jLo

Congratulations to all mums and new babies! How exciting and lovely, am so glad everyone is doing well. I'm REALLY enjoying not being at work anymore, though can't believe it's possible to be this HUGE and still get around. I'd love to join in this Thursday - what sort of time are people thinking? Julie xx

Hey everyone! Hope you are well, hope those with new babies are coping okay! I think today is a meetup day - am sorry that I can't make it (Day 2 of NCT class) but will look forward to catching up soon. One more week until mat leave starts, I cannot WAIT! Definitely need to not be wearing proper shoes every day anymore. Julie x

Oh HOORAY! Congratulations, Annabelle, that is the most wonderful news! So happy he's here safely, if a little early. Hope you're doing well. Congrats to Erika too! How exciting that the babies are arriving. I was very sorry to miss everyone on Saturday, hope to see you all soon! Julie x

Hey Rhiannon! Welcome! The world is getting smaller - the forum group and our antenatal class group always needed to overlap. There are SO many people due this summer, and meet ups going on all the time. I think those already on leave are meeting during the week - otherwise every other Saturday at the Plough. The next one will be next week (9 June) - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it but if other weeks are anything to go by there will be plenty of people there! Hope you're doing well, enjoy your maternity leave! Julie x

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well. I have my Life in the UK (aka 'Englishness') test at lunchtime tomorrow, so won't be able to come along to the Plough early. I'll pop in when I get back and see if anyone is still there! Hope you're all getting to enjoy the sunshine. Julie

Hey Amy, probably more like 2pm for me, if that helps! JLO

PS the weekday meet-ups do sound lovely, will look forward to joining them when I start my mat leave!

Hey folks! Hope you're all doing well. I've missed the last couple of Saturday meet ups, will be along this weekend though so look forward to catching up with some of you then (or next time, sydneyswan!). I've been doing well, I got to go on a wee holiday which was LOVELY - a good dose of sunshine to see me through until the summer actually arrives. Other than that, I'be been working WAY too much and finding it hard to overcome the tiredness. Oh, and I passed my gestational diabetes test, yay! I don't know what I would have done if chocolate was added to the list of forbidden treats. See (some of) you on Saturday! Julie x

Am sorry I won't be able to make it today, folks - hope you have fun! Hope everyone is doing well, look forward to catching up soon. JLO

Hello folks, hope all are well. It was so lovely to see SO MANY PEOPLE at the Plough yesterday! I can't believe how many of us there are due this summer. Given the size of our group, a proposal was mooted that we have a very regular meet-up - say, every other Saturday - so then people can just drop in whenever they fancy. If you can't make it one week, there'll be another very soon afterwards. That would mean the next meet-up date would be 14 April, followed by 28 April and so on from there. What do people think? The Plough seemed to work very well as a venue for a very large group (and hopefully as the weather gets warmer it'll be even better) but I'm totally easy on where we meet. If there are other suggestions, please make them! Otherwise, shall we say every other Saturday, 2pm at the Plough? Looking forward to getting to know everyone better. Julie xx

Hey everyone! It was lovely to see so many folks at the Plough yesterday in the sunshine. A proposal was made that perhaps we should do it again sooner rather than later - the theory being that if we meet quite often these days then all will get a chance to come along when they can. Once we get bigger and more immobile it might become more tricky, so let's take advantage of it now... SO: March 31st was the date proposed. I think the Plough worked really well yesterday - but of course, I would say that, it's my local. Very happy to meet somewhere else if folks prefer. Julie x

Hey folks - apologies for radio silence of late, I hope you are all doing well and welcome new mums-to-be. Very much looking forward to catching up tomorrow - I'm delighted that the Plough is the chosen venue, it's a short walk from home for me! I've hit and passed the half-way mark now (21 weeks, scan next Friday). Turns out I may be now starting to atone for the relatively easy time I had in the first few months - the pain is kicking in. Walking around too much/too fast is becoming problematic, I went and got checked out this week and the doctor said probably SPD. What fun! My new goal is to make it through this pregnancy without the need for crutches, wish me luck.... See some of you tomorrow. Julie

Lovely to meet you all too (and your husband, vch!). It was great to compare notes and hear very useful advice from sydneyswan who has been through this before. Sorry to those who couldn't join us today - look forward to meeting you all soon! I'm definitely keen to do it again - and I very much liked the suggestion of meeting at one of the local pubs instead of the very squashy cafe. Today was the second Saturday of February, should we aim for the second Saturday in March as well? That would be March 10. What do folks think? Julie

Looking forward to seeing some of you this afternoon! For recognition: I'm about 5'6", dark hair, red glasses, grey dress and blue scarf. I am very well-rounded to begin with so it's impossible to tell what is baby and what is just my regular belly. I cam across a recipe for blueberry pancakes this week that was pretty tasty and didn't have any sweeteners, you may enjoy this kristymac! http://www.dietgirl.org/dietgirl/2012/01/easy-blueberry-oat-pancakes.html I found out yesterday that due to my PCOS and a family history of type II diabetes, I'll be proceeding straight to the glucose tolerance test at 28 weeks, without the blood sugar screening first. Ah well - guess I'll just deal with it when the time comes! Julie

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that, kristymac1! I hope you're feeling okay. I will keep an eye out for recipes. This might seem a bit precipitous, but if anyone is around this weekend, do you fancy meeting for coffee? How about around 2pm at Cafe Nero on Lordship Lane? I know it's not particularly glamorous but it's easy to find and hopefully there would be space. What do you think? If this Saturday is too soon, perhaps we can arrange another date soon? Cheers Julie

Yay for the weekend indeed - I totally know what you mean, Ellie, I hope you're feeling better today. I have had two naps today, I can't believe how tired I get with this. I really can't complain too much though - I feel really lucky to have escaped morning sickness for the most part. I haven't had any strange cravings yet either - though maybe I'll try that squeezy cheese mentioned above! Are all or most of us having our babies at King's? I'd be keen to know what it's like from those who have done this before - everyone at the hospital has been great so far. I can't quite wrap my head around the idea of labour yet, though - it's a bit remote and a bit too big to comprehend just now. Congrats to those of you who have just arrived - it's so exciting that there are so many of us in this area. It would be great to meet you - should we arrange a coffee date somewhere sometime soon? Hang in there everyone - you're doing AWESOME. Julie

Hello! I'm delighted to have found you guys. I'm quite new to the forum, have been lurking for a while but keen to get more involved. This is my first pregnancy, I could have written exactly what vch did above about initial panic and terror and now starting to get excited. I'm due on July 18th (same as queetah!). We had our scan last week - it was pretty awesome, it's totally a baby in there! Really looking forward to getting to know some other pregnant mums in the area. Julie