February 2011 - still some left to pop, surely not...

[ZeroMinusZero]

Took it upon myself to start a new thread. Everyone's popping right now!

PS: Sorry for the awful rhyme, it was all I could think of

Grannyapple- Glad you had a great birth at the PRU birth centre- that's where I had Freddie and had a water birth too which was fab! The midwives I had were amazing!

Hi all, sorry to hear your feeling down Need to, it is an awful feeing. I think it's normal for many mums to feel overwhelmed especially when it's your first baby. I'm a second time mum and can feel the anxiety come In Every now and then but am managing to calm myself. As my midwife said as a second time mum I know the world won't end if Noah doesn't get enough sleep etc.
Is anyone thinking about routines? I've got Noah on a loose version of the baby whisperer easy routine. It's more for me than Noah as I need structure in my life. I would never hold off his feeds or anything but it helps to know what comes next!
Ben stayed at pils again last night and dh has gone to pick him up end bring him home. Cent wait to see him. My pil have been great but like many of you I expect, I find them so overbearing sometimes! Knitta I hope it all happens for you soon.

thanks Bensmum (that's me too now!)and ponyo, OH is home now and ben is asleep, typical. it was his first day back at work today and think that's why i was nore frightened.
knitta i was just thinking about you and wanted to send you speedy labour vibes. when is your edd? are you still planning a hb? i'm so pleased i was at home for the majority of mine and the mw was great, really relaxed and calm. anyway, hope things start for you soon.

Hil ladies....Nate is also kinda on a loose version of baby whisperer routine....albeit just the way it worked out. Was originally planning to follow the gina ford routine but with nate's Tongue tie I wanted to just see how it went, routine wise.

cheese I know...still can't get over how good they were. Midwive who delivered Nate came out to see me yesterday too which was a nice surprise! She wanted to inspect her 'handy wirk' with the stitching of my 2nd degree tear!! Thankfully all healing nicely....sorry if tmi but do relieved to have done my first poo since the event, lol!

Good luck to all those waiting their imminent arrivals x!

{grin} at little Ben being asleep when OH is there... and I can imagine being on your own would be scary!

Thanks for the good wishes, am 40+4 today so not really that overdue and having monitoring at the hospital on Saturday at 40+9, so HB still on untill then, and then we'll see what the monitoring throws at us. The MWs said this morning that even though they don't advice hbs after 40+10 it's my desition and they have to attend them. It all depends on what the monitoring says for us. As you needto, my aim is really to be as calm and relaxed for as long as possible, although am failing at that already!

Hello all, I have returned! I haven't had a chance to catch up yet with posts but hope everyone is well. Sorry for delay in coming back - hope needto has updated you that I was in hospital being induced for FIVE DAYS before they gave up and I got a csec. Can happily announce safe arrival of girl baby angels1 though (no name yet) weighing 8lbs 13 on friday at 5.53pm. The induction didn't even get me as far as managing to break my waters . Will try and post story soon but having a tough day feeding her - managed to latch on well in hospital but nurse on discharge told me I wasn't producing enough milk for her and I should top up with bottle - since she's refused to go near bfing and will only have bottle. DH and I are and having problems sorting her out. Hopefully will be time soon to catch up and see how you are all doing (and see if there's an ledkr PIL updates ). Hope everyone well - I missed you all and have been thinking of you while stuck in hospital all week.

Just read all your lovely thoughts all week and they really made me well up - thanks all for thinking of me so much - 'twas not a nice week in hospital. Needto had reported there had been wonder and positive thoughts to my long stay - you are all fab

Hi angels and congratulations to you - FIVE days though?! FIVE! You must be glad to be home, hope the feeding gets easier for you and dd.

needto I'm not surprised you were anxious if your dp was back at work, mine goes back in a week and I can feel the worry setting in already!

