Flying mattress graduates - dock here!

[festiemum]

Hey chaps! Here's the space for us to witter on incessantly about our pregnancies!

20 week scan today and it was soooo fantastic! I'll post some pics on my profile later. The sonographer wasn't 100% sure, but thought that it was probably a girl, due to lack of visible meat and two veg!

Hope everyone's doing well! xxx

Hello Ladies. Hope we are all well and managed to survive the snow and are getting through the thaw unscathed!!!

Disco and Count can't believe how close together your due dates are, that is amazing!! I wonder who will pop first??

Disco well done on putting one heck of a dent into that list of yours. Do you still think that the baby is transverse? I hope that he/she has moved into a more suitable position for you. Sorry that the nausea seems to have returned. Mine never really left so i can really sympathise with you. Glad that it's not preventing you from sleeping though :)

Rusulka can't believe they thought that LoTRs was over-stimulating!!! These people are unbelievable. Am making a note to myself to completely lie to these people if needs be, if only to save being treated like some naughty school girl. Hope you have managed to sort out the new sleepy times for Phoebe. Sounds like things are going well though. How's the bum ailment? Has that eased/healed at all?? You have been through the mill!!

Well all going well in pregnancy for me, but my general health is somewhat diminishing. Had no sleep at all last Thursday; awake all night with excrutiating pain in one of my teeth!! Went to the dentist first thing the next day and have been diagnosed with a dental abcsess. Just what i need. To make matters worse, my face has now swollen up, i am surviving on soup and bread and can barely talk!! Not having a good time of it at the moment. On top of that, I still have morning sickness, peeing like a racehorse all the time and completely shattered. Blood tests revealed I am also slightly anaemic. 9 weeks to go, wish due date was closer. Don't get me wrong, I am mega excited about meeting podgina, but after 13 months TTC and almost 7 and half months of misery, I am at my wits end!!!

We are opting for a home-birth as I am low risk and have bought most things (buggy, cot, crib, loads of nappies, bouncer, loads of clothes, gro-bags etc etc). Have joined so many clubs that give sample freebies away as well, so have a stock pile of stuff there too. Also have a hospital bag packed, just in case she decides to either come early or worse stil, late!!!

Finish work in 4 weeks though so looking forward to a bit of down time (taking my annual leave first then starting mat leave at 39 weeks). Cannot wait!!

Anyway, best go and make myself look presentable. Catch up soon :)

Hey ladies!

Disco boo hiss to the nausea! At least it will all be over soon, and you never know how things will turn out, you might not be the last!

Moo sorry to hear you are suffering with teeth. And they won't bloody do anything will they? Not general anaesthetic anyway... my mum had an abscess and they gave her antibiotics, but then she had to have the tooth out anyway. Not long to go, and it'll all be worth it in the end. Promise!!!

Phoebe's bedtimes are getting better. Up and feeding her by 0930 most days, and her last feed is done by 2130ish, so she's in bed by 2200. Spent the last week putting her straight into bed rather than getting her to sleep first, and that seems to be working out fine. I was too afraid to do that because at first she used to be sick if I laid her down while awake (reflux)... of course at the well baby clinic they reliably informed me that she was doing it on purpose so she could be cuddled to sleep instead. They really must think she's a manipulative monster, made me feel completely miserable (and it's so not true!)
Unfortunately everyone in that room was unfamiliar, it was a completely different team than I am used to- if it's always them, I might stop weighing her...

Was asked if I wanted to do a class for people with babies under 6 months by the class planner there- she said it would be about sharing experience and learning about what to expect next, then when the letter came through it says it's a parenting programme- do they think I'm incompetent? I feel like I'm being singled out for SPECIAL TREATMENT because of my 'wobble'. Sigh.

Moo you're totally right. Tell the truth about weight gain or difficulties with breastfeeding, or anything you're worried about and need advice on. But if you're getting on ok, then I've learnt I should really keep my mouth shut. I think really it's a case of nodding and smiling, and then doing what works for you. Realistically I knew her bedtime routine wasn't great, and I wanted her to be up earlier and in bed earlier in time for going to school, so I'm happy to try to adapt that now, especially if it means an earlier night for us. But we're reading the LOTR, I don't give a shit, DH thinks they haven't read it- it's not orcs and crap yelling every 5 minutes, for god's sake. I'd rather we read it now than give her nightmares about balrogs when she's 3, lol. And after this I'm reading His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, assuming that DH won't subject her to the Silmarillion! And then maybe we'll consider spot the dog... except knowing DH he'll try to slip in some Shakespeare.

As far as the old bum goes, you will be unsurprised to hear it is still going strong... Still an inch deep, still being cleaned and packed every day by DH. Had to see the other nurse last week for a second opinion, as my regular nurse says it should really have healed by now. It's been swabbed to check for infection (again) which might mean more antibiotics, other than that the only options are to change the dressing type to an iodine one to try and keep infection out, although it's more messy, or to be referred back to the hospital to see if I need more work done on it. The hole is now perfectly circular. It looks like a bullethole when I look in the mirror! I think it's healed as a hole, and the surface won't get better, god knows what's going on inside. It may all need to be chopped open again. Grr.
Phoebe has just gotten too big for the nappies in her my first swim kit which I optimistically bought before the bum issue. Now she's never going to get to use it. Feel really sad as I wanted to have her swimming regularly so she was never afraid of the water. Wah.

