Ok so this is my first blogIm 7 weeks pregnant with baby number 3! Am i mad?! My last pregnancy was 5 years ago and so much seems to have changed since i had my youngest son! Im so scared but in the same way im excited! I seem to be more aware this time round. I just got on with it before but with this one i just cant rest, so worried something is going to happen. I just seem to have it in my head somethings going to go wrong! Ive done 8 tests to put my mind at rest! Silly i know but thats how worried i am!I had my first visit from the midwife sunday just gone. Because i have an under active thyroid i have to be shared care between midwife and consultant. This all new to me as with my sons i had none of this.Apparently if my thyroid doesnt function properly baby could have problems with their brain development...Im so worried and scared! Ive just had an appointment through for my first scan, it's not till im 12 and a half weeks! I am not happy with this as with my two sons i had a 'peanut scan' at around 9 weeks, then a 12 week scan. Scans on one of my days i work, just hoe my employer doesnt kick off at this! Apparently i get get paid leave for appointments, this is also new to me as with my 2 sons i wasnt working. Funny thing is i still dont believe it but i guess the 8 tests confirmed it! Haha! This time round ive been real sicky, boobs have already grown, ive piled on weight and im extremely tired! Sleeping when i can...my fiance has been fantastic, letting me rest.Its wierd how some days i dont feel anything but normal others im totally wacked out and end up sleeping for hours.Claire xxx View less

I guess i'm what you call an older mum to be, I'm 36 years old, happily married. I have a beautiful teenage daughter who will be 14 soon, and I have inherited 2 adorable toddlers as step-children.I have recently suffered a miscarriage at 9-10 weeks and have now found that we have been blessed to try this pregnancy thing again ... I am now 10+ weeks with this pregnancy and am feeling extremely optimistic. I have passed the time period of which i had lost the last baby and altogether, this pregnancy feels a lot different to the last one. That is not to say that i am not worried, of course i am. But each pregnancy is different and i have every intention of enjoying it, otherwise i think that i would drive myself nuts.Because of my recent history, my partner and i just want to carry a healthy baby full term, and I'm not supposed to have any preferences as to whether or not we have a girl or a boy ...  but secretly i would love a little boy this time i think. ~ whistles innocently ~The baby business is rife in my part of town at the moment and i will be 13 weeks+ by the time that i have my first anti natal appointment with my midwife, but thats ok because things will then seem to progress rather quickly for me there after (we hope).Exhaustion has been a huge problem for me these past weeks, all i want to do is sleep at every opertunity. Its not always possible, i work full time, have a teenage daughter, a house to run and i'm a newly wed married to a sex addict !! Due to go on hols this week though so i shall be going into relax mode, effective immediatly View less

This week's featured gurgle member is... HelenG01Tell us about your three children...Well I have Curtis, who is my VERY intelligent 6-year-old son, Jayden who is my He-Devil 4-year-old and is at the moment under consultants at Sheffield Childrens Hospital and is being tested for something called Floating-Harbour Syndrome. Don't know much about it yet but fingers crossed he will be OK, and then there's my little surprise, Laney... my 19-week-old daughter.How was the pregnancy with Laney?Lol, very rocky. On 2nd January 2009 I was admitted into hospital with a kidney infection. Three weeks later I was discharged and pregnant. I had to stay home on bed rest for three weeks after that and was tearing my hair out =S. I had lots of problems during the pregnancy and was admitted to hospital a few times but all was OK thank goodness... and I had gurgle to get me through everything. And the birth?I was induced at 38 weeks due to extreme anaemia. They broke my waters at 6pm, by 6:05pm I was getting very strong contractions every couple of minutes and by 11:20pm she was born. She had the cord wrapped around her neck a few times but she was great and gave the loudest cry you could ever imagine lol. They had a little trouble delivering my placenta afterwards but all was fine =DYou mention being stuck at home after giving birth. What happened?Because I have Fowlers Syndrome I was told I had to stay at home for 10 days (I managed a week lol) because I was mor susceptible to infection.What advice would you give to anyone else about to have or thinking about having a third child?Being a mummy is the best thing in the world whether it's to one child or three or 10 =D The only thing that has changed is that I now have to be super organised in a morning. God help me when I go back to work.Does it get easier the more you have?Erm... yes and no. As my oldest is six nearly seven, he's great and he helps out a lot, but like I said, organisation is key. It's like an army mission just to get out of the house... and I need a bigger car (hint hint Glyn!!!!!)What were the major differences between the first, second and third?Well if I'm totally honest, not much...apart from that with Laney I had terrible morning sickness and now I'm struggling to lose the baby weight (I put on 4 stone). I went to my GP to ask for advice and he said to me... it's always the third child that people struggle to lose weight from... so I guess I'll just keep trying. What’s the best and worst things about being a mum?Everything about being a mum is great...the best thing in the world....the worst thing is seeing any of my children being ill and knowing that even my best won't make them better straight away. =(How did you first find gurgle?I searched a pregnancy question on google and it came up with gurgle.How would you sum up gurgle in three words?Best thing ever!If you had to nominate another gurgle member who has really helped you, who would you pick?Wow! well I cant just mention one... there are 4: snuffeh1337 (Juli), katethegr8 (Katie), rozzibee (Roz) and vicci0151 (Victoria), all of whom were so friendly and supportive. I couldn't have done without any if them, so much so that they will be at Laney's christening on 24th January 2010 =D Thanks Girls xxxI would also like to say a huge thank you to all gurgle members, staff and experts for helping me through my pregnancy... I couldn't have done it without you! =DIf you'd like to be interviewed for this series, email community@gurgle.com. You can read previous gurgle user interviews here.If you'd like to join the gurgle family you can register an account here. It's quick, easy and free! View less

Monday 8th Feb 2010So the E.A.S.Y routine starts here. Time for a change, and to get my life back!I have a goal of Septmeber 24th to get back into shape as we are going on a family holiday (my xmas pressie from my wonderful fiance)So if I am to stand any chance of doing this I need to start having a chance to do some exercise, which will never happenunless I can get 'The Munch' into some type of routine then it's never going to happen!I also think it might make things a whole lot easier when it comes to going back to work in June and I will have to get myself and 'The Munch' up and ready in the mornings to drop off at my mum's place, which if i tried now would never happen as she goes to bed so late (about 11.30pm) she doesn't get up properly until about 11am!So I am going to start small and work my way up, a small goal for each day so eventually it will all work out (hopefully!).Today's goal is to do all the reading and to start writing down everything that 'The Munch' does during the day so I can see where she's at now.So along with this I am also going to attempt to keep track of my progress on here so anyone else who wants to try this in the future can look at a real life account of it day by day. Wish me luck! :) View less