Totally's postgrads - you know who you are.

[Meita]

Totally's original thread was for TTC after MC. It continued long after Totally herself graduated, and is still going strong. Totally's grads was set up as a thread for pregnancy post MC - i.e. anyone who graduated from Totally's thread and anyone else who had experienced MC and was now pregnant. It, too, is still going strong.

Now, more and more of us have graduated from Totally's grads - including LouiseSH, whose Georgie was born asleep. I suppose that makes us postgrads. We have travelled together for a long time and would like to stay in touch, but the pregnancy post MC thread is starting to get very big, and I think it should be allowed to keep its focus on pregnancy post MC. May it be as wonderful a place for support for current "members" as it was for us.

So this thread is a place for us to keep in touch, share experiences, and provide support.

(This is the first time ever I'm starting a thread - hope it works out...)

Louise - you are one of "us". Whenever you need to, whenever you can.

So here's the list of Totally's grads...

Totally with daughter Faith Juliet, 9lb5oz born Tuesday 16th February 2010
Amyboo with son Matthew James, 4.714kg (10lb3oz) born Tuesday 30th March 2010
Hoops with son Benjamin Scott, 7lb4oz born Friday 2nd April 2010
Memorylapse with daughter Olivia, born Friday 16th April 2010
Jacanne with daughter Lotta Eliza, 8lbs 5oz born 20th April 2010
Becky78 with son Thomas Christopher born 22nd May, 9lb 1oz
Meita with son Ianto born 23 August, 7lbs 4
Boodleboot with daughter Alice Elizabeth born 10 Sep - 8lbs 2oz
LeeWT with son Andrew Anthony born 28th Sept 7lbs 14oz
TFLS with son Charlie born on 30th September, 6lbs 8oz
Louise, daughter Georgie born asleep on 10th October - in our thoughts and prayers.
SamB with daughter Ruby Mae born 19th October, 7lbs 10oz
Effilump with son Arlen born 16th October, 8lbs
Sarahlou8 with daughter Emily Isabella born 21st October, 7lb8oz
Unbuffy with son James Anthony born 3rd December, 6lb8oz

Good morning Meita, I think it might just be you and me for a bit! Loads of babies are due on the thread this month though. I might message the other grads on the list about this thread to see if we can gather some momentum for it. I also thought that as our babies are all at different ages and stages it might be good to have a list that shows how old the are which we could update (maybe not daily) from time to time. I'm on my phone while feeding so I'll look at it tomorrow.

I seem to remember that you are somewhere in the south-east too, did you get snowed in too? I'm not looking forward to the school run tomorrow at all. I'm not certain how easy it will be to get m car in or out of my road.

Well, the feed is over and hopefully I should get a couple of hours sleep, I hope Ianto is doing well, SBx

Good morning SamB!
Glad I'm not the only one here... ;) I will message Boodle and LeeWT on Facebook to let them know about this thread. If they are anything like me, they were still reading the other thread, at least occasionally, but as time passes, felt less and less "belonging". Like, I always loved your nightly updates, but hesitated to respond too often to them; I didn't want to reply to the baby topics only, and I didn't have the time/energy to do full namechecks! So I think it's good that we have our own place, and some of the other oldies might well join us too. However I'm sure we're still welcome on the other thread, and quite a few of them are probably going to be popping in here every now and then too!

Meant to say, it's great that Ruby is feeding more efficiently now - it does make things so much easier! Ianto being my first, I am in awe of you managing with school runs and such - Ianto seems to take up all my time. Not that I mind! I LOVE cuddling him and could do so all day long :) It breaks my heart just imagining him not being here, I feel so very sad for Louise.

Yes, Ianto is well - he is filling out spectacularly and has moved up the centiles from just below the 9th to just above the 25th (he was 13lb7oz last week). All the trouble we had with feeding him, and the perseverance with bf, has paid out, I feel. I watch my NCT friends who are FF and it all seems to be so much more trouble, needs much more planning ahead and being organised - not my forte!

