Graduated Elderberry Pavlovas - Thread 7

[Cavort]

Newly diffed right through to new Mums. A thread for the over 30's expecting their first baby.

my hips feel so much better though.

That's good mother - I didn't have any pain like that thankfully but if you've found a way to relieve it a bit that's brilliant...

Glad it helped Wonder if it would help with my back ache, I might try and find a decent local swimming pool, the ache isn't too bad though so I shouldn't complain.

My mum has just bought a baby gift, a nice high chair, it's wooden and adjusts so we can use it for years I've also chosen my cotbed. Let me know if anyone has any changing unit recommendations as that's next on my list!

I went swimming today as well, is it bad that I'm still wearing my maternity swimsuit 3 months post birth? To be fair there's no way my boobs would fit in my pre-pregnancy one or my wobbly tum

Speaking of boobs. Question for Hazle, can I have your bra related wisdom? Since you've shown me the light with your non fugly nursing bra solution, I've decided it's perhaps time I finally go bra shopping. I've had a little measure and I'm about 32 inches under bust and 38 inches round boobs when bent over. Have I don't it right and what size does that make me? Thanking in advance for your help!

Alex - wallowing around in the swimming pool definitely eased my back, I'd say it's well worth trying.

I mean when I was pregnant not now just to clarify!

Cavort sorry to hear that you are engaged in the Battle of the Naps - my sis went through that but much later on, by which time it was super hard to train baby to self-settle. FX you'll get there with a bit of consistency...must be hard.

Alex/Mother I am pretty sure my baby just happens to be head down today and is still moving about a lot, was convinced they were transverse last week and then had a set of really extreme movements yesterday morning which in hindsight might have been a turn?

Friend of mine gave birth this weekend 2.5 weeks early! She only got 3 days of maternity leave - made me realise that I'm quite close to the (potential) end myself now...

quod when is your due date again? Yes I'm sure my baby is still moving around lots and not in one position, from what I can tell anyway!

Hi all good to see you will all be having babies soon
Lara had her 8 week jabs today and it broke my heart to hold her while she wailed in pain! She has been a bit teary for the rest of the day and so have I but overall ok.
She also has a very angry rash and the gp said it may be thrush so we have canesten for her. Overall a hard day for us here.
Cav hope you do well on your nap battle.
And purple one of the reasons why I'm avoiding swimming is that I know I won't fit in the stuff I have and I refuse to buy large ones!

Purple, same bra measurements as me! Try a 32E or DD (or potentially a EE if they're too small of cup). I'd try them in different brands as I think you have to find a brand whose shape fits you well. My personal fav is Lepel but they're a bit pricey unless you can get them in the sale

purple that would make you about 32E. I'm saying about, because this measuring system is just a guideline, people often need smaller band than they measure and different brands also fit differently.

What you what to do is to try the bra on back to front first - just the band, don't try to pull the shoulder straps up or anything. Fasten at the last hooks, so when the bra stretches, you can tighten it. You should be able to breathe, but not be able to pull the band more than a couple of cm away from the body.

If you got the band right, start with the cups. I always recommend to start big - it's always very obvious if the bra is too big, it's gaping and wrinkling, but not when the bra is slightly too small. So go for a couple of cups bigger than you think you need and work down from there. Scoop all the breast tissue into to cup and there should not be any overspill when you breathe in or any of the boob escaping under your armpit.

For some odd reason, most UK brands don't make an EE, but go straight to F. No logic in bra sizes whatsoever.

and another word of advice from personal experience - don't buy the whole stock of bras that you think you need during breastfeeding the day you think your boobs have settled down. Most likely you'll be losing some weight and those bras will be too big soon.

wow, thanks for the advice, I can't believe my little boobs are apparently not so little! I shall go forth in search of a bra that fits.

I'm hoping my boobs have now settled down to a size they'll stay until I finish BFing. When my milk first came in they weren't much bigger than normal, then they went absolutely huge and now they're somewhere in between. They had better stay like this now as I am sick of buying bras!

Well last night was an absolute nightmare! The worst since she was a newborn. She slept from 8pm, woke for one 15 minute feed at 12am, then slept until 3.30am, but then woke every bloody half hour until I finally gave up and got up at 6am. I am knackered! (even though DH, bless him, went into work late so I could get a bit more sleep). Needless to say I have abandoned yesterday's nap experimentation (which resulted in her missing her early afternoon nap) and reverted back to letting her fall asleep on me and then moving her into her chair in the lounge. She is happily napping now looking angelic, the red horns and forked tail she seemed to have grown at 4am have temporarily disappeared while I stare at my eye bags in the mirror.

Of course if The Wonder Weeks is to be believed, she is currently 'leaping' and that is why she is currently difficult when she wasn't previously, which I am inclined to hope is right as it means it's just a phase and things will be back to normal and I will get my nice baby back afterwards - god, I hope so! Something has definitely changed this week.

I'm ignoring cavorts post and pretending all babies sleep through the night all the time Only joking but that does sound horrendous I think I would totally abandon the upstairs self settling for now if I were you! Can you squeeze some naps in during the day when she's napping or is it hard to drift off? I'm not a good daytime napper so will struggle with those.

