December 2011:Once we pop, we just can't stop

[OiMissus]

Here's the new thread!
Squee-eeze those muscles, or squee-ee-eeeze those babies out!

cheep great that you're home! Re latch...watch Hope's ears/temple while she is actively feeding, if you can see her ear wiggle or the muscle in her temple moving it is a good sign that she is latched on well. Ace that you didn't tear much, especially as she came quickly!

DD2 seems lots better now, she has eaten 2 giant bowls of muesli. Hope she isn't sick again, we have such a good weekend planned!

It was our first night at home last night and she did great sleeped mostly wake up 4 times to feed and i feed her in bed laying down so it was ok and she had one poo and two wee's so she is getting milk and crying for her feeds, so she is doing good. (I'm concerned about her getting jandish)

Air had a lot of tears when i came home and was very tired. He just wants to stroke and kiss the baby and give her cars to play with and then cried as she is too small to play with him yet

He is finding it hard but i'm sure he will settle down soon, i'm just feeling bad that i can't help him more. He is playing up a bit wanting attention and we still have to tell him off and it makes me feel like i'm a bad mum

I will try to put a photo on profile in a mo.

Sorry everyone is suffering the aches and insomnia. I was getting lot sof contractions last night, but they all went away after I came downstairs to consult my notes about "when to ring the hospital". Good thing too, though, as DH was having a lovely snore, and this morning seemed surprised to hear of the night's non-events!
msbaublestwinkle, hope the DDs get their sickiness out of the way before the baby comes!

Looks like you have a new nickname for your baby, Darcies (although it feels a bit weird to call you by such a nickname, too!). Snowball is lovely, especially given that even the skinniest of our babies is going to be all puffy in snowsuits all winter!

Congrats, kri5ty! I hope you're enjoying the release of all those anxieties. Is your vertigo gone, or have you not been upright enough to tell?

Good morning, sotired and hello today to babysotired!

Oi, You will have to name your gingerbaby "bob", for this yo-yoing!

Hope your blood pressure stays under control, itsybity!

PullyWoolOver, my only suggestion so far is a boring ChristmasPullyWoolOver, or is the joke about its boringness (and that of a Christmas pullover) too subtle? I like Oi's ReindeerPully best.

RE: feeding, her ears are moving, she is getting milk its just me not getting enough boob in her mouth so she ends up sucking on nipple and that makes the blisters. She only has a small motuth and i have a big nipple so its taking some pratice to get it right

Its day 6 today so when mw gets here she will be weighed and i'm hoping that she has lossed less than 10% as she is really good at feeding. It feels better this time as i know what i'm doing.

I'm still scared i will get pnd but as i'm still on the meds i hope it will not happen but i'm scared of feeling too happy just incase i then feel really down! I just need to relax a bit and sleep.

Hi girls thanks for all the messages I haven't had chance to catch up yet on everything!

I'm being allowed home today... I am sick of this place! So I lied to the doc about how I was feeling lol, I will recover better at home, and Im already feeling pretty bad as I haven't bonded :( as I can't even hold, let alone feed or change him

I went in to labour on the Sunday when I posted, and was having contractions at night (back contractions), then on Monday I knew it was labour, went in to hospital 3pm ish Monday, and was 2cm... that's when they sent me to the infamous canteen! I felt stupid as I was stood up over a table bracing every contraction! Then they sent me for a bath which really helped.. I didn't get sent home as I was booked for an early epidural, as soon as I was 4cm they gave it to me... 15 hours of epidural top ups later I had to be rushed to surgery for a spinal block, luckily I was 10cm by then so they gave me an episiotemy and forceps (rather than a section)... 24 hours of labour in hospital and Saul was born! Plus the 24 hours at home.

For those of you worried about stitches I have found they aren't that painful at all (and I have a lot!) You just have to remember to not sit directly on them or use a ring to sit in!

Dan is great, a natural ... he has had to do everything. I think seeing what I went through scared him and he is really looking after me!!

Ooo now time for for my lovely super strong drugs!

Cheep - nice to hear you're home now (sounds like the hosp faffed you about staying in longer than you needed) and things going well. The cry you had the other day is reminding me of my day 4/5 last time round, think it's normal as the milk is coming in and hormones are all over the place.

Sorry, missed some posts when MN went offline!

Congratulations, cheep. It's brilliant that you have so many positives to dwell on, and memories to keep, and you will get past the regrets -after all, they are short-term things like crying (already finished), not being able to go home (you are out now), injections (won't last forever)... Get some sleep and cuddle both your babies! (P.S. I had to laugh at Air wanting to give H a car - it's what DS wants to give your baby for Xmas, too! Poor babies! )

Hope you are not too uncomfortable, Honey!

