April 2011 - towards motherhood boucing on yoda balls, eating coc pops and riding frozen surfboards we are

[SnapFrakkleAndPop]

Raspberry leaf and all round.

Continuation from here. No Mofo C bombs yet been dropped in the delivery room although our first 2 babies have arrived. Congrats to gormers and Jo, we hope your little ones are still doing great.

I'm due on Monday too Jen and no signs for me either

If baby still hasn't appeared by Sunday I'll be going to church with my mum for mothering Sunday. Normally we all go with her but my younger sister is still lambing in Somerset and my older sister has her wedding cheese tasting (don't ask!) so it'll just be us. Normally I sing in the choir but I'll have to see if there's a cassock big enough.

I'll get to see a friend who's just announced her pregnancy too, which will be nice.

Is anyone else excited about Mothers' Day? I think it's because it's DC1 but I'm getting all warm and fuzzy about it

Morning all

Have to tell you, it's my last week at work and I am a wreck, have had three leaving lunches so far and my lovely boss is taking me to a v swanky hotel for lunch today too. One of my team just presetned me with the sweetest wicker basket full of essentials and another with proper coffee, chocs and bath gorgeousness - have had to nip into the bogs for a quick bawl!

Aussie your boss is a witch of hell, what is wrong with people? Maybe you could offer to work a shorter lunch or somthing to 'balance' out the time? I think these things have to be 'considered' legally' but heres a tip - get some errr, pretend early morning or late afternoon doctors, blood test and midwife appointments - or other ante natal check/classes that mean you have to start or leave an hour late/early. Your work can't legally argue with that and as long as it's just a few, maybe twice, three times a week, no one will bat an eyelid.....seriously, I;ve done it a few times int he last couple of weeks when sleep has been hideous and the odd late start early finish really helped get me through. If your company are treating you like this, give it a little back maybe....

I have one stretchmark on my belly button - I'm checking it daily expecting it to spread! Hey, what its the proportion of belly buttons popping out? Mine has all but disapeared!

I still have a belly button. I'd expected it to have disappeared by now but maybe having an anterior placenta helps? Sounds like you're having a wonderful last week Sarah

Fingers crossed for you that DH does remember something Jen and that baby arrives soon! Not planning anything is about the surest way to prevent baby from putting in an appearance!

Cycle wedding cheese tasting?! I'm really spoiling my Mummy this Mother's Day, or as much as I can from a distance. Baby isn't even born yet and I'm appreciating how difficult this motherhood lark is a lot more! I'm hoping to miss out on being a mother this Mother's Day but I'll be milking it for all it's worth by the time the French one rolls around... Being a bicultural family has to have some advantages, no?

Hope the BFing is going better chilli - we're all here to cheerlead and support you alongside the NCT advice line and LLL.

Petal duly noted. No clocks.

Our family takes cheese VERY seriously Snap. Mum's just annoyed she's missing the cheese as she's told friends she's going to church!

Mmmmmmmmm cheese, am suddenly hungry again.

My belly button is flat but is starting to pop out slightly, hopefully baby will pop out first

I lol'd at wedding cheese tasting as well Your sis isn't turning into a Bridezilla is she Cycle?!

We're spending Mothers Day at the IL's caravan It is the caravans first outing this year and ds LOVES visiting them, so we'll be there. God I hope the weather is ok otherwise there'll be 6 of us stuck in a bloody caravan in Cambs.

My belly button isn't sticking out and never has done i my pregnancies and each time I've carried in the textbook LOA position, so I'm guessing I have a cavernous belly button The scar from my belly piercing looks bloody awful though.

Sounds like you're having a lovely last week SJ, is tomorrow your last day?

I ordered some lovely long legged rompers from Gap online and they arrived today. They were in the sale so quite a good price. They are v cute

I'll admit it sounds mad but...

They're not having a cake, they're having rounds of cheese in the shape of a cake and if you think about people having wedding cake tasting it's less weird I reckon.

Mum and I are going round tonight to discuss canapes, as mum's making some of them. Can't believe she's getting married, it's so exciting!!!

ILTMIMI yes tomorrow, and I am so ready for it too!

Congrats to all the new arrivals. Feeling quite jealous that's not me yet.

