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Conception

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The addictable wagoners have abandoned ship - to a field.... for waiting to TTC'ers and TTC'ers alike, all welcome!!!

993 replies

NatalieJaneIsPregnantAgain · 07/08/2008 14:41

Thought someone had better do it! Hope titles OK?

Huge congrats again Gruff

OP posts:
calsworld · 14/08/2008 16:19

Sorry for mega post there, but I find it really hard when people say, I just didn't have enough milk because the number of cases where this is actually the truth is very, very low. But having expressed colustrum on day one, I can see why mum's are led to think this.

As I'm sure is bloody obvious, I'm a passionate BFer but at the same time not at all anti-FF IYSWIM. I just think its such a huge shame that women that want to BF often aren't given the right support.

I know its easy for some women, but for many it isn't - you both need to master a new skill, but once you have, its wonderful.

I'd have been the same as Glaskham, lying in bed willing DH to get up, getting cross with him fumbling around in the kitchen making bottles whilst trying to pacify DS etc etc. Learning to feed lying down was a revelation and meant that most times I pulled him into bed and went back to sleep whilst he fed. I'd wake up in the morning with him nuzzling away at me trying to find it again and not remember putting him in the bed in the first place .

calsworld · 14/08/2008 16:12

GYo, I really wanted to BF as have a lot of allergies myself so was really determined. I think it does help to read up about it if its something you are committed to as there is so much duff information out there.

The thing about reading up about stuff is that it means that if something is hard, you know that there's a solution out there and it doesn't have to be FF - not that there's anything wrong with FF. DS had FF, although not for first six months.

I discussed it with my MW and she advised me to start trying to manually express whilst in the shower from about 37 weeks...this meant that if I had problems (which I did) I could express and feed some to DS.

It was amazing actually, DS was screaming his head off, clearly hungry and both he and I were quite stressed. We'd been trying to get him to latch on and he just couldn't (I've got enormous norks and small nipples so it was hard work for him). A MW asked how I felt about manually expressing into a litte cup - I said fine, she got a little sterilised cup for me (like one of those medicine cups for cough syrup) and started to tell me how to do it - I said, its OK, I know how to do it, so she just watched whilst I expressed. I got about 2mm in the bottom of this thimble tiny little beaker and she said that it would be plenty! i was gobsmacked as it was such a tiny amount, but she said it was like eating extra thick whipped cream for DS. We held the cup up and he lapped it out immediately like a little cat! He then went to sleep. Job done. Stress over. Next feed was much easier.

They gave me a couple of little pre-packed sterilised cups to take home in case we had anymore problems but we didn't.

Just knowing about things like this means that when you are having problems, you know that there are solutions available - other than some MW standing next to you saying, its no good dear, you really should give him some FF to settle him down.

GYo · 14/08/2008 15:26

wow it really all does come with experience!

suspect first few weeks are rather like fumbling in the dark, so to speak!

glaskhamhasoneintheoven · 14/08/2008 15:12

you see i kinda thought that to begin with but with me only having 5min feeds i woke up as soon as they made the slightest noise, picked them up and brought them into my bed and fed them... most times i'd fall asleep and they'd fall asleep on the breast till the next feed!! so I got much more sleep than i would if i had to lie and listen to check DH was awake, got the bottle, warmed it and fed them!! He learnt to sleep straight through within a couple of weeks so it worked well for both of us still!!

If we bottle fed i could guarantee i'd have been waking DH up every time it was his turn anyway!!!!

GYo · 14/08/2008 15:09

Thanks Glask. I will just see how it goes. I'd like it to work but if it doesnt it doesnt. Dont think I'll read anything yet. Will just wind myself up if I do!

Clearly benefits of it not working are DH getting to do night feeding too!

glaskhamhasoneintheoven · 14/08/2008 15:05

I never read anything GYo... i just did it... DS was born and within 10mins had my nipple in his mouth feeding...

I'd say be prepared for it to be hard work in the first 2-3wks.... but normally once your out of the sore nipple stage its normally plain sailing unless you have a colicky baby... or get thrush or something...

