February 2014 - Part 4 Beginning to bloom (hopefully)

[ChocoFrog]

New thread and ever hopeful as we move into second trimester that we'll all feel wonderful soon...

[marzipanned]

Filling up last post!

[marzipanned]

Oops here's a link www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1832104-February-2014-Part-5-The-one-in-which-nobody-has-ANY-vomiting-heartburn-or-random-leg-injuries

[misskatamari]

Ooooh your nests sound amazing. I want a nest!!!! I might have a total sofa duvet day next week after I've tidied and got my work done as it just sounds lovely

I can't believe how active some people try to be after birth - I think I have naturally lazy tendencies so imagine ill be milking the pjs for all they're worth!

[marzipanned]

Made a new thread as this one's almost full to the brim...

So we'll ALL be in our PJs for the first two weeks then :)

[Bearfrills]

Know what my favourite part of having a caesarean was? Aside from getting a lovely little DD of course! Schlubbing about on the sofa in my PJs for almost two whole weeks afterwards. It was heavenly! The MW told me to take it easy and not walk any further than the boundaries of my own property, so I did exactly that. I had a little nest in bed and a little nest on the sofa and sort of shuttled between the two (and the loo/shower/fridge) with DD and DS , and often DH too, snuggled up in my nests with me. It was lovely and so nice to have that family time too to bond as a foursome. I hd to put on a bra and trousers at twelve days when we ran out of milk and DD pooped a load of blood clots, but fabulous right up until then.

I have this theory that if visitors see you in real clothes they will presume you're in tip top condition and will expect you to be 100% back to normal whereas if they see you in PJs for a few days they'll encourage you to 'rest' while they see to their own cuppa, etc.

[misskatamari]

It's good to have so many experienced ladies on here to let us first timers know what to expect!

[vix206]

:) Super glam it isn't, but look how many of us are doing it for the second/third time around. It isn't all bad, in fact its mostly amazing and totally worth all the down sides...

[misskatamari]

Wow labour and post birth is definitely sounding super glam! Is it wrong that part of me is kind of excited to be able to wear giant comfy granny pants? Not so excited about the bleeding and giant pads!

[pettyprudence]

Another vote for maternity pads! I had huge black knickers for pregnancy and post pg from Primark -something like 3 pairs for £2.50 (maybe even 5-6 pairs for that?) and I am off to get some more (lucky dh!)

I also recommend incontinence/bed pads for sitting on the sofa/sleeping in the first 48 hours as sometimes maternity pads leak....

I bled for 8 fecking weeks but after the first 10 days it was more like spotting. Just annoying enough to put me off dtd until it had completely stopped. Emotionally/Physically (bar the spotting) I was ready from about 3 weeks. On the plus side my period didn't return until ds was about 8 months old and dropped to just 2 feeds per day.

[Sassy20]

I would def second the large granny pants for after and the maternity pads with wings. It's all such a glamourous business this pregnancy lark

[vix206]

I caved today and bought some nice big pants in a 12-14 (I'm normally 8-10). Bliss

Great news on the blood results Sassy

[Timpani]

That's great sassy :)

Definitely get maternity towels and nick as many as possible from the hospital. There's we're super comfy. Like sitting on padding. Not attractive by any means but nice to sit on! I switched after I'd got through the packets I bought. I didn't bleed as much as I thought I would, but it did go on for ages! Never had any mammoth clots that people told me about but I know that's normal too. Definitely get granny pants - you could end up with a CS as well. I didn't but granny pants are really comfy.

[Sassy20]

Got my blood tests back today and am low risk . Was such a relief as I'm pretty sure my age (37) is against me. Feel like I can relax a bit more now.

[Bearfrills]

You need maternity towels marzipanned, at least for the first week or so as other towels can mask signs of infection (and plastic backed ones can cause it). I liked the Mothercare ones as they had wings to keep them in place, were absolutely massive, and were on 3 for 2. I switched to Kotex (the ones in the black packet) after about a week when it tapered off from bleeding-bleeding to pinkish-bleeding.

Granny knickers too. My notes had a list of what to pack and reckoned paper knickers. Paper knickers are the worst thing in the world to have near your poor bruise fanny after giving birth. Itchy, pinchy, and paper FFS. I sent DH to Matalan for big cotton belly button huggers two sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy size. He came back with two packs of super sexy floral apple-catchers. They were so comfortable! Easily held the pads in place, the elastic sat nowhere near my stitches and my deflated balloon style post-baby bump wasn't cut in half by the waistband. I ha them with DD too and thank goodness because it meant the waistband was nowhere near the section incision. They were something stupid like £5 for two packs of six and I just threw them away reluctantly once I no longer needed them.

Buy a couple of breast pads too, even if you don't plan to BF. They'll start to leak a bit around day three post birth.

It's all glamour, ladies :o

[Timpani]

We were intimate after about 2 months which was sooner than I thought it would be! I'd had a bad tear too.

Edward is currently our boy fave!

[vix206]

It took 8 months before I could be intimate with DH after birth. My stitches really hurt up to that point. Hoping this time will be better all round

[CubanoHabana]

Oops, meant to say nearly!

[CubanoHabana]

Wow early finished this thread!

[littlestgirlguide]

Lol, Shropshire, I really am a girl guide, but Ben I draw the line at floral leggings!

[marzipanned]

By the way I've never had a period last longer than 4 days so this is going to be interesting for me... are incontinence pads more absorbent than sanitary towels?!

[marzipanned]

Lol at littlest fashioning herself a shelter out of a pair of floral leggings!

Another vote here for Edward, two of my best friends are called Eddie.

Good luck on the house Harlem and on the work situations jazzcat and bear

Loves, the blackberries aren't out up here yet but the minute they are I'm whipping up a crumble. A lot of things have been good for my sickness lately - halloumi cheese, rice pudding, innocent veg pots (now living off these).

Had the best day I've had in yonks. First of all the doctor was more than happy to give me another dose of cyclizine and then I felt well enough to drop in on a friend. I haven't seen any of my friends since June, so it was really, really lovely. And I felt well enough to get a halloumi and antipasti panini from the deli for lunch. Insanely good, weighed about a kilo, and I'd quite happily scoff another one right now.

[vix206]

8 days bleeding is really good! I bled for a month afterwards and don't get me started on the after pains

It's like your body makes up for the 9 or 10 periods you missed being pregnant

[tinypolkadot]

I can't stop bidding on maternity clothes on ebay, I'm addicted!

[LovesToBake]

I'm a big fan of Edward too but DH may have vetoed it as one of his good mates has a son called Edward. May need to talk him round though, depending on what the 20 week scan says about the gender!

Nothing much to report from this end apart from we dug out my old maternity clothes at the weekend and it's such bliss wearing proper maternity tops and not feeling self-conscious about the bloat with normal tops clinging in the wrong places. Still using waistband extender things for my trousers (with a bump band over the top to hide the evidence) as all my maternity trousers are more autumn weight so hoping I can hold out until next month to crack out the maternity jeans. It was really weird going through all the clothes and realising that I'll be wearing the exact same wardrobe as I did this time 2 years ago. Actually quite refreshing - minimises the 'what to wear today' dilemma massively when choices are cut down and you quite like all of the options!

Oh, and for the sickness sufferers, I can highly recommend crumble - seems to slip down a treat for me. Made a blackberry & apple one the other day, mmmm...

[laura0007]

Hey Shropshire you cheeky mare! I am not his sister... I am his cousin!

Plus I'm pretty sure the dreams I've had about Daniel Craig would get me arrested if I really was his twin!!!!