Just come back from my 37 week MW app and feeling a need to vent. All went well and provided I can hang on until next Wednesday it's all go for a home birth. But just as I was leaving she said oh I notice your blood levels are low. They are 10.1. 12 is normal and 9 is an automatic blood transfusion. I'm fizzing as the bloods were taken 4 weeks ago today and it's only been raised now. No wonder I've been so knackered and ratty. I never chased the results as I figured no news means everything is fine. I've been prescribed iron supplements which will hopefully raise them enough to let me cope with a home birth but it's not an instant fix. I am going to insist on weekly tests for at least a month though and chase them all up.

I can't remember who mentioned on here about a lack of midwives in their area. There are now only 2 community midwives for my area compared to the 4 that were here 3 years ago when DD1 was born. So I know they are completely over-stretched. Seeems to be the pattern over the country.

Sorry for lack of name checking. I snoop every day but have the energy of a sloth and can't gather the strength to post. Hoping that will change now.

Congratulations to stuffed, LJB, April, Petalouda, Poodle and Chillikat* for their babies!

Aussie, your boss sounds like a complete twat! Sorry that you have to put up with that kind of petty rubbish.

SaltedPretzels, sorry to hear about your hospital stay but glad you?re better now! I?m in hospital too?

I went to see the midwife on Monday morning for my 36 wk appt and it turned out that I had protein in my urine, high BP (155/105) and swelling in my hands and feet so they?ve kept at the hospital ever since. My bloods were pretty much ok with some slightly elevated figures but as my bp keeps going really high and low pretty erratically they want to keep me here for the time being. Been put on two types of BP meds, wearing fetching compression stockings and being given anti thrombosis injections but otherwise it?s not too bad. The midwifes and doctors are all lovely and my husband brought my laptop yesterday so I can get on the internet and watch telly online. Poor hubby, he?s so worried about me and the baby, I?m not so much though, I just know all will be fine :) Also getting lots of monitoring for the baby which is really reassuring.

It?s pretty certain now that I?ll be having a c-section due to the BP problems and also the fact that the baby?s in breech Ladies who have had a planned c-section, I?d love to hear more about your c-section experiences when you have a moment. I?m a first timer so just am very curious as to how others have found it. I?ve read some of the experiences here on MN and it seems to me that a planned CS is a lot better experience for most than an emergency one (which kind of makes sense). I?m actually quite positive about it due to having had low placenta (which has actually moved now) I've been kind of preparing myself already. I can?t wait to meet our little chap, possibly very soon! Will find out next Monday when I will be booked in for the section.

Eek, I?m actually in the same room with a lady who was induced last night and is now starting to ge starting to get painful contractions now, poor thing. I wonder how much longer until they take her to the labour ward?it's a bit like watching live OBEM!

All the talk of lasagne made me really hungry so I was very pleased to find out that that?s one of the choices on the menu here today. But have just been hooked on the monitor for 40 mins so now I might miss it as they only have a certain amount of portions per each dish?.sigh, might have to settle for something else instead.

Wow your family must love cheese The rounds of cheese in the shape of a cake means that the cheese tasting makes much more sense now!

Despite yesterdays BH all day they wore off by bedtime to start up again at 5am, but milder today thankfully. Just been down to the docs for some antibiotics for the 'face lurgy', lovely GP did look slightly worried that my waters would burst there and then.

Won't be going to town again until baby arrives, just can't take the walking. I'm crippled thanks to the SPD so bought a Krispy Creme doughnut as a pick-me-up

Sarah I hope you keep enjoying your last week. My belly button is well popped most of the time (though does sink back a bit depending upon how baby lies). I have a really freaky little skin tag on my tummy button that is horrid and I can't wait for it to disappear again, it really annoys me.

Cycle those cheese cakes are amazing!! We nearly went for one when we got married but decided to opt for [cheaper] cake and spend the money on Real Ale for the drinks reception instead!

Petal thanks for the no clocks tip! I may just take off my glasses, won't be tempted then as I'll be barely able to see my hand in front of my face never mind the clock!

Jaylar I can't believe your midwife didn't run through your test results with you before now. I find nagging works well when I've had (non antenatal) test results pending!

sats I x posted with you. I'm sorry to hear you're in the hospital but you sound really upbeat and positive about it so fingers crossed things continue to improve! 'Live OBEM' has me chuckling!

