Margarita

I'm 36 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child and I never got Braxton Hicks contractions with my first. Today I have just started getting quite painful pains, sort of like contractions but much milder, however they are uncomfortable enough that I just want to sit or lay. They seem to be quite irregular but are coming on very frequently, like every 4-5 min but not lasting very long.

I'm worried that this might be a start of something bigger...but am really hoping the baby won't arrive for another 1-2 weeks. I gave birth to my first almost right on time and the first sign of labour was that my water broke.

Do these sound like normal Braxton Hicks?

I'm a Scandinavian living in Australia and am expecting my 2nd child. I would like to use a Scandinavian name that sounds good in English too. My daughter's name is Freya and I like these 3 girls names for our second (although we don't know if it's a boy or a girl).

Petra

Elsa

Embla

Which name do you like best?

I live in Australia but am of Scandinavian origin and would love to use a name that's a bit Scandinavian as long as it doesn't sound ridiculous in English.

I like the name Embla for a girl (from Norse Mythology, meaning Elm and the name of the first woman on Earth).

This is of course a VERY uncommon English name and just wondering if it sounds too weird in Australia or the US. What do you think?

I'm just over 8 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child and I'm so tired all the time. Got no energy to do anything. If it was up to me I would just lay in bed or on the couch all day. My nausea has finally almost gone away but this no energy all day is driving me insane. I know that it's normal to be tired in the first weeks but I feel like this is more than that. Could I be lacking in vitamins or iron already? I'm taking Folic Acid and just trying (yes trying) to eat healthy.

How are you all feeling at the moment in your first trimester?

I'm 7 weeks pregnant with my second child and the morning sickness is just overwhelming. I had a bit of a morning sickness with my first one but nothing like this. I've got no energy to do anything at the moment. I'm hoping that this will pass by quickly but am worried it will last for some weeks.

I have been drinking ginger tea (fresh ginger cut into peaces with hot water) which helps a little bit but there is only so much I can drink of it.

Anyone know some secret (or not so secret) remedies out there for morning sickness, which by the way lasts all day.

Does anyone else think that "Could I be pregnant?" should have it's own category under pregnancy & parenting. I swear every second question under Pregnancy is "Could I be pregnant?". Please people take a pregnancy test!!!! How are online strangers going to tell if you are pregnant or not.

Sorry if I sound rude but I'm just sick of seeing the same question asked million times.

Does anyone else think that "Could I be pregnant?" should have it's own category under pregnancy & parenting. I swear every second question under Pregnancy is "Could I be pregnant?". Please people take a pregnancy test!!!! How are online strangers going to tell if you are pregnant or not.

Sorry if I sound rude but I'm just sick of seeing the same question asked million times.

I had an abnormal pap smear now 6 weeks ago and was booked in to have a colposcopy 4 weeks later but had to re-schedule it as my periods came early (on the day of the colposcopy). Now 2 weeks after that I'm booked in to go but I've got the flu. I've been sick for 3 days with fever and a sore throat. Went to the doctor who gave me some antibiotics. I don't have a high fever and I can keep it down with some paracetamol.

I'm still booked in for my colposcopy this afternoon and I know I should really re-schedule it (again) but I really really want this over and done with, esp before Christmas. I won't necessarily have a biopsy as my results were very low grade so do you think it's ok to have this done while you are a bit sick? Is it going to affect the results at all?

I had an abnormal pap smear about a month ago. Never had an abnormal one before so it was a bit of a shock but it's low grade and I only need to go back in for another pap smear in 6 months (5 months now). However I have just found out that I'm pregnant. We didn't plan it but are very excited about it. I am only about 4-5 weeks but now I'm worried about my pap smear. I don't really want to have one that late in pregnancy and if it's abnormal again definitely don't want to have the biopsy while pregnant.

Has anyone gone through an whole pregnancy with low grade abnormalities from a pap smear? ...and if you wait until after you have the baby to follow it up, when do they usually do the next pap smear? 6 weeks check up sounds early to me, can't imagine the cervix having gone back to normal at that time.

Just wondering what people are planning on giving their toddlers for Christmas this year. Esp if you've got a 2 year old. Thinking about giving my girl a tricycle but after other ideas as well.

My daughter turned 2 almost a month ago and we were going to wait until Christmas to buy her a nice tricycle (not plastic one but a bigger one), however I saw that couple of her friends got a proper bike with training wheels for their 2nd Birthday and they love riding them (or trying to ride them) however I thought this was way too early.

Now I am thinking if we should just go straight to a small bike instead of a tricycle at Christmas when sh will be 27 months. She was a fast walker and everything so she would probably learn quickly how to pedal but I still think that 2+ is a bit young for a bike, although the bike I'm talking about is a very small one.

When did your kids get their first little bike and did they have a tricycle first?

PS. My daugther has a push-car that she rides around the house but it doesn't have pedals.

