TTC 6 mths+ GRADS THREAD

[Biscuitsandtea]

Afternoon.

I thought I'd start a Grads thread for those of us previously on the TTC 6 mths+ thread. I've been lurking on the ttc thread recently to see how everyone is getting on (having only very recently qualified to move off it!) and a few people were saying what a nice idea it would be if there was a grads thread so we don't lose each other.

Anyway, would be lovely to hear from other lovely ladies that were on that thread - or even if you were never on the ttc thread but had a sticky time of it getting your bfp then come and settle down with a decaf cuppa for a chat.

Bloody hell...... sweet, sorry honey, something went wrong with that last post. Wanted to say sorry the birth was tricky but delighted that your baby is here and wishing you a happy baby moon

Euro - welcome to you too my lovely, wishing you an uneventful 7 months. You most certainly deserve it.

sar she is beautiful, they inducec me at 11 nothing really happened until 5ish, having regular contactions but not long or strong enough for them to re examine me, i think Barry will be getting a phone call in the wee hours,lucky him, oh had to catch bus here as the bloody car wouldn't start i am hoping she will be here by thursday

Buzz. Hope you are feeling okay and not too uncomfortable. Boo to taking the bus. Excited for you.

Thanks for the welcome Sar. Don't feel guilty. You need to have your own special time. Baby smile is just too adorable.
No sure about twins just yet. My hcg and progesterone are both pretty high but there really is no way to tell until scan which should be this Friday if my blood levels look okay tomorrow.

Quickie from me (myself and Hamish have been choked with the cold so my 'keeping up' with emails and stuff has fallen way by the wayside.. (babies tend not to sleep well when they have a cold and refuse to take any drugs (bloody martyr that he is :-)

I will post properly later when i'm feeling better (and getting more sleep - or any sleep really....)

Just wanted to say good luck Buzzy, hope Barry gets there in plenty of time and you both enjoy these last few hours before mini-bee arrives :-)

Checking in to see if there is any buzzy news. Eagerly holding breath here.
sar Do not feel guilty about sharing the baby with family. It's an incredible time and you need your own space and time. If they insist on coming round, give them chores to do .
Eleth Hope you and Hamish are getting over the colds.
Waves to everyone else. Going to go chase up my dinner (MrTeu is cooking under duress).

Buzz thinking of you and hope all is going well! Can't wait to see photos on t'other place

Sar she's just gorgeous. The guilt is natural but it's not your job to make family happy. They have the rest of their lives to cuddle her and you need to look after yourself (and be looked after). Is Mr Sar a good gatekeeper? Mr A was hopeless at keeping people out and I wish I'd been more assertive in the early days. I second Teu's suggestion to give them chores!

Sending sleep deprived waves to Ele. We are on day 7 of a mysterious tummy virus that isn't making Mini Art particularly ill but is generating lots and lots of bright green nappies. The GP says they won't do anything unless she becomes dehydrated, which we're being careful to avoid, but it's not much fun particularly doing nappy changes after night feeds. Sleep is still a distant memory here, I don't think I can really call it sleep regression any more, it seems to have become the norm

Mini Art is still delightful though, almost 6 months old and much more active and engaging. She has got the hang of rolling over now (it was hilarious watching her struggle to get there [mean face] ) and we'll be starting to wean in another week assuming this tummy virus is over. Looking forward to the next stage.

Hope everyone is well. Waves to all grads and especially to recent and recently arrived preggos - big congratulations to Euro, Sea, Free and Lemon on good news and positive scans.

Morning lovelies!

sar please look after yourself. You have been through the mill and need to recover and enjoy the little lady to the fullest yourself. This is the special time for you and mrsar. The family will get their turn, focus on the new mini-family and try to accept that you need time and space to get used to each other. Re: chores, my mum has cooked meals for weeks for my elder siblings whenever a baby was born, she always saw it as a sneaky way to get a look in at her grandchildren and it made a huge difference. My SIL sometimes thinks back wistfully and would consider a fourth one, just for the catering service . But it seems fair enough to make others chip in if they want to be round. I used to sooth babies, change elder children, do a bit of shopping round my sister's soon after birth.

Massive good luck to buzz. Not long now!