Meanwhile, garden update!!! (well, sort of)
I've done sod all. I have a squillion bulbs sat in the corner of the living room, and my tulips are sprouting so badly they look like birds heads with beaks! It's been too icky to sweep up leaves and weed the borders, and then it snowed so I couldn't get the buggers in anyway. Also my plum gage keeps blowing over and narrowly missing my unidentified apple tree, so I've taken its fleece cover off.

Phoebe is now nearly too big for her moses basket, so I shall have to move her cot into our room, and crack on with decorating hers... don't know if I can be arsed with the whole jungle thing now, but it would be a shame not to.

Moo and Disco and Count hope you have an easy-going, uneventful last few weeks with plenty of movements, little nausea, and lots of leaning forwards. You don't want a bum issue... or a back to back baby! I'm sure you'll all be fine though, you're all a lot less lazy than I am.

Hi everyone,

Moo, how is your tooth now? I do hope they can do something for you that actually is of any use. I've never had toothache but know it is supposed to be very hurty indeed! I've got five weeks to go and not feeling too bad but am still eager to have an outside baby rather than an inside baby now. I want my body back to myself, can't wait to lie on my tummy and run again!

Well done on the hospital bag as well, I haven't done mine yet. I have all the stuff for it but haven't yet packed it. I'm going to do it this weekend I think. My NCT friends are giving birth left right and centre and although they were ahead of me in weeks, it's still giving me a kick up the bum now I'm 35 weeks...

Glad to hear that Phoebe's sleep patterns are normalising a bit Rus, that's good to hear. But bad news about your bum. It's been a long time to have an unhealed wound. Did the swab reveal an infection? I hope you get it sorted soon, not being able to swim or have a bath must be a real pain.

I have a week and a half left at work. I typed up my handover notes today, that was exciting! I may put the poor guy off though as it's 1,750 words which is more than some essays. Ooops. Oh well, he can't say I didn't give him enough information! I've got the first NHS antenatal class tonight, will be interesting to compare and contrast with the NCT classes.

The nursery is now decorated and carpeted...just got to start moving stuff in there now, how exciting! To be honest though, I just want a few days to myself. The last 4 weekends have been totally taken up with NCT classes/people visiting and I really just want to slob out a bit now.

The midwife thinks the baby is still transverse (great) and if s/he hasn't moved by next week she is sending me for a scan. I don't want an ECV or caesarean . And as for spinning babies and different postures, I'm not sure I have any faith in them. I've yet to find a scientific study on the efficacy of these various 'cures' for malpositioning prior to labour. I know posture can make a big difference in labour but am not convinced about before that. Oh well, time will tell I suppose.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that baby'll move!

Hello everyone. Hope we are ok.

Disco did the midwife send you for a scan? Hope that the baby has decided to turn for you. Not long for you to go in work now :) i have 12 working days left (not that I am counting). Have you managed to make a start on the hospital bag yet? I did cheat a bit and got one that was almost ready to go - just needed to but some baby clothes in and towels etc but mostly everything else was in there. Well done on the nursery though. Ours still looks like a bomb went off in there and the border is still not up, although hoping my dear papa can do that this weekend when my parents come to stay.

Rusulka how is Phoebe getting on? Hope she is settling into a sensible sleeping pattern for you now.

Well my tooth is much better, antiobiotics did the trick and the pain and swelling have subsided, although i think the abscess is still there but have to wait until baby is born before they will do anything with it.

In pregnancy related news, like you Disco I am now ready for her to make an appearance in the world. Am only 32+2 but I am tired of being tired, nauseous, having to pee constantly (especially at night), and having horrendous heartburn. Have bought myself a birthing ball so planning to start bouncing on that and in 4 weeks i get to book my birth pool and collect my protective floor covering from B&Q. Have my homebirth workshop on Wednesday night as well, so looking forward to hearing some first hand stories and meeting some other pregnant ladies. It's all getting a bit real now and still sometimes can't believe that I made it this far :) :)

Any way - to Lil, Festie and Count hope you are all doing well.

Hey ladies!

Disco you must have finished work now. Woop woop! Enjoy the rest while you can, lol... and don't forget to lean forward!
Have you managed to get the stuff into the nursery yet? And how is baby doing position-wise? Hope things are falling into place for you.

Moo you must have nearly finished work too. Bet you can't wait. It's all one step closer to getting to the big day! Did your dad put the border up for you? Glad your tooth is better-ish. All this home birth stuff sounds exciting. I'd love to book one for myself for next time, but fully expect to have to be induced again...

