prm

All of the previous posts go to show that this is a great area and there is choice for everyone depending on your budget and prsonal preferences. If you like being in the middle of the action go for a smaller place in central East Dulwich on top of Lordship Lane. If you prefer a bigger house and still be within easy access to the ED amenities go to Forest Hill, Peckham Rye, Honor Oak etc. I first moved to central ED about 10 yrs ago and loved living there (although it was a much different place to what it is today). Now I live on top of Forest Hill and love it just as much, I live in a much bigger place, lovely road. great neighbours, better transport links and can still be in Lordship Lane/Dulwich Village/Dulwich Park/Peckam Rye within a few minutes. Any of the areas mentioned I think are great for families.

Hi, I am also still up for the 9th June, I can't make the other dates suggested in the Autumn babies thread (just realised since I am due on the 20th Sep I guess I would be technically summer babies) Anyway, looking forward to this one next week.

I won't be able to make it either on the 11th July but look forward to meeting you all next time!

Nice to meet you all. I'm due 20th Sept officially, but I am pretty sure it will be a few days later.. Had my scan last week and found out it's a girl, I'm sooo happy!! (I have nothing against boys but we haven't had one on either side of our family for decades so wouldn't know what to do with one)

That seems really unfair...I believe most women would prefer to breastfeed but some are unable to. How are they supposed to feed their babies? Or if they can't afford the luxury of taking a long maternity leave and have to go back to work... It seems like penalising them for a necessity or even if it is a personal choice for whatever the reason... Most people don't make this choice lightly and obviously breast milk is cheaper so I don't think anyone is going to feel incentivised to take up formula to save money.

Thanks Knomester! Does anyone know any other options?

I am planning to stop work at the end of week 36, which will be end of August. I am really looking forward to having that time to sort things out and winding down a bit, and apart from avoiding the commute (luckily mine is not too bad), I think I would get a bit stressed out worrying that I may go into labour at the office or on the train!

Hi, I am looking to go swimming once or twice a week and wondering if there is any pools in the area where you can pay per session as opposed to taking a membership. Any advice on the subject will be greatly appreciated. Cheers, P

Hi ladies, I'm expecting first baby for the end of September & would love to join you on the 9th June too. Will put it in the diary!

Then again if you look at some au pair sites you will see not all of them are teenagers, some of them are a bit older and depending on your needs you can specifically look for people who are willing / not willing to cook, clean, look after babies or just older children, drive / not drive, work x hours etc. I have no personal experience on the subject yet but I understand there is a standard weekly salary for x hours and x type of work, and what I would do is first speak to the person before I hire them, see what they are looking for and be fair: if I expect them to do more than the standard I would pay them more too. I do agree that whoever comes and whatever they end up doing for you, when you have someone living in your house they become part of your family and should be treated as such, it would be awful otherwise.

Oh my, Little ED family those are some weird cravings you?ve had! Although apparently it is perfactly normal to crave weird things and some people even crave eating ash! It?s called Pica acording to pregancy books.. As far as I am concerned at the beginning of my pregnancy I just wanted fruit amd veg (strange in me, or maybe subconsciously I was just trying to do the right thing and give my baby lots of vitamins)... but it is all gone downhill since then..chocolate, red meat, Ben & Jerry?s Cookie Dough ice-cream by the tub...although the truth is that has always been a passion of mine, now I just have a good excuse to eat it..I always tell my husband "don?t you dare to have a go at me for eating all this junk food, after all I the nice things I am having to give up!" The weirdest thing is that I use to love drinking beer, almost on a daily basis, but since I am pregnant I dont fancy it a bit. Again I have heard other pregnant friends say they don?t feel like alcohol, so it must be subconsccious way of protecting our babies.

I have always found it surprising that elections are held on a weekday in this country...it seems very complicated.. In Spain they are always held on a Sunday, so that schools don?t have to close, people who run the voting stations don?t miss work, and most importantly to ensure as many people as possible turn up and vote - if it was done on a weekday a lot of people would miss the voting due to being held up at work or simply too tired at the end of the day to make the effort

Absolutely, I certainly wouldn't dream of pushing my way into a room and kicking out someone else who needs it more 9and I don't think that is what was being suggested either). But if there is the option of paying for a private room (like you have in Tommys and Watford for example) I might well be interested in doing that. I know there are good and bad stories about Kings, but overall I feel very happy and privileged to be able to give birth in such a good hospital. I have been there when my nieces were born and the new facilities were fantastic and as it happens they had a good experience too. The only part I was not impressed with was the post-labour ward (and given the feedback / threads in this forum on the subject I don't think I am the only one). That is the part I am dreading the most (more than labour itself), after hearing stories from friends saying the first night with their first baby was the worst, the baby kept crying, they didn't know what to do...and I am talking about friends in Spain who had their husbands in the room with them all night and had a room shared by 2 people only, which is the standard in public hospitals over there.