I didn't sleep very well and woke up at 5am for some reason, probably because the baby was really active and then my mind got really active. I'm not complaining though as cavort may kill me as five and a half hours straight sounds like it's a luxury in comparison!

My boobs haven't changed massively in pregnancy but I shouldn't still be wearing my normal bras. Had a quick look in mothercare the other day. Do you think I might as well just buy a nursing bra now as I'm only a couple of months away, one of the ones that have little clips at the front? Is there any reason I can't wear one of those as a mat bra for a while to save on buying both?

cavort I really feel for you suddenly my hip pain and ongoing cystitis don't seem anything to moan about!!!

Sleep deprivation will be the thing that kills me, although I am an awesome napper so should be able to sleep while he does.

I hope she is back to her old self soon hun and the sleep hating beast possessing her buggers off asap!!

My boobs are still huge, currently 36F, if I gain 2 sizes when my milk comes in I am basically going to have udders! They don't look so bad while I have the bump to even things out but I really don't want them to stay this big as I really don't like them, they are just too big.

Alex 5.5 straight hours sounds like heaven at the moment! DH and I keep saying that the first time we leave Elodie overnight we aren't even going to consider getting pissed, we are going to book a health spa for massages, relaxation and 10 hours uninterrupted sleep!

I always just wore normal underwired bras when pregnant. Yes you can buy a nursing bra now but you'll have to guess what size you'll end up after the birth so if you get one I would get a hideous looking but massively comfortable stretchy one. I think many people recommend getting a bra at about 37 weeks as an indicator of postpartum size, but I found I stayed pretty much the same size as pre-pg until 3 days after the birth and then went up 2 cup sizes when my milk arrived. I then went up another 1-2 sizes as milk supply increased but then went back down a few sizes when feeding settled down at about 8 weeks, so I think buying any bras in advance is a bit of a gamble.

I can nap while she naps, but I think I just enjoy moaning about a crap nights sleep, especially when I have been previously spoiled by a baby who generally sleeps. Anyone can sleep during the day if they are tired enough.

Mother you really do adapt to having less sleep but it doesn't mean you don't want to moan about it.

I also had SPD and it was very unpleasant (tho nowhere near as bad as poor old Purple) so you have my sympathies. The only saving grace is that it disappears the instant you give birth.

cav you may have noticed I am rather keen on a moan myself so I am sure you will hear all about my lack of sleep woes.

I agree alex I think buying now could be a bit of a gamble. I have got some massively unattractive stretchy crop tops and sports type bras for after the birth which have room for these puppies to grow when my milk comes in, I figure I can live in those for the first week or so and then buy a bra or 2 in what will hopefully be the rightish size.

My hips are much better today, I did hardly any swimming last night 15 measly lengths so as to not push them too hard but it seems to have done the trick. The main thing that hurts is rolling over in bed, I am just hoping it doesn't get any worse. I'll have a chat with the midwife on Thursday and see what she thinks.

My family have always been awesome nappers, when I lived at home you would often find me and my mum asleep in different arm chairs. :-) My brother used to fall asleep on the sofa, chair, in the bath etc so we are good at grabbing 10mins while we can. Fingers crossed this love of sleep and my OHs ability to sleep through anything at all passes onto my son!!!

Uh oh I'm a terrible napper and quite a light sleeper, let's hope I don't pass on that trait!

Have to say, my boobs are pretty non eventful so am not expecting a massive change but you never know! Keep waiting for Pammie style boobs to kick in but, while they're looking quite good and full, they're not the absolutely huge boobs I was promised expecting during pregnancy

I'm going to try and find a decent local pool online now - the gorgeous Virgin active gyms near me won't let you pay just for a swimming session damn them!

You can go with a member to the one I was a member of Alex - but it's £20 a pop as a visitor!

I got really excited about the local council run gym as it also has a creche... To only find out that it closes in three weeks for refurbishments until next summer. Great timing.

Miles has a cold. This makes him very annoying grouchy. Bless him he's going from super chirpy to sobbing like it's the end of the world in two minutes sleep. He also snores a lot. Poor little lad. Sorry cavort but his sleeping is still ace - although he will apparently go through a leap in a week or so, so will see what happens there...

In two minutes flat, not two minutes sleep!!

Sleep on the brain janey!

The gyms told me that about going with a member but I don't know a member! Actually don't think that's too bad if you can use all the stuff but I only want to swim. Just spoke to another branch and he recommended a local swimming place and leisure centre so I'm going to try there. They also have a crèche. Let me know if you want to try it with me for a swim, the prices are really good.

By the way, I can wear a bikini to a leisure centre pool right?! As I'm sure my bikinis will still fit?

alex there is no need for maternity bras, it's just a con to make new parents spend more money. Totally fine to wear normal bras, as long as they fit. And as suggested a bit earlier, no need for nursing bras either, just get the clips and convert a bra yourself. Cheaper and you'll get better support.