Yes, I'm just outside of London, to the west. We got snow from Wednesday night. Of course, I HAD to be in London on Thursday morning (appointment at the Swiss embassy, to get a passport for Ianto). Getting into town was actually pretty ok (only 30 minutes delay, which we had budgeted for) - but getting back home was a nightmare!

Oops Ianto is sitting on my lap and I think his nappy has just leaked... gotta go!

Hi!!!

Meita you summed it up totally when you said that although we check in on the other thread and think of those on it often, we havent the time to namecheck with small babies and also feel like we dont belong..

maybe this would be another place for louise to hang out too..

I'm sure boodle will toodle along her shortly and you can listen to her and I moan about weightwatchers!!

Andrew is 10 weeks tomorrow and is a pudge he is 13lbs already.. we are still having terrible trouble with his crying and feeding though. He is on losec for silent reflux and we have an appointment with a consultant paed tomorrow.

Meita I hear your pain it took andrew 10 weeks to produce "theee" nappy and oh my god it covered me, him, my husband, the changing mat and the bath had to be filled pronto to resolve the situation!

Hi Sam

xxx

Hi, feeling a bit ooo about all that thread stuff but would miss you guys if you weren't there so hoping you won't mind if I lurk a bit here and hopefully join you properly in the next, eeek, three weeks or so?

Can I ask some advice? I'm trying to work out all the things I need to get ready, and this being my first I'm just not sure. What are your little ones wearing in the day, and at night now? Our house is a little chilly though we will have the heating on more when baby comes.

Can you use a baby sleeping bag (2.5 tog) from newborn - or can you only use these when they are a little older? And if not - how many blankets (so far I have two baby cellular blankets). We have a huge wool duvet and a big fat quilted bedspread on our bed - I can't see how bobbins could be warm enough under just a couple of blankets!

Thanks

Oh, sorry, and one more - are any of you using reusable / washable nappies? Am soo confused, even going through the nappy threads is doing my head in! I have some 'eco' disposables for the first fortnight but would like to use washables after that. There seem to be so many types - it's a poominefield!

Hello babyladies!

Have decided to Lurk over there and Roost over here for a while until it all stops spinning around - honestly, disappear for 24hours with a newborn and it all goes weird on you!

Do we win prizes on the leaky baby competition? - on the way home from hospital on Saturday he pooed (having not done so before except on the inside of me) and we got him back to BLACK TAR through 3 layers of clothing and his big sister and granny introduced to a smelly, scarlet, screaming boy... not quite the homecoming we'd planned!

Gilda today James is wearing a slinky little m&s vest and babygro combo in Slightly Stained White, combined with a cheeky little hat with red stars on and a woolly jumper that's already been through x babies and was knitted by his great-great-grandma. He is also sporting a knitted blanket, accessorized with a muslin. Muslins are the best thing ever, we have hundreds - bib, burping cloth, comforter if neccesary, occasional mop and general all-in Good Thing. I think sleeping bags can be used from birth, but at least to start with we're going down the 'swaddled in blankets' route. When he starts breaking free we'll move to the Bag. We're not co-sleeping btw as the bed is not big enough and i am a restless sleeper, but due to 2-hourly night feeds and agonised stomach (oooh, tummy muscles buggered by labour combines well with ooooh cs 'wound') currently dh has been kicked out and I'm alooone in our bed with James in the moses alongside. Will adapt as time goes by. As for clothes I really would suggest going for the babygro/vest thang for a few weeks - they're much easier to change and wash and stay nice and warm. ANd hats are a MUST!

Chiao all xx

Just wanted to pop in and say 'hi' to everyone but haven't got time to post properly now as heading out on the school run shortly - the traffic's a nightmare in the snow and I need to do a quick feed before I leave. Will be back later with lists of baby items for Gilda!

ooooh good to see all you ladies here!

Hi Lee wow 13lb already! Despite any feeding problems, he seems to definitely be getting enough food... though the crying must be a pain. I hope the paediatrician can sort something out for you. Our Ianto compressed all trouble into the first 4 weeks or so - he's been an angel of a baby since, always happy, very little crying, uncomplicated feeding, now if he'd only sleep through nights, ... that would seem a bit unfair on all other parents out there!

