February 2014 - Part 5 - The one in which nobody has ANY vomiting, heartburn, or random leg injuries...

[marzipanned]

Well, here's hoping!

Yes and I'm getting sick if it. I wake up every 2 hours despite making sure I'm exhausted before bed but nothing helps. Woke up for good at 5.30 today same as you. Wonder what's causing it?
Off on a long weekend to a cottage in Wales today with Dp. This will be our only and probably last overnight trip together sans children.
Having an issue finding a second hand Uppababy vista. There are so few of them that they go for just short of the RRP. Thinking I might as well buy new and sell on to make my money back but I think £600 for a pushchair is silly.

Joining you in the 5.30am club! So rubbish. I feel knackered which makes me feel sick but just wake up early and can't sleep. Maybe it's our bodies preparing us for life with babies!

Pushchairs are so pricey aren't they thingy. We want the city jogger baby select which is about £430-£500 but when you factor in car seat and base and carrycot it's more like £800!

If resale value is good on the one you want I guess it does make sense to buy new as atleast you'll probably make a lot of it back

I'm another one with pregnancy insomnia! I asked the mw about it and it's pretty common and should (hopefully) go sometime in second trimester I woke up at 3.30 the other day and didn't go back to sleep so was in bed by 8pm that night as was beyond tired.

Taking dd to see In the Night Garden live today. Should be an interesting day - she'll love it whereas I'll probably fall asleep after early wake up again today!

I'm waking up lots in the night now with hip and leg pain, just like I had with DS :(

Also waking up around 5am like clockwork, then tend to fall asleep after an hour or so meaning DS wakes me up for the day 20 mins later and I feel like I've been dragged from death!!

I go to bed before 9 every night though after 3 years of an early rising or non sleeping DS, so I do still tend to get 7 or sometimes 8 hours.

Sunflowered - glad your scan went well :)

I'm waking up early too, but I'm shattered so it's not because I don't need the sleep. I'm slowly coming to the realisation that I may not have a full nights sleep for a loooooong time!

Congrats on the scan sunflowered, it's so exciting to see the wiggles on screen :)

I've cracked and I'm wearing a maternity dress for the first time today! I don't really need it yet as bump still the size of tummy podge, but it feels good

DH and I went through our baby name list again last night, over tapas! We removed Phineas from the list (boo) but added some new names in. I still like Malachi but DH yet to be convinced.

Eeyore, phineas is cool! Like the phineas and ferb kids show! I like it
Yes I'm also realising this is probably it for sleep for the next 15 ish years until baby turns into a bed hogging teenager oh god... What have I done....

I've been up since 6am because that's when DS sat bolt upright in bed (my bed to boot, he still sneaks in at 3am and refers to it as the family bed), clenched his fists, shaking with excitement and announced "I'm four! I'm four! .... Aren't I?"

We told him he is definitely four and he insisted we measure him as he will have grown lots since yesterday "four is bigger than three". He's on a total high and is quite literally bouncing off the walls and talking a mile a minute.

I'm looking forward to pizza and cake for tea :o

Awwww he sounds sooooo cute Bear! I hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating and enjoy your yummy tea

That's very cute Bear!
I'd just dozed off again when bloody carpet fitter rang. Bastard. But I am excited - we're having it done in the 'nursery' today, the plaster's nearly dry and then I can decorate it - my idea of heaven!
I think I felt baby kick today? By I was deliriously tired so not 100%, especially as I felt it move from the outside against my palm. The little bump is rock hard this morning and very distinct so I know I wasn't cradling my gut or anything! 16 weeks today...

Thingy go for it if that's the one you want and you can - you're right about the resale, you'll make a saving there instead. That's how I justified my wedding dress cost when I bought it! (promptly sold it the week after for 75% what I paid for it, good result, guilt immediately lifted!)

Aw bless him bear. Happy birthday little bear cub!

Dopplerholics, I need your advice. Mine arrived this morning and it took me about 10 minutes to pick up my own heartbeat! Heard nothing of the baby's at all. Not sure I was doing it right - maybe didn't use enough gel...

16+3 and still no bump/movements. I know it's not unusual for a first pregnancy but it's still making me a bit nervous.

Use loads of gel and move it around 1mm at a time really slowly whilst angling it around too - it's like safe breaking! I find mine about an inch above my bikini line and normally off to one side a bit... Sometimes I find it and it quickly disappears as baby wriggles off to a different corner ;)

Morning all - although for some of you it will feel like the afternoon! Hope you can get more sleep soon!

