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!

Thanks dinky I knew about the oatmeal & already have some calprofen in the house....where can I get virasoothe from-is it a chemist only purchase?

Been round park this morning (kept N away from swings etc so was nice walk around the lakes with lots of pigeon chasing & shouting that the noise that geese make is actually a dog, by N

BB01 I know...bfing is supposed to be the most natural thing in the world but is so damn hard. I struggled last time due to tongue tie & flat nipples, so have stocked up on nipple shields etc in readiness for this one but I'm also intending on mixed feeding....

I got mine from boots when ds2 had the pox. Hope its a mild case and passes soon.

Bb01 - j was awake every hour and a half from 1.30. We are cosleeping in my enormous bed while its so hot (dh has been sent to the spare room) so I can monitor how hot/cold her is feeling - its the only way I can get any sleep at the moment. How old is dd? Remember at 4 weeks they have a growth spurt and feed loads then it all calms down again. Keep going - you're doing well x

Good luck to inductions & all waiting. The heat is crazy but it will all be worth it.

Whoever was talking about co-sleeping, I have bought a 'snuggle nest', check amazon or eBay. Not use it yet but looks like a good idea for avoiding squishing them. I've come close though, after being up all night the night before last, F slept from 2-6 last night which was great but then couldn't latch on this morn due to milk coming in I think. It was a few hours of a lot of crying & verging on switching to formula for a bit as it's so upsetting but then after trying the latch assist, I gave the nipple shield a go & seems to have done the trick. So relieved as peaceful again for now but hope we don't have to rely. On them for long but it's so hard to know what to do when they just won't latch-tried expressing & different positions etc but to no avail.

Dinky-that drjacknewman site is good. I recommend all innies to revise bf info before they arrive. I really struggle with following best practice with positioning etc while baby is hungry.

Hoping to get to sit in the garden for a half hour or so today & tell myself that things are going well. Can't believe a week ago wasn't even Ready to pop & now back to all the feeding woes.

It will be worth it ladies x

Also really recommend the 'my Brest friend' feeding pillow-makes positioning so much better & reverted to it yest after neck ache & sore head from feeding!

Another not so great night here too. Lots of feeding. Settled ok a couple of times between feeds, but didn't really settle at all between 3 and 6, apart from when I dozed off still winding her and she fell asleep on my chest .
I think there was a period of almost 2 hours between feeds at one point, but other than that it was fairly constant.

At least all the feeding is working. HV called over for another weigh-in. N is now 3040g. 390g weight gain in the last week. No wonder I've been so freaking hungry the whole time!

Good luck with the induction, poco

I hope DS isn't suffering too much with the pox, Granny. The itching must be exacerbated by the heat, poor thing. You both need ice cream to keep cool .

Good luck poco and any others who might get going today!

Sorry to hear about the feeding woes, I'm in the same boat with a minute wrt my poor nipples but overnight was actually much better. I am aiming low and last night achieved my main goal of co-sleeping without too many crying episodes overnight. Morven and I sleep facing each other, no covers (though I put a muslin on her legs) and I just fed her whenever she wanted throughout the night. A lot of feeding but much less tiring when lying down. I can cope with that fron tiredness pov, just need to sort the pain out.
Have sent dh to get me some jelonet dressings from chemist and using lansinoh lots. Am also going to try rugby hold for feeding today to see if that makes a difference. Poor wee mite came happily off boob today and I could see (my) blood on her face so I hope there is not too much in her tummy

In other exciting news (!) we had an architect round yesterday to start process of drawing up plans for extension! Dh going to speak to bank on Monday, can't believe we are finally going to do it

Innies keep cool, keep calm, your time is getting closer... Bet we have a few more outies vv soon

Oh and congratulations lanclass!

ow mastitis ow! surprised it's blocked I feel like united dairy . but if anyone else gets the shakes and a fever go and get it checked out

41w today.... woot... horrible night - too warm. ick. No wonder this baby is staying put!