I have been with Forest Hill Road for a couple of years and my experience has been pretty good overall, the facilities are good and I have always been seen when I needed to. Reception staff I find a bit short (not rude, but just not particularly pleasant/friendly), Nurse Kerry is absolutely lovely, kind, caring & fantastic, Nurse Ilana is ok but not very friendly, and ahhh the latest addition to the surgery...the young new Doctor Patel is very nice and so gorgeous. I will make sure I specifically ask for him next time I get an appointment (although I suspect there must be a que of women accidentally banging themselves in the head "Olivio-ad" style just to see him)

Whilst we are on the subject of Kings Labour Ward...does anybody know what the deal is with private rooms? Do you have the option of getting one after the birth and how much does it cost? Thanks!

Yes good idea, I think I should probably be able to make it on the 4th. I am due end of Sept, so still only 18 weeks, how about you? To be honest I haven't really done my homework about labour options etc yet, but I know I want a hospital birth, I think I will want all the drugs if needed and I am really interested in the idea of a water birth (although I believe there is only one room available in Kings with a birth pool?) I guess we'll find out soon!

Simone, can also turn up to the 6.30 waterbirth talk without booking or anything? Thanks!

My midwife told me they are on Monday afternoons and Thursday evenings. Apparently you have to book by calling the Nightingale Labour Ward on 0203 299 3222 (or if that is busy 0203 299 9000 and ask to be put through) Let us know if that works, I have to do mine as well soon!

I don't know what it is with Reception staff but every medical facility I have been to (including Dulwich Medical Centre and Forest Hill Practice) they are the worse by far (ranging from a bit abrupt to really rude)... maybe just my luck, but at least the nurses, doctors and midwives always seem to be a lot nicer!

What do you people think of the Stokke Xplory? Apart from the fact it is very expensive, but I was wondering in terms of performance, how easy it is to handle, how well if manouvers & folds etc. Cheers!

I told my husband about the advice & comments here about the Kings post labour ward and he said: "But who is going to pick up the babies when they cry if you are all wearing earplugs and eye masks?" I thought it was quite funny...not the nurses by the sounds of it..

hanks so much to all of you for the overwhelming response and words of advice! It was really very helpful to know what to expect and I am pleased to say everything went really well! We had to wait a bit but it didn't seem all that long. My appointment was at 12.30 and we left at 4pm. They first took me into a little room where they weighed me and took some blood samples (which was the worst part, as my veins are really hard to find so they had to stick quite a few needles before it worked). Then a bit later we went into the scan room, and oh-my-god...I am not even showing so it is mesmerising and incredible to see what a fully formed creature is living in there...we could see all the organs, arms & legs moving, the whole shape of the face...amazing! We were very lucky...the staff were really nice. The guy who was looking after me was a lovely Southamerican guy who has just arrived to Kings 1 month ago, he explained absolutely everything in all detail and I am Spanish so he was pleased he could explain it all in his own language. At the acanning he was there but also another guy who looked more experienced..they were explaining everything quite well all along, but I took your advice and asked lots of questions, I even tried getting any hints on the sex but they were quite reluctant, I don't think they even looked as they said it's not visible and any observations at this stage could easily be wrong...Knowing they would not make a diagnosis too quickly I was patient throughout but at the end I did ask if everything looked good. They said everything looked good but they had to wait for the blood test results as this may affect the risk assessment. When the results were ready they called us into a room and explained...the blood test results were also good and they lowered the risks even more. So I am very very happy, and I have to say so far the experience has been great at Kings! Thanks again for all the advice and good luck to all other expectant mothers, I hope your results and experience is as good as mine so far.

Thanks so much Sanne Panne. I really appreciate all the advice, especially knowing that they won't immediately tell you "it's all fine", I would have started panicking for sure! I don't suppose at this stage they can tell the sex of the baby right?

Hello ladies, I am going to have my 12 week scan at Kings tomorrow (first pregnancy). I have read the leaflet, I know more or less what to expect, but naturally I am a little bit anxious hoping all the news are good etc. and was wondering if there are any words of advice from mums or mums-to-be who have had their scans already at Kings. A very unimportant question but I read here about buying the tokens for your scan prints before you go in...how many should I buy? I.e. do you get several "angles" of the baby or is it just one? Many thanks in advance.