Just catching up on yesterday's chat. I needed some formula when I'd just had DD and had planned to breastfeed so hadn't really thought about formula, bottles etc! But breastfeeding got so painful for me that I was advised to give myself a break and use some formula which I didn't argue with. The hospital did have formula and asked me to choose what brand. I didn't have a clue about formula brands so just asked them to choose one for me, which was Aptamil and I stuck with it. They also advised me to express milk which I did, but I didn't have a pump, so they let me use the hospital electric pump and they have their own disposible bottles and teats. In the meantime, I sent DH out for a breast pump, bottles and some formula supplies (I could have got the pump online for about half the price that DH paid in the supermarket, but I felt desperate!). In the end I managed to do a combination of breastfeeding, expressing milk and formula for around 3 months until my milk ran out.

So the moral of the story is just be prepared, and unless you're really dead against formula feeding, get some supplies just in case you're really struggling and baby needs milk! If you want to breastfeed but also want to leave the house with baby every now and then in the first 6 months, then you'll also want a breast pump! I started with an electric pump as I thought it would be the quicker option and worth the extra money, but I soon swapped it for a manual pump which I managed to use quicker than the electric one (and the electric one was noisy, not great when I was expressing in the middle of the night!). Oh, and you'll need a steriliser.

The other thing that I had never heard of until DD was around 3 weeks old were nipple shields. They're little clear plastic things that fit over your nipple with a little hole in the middle, so baby can suck from that instead of your own potentially sore nipples. It was a bit of a lifesaver for me as my nipples had got so sore I didn't think I could do it anymore, but it was so much less painful for me and DD had no problems with them. The shields even come in different sizes which was amusing - I mean do people really know if their nipples and small, medium or large?

Obviously breastfeeding isn't painful for everyone or mother's wouldn't manage it for so long - I'm really not trying to put anyone off. I think my main trouble was that I was initially told by a midewife that DD was latching on perfectly and I woudn't have any problems, so they left me to it without giving me any further help/advice until my nipples were bleeding and sore! Sorry for TMI in this post but no one had told me about any of this before DD was born and it would have been helpful to know so I could have been more assertive with asking for help at the hospital.

I think I've written enough for now! Have a good day everyone, and Bear enjoy your little boy's birthday!

Just a word of warning on nipple shields - don't use them for too long. I used them after very sore nipples when bf dd and it seriously reduced my milk supply. When spoke to a hv about it they said the amount of milk going through shields is reduced so your body reduces supply to match even if it shouldn't. I ended up taking fenugreek to boost supply although it didn't come back and struggled after that. Shields are great short term if your nipples are cracked/bleeding etc but once I braved it again without it was fine.

That's really good to know littlepanda. I'm planning on breast feeding and was unsure whether to get a pump/steriliser etc as I know DH would like to be able to help out and feed the baby sometimes. My friend had a nightmare with her first as like you was just given bad advice and left to it so I'm hoping to do lots of reading in preparation so I feel more able to cope with it if its a struggle.

Marzipanned - don't worry I could only find my own hb at first. I put it away for a few days then tried again (as was worried I'd become really worried if I just kept trying and didn't find anything). The next time I could hear the placenta (I think) as its a whooshing sound and then I managed I find hb. Last time I found hb quite quickly (much faster than yours and did actually sound like horse galloping which was weird) but it does sometimes take a while. I found mine on the left side about an inch above knicker line but its tricky to find the right angle. Try not to worry yourself, use lots of gel and if you don't find it maybe put it away for a day or two then try again. I need to get a new battery for mine as its either run down or packed up after three goes (hopefully the former).

Grrrr after my early get up I was all ready for logging into the remote server at work and blitzing thru my planning and it won't bloody let me. Don't know if its a problem with the whole system, just remote access of just my password. Really CBA going in again today but I wanna get this work out of the way fingers crossed its magically fixed when I try again!

Thanks for the advice milk and missk! Think I didn't use nearly enough gel and was way too impatient and tried out way too small an area!
However, I'm going to put it away for the time being as we've got the scan on Sunday and that should satisfy all my baby heartbeat needs (fingers crossed that scan is good news)

Champagne so glad the hols were a success!

PS To all those who recommended cocoa butter - thank you! - have just put it on for the first time and the smell is making me massively nostalgic, though I'm not sure for what. Lovely.

I am actually inclined to think breastfeeding is sore for everyone. Has anyone had painless breast feeding? I have not known anyone who has. But I think what Panda said is right first time mothers need to be more prepared for that possibility by midwifes or antenatal classes.

I was lucky I had grown up around my mum and aunties who all breast fed and I saw the pain, bleeding, mastitis and cracked nipples but then I also saw that when they kept going it eventually got better and then just seemed like the easiest thing ever. Just to whip out a boob and get on with it seemed so effortless.

