naomi... i hated going back to work. i had no family or anyone i could leave Q with, and I had to go back at 6 months cause we needed the money, but then childcare was so expensive we weren't that much better off anyways! luckily, i had a great childminder who was a friend of a friend, and her children were in my classes at school anyways. she was very supportive. but sometimes i would get all the way down into london and Q would cry and i just couldn't leave him and i would call in sick at the last minute and go home. i was very stressed and bordered on having separation anxiety. but i went back full time under very stressful conditions (step kids, foreign country, no support, *****y workplace etc...). i quit in the end and became a childminder my self so i could stay home. its different for everyone, sounds like you have a good plan in place, and 3 days will definitely be managable!! this time i could do 2-3 days but we have 4 kids now and my DH is very supportive of me staying at home to look after the kids as long as we can (esp seeing as his ex neglected the kids).

[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]catherine L[/COLOR]... no blues really, was feeling down for a few days and cried a bit, but i think that was do to the parents stressing us out rather than postnatal stuff. am still so happy not to be PREGNANT!! and almost slept on my belly last night... but still a bit painful. and wore normal clothes today instead of my mens vests!! huragh!!

[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]vic...[/COLOR] the driving thing was never mentioned to me in the uk, i was up and driving a week later. just asked my mum and she said it is an old fashioned rule for people who have had major surgery in that area, bowel, bladder, uterus....etc... shouldn't drive incase they have to stop suddenly, but it has to be a really big sudden jerky movement to cause damage. given the crazy aussie drivers, i would be a bit more careful here, and i must admit, i did have to go through a nasty intersection and make a u turn and come back through it and turn left, instead of making a right hand turn across traffic (they are upgrading with traffic lights), i was driving like a grandma... LOL

i can see my scar if i lift up my flabby belly... LOL!! i have a little podgy bit that is very soft from all the stretching. all my belly skin this time round, is very soft and stretched. but i know it will be ok. i actually have two scars. i am at peace with that, i can wear low cut jeans and stuff and they won't be a problem, but after my first c-seciton i was really angry and felt the physical scar represented the trauma. i couldn't look at it for a while. now i see them as two tracks, one for each of my babies, just like a tattoo. but thats also largely to the birth experience. a c-section doesn't have to be traumatic. i had inside stitches this time... i think i would freak out if i had staples.

we had a small flat in london too, a friend of mine gave me a moses basket and i moved a clothes rack to put it near my bed!! LOL but Q refused to go in it, so he slept in our bed. then we moved into a house, and the heating broke in the middle of winter!!! so me and DH and xavier and Q were all in our bed to keep warm!! then we moved into a bigger house, but xavier hated sleeping up stairs and it was cold, so xavier and Q used to sleep in Q's cot!! LOL (with one side off). then Q would come into our bed. we sold Q's cot to move here, and we were all on mattresses on the floor for about 3 months. now we have had to transition xavier into his own bed across the hall, and Q into his cot. but we still all fit in bed, our bed is only a double and we wake up with ralie, Q and me and DH in the morning!! LOL. we run a fine line between coping so we all get some sleep and trying to get the kids in thier own beds.

going now...
Q just comes up to me and says 'move it nelle' so he can get passed. LOL 2 year olds crack me up.