Greedy babies can sometimes drain on the mother too. I am very lucky that i have a VERY fast letdown, so once my DC's got to around 3wks each feed was only 5mins and would fill them for 3hrs... i'd say an average feed would be around 15mins though from what my friends have had...

dont fret too much that its not going to work as you'll be too fixed on making sure you get it right.... go into it with the mindset that you'll do it as long as you feel happy with it...

GYo · 14/08/2008 14:49

Hi All

Just reading your notes about breast feeding.

Im clearly not very experienced since its only DC1 but will I need to read up on it first? should I be prepared for it not working?

omg there is so much I dont know!

tinkispregnantwithpickle · 14/08/2008 14:44

that coat is really cute glas
well have just spent £35 on 7 bottles and 4 teats all sorted got them in blue penguin

glaskhamhasoneintheoven · 14/08/2008 14:37

coat sounds very expensive to me diege- but I'm sure its very nice!!! I saw a stunning coat on verbaudet actually and it was really cheap.... talk of coats has got me thinking i may just have to buy it!! here it is!!

glaskhamhasoneintheoven · 14/08/2008 14:34

I successfully BF both my two till their 1st bday... i'm not too bothered when i stop with this one... i'd like to possibly continue bedtime and first thing till maybe 18mths??... not sure... with dd we didn't have a single problem, with ds we got over the bad sore stage at the beginning, and we battled through 4 wks of passing thrush between us.... and i think thats it... but i still have some milk in my breasts now so i dont think it'll be too bad. I know it'll be close on 2 years since I last breastfed but i think it should all be ok.

GruffaloSoldier · 14/08/2008 14:00

Diege - The pool is heated to 80 degrees so I will be in there come rain or shine;)

£105 for a coat is a bit but its your money and you worked hard for it!

Thanks for bf advice cal!

I quite fancy a twirl now too - come to think of it any choc woul do!

tinkispregnantwithpickle · 14/08/2008 13:46

mmmmmmmm twirl

calsworld · 14/08/2008 13:25

Oooh, took so long typing between stuffing in bits of Twirl I massively cross posted there.

Diege! £105! Hope DD likes it! what a lovely way to spend your hard earnt pennies!

calsworld · 14/08/2008 13:23

Another one here without much clue on bottles I'm afraid...mostly coz I can't remember. I think I started expressing at about 2.5 months so that I could have a bit of freedom, and DS probably started on a No2 Teat...don't think we ever had any No1's (advent by the way, but only coz that's the make of pump I was given). I think the number sounds about right Tink...

GS - if you are planning on BF then it might be worth having a read through some of the feeding threads - there are a couple of BF counsellors (?) e.g. Tiktok with some really good advice.

I plan to BF again but am well aware that just because it worked out last time, doesn't mean it will this time. I guess I'll have to replace most of my bottles anyway if I want to mix feed again and make sure they are free of dodgy chemicals!

It feels good to be remembering it all. Have been feeling really excited these last couple of days and really sort of 'loved up' - anyone else KWIM?

The Twirl has gone. I don't think I even chewed it

NatalieJaneIsPregnantAgain · 14/08/2008 13:19

£105????????? Did it come with £50 in cash in the pocket to make it worth while? No, seriously, if it will sell well then what's the harm?

Enjoy the playbarn

OP posts:
Diege · 14/08/2008 13:14

LOL Nat, hadn't spotted that . A true freudian slip as I've just spent the last of my exam marking money on a coat for dd3 which cost, ahem, £105 . I know it's a disgrace, but hey at least I've got soemthing to show for those many evenings of marking...even so, I do feel a bit sick...And it should sell well on e-bay..
Hope it just sticks at nausea for you GRUFF! House sitting sounds fab - wouldn;t it be great if we had a nice couple of days and you could use that pool!
Right, off to playbarn - put it off long enough!

NatalieJaneIsPregnantAgain · 14/08/2008 12:53

LMAO at Diege's "in addiction to shopping" LOL There are support groups you can attend for shopping addiction hun

Gruff, I am sure your cold will at least be on the mend by then, and if not, what a lovely place to be poorly eh?!!

