October 2011 Baby Bus ... part 3

[elgoldenflower]

A place for all the mums due in October 2011

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So many people have asked me about my birth plan in the last two weeks, I can't believe it! Usually complete strangers I meet at social events!

Most people seem to have strong views about VB and CS, but no-one can point to any proper research studies for and against the methods.

Has anyone tried the Epi-No? www.epi-no.co.uk/default.asp It's a balloon thing you put in the "birth canal" and practise expelling from 37 weeks. You blow it up a little more each time so that by the time DC is born you've already stretched enough. Sounds like a good idea.

tallybear i'm similar to you. Last day at work will hopefully be Fri 16th Sept, and little one due on the 17th Oct. I like you am hoping for an earlier birth!

I worry that i'm going to get bored in that month, but i'll be the size of a whale, so I can't imagine i'd feel any better sitting at my desk.

tallybear i dont like nathan either or nat. if it has to be shortened i'd want nate. my brother is called andrew and we have never shortened it. not one person in the family refers to him as andy- although all his mates do. so i think if you never shorten it, you can get it to stick. i have a jacob and wasnt keen on jake but it quite suits him, but i still only call him jacob.
i am the complete opposite- i find boys names easier, i like loads. but cant find a girls name at all, so i put a thread on the name site and someone actually came up with one that i love! was so surprised as i have looked and looked through name websites. it is Esme. i think that is so lovely and i never thought of it before. now i just need to get dp on board as he is a bloody nightmare about my choices!
confused i wish there was a wtf smily face cos thats what i pulled when reading about the ballon.. ha. i think i'll pass, i think the baby makes you sore and slack enough without adding to it!

Haha love the wtf emoticon idea - that's what I thought about the balloon - it's amazing how much you stretch I tore internally quite badly but not externally and I didn't do any of the rubbing in of the cream or balloons! A friend was religious about rubbing in the cream and had 3rd degree tears externally so I think it all depends on your body rather any pre-birth stretching!

Sassy I LOVE the name Esme, It's beautiful. It's more popular now because of Twilight but such a classic, romantic name.

Confused Despite my desire for it to be otherwise, it seems your baby will decide what you have! I HATED labour but loved the birth (the pushing and all that side of thing), took me 14 minutes to get him out once the pushing started but the PAIN of labour was immense! I personally don't want a CS if I can help it because of the recovery time involved and not being in the position to immediately have my baby after they come out. Ds was feeding (and swallowing) as soon as he was out before he was weighed and I was up and about the next day albeit a bit sore from the stitches and walked like I had pooed a balloon, however the decision is often taken out of your hands and you just have to go with it.

I had a really definite birth plan last time and it went out the window!! I was adamant I wanted a completely natural birth, no epidural, no pethidine, gas and air only. After being in labour for 24 hours and then being induced I skipped everything and went straight to epidural (admittedly it didn't work) so I then BEGGED (crying ) for CS which I never got! You have to have an idea of what you want but be prepared for it to change!

tally glad little bean is ok, these two have done that to me before, literally five minutes before the sonographer comes in and me being in tears with worry they start kicking and shifting around - naughty!

Re buggy boards, I think you can get seat ones too - the bugaboo one I need to get for the buggy is £70 !

BB3, it's so good, almost comforting to hear that a birth plan is hardly a 'plan' and that you should just go with the flow. I've no idea what I want from the birth really other than a healthy baby in the end and me in a decent state to look after it! I'm such a luddite...

I spent the last week stressing myself to DEATH for not having any baby stuff or anything for the hospital bag and that I was running out of time and all that, and crying a lot. And I just did an online order for nappies and breast pads and toiletries and guess what: I feel much better. God, it's so easy to get worked up about stuff when you're preggers, eh!

yeah the buggy board i want is the Kid Sit which does have a seat, its £79.99 for the board and £30 for the adaptor top make it fit my quinny,

advice to all first timers if you think you might have 2 kids close together get a buggy that can switch to a 2 seater later or one with a horizontal rear axle so you don't have to pay through the roof for a board!

bb3 i was the same with my 1st. wrote a very nice neat birth plan, might as well of mopped my waters up with it! im sure some people get their bith plan- infact probably a high percentage, and i think people should write one but i think they should also prepare for the fact that it might not happen just so. i wanted a natural birth, no drugs etc. but i went 2 weeks over, had to be induced, was vomiting on gas and air and absolutely hate it, would never touch it again, had to have my waters broke, put me on the syntocin (sp) drip, contractions far far worse, asked me if i wanted an epidural, couldnt bring myself to say no! then after 14 hours and not progressing past 9cm for hours they said i needed an emergency c section! surgeon said baby would never have come out normally as the head was stuck sideways at the cervix!!!!
i want a vbac (i must be bloody mad) but im completely prepared for another c section.