Waves at all the newly diffed, excited for your scan on Friday, sea.

Thinking of you all lots!

Well, grumpy overtired Hamish is down for a nap (he doesn't usually get up until this time, but he was doing his 'waking up for farts' thing this morning at 7am and after a hard (e.g. largely sleepless) night and being full with the cold, I thought 'sod him' and got him up early (he wasn't best pleased, but hey, he'll need to get used to 6:45 wakenings when I go back to work...)

art sympathies for the tummy bug - Hamish had constipation last weekend (no idea how, given how 'fruity' his diet is) and the aftermath of that was days of 5-8 green poohs (just starting to ease off) I wonder now if it was actually a tummy bug he had, but there was no sickness and he was more or less himself (just with the lack of sleep and extra poohs). Ah well, fingers crossed it's gone now!

I'm also with you on the sleep regression (or rather the rewriting of sleep by hamish). He slept so well from weeks 9-20 but since week 20 it's been downhill with the odd peak that reminds you how well he used to do (rubbing it in!). I can't believe he'll be 8 months on the 31 January - where has all the time gone??? Hamish still hasn't even attempted rolling (lazy wee tyke that he is) but he is obsessed with standing and was even, cheekily, trying to put one foot in front of the other yesterday (I keep telling him he's a baby and he should really focus on rolling and crawling first (neither of which he can do) but it's in one ear, out the other )

sea so glad to see you hear and hoping to hear good things from your soon to be scan :-) Sorry that Mr Sea has vetoed the cat idea. We got our cats 3 days before my BFP (I had more or less given up on a human sibling for DS1 so figured we'd get him some furry ones instead) - not ideal (especially with the mornign sickness, the smell of cat litter in the morning from two cats to an oversensitive nose was not great..).

There can be issues with toxomplasmosis and cat litter but it's very rare and easily resolved (In my case Mr E changed all the cat litter during my pregnancy - and that task has just sort of stuck now, so I've not changed a litter tray for over a year and of course, now our cats go outdoors there's little to change generally). As long as you don't touch the pooh (which you never do when changing cat litter as you use a tool to scrape it out) and wash your hands thoroughly there's no problem. Still, I can see why you'd want to avoid any kind of risk (and I have to say, if I thought I was going to be pregnant I'd have waited to get the cats until a few months after the baby was born, just because the morning sickness was so debilitating).

sar totally agree with lemons about getting family to help out with chores - my sister used to come up to visit for the afternoon and she'd bring lunch and clean our bathroom and basically offer to do any household chores that needed done, it was great! Far better than relatives that turn up, expect you to hand your baby to them while you then provide them with a catering service... Remember, it's your baby, members of your family may well have had their own children, that was their chance for a million baby snuggles - this is your turn, don't feel guilty, they should feel guilty for trying to 'steal' your newborn time, it passes so quickly.

lemons great news on a good scan and a little boy on the way too? Clearly I'm completely biased, but baby boys are adorable (and you don't have to dress them in pink i hate pink - result . And I found the second half of pregnancy just flew by (unlike the first glacial 20 weeks...)

teu I hope Mr Teu made a decent effort of the dinner (and didn't scupper it so you won't 'persuade' him to do it again :-) How is Adair getting on? Is he 4 months now?

buzzy hoping everything is going well and your baby has (already) arrived safely, but I know inductions can take longer than you hope at times - fingers crossed for you.

doll I hope the doll family are doing well?

princess your little girl is so gorgeous - how are you find the crawling stage? Is she starting to pick up speed yet or are you still able to keep up :-)

euro and free so so pleased to have you over here and keeping all fingers and toes crossed that your pregnancies run smoothly - so nice to have lots of new grads.

Well, my master appears to have woken (or maybe he's just crying out on the monitor to lure me upstairs, so that when I get there, he's lying still with his eyes shut (he does that a lot), but best check - many many waves to mellow, gin and anyone else I've not managed to name check (I'm rubbish!)

