because our house is fairly modern so it made a change. Breakfast wasn't great, so would recommend going out for breakfast somewhere yummier.... or maybe the new St Johns hotel near Leicester square?

Hi, if the thing you had mentioned to you was cranial-sacral therapy, then this place might be worth trying. I was treated there after the birth of my son - I'd been dislocating my thumbs and wrists daily after the birth and this fixed it in a couple of weeks - it felt a bit miraculous. They treat all kinds of conditions and you make a donation, whatever you can afford....they are very nice/professional etc - maybe call and see if they do what you're after.... http://www.occ.uk.com/

Hi, I'd appreciate any advice on this.... I'm pregnant with my second child, but only just. Last time I'd hoped for a natural birth, was induced, and then had an emergency c-section which left me pretty shaken afterwards. I'm keen to avoid the same happening, and I know that every pregnancy and labour is different. But for me it's important to have some sense of control this time, what with last time being so all-over-the-place (I'm sure it wasn't, but that was how it 'felt' at the time and in hindsight). I've heard people say that if you've had an emergency c-section previously, then you are likely to be offered a planned one the second time. Is that really the case? Also, most of my friends have recommended that I jsut aim for a natural childbirth and see what happens, and I completely understand that opinion, but I am worried about feeling hugely anxious, I already do a bit and it's way off, so I thought sort of knowing how it's going to go might help.... If anyone has any advice or any stories to share then I'd be so grateful to hear them. I realise it's a very personal subject, so thankyou....

thankyou so much for all your advice. I did the walk to Bessemer yesterday and it's about 45 minutes, which won't be fun in the winter, and I don't drive. But I've got a look round there on Friday and will try to get a look round St Johns too. I've heard such fantastic things this weekend about both schools that in the end it might just come down to St Johns being a shorter distance. Thanks also for the reassurance re creative stuff at St Johns - I was basing it on hearsay, and that can easily be out of date or misguided. I realise I was basically asking for reassurance for the decision we'd made - and like you've said it is a personal thing, I just knew so little about the school - feel like I know more now, and really keen to look round.... Thanks again everyone.... cx

maybe I got it wrong and it's not due to a bulge year? A friend said they were doing a bulge and that's why we'd all suddenly been offered places.... I can't think of another reason that they'd suddenly have so many places to offer. Apparently this year has been particularly bad with so many people not getting anything near to them, so perhaps they brought forward their plans for next year? It's all happened very fast so I'm not at all clear what's gone on....

Hi, I was wondering if anyone else is in this situation.... We are a long way from St Johns & St Clements so presumed we wouldn't get an offer and therefore didn't look round. But we've just received a phone offer and apparently they have decided to have a bulge class this year. We had to make a quick decision so accepted as it's much closer to us than Bessemer Grange which is what we'd been offered. But I'm having a bit of a wobble about it - I hear it's not very creative, and the ofsted isn't great. I know that I shouldn't base a decision on only that, but at the mo that's all I've got to go on. I know of some parents with older children who have now left there and they were pretty happy with it but that was a while ago.... Does anyone know much about the school, have kids there or know of people with kids there? The decision isn't helped by Bessemer sounding lovely, but it is a long walk from us.... Thankyou so much for any advice....

when we bought our TT chair our son was 6 months. We bought all of the accessories before realising that you can only use either the harness or the plastic barrier. So we used the plastic barrier with the cushioned thing for ages. I'm afraid I can't remember when we stopped using the barrier, but it was probably at about 2 1/2 or 3 years, once he was too big to squash into it! I definitely think the chair was worth the money, it's so strong and they can use it for ages. Great if you can pick up a cheaper one second-hand....

Southwark Schools Preference Adviser sent me a link to this - http://schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/

Hi Bodsier, we heard yesterday that our son has a place at Bessemer. We live in Peckham so it's quite a distance for us, but I'm off to have a look round tomorrow, it's likely to be the only place we are offered. I'd be happy to meet up if you like, PM me?

This is a link to the site that Southwark use apparently to judge distance. This was given to me this week by the Schools Preference Adviser. It was a shock to see that actually schools which take much longer to walk to were considered by Southwark to be much closer - I kind of knew that was how it works when they measure by how-the-crow-flies, but quite sobering to see it in metres on the site....I think if you put in your postcode then you can see how far, and can compare to catchment areas for each year.... http://schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/

hi localmum1, we live approx 450m from the school but missed out this year. We weren't even anywhere close, I know a lot of parents much closer to the school who also didn't get a place. The catchment this year was tiny, but who's to say what it will be next year.

thanks for all your suggestions. I rang round all the independents that are close enough to travel to and can look round after easter. We'll be too late for this year I think, but I can go on waiting lists. He's on the Villa waiting list but it's a long list. But - there were so many reasons we chose state schools, and the cost was only one of them. We love this area and I wanted my son to be educated in the local community - I've lived here since I was a Goldsmiths student 20 years ago and I didn't ever imagine I might have to move. Someone today said that Bessemer Park is really good and getting better all the time - it's another one I didn't even know of, obviously I didn't exactly research this at the application stage. So I'm looking round there after Easter. apparently they are full now, but often end up with space in the first term or year. Sounds promising. What I'm confused about is if we accept a place at one school can we still appeal/beg to be considered for a nearer/better school after he's started. Or - if we turn down Peckham Park School (which we will) will Southwark still consider us for the others or have they fulfilled their commitment and can wash their hands of us, esp if we homeschool for a bit. Maybe after term starts it shifts to the schools to organise all that? There is a drop-in centre next week in Cator St so I will go along to that, see what they say.