Due in July 2013 - newborns to the left of me, big bumps to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you babe!

[SlouchingPanda]

Hello shiny new thread!

mummy I also was going to suggest winding, I find Theo does lots of head butting my boob when he had some wind. It is stressful the 1st few days but it does get easier!
Thanks for the dummy suggestions princess and other ideas, last night it took a while for Theo to settle in his basket but I didn't give in and get him out and he ended up staying in all night only woke at 12:30 and 5, sounds like he is just waking up now so good night! Better go attend to his lordship :-)

Oops double post!

Mummykanny, humphrey sleeps on his side or his tummy or no sleep at all. In hospital scbu they were happy for him to sleep on side with towels rolled up behind back.
Sunday, are you sure lo might not be a little refluxy? Thinking of when u lie him down- maybe try propping up head of cot/ moses basket?

Begining sounds like a great night- well done. -am a little envious.
Slouching and others you are nearly nearly there, hold on. ( i got to the point of blind rage when everyone else had had their babies before me last time.

Congrats Evelyn and Mummykanny on the arrival of your beautiful girls and good luck Slouching and Lancslass and Poco for today - remember to keep well fed and hydrated to keep your energy levels up.

Mummykanny - J was the same a week ago last Monday - 5 and a half hours of latching in, sucking, coming off on the nipple, fussing, back on again. I had bf his 2 big brothers so knew something was wrong. I went to a private bf clinic the following morning for help, got a posterior tongue tie diagnosed and snipped that day, and we haven't looked back since. If you can afford it, get a lactation consultant in - very few midwives are trained to fully recognise tongue tie/latching issues. The advice from Vinegar (whose dd has a slight tongue tie) and Cheek (especially re skin to skin and don't let them get too distressed pure feed) and Sunday re burping them (especially if they are sucking with their cheeks rather than latching with their tongue) is spot on. Hope it all gets better for you both v v soon. Look at drjacknewman.com on how to soften the nipple area when engorged - will help them latch on properly

Beginning - swaddling and white noise helped ds1 settle in his own cot. Also put a muslin down your top then in the cot - will make it smell of you which will comfort him. I tend to cosleep for the first month or so while establishing bf then gradually transition them to their cot - be prepared for their sleep to be less deep in the cot at the start.

Andrea - J sleeps on his side too. Nothing I can do other than out him on his back but he always rolls back onto his side at some point. ds2 preferred side sleeping too.

Sunday - steamy bathroom and baby in bouncer can help with stuffy noses - but who wants to go through that in this weather ? Sadly too young for L to use snufflebabe vapour rub ( can use from 3 months I think) and nose prob too small to use those bogey suckers now.

Oh yes, elevate head in cot if possible Sunday was the other tip

So 40+6 today guess this one is holding out for its commemorative coin!! No sleep again last night just way too hot, eventually went on the sofa at 2am and fell asleep just after 3.30am and up at 6 another cbeebies day in the shade again today me thinks, after taking the car to the garage for a service of course. I love how dh just books all these random things in the diary. Yes of course I can kill a couple of hours with a 2yo and no car in a boiling hot town centre!!

All those struggling with bfing, keep going, you are doing sooooo well and the first few days before milln comes in are def the hardest. I agree with hand expressing a little before trying to latch on, also gets the juices flowing easier.
Also for dummies, I found gently holding the dummy in place and stroking cheek or bit between the eyes/top of nose, helped them to relax and suck.

Good luck slouching and poco, hope you get to go in soon xxx

Huge thanks everyone. Feel so much better after a bit of sleep. She had a burp and a trump after winding which helped last night and then a few more teaspoons of formula. I'm having skin to skin now to help get my supply going. I've only managed a few drops of colostrum so far . Hope midwife isn't too far away, due any time between now and 4:00 apparently... Tongue tie sounds like a possibility, I'm looking for a local lactation consultant now (anyone know any in North London?)

Good luck to Slouching, Lanclass and Poco! Will be thinking of you. Hoping all the other bumps come on soon.

Really am grateful for all your advice. I was at the end of my tether!

Hi, sorry for the lack of personals but my brain seems to have turned to Colton wool.

Congrats to MummyKanny and Evelyn.

I'm waiting in for a HV too but she's said she'll be here between 11am and half past. I hope everyone else waiting for MW or HV don't have to wait too long.

Good luck for all those going sole with their babies for the first time, and especially those with other children. I'm dreading DH going back to work on Wednesday. No idea how I'll cope with two. In awe of you with three or more.