Morning all :)

Buzz thinking about you lots. Can't wait to hear the news xxx

Ele and Art sympathies on the poo and sleep front. I offer super strong coffee for you and corks for the children

Sar dear god, you poor thing! I hope that you are recovering from the illness! And I wholly sympathise with the family stuff. Maybe take a week off and tell everyone you and mr Sar are having a week with just the 3 of you. Rest, re-group, enjoy mini Sar and re-strategise! We've got some unpleasant discussions to have and they all revolve around photos and sodding facebook and me being "overly sensitive". And we also get the, I haven't seen the baby for ageeeees from mil all.the.time. They are here at least once a fortnight . I'm basically trying to work on having warm feelings for the oils as I've been told I create a horrid atmosphere when they're here. Sigh. mutters of course it's all my fault

This is just a quick one before mini princess wakes... We're most Mediterranean in this house! I can't leave her as she's fallen off the bed twice, her little bike and is generally hurling herself around with gusto. She's got the hang of crawling and finding anything that isn't baby friendly. She's fast and furious with it! It's exhausting but hilarious too. Yesterday's big triumph was finding a box of tissues and pulling them out one by one, climbing up to look in the washing machine and aiming for Mr P's drill box when he was doing some DIY! We've put baby gates in to block the kitchen and hallway (effectively turning our front room into a cage) which hasn't gone down well. She pulls herself up on the kitchen gate if I'm on the other side and screams at me.

Waves and hugs all round xxxx

Saw Buzzy on t'other place. Yay! Congrats again.
lemons Are you having a boy? I was starting to feel all left out being the only one with a boy (of the current set of littlies). I second eleth, boys are pretty cool. Wasn't convinced initially but now see that you can probably avoid the ear piercing, make up wearing conversations. Mind you mini Teu likes to begin the day with a good farting session like Hamish.
Mini teu seems to have hit sleep regression too. Bit of a shock because he's always been really good. Wakes every 3 hours just now.
princess, sar we have weekly skype sessions with the grandparents. They get their fix; we know when it's going to be required.
eleth dinner was fine. Mini teu is 5 months now. Rolling, sitting, needs to learn how to get between the floor and sitting. Wants to go forward but hasn't figured it out (just as well the house isn't proofed yet!)
Right, one handed typing while boy tries to add his bit. Waves.

Congrats buzz!

And yes, teu there is definitely a boy in there. I am quite excited even though I really don't care what it is, as long as it comes out safe and sound. It somehow makes it easier to imagine, with six nephews in my life already!

Congratulations Buzzy! (is it a boy or a girl - being a luddite, I'm not on 'tother' place where all the good stuff happens first :-D Hope you and mini-bee are both doing well and it wasn't too traumatic.

teu sleep regression is pants - although like art says the fear is that it's not actually regression but a permanent feature (DS1 had sleep regression at 4 months and he was 2.5 yrs before he was sleeping through every night - I hope better things from Hamish though (please!!!)

The thing I hate most just now is Hamish is waking up at 9:30pm and not going back down until just after midnight - it is hard being up at those hours again when you got used to sleeping then. We think it's his teeth (his gums look bursting with a million of the blighters just now) but not sure why they bother him then but not during the day (DS1 didn't cut a tooth until he was 11 months (and was never bothered by it) so we're completely new at this baby teething thingy.

Mini teu sounds like a proper little champion, rolling and sitting already (puts Hamish to shame). If you're holding him on your knee or standing, and he decides he wants to be somewhere, Hamish just launches himself at the place he wants to be (in some sort of blind faith that you'll catch him to make sure he doesn't get hurt - either that or he's an adrenalin junkie at a young age and just doesn't care... either way, there is much face planting!

Six nephews lemons? Wow, your little lemon is going to have a whale of a time with all those older cousins (they'll be leading him astray in no time!)

I've just seen the news! Congrats buzzy! She's beautiful and such a lovely name too. hope all went well and you are feeling ok xxx

Congrats Buzzy! A little girl. How lovely!
How do you feel?

Congrats buzzy hope all going well. I'd love some more details - I'm not on Facebook either!
Miniteu is amazing - babyM is about 6 weeks older and is neither sitting nor actively rolling. He can roll, but doesn't bother.. lazy boy! miniPrincess also sounds very active- I guess it is all ahead of us!
ele Baby M was a good sleeper between about 18-22 weeks and since then taunts us with it… Colds, teeth etc have affected it (or it was a fluke back then!)
art weaning is fun, babyM is very enthusiastic messy but I'm not convinced there are that many calories going in. We'll see at his next weigh in
We are very happy with our boy lemon although would have been delighted either way. now I can't imagine a girl!