So I suppose I was one of those who was going to breast feed no matter what. It hurt like hell for a while but it's a bit like a new shoe which gives you a blister. If you stop wearing it next time you try again the same thing will happen but if you bear the pain and carry on wearing it eventually the skin toughens and it's not sore anymore.

The midwife said my positioning and latching on was all perfect but I still ended up with cracked, bleeding and crusty nipples. But it is such an amazing experience and the most wonderful bond to have with your baby.

Saying that I'm not one of those woman who go about scorning at people who decide not to or give it a try then stop. I think it is totally the mothers choice and there are a mix of breast and bottle fed babies in this country who all seem to do great regardless.

There are lots of reasons people have to stop also. I BF my first until about 14 months but when my son came along I got ill and when he was 9wks had to start taking medication and therefore, had to stop breastfeeding and switch him to formula, we also used Aptimal like Panda. I actually still feel guilty about it as we never developed the same bond as I did with my daughter and he is one of those children that picks up every illness whereas my daughter is always fighting fit. But that's life we can never fully plan how things will go. He is still a super healthy boy.

Anyway enough about that. I finally had a good dream last night after a few nights of nightmares. I dreamt about giving birth and meeting my beautiful baby and although I woke up again at 5am I had a big smile on my face.

Bear happy birthday to your little boy, he sounds so sweet. I hope you all have a lovely day.

marzipanned it's gorgeous isn't it? Much better than synthetic vanilla-scents (tho I'm sure there are synthetic scents in it, but who's counting?)

champagne yay for brilliant holidays, hope you're feeling better!

Re American births, they are only just beginning to introduce gas and air over there, so for years the entry-level pain relief has been an epidural. I've been reading Ina May Gaskin's "Guide to Childbirth" and it's great - she's a complete hippy, and has been a midwife in a commune for decades, so she's pretty anti medical intervention (which I am not at all, but it's nice to hear from the other point of view, IYSWIM). Anyway, it's full of things about preparing and tips on how to relax and manage pain. I'm taking it with a huge pinch of salt re some of the scarier analyses of the medical intervention, but then it's a different health system from ours, so that's not too bad. I've also been forwarded a YouTube video of a woman in Australia having a completely natural birth in a creek, and it's amazing - ok so it's baby number 4, and she's a doula, but it's calm and quiet and cool. It's also NSFW as it's very graphic, but if you ever wonder how you're going to stretch to pass a baby's head it's quite amazing to see it in action. It's also long (20+ minutes) but it's worth it if you've never seen a woman actually give birth before.

I BF'd DS until he was 2, having said I would aim for 6 months :) He had other ideas.

It really hurt for the first month, and I don't know anyone who has said otherwise. Yet despite this I still hear midwives and HV's saying that if it hurths you aren't doing it right. I think this results in lots of women losing confidence and giving up.

For me (and the friends I have spoken to about it) it is very sore (like Chinese burn on your nipple!) for the first 10 seconds of a feed, and then it is absolutely fine for the rest of the feed. I think it hurt like that for 3-4 weeks with me. That little bit of soreness was well worth it for me, I loved breastfeeding DS and I can't wait to do it again.

I watched one of my best friends suffer terribly with mastitis and have to give up after one week, and several other friends whose babies just could not get the latch right resulting in pain and cracked nipples etc. It can be really hard, and I wish 'the system' was better set up to help women.

I was bottle fed and I never had a problem with the idea of bottle feeding DS, but I wanted to try breastfeeding - and for us it was the right thing.

I had it bad with breast feeding. But I was so determined that he was not having formula. I had breasts, that's what they were for. I had cracked, bleeding nipples for 8 weeks and had thrush and infections and all sorts. But I didn't give up. MW/breast feeding person said that I was probably the only person in my situation that she knew that carried on despite what I experienced. So, if I can do it through sheer stubbornness then anyone who really really wants to no matter what can too! I had a pump but barely used it. My friend gave me some emergency formula and it went off and in the bin. My DH asked me once and once only if we wanted to give it to DS and he never asked again. When it was really bad I said to DH that I would rather experience labour pains again as that was more preferable. But, you sacrifice yourself for your children and I was adamant he'd be breastfed no matter what.

I'm still BF 17 months later and will carry on even though I'm pregnant again.

Has everyone decided who they are having with them at the birth?

With my first I had my mum and DH and my second DH and my best friend.

I can't decide whether I should just let it be my DH and I this time or if I should ask a friend to join us.

It was really helpful having a female especially my mum the first time. I was in pain after but she helped me to the shower and helped me wash etc.

somany I'm hoping for DH and a doula.

I have decided to only have my OH at the birth because I have a really strong bond with my mnum (she had me young so we are more like besties lol) I'm afraid id pushOH out if the picture and cling to mummy haha. I'll have her on speed dial tho!!