DECEMBER 2011 the final countdown (in honour of OI)

[kri5ty]

Sorry for the new thread and crap name but i needed to start one oi how are you doing good luck xxx

I have fallen off the face of MN for a week or so and have loadsss to catch up on! I have been busy doing coursework and seriously nesting!!

PGP is awful, to the point of making me cry, finally got a pyshio app, but not for another 2 weeks :( doesnt seem much point. OH continues not to even attempt a massage if i ask and rolls his eyes.

Been having really bad shooting pains that take my breath away, but seems as though baby is head down (and very low) im guessing its a nerve he is on.

Very strange and TMI... but earlier (when i went to the toilet) i could feel what felt like the head bulging on the outside, through my lady garden lol... freaked me out!!

Good luck oi !! Fingers crossed

tye glad you took the sick advice!!

Morning all (and good luck Cheep for today!).

Does anyone know much about swaddling? I didn't do it for DS, but have been bought a swaddlepod(?) as a present for the bump. With a newborn, I remember DS being wrapped in (what seemed like) loads of layers of blankets by the MWs whilst still in hospital. If I use this pod (it's quite thin), should I use it every time I put the baby down to sleep (i.e. at first, pretty much all the time), or only at bedtime in the evenings? If you do use it for all sleeps, then how? e.g. if the baby falls asleep at the breast, do you then wrap them up again before putting them back in the cot? If they're asleep and you're having a cuddle with them, do you leave them out of the wrap? Presumably if you do use these swaddlepods then you have to remove a layer or two from their bedding, so I guess they can't be used at the same time as sleeping bags? How long did you swaddle for?

Oh, another question about bedding (sorry, have been having bad nights sleep myself recently, between the spd and feeling like I need a crane to help me turn over during the night, and indigestion, which seems to hit about 11.30 for a couple of hours, so I'm slightly obsessed with sleep at the moment!) - you know there are recommendations over the numbers of layers of bedding required according to the temperature of the room - what temperature do you take? Our room temp stays at 21 until about 10 pm, then it goes down overnight until the heating comes back on at 6 am. I'm not sure how low it goes (I'll have to check it during my next nighttime interruptions), but should I wrap the baby for the night based on a temp of 21 C, then if necessary add another layer after a nighttime feed?

Hope you all have good days - I'm starting antenatal classes today - so far my MW has mentioned absolutely nothing other than checking bp/urine/baby heartbeat and fundal height. Maybe I'm expected to remember everything already from ds, but my excuse is that was 4 years ago, sometimes lately I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday!

All this talk of alcohol and cake mix - yum! We've already got a good bottle of port in ready for Christmas, and we'll make our Christmas cake this weekend, to give it lots of time for 'maturing' (euphemism for liberal applications of alcohol!)

It will presumably depend on how the steam effects the plastic? Might be worth doing just one and seeing how it all distorts? If it warps and becomes unusable you'll know to do the rest in Milton:(

wheels Most of my friends made their cakes at the end of September to allow plenty of resting and feeding time:o

Hope today goes well cheep

I am no expert wheels but judging from my antenatal class, a vest, babygro and swaddle blanket is plenty, you don't want the baby to overheat. If your room is going to get really cold, another layer is good, maybe a cardigan? The midwife also told us to check the baby's temp by feeling its body, not its head or hands which will be colder and that's fine for them to be. You don't swaddle and use a sleep bag, it's either or. I think swaddling is for when they are very small and don't like their arms flailing about (up to 8 weeks) but she also said that while some babies really like it, others hate it. She said not to swaddle in a too thick blanket, I was going to use a cellular blanket but she seemed to think it was too warm? I am not sure now, our heating also goes off during the night so I am not sure whether to use a cotton sheet or what now ...

Wheels I swaddled DD using just a blanket, as she had a vest & baby gro on.

LMF yeah might test one and see how it goes.

For checking temperature, the back of the neck works well, usually without disturbing baby too much!

Morning. Good luck today cheep.

BH are strong today...giving me nasty back pain. I know everyone says you'll know when you're in labour but how different are real contractions from BH? Is it something you just have to experience to understand I know BH can disappear completely if you can find the right position; is that the difference?

Honey I thought BH were supposed to be pain free? Is that not the case? I haven't had any at all so don't know ... how many weeks are you?

