September 2011 - some popped, some still on the bus - bring your pom poms and wolf cries

[Conkertree]

sorry - not the best at thread naming, but thought we needed one as 100years said.

Hope you found out what was wrong 100years, and are getting treatment.

Had ongoing aches and pains all day but nothing in a contractiony way. Parents coming tonight instead of Saturday though which is good as can then relax about something getting going properly in the middle of the night, as they live about 4 hours away. And have a sweep on Monday, so if they plan to stay till Tuesday, I will at least know on Monday whether anything is dilating etc.

[Conkertree]

Oh and congratulations Mrs Sawyer. Another lovely name.

[tiddleypompom]

Found you! (twas the pom poms wot done it)

Have been sitting at desk eating fruit pastilles ponderously considering thread titles, but it was all a bit too much for me. I mean, I can lurk, I can join in thread but start one? Even if not in AIBU?

What would we do without you 100years? Even off the bus and poorly you are Our Leader :o Do hope you find out the cause of your unwell-ness very soon and can do something to put it right...

Just back from lunch with NCT ladies - just the one teeny tiny baby and the rest of us grumpy hefalumpies eye-ing each others bumps in the vain hope of spotting who will leapfrog us in the race for the next baby...

Let it be me, let it be meeee....

p.s. conker same here - achy and a right pain, but nothing to write home about. Hope things get a bit more exciting for you soon.

[Conkertree]

Yay tiddleypom - was thinking I might be on the bus by myself for a bit. Getting thinner on the ground now, although going by the stats thread, there should still be a fair few to pop yet.

What have you got planned for the weekend to distract you?

[tiddleypompom]

Oh well, guess we'd better settle in and convince ourselves that we're 'enjoying the time to ourselves' and 'resting up whilst we can' - to be honest the lines are starting to wear thin even in my own head!

Out for dinner with DH on Friday, which will be lovely and I have decided to allow myself a glass of red wine - probably. On Saturday we are meeting friends early afternoon for a chinwag and Sunday it is down to the allotment to gather end of harvest beans and check on winter veg. Not much fun there at the moment since bending got more challenging, plus we have been getting bitten by midges/mozzies. Itching at 3am is just what I don't need at the moment! Still, nice to get out of the house.

How about you? Owt planned?

[WaspsAnkles]

Hi all,
First congratulations to all who are able to enjoy their lo's already.

Havent posted in a while as the waiting has been getting to me in a bad way.am now 9 days overdue and have been told today they will induce tomorrow at 1 as fluid levels have started to decrease. Even though waiting is though,i can't help but think I'm failing at the last hurdle by having to have an induction.dh keeps telling me that I need to focus on the end result but couldn't stop me from weeping most of the day.especially upset as had lots of labour vibes last week with irregular contractions etc but never came to anything and in the last few days has disappeared entirely.

Won't be sorry to see the back of all the annoying "have you had the baby yet' messages though.

Apologies for the big moan. Hope everybody roses spirits are high and you're all enjoying the last days of pregnancy or the first days of new babies.

[tiddleypompom]

Hey wasps - welcome back and moan away, it's a forum for support after all. I won't say I know how you feel as I am a week away from EDD but I can imagine that another 16 days from now would be hard going, especially if you've been having some false starts and the induction date is looming. Be gentle on yourself though - you've done amazingly well, and are nearly there. If labour doesn't start naturally before tomorrow (you never know) then I bet you don't need much to start thing off before they do. It isn't like you had to induce weeks early with a cervix that was totally not ready. Try to keep spirits up and maybe just give in to things being a bit different to how you'd planned - absolutely not a failure in any sense at all.

Good luck and enjoy meeting your precious baby :)

[Jojo1983]

Congratulations Mrs Sawyer! Wasps sending u positive labour vibes and waking my pom poms for you.

Tiddley I'm still here still holding on!

Managed to trap a nerve in my neck so been in alot of pain the last couple of days, been resting lots but managed to cook a lovely sausage and mash tonight for me and OH which is good for me as I cant cook (still live at home atm)
Getting a bit fed up with people keep ringing and texting asking for news I still got a week togo!