Gi1da vests, i.e. bodysuits, that is, those things that cover the body, poppers around the bottom, some sleeveless, some with short sleeves, some long-sleeved... and on top of that babygrows. Cardigans and hats to go out.
When the health visitor came for the first time, she commented that she could see that we had been in NICU care. Whilst still in hospital, when Ianto was not well, the nurses piled blankets on top of him, probably about 8 at a time... so we did the same back home... but actually, if your baby is term and healthy, overheating is more of a problem than getting cold. Too cold = uses up energy for keeping warm, so everything else slows down. Too hot = fries the brain, organ meltdown, cot death risk increases ...(ok I am exaggerating a bit, but I know on which side I'd rather err) which is why you need to cool babies down when they have fevers.
Occasionally he gets trousers and sweaters over his bodysuits instead of babygrows. Makes him look all grown up ;)

Newborn babygrows often have scratch mitts built in = good, cause babies tend to scratch their beautiful smooth faces... and seperate mitts will fall off.

We put him in a swaddling blanket and as that didn't work well we added a cellular blanket to the swaddle, and covered up with, well, up to 6 further blankets initially (as advised by NICU nurses, as I said). At about six weeks we moved into sleeping bags. I think sleeping bags from birth are fine as long as your baby is big enough so that he/she can't slip through the holes and thus wriggle underneath the cover and be smothered. One leaflet explained how many TOGs a baby needs altogether given a room temperature of 18°. I think it was ten. Vest - 1 tog, pyjama - 2 tog, sleeping bag - 2.5 tog, blanket - 2.5 tog per layer (so, folded in half, that's 5 tog) and you're fine. But that's just from vague memory.

One thing we've found really good is baby sleeping gowns instead of babygrows/pyjamas, at night. They're like long nightdresses, and they're "one size" so you can use them from birth to about 6 months, which makes them very good value. They make nightly nappy changing lots easier, as there are no poppers, and no legs to get out of and into pyjama legs. Also, they fit well over bulky cloth night nappies.

And Gi1da yes we are using cloth nappies. We bought 4 different brands, one each, and tested them out. We tried Bumgenius, FuzzyBunz, Flip, and Itty D'Lish. We decided on the latter but by then the new Itty Tutto had come out, so we went for those instead. Main reason for the Itty for us was: They are very slim fitting and go well underneath normal clothes, aren't too bulky. And they look very cute. But they are also quite pricey and have a few other downsides too. But we're reasonably happy with them.
Once your baby sleeps through, or you decide not to change nappies during the night anymore, you will need something that lasts 10, 12 hours. We are using pre-folds for this - my favourites are Minky. They are only the absorbant bit, no waterproof layer, so they need an extra layer on top. We are using hand-knitted woollen soakers for this and are very pleased with how well this works. There is nothing as breathable... maybe that's why we never get nappy rashes. But night nappies tend to be very bulky, so the sleeping gowns as mentioned above come in very handily.

HTH - it's very confusing isn't it!

Hi unbuffy, welcome, and congratulations again!

Your labour sounds uncannily similar to mine. I hear you on the tummy pain! With me it might have been due to the short cord - it was about half as long as normal - that labour didn't progress. Same thing, he just couldn't get any pressure on the cervix. But so glad to hear all is well, and can't believe you're already home! Make sure you're well looked after, ok? You need time to heal...

Baby crying, I think he's hungry... waves

I just spent hours typing a list and a long name check and I lost it...oof. I'll try again later!

woop woop all the ladies!! well hello there...totally right meita the other thread is lovely to read but i dont want to intrude wiv babybear updates when lots of the ladies dont even know me and are still worrying about pregnancies etc....it seems a bit i dunno, wrong i guess....

just a short post now as on mobile and its a bugger to type but hey to u all and will post soon

xxxxx

p.s - big welcome to baby james!! i have a james and they are just scrummy delish unbuffy!! xx

Popping in to get flamed for my comment on the other thread that suggested we are lazy buggers who wouldn't manage to keep our own thread going!

