The 4th Gemini Luxury Bus- The One with CAR SEATS

[bringonthetrumpets]

Welcome aboard ladies! You will see the newly installed infant car seats complete with cup holders for the mums waters wine. Make yourselves comfortable, it's going to be a long and sometimes bumpy journey with little ones making their arrivals!

Previous Fred.

kitty they sound like the best idea ever! I was thinking today that something like that should exist. I was sitting with a milk storage pot balanced carefully catching the drips! I could do with wearing them all the time at the moment - my let down is so strong that I can soak pads in minutes!

They have gone now. MIL burnt the cashew nuts in the stir fry. She's normally a very good cook! She kindly held DS2 while I finished my stir fry because he was hungry/upset but then ignored dessert being brought out, ignored me suggesting that I take him, handed him to FIL once he'd finished his dessert... Eventually I pretended to have had enough dessert just so I could snatch him back & take him away to feed. The crying was activating my let down so much that it was all I could think about. DH has since expressed surprise that I ate as much dessert as I did... It was apricots with cinnamon & yoghurt... I hate all 3 ingredients but didn't even notice what I was eating because I was so desperate to finish so I could stop the crying!

We've got DH's brother coming over tomorrow but thankfully my 2nd cousin & his family who live on the opposite side of the country just so happen to be in the area at the same time & we see them so rarely that we've agreed to have them all over at once so hopefully I can avoid having to make awkward small talk with DBIL!

Is it awful that I find the visitors the most stressful part of having a newborn?!

Lor I'm on day 5 & things are definitely improving! I'm still expressing quite a bit several times a day but for 2 days I was having to express 1-2oz at every feed just for DS2 to be able to latch on! Now it's more a case of just expressing a bit from the side he doesn't feed from just for comfort. The end is in sight though! I've found ibuprofen really helps & only slightly insane having a really deep bath & leaning forward until my breasts are submerged & just letting the milk flow out... It looks like smoke under the water! My bath water got murky with all the milk yesterday but it felt sooooo good! I really liked Savoy cabbage leaves in my bra last time. It sounds ridiculous but it really helped. DH forgot to buy one when he went shopping & I feel ridiculous sending him out just for that so I've been making do without it! Definitely worth a try if you're desperate though!

Whooooosh!

Lor standing in the shower and massaging them toward the nipple also feels nice. Engorgement should settle down in a day or two, your actual supply will generally be sorted out by 2 weeks.

Been having contractions all day after DH came home from work and was, ahem, vigorous . They've been about 8 mins apart and lasting a minute, but nothing seems to be getting stronger. I don't trust these ones so I'm sort of just waiting for them to go away like all the other nights of prodromal labor. Fingers crossed, but indulging in a small glass of wine and an early bedtime just incase they're the fake and tricky ones.

No way Lib! DId your water break!??

lib? lib? Whooshing in the middle of the night? What whooshed? Waters?

bring I thought you weren't having repeat applications? but I hope it's done something.

Urrrrrrrrgh! Woke up to a very silent and non-contracting uterus. WTF is going on? I knew they were the fake and tricky ones again!

Lib we need some explanation here, lady!

Waters went at 10pm. Stood up from sitting and leaning forwards towards the back of a chair and there was a gush all over the recently cleaned carpet!

Popped over to midwife triage, all fine so get to come home.

Had backache but no CX, so slept from 11-1 when I sat up in bed and loads more came out.
1-6.30am had back pain/front cramping for 50 secs every 4-6 mins then it stopped and I had a snooze.

Just took tens machine off to have a bath and theyve slowed a lot but not completely stopped.

There's been a LOT of fluid. Gone through 3 sets of Pjs so given up on clothes for the time being.

Ooooh, here's another one.... Bearable but not 'nice'!

Eek! How exciting! Do you have any maternity pads? Or bed mats? They're v handy when you're dribbling fluid & offer a means of collecting it so you can see the colour incase there's meconium.

Deep breaths now. Won't be long until we have another teeny tiny baby on the bus! Try to keep us updated!

Come on Bugle DH says that's like a baby trumpet... Let's have 2 in one day so no-one gets left waiting by themselves!

Come on bugle, don't keep momma waiting.
Oh lib totally exciting!

Have mats and pads. Colour is nice an clear. They've eased off quite a bit but not stopped so have stopped timing for a bit and had breakfast instead. Glad I didn't pack now like I'd originally planned!

DH is going out to get me those nipple shell thingys this morning. Just trying to convince DS2 that he does want to feed & I've leaked through the pad on the other side, through my bra & it was trickling down my belly! Grrr! Anyone mind if I borrow their baby to feed as well?!

jojo you can borrow mine, he doesn't stop feeding. What pads are you using? I also shove a folded flannel in my bra on the side that I'm not feeding on. M m

I've got washable ones... & now I have shells too! Yay! DH couldn't find them in mothercare so went to Boots & found some but then popped into Tesco for a few other things & noticed that they had them for £1 cheaper! Oh well, at least I have some now!

