February 2014. The cake mix is in the mug, the microwave is on, it's slowly rising and we'll be pinging in three more months!

[Shropshiremummy2B]

Sadly my cake mix is rising too much and resulting in a serious muffin top.

champagne when we did our classes, it was 6 weeks of two hour sessions, plus a Saturday. There is a dvd on breatsfeeding, I cant remember if it came in a bounty pack or from the nct class. Unfortunately I think I threw it when we moved or you could have it (I will check). I also did a seperate class on breastfeeding via the nct which was with their local specialists and answered questions Id thought of after the antenatal classes.

I had to dual feed from an early age, due to medical issues on my part causing ds to not be getting enough milk from me so he was still losing weight. He had no issues getting mixed up between either or a preference for one over the other, and it did both of us the world of good. It is worth remembering that you are not being a bad mother if you cant bf or have to introduce formula, the health of you and your baby has to come first.

I had a massive run in with Le Leche League where the woman had a massive rant at me for even considering introducing formula and that I was a terrible and failure of a mother for it. Everyone should bf and there was no reason I shouldnt be able to (which reminds me of the story
I heard about the woman who had had a double massectomy being had a go at). My friend suffering from pnd at the time also had a lecture from them, her dd got moved to prescription formula in the end due to her medical conditions. Two years on, she still feels she failed her dd1 by not bf.

Fizzling / hope you are ok. Worth getting checked out.

Littleen - some babies will take both happily but not all. My ds1 was like somamy's daughter - refused a bottle point blank. And my second, like I said, took both quite happily but eventually developed a preference for the bottle which meant I had to give up bf much earlier than intended.

I do think it's a sensitive topic and whatever
Anyone chooses to do can turn out to be right or wrong for them as there is no way of predicting how an individual baby will react. We can only do our best based on what seems rights at the time.

Wow it's been busy the last few days. Will have to sit down with coffee and cake to digest all the bf advice and other topics. Like some of you have said I'll be giving bf the best try I can but know it's not going to be an easy ride.

Off out for a birthday dinner with my family later which will be a great end to a v chilled out day. In a storm related bonus, dh was forced to take the day off which made for a lovely cosy lie in and he's now motoring through all the housework so the rest of the week will hopefully continue in the same relaxed mood Enjoying this while it lasts - suspect it's going to be a few years before I get to spend my bday being pampered again. Plus in future I will of course role model good behaviour by not eating cake for a morning snack, lunch, and afternoon tea.

Ooooh now I want cake

I must do some baking this week! Currently have GordonRamsays cottage pie sizzling on the stove and I'm hoping there's enough to freeze some batches.

Like most of you I'm hoping to breast feed but know that it might be difficult at first and that we will have to go with whatever is right for us and baby in the end. My friend had an awful time with her first and has recommended "the food of love" by Kate Evans which I have ordered and arrived today. A bit of a cheesy title but I'll let you know if it's any good.

"Birth skills" by Juju Sundin also arrived - I saw it recommended on the natal hypnotherapy thread and it's supposed to help give you pain management techniques for labour and birth. Lots of reading for me this week!

I wish I'd eaten less cake now. It doesn't do the heartburn any good

Your pain relief book sounds interesting - will you let us know how it goes?

Fizz hope everything is ok and you can get some advice/reassurance from the mws even if you can't get there in person this evening.

Fizz - just seen your post. Hope you've managed to get hold of someone by now. If it were me I'd go to hospital to be safe just to get checked and in case it is an infection to get antibiotics etc. x

Thanks for all the bf advice ladies - good to hear the reality. Definitely want to do it but it's very reassuring to hear that it can be so hard (in the sense of avoiding feeling like some kind of failure if we do struggle at first).

Feel like the storm was an anti climax here in in London. .. deliberately didn't cycle in case it was windy and I got wobbly and took tjw tube. Absolutely no need to and it took several stops for some very nice guy to notice my my badge and offer me a seat. And even then some other guy body checked me trying to get there first! I really feel for you ladies doing it every day.

Good luck fizz it's definitely worth getting checked, will be thinking of you! [Thanks]

who knew mn was case sensitive

Fizz hope you're ok.