MrsD I really hope everything is much easier for you this time round. I had a really hard time with DS1 primarily around BF so much so that this time I was adamant I was going straight onto bottles. However on day 10 I felt really guilty for not even trying so I attempted it and 24 hours later I had sore cracked nipples and a crying baby so I'm now expressing a little but mainly bottle feeding and I think I'm happy with that and feel less guilty.

DS1 now trying to type and contribute to the thread so better go, but good luck to everyone in the early stages of labour, trying to bring labour on, and getting to now their LO!

I resorted to having curry for breakfast with pineapple smoothie, pineapple and iced raspberry leaf tea. i think my poor dh is quite scared atm, dtd twice last night and woke him up early this morning to dtd, poor dogs have been walked this morning, having quite a few bh's. Am seeing my midwife at 4.45 this afternoon, evil cow wont do a sweep as am exactly 40 weeks today, if she dares to try to say baby is still only 1/5th engaged i may just cry, and give up and just assume baby is staying in there forever.

hope everyone else is feeling better hope all the bf is going well, and fx for everyone who's due date it is today or who is running a little overdue :)

If you did nct speak to your teacher - theory should be able to recommend someone mummykanny. Also try La Leche League.

poco I hope all of that sex, pineapple, curry & RLT has the desired effect!

It could be DH's lucky night tonight. I think the bleeding has finally stopped. I hope he's in the mood later because I'm gagging for it Just have to figure out what I'm going to do with N. I'd forgotten about trying to dtd when you're sharing a bedroom.

On phone so can't do to many personals but congratulations to Evelyn on your dd, plus all the other new babies!
mummykanny I'm in first few days of bf too, my milk came in yesterday which has helped my painful nipples but unfortunately Morven seems to bring up almost as much as she takes and because my nipples are cracked there is often a little blood in it which looks v dramatic but I'm not too worried about it. My poor boobs feel a lot more comfy now, and pretty much painfree once milk is flowing so I think latch is ok.
Another suggestion I have if she's fussing at breast is to express a drop of milk onto her lips so she'll smell it and hopefully latch on. It might also allow your milk to let down quicker so less frustrating for baby.
Hang in there, it's hard but will get easier and be worth it in a few weeks when more established
I seem to have another Australian baby here, sleeps all day, cries all night. The only way I could get her to settle was lying on my chest with me sitting semi upright. Not very comfy for me though!

C'mon slouching, twirlie and poco!!

Congratulations to the new arrivals. Hope it gets easier for all of you with bf. It's really helpful to read all of the tips before baby arrives, hope they stay in my head once she comes. Slouching if your still around or anyone else who could help how long were you passing your plug for? Sorry for TMI I started on Tuesday night and still going now. I wasn't expecting it to continue this long. So naieve and overexcited.

Good luck with the midwife poco

Thinking - DD1 would only sleep on our chests, so we ended up carefully transferring her onto her front in a pre-warmed (with a hot water bottle) crib. She only ever slept on her front. Before we perfected the transfer technique I slept with her on my chest in a big bean bag, which I found much more comfortable than trying to sleep upright in bed.

The other day I went out with only one breast pad (got distracted halfway through getting dressed) and ended up buying lanisoh breast pads because they were the only ones in the shop. They're amazing! With DD1 I used Johnson & Johnson after trying loads of different ones, but I'd never tried the lanisoh ones. Totally recommend them.

Helloooo all, lots for me to catch up on so sorry if this is a huge post!!

Shelley your body has been through a lot, relax as much as you can & don't worry about your recovery time, give your body the time it needs!

Fingers crossed for ScoutFinch I hope it's the start for you!

ReikiMummy my DP is loving all the dtd lately, I think we have more in the past week than the whole time I've been pregnant, mine is very happy & bouncy haha!

Welcome Mrsd77, sorry to hear you haven't been able to enjoy your pregnancy so far but hopefully you can spend the next week really relaxing into it! Feel free to rant & share with us, I've found this MN group to be fantastically therapeutic & sounds like your DH is very supportive & thoughtful!

Agree with you waves about being jealous of all these lovely ladies & their newborns! Need my own now!

Thanks Sunday, it seems like everyone on this thread has had a positive induction so far!

Glad to hear you & Morven are doing well thinking!

Great to hear DS is doing so well with his toilet training Vinegar, at the moment DSIL is toilet training DNiece & having a horrible time of it, she's been trying to do it for nearly 6 months now but she's having none of it & keeps having "accidents" which IMO aren't so accidental! I guess some children do find it hard.