[Jojo1983]

Oh 100 hope your feeling better and have found out what is wrong and it is being dealt with x

[100years]

Got some anti-biotics. I've either got a virus, which obviously the abs won't work for, or I have possibly endometriosis, which is what the abs are for. Feel absolutely shocking.

She also checked my episiotomy cut and declared it to be gaping about 1.5 cm and she's not sure it'll heal :( oh deep joy. No wonder it feels like it opens when I move.

Just feeding LO then it's off to bed. Fingers crossed I feel better thru the night. My OH will be on baby passing duty in the night.

I swear I'll do a catch up when I feel better. Miss chatting a bit and knowing what's all going on, but it's worth it. Each time I look at LO my heart melts, even when I can't stop shivering.

[Louplet]

Congratulations Mrs Sawyer!

100years - hope you feel better soon and that the cut does heal up ok.

Wasps - I am also 9 days overdue today so I can totally empathise. I was on for a water birth in the lovely new birth centre but am now booked in for an induction on Monday if nothing happens by then. Missed out on water birth with DS1 and DS2 as well (as labour so quick) so am a bit gutted. I really don't want to end up on drip etc unable to move around but have reconciled myself to the fact that all that really matters is that LO comes out safe and sound. Tbh memories of the birth fade pretty quickly and we women put enough pressure on ourselves. Delivering a baby is always an achievement however it comes about. There are no failures. Don't beat yourself up.

Had a clear show around 4am this morning following sweep and curry last night and more reflexology and walking today but aside from a few minor cramps nothing else seems to be happening.

Still at least I know there is an end date in sight now and LO should be here Monday if not before. I will be having words with him/her about this delay

Raspberry leaf tea anyone?

[ssmile]

Still cheering you on with my pompoms hoping for more babes soon.

Can't believe my lo was 3wks old today and such a dream.

Hope u all get some sleep x

[100years]

Thanks for starting the thread conked

Not sure about the doc diagnosis. But then she didn't seem convinced either. I'm leaning now more towards mastitis but will see how it is in the morn. So far LO has let me have 2 x 90 min sleeps

[100years]

Dammit. I meant conker not conked! Bleeding iPhone autocorrect!

[Conkertree]

Ha ha that made me laugh 100years. Ironically havent been conked out for ages, as I cant sleep for sore hips.

2 x 90 mins doesnt sound like a lot but I guess its very early days.

Louplet - hope the show means you are gearing up to go yourself over the weekend, so you can get to the birth centre - but yes, its good to just know e end date if not.

Jojo - hope your neck is feeling better. It is incredibly annoying when people seem to be a bit impatient that you havent produced a baby yet, especially when you havnt even reached your due date. I have avoided a toddler group this week for that very reason - feel like I am inconveniencing people!

Parents down now so looking after the kids, but cant lie in cause hips are sore so better just get up and go and join the madness.

[CosmicCloud]

Conker I'm loving the two and a half year old stage too. Yes it's challenging sometimes but DS is so hilarious and such a little character. I occasionally lurk back on the April thread but don't really post. Hope your parents arrival means you can get a nice rest even if you're not sleeping well at the moment. I'm sleeping not too badly but still at loo several times a night and pelvis very achy.

100years. Little Edith is just gorgeous! Sorry you're feeling under the weather at the moment but apart from that sounds like you're loving motherhood. Has MW said what they will do with your episiotomy? Sounds very painful!

Jimmijam thank you for sharing your birth story and huge congratulations on the birth of your son. Glad you had a really positive experience with the MW's.

Minkyjj huge congratulations on the safe arrival of little Samuel Ethan. Lovely name.

Alice hope you had a lovely break.

Yay more lovely babies. Congratulations Misty and Mrs Sawyer and welcome to the world James Frederick and Oliver. More lovely names. Wow to just using TENS Misty. As soon as I got the G&A with DS the TENS was chucked to the side of the room so haven't bothered hiring one this time. Just hope it didn't have more of an effect than I was aware of!