Baby crying - back later!

Lovely to see the old names here.

Hello lovely grads, thought I'd check out the new pad. Very nice. I have brought cake and wine for thread warming purposes.

Gilda I have just taken delivery of some second hand Motherease nappies and have some Bambinex Teddies to pick up as well.

I went to [http://www.thenappylady.co.uk]] and filled in their questionnaire. Emailed back the same day with a big list of advice on what might suit. Bought some samples, and got the Motherease second hand as I've heard brilliant things about them. So we'll see how we get on.

The Motherease wraps are SO cute, I have one with giraffes and lions and things on, and one whales and fish. I want a baby to put them in!

SamB everything ok?

boodle whoop whoop indeed! how is everything in boodle-land?

TFLS great to see you! It's been a while. I know what you mean about us being too busy lazy to keep the thread going. My biggest worry too! However, with the amount of new babies due in the next few weeks, things are bound to pick up pretty soon!

Muser I have one Motherease nappy too, it works well but just seems huge! I know what you mean about cloth nappies being cute - only problem is that at this time of the year, there aren't many opportunities to show them off!

Gi1da I did similarly to Muser but at Green Jelly. Those nappy shop people can be very helpful! However when we ordered (after trialling, so we're talking about the big, expensive order now) we shopped around a bit and some other nappy online store promised us a discount. But then when we ordered with them, they never delivered. So we went back to our original Green Jelly lady and the service was again fab.
The questionnaires help you think through why you want to use cloth nappies (money saving? environmental reasons? avoiding eczema? ...) and what your priorities are (ease of use? quick drying? tumble-dry-able? price?). We decided that ease of use was first priority and that we wanted something that would fit nicely underneath normal clothes. Ergo we have a bamboo snap-in-one product, with the downside that the inserts take forever to dry (nearly 24h).
But I'll shut up about nappies now! ;)

G'Morning!
Meita Lovely to hear Ianto is doing so well, he does sound amazingly well behaved too! (Whispers to fate can I have one of those please?)

Lee at massive poo of doom! I imagine your faces were a mixture of relief, horror and amazement! Did Andrew look pleased with himself?

SamB good luck with your work meeting today. Must be flattering to be asked to discuss opportunities, but very strange I imagine when Ruby is so young and you are still settling in.

Buffs James sounds clad in the very latest in baby fashion... a touch of raffish boho with an eclectic edge . I have a 10 pack of muslins so far, am thinking I may put them in a quiet corner and hope they breed. They do sound like Just The Thing for All Emergencies.
PS - sympathies on the ouch factor. I hope you heal up real soon, must be tough with your DD to look after too.

Meita thanks for all the advice on clothing and bedding. It's so useful, I hadn't really thought about how the layers add up. I realise to my that while I may be a whizz with spreadsheets, I have absolutely NO IDEA what to do with a baby! I guess that's the downside of emancipation for you .

And Meita and Muser thanks for nappy advice - I'll have a go on the nappylady today and check out green jelly.

Waves at Boodle and TFLS.

Very relieved to say that have finally received post just now and my tens (ordered a while ago) has finally arrived. Hoorah!

On a totally different note had an absolute fright last night, was making supper chatting to DH and heard an odd sound behind me. THE KETTLE WAS ON FIRE!!! Have never seen anything like it - acrid thick smoke coming out of the switch, sparks and flames! I leapt over and pulled out the plug then tried to fling it out of the window, then realised that the window was taped shut to stop draughts so DH had to scrabble a bit. Gosh it really stank, we had to pull the batteries out of the fire alarms and open all the doors and windows to get the fumes out. (Brrrrrr). Thank heck we were standing right by it!

Wishing everyone a frost-free good day!

Just a v quick message as it's That Day which any post-cs mum will tell you about... you know, the one where you have to keep running to and from the loo with no warning... at least things should get back to normal after this.

Word for the day otherwise: SUPERENGORGEMENT. Ouch, too much in, not enough out yet... hopefully James will be hungry all day. Anyone remember Lola from Eurotrash? Tis moi atm!