In local news,

Phoebe's bedtimes aren't much improved, they're a little all over the place though I'm still managing to get up around 0900, and give her the last feed between 2100-2200. We then read for a bit in bed and she lies with me, which can drag on quite late if she's in a fidgety mood... Am going to try getting up at 0800 or 0830 if I can bear to drag myself out of bed, so she can have her last feed around 2000-ish.

Phoebe is now weighing 15lb 13oz as of last Wednesday, so a couple more pounds and she'll be too heavy for her bouncer. She's learned a new trick, where she braces her feet against the bottom and pushes herself up til her head is over the top- one violent kick and the whole thing goes over backwards, the monkey. Good thing she's so heavy, so she wa only a few inches off the floor when it all went up in the air, lol. Silly little bugger. May have to put the bouncer away already...
Checked the ages of her bebepod and was dismayed to find she could have been using it from 3 months. Grr. Oh well, she seems to like it now, and it'll fill the gap nicely now that she's also too big for her play gym (kicks the crap out of it) and not sitting up by herself or really rolling or crawling properly yet...
Her cot is now in our room, so she's poised ready to transfer from her moses basket, which we've put in the cot to get her used to it first. Have put the mobile over her that we got but when I tried to use it she just got really narked that she couldn't reach the toys, so looks like another wasted purchase there. Man, I am so annoyed!!!
Trouble is, once we'd bought all the stuff, anything that wasn't from birth onwards got put away, and then of course with a new baby you just forget about everything. Silly me.

The incredible babies parenting classes are going well, it's nice to talk to other mums with babies, and they're even letting us weigh them so we don't have to come back the next day, which is awesome. I'm not finding the topics particularly stimulating- it's nothing you can't google- but it's nice for Phoebe to play with other babies. She has a boyfriend already! Or at least, has let a baby boy suck her fingers, which I suppose is what passes for a relationship when you're only 5 months old, lol.

We're coming up on weaning now- and I have to say I'm in total meltdown over the whole thing, I haven't a clue what to do. I bought lots of nice tommee tippee explora spoons ready for purees, and I know you're supposed to wait til they're 6 months so their digestive system is fully developed, but then I was reading about baby led weaning and confused the hell out of myself- the current thing seems to be that if you wait til 6 months, you don't have to give them purees as they are old enough to feed themselves finger food. So I don't know if I should have started earlier with purees, or whether that would be doing her a disservice... she's more than ready for food- grabbing at ours, distracted by brightly coloured wrappers, trying to get my cups of tea, anything bottle-shaped, grabbing at meals, making chewing motions... and she can easily put things in her mouth. Can't believe I have to wait another 18 days to give her some solids, but I guess I've waited this long, I can wait a bit more.
Anyone got any experience with this? Her teeth are coming through at the bottom too.

In bum news, no, the bloody thing is still there, ffs. Had to go see a consultant at the hospital who said it didn't look like it was getting worse or developing secondary problems, so he was reluctant to do surgery, and to come back in a few months. He also said I'd been washing it wrong (!) and not to put the shower head actually on it, as I would disturb the granulation in the wound (oh ok, only following advice of every other medical professional who's told me to bloody well do that). Also he had a great big poke around in it with a metal probe and made it bleed a bit and I think he's torn it at the side... wah. Didn't think I'd still have this when Phoebe was nearly 6 months old. The nurse yesterday, who isn't my usual bum nurse, said it looked like it had healed a bit, so I'm still hopeful it will get its act together at some point. It's just really slow. Have more or less given up on washing it, and just wetwipe it every night before DH redresses it.

I'll finish on a lighter note- the other day we were sat watching TV and Phoebe was in DH's lap and she said 'howayoo'. I said 'I'm fine, thanks for asking' and then we both looked at each other and laughed and laughed. Needless to say she was completely oblivious.

Oh Disco - there must be something about our March babies as mines has not turned either!!! And I'm also getting threats of csection and them trying to turn baby!!!!!!!!!! Heard this is awful and painful!!!!!
Have scan tomorrow so I'm praying she has turned and all is good although I looked at the " spinning" footage on you tube but didn't hold out hope as I'm now 37 weeks and they were not this far gone!!!!
Sending turning vibes to you Disco!!!
(Right need to go back and read Rusulka update!)

Oh my gosh Rusulka has it been 5 months already! Wow your talking about weaning already time seems to if flew passed! But yes they do grow really fast!!! I'm surprised she got this far in Moses basket!
Sorry your not getting more positive news with the "bumgate" issues! It's amazing how these Drs are as its not them living with the aftermath!!!!
I was doing the baby led weaning and ds took to it well! Discovering what he likes and don't like is actually fun! Ohhhh are you going to make and mash up your own foods! Or buy those over priced bottles?
Glad your enjoying all the aspects of motherhood including baby chat!

Big hugs xxx

Oh god, why don't I learn my lesson and write my posts on Mumsnet in a word document? Bloody epic post just lost. ARGH.

Anyway, bare bones:

ML is going well so far, we are going to go car shopping tomorrow so baby, me, DP, pushchair and dog can all go a-travellin' when we feel up to it. It won't all fit in either of our current cars!