Tiddley sounds like you have lovely weekend planned. Hope you get nice weather for Sunday.

Wasps sorry you're feeling down at the moment but agree with what what Tiddley has said. Definitely not a failure in any way and feel free to vent here about your frustrations.

Jojo boo for trapped nerve. Hope it's feeling a bit better today.

Louplet sending you labour vibes and really hope you get your water birth, but if not like you say as long as the baby arrives safely that's all that really matters.

Well I'll have a cuppa from anyone offering . After thinking this baby would be a little early that's now looking very unlikely! I just feel like nothing is imminent. Due on Sunday and have sweep booked for tues if nothing happened by then. Was lovely weather here yesterday for a change so got windows washed and tidied up garden for autumn. Walked for ages the day before too and was hoping that keeping active may get things going but nothing yet. DS at nursery this morning so going to relax this am to see if that helps. Had MW yesterday and baby now 3/5 engaged so heading in the right direction, just a question of being patient I guess.

[CBear6]

I'd posted on the other thread, didn't realise it was just about full (note to self: read other posts properly!)

Amelia Joan arrived on Wednesday via rush caesarean, part elective part emergency and a bit overwhelming because it was so fast. She was 7lb 10oz which is nowhere near the 5kg they predicted on Monday or the 8lb 11oz weight by scan just before the section.

Hoping to go home this afternoon so I'll post the full story then. Congratulations to all of the new arrivals, looking forward to reading catch-up on what I've missed :)

[tiddleypompom]

Congratulations cbear! What wonderful news, and welcome to baby Amelia Joan (gorgeous name). Fingers crossed you are able to go home this afternoon, and enjoy showing your brand new daughter her home!

We were discussing the inaccuracy of weight predictions yesterday - I have always been dubious about the fundal height measurements, which appear to differ depending on the midwife's technique, but the scans also seem to be way off the mark. Best to ignore perhaps, though it is hard when they suggest you are 'too big' or 'too small' for your dates. Ho hum - 7lb10oz is a lovely weight, well done you.

So another girl after a run of boys - we are doing very well to produce such a good mix :)

So, who's next??

[100years]

Conker, I felt amazing after 90 mins sleep! Honestly, it's just short bursts and that's great, at least I am getting some sleep!

Congratulations CBear :)

I have a touch of baby brain, or else not listening properly. Turns out the doc said endometritis (infection/inflamation of endometrium) as opposed to endometriosis - which makes loads more sense now! Feeling a bit better today, or rather feel a million times better than yesterday, just not fully right yet.

[tiddleypompom]

aaahhhh, I also read the diagnosis wrong then 100years - not that you want anything at all, but this is surely a better possibility and more easily cleared up. I'm glad. You are being very brave and your refusal to moan at all is making me feel quite humbled.

I on the other hand, have a headache, pelvis ache, crap night sleep again and no more ice-creams left in the freezer. Grumpa doodledoo.

p.s. saw some holly with cheerful red berries whilst on my 'baby positioning' walk earlier and had a festive 'C' word thought. Oh my, won't we all be proud this year with our beautiful bundles and their completely unnecessary gifts :o

[100years]

Tp I sent u the txt with wrong word so it was my mistake. But yes I think that's much better. Oh don't get me wrong. I've moaned like mad at OH, and cried. Sorry you are feeling ick and have run out of ice-cream :(

[100years]

Birth story:

So the plan was to try gas and air and tens machine through labour and to try and remain as mobile as possible. Natural third stage and breast feeding within the first hour. Here is what actually happened!

Thursday saw me wake up with regular tightenings I was still in bed but thought if I was doing something I would need to stop doing it. And occasionally it took my breath away. But the tightenings weren't painful. Nonetheless I was aware of them and let family know what was going on. All day long I kept getting these tightenings/ pains but wasn't convinced that this wouldn't stop. I timed them for a while and they were at a regular 15 mins in the day, getting slightly more frequent in the evening. Bath and an attempt at an early night. I still wasn't hugely convinced things were happening as I hadn't been in real pain through the day.

