October 2013: The Fourth Trimester - the bit no one warns you about!

[roxvox]

Stats sheet here

New arrivals here

Key:
SC - still cooking (pre EDD)
SFW - still f*ing waiting (post EDD)
OWT - on way to theatre (CS)
IP - induction in progress
SWIL - somewhere in labour
LIT - lost in transition

first in?

I'm here. This will be the thread where my baby is born. He is testing me at the moment, has been since the 24th. I had contractions every 6 mins this morning and I thought my waters were leaking. Turns out it wasn't my waters and my contractions mysteriously vanished within an hour of being seen. So off I trotted home, slow labour is exhausting.

Baby thread for me too hopefully! Maybe the impending storm will jolt him into action tonight.

Will this be the last antenatal thread for us all?

Marking place

Went to the midwife at a hospital today. Thomas has continued to put on weight at an average of 26g a day which is only just short of the 30g target so quite good I thought but not at birth weight yet and midwife wasn't happy with progress.

She also said the 40ml top ups are not enough and we should be giving 90ml at least, just as last time when we following instructions of 2ml- 10ml a time was not enough. It annoys me that they make you feel like crap for not giving them enough when were just following midwives instructions from the last visit both times. So now we have to have a bottle which i really didn't want to do. We have bought one that is meant to avoid nipple confusion and has a slow release so he has to work a bit to suck the milk out. he seems to like it and it is very quick and much less messy than a cup so hopefully it will help him grow and give me more time to sleep.

I am so tired I kept crying while we were there and had to get DH to read my list of questions while I tried to hold myself together. She suggested dropping to 4 hourly feeds which should help with the exhaustion. Hopefully that doesn't affect my supply.

Sorry for the mememe.

If your milk supply is low ask your doctor about domperidone Orange I spoke to a few women in Yorkhill who had it prescribed and it really helped. I've got an appointment with GP tomorrow in the hope of getting a prescription for it.

Waters just gone, very spectacularly, so we're off to hospital!

Good luck imp xxx

Yey imp!! A storm baby on the thread. Good luck xxx

Checking in - good luck imp

checking in - good luck imp how exciting! (have you thought of storm as a middle name )

Hello all,

I've lingered on the thread for months, I think I may have commented in the early days.

I was due last Sunday, no signs of anything happening at all.

Just back from a sweep where the midwife said my cervix was soft and had shortened to 2cm, she was able to get her finger in and do a good sweep. Not the most pleasant Sunday afternoon I've ever had! Feeling fairly emotional....

Hopefully it might encourage something to get moving.

So sorry, pressed send before saying congratulations to everyone who has already had their babies and good luck to those left. Fingers crossed all our babies arrive soon.

Checking in - exciting news Imp congrats on the new babies for Sanji and threeblondies.

C had been snacking a lot today which is throwing me a bit - lots of 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. He's also been sick quite a lot - I'm not sure I'm winding him very effectively. I'm sitting him up and rubbing his back. Sometimes there is something straight away and other times he just protests so I stop. Then he's uncomfortable and then sick . I don't think it helps that he's having to gulp a lot because of my fast let down. BF is actually (whisper it) getting slightly more bearable - although he was quite unsettled last night which was hard work.

On the other hand he's now had his second bath - we have been quite slack about bathing him and obviously he gets cleaned thoroughly at each nappy change bit I haven't really been wiping his face and eyes etc much. How often are you all wiping face etc in between baths?

Hugs orange, it must be so frustrating being given a hard time for following advice!

T's weight gain is so close to what they're looking for, I'm surprised they've advised to increase the top ups. Is it worth giving one of the breastfeeding support lines a call?

I second Soup - I'd call one of the helplines for some reassurance, Orange. You're doing fantastically well for Thomas, and so close to their 'target', you'll surely make it soon, get discharged, and then feel more able to do what you deem best for your son and sod the midwives.
Either way, hope you get some rest x

mrshn your 2 days ahead of me and Harrison has also had 2 baths I also haven't been washed him except his bits and bobs at nappy change, as midwife said they are newborn babies they don't get dirty he also has quite dry skin so I don't wanna dry it out more with soaps etc even though they are baby soaps. Re: winding we pat Harrison's bAck and rub it and if he's being really stubborn we lay him down then sit back up in a tilt motion as that sometimes does the trick I've also started adding stuff for wind to a couple of bottles per day which obv u can't do with breast feeding. Sounds like your doing an excellent job Hun

C had her second bath tonight (20 days old) and I wash her face with cooled boiled water if her eyes look crusty or when I remember

I'm finding this girl nappy changing difficult in terms of making sure everything is clean.... Any tips?

Thanks Nat, I was feeling a bit slatternly . He does seem to dribble milk all down his chin at feeds so obviously I wipe that up, but having been in the bath again his skin has gone a bit flaky again. I have very dry skin so I'm keen not to strip all the natural oils out of his by over-bathing him. As you say, how dirty can they get really?!

Ha Pseudo we're busy dodging the fountains of wee that C seems fond of producing just as you whip away the dirty nappy and before the clean one can go on...

I'm a bit tentative with his boy bits which seem to get stuck together between changes!

Lol pseudo dh and I are having the opposite problem what with having dd, so not only are we changing the opposite to what were used too but dd has been out of nappies for over a year so it makes it seem even weirder. Were yet to be wee'd on though so that has to he an achievement right ?

checking in. got a very upset windy baby like every evening!! will catch up properly later!

Phew... Bedtime feed in the dark. V has been feeding or crying all afternoon..... Literally. Exhausting given there are two others also needing attention... I hate days like this!

Weed on and (projectile) pooed on. Popping a baby wipe on their little winkies helps. Supposedly the fresh air when the nappy comes off makes them wee! The joys.
I was told just to use normal tap water and cotton wool to clean baby's face and eyes (his left eye is sticky so needs cleaned a lot) but should it be boiled first?

Hi everyone, majorly late to the party but nursing our lo here now (came 16 Oct but was due Nov) and love to chat to others I'm the same position