I'm starting to really worry about breast feeding now! I want to try it and hope it works but I'm going back to work when he will be 12 weeks old so he will have to transfer to formula and bottles then anyway. Will it matter? Surely even a little bit of breast milk is better than none is it not? Or should I be trying to express for his whole days with my mum while I'm at work?

Fizz - hope you're ok!!

Food of love is a brilliant book, really funny. I would also recommend 'the womanly art of breast feeding' for a more weighty, serious read.

Laura, any breast milk is a great thing. Also it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You could give the baby some formula and some breast milk.

I can't wait to breast feed again in many ways, but dreading leaky boobs. I had to wear breast pads for about 9 months with DS, I had so much milk.....

I'm really looking forward to breastfeeding again too. It didn't work with ds1 due to tongue tie and infections but it all just fell into place with ds2 and it was such an amazing bonding experience. I loved snuggling up with him watching his sleepy little face as he fed. Can't wait to experience that again, if it works for us anyway.

I also made too much milk but found breast shells made it easier in the first few weeks. I would always let down from both breasts so pads weren't enough. Wouldn't recommend wearing shells out in public though, you will get stared at.
DP seems a bit sad that he won't get to use a bottle. So I guess I'll have to have a go at expressing so he can feed the baby but it is a pain sometimes.

whoputthe don't worry about small nipples hindering BFing - I have small nipples and fed each of my boys for over a year. Fully intending to BF again, haven't and won't bother buying all the FF related stuff. I always found expressing easier whilst feeding. Obviously you have to get the knack of feeding first, but after a few weeks I could feed one handed and pump from the other side at the same time - the baby will stimulate your let-down reflex far more effectively than a breastpump, hence the inability to express much is not remotely an indication of how much milk you are producing. I struggled to get much using a pump on its own, but could get a fair bit if I pumped first thing, whilst giving the baby his morning feed. That said, they always preferred feeding from me than a bottle!

Feel free to throw BF related questions at me - might not get back on tonight, but will post again in the morning. Really need to go and have some dinner and see DH for a bit!

Thingy I found breast shells a godsend too - like you in the early months I used to let down from both sides together which would have been fine had I been feeding twins I guess! Do remember having to empty one full shell into an empty coffee mug when sat in Starbucks with my NCT group now, seriously hope nobody else noticed! I was also seriously leaky, especially at night - had to sleep on a towel for ages and then wear soft sleep bras with pads inside until I stopped bf at 10.5 months. Once we'd got through the discomfort and issues it was wonderful though.

Thingy I wasn't keen on shells. I just found that as long as I applied pressure to the other side when I started feeding, the pads were enough. After the first few weeks I learned to do it surreptitiously with my arm so nobody knew and I could feed in public

Although I will never forget feeding in a cafe and DS suddenly pulled off my boob and milk shot right over the other side of the table into my dad's coffee.

Same here lovetobake, towels and waterproof sheets everywhere. I felt like a leaking tap but it did settle down and I loved bf. Probably because it appeals to my lazy nature. It's not often you get a valid excuse to sit down for hours on end.
lastnight That must have been a bit awkward and yet quite impressive. I will have to try the pressure trick this time around.

Fizz I would get that checked out too. - probably nothing serious but I'd want a medical answer.

I really would like to BF a bit longer this time, I managed two weeks last time. I do know what to expect this time so maybe that will help. I got to the point last time where I was dreading feeding and I just wanted to enjoy my baby.

Productive day for me today - 24 week appt at the doctors, redecorated my living room with DH, cleaning, walk in the woods with DD, and cooked chicken and ham pie and chocolate brownies for tea, bath and bed routine for DD and now enjoying a fire and a brownie in my smart new living room. Tired now though!

Ugh yes I remember the sleeping on towels thing - awful.

Not awkward at all really, just had to bring one arm up across my chest and apply firm pressure - and as baby got bigger I could sometimes hold him in such a way that I could press his body into me.