Cheers for all the advice everyone, the April breastfeeding helpline here certainly worked - I started noting times and lengths of feeds yesterday afternoon and things definitely improved overnight - she's been feeding every 2-3 hours and even did both boobs once. Milk seems to have come in but i'm feeling ok - probably becasue she's taking it more now. She's a fab baby - sleeps, wakes for feed, then back to sleep. I found changing her woke her enough to feed. We've now got to sort the latching on - it takes a few attempts as she looks away, refuses to open mouth (even with drops on lips, etc) tried to eat hands instead or grabs at nipples... it's fun!

Talking of which i think it's baby lunchtime part 1. I think babies are hobbits the amount they eat :)

sats my c-section certainly wasn't planned but wasn't half as scarey as i imagined, it seemed to takes ages once the baby was out, though that could have been my imagination after a day and a half of labour and no sleep. Spinal block is REALLY bizarre feeling, but fine. I'm still on lots of painkillers but they work and I'm just walking gingerly around the house. We only had 2 nights in hospital after section so initial recovery not too long - i even had a coujple of showers in hospital which i thought was quite brave!

Thank you Beetle :) am hoping to be discharged soon so fingers crossed!

Chillikat thanks for posting about your experience, it really does not sound too bad :) and great to hear your baby is breastfeeding well now, that's one thing I'm a bit worried about as have heard that after section it might be a bit more difficult to get things going. But I'll definitely persevere with it even if I do have some problems at first!

I've found a website which I think is wonderful and wanted to share with you all in case you found it useful and or interesting:

spinningbabies.com/techniques/during-labor/labor-progress

I think it's worth looking at your notes for the position of your baby and then looking at the diagram, using any techniques you feel comfy with from the site.

Really wanted to share it with you all.

sats keeping fingers crossed for you. My mother successfully EBF 3 babies until she went back to work after 3 ELCSs so it can definitely be done. She also recommends having lots of cleansing wipes and cool flannels within reach as your skin can feel very itchy and you may not find moving very comfortable. Peppermint tea for trapped wind afterwards. Lavender oil on your stitches once dressings come off. Get up and moving as soon as you're allowed to as it will help healing but don't overdo it.

Cycle a cake of different cheeses, sounds like my kind of cake. My mouth is literally watering, thinking of all the different types of forbidden cheese I would include. It would keep for ages too.

Beetle donuts mmmm.

Sats hope your hospital stay isn't long. Not had a c-section myself but friends have and especially if an elective section, its really ok. Everything will be explained to you and you are only in hospital for a few days afterwards. One consolation is you know exactly when your baby will arrive!

Chilli really glad to hear that breastfeeding is settling. Remember to keep yourself really well hydrated, plenty of snacks and put your feet up!

Frakk that's good to hear, and I'll make sure I have all those things in my hospital bag - thanks!

Jen, that's true, and since I'm rather impatient and super-organised by nature then knowing the baby's arrival date suits me perfectly

Cheese, donuts! We are back discussing food!! I had a lovely pizza for lunch with the girls! Could eat it again actually!

MW today! I'm 37.5, she said to get going with the Raspberry leaf and Clary Sage. Still only 1/5 engaged, but she said there was losts of wiggle room for his head so she wouldn't be surprised if he dipped in and out! I have a bungee jumping baby!! Lots of yoda ball bouncing for me! Also found out that the "nasty" MW at my surgery is signed off with a bad back until the end of April, so I won't be seeing her again. Yay (although I don't wish her ill obviously)!

Any ladies who are on strong painkillers?? I have to see a specialist MW that deals with addicted babies. I'm literally taking 1 or 2 dihydrocodine every 2 or 3 days, when the paracetamol isn't touching the pain. Can someone reassure me this is just a precaution and I'm not going to end up with a junkie baby :(?

Arch that website looks interesting, will have a proper squizz at it later!

Sats sorry to here you are in hospital. But good that you are keeping positive! No CS experience here, but if you keep going the way you are you will be just fine. Good luck!

Afternoon All!

Felix has mostly slept today, which has been ironically more worrying than the angry high pitched screeching he's done up till now! But, it's all ok, he's fine!

Has anyone else started a post-natal thread yet? I can't think of a witty title. Suggestions on a postcard, then I can bang on about the actual labour and anyone who wants to not-know can avoid it!

Milk came in properly today and what I thought were ginormous knockers yesterday have become insanely humungous! I feel like the late Lolo Ferrari!

Lis - Felix wasn't properly engaged until well into labour, my waters didn't break until about 6+ hours in, so the membranes in front of his head were stopping him coming down until they went (which is perfectly standard in our family, it seems).