P.S. NorthernChinchilla, I can only think of NorthernChillaWinter or NorthernChinchillyWinter?

kri5ty, have just seen that Dan has come up trumps - hurray!

Plu Thanks, Although I feel like a big huge snowman at the moment lol.

Kri5ty Hope once you get home you'll feel better :)

DD new Hello Kitty double duvet set arrived just now, so will be getting that in the wash so that can go on her bed tonight - not sure why i've treated her mind you after her defiant behaviour but she always gets a new one ready for xmas.

Glad you're heading home Kristy, sounds like you had an eventful time but happy everything is good now and Dan is being a star!

Sounds like you're doing well too Cheep

Hope everyone else is relaxing and we have some more news soon. I had asked baby to make an appearance today but doesn't look like it, although I can't stop being sick this morning...sign of some action or just blimin hormones?!

Oh and sorry for lack of christmassy name, I have no imagination at the mo!

Photo now on profile

Glad you heading home Kristy - it feels like its a prison sometimes and you have to fight to get out! Unless its just like that in the hospital by me!

Welcome home cheep, lovely photos. Good to hear you'll be home soon too kri5ty and that Dan is being so good.

Saw yet another MW covering for my normal one today. Her noted just say 'all well. Awaiting events' ! Baby isn't engaged yet, as I thought, but is 'on the brim'. It really bloody hurt when she was feeling around the head though. I'm booked in for a sweep on 15th when I'll be 40 + 5 if no sign of baby by then. The sex, curry and pineapple diet starts here

Cheep Your children are gorgeous :)

awwwwwww cheep she is gorgeous! Such squishable cheeks!

Awww cheep she has such chubby little cheeks...soooo cute :)

kri5ty glad to hear Dan is looking after you & generally being such a star.

So great to hear more from the other side - cheep the pics are gorgeous! Hope it's lovely being home kri5ty and you and Saul are doing well.

Come on out tinselbaby, you recalcitrant little bugger...we want to meet you (and find out if you're a boy or a girl!!)

I have nothing more to report other than the period-like aches continuing - they don't seem to start and stop at regular times though so I have given up trying to track them. Though our lovely cleaner arrived this morning and said "WOW! that baby has dropped about a foot!" so clearly there is a visible change since this time last week!! If nothing happens before Tuesday I'll be having a sweep (will be 40+3 by then).

My mother is somehow convinced that since the baby will arrive no earlier than its EDD on Saturday, I should jump on the train and come into London for lunch with her today and tomorrow, since she came out here yesterday. When I said "um I don't think that's a good idea" she said I couldn't be precious about it and needed to keep exercising and not just laze around I need to write down how I'm feeling now so if I ever have a daughter I won't have amnesia about what it's like to be 40 weeks pregnant!

She also told me to stop sighing on the phone because I was "milking it" like her mother (my grandmother) used to do. In fact I was trying to catch my breath as I feel like my lungs are crunched up somewhere near my collarbones!!

benny how about bennybaublebear or Blitzenbenbear? (bennyblitzenbear?)

Loving bennybaublebear thanks tinsel I will change when I'm on the laptop later! And can catch up on all the pics

Lost a big post this morning when Mn went offline. Grrrr.

However, loving the updates since then. Baby photos are beautiful Cheep. Congrats Kri5ty - hope you get out of hospital soon and get some lovely bonding time.

Tinsel that is really harsh! Milking it - completely ridiculous. I hope you were suitably caustic in your response.

I'm generally fed up with all the false starts at the mo - keep getting cramps and BHs (which I guess is a good sign) but just feel like my body doesn't know what to do next! EDD is Sat - up at hospital next Wed for a sweep if nothing has happened by then. Come on baby....

Wonderful photos cheep. My nickname for my little sis when I saw her for the second time after she was born was 'pumpkin' (unfortunately for her it's stuck, and she's now 14), as it was not only Hallowe'en but she looked like she had a pumpkin in her mouth as her cheeks were soooo wonderfully chubby and pinchable, and your LO makes me think of her.

kri5ty, so glad to hear you're heading home now, and you'll inevitably feel better once in your own, comfortable surroundings. Hope you're now enjoying the kick ass drugs and are in a fluffy little world of your own....
And you will bond with him- best thing you can do is not beat yourself up and try and 'force' yourself to feel something.

Thanks for the suggestions pludolph- seems all your names really lend themselves to Xmas alternatives!

Just sitting here waiting for the HV to arrive, be interested to see how this goes.