Will catch up betterer later, promise x

ps at your kettle, Gilda! Blimey, and you're going to need hot water and towels and lots of cuppas soon, too!

at your kettle gi1da! narrow escape... do you have a small fire extinguisher/fire blanket? might be worth investing in one.

unbuffy ouch ouch ouch!
i was still at hospital when this happened and friendly american midwife sent DP off immediately to buy savoy cabbage. helps! also, filled some water into rubber glove, tight knot, stuck in freezer - and later down my bra. all night long. seriously - i slept with frozen rubber gloves in my bra !

general rule of thumb: bra on -> less milk, bra off -> more milk. ergo in your case, wear bra all the time.
meanwhile... go james go! your appetite is required!

Hi all, mind if I join you??

I've found the other thread a great deal of comfort and reassurance over the past few months but there are now so many that I feel a bit lost. I suppose also, that once you move on to a different chapter in your life, you tend to focus on that - although I will still pop in regularly to see how they're getting on.

Meita thank you for setting up this thread, it seems a shame to lose touch.

Oh - my times up already, Emily is waking up. I'll pop back later when I've got time to sit and read!

Hope everyone's well xx

Hello ladies and babies... Just marking my spot in the hope of joining you soon. Useful bf tips already here (failed miserably last time and I'm trying everything to get it to work this time. Making up bottles in the middle of the night in midwinter isn't a great prospect, so I'll take a fair bit of pain if needed!)

lovely to see you all... And quick word of encouragement for Gilda, babies are very similar to excel, loads of different ways to get to end result you need, try a few and stick with what suits you best ... and even after years of practice, you'll suddenly get a great tip from someone that makes a tricky process way way easier and wonder how it took you so long to find such a fab, time saving shortcut!!
Oh, and occasionally they crash for no apparent reason and nothing works to make them better , but it's not so often .

Sam I'm missing your middle of the night posts... Hopefully that means Ruby is sleeping for longer stretches and you have fewer night feeds? How's getting out round your way? Our snow almost all gone, but looked like tons near you when I went through on the train on Tuesday...

Hope I can join you all properly soon, homebirth kit arriving Monday, I still haven't packed hospital bag so might just go with small emergencies only one now... Struggling with the thought that it could be tomorrow or in more than month and remembering how interminable the wait felt last time....

Sorry, waffling a bit, will waddle off now leaving chocolate biscuits for all...

*hi ladies, (alba will call yu later )

Just wanted to say to buffy and anyone else with engorgement, it is ok to express a little, prob by hand will be easier, to relieve the pressure of the Pamela Anderson thing you got going on but try not to express too much as this will stimulate your body to produce more. Works on the supply and demand so if you are feeding then expressing, body thinks you need more.

Express a little to soften nipple, maybe bath or shower good place when folw seems to be bit faster generally.

Dark green cabbage leaves in bra too, I know its a wives tale but it does ease the pressure, dark gree, something about the enzymes.

Have good day all.

Hi ladies, hope everyone is beginning to thaw out, thermometer said -11 in the car on the school run yesterday, today it is a far more respectable -1!!
Because my car's kept in the garage overnight I now have bets with my older two over what it will go down to on the way!

Buffy I hope the engorgement is settling down now, it should only last a short time. I found the first few nights impossible to sleep because of the pain and I did end up having to hand express a small amount - it should help James latch on easier too.

Meita still chuckling at the rubber gloves - but if it works its great!

Hi alba, several of us seem to be breastfeeding successfully here, and this is my third baby so if you need any advice just ask. I had a lot of problems with the first two, but this one seems much more plain sailing and is going well. The advice for FF has changed so much since my DS was born (he's 10) about water being 70 degrees etc, I would be in a right pickle.

Sam how are you doing? You've gone a bit quiet. Is Ruby sleeping a bit longer now? I can't believe they're both 7 weeks old now - where did that time go?

Emily was weighed yesterday, she's now 10lb 7oz which is bang on her line so I'm really pleased.

Hope everyone else is well...and keeping warm.