Oh Jojo you will love them, I'd say it was the one thing I'd definatly recommend above all else to do with breast feeding! They have 2 options in the pack, one with holes that encourages more to come out and another without which would probably be better for you with your supply, I'm actually jeleous of how much your getting, I'm struggeling to get more then 3oz aday now but need to to provide the bottle a night
Lib- how exciting there could be another on the bus by tomorrow eek, come on baby bugle!!
In other news dd1 driving me absolutely crazy, anyone care to let me in on how to teach her to just do anything I ask such as getting dressed brushing hair? It's be nice to not spend 2 hrs every morning trying to barter and getting pissed off!

kitty You're my favourite person in the world right now. Well, you & the inventor of breast shells! I put the ventilated set in for 15 minutes & collected nearly 1.5oz from both sides! Am feeding DS2 now & he latched straight on without me having to express at all & hasn't choked yet! & even more wonderful, I can actually cuddle him & have DS1 near me again without worrying about him touching them! And they make my boobs look even bigger & extra perky!

kitty You're my favourite person in the world right now. Well, you & the inventor of breast shells! I put the ventilated set in for 15 minutes & collected nearly 1.5oz from both sides! Am feeding DS2 now & he latched straight on without me having to express at all & hasn't choked yet! & even more wonderful, I can actually cuddle him & have DS1 near me again without worrying about him touching them! And they make my boobs look even bigger & extra perky!

kitty I think between 1 and 4 am is milk production hormone time, and expressing first thing in the morning is supposed to be more productive (as in you can get more)

Hope our labouring mummies are having productive contractions.

I knew you'd love them they are anazing arnt they, such a fab invention the only thing that stops them being perfect is you can't really use them out and about unless you want to look like you've got strange shaped boobs
Thanks frus I normally do go for the morning but dd seems to also like cluster feeding and having alot first thing and I'm worried ill leave her with non, the best time for me would be around 10 as that's the feed dh gives the bottle but I'm so tired!! Want to be in bed before then

Oh and don't do the same as me which is put one on at night sometimes ( the one with holes), forget go to put baby down in cot, bend over and spill the milk out the top

Advice please- dd2 looks like she's going the same way as dd1 gets terrible trapped wind at night and it keeps her up for hours,( dd1 had terrible colic) were using infacol and she's approaching the age where I can use gripe water etc but does anyone think it might be because I drink alot If fizzy drinks? Would that effect it? I stoped dairy with dd1 as they thought that could cause it but it didn't seem to have an effect and it stoped at 3 months like colic does I would give it up if its that but it would be so hard as its one of my weaknesses I love diet coke addicted and often have soda water ( even the very odd beer still has bubbles) what do you girls think? I know it's not good for me anyway but feel like I'm giving up one of my few pleasures

Very exciting news Lib! I wish my waters would break in a very dramatic fashion It's crazy how much fluid keeps coming during labour, and it's gonna keep coming until that little one is out. Lots and lots of pads . Can't wait to hear about your sweet little one.

So, looks like I'm the last one. Nary a contraction since I fell asleep last night. Loads of BH but nothing that would indicate labour. Feeling a tiny bit depressed these last few days. It's hard to "trust the process and my body" when it keeps leading me on a wild goose chase with weeks of false labour. If I weren't doing this at home and were planning a hospital birth, I would totally be booking my induction about a week ago....

The breast shells sound fab. I think I'll have to go pick some up as I'm a leaky nurser as well.

Kitty I don't think you drinking fizzy drinks would cause her an upset stomach as the bubbles aren't transferring through the milk, iykwim? It would be either something in your diet (dairy is the main culprit usually, but sometimes gluten, soy, corn, or even a lot of sugar can cause digestive upset in babies) or vegetables that cause gas in adults (anything in the Brassica family of veggies) or that's just her fussy time (which can be miserable for everyone). Elimination diets are really stressful for mums, so see if you can do a google search for chiropractors or naturopath doctors in your area who can do muscle testing for allergies in babies to find the specific source of the problem. It sounds and seems really hooky, but I've seen so many babies diagnosed with an intolerance or allergy, mum cuts it out of the diet and it's like instant relief for everyone instead of months of guess work.

For bring
It will be you soon!!
Thanks for the advice, it's definatly wind though although the last 2 nights she's been very good going down at 7 which was when dd1 started, it's between 10-1 last night was 10:30-1:30 we both lost patience but she can be asleep and the minute you put her down she starts writhe ring around and eventually you will get a burp as she fights in you, unfortunatly if it takes awhile she's woken herself back up wants more food and so it begins again, she was also bad at 4:30 I was about ready to kill myself then but flipped her onto her tummy and voila straight asleep!
I hate getting stressed and know its not her fault that makes it worse but by god it's hard when your knackered!

Eep! Milk everywhere! I already did something equally silly - I put the holey one in while feeding & it over filled & I spilt it everywhere while trying to take it off! Still left me with nearly 1.5oz though - must've been about 2oz before I started splashing it around! DS1 is going to appreciate all the Mammy milk he gets now!

I've heard you can give babies fennel tea to help with gas but I've no idea how much or from what age. Might be worth looking into though! I miss my herbal teas! I've stopped drinking fennel because it's supposed to help boost milk supply & I really don't need any more milk & I've stopped having nettle tea because it makes you wee & I'm struggling to stay hydrated as it is! Oh well, this time next week I'm sure all these things will have sorted themselves out & I'll be back to tasty drinks again!