I'm a mess, just been cleaning the bathroom, came into the front room to find my big black cat grooming himself while lounging in the baby car seat & I lost the plot! I had just managed to get the bloody covers back on after washing them which is why I'd stupidly left it in easy reach. :(

I'm not crazy, am I? I need to take the covers off & wash them again, don't I? Just called DP in floods of tears & he said not to worry about it as we have a house full of animals & it's not that bad but that's just made me feel worse. Am I being over zealous or just fighting a losing battle? He's an outdoor cat & we live in the countryside, he could have worms or have walked through any number of nasty things. I love my cats & will kiss & cuddle them but I'm always aware that the closest to clean they ever get is to be covered in their own spit I'm finding it hard to think straight as nesting instinct has gone into overdrive...I've been washing my walls down with bleach all morning Help!

Hoover the seat put and give it a swish out with antibacterial wipes. If you feel you have to wash them wash thm, but have a cuppa first. Hormonal is normal!

Lots of pompom waving and welcome backs to kir5ty and cheep

Sorry being brief. Am actually a zombie. Off to find a sandwich some brains now

Honey - step away from the baby stuff right now and take a deep breath... As you rightly say, you live in the countryside and have cats - there will be mess and a few germs. And whats wrong with that?
I think its perfectly healthy and normal to have cats (and cat hairs!) near the baby gear. The babe will have to get used to it at some point and if you set yourself stringent cleaning goals now you will forever be playing catch up.

I have had a bit of a shocker of a morning. Went to my midwife appointment and the (very lovely) midwife said she thought the baby was breech and I needed to go to the hospital staright away so they could be sure and, if so, schedule me for a CS tomorrow (my due date). I must have looked TOTALLY as she was really nice to me. So I beavered away to the hospital on the verge of slight panic but managed to hold it together...they gave me a quick scan and said it was definitely head down. Thank goodness! Now theres an issue with the growth of the baby - seems to have shrunk and be really tiny so i have to go back for another growth scan later this afternoon and check whats what. So its been a bit of a rollercoaster day all in all. Luckily DH is coming home to take me to the hospital. Feel a bit :( facing all on my own so very pleased.

Kri5ty and Cheep - great birth stories! Thanks for popping back to share your news with us still on the bus.

honey to reassure you about the cats...

"A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association put that risk in doubt. The study, Exposure to dogs and cats in the first year of life and risk of allergic sensitization at 6 to 7 years of age1, concluded that having two or more dogs or cats around during the first year of life actually decreased a child's chances of developing allergies.

In this study, 474 full term babies were followed until they were 6-7 years old, at which time they underwent skin testing to see if they were allergic to common things, such as dust mites, dogs, cats, ragweed, and blue grass. Surprisingly, 33% of children with no exposure to animals and 34% of children with only one dog or cat tested positive on their allergy skin tests, but only 15% of the children with 2 or more dogs or cats had allergies.

So children with 2 or more dogs or cats had a little more than 50% less chance of developing allergies later in life."

Apparently I need to get another cat...wonder how that will go down with DP!

My goodness mouse, what a crazy day so far - sending you good vibes for the growth scan this afternoon. I hope you and your DH can grab a nice hot choc or something together after it's over - it's lovely he was able to come home and you're going in as a team.

Honey don't be sad, I haven't even washed any of the car seat covers because I wouldn't know how to get them off and then back on after washing. And the car seat is out in the garage anyway, probably getting covered in mould and cobwebs

Quick question which I'm sure will sound ridiculous - I am sitting on the birth ball and when I do figure 8s or rock back and forth I can feel the baby moving in figure 8s or rocking along with my pelvis - I think this is because its head is so far down! Should I stop doing this and just bounce up and down instead? I don't want to hurt its head by twisting it in figure 8s against my pelvis somehow...

Hi girls, I haven't had chance to read through any messages, I hope everyone is ok!

I'm home now,as I lied to the doctor about how I was! I just need to be home as I'll recover quicker, which I need as I'm already feeling down as I haven't bonded at all, I can't hold him, pick him up, feed him, change his nappy.... nothing, Dan has had to do everything (and midwives at night), Dan is a natural... I think him seeing what happened to me he has had a shake up!

I went in to early labour on the Sunday early evening, and then at 3pm on Monday I went to hospital, I was 3cm dilated that's when they sent me to the infamous cafe! Where I was stood over a table with every contraction! Then I went for a bath... at 4cm I had an epidural (at midnight), and 15 hours of top ups later I was rushed to theatre for a spinal block. Luckily at that time I was 10 cm so they did an episiotemy, used forceps and 3 pushes later Saul was born at 16.12.... just over 24 hours of labour in hospital and the 24 hours at home... I have had a grand total of zero hours sleep since Saturday night!!

For those of you worrying about stitches, I find they don't hurt (a little un comfy), but they are ok!