2:18 I woke from sleep and bam, wtf oh now 'that's' a contraction. OH (P for purposes of this) woke almost immediately and after 10 mins and a wee I had had 3 contractions. I ran a bath and had 10 mins in it before getting out and getting the tens put on. Timed the contractions and although they weren't all at 3 mins the ave was 3 mins between them. Rang the hospital, coping fine with the pain using tens so was told I could go in or wait. Decided I'd have some food and go in after that. Rang my sister (B for the purposes of this) as she was going to be birth partner too and had some toast. After 1/2 hr or so rang the hospital again and said I was going in. Middle of the night so we were there in no time. Examined and monitored and was 3cm. Was told I could stay but go to ante natal ward but best was to go home as I was coping well with the tens.

B had arrived by this point so we all headed to ours. P went to try to sleep for a bit as we knew things were progressing and we all felt it was better that he rested as much as possible. B and I tried watching a DVD and this kind of failed. The pains were getting stronger and more regular and ended up with a few swear words while they were happening. Had another bath and things got more painful and more and more regular to the point where B was predicting when the next one would come! Out of the bath and woke P up. Got dressed with some help and rang the hospital again to say we were going in.

By this time it was about 8:30 and so the worst possible traffic time in the world. But we made it there in about 20-25 mins or maybe longer I'm not sure. All the while the pains kept up and the tens was being turned up more. Arrived at the hosp and went to triage and was told to wait in the waiting room for '2minutes' this turned into at least quarter of an hour and I was at the door doing the whole try try breathe through the contraction thing.

We were then taken through for me to be examined and was by this point 4-5 cm with bulging waters so then waited for a midwife to take me through to the delivery room. The walk through was not pleasant and I walked as fast as I could between the contractions and hung onto the desk halfway there when I got a contraction.

Into the room and on the monitor and I was then given gas and air. Sucked away on it feeling high as a kite at the end of each contraction but not feeling the benefit of it during, other than a way to control my breathing. The tens machine was by now on continuous boost and on full whack. And I was thinking how much the pain would get worse so I said 'I think I'd like to try something else now' they asked what i wanted and B said about pethidine but that I was strongly opposed to an epidural because of my history of headaches and migraines. Anyway they said I couldn't have anything at that point as Edith was sleepy and they needed to check she was ok, give it 20 mins and if no probs then I could have some. During this time they asked me to move position, up till now I'd been on my back as it was the most comfy position, weird as I had no inclination to get on a birthing ball or stand as I thought I would have done. So I lay on my side and that still wasn't waking Edith up enough for the pethidine. The question as to what I wanted was asked and I do remember saying I would have anything! Really though I'm so glad I'd so strongly gone against an epidural in my birth plan and when telling P and B about things I would and wouldn't want, that B said again about pethidine and no epidural. Edith still wasn't waking so I was given a bag of fluids, check again in 20-30 mins see how we are doing. She did wake during the fluids but they wanted me to wait longer to check her. I wasn't demanding the pain relief it would have just been nice to have some extra.

It was during the '20' mins that my contractions changed from just pain to real pressure and a pushing feeling. I thought there was no way I'd be at that stage. We hadn't been there long enough. But 3 contractions later my waters broke mid contraction! It was 11:55 I was then examined after my sister explaining to the midwives that I actually could be that far as she had had a very speedy labour jumping from 4 to 10 much faster than predicted. The midwives were not convinced I was feeling pressure up till that point. Anyway checked and I was 9cm with the mw possibly able to push the rest away to 10. The other mw checked and in that contraction I went to 10cm. 12:20 and 2nd stage officially begins!

At this point I moved onto my hands and knees to try help Edith out but this was not working and after a while they decided I was better in my back so I turned over again and was aware that things were being mentioned about her heart rate dropping in the contraction but was ok between and was put into the stirrups(lithotomy position?) I was pushing and they started to see hair but I wasn't getting her out alone without it causing a drop in heart rate. The doc then said about ventouse and started to get stuff ready saying she would do an episiotomy first and go from there. All this seemed to take forever and I was a bit confused about the time due to the heart rate concerns and wasn't sure how bad it was.