The baby has turned, hurrah! A real relief. Count I hope your baby turns on its own. If it's any consolation I read that ECVs work better on women who have had a baby already (and I believe you are on no.4?) so at least you have better odds there.

It wasn't really engaged (4/5ths) at the last appointment but I think it's moved down a bit as apart from anything else I feel like I have to poo all the time (but don't). Does anyone else have/had this?! Also the SPD has got a bit worse.

Moo how is the pregnancy discomfort? I do hope it's not so bad. I can cope most of the time but a few times I've been in tears of self-pity I do admit! As far as I'm concerned the baby can come anytime from 39 weeks and I'll be quite happy (are you listening baby?!). Just one more week off is all I want then I just want to get on with it! I went to visit a friend yesterday and her 2 week old. He's lovely and has made it all a bit more real for me! She's been having weight loss issues with him though, I hope it all works out soon for her.

Rusulka I hope the new advice from the consultant results in better granulation, fingers crossed. As for weaning, I don't have any practical experience but there is a good article on it on Mumsnet if you hunt it down. It does seem though that you are right to wait til 6 months unless you've had medical advice to start earlier, so don't worry. As for puree vs BLW it seems to be horses for courses, both have their advantages/disadvantages. I think I'll start on BLW and maybe do a bit of puree as well. Gotta crack breast feeding first though!

I hope Lil and Festie are ok (come back Festie it's been months!) and I hope if Berries is around that she is ok too.

Right, better post this before it disappears again!

Happy Mothers' Day ladies and mums-to-be!

Phoebe is 6 months old today so we've celebrated by giving her her first taste of banana. We started off just giving her a piece of it, but she promptly dropped it on the floor, lol. A few attempts later and she was managing to hang on to it and gum it a bit, pulling a few epic faces. Then we tried mashing it and feeding it on a spoon, but it mostly went on her face.
We think she might have swallowed some, so will be scrutinising the next poonami for banana bits, lol.
Going to see if she fares any better with a bit of carrot and broccoli at tea time.

Been dithering about purees vs. baby led weaning, so am trying both simultaneously, which probably makes no sense, but I'll just see what works for us.

Phoebe has her 2 bottom teeth through now, with not too much fuss or upset, is sleeping in her cot, but nodding off in bed with us with a story (one step forward, two steps back...) and is happily babbling a lot of the time now.
Not really rolling or crawling much, but I expect it's more to do circumstance than anything else- no good friction on a wooden floor!

On the me front, my bum seems to be healing. Not sure though. Basically I'm doing everything they told me not to- having a nice boiling hot bath once a week (YES GOD YES!!!), not showering it, only cleaning it with a wet wipe, and not always doing it every day. Seems to be working, but only time will tell... 6 months down the line though and I'm sick of the damn thing!

Disco glad your baby turned ok.

Count hope yours did too!

Nothing for a while from either of you and close to due dates, so hoping your radio silence is due to the patter of tiny Discolet and Countlet feeties!

Lil and Festie hope you are both doing ok.

Hello everyone,

Well, I'm finally a mummy!

I woke up on Saturday at 6.40am and realised my waters were leaking so we rang the hospital and they told us to come in. When the midwife examined me she confirmed it was my waters (I knew it!). It's a bit grim but I also collected some in a sample cup as one of my NCT friends had been fobbed off a bit over whether hers had gone or not. Before I went we decided on Monday for induction if things hadn't got going on their own.

Just as we were leaving the hospital at about 8am I started to get a bit of backache. By the time I got home and got in the bath it was worse but I managed to get out of the bath, put some make up on and have some breakfast. The pains got worse and I cracked open the Tens machine, then had some paracetamol. By the time contractions started they were irregular, every one to two minutes and lasted between 30 to 45 seconds. I was confused as I knew you were only supposed to go back to hospital when you had three or four contractions in a ten minute period that lasted at least a minute each time. I had the frequency but not the duration! It was painful but as a first timer I didn't know how much it was supposed to hurt.

We rang the hospital again for advice and they said to do another two or three hours at home until the contractions were regular. By 2pm they hadn't really changed but I was getting really fed up of the pain - I'd been promised a break I between contractions at antenatal classes but that wasn't happening for me!

So we went back in, every bump in the road was a nightmare, ouch! I was expecting to be told I was so and so cm dilated but because the membranes had gone they explained that if they examined me there was the potential for infection. So if I wasn't in labour (they didn't think I was in labour at this point) I only had 24 hours for it to happen spontaneously, otherwise I'd have to be induced. I could see their logic and accepted it, but after another hour or two of contractions which really weren't pleasant I went for the other option which was an attempt to visualise the cervix with a speculum, which was ok as it was sterile.

The midwife went a bit quiet...she said she could the baby had a lot of hair...and I was definitely in labour (hurrah! I knew I wasn't making it up) and got her superior in to have a look. Upon examination they pronounced me to be (drum roll) 9.5 cm dilated! I was surprised, they were surprised..goes to show not every labour goes by the book.