Ok for anyone that has time, here are my bottle feeding questions I tried to post earlier (before dd so rudely interrupted ) -

1 - If making bottles in advance to keep in fridge, how do you cool them quickly? I put them in sink with cold water for about 10 mins until they feel cooled then put in fridge, is that ok?

2 - When measuring scoops, the scoop gets a bit of steam on from hot water in the bottles which then means the powder sticks to it. Do you sterilise/wash the scoop regularly or leave it?

Ok I had more but have forgotten... God I am obsessed with bottles, formula and sleep - I actually dreamed about making bottles last night

Thanks in advance to anyone who has time to answer my wafflings

Hooray angels and everyone else

Just to say that I've been following your progress and am so happy for you all - your birth stories have been great :-)

I was on this bus at the beginning but left when I had a MMC at 12+4... I'm now 6+3 and have my fingers crossed that this one is a keeper...

All the best for the future with your wonderful little ones

Yay, Angels congratulations on your baby girl!
Sorry about your hospital stay, sounds horrendous but I'm so glad that she has finally arrived!

Sorry I haven't caught up yet! I just saw Angel's message and wanted to post. Off to read rest of thread...

Hi Ponyo, I am bottle feeding so thought I'd answer your questions. I dint pre make the bottles and store them, dh won't let me as midwife told us not to with ds1. We use a flask of boiled water to make feeds as we go along. The scoop tends to get washed or sterilised if we think about it, which won't be often! Sorry if not too much help!
Angels congrats at last for you. What a traumatic time for you, I hope yo get the feeding sorted

angels finally!!! hope everything settles soon.

knitter I don't think we've forgotten you at all, at least i haven't and often wondered about you. Very happy for you and wish you the best of progress.

Am surprised at nurses saying that people don't produce enough milk, specially at the beginning when things just need to be given a chance to stablish themselves? sorry if am being naive but would like to hear from those who've actually had babies... unlike me.

Congratulations eau and angels - such amazing birth stories! Many congratulations to knitter as well. Sending sticky vibes your way!

Maternal guilt is a killer, isn't it? We've all done an amazing thing and we should feel proud of ourselves, mot matter how the baby came into the world and no matter how we feed it. We are so lucky! I know it's easy to say and I suffered PND so badly with ds1 the GP wouldn't let me drive for 2 weeks in case I crashed the car. I know how you feel. My only real advice is not to bottle up your feelings. Admitting how you are is the biggest step to getting better. Good luck to everyone!

Thanks bensmum. One more question - how long can you keep the boiled flask of water for? Does it stay hot enough for hours or do you have to throw it our after so long?

knitter I remember you from beginning of the thread even though I didn't post much, wishing you all the best for the future :)

angels Congratulations, well done xx, seriously no name yet, are you freakin' kidding us, we have been waiting here all weekend etc on you and not even a name!!!

IlovePonyo re bottle feeding. Have to hand leaflet/info midwife left with me:

it recommends using a jug of cold water to cool the formula, re the scoop, I clean mine out and dry it up with kitchen roll after using it. I make up a few bottles at a time as Anna can cluster feed like a demon.

knitternottwitter I remember you from start of thread, thanks for all your good wishes, good luck with this little one, hope all goes well.

Ponyo There is a link on a thread in bottle/breast feeding to a leaflet that carries the same info as mine.

have decided that i'm going to stop beatin myself up and when we get home we shall be using bottles. I have tried and tried with latching freya and every time she even gets near the nipple she gets so upset it takes half hour to calm her. I still feel like a failure but i have to do whats best for my mental health and her physical health. She is no longer under the phototherapy light but her salts are now being monitored as quite high. I have now spent 6days in hospital with only 12hrs being back @ home. My poor ds. Congrats angels