Hey ladies just a quicie from me but will be back, the birth was fucking awful, I shall copy and paste later my story, but never again will I be induced so early, I think vag births are over rated, but I do have my amazing little girl who is perfect, coming home has been a change as she was so contented in the hospital and easy to look after, the change in scenery did not go down well, we were both a bit at actually having to pacify a screaming baby, I am sitting here topless writing this as I find it easier for the boob management, she hates them by the way, at least 6 different people tried to get her on but she isn't haven't any of it, so I am trying to express, day 4 today and they hurt like hell, I shall be back when things settle, thanks for all the well wishes :)

Congrats buzz! She is gorgeous, and you looked wonderful in the photo on t'other place. Ouch for the boobs. I have a morbid curiosity to read the birth story when you are ready.

ok this is my story, I hope it doesn't put you off euro I knew it would hurt and I knew it would take a while as I was being induced, but I know when I had the failed sweep it wasn't going to be good, my bump was really high and so was my cervix, she and my body were just not ready for birth, I think if it happens naturally then it i better as it actually your hormones doing the work not the fake stuff, I wasn't expecting it to be easy but I had no idea that the pushing would exhaust me, I remember that more than the contractions

I have to say induction and birth were horrendous, first the car wouldn't start, so we caught the bus, they started the induction around 10.30ish, my cervix was high and closed, putting in the pessary was uncomfortable, after 12 hours I asked for a examination, she couldn't actually reach my cervix. 3 hours later after contractions every 2 mins lasting 40 seconds, i measured 1 cm, the constant touching of the pessary was painful, I had some pethidin, that made me feel queer and throw up, never again but that is all they have until you are in established labour, ie 4 cms, 2 hours later I was begging for an epidural and to go upstairs, my waters were leaking, I actually thought I was wetting myself at first, I was finally 5 cm, contractions hurt and took my breath away like they are supposed to. They took me up, while the midwives handed over I just helped myself to the gas and air, my water broke with the next contractions, I called Luke to come back to the hospital at 05.30, I was high on gas and air and kept asking for an epidural, they put in the cannula then told me that there was an emergency so might not happen, of course it never did but there were a few emergencies that night, I was the only one in the labour suite who didn't have a c section.

I had a lovely midwife and a first year student who were great, the next few hours were lost in a gas/air haze, they examined me and said that I was ready to push about 9.ish, I honestly thought that would be easier than the contractions and would take 30 mins or so, it was bloody hard, my contractions became less and less so we lost momentum, I am still begging for an epidural, I was exhausted and in agony,I was crowning, the 2 midwives both pulled up a chair round my nether regions as I was now in the stirrups, talk about a front row seat, they asked Luke if he wanted to see so he had a look and told me it looked 'manky' then a DR came in and wanted to check which way she was facing so stuck her fingers up me, I bloody well yelled back, Luke said he had never seen me yell like that before, fucking painful does not cover it, I would have ripped her fucking hand off if I could have, anyway it was decided that my bladder was too full but couldn't be emptied and I had really worked my kagels well so they offered me an episiotomy which I was grateful for, anyway I finally managed to push her out while screaming alot I didn't know I could scream like that to be honest, surprisingly didnt swear at all and saying i couldn't do it while hyperventilating on the gas/air.

Luke was great but got my nerves when he kept repeating what the midwife said, i told them i only need instructions from one person, he said he was worried at the end as i was so exhausted, the oxytocin wasn't helping with the contractions. Bless him, as i pushed her out i was saying i can't i can't , he is like 'she is here she is here', REALLY i hadn't noticed that i had finally pushed her out my body, Luke held her for an hour as they took that much time to sort me out with stitches etc. Its also a messy business with the fluids and blood etc and OMG how big is the placenta, it was luike giving birth to a half size baby.

Anyway I shall never be induced again, I think I would have preferred a c section as they didn't give the epidural BUT all worth it.