So hurrah, I got to get into the birthing pool, finally have some gas and air after making do with just the tens for all that time and I started to push. I felt really strong and like I could really do this giving birth thing. I was also chuffed when the senior midwife said of my pain threshold that I was 'hardcore' to have got fully dilated without other pain relief!

After an hour I got out of the pool to be examined and no progress had been made. So I pushed on the bed for 30 mins, again no progress. By this point there was a doctor in the room too so I had three women and DP encouraging me. Again, so progress so I was put on a syntocin drip and pushed for about another hour. By this time I was starting to get a bit tired and also realising that even tho my pushing was really good, it clearly wasn't working so something was clearly wrong. Luckily I knew the baby's heartrate was ok so at least it wasn't distressed but when they said they were going to prep me for ventouse or forceps delivery I knew it was the only decision to be made. The thirty minutes between that decision and being wheeled into theatre was the longest period of time ever as I was still in pain and still pushing but knew it was futile. They also prepped me for a caesarean in case the instruments didn't work. By this point I just wanted to get the baby out.

Theatre wasn't nice at first. I'd been separated from the gas and air but was still pushing as I couldn't help it. DP wasn't there as he'd been taken off to get changed into scrubs. People kept explaining risks of procedures to me (I felt like swearing when the anaesthetist told me there was a one in nineteen thousand chance of nerve damage from the spinal block, I wanted to shout, just get on with it! Please!) which was vexing although I know they had to. The question about 'are you wearing any prosthetic limbs' really made me go WTF?!

Anyway, the spinal block took blessed effect. They took an age getting some surgical stockings on me and getting my feet in stirrups, then I was told to push when I got a contraction. It was odd as I couldn't feel the contractions and I couldn't feel to push but I just did the best I could and within a very short space of time I was told the baby's head had delivered and then to do little pushes. The baby was born at 7.56pm. They held the baby up so we could see but unfortunately only DP saw the baby, I had too much stuff in my eyeline to see. That is my only regret, that I didn't see my baby right after birth. Anyway, they cut the cord and brought the baby over wrapped up, again, I couldn't see the face but I did touch a gummy little wet hand all covered in goo! I asked DP what sex the baby was and he said 'I think it's a boy! But I'm not sure!' So I asked the doctor, who then had to be persuaded to tell us as we'd asked to find out ourselves!

It was emotional, I felt spaced out but really happy. My memories are a bit blurry but after this they gave our little boy to DP to hold in recovery whilst I went through the third stage of labour (although that happened without me realising!) and was stitched up as I had to have an episiotomy. I was then wheeled through to recovery and had skin to skin with Alexander and fed him. He had some marks from the forceps but we didn't really notice as we were too entranced by his dark hair, pointy little chin and gorgeous eyes.

We've had our ups and downs since then. I had no sleep for 41 hours as Alec wouldn't settle and I couldn't sleep on the Sunday during the day as the ward was very noisy and I had visitors. The baby wouldn't latch properly so I tried a nipple shield and because of that I was advised to stay in another night until feeding was established. On Sunday night Alec cried as soon as DP left and kept it up for three hours, cue me hallucinating due to lack of sleep and crying on a midwife. He was taken away from me at that point so I could get some rest and I slept for a blissful five hours.

On Monday we were about to be discharged Alec but had a slightly high temperature. He was then monitored and had blood taken for culture. In the night he was taken to have a cannula inserted and was given precautionary IV antibiotics. Through Tuesday and Wednesday he'd continue to have normal temps with the occasional spike but there was nothing else clinically wrong with him. On Wednesday the blood cultures came back negative but the paediatricians still erred on the side of caution. It was when he was having another dose of antibiotics and it looked like the cannula was blocked that I totally lost patience with the process. He'd had blood taken from both hands, his foot, a cannula in his other foot, a heel prick test for jaundice and to get blood for a repeat CTG (?) test the paediatrician had to get blood from his wrist. I'm not one to think doctors are out to get me but I was fed up by this point.

Anyway, it's the next day now, his last temp last night was normal, the repeat CTG was normal so I'm really hopeful they'll let us out today! I never thought I'd end up in here for five days.....it's probably worse as I feel ok myself, and I know he's not ill!

Sorry for the epic post but I know you'll let me off :). Hope you are all ok xxx

HUGE HUGE HUGE congratulations Disco!! Well done you. And to get so far dilated without any pain intervention at all is bloody brilliant!!

Your post actually made me cry!! So beautiful and such a lovely name as well. Hope you are able to get home today and can enjoy some uninterrupted snuggles and hugs with your little bundle of joy.

Hope Count also has some good news for us as well!!!

Must admit, I am at the completely fed up of being pregnant stage now and long to have her out. Hope I can be as strong and brave as you have all been :)

Again, many congratulations on becoming a mummy Disco absolutely fab news!!!

Yay Disco!!!

Big big BIG congrats to you and your new family, eek!
I hope they let you out soon, when I was in there was a lady whose little boy was being kept in for weird results, and she was really at the end of her tether about the whole thing. I'm sure it'll be ok though, sounds good.