April 2011-kicking back drinking lactulose cocktails and riding the maternity surfboard

That's been the postnatal plan for a while now I believe, courtesy of the lovely MrsWajs about 3 threads ago.

Lis I have a bungee baby too, no sign of engagement. Was hoping that was a sign of non-imminent labour but petal just busted that one.

More than halfway there, just need to keep legs crossed until Monday morning. Although actually I'm supposed to be meeting a friend I haven't seen for ages for coffee on Thursday....I suppose I could conceivably give birth Monday and still making it providing there are no complications

I still need to set an exam though. 4 days of ML and I have acheived absolutely nothing, beyond borrowing a hoover as our is up the spout. Anyone got any fabulous ideas for 4/5 minute audio extracts that I can get 15-20 questions out of? Preferably involving different voices and accents.

Not sure if this is what you mean Frakk, but it makes me laugh! This is how we speak where I'm from!!

ROFL! They would hate me if I set them that...

I'm thinking more a dramatisation of something (that way there will be a transcript ready) or possibly a podcast of a panel interview or similar, but then I would have to transcribe that manually and I'm too lazy!

New to thread waves

I'm due with number 4 (A girl) on April 25th. We have a daughter and two sons and are really looking forward to meeting the new little Miss :)

Good Evening!

Congratulations to Stuffed, LJB, Petal, Poodle & Chillikat on your arrivals.

Today is my due date and am so thrilled to be holding my 5 day old little man.

Today has been the day where he has been awake loads either crying or feeding which I am hoping means that he will be so tired that he sleeps tonight :)

It all seems a little weird still that we have this new bundle in the house.. My birth experience was a very good one although very different in some ways to the previous 3.

On Friday I was getting tightenings fairly high up on my bump throughout the day that were in a kind of pattern but not strong enough that i couldnt talk through them. By the evening they were more regular so I decided to call central delivery suite to see whether they thought i should come in, given that the mw thought i would 'go quickly' with this labour. They were obviously fairly busy and told me to wait until they were stronger before calling again. With that, both DH and I had the best night's sleep we had had in weeks!

Woke up on Saturday ready to face the day and with all tightenings having vanished. As the morning went on they came back although this time they were lower down and felt different in a stronger kind of way. They had no pattern but continued all day. Went to my Mums that evening to celebrate her birthday and got home at 11pm. Went to bed at 11.30pm and at 11.38 I had the '1st' contraction. Timed them for an hour but they were very sporadic ranging from 8mins to 3mins apart. Woke dh to tell him and then headed downstairs to call CDS. Was very confusing working out how long labour had been as the clocks went forward! Got to the hospital at 2.45am (1.45 old time) and still didnt have a particularly regular pattern. The midwife said that they wouldnt examine me as i wasnt going anywhere.. Not what I wanted to hear as it meant that i couldnt visualise how much longer I had to go! Managed to wander around the room and bounce on the birthing ball until about 5.10am and then the mw went on break which allowed me to ask the covering mw to do a VE as i really needed to know where i was in the process. I was very disappointed to be told that I was only 6cms.. I had hoped to be at least 8! Anyway, I stayed on the bed with my hands clamped to my face with each contraction just breathing through them and at about 6am I decided that I needed to move as the pain in my back was unbearable and I really didnt want any drugs. At this point I could feel my body pushing on its own with each cx and i ended up on my knees leaning over the back of the bed. Baby Finn was born at 6.20am weighing 8lbs and looked just like ds1.

I didnt need to have the injection to deliver the placenta as it came on its own 6mins later. I was very lucky to avoid stitches as I only had a 1st degree tear which was more like a small skin cut.

Within about 20minutes of Finn arriving I was being given tea and toast and then about 10minutes later was being sent for a shower! We left the hospital very soon after the birth and walked through the front door at 9.10am!! Finn was 2hours and 50 mins old!!!

The other children have taken to him very well and dd2 who is only 18mths has been brilliant. She is so gentle with him and keeps giving him kisses :)

Feeding is going really well and on Monday the mw was really pleased to see that my uterus had gone down loads. She is coming back out tomorrow when I guess he will be weighed for the first time.

On Tuesday we registered his birth and got his passport photos done... we are off to Florida in 4wks so dont have time to hang around lol.

Good luck to those of you who are due in the next week. I will keep popping in to catch up on the news of the arrivals - exciting times :o