Hehe dinky I did giggle that everyone in your family has lovely plans, hopefully you & J can get some nice time outside in the shade & keep yourselves occupied whilst waiting for MW.

Silver15 everything has disappeared for me too, it's so disheartening so definitely sending my sympathies!

Lovely name Evelyn, can't remember whether I said congratulations on a previous post so congratulations maybe again! Great to hear your elcs was positive & you had a good experience with the staff.

No advice beginning I'm sure someone more knowledgable has come along already but just sending sympathies & hugs & hoping you manage to get Theo's sleeping sorted soon!

Good luck Slouching & poco really hoping its the start of something for both of you!

Congratulations MummyKanny, I love the name Alice & was a serious consideration for my short list but OH wasn't having it! Hope you manage to get BF/latch sorted!

I like your plan for your OH's day off Icing!

Awww Poco your post made me laugh! I really hope something starts for you soon, sending wanting-baby-out sympathies.

So today I've given up of trying to get this baby out & resorted to the fact she's stubborn & will only come when she feels like it. I cooked a Pizza Express margherita pizza for breakfast (10am), I have a bit of backache but I don't think it's the start of anything, I just cannot get comfy anywhere other than my birthing ball. DSIL text me this morning saying she thinks I'll give birth tomorrow & she can "feel it in her bones" I personally think this is a load of shit, just accepting that it can be two weeks at the most now till induction so at least I'm going to have my baby sometime soon! All this taken into account though, I would like to have my baby today as I have a weird thing for numerical patterns & my birthday is the 6th, OH's the 12th & if Moo follows the pattern she needs to come today... I'm doubtful.

I hope everyone has a nice day, whether it be filled with newborn snuggles, trying to get babies out or just accepting that you're still pregnant!

39+5

Oops that post is monumental, I'm sorry guys!

Thanks all for tips on stuffy noses, I think I'll try elevating the cot a bit tonight see if that helps. He's also get a bit of a cough so it might help that too.

DD sports day this afternoon, I'm really looking forward to it, but it's going to be a hot one sitting in a field with no shade, at least there is a small breeze today though.

Hope everyone else has a good day, COME ON BABIES! Come out and give your mummies a big cuddle!!

Whinge alert!
Things I am fed up about

1. Constant sweating in this heat
2. Texts asking me if I've had the baby
3. Mates taking the piss as I thought the baby would be here by now
4. Toddler tantrums
5. DH stupid work rota and his 96 hour on call
6. The whole of SE Wales selling out of fans
7. But most of all: Braxton Hicks every day from 3-11pm which then trickle out to nothing, constant pressure in bum but no baby!

Sending sympathies Tom, will/can agree on 1, 2, 3 & kind of 7. As for lack of fans, try freezing some damp flannels for 20 mins, I've found that cools me down!

TomDaleysTrunks. I think you have every right to feel fed up about each of those! I think you need ice cream.

Sunday. Take a big umbrella to try to create some shade?? Good luck to your DD. Make sure you both get plenty of ice cream too.

Tom - I reckon that when you go into active labour it will be quick. Do you have a paddling pool? I recommend wallowing in that in the shade as a good way to cool down.

Good luck to your dd for sports day Sunday. Hope you have a nice afternoon.

MW and HV have both been and J now chuckling in his sleep in his pram (just the cutest sound ever!) - just waiting for our cleaner to finish up and go so I can have a kip on the sofa too. Crazy exciting plans I know...

Scout finch - with ds2 I had a show on Sunday - waters went and he arrived in as hurry on the Tuesday night. With J I had a slight show on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday - he arrived in a hurry on the Sunday night. It means things are slowly moving on but no way of telling when active labour will kick in.

Thanks ladies. No more whinging now I promise . I have a paddling pool, that's the plan for this afternoon. Plus a quick nip to the supermarket for ice cream.

Anyone got anything else they want to add to the list?

Get some watermelon and coconut water too Tom - they're lush straight from the fridge (or freezer for the watermelon) on a hot hot day too.

Phie - hopefully you'll have a sneeze birth after this long latent phase. Hope you have a nice day planned.

Totally - I swear by the Lansinoh pads. Tommee Tippee ones are good too.

MarieKL - you sound in a good place (other than wrangling two children at once of course - that never feels like you're in a good place ). Glad you're feeling a lot happier this time round.

Elderflower cordial? It's very refreshing.