Between a set of contractions the doc injected local anaesthetic and did the cut. The next contraction, push and I felt her head 'pop' out, then another bit of her then the rest of her. All during one contraction. Wow. Born at 13:36 She was put onto me all slimy, the mw said that bit was good for my skin and to rub it in. I just lay and looked at my baby daughter. P cut the cord and she was given to a paediatrician who was by this point in the room. I asked if she was ok, and was told yes. She came back to me and we had a few photos and I managed to get her to feed at 14:00.

During the labour I didn't converse and was kind of focussed on just getting through it all. I got quite spaced out on the g&a at times which was lovely but only came when the contraction ended!  And my sister said there was much less time resting between contractions than the pain I was having so I was pretty much constantly in pain till right before the last few pushes. I wasn't begging for the extra pain relief and pretty much gave up the gas towards the end when I was pushing proper. I remember P or B saying to see about switching the tens machine off as they didn't think it was having an effect, this I managed to say no to. 

My official first stage labour lasted 3hrs and 1 minute and the second stage was 1hr 16 minutes. Like I said officially 4 hrs but the 'reality' was a little longer. But they don't class it as labour till 4cm. So it was fast and very intense once it got going.

So as per the plan tens and gas and air, but definitely not mobile through it! But that's fine. Would I change what I did. No, I was more comfortable than I was when I was on my feet and it worked for me. I'm really glad I didn't have any extra pain relief, for a start it was that quick it may have affected her straight after birth, secondly I can say i did it with gas and air and tens! and I'm so glad I had expressed my wishes so strongly re epidural before the birth, I think when it actually came down to it, if they had actually talked about doing one I would have said no, the 'I'll take anything comment' was a kind of flip this hurts get rid if it, but actually going through with an epi would have meant consent and I am sure I would have then reasoned with myself as I was having doubts in my mind (why did i say 'that') about having said what I did but couldn't express this and am grateful to B for being so clear for me. I didn't get the natural third stage due to the episiotomy, but I knew that was always a possibility. And I managed to feed within the first hour :) 

Both P and B were amazing throughout. I can't begin to say how amazing they were. I needed them and they were just there. B wants to be a midwife. I bloody well hope she gets on a course soon, she would be fecking awesome. I was at the birth of both of B's girls and she always says how much I helped her, it's hard to comprehend how much someone means that you helped them, until you've been in that situation, I only hope I helped her half as much as she helped me. P, well he's just wonderful and will be a great dad to our daughter.

I don't remember the rest of the afternoon as easily. My blood sugar took a dive twice once in delivery room an then again on the ward, and at one point on the ward I thought I was going to pass out. But my sis and P both had holds of her and looked after her. We fed again before being taken to the ward.

Due to the fact she was so little and below the 10% weight line on my personalised growth chart she had to have blood sugar check every 3 hrs for her first 24 hrs, but they were all good and she was ok with the stick every few hrs. We had 2 nights in hosp as we needed to see a wet nappy which may have happened before but had been missed due to 2 massive poos! But we came home early on Sunday morning :)

[tiddleypompom]

Thanks for sharing that 100years, it sounds like you were really well supported and were allowed to do whatever you needed to do to birth your baby girl. I'm not in the least bit surprised that you were considering further pain relief given the speed of your labour, but pleased for you that you ended up as per your plan. Really good too, that you have succeeded so quickly as BF - well done you (and Edith)!

It is all becoming very real to me now - I am a mixture of excitement, nerves and anxiety! This thread has certainly brought home how individual each birth story is, and that you can't count on your plans going exactly as you had hoped - but that adaption to circumstance and above all, the love and support of your birth partner, is what is needed for as positive an experience as is possible considering everything.

