JJP

Another shout out for Nick. I?ve used Nick twice over the past 6 months for some work following these recommendations -work include fixing a window, some plumbing, electrics, painting and general odd jobs. I really couldn?t recommend Nick enough -all the work was done to a very high standard (in a few cases it was fixing poor work done by others....), he and his team were extremely reliable and friendly (I?m on my own with two small kids and felt very safe with them in the house and they were lovely to my kids) and his rates were very reasonable. Nothing was a problem and he was generally a dream to deal with. Highly recommended.

I just wanted to add another recommendation for Saied. I contacted Saied after reading recommendations on here. I wasn't disappointed. Saied can to see my garden very quickly and gave good recommendations according to my budget. When he came to do the work, he was efficient, hard working and the quality of the work was excellent. He was very clear to talk me through everything they were doing, flexible when unexpected things came up and I am delighted with the outcome. Saied has turned my overgrown with weeds garden into a lovely place I am looking forward to spending the summer in! He's also a generally lovely guy to have around and I felt completely comfortable giving him a key. I can't recommend enough and I will definitely use Saied again.

Hi everyone, Hope you're all well and had a lovely Christmas? We had a lovely Christmas with the new little one, now with two kiddies, we strangely feel like more of a family, it's been really lovely! :) Huge congrats LHF! Hope your early days are going well, such a special time! AnyaJoeli, please do add me to the WhatsApp group! I'll PM you my mobile. Thanks for organising. Jemma, hope it all went well with the ECV. But if you have to have a c-section, there are definite advantages (I reckon if this baby had been breech like my first was, I would have definitely been up for considering that route!). Although it's a bit more initial recovery, overall most people I know seem to make a full recovery from a c-section quicker than a natural birth... Fingers crossed for the best outcome, whatever that might be! Looking forward to hearing more baby news soon! X

Hi Jemma, My first was breech and my experience of the ECV was similar to tomo's -I didn't find it too uncomfortable (but I have a friend who found it really uncomfortable so I think it varies). I'd describe it as feeling a bit like Chinese burns. They injected me with a muscle relaxant, had to wait hours for them to do it, which was the most annoying part! They scanned the baby all the way through to make sure he wasn't in distress and fortunately it worked. I've heard seconds are usually more successful than firsts as your muscles are a bit more stretched. I'd agree that it's good to be as relaxed as you can. For me, it was worth trying (but I really didn't want a c-section). Hope that helps! X

Hi everyone, hope you're all keeping well! Just a note on water births at Kings -the issue is the pools are taking 1-1.5 hours to fill. I had a water birth in the midwife led unit and it did take a while to fill (just over an hour), but this was fine because I wasn't ready to go into the pool until then anyway (they advise you don't get into the pool until you're further down the line or it's not as effective). So unless you have an extremely quick birth (in which case you're probably not going to make it into a pool anyway -and I am very jealous of you!!!), you should be ok as long as they get it going as soon as you get in. I'd highly recommend it -the room was much nicer than the normal rooms (last time I was on the labour ward in one of the blow up birthing pools), the birthing pool was nice and white, felt very clean and had a ledge bit I found really good to lean on. I had a really positive experience. And this was only 1 week ago so I hope everyone else will have a similar experience. I'm not around much at the moment but looking forward to hearing news and hope to see everyone before Christmas or soon after! X

Thanks everyone :) had a little boy, name is Zac -he's awesome! Hope everyone's keeping well, looking forward to more baby news in the coming weeks! X

Hi everyone, I hope you're all well? Just thought I'd let you know I had my baby last night :) fortunately we ended up in the midwife led unit and as it was our second they also let us go home last night, yay! The intro to my toddler went well and we're settling into life well! Look forward to seeing you all soon! X

Typically my toddler wouldn't go down for a nap until very late, so I'm going to be there at 3:30pm -SORRY! X

Great! I'll head to the Victoria with toddler in tow for 3pm -yay! X

I can make tomorrow, what time are we thinking? My toddler usually naps 1-2pm but can be flexible X

Sorry I couldn't make today, I could do either the 24th or 27th X

Hi everyone - unfortunately I can't make this morning (my lovely team at work bought me a spa voucher which I'm off to use - hooray!), but I'd love to see you all before the babies come. I'm now on maternity leave (only a few weeks before number 2 makes his appearance, gulp!), so I'm around in the week if anyone is around for a meet up then. X