However, midwife coming later this afternoon to top up again with aromatherapy oils and also to do a sweep... refused a sweep last weekend as thought things were starting but noooooo such luck!!

Slouching Panda Whether you have time to or not before your LO arrives - learn to crochet anyway!! Its far easier to put-down-and-pick-up-at-a-moments-notice crochet projects than knitting for example! (Crochet I can put down anywhere i am in the scheme of things... knitting I have to get to the end of the row at least!!)

#goes to tidy kitchen and then do more research on bf'ding sites!! :)

Keep cool ladies!

Haven't manged to catch up yet, too much chat since my last post, but just to say annabelle grace arrived yesterday morning at 0650. Very long latent phase and depressingly told only 3cm when first went to hospital despite 16 hours of contactions. Went back home, waters went 4 hours later and delivered 3 hours after that, so hope that gives hope to anyone who has a similar start to their labour - awful as it was to get in the car and go home again when I'd been going all day it was the best thing I ever did. Sure if I'd begged to stay they would have let me but also sure I would have ended up with a very different labour/ delivery.
As it is, needed just gas and air, couple of stitches and was home getting used to life as a mum by 5pm yesterday!

Ah congrats lanslass, I honestly can't believe what lovely names everyone has chosen!
Your delivery sounds pretty straightforward, if long! But glad that all went well.

Well done everyone else persevering with bfing. You are all amazing!

Well sods law that the one day I'd rather not be in labour as dc's 1&2 are in a play, I am getting mild contractions! As much as I want a baby, I'd also really like to support my eldest 2, although they would understand and are looking forward to meeting baby.

Keep us posted on any more news...

Fab names Lanclass and well done on getting through such a long latent phase - I bet you found things ramped up a notch when your waters went so I'm glad that your active phase was nice and short. Hope your first night at home went well. How big was your little one (for the stats list)?

Evelyn - as your milk supply settles down in the next couple of days you should be able to phase the shields out (boobs will be less rock like). I use the inverse compression around the nipples from DrJackNewman site before feeding if boobs are rock solid - seems to help soften the areola to let J latch on well enough.

Cheek - not wanting to sound like a veg pusher but Savoy Cabbage leaves are what you need my friend - brilliant at reducing the swelling of blocked ducts. Also warm flannel compresses and massaging the duct will help. Hope the ABs kick in soon.

Totally - J was v restless and feeding every hour and a half last night too from 1.30 - was pretty exhausting. At least all that feeding is helping N stack on the weight nicely - hopefully as she gets bigger she'll find it easier to go for longer periods between feeds.

Twirlie -good luck with everything. I was telling Jackson not to come on the 13th as it was DS1 and DS2's play - he very obligingly came a week earlier Hopefully your DC3 will be just as accommodating and keep the contractions mild till after the play.

Reikimummy - hope sweep and aromatherapy does the trick for you.

Thinking - sorry your boobs are hurting so much - hope the jelonet helps v quickly. Lots of airing nipples to harden them up too if possible. V exciting re starting on the renovations. We redid our house 2 and a half years ago and its brilliant - I love my house now (a few pics of our kitchen are on my profile) and its a joy being on maternity leave in our house with Jackson this summer (I hated being in the house when on maternity leave with DS2 pre-renovation).

DH (last day of paternity leave today), J and I went out for lunch today while DS1 was at school and DS2 was in the park with our nanny and his friends - nice pootle around Notting Hill, lovely pub lunch and then cranial osteopath appointment for J. Was all v civilised until J did a poonami over himself and the car seat (at least its been christened now!) on the way home when we were picking up DS2 from the park...

Sounds like a lovely day Dinky! Good luck to Twirlie and congrats to Lancs!

Been a hot one here. Still managed to shave my legs for the midwife too. Was very proud of myself!! Bump now measuring 46 weeks. I know it's a totally unscientific science but Yowzers all the same!!!

Congrats lancslass!!