Yeah pretty much the same, as soon as that drip was in (my waters were already broken) I couldn't say no to the epidural! I'd love a VBAC but the bloody placenta isn't playing ball and I am getting closer to the cut off time - if it's not out by 32 weeks chances are it's not going to and I'll be in for c-section at 36/37 weeks or if it goes earlier.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones whose birth followed the birth plan, apart from a physiological third stage as the blimmin' placenta wouldn't budge and ended up being manually removed in theatre - all after a lovely (well, painful) home water birth. So yeah actually mine didn't really go according to plan either!

I couldn't even be bothered to do perineal massage (and did tear but not my perineum - my labia, ouch) so no way I'd be bothered to use an epi-no! I'm not very good at doing my pelvic floors either even know I know how important they are. Is everyone else doing theirs (go on shame me into doing mine)?

I still feel as though baby's birth is a long way away. I'm 27weeks/6months today. Fully expecting baby to be a fortnight overdue and therefore still have 15 weeks to go

Scones I am doing mine now because you mentioned them but I haven't been and nor do I until someone reminds me I should!!!

hi ladies sorry ive been awol. Been without internet for a while. I've got to get things for hospital bag still and have just over 13 weeks left. LO has a few clothes and mostly sorted i think still jave a few bits left from ds. Im in northants too greenuk. DS is soo excited to be a big brother, im getting realyl fed up of waiting now lol

Aww Tally I thought that the other day too that Porgey had gone all quiet when usually it's head butting me and doing somersaults and I hadn't heard from it all day. I seem to get kicked and punched at similar times each day (like when I am trying to go to sleep at night!).

I have NOT thought about a hospital bag, partly because I hope to pop it out at home (yes deluded I know) and partly become it seems ages away and I don't know what to put in it. I was going to wait for our Midwife classes next month which apparently tell us what we really need to buy etc and take us on a tour of the hospital, eck!

Our Hypnobirthing lady was talking the other day about perineal massage, I found the whole thing very strange to be discussing such a thing in front of the other couples. I guess Midwifes don't think twice about mentioning sticking things up there when it's what they do everyday

OK, now I'm getting worried. Not got a birthing plan, not doing pelvic floor things, no hospital bag, hardly bought anything.......

Help!

Well I've written the list for my hospital bag - does that count?!?!!! . I'm sat on the sofa after a cold shower having a foot massage from DH!! Ahhhh he's useful for something!!!

we have everything bar the cot and pram, cots on order and OH is dragging his feet taking his time choosing the 'right' pram 14 wks and 2 days my boy is due its scary i remember being 14 weeks and 2 days!!

my birth plan is the same as DD im not fussed as long as baby is healthy and im not too broken as long as i get as much of a home birth as possible we're only going into hospital if there is a complication.

i'm sorting thru DDs photo albums as they are huge and over run a bit messy and am aaaawing like an idiot at what a cute little bundle of perfection she is looking over at her now and its scary that 6yrs have passed by since these pics were taken it just flies in so so fast .. wow bit too nostalgic there >>

tally dont worry, im the same as you. to be truthful most people dont start this early anyway. i didnt buy a single thing for my twin pregnancy until i was 28 weeks and its usually recommended that you have a hospital bag at 34 for a singleton pregnancy, so you have a little while.
we have to buy a new car before my due date! dp is due back from afghan next week and is off for 2/3 weeks, so we will have to look into then i think. otherwise we would have to make 2 trips or leave someone behind. its gonna be like being in the waltons with 4 kids and a 7 seater minibus!