I would say if you have any irks about how the birth went, now is the time to tell someone- they have someone come and ask if you were happy with how everything went, and I was in a fug so just nodded, but I wish I'd complained about my treatment on the induction ward overnight. It might be worth mentioning you couldn't see Alexander at first because of all the stuff in the way, then maybe they can remedy that for future mothers.

Make sure when people come and visit you at home they make their own damn tea and coffee! It's your jobs as parents to look after your baby, and anyone else who turns up can fend for themselves, don't run yourselves ragged.... and make sure you sleep when he sleeps! Don't worry about the washing, or anything like that, and don't worry, your episiotomy will heal up properly- I thought I'd always have a ridge of scar tissue on my perineum, but it seems to have gone. Result!

Again, congratulations, enjoy it as much as you humanly can, and on a side note, if you want prints of hands and feet, I'd do it now while he's relatively limp and relaxed- we tried it at the baby group yesterday and Phoebe was a f**king nightmare, lol.

Moo hello hello! sorry to hear you're at the banging your head repeatedly on a wall stage, you will get there in the end, promise... I would advise not drinking too much raspberry leaf tea, if that's something you're thinking about, because I think that's what gave me all those fake contractiony thingies and drove me even more up the wall. Remember to sit forward, if only to avoid getting an abscess like mine. Hope it's backache and squeezy pains day for you relatively soon, but not before lungs are fully developed, etc.

I'm here!!!

Missed you all and sorry for stupidly long absence. I have lots to catch up on (pretty much the whole thread) so will be back after I have finished reading but we are fine and hope everyone is ok xxx

Congratulations Disco!!! sounds like a rough start but so glad you and Alexander are both ok. Look after yourself and enjoy your no doubt gorgeous tiny baby.

Rus I've read Lily the hobbit and terry pratchett and it doesn't seem to be keeping her up. At this age I don't believe it matters what you read. We look at bright picture books in the daytime.

Can't believe you still have a hole in your bum

I'm going to do a mix of puree and blw too - eg when she has carrot I'll give her some pureed with a spoon and give her a bit of cooked to hold/gum/play with. Not sure if it will work but makes sense to me. Few weeks to go yet though.

Gotta go Lily has just had her second set of jabs and is rather grumpy. Will catch up with the rest soon

Hi all just wanted to update -
Baby count born at 37 weeks on 25/2/13 ECS! Weight 6lbs 4oz with loads of dark curly hair!!!!!
Congrats Disco on the birth of your son! I knew I was going to be early but not this early!!!! Here due date was 13/3/13 - lol !!!!!!!
Can't do a post like Disco as nothing as exciting with all the ups and downs for you and Alexander!!!
My day started as always does lack of sleep, pain with spd and need to pee!!!! Feeling on edge all day, with BH getting stronger but not as painful as real contractions!!!! Held of with keeping busy till kids from school and I just mentioned to DH that I may need to be checked 7pm kids fed. Went hospital didn't even know where to park so DH let me out to mat entrance while he went to park! Told him not to bother with bag as most probably end up coming back home! Arrived on labour ward strapped on moniter to be told yeh labour started!!!!! What!!!! No way!!!!so while I joked with DH as contractions came more now so they admitted me and drip in hand! Oh great I said at least kids are at home! Had csection booked a week today! Lol - was told I needed emergency csection as baby still breached!
So at 11pm taken to theatre DH in scrubs! And me terrified!!!! With all the things that could happen to me and baby!!!! Hated it epidural was awful couldn't feel feet was throwing up but felt dizzy so couldn't focus on the sick bowl!!!! Was told they was starting and I shouldn't feel anything! Odd feeling knowing surgery is being performed while awake!!! 11.30 pm my baby girl was born!!! Never felt a thing no tugging or pulling as she came out she was peeing on me!!! Amirah welcome to the world!
Breast feeding going well after 3 days in hospital to recover day 1 was walking around to prove I was ok and could go home but told no had to wait for myself and lil miss to wee and poo!!!!!
Home recovery but loving it all!!! No sleep every 2 hours feeding but she sleeps with me to shattered to keep putting her back in mb! ( bad mum)
DH is in love all over again!!!!! And got best Mother's Day gift ever!!!!!
This thread has given me such strength I am so grateful for all the support and to know we have gone through together is just great!
From the start of our journey where we all where to know I just need good news from ilove to finish!!!

Congratulations Count!! So pleased to hear you're both ok although it sounds a bit frightening hope you are healing well.

Don't worry about the co sleeping, i was anti it at first but we do sometimes, you do what you need to to get by and even after a solid week of it Lily goes back in her cot ok.

Love the name, enjoy every moment xxx

Moo what is your edd ? It must be soon now. Hope you are not struggling too much with the last weeks and plans for home birth are going well. I can't believe our little gang are nearly all mummys (my phone corrected that to dummies )

Does anyone know how berries is getting on?

Congrats Count!!!

Sorry it didn't go according to plan, but you are both ok, and you have a gorgeous baby and you're home.