The good news is: no cholestasis!!! Whoop!! Mw then asked me how big I thought baby was and when I said not that much bigger than my first, she intimated that she thought otherwise. Then proceeded to say that officially she's not allowed to offer me a sweep until 41 weeks but how I'd I feel about having one at 40weeks....?

Dinky - we had a car seat Poonami yesterday. In mamas & papas of all places. I can now state that their changing room is not as good as john lewis', or the new shopping centre's family rooms.

Growing here already! His first set of baby grows are getting a bit small. Someone back me up, as I'm sure dh will consider it overly emotional to keep the first one he wore.

Many congrats Lancs!

Grannyapple, hope feeding works out more straightforward for you this time. Think part of it for me is the pressure in case they don't put on enough weight whereas leaving a nappy on too long or using wrong bath product isn't going to cause major issues so tend not to worry too much about other aspects.

Thanks Dinky you always make me feel better! She's four weeks tomorrow so that could explain some things!! Hope you get more sleep soon but it's somehow comforting to be reminded there's plenty of other mums out there who are also up half the night with their little ones!

Abzs, I am so keeping DD's first vests (which she's just started to outgrow). I felt partly proud of her for putting on so much weight but partly sad when I realised they were too tight!

Definitely keep the first one he wore Abzs - I kept DS1's first one and have used it again for DS2 and J! Am surprised Mama and Papas changing rooms werent more deluxe - surely that's what their MO is!!

Glad I made you feel abit better BB01 - and for those innies reading these posts from outies thinking "dear god, what am I letting myself in for, stay in there baby" remember that the difficult phases do pass quickly in the grand scheme of things - just keep doing what you need to do in order to get through the day/night and what works for you and your baby is the right thing to do!

Also, Mrsd - bet your baby isnt that much of a whopper when he/she comes out. Though would be good to see if anyone else can rival Esme's 11 lber!

And Mightbe - I wouldnt worry too much about what MW said. They though DS2 was bigger than DS1 (and he would have been if had gone to term/overdue) but he was only 8lb 6 oz when he came out.

B has been chuckling in her sleep this evening, too. Makes it all worthwhile!

I echo dinky's "do whatever works" advice. That and "this too shall pass" were my mantras with DS1.

No word from slouching today? Wonder if things are happening?

I love the 'this too shall pass' phrase. Also even when you've had one hour's sleep you just can't stop marvelling at this amazing little creature you have made :-)

Granny - DS1 got chicken pox when I was 37/8 weeks and was over it pretty quickly. Midwives weren't worried about me, or even about what would happen if baby was born before it cleared up.

As it was, he barely suffered at all. We gave him piriton at first but then didn't really need it, and we used a combination cream - calamine & aqueous cream - on the spots.

Good luck!

Granny - also, ibuprofen isn't recommended for chicken pox, if I recall correctly, because of slight risk of complications, but calpol/paracetamol is fine.

Re: breastfeeding, I just wanted to reassure people that it can be straightforward. I know DS2 is only 11 days old and I might be jinxing it, but it's really been fine. He latched straight after birth and has been feeding really well and putting on lots of weight. There were a couple of days of discomfort while my nipples got used to it and especially when my milk came in, getting the latch & positioning right, but it's really been fine. Really hope I'm not jinxing it but thought I'd post as it's been really positive so far. With DS1, the first week or so were quite tough (we syringe fed at first) but after that it settled down too.

Sending cooling thoughts to all the babies & bumps, and their mummies

I just want to say breast feeding might be tricky in the beginning but it does get easier, I think I've said before but I very nearly gave up as it was stressful for both of us but I'm so glad I stuck with it as it is so much easier when we are out and in the middle of the night!
Glad I'm not the only one who falls asleep winding and just slides down in bed with bubba on their chest :-)
Abz I am devastated theo is growing out of things already! Can't imagine getting rid of anything at the moment!
Hope for more outie news over the weekend

Anyone up? I bloody hope this is labour as I can't imagine anything more painful. Contracting every 4 mins... flippin' hurts!

Spokes to triage and going to try to stay at home for now, but not sure how long I can hold out because it really really hurts!