The care was excellent, the midwives were great

Wow buzzy what a great description of your birth - I actually feel like I was there with you!

Sorry it was a pretty intense fecking painful experience but how amazing that you now have a little girl :-)

Sorry about the boobs thing too, bfeeding might still be possible (maybe?). My friend didn't bfeed for the first week, but went back to midwifes at midwife led centre and they supported her for the full day and managed to get her daughter latched on and she went on to bfeed for 6 months (the old NHS postcode lottery at work I feel).

Some babies just don't latch though (especially if they're a bit early), kudos on the expressing (I always think that's the most difficult path and have tremendous respect for women who succeed at it) for some reason pumping always made me feel faint (no idea why!)

It is a messy business - when Hamish was born and I turned round to look at the midwives, they both had blood spatter all over their faces (looked like a scene out of MASH :-D

Many many congratulations on your little girl - what a lovely end to a long long journey.

ele I at the blood spattered midwives, I now know why people always go on about towels

I'm not giving up on the boobies yet, I'm going to a clinic tomorrow, the MW today suggested nipple sheilds as maybe my nipple doesn't reach the spot in her mouth and she is used to teats on bottles, expressing is a bit time consuming so would prefer just get the boob out and this is only day 4

sorry the story was so epic, its good to get it out

buzz you are proper hardcore to manage to get through induction without an epidural! I think it can be cathartic to tell a story like that. Thanks for sharing and I hope it helped you too. I hope you have success with the boobies soon.

Ele blood spattered midwives? Blimey. I know a sister of a friend had an unplanned, unassisted home birth and ended up with a patch of blood on the bedroom wall and had to redecorate.

Buzz what a story. Well done you for getting through it. Good on you for persevering with the boobies. We really struggled with BFing at first, for about the first 6 weeks on and off, but with help from the baby cafe people it worked out and got to the point where Mini A would accept no substitute. I hope you, Mr B and Kayla are enjoying getting to know Minibee though it is all crazy at first and carries on being crazy, just when you think you have it figured out they go and change.

I had a similar scenario with induction, struggled to cope and wanted an epidural but there were no anaesthetists available by that point. Any of you ladies yet to drop, if you know you want the epidural and end up being induced I'd suggest asking for it when they put the drip in. In retrospect I'm happy I didn't have one but I didn't feel that way at the time. I was unprepared for the bloodbath too. As they stitched me up I was shocked to see the amount of blood soaked sheeting being bundled away. Now I know that they got the cleaning lady in to stitch me up and the midwives to clear away the mess

Waves to all, we are still slaves to the tiny insomniac so I need to go to bed, but will be back soon probably at 3am

Gosh buzz what a story! Well done you - it does all fade with time, I promise! And hopefully the feeding will fall into place - I too had difficulties for about 6-8 weeks and now like art can't get babyM to take a bottle! So annoying! I found breastfeeding cafe, la leche and some amazing community midwifes and kellymom website helpful. I read it ALL. At the end of the day though, it is only milk, and formula is not the work of the devil and when she is a toddler/teenager etc it won't matter a damn how she was fed for the first few months of her life.
Thousands the world over are formula fed with no ill effects.

Crikey buzzy. Glad everyone is ok. I'm beginning to think I'm weird (MrTeu always says I am). I didn't think induction was that bad, yes the contractions hurt and I swore, but I distinctly remember when I got my breathing under control thinking "this really isn't that bad". Just at the end I was thinking I might need pain relief beyond the 2 paracetamol I'd had but the decision was taken from me as miniTeu had to come out NOW. Guess it's the variety of life. Re: bfing, if you can wear a bra it will help with the big boobs, constrains them a bit. The early days of bfing were the pits, sensitive nipples do not mix well with bfing. Keep going it will get better, and if things don't gel, don't beat yourself up. MrsM said it nicely. Don't know if that makes any sense. Have they checked her for tongue-tie or lip-tie? Can make it difficult for them to latch.
I'm blissfully unaware of the bloodbath, all I know is there were lots of Moli sheets changed regularly by one nurse or another .
Bed is calling. He'll be up soon for the first of 3 feeds - we're back to every 3 hours at the mo. Waves to all.