Don't worry about the co-sleeping too much, DH told me in no uncertain terms we wouldn't be doing it, but when he was at work and Phoebe was whingy and I was knackered it was just easier to climb in bed and snuggle up together.

I too am hopeful of positive news from Berries soon, it would just be the
cherry berry on the cake, lol.

I'd be interested to know what your recovery time is from the c-section, just in case I ever need one!

I love that she was weeing on you, that's brilliant, and a great one to mention on her 18th birthday in front of boyfriend, lol.

When Phoebe came out I thought the first thing she did was poo on my hand, everyone nodded and smiled at the time, but knowing what I do now about meconium, the only conclusion I can draw is that it was mine! Whoops.

Take it easy, and as I said to Disco, SLEEP!!!!!
Lots of love, hugs and kisses to you and family.

. . .

LIL!!!!!!

Hello hello, glad to hear you are ok. Sorry about crabby baby (nearly said Lil-let, but then remembered that means something else, lol!) In my experience the grumps don't last long.

Phoebe had porridge for breakfast this morning, stood in Asda yesterday in front of a 3 for £5 offer nearly in tears at the choice and not knowing what to do, phone battery nearly dead and my mum not at home so no-one to consult- got my dad instead! (useless).
Settled on the aptamil 4 month creamy porridge and 7 month multigrain breakfast, and Ella's Kitchen mango porridge, or whatever the heck it is.
She didn't seem impressed, but then after carrot and broccoli, why would she?

I'd do some research before you need to get some, I don't want to repeat that experience!

After 2 very dry little ploplets over the last week, frightening me with the thought that BANANA CONSTIPATED MY BABY, Phoebe managed a big old poonami for DH last night, lol, and although it was still very sticky in places, there was carrot and broccoli and banana in evidence, so it looks like she is swallowing, which is awesome.
Getting her to take water in a beaker is a nightmare though... the water round here does take some getting used to.

Still waiting for an awesome influx of sexy money off vouchers, but none have appeared. Annoying!

Off for a wee and to play with the little boo.

Take care everyone!

Oh wow Count! And Amirah, what a lovely name! Very musical to the ear. I bet she is gorgeous :) the c section must have been scary and I agree that spinal blocks/ epidurals really aren't pleasant. I was very relieved when mine wore off.

Thanks everyone for your congrats, I'll catch up properly later and that.

Just a quick one handed update from me whilst I express! Alec and I are still in hospital. I'd packed my bags yesterdayafternoon and everything after being signed off by the paed and were just waiting for Alexander's five day weigh in. Upon weighing he was found to have lost 16% of his birthweight and a blood test showed he was really dehydrated too. I was devastated frankly as he'd seemed to feed q well but in retrospect he was sleeping too much and even tho I was getting him up every two or three hours to feed he just wasn't getting enough. Plan one was to get him to cup feed 70ml every 3 hours. He tolerated the first lot but threw up the second, at which point he was admitted to SCBU for tube feeding :( I wasn't producing enough milk so he had to be mix tube fed which is a real shame but hey ho. He wasn't interested in feeding from me at all at 4am and 10 am despite a good latch etc which is worrying as he shouldn't be that sleepy. The good news is that he has done loads of poos (first since Monday) and when he was reweighed after 20 hours he'd put back on a third of the weight he'd lost.

I'll try feeding him again at 4pm, fingers crossed he wakes up.

Oh and its mine and DPs fifth anniversary today!

Happy 5th anniversary Disco!
Shame you can't be at home, but hope the 4pm feed went well.

I was gutted when I had to combine feed Phoebe, but I guess it's all worked out ok in the end, and she's thriving so I can't complain. If that's the way you are forced to go, don't feel guilty about it, it is what it is. The main thing is that Alec gets what he needs.
Phoebe was so much more alert once we started both, made us realise how hungry she must have been.
And I've only just started weaning off boobs, so it is possible to keep doing both!
My living room floor is covered in broccoli. Phoebe really mutilated her evening snack tonight, lol. It was like a cat with a mouse... if the cat was making carpaccio...

Thanks Rus! Glad Phoebe is enjoying her broccoli! I think I'll be very glad to have a dog once Alexander starts BLW, I think the dog will be in heaven actually! It's interesting what you said about P being more alert...gosh, feeding babies is such a minefield. I honestly thought he was ok (and he was signed off by a paediatrician) before they weighed him.

My baby is looking healthier already and was sucking at 4pm, albeit in too much of a desultory fashion to be fully cured but its a step forward. My supply seems to be increasing slightly too.

I want to echo what Count said - the support and friendship on this thread has helped me so much, thank you everyone! I am glad to have evened up the gender ratio slightly as well, wouldn't it have been crazy if we'd all had girls! I'd quite like a girl next time though :) Right Moo, just you to go now!

Lil, I think you mentioned Berries. I pm'd her a little while ago and she is still having a difficult time of things. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you.

Right, got the 10pm attempted breastfeed now, see you all later.