15th November is good for me and I'm completely easy - always love Franklins, either ED or Peckham way is good for me, so I'm pretty easy. I'm also feeling the need to get out and about before being hit by the juggernaut of baby number 2! My last day in the office was yesterday and just doing some final bits from home today and Tuesday and then THAT'S IT, hooray!!! So I can also do meet ups in the week if anyone is around... Feels like December is coming around very quickly..! X

Thanks AnyaJoeli! Once I've finished work (just under 2 weeks, yipee!!!) I shall come along! Hope everyone else is keeping well? Must organise another catch up soon - are Saturday morning's generally good for everyone? X

Hi everyone -are we canceling tonight then? I can make it (and was excited about pizza!), but am so tired, I'd also welcome a night on the sofa if no one else can do ;) Sorry to hear about lots of sick toddlers, hope everyone feels better soon. Btw, I haven't had a chance to do a yoga class this time round, but wanted to do something when I finish work -what yoga class is everyone doing? X

I've also been thinking about how to introduce the baby to my toddler. He is 2.5 yrs and seems to completely understand there is a baby in Mummy's tummy and tells EVERYONE that he's having a baby brother. We've discussed that his job will be to burp the baby (he loves to have a job), but I do think the reality of having to share Mummy and Daddy and the actual appearance of the baby will be quite a shock! SJK - that doesn't sound bonkers at all, I was thinking about doing the same! Apparently my toddler plays with the baby dolls at nursery and puts the baby to sleep, burps it, feeds it etc. I was chatting to a Mum of five (yes five, can you believe it?!) and she was advising to get a doll and encourage him to feed his baby while I'm feeding the baby. Worth a try anyway! AnyaJoeli - my son had a TERRIBLE time settling down at nursery, it took him 6 weeks to settle in, it was awful! But it was so worth it because he loves it so much now and is really happy. I hope that yours settles down before the baby comes - how long has he been going?

Just to add to this... I called Jeff Latouche in desperation when water started leaking from my roof into my bedroom (after seeing this thread recommending him). He was completely straight up about when he could and couldn't come - and stuck to it. He took photos of the issues and talked me through them. He fixed it swiftly and charged me an extremely fair price - which was great because frankly I was desperate and prime to be ripped off! Very impressed, would definitely recommend and use again.

Lovely to meet everyone who made it on Saturday morning! Thanks for organising :) It's me again: Thanks so much for that link - I'm definitely going to give them a go. Out of interest, this is the place I took my son when he was first born: http://occ.uk.com/ it's the Osteopathic Centre for Children in Wandsworth, they were really good. Looking forward to Saturday night! What's the plan?

Yay, looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow morning at 10:30am in the Victoria Inn! I'm sure we'll all be quite easy to spot..... (I feel like an elephant at the moment :S)

Hi everyone - I'm currently looking good for either the 11th or the 18th, hooray! Looking forward to it X Tally: 11th Oct - 8 people 18th Oct - 6 people

AnyaJoeli - I keep telling myself that at least swaddling will be easier (I hope... my son hated it!) and that because it's dark maybe it'll be easier to get back to sleep... um... and by the time the summer comes we'll be well out of the newborn phase so we'll make the most of being out and about... Or am I completely clutching at straws?!!

Hello everyone - I am SO excited to find this thread! I have a 2.5 year old toddler (boy) and am expecting my second around 11th December. So happy to see so many second timers, and looking forward to meeting some first time mum's too! Unfortunately I'm also working full time, although I work from home on Fridays so I can usually arrange my day so I can nip out for a bit, and will try and make any weekend meet ups. I go on maternity leave from the 7th November (have saved up loads of holiday, hooray!), so will be much easier then! My son is currently in nursery 4 days a week, but we're taking him down to 2 days a week from November as it's just too expensive for us to leave him in longer than that... but he's so happy there I don't really want to take him out, so hoping we can make that work. Will be interesting juggling him and a new born... gulp! I saw a few dates banded about - I could make the 19th or the 27th if those go ahead. I'm away on the 4th, so won't be able to make that one. Really looking forward to meeting up - I had the best time on my last maternity leave as there were so many like minded people around, so looking forward to this one being every bit as good! Although I am nervous about having a new born in the winter... my son was born in March and it was so easy getting out and about in the spring! I feel it'll take a bit more effort this time round... Hope you're all well - look forward to meeting you!