Me and my husband are going to start for baby number 2 this month. We have a 2 year old and feel like we are ready :) ...however I realised that I am overdue for a pap smear so I have booked one in for tomorrow as I'd rather have it before I become pregnant. As I am only about a week off from my ovulation day, what happens if the pap smear comes back abnormal and I have fallen pregnant? My sister had an abnormal one earlier this year and they had to have a laser surgery where they cut out the abnormal cells. I really don't want that while I'm pregnant. Do they wait until after you've had the baby ( 9 months ) or might they do it while I'm pregnant. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with pap smears while pregnant or trying to conceive?

I know I'm not pregnant yet and I've never had an abnormal smear before but I'm just thinking about the possibilities of this happening.

Also, does anyone know how many days it take to get the results back from a Pap Smear in Australia?

I gave birth to my now 2 year old daughter in a public hospital. It was a natural birth (didn't have time for drugs) and I have to say it was quite traumatic. It was a fairly long labour with quite a bit of tear down there. I still remember it all quite clearly and got no interest in going through all that again if I can avoid it. I would love to have another baby soon though but would like to try an elective cesarean this time. I don't have a private health insurance and live in regional Victoria, Australia. Is it going to be hard to get the hospital to allow me to have elective cesarean in a public hospital and is this going to cost me money (not that this is a problem) or should I get a private health insurance now so that I will have had it for more than 12 months before the baby is born (as I'm not pregnant yet).

Has anyone had elective Cesarean at a public hospital in Australia and did the staff try to talk you out of it?

(please before anyone starts on this....YES I do know the risks and cons of a cesarean)

I purchased a new Samsung LCD Tv the other day and hooked it to my old LG DVD Player however it plays the dvd's in black and white. I've tried about everything to try to fix it. Now I'm not a real technical person but I'm pretty sure it's connected correctly.

I´ve got the component cables (Red, White and Yellow). They are definitely connected correctly at the back of the dvd player however the connectors at the back of the TV have different colours. It has red and white for sound which is fine (the sound is good) however there is no yellow plug but the picture comes on when I put it into the blue port (but in black & white). I've tried all the plugs and nothing works. I've also tried to adjust the settings on the TV and DVD player but they all seem correct.

Any ideas what might be causing it?

(Yes all the cables are tight and pins don't seem to be bent. They worked fine on my old analogue tv)

Thanks in advance!

Me and my husband are thinking of going to Europe this year (from Australia) and take our 2 year old girl with us. We have both travelled before (I am actually from Europe and I met my husband while backpacing). However we have never travelled with a 2 year old. We did take her to the UK when she was only 9 months and she was fantastic but this time we are planning on going to Italy and Croatia and staying in 3-4 different places (probably hostels). In the UK we stayed with relatives.

Are we crazy for doing this? Is it ok to take a 2 year old to hostels? We would of course book a private room but just wondering if anyone has backpacked with a child and how they went. We are planning on just bringing one backpack, small bag and a stroller with us. Does that sound reasonable? No "smart" comments please.

I just realised that I forgot to pay my car registration (VIC Roads Australia). It was only overdue by 2 days and I have paid it now online. I'm just wondering if I will get a fine or what will happen. The invoice states that the vehicle will be unregistered if payment has not been received by the due date. Does this mean I need to pay to have it re-registered. I'm really hoping that this won't turn out to become expensive as it was an honest mistake. I totally forgot about this bill during the Christmas holidays.

Does anyone know what happens if your registration isn't paid on time?

I live in Melbourne and am wondering where you are buying clothes for your baby/toddler. I would love to find shops/labels that sell beautiful and good quality clothes that are a bit different. I love to buy clothes for my little girl (14 months). I do like Pumpkin Patch, Sprout, Fredbare, Seed, GAP, Esprit...etc. I don't buy stuff from Kmart and BigW as I find the quality to be very bad. I occasionally shop at Target for essentials but I like buying things that not everyone in the playground is wearing and doesn't look cheap.

Which labels/shops do you recommend or shop at?

I just weaned my almost 12 month old baby girl. She was only getting one drink from the breast a day but now I've stopped alltogether. However it's been over a week and my breasts are still lumpy and very sensitive. They are not fully blown out or anything but it's very uncomfortable.

How long does it take for the breasts to feel normal again? I thought it was only meant to be a week or so.

My little girl is almost 1 (yes can't believe it). I have weaned her of the breast and I do want to try to get rid of the bottle soon.

I know that cow's milk should be ok now and she has had some but doesn't seem to be that keen on it. She might only drink about 50ml (at the most) from a cup. I'm a bit confused what type of milk I should be giving her. The supermarkets have Formula for Toddlers but is this neccessary? Shouldn't cow's milk be enough if the toddler is eating variety of foods?

Just want to know what you mum's are doing out there. Are you giving your 1+ year old cow's milk only, or a little bit of both (cow's milk and toddler formula)? Is your toddler still drinking from a bottle or are they mostly using a cup?

Me and my husband have been invited to lunch at my friends house on a Saturday. There will be 3 other couples there. I had been planning on bringing a bottle of wine with us to give to the hosts but I have now found out that the host is pregnant with her second child so I'm not sure if a bottle of wine is appropriate.

Any ideas of what to bring to lunch? Is it still ok to bring a bottle of wine? I´ve got no idea what the other couples are bringing.

(Although the host is pregnant I don't think it's appropriate to bring a gift for the baby at this stage).