CocoC

Hello I am due to have my first baby in December and really want to have him/her at home. I wondered if any of you had attended any homebirthing seminars/ talks in the local area - did you find them useful and would you recommend them? Any/all experience also welcome - good and not so good! x

Sorry AnyaJoeli, but do you mind if I jump on this thread to ask these lovely ladies (and you!) a question? I've not had my baby yet but am already stressing about childcare (and I'm planning a whole year off!),specificially I'm wondering how one goes about finding a childminder and how far in advance I should start looking? If anyone has any words of wisdom I'd love to hear them x

Hello Thanks so much to everyone for replying. I found out earlier this week that I've got caseload care with the Lanes midwives which I'm really excited about, and actually the more I research/ think about it the more I feel the original title of this thread may be redundant as if there are no complications, I would love to have the baby at home. Obviously this may not end up being an option for me, in which case it's Kings for me as I don't want to lose my place with the Lanes. Thanks all x

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply everyone, I'm really very grateful. Cam123 I'm definitely thinking about a homebirth as an option, just need to read up on it as I'm a bit concerned that it's my first baby and I think the stats show that nearly half of women who homebirth their first end up having to go to hospital anyway - I think the key is to leave your options open and go with the flow!

Thanks so much guys, this is all excellent. I guess I will decide as/when I know if I'm able to access the Lanes midwives caseload care. I'm not anticipating any complications/ difficulties but I'm very newly pregnant (still south of 12 weeks) and this is a pregnancy achieved after three rounds of IVF (incidentally, two of which were at Kings and failed, the last one at another private clinic which worked), so this is all a) utterly baffling to me and b) I feel terribly pressured to make the right choice now I have the luxury of making that choice, if you know what I mean!

Thanks so much guys, I'm really grateful. Kes, I might take you up on that!

Hello Saw one of the Lanes midwives out of the DMC this morning, was all set to ask for a referral to St Thomas' due to hearing a friend's horror stories about Kings and amazing birth experience at Tommy's, but I must admit that I loved the idea of the 'caseload care' system operated by the Lanes midwives, even started to contemplate having a homebirth and did a bit more research about Kings which really now doesn't seem that bad :) Just wondered if anyone had anything positive or constructive to share about either hospital? I'll find out if I can get on the caseload care programme in the next fortnight. This would mean I can have all my midwife appts in my home, would always see the same one and that one would also attend to me in the early stages of labour and/or stay if I went for a homebirth. Obviously usual caveats around availbility etc. Thanks for any thoughts in advance!

That does sound a bit high Sue. Like you, we live in a 3 bed house (terrace though, not semi) and our combined gas and elec for three months was ?400 and something. I thought that was pretty steep but I can now see that maybe we got a good deal!

I would love to change to the Neighbourhood Vets (currently at Lordship Lane) for my two cats as the reviews sound fab and they're more conveniently located - however (and I freely admit this is only based on one experience) when we tried to get an emergency appointment for an injured paw on Monday they could only see us in the afternoon - versus LL vet who are always happy to squeeze in emergencies and did so for us at 9am. As we both work we rely on this kind of flexibility as well as the ongoing care and support the Neighbourhood Vets sound like they're very skilled at.

I have a friend who thought it would take a matter of days to sell her flat in NW London because, and I quote "we always get things through our letter box from various estate agents telling us that they have buyers looking for flats just like ours." How I laughed. Needless to say it wasn't that simple and their flat's now been taken off the market.

Hello Will be heading down to the park on Sunday for the fair and noticed that there's a fancy dress pram race running through Dulwich village while it's shut to traffic, which should be funny to watch. Does anyone know what time it's on? Thanks

Gussy I had exactly the same experience a few weeks back with Sainsbury's - two failures to deliver, a promise to call me and never doing so, blah blah. In the end I got a full refund as I'd completely given up hope on my food ever arriving. I emailed the week after and got a voucher for ?15.. which I have to redeem against another Sainsbury's online shop! Not sure I can be bothered to try again!

Hello We moved here in April - was a choice between here and Fulham. I say a 'choice' - but in reality if we'd have ended up in Fulham we'd have lived in a sh*thole in a really ropey area. Now we live in a lovely house in a lovely area. In the 5 months I've been here, I've turned into a total East Dulwich zealot and hate leaving the area at the weekend! It's sad really!

Is it just an urban myth that drugs get sold out of ice cream vans?!

Craigy - I bought a cute little painting of a cupcake from there which was on a canvas inside a glass box - really unusual. I remember asking the lady in the gallery about the artist and she said it was a local guy who used to lecture at Goldsmiths. Am sure if you ask in there they can point you in the right direction. It looks really cool in my kitchen!

The headline's one thing but the comments underneath on the website are quite another... hilarious.

HELLO - I KNOW THIS POST SHOULDN'T BE IN THIS SECTION (ALSO IN WANTED SECTION) BUT AT LEAST FOR TODAY I WANTED AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO SEE IT. Hello all Our 3 yr-old female moggie, Bubble, has gone a-wandering. She might have come home by the time I get home from work, but I wanted to post today in case anyone lives in the area and has seen her, or has a garage/greenhouse/shed they could quickly check. She has been missing since Saturday evening. She did spend most of Friday and Saturday away from home, and came back in the end on Saturday for dinner, but it seems strange she's been gone since then. She's quite small, and predominantly white, with pale grey and fawn coloured markings on her face and body. She also has a grey and fawn striped tail. We live in the middle of Darrell Rd; the gardens here back on to the gardens in Crystal Palace Road so I think she's probably still around there somewhere. She is micro-chipped. If she's not back today I'll call vets and flyer the local area. Thanks in advance guys. If you have any news PM me or post here as will be checking regularly. Thanks, Laura

I for one am interested in any news on the Uplands refurb. Scott?

Or Brian. I'd definitely drink in a pub called Brian.

Hope it's not the builders working on my house!