You can use the same trick if you are not feeding and feel the let down reflex (used to happen to me all the time). Firm pressure for a few seconds stops the milk flow :)

I do t really understand when people say bottle feeding is a hassle either tbh. Even at 2weeks old DD wasn't on more than 6 bottles a day, at roughly 8am, 12 noon, 4pm, 8pm and midnight approximately. My microwave steriliser fit 6 bottles so I would rinse the bottle after the feed, then spend twenty minutes each morning after the first feed washing the bottles thoroughly, microwave sterilise and fill with freshly boiled water, seal and leave to cool then just add milk powder, shake, and warm if required in the bottle warmer. DD actually preferred her milk at room temperature after a few weeks so didn't even have to warm them, and even in the early days they were exactly the right temperature after the time of a nappy change in the warmer. It wasn't the hassle (for me at least) that so many people say it is.

Oh, I meant the accident with your dads drink must have been awkward lastnight. I will definitely try the arm trick. The double let down really hindered me when bf out of the house.
You sound very organised littlest. I imagine both breast and bottle are equally as time consuming when you consider length of each breast feed and time spent cleaning bottles. It's whatever works best for each family. If breast doesn't work for us this time I certainly won't stress out about it.

Ah yes sorry! Yes very awkward indeed!! Dad not entirely comfortable with bfing (mum bottle fed me and they are both a bit squeamish about it. Does my head in!!!)

Thanks for all the BF knowledge.

I made my Must Have vs Quite Like list and ordered my NCT Nestbed for delivery in Jan. Felt a bit organised theis morning. DH was stuck at home, and when I got back he had cleaned the entire house, emptied a wardrobe and drawers for baby, changed the box room into a nursery. I was gobsmacked and nearly cried!

(Butwhere are the boxes that fIlled the box room??)

I am sat here trying to subtly compress my boobs with my arms so that I can try and control leaking/let down when dc2 arrives I also used shells for a week or two and they are definitely not subtle!

I bf'd ds for almost 13 months and after all the help and support I got, I trained to be a breastfeeding peer supporter and volunteer at bf groups in Cardiff.

I did use a hand held medela pump with ds from time to time, but if he was taking a bottle, I would still need to express the feed he was missing anyway so it all became a bit pointless. I might express a bit this time as I am going to a gig when dc2 will be 4 months old. But by 4 months last time, ds was sleeping from 7pm-2am-7am so me and my boobs weren't needed in the evenings anyway . Ds would take a bottle from 6 weeks to 4 months but then he decided he would prefer to just wait for my boobs to turn up. Not really an issue as he came more or less everywhere with me anyway! My friends who are now on dc2 have all ditched expressing this time, its more hassle than to just feed direct if you can. DH can do something more useful. Like the washing up.

Bf can be difficult at first, but I would recommend surrounding yourself with other bf-ers at support groups and clinics for actually help, plus tea and sympathy. I was in pain feeding for about 7 weeks (this is unusual) but obviously it got less over the weeks. I never bled though. I think it was because my inverted nipples had to adjust to very much being "outies"

So I spent 2hours sitting down with DH this evening looking at boys names. What did we come up with? Nothing!

He liked Lyndon and Carson and another name that I hated that I can't remember. Sorry if anyone likes these names but I just think they are awful.

I am stuck on Eli and I just don't think I am going to budge as there is nothing else I like. DH says he does not want this name, but I think he does actually like it I just feel he won't admit it as he doesn't want me to have chosen the name. He wants it to be a joint decision. Our DC have now started calling the baby Eli as I have constantly referred to him as this. But this has just really pissed off my DH.

I just cannot see us agreeing on anything. This poor boy

The only boys name DH and I agree on is Nicholas Richard. We both love it but - Nicky dicky!? Would that matter?

Does anyone have colostrum yet? I don't!

I have a feeling I'm going to have a hard time breastfeeding because I might have hypoplastic breasts (to do with shape and fullness).
Hopefully I won't, but my mum had issues and I want to prepare mentally for if it just doesn't happen like I want it to.
C'mon, boobs!

I wrote a note to my absent friend today (the one who's been ignoring me, I suspect, because I missed her bday lunch because of first tri exhaustion). I didn't mention how hurt I've been because I want some possibility of healing this relationship if it's possible.