I really can't wait to join you all on the post natal thread - meantime will continue to share the joys and woes of the last few days (hopefully not weeks!) of pregnancy and waving those pom poms for everyone who gets there first!

[sebs71]

Hi everyone. Short message as on phone in hospital. Had Alys seren this morning at ten in morning. She was 7 12. Very traumatic labour spanning tuesday till today ending in non planned c section but happy now. She is beautiful and i am so very happy to be a mum. Will post more and catch up when have laptop but maybe few days. Congrats to all who have given birth in last few days and good luck to those still waiting. X

[CBear6]

Congratulations Sebs, hope you're getting lots of rest and taking it as easy as you can and that you're getting lots of baby cuddles.

I'm still catching up on the thread so apologies for not naming more names but it's lovely that the bus is still going even though we're now a mix of ante-natal and post-natal.

Mimi is currently fast asleep so I'm going to share her birth story, she's already had her name shortened because DS struggles to say Amelia and pronounces it Mimi :)

I went in on Wednesday morning the ECV, I had to have nothing to eat or drink from the night before and take my bags too as one of the risks of the procedure is foetal distress, in which case they get the baby out. The staff on MAU were lovely and the MW looking after us was the same MW who looked after us on Monday at the presentation scan so it was lovely to have that bit of continuity. The MW sonographer did the scan, DD was still breech, and she commented that I was full of baby before measuring the amniotic fluid. That's when it all started to go a bit tits up in terms of what I had hoped the outcome to be - a successful ECV followed by a water birth at some point in the not-too-distant future. DD was a flexed breech, basically curled in the classic foetal position but the wrong way up. The two major issues though were the cord was dangling between her feet and there was only a margin of 3cm of fluid around her. The MW explained that in 12 years of her specialising in ECVs she has the most success when there is more than 8cm of fluid. She's only ever turned five babies who had 5-8cm of fluid and has never successfully turned a baby with only 3cm of fluid. There was a query on whether my waters had broken as apparently this is very low (they hadn't), it seems my fundal height measurement was skewed by DD laying all to the front and stretching me out/up. She said she could still attempt the ECV but statistically it had a less than 1% chance of working and she was very worried about cord compression with it being between DD's feet and there not being enough fluid to float it out of the way. We then discussed a vaginal breech delivery, they have staff trained in it and flexed breech is the most favourable kind of breech for a vaginal delivery, but again the cord was an issue and prolapse would be a huge risk. After discussing it with DH we decided that a caesarean was the best option.

She sent us to wait in the assessment unit and I was expecting them to book me in for Thursday or Friday. Next thing I know they're saying that because I came in starved and had my bags they were going to squeeze me in that day! The consultant had decided that I was classed as emergency du to labour being imminent and the risk of a prolapsed or compressed cord. An hour later I was fully prepped and sitting on an operating table getting a spinal block. The spinal was weird. I went from amazed as it started to kick in ("wow, this is strange") to freaked once it took full effect ("no, I don't like it"). I think I was still in denial a little bit because it was all so fast and unexpected and it only really sank in when the spinal kicked in. My heart rate and BP spiked and I was a bit shaky so they put some anti-anxiety stuff into the drip in my hand, I was mellow after that.

There was lots of pulling and shoving. Who said to me that it's weird that you can feel sensation but not pain? Because that is such a bizarre feeling! And it's fast! I thought they were positioning me but then we heard a cry and the surgeon held DD around the side for us to see. She was so angry at being plucked out of her little home! Screamed the theatre down and I was crying my eyes out, I kept telling DH "these are happy tears not wimp tears" (crying is also a weird feeling when you're numb from the boobs down). I got a quick kiss and cuddle and then DH held her. I don't remember all of it, I felt a bit spaced out and not with it. As they were stitching me my chest started tingling and I started to panic that the spinal was wearing of (happened to my cousin) so they tipped a little bit more anti-anxiety into the IV along with some anti-sickness stuff because I started to feel dizzy and sick.