Honey Mopsy My experience of BH are they are very uncomfortable and sometimes sharp pains but not everyone feels them.

I'm currently sterilising Breast milk pots so I can start expressing
DP is working from home today and is making sure I'm resting bless him x

That's what I thought mopsy but apparently that's not true for everyone :( I'm 37 wks tomorrow.

Morning!

honey, BH are irregular in nature and don't get closer together over time. They are often stimulated by activity: if I walk fast or go up a hill I get them.

"true" contractions have big variations between mums, but generally they start gentle, get stronger and longer and closer together, and really take your breath away when they get going. They occur no matter what you do (so resting doesnt take them off) and become incteasingly intrusive.

Both sorts feel worse if you are anxious/stressed!

wheels, I swadded the DDs and plan to do so again this time:
If you have a "comfortable" room (18-21 degrees ish), then all you need is vest, sleepsuit and a cot sheet to swaddle them with a single cellular blanket layer to tuck them in to the moses basket /cot. If you use a
Blanket/swaddlepod to do the swaddling then no extra top sheet is needed. Never put a hat on a sleeping baby whether they are swaddled or not (this applies to babies over 36 weeks, prem babies have special SCBU rules when they are tiny).

We found both DDs slept twice as long when swaddled as it stops baby hitting themself in the face while asleep and waking up: they find the swaddling comforting as it's like being continuously cuddled for them. That's also why most babies like baby slings.

And this morning Widget is doing trampolining or something. I'd better get off my bottom and do some housework so that the activity puts him back to sleep!

Hope it all goes well today cheep!

Had a great mw appointment, fundal height is 34 baby is head down! yay! She couldn't get blood out of me though, but is happy with my iron levels anyway given that for the last 6 years I have been pregnant or bfing or both. I'm rewarding myself with chocolate and a cuppa.

For me, contractions feel like a big wave (of sensation, not pain!) they require attention. BH are painful and feel like a squeeze round my uterus, and they bugger off if I stop moving!

Thanks aethel, mopsy and darciesmum - what age were your dcs when you stopped swaddling? Did you stop gradually (e.g. keeping arms swaddled but not legs or vice-versa), or stop all in one go?

I'm loving being on ML - it gives me time to actually post on MN (rather than my working routine of quickly checking it at lunchtime, but with no time to post). Unfortunately I'd better get around to actually doing something else now, as I've been online (ordering final Christmas presents) since the school run this morning.

MsBuggy good that your MW appt went well. I forget how many weeks are you?

Wheels I gradually stopped with DD. by 8mths old she was in a toddler bed as she liked and still does like space at night time.

I'm going to try and express some milk now as sterilized the pot.

I'm 34+5.

However...mw has just rang me as someone in the waiting room had shingles! I'm immune, but neither of the girls has had it! Argh! I could really do without then getting chickenpox!

oh no - be on alert for next 7 days now!

Thanks aethel & msbuggy think I prefer the sound of more regular contractions as these BH seem to have no end...sure I'll take that back in a couple of weeks Really took my breath away last night, they usually just cause back pain which is bad enough but I had shooting pains in lower bump too which were horrible.

Oh no msbuggy :( This is exactly why I hate going to dr's surgery/hospital...I know it's not cost effective to see us all at home but they should be seeing pregnant women in completely separate clinics. Thank goodness you're immune.

Today has been spannered due to finding hitchhikers in the hair of my daughter. Hedrin on to kill the adults, after tea will see the epic wet combing session >_<

Remind me again why I tolerate her keeping her hair so long?!

I am getting really bad pains in my lower left and/or right bump (sort of underneath the bump at the side). They only last a few minutes, but are so bad for a minute or two each time that I literally can't move. Is that round ligament pain? I am presuming it is. Not worried about it at all, just wondered if anyone experiencing similar?

Mopsy might be where baby is moving down and getting comfortable. hopefully it won't last long.

sorry for TMI but I managed to express some BM using that technique you said about Msbuggy chuffed moment lol

LMF my DD gets them alot costs me a fortune in stuff every half term really annoys me that other parents just don't care!

darcies great!

The marmet technique is fantastic, they don't always teach it in hospitals though...worth looking up in case anyone needs to express!

DP looked quite lol. said why don't I just BF - it's not like he has to do it! I just can't get my head around having a child latched onto me.