Disco if you want to increase your supply I think expressing by hand or pump should help. That's what they told me, but my manual pump was a bad fit with my boobs, and just made wet fart noises with a little dribble all I had to show for the effort! Used to hand express, but it was hard going- if I'd wanted to bottle feed Phoebe purely on expressed breast milk it would take me all the time between feeds to produce enough for the next one, by which time there wasn't any in my boobs for her!

We all thought Phoebe was alert in the beginning but once we started combined feeding, her alertness was ridiculous- people would comment on it- it was like she'd been in a fug before. 'Twas a marvel to behold!

If you want a girl next time, I hear girls are conceived if you're dieting- some kind of inbuilt mechanism in the body says "oh no, there's a food shortage! The human race will die out! We must repopulate the planet- quick, breed more girls!!!" or something along those lines. Might be a load of shit, lol.

I was sanding epic floorage when we conceived, as you may remember, and redecorating and probably inhaling more sawdust than eating stuff, so maybe it's true- you shall have to tell us if you were having an epic feasting week when you conceived.

Thanks Rus. I am indeed expressing with the hospital electric pump. A closer look at 10pm by a nurse confirmed his latch wasn't right (despite being checked previously by ooh, at least 4 different midwives) so I was back on the nipple shield. He fed well then at 10pm, not so well at 4am and again not that well at 9am. He had his last tube feed then. We are now on a regime of baby led feeding but if he hasn't woken then we wake him after 5hours and offer the breast first. If he isn't interested then he is bottle fed a top up, first my expressed milk and then formula. He took to the bottle really well, so hopefully he'll come to associate strong sucking with a full tummy which may help his latch.

Hopefully my supply will build and he'll learn how to feed from me better so we can go back to EBF. The nurse did mention that as he was a bigger than average baby then it was common for mothers to not have enough milk at first.

As for the boy/girl thing...I confess guiltily that I did want a girl as I had a sister and didn't have much experience with boys. Also (trivial) I had a cracking girl's name lined up and it is so hard to find exciting boys clothes. After one sleep deprived wobble however I now love him as he is my baby and the fact that he has (ahem) beautiful and perfectly formed male genitals matters not a jot.

As it happens I'd lost about 6lbs in weight just before I conceived him so that theory didn't hold water!

Has Phoebe had any more new foods today? Must be exciting to see what she likes and what she doesn't!

Moo, how long have you got left now? About a month? It is hard the last few weeks but hang on! You'll get to meet her soon, and as for labour I didn't find it as bad as I thought I would. I know I was numb for the vaginal part and crowning (Rus, was that part worse or the same than the cervix dilation bit?) but even despite forceps and episiotomy I am mostly back to normal a week later. My stomach even has shrunk massively more than I was expecting, look about 12 weeks now. And even the next day I felt physically lighter, the SPd had gone and the heartburn had vanished! I've got so many Rennies left, I'll have to save them for baby two. I'm even coping with 4 hours broken sleep better than I thought I would..in fact it's all going fine except for the fact I'm in hospital and my baby is in SCBU

Lil, hope you are ok too! Did Lily cheer up after her jabs?

Festie, come baaaaaaack! In fact I'm going to PM you, it's been too long now!

Disco that's what we did with Phoebe- waking her after 5 hours if she didn't ask... plus sometimes it took an hour just to get her interested, and you're not supposed to leave a newborn more than 6 hours without a feed, are you? You'll get there, it'll be ok!
On the girl/boy front, if it makes you feel any better, every time Phoebe does a poonami and she's got shit all up inside her bits, I'm terrified she's going to get a hideous ladybits infection, so at least you don't have that to worry about with a boy! And with clothes, I don't really go for pastels and frilly, so all Phoebe's clothes are pretty much bold colours, so people always think she's a boy, even in a red fleece jacket with ears on the hood! Will have to start putting a bow in her bloody hair or something...

On the dilation vs crowning, tbh, the overnight bit where I was dilating I didn't have DH there so that was horrible and I was out of my mind with not knowing what to do with myself- more discomfort and overall just the ACHING and pushing despite yourself... I don't really remember her crowning because they'd already cut me a bit, and she hadn't come down enough- I think they cut me to GET her to crown, and get the ventouse on, so don't really have a reference point for that, and they cut me more after too- guess she was chunky, lol. Hoping it's a bit less hectic next time.

Phoebe is now in a little routine of porridge for breakfast, followed by her usual milk feed, and then some veg between feeds 3 & 4. Currently sticking to broccoli as that's what's in the fridge, but have a mango not ripening, hoping it'll do better on the windowsill near the radiator- looking forward to trying that.

She was really funny when I gave her the porridge the first time- after all the excitement of banana, carrot and broccoli, she just sat with this mush in her mouth, and a face like "you expect me to eat this shit?!?!?"
She won't eat it if it's cold, starts making upset noises if it isn't warm enough, so then I have to stop- not a problem if it's made up with kettle water, but if it's made up with a heated milk feed, it gets colder quicker.

I should really post pics on my profile of Phoebe the day she was born, when we got her home, and at 6 months- it doesn't really look like the same baby!

Photos uploaded!