We went round to recovery after that and they undid the top of my gown, stripped DD, and popped her inside of it with blankets over us to keep us warm, it was lovely and easily the best part of the day for me because we had the curtains around and it was warm and cosy and she was all snuffly and soft. I decided then that I was going to try breastfeeding (I'd planned to FF) even if it was just the first feed and let her root around and latch herself on (it's a pretty cool thing to watch, she was literally crawling on my chest using her feet to push herself).

They'd estimated 5kg on Monday and the scan on Wednesday said 8lb 11oz, I was expecting around 9lb (DS was 9lb 3oz) so 7lb 10oz seems tiny to me! She's really petite and small featured, long in the body and her legs are still tucked up, loads of jet black hair which sticks up on top. I'm home now and I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach by a donkey wearing knives on it's hooves, I've got some lovely bruising around the incision but it's all looking good supposedly. The surgery team came to see me to say there was no obvious reason for the breech and everything was "nice and tidy" inside so it's just been one of those things. The section went well and so long as I leave it for at least 12 months before getting pregnant again I should be able to have a VBAC next time, all going well. I've got to wear the super sexy surgical stockings for the next 2-6 weeks and the MW is coming out tomorrow to do her visit and to teach DH how to give me the heparin injections, one a day for the next five days - I can't face injecting myself and the two I've had so far have bruised me. I also have a huge bruise and injection mark on my leg from theatre, I'm guessing it was a jab to bring the placenta away? I forgot to ask about it.

No one mentions the wind either! Wind is a side effect of a caesarean delivery so not only am I hobbling round like a 90 year old whilst wearing fetching surgical support stockings and covered in bruises I'm also a right trumpy bum. DH is a lucky guy landing a catch like me!

I'm glad to be home and hoping the tenderness doesn't last too much longer. I lay on the bed after my shower earlier to airdry and almost cried when it was time to stand up, the shower was a challenge too because it's one of the ones where it's built into the bath and you have to stand in the tub to use it. The baby blues have kicked in too so random stuff is making me weepy. I'm trying to keep up with the breastfeeding, even just for now but DD is a bit jaundiced and because she's sleepy with it she wants to suck but not actually feed IYSWIM? Her latch and everything is good (I got the MW to check) but because she's attempting to use my nipples as dummies they're really sore and swollen, also she refuses to feed off the left and will only take the right for feeding which has made the nipple on that side even worse. The nursery nurse showed me different positions, etc and she still refuses to feed from the left one (poor lefty). I tried to top her off with some formula yesterday but she just sicks it up (she's really mucousy from the section), breastmilk is all she will keep down. Anyone got any tips?

It's a bit of a mixed bag really. I didn't get the delivery I wanted at all and I'm still trying to come to terms with how quickly it all happened and how beyond my control it was. I know it's silly and a healthy baby is the important part but it was really overwhelming. I'm glad DD is here and safe though and I'm sure everything else will come together with time. DS is over the moon with the "beebee" and wants to touch her all the time and give her cuddles.

Well, the little Miss is awake and I can hear her sucking her hands so I can tell that it's feeding time :)

[ssmile]

Hi cbearthanks for sharing sorry you didn't get the birth you planned but pleased Lo came out ok. I had bruises on both arms and legs from fragmi injections, I hated idea of doing it to myself and DH refused but actually doing it into my leg was ok once I done it. Yes I had vbad wind whenever I fed Lo vbad! as feeding helps contracts the inside bits it pushes wind out the MW said, it did ease after 7-8days plus a squart helped to get it out ewhen it was making tum sore. BF I use medela shields as my nipples too sore even with gd positioning they may help you? Kiddicare.com sell them &do 24hr delivery. To get sleepy babe to fed, this one of mine was too (she took 6hrs to fed post c-sec!) I held her naked on my tum as much as possible in first 4days. Then before feed, change her nappy, wash bot with cold water, if necessary remove outer bodygrow so in vest, if vsleepy wash face with cool water. Gd luck enjoy your babe cuddles &rest time. If in few wks time the type of birth you had still leaves you with shell shocked feeling their are councelling services with NCT, GP, &midwife service. Xx