OP posts:
GruffaloSoldier · 14/08/2008 12:41

oh the shame 'threw' not 'through'!!!

GruffaloSoldier · 14/08/2008 12:40

Morning!

Still really suffering with cold this morning! Managed to have my porridge this morning but now I seem to be suffering from nausea! Either Im really unlucky and it has come early or it is just part of my cold. Its not that bad though - just generally feel rough.Both my mum (3 dc)and sister(2dc) only had nausea, they neveer actually through up, so I am hoping I wil be the same as have a real phobia of being sick!

Tink - have you looked at mothercare website - if you go into the feeding bit they have some guides to feeding- worth a look. I really like the look of the MAM ones and think I will go for them. I like the colours I will be BF but will be prepared in case it it doesnt work out.

We are house sitting for friends for a week from today who have acres of land, a huge swimming pool and lovely cottage with river at the bottom of their field. I just hope I get over this cold so I can enjoy them!

Diege · 14/08/2008 11:44

Makes perfect sense Nat! I think I can see where you sister is coming from . In addiction to shopping we will be here for you too!
Re: bottles/breast, I breastfed dd1 exclusively for 6 months, but then had hell of a job getting her to take a bottle when I went back to work. Poor nursery ended up spooning milk down her, which was very stressful for all! Bottlefed dds 2 and 3, and if I try to bf no.4 I will make sure I introduce at least the idea of a bottle early on.

tinkispregnantwithpickle · 14/08/2008 11:34

thanks diege.

i breastfeed dd for 5 wks was a disaster.
she was and is very fussy.

NatalieJaneIsPregnantAgain · 14/08/2008 11:26

Also has porridge! LOL I sent DH for some before he got home from work last night, he came home with Quick Oats or some such (they only had these pots and readybrek left, and he knows I hate readybrek!) they are individual pots of oats, just add the milk and bung in the microwave for a minute and a half and it was surprisingly bloody gorgeous! Much better than any of the paste/watery oats I've ever managed on the hob!

Diege, not sure about the due date thing, I think it does help being pregnant again because quite aside from the due date obviously things have been building up towards this pregnancy. I actually spent the first couple of months of this pregnancy not even remembering how many weeks I would have been etc. but I suppose now it is only 3 weeks away from the EDD it is all coming back a bit. I am hoping that the scan and the shopping () and everything else will carry me through it not too badly. My sister had a MC the month before she got pregnant with her son, literally by the time she found out she'd MC'ed, she was pregnant again, and she has always said that in a warped kind of way she is almost glad she MC'd the first one because otherwise she wouldn't have her son as he is. I am trying to tell myself the same thing, but until this baby is actually born it is just a baby, much the same the MC would have been just a baby IYKWIM? God that all sounds terrible, I know what I mean, just can't get the right words!

Sorry Tink can't help with the bottles, although I do remember with DS1 that he went to the bigger bottles surprisingly quickly. DS2 never had a bottle so memories of bottles have all dissapeared I'm affraid!

OP posts:
Diege · 14/08/2008 11:26

I would say that sounds about right Tinks. I bought 5 of the advent ones, and really struggled with the right flow teat to buy. In the end, switiched after a few weeks to variflow ones and they were a god-send. That way you can just turn the bottle and adjust the flow, if that makes sense!
Glask, good on you with contacting surrocacy and friend about your pregnancy - bet that's a weight off your mind, and good to be upfront with friend though must have been hard!

glaskhamhasoneintheoven · 14/08/2008 11:11

wouldn't be of any help with bottles... i just used some mam ones for EBM, will be BF again so dont need to worry about all the bottles and teats and formula!!

tinkispregnantwithpickle · 14/08/2008 11:06

help with bottles please ladies

looking @ buying mam silk bottles as bpa free ( dangerous chemical found in others)

mam do 270ml(come with medium silk teat) and 330ml ones(come with fast silk teat)

was going to get 5 270 ml ones
and 3 330 ml ones
then 2 packs of newborn teats

does this sound about the right amount of bottles?

wanted to make sure i had all teats as i remember with dd that she was struggling to drink with slow ones and didnt have any medium ones