i know on my other thread the 2nd+ mums wrote a hospital list on the request of the 1st time mums and people just added to it, if they took something that they had found really helpful: so i'll start one. (feel free to add or ignore if you want)

for baby:
nappies
wet wipes (although frowned on in some hospitals-cotton wool+water)
muslim squares (i cant live without these in 1st few months)
vests
sleepsuits
scratch mittens
blankets (my hospital provides them, but some may not)
bath towel
nappy cream
cardigan/coat
gloves/mittens
hats (for coming home)
car seat

for you:
nighties
slippers
dressing gown
hair brush
tooth brush/paste
towel
shampoo/conditioner
shower gel
face cream
make up (if you can be bothered for visitors)
knickers
socks
clothes to come home in
food and drink (crisps/dried fruit etc to snack on for long labour)

oops forgot-

maternity pads and breast pads.

also ive breast fed all mine so not sure what you have to do if you are formula feeding. whether you need to take in bottles and formula?

As long as I'm not the only one!

I suppose my birth plan would be along the lines of 'to get out the other end with both of us as happy and healthy as possible'.

As for the hospital bag, my friend has advised paper knickers! Also got newborn nappies, wipes and other stuff free from Bounty and Emma's diary (been signing up to every freebie/clubs going!) so I guess that will go in there too. What else? I supposed I could always send dh to the shops!

Started looking at prams but now decided that we need to sort the car seat first. First priority is fitting into the car safely, then fitting onto a pram chassis. Does anyone know which car seat/isofix base will fit properly in a 2005 Honda Civic? I emailed Honda and all they would recommend was their own - double the price and I don't think fits onto any pram! Typical but 'safety first' (not that we plan on crashing) if needs be. That's one thing I'd rather not take any chances on.

I'm doing NCT shortly. Will that tell me all about pelvic floor exercises?

Need to go on the search for chocolate now. Or, oo, I think there is fancy ice cream in the freezer....

Sassy that's great -thanks.

Just had an email with these on. May be useful...

Draft birthing plan:
www.hipp.co.uk/Uploads/Documents/Expert%20Advice/Pregnancy/My-birth-plan.pdf

Baby checklist:
www.hipp.co.uk/Uploads/Documents/Expert%20Advice/Pregnancy/HiPP-baby-checklist.pdf

read baby list amd realised i forgot bras- nursing or non-nursing. doh!

I wrote up a birth plan last time, but no one read it to my knowledge but it helped me and DH clarify in our heads what we wanted so we (or he) could tell them at the time. I totally agree though, you have to be flexible. Have in your head what you want, but also make sure you've read about other options just in case they're needed.

I'm in the partly disorganised camp. I've bought some wet wipes, we have washable nappies, MIL has bought some sleepsuits. If it's a girl we're fine, we have everything (in random cupboards and the loft, my parents loft.) If it's a boy we need clothes. We bought everything else in uni-sex colours.
The nursery is still an office which is in dire need of attention to even make it a presentable room... it's likely to stay that way until LO is a few months old.

For the hospital bag (which I've not started either)
I'd say don't do paper knickers. Asda do normal knickers at 3 for a £. Far comfier and just as cheap... go with big knickers too, so if you do end up with a CS they finish above the cut line.
I'd also add some dettol wipes or something similar. The toilets on the ward weren't always clean, and there was only toilet roll to clean up with anyway. I bled a lot and I felt bad knowing I wasn't cleaning up properly.... at least I made an effort though...unlike some.
Also nipple cream if you're breastfeeding.

Tallybear Mothercare are very good at advising exactly what car seats will fit your car. I think Halfords do too. I went there to find out what I could use, but then came home and searched on the internet for a better price.

Blimey I'm a second time mum and I forgot most of those things like muslins and toothbrush and paste!!! And nipple cream. Paper knickers are sooooo uncomfortable I agree go buy the cheap cheap large size cotton ones from tesco or asda and throw them away!

i did think of nipple cream, but it usually takes a few days before the nipples start hurting. i took some last time but didnt use it until i was home a while. unless you use it has a preventative i suppose. i would really strongly recommend buying lanoslin (sp) rather than kami..... something or other. (someone help me out, baby brain cant remember what they are called! ) it is miles better in my opinion. it is very expensive but worth it as it does last a while. i got mine cheaper through amazon rather than the chemist.