Ah thanks wiggles I've had a look and some useful stuff on the bf/ff threads - found some links to leaflets which is very useful. Thanks for sharing, think I'm obsessing a bit

hubbard I agree that whatever is best for your mental health is very important. Please don't feel like a failure - it won't help and more importantly you are not a failure, you are looking after your baby. I only bf for a day, felt so guilty for stopping but it was stressing me too and now I feel much happier that I can see me dd is feeding well and regularly. Hope your dd continues to recover well xx

Hubbard Great news that Freya is off the lights, now we just have to get those salt levels down , they will start to come down as the jaundice clears up, now listen to Dr Wiggles, all of my medical knowledge comes from ER, except when Luca was on the screen, I could barely remember my own name when admiring his fine bedside manner, never mind any medical info he was imparting . Take care of yourself, try and rest, Freya will be raising hell at home soon enough x

i'm feelin a lot better. Not stressing myself out. Waiting for the salt levels results to come back. We have another jaundice test at 1am. She seems really sleepy at the moment but atleast using a bottle i can get her to drink more. I'll get there eventually. As long as i stay in control of the decisions the pnd should stay away

angels about time too,trust you to do take the longest, You are not having my lovely pram now tsk tsk.Seriously well done,many many congrats to you both,see there was a baby in there.
ponyoI also use a flask,keep it on the side and also little pots for measured powder to take out.I just ignore my scoop but i do think the water isnt meant to be actually boiling as such just 70 degrees so less steam.My flask is a vile blue addis one i take on picnics,i must buy a pleasanter one i thought kath kidson would be nice.
hubbard good for you,i have done bf and ff both sucessfully with various dcs and they are all ok.I also love the fact that dh can and does do some night feeds.
knitter i did glimpse you on another thread and smiled a big smile when i realised your news,i will be looking out for updates,great news.

ps.saw gp today and she says i dont need more meds and gave me dressing for scar.
Also dh was very angry with pils which is a first and mentioned they had pissed him off when baby came home too.I am glad he can see it now.His sis will be trying for a visit at the weekend cos she didnt come as planned with pils,i have told dh if she comes at all it will be daytime only, there will be no further overnight stays untill i feel better,the baby is more settled and my scar has healed.Should have done that ages ago.

Ponyo - can you share the links to the leaflets on bf/ffing?

hubbard - I was really feeling like a failure as well. The MWs are always banging on about how breastfeeding is best and all the benefits, etc etc so I felt quite guilty to be using formula. I know that's what they're supposed to do but it doesn't help those that want to bf but can't. The breastfeeding support worker pointed out that any breastmilk I can give the baby is better than none at all and the stress from worrying about it is probably canceling any benefits. Just wanted you to know that you're not alone with this.

just knowing i can come on and there are women who feel exactly like i do makes me feel a little more human instead of the slight head nod and the annoyin statements the "helpers" give. I am expressing if i can as the stress of the last few days has really taken it's toll on supply. As i don't have an electric pump at home and cannot afford to rent or buy 1 i am not worrying as she had breast milk for the first few days. I am lucky to still be here after the way surgery went so it's a blessing she got what she did.

ANGELS!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!!!!
Been thinking of you every day- sorry you were in for so long, 5 days, wow, but at least you have your baby now. 8lb 13 though- what happened to 9lb at 36 weeks???? I was worried you'd take my Biggest Baby On The Thread (or possibly on all of MN) Crown- I needn't have worried- a very normal size. Have they been taking special care of her and you due to the diabetes?

Can't remember who asked but we're also following a loose baby whisperer routine, did with DD1 too, I find it helps to know what's coming, and helps them to sleep longer at night. Cannot for the life of me get her to settle in her cot whilst awake but sleepy, damn disobedient baby, have left the book in her cot but she refuses to read it! DD1 never did either, we did CC at 3mo (I know, I know!), but it worked and she's settled herself very well since then.

ledkr glad your DH has finally cottoned on to your Pils awful behaviour, lets hope they listen to him a bit more.

knitternottwitter of course I remember you, so happy that you're pg again, looking forward to hearing your good news in about 8mo!