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

Ooh dtd. Nope. Too tired and csection wound still a little sore. DP LOVES the boobs, but it is so sore when he grabs them! I think it will be a few weeks yet...

pink you are NOT an awful wife.

You got him a baby pink, that is present enough. DH and I have been together 10 years today but don't celebrate now we have a wedding anniversary instead. We tried to have a cuddle but Thomas interrupted. He has been very fussy and refuses to go on his back since last night. Keeps looking like he is straining to poo or struggling to breathe unless on his front.
My DH is going back to work tomorrow too pink so we can hold hands and be teary together.

I dtd for the first time last night as that was the first of the bleeding stopping and willow is 6 weeks xx

speaking of dtd I have downloaded a pelvic floor exercises app. reminds you to do them and prompts you how to do them. think my poor pelvic floor definitely needs it!!

I remembered to restart pelvic floor exercises yesterday, and today I started bleeding again after a few days with minimal discharge - related events or coincidence?!

And DTD ain't happening here until I feel more comfortable with my appearance. Feel gross at the moment

In other news, I survived 24hrs as a lone parent while DH was away on a stag do. I have soooooo much respect for anyone who has to do this alone - such hard work!!

SFW - 41+4. I am officially a miserable bitch and an emotional wreck

shire pelvic floor exercises increase circulation to the area so it could be related because of that.

Joshie is 2 weeks old and we will not be dtd any time soon. Mw said my stitches are gone but I do not feel fully healed at all. Also I still don't feel my bladder properly and have piles so I don't feel "right" down there.

Today we had friends over and Joshie decided to cluster feed through the whole thing. Luckily friends were great and made me feel really comfortable. I started the day using a muslin to cover up but by the end was happy with just my cardigan. I was so excited to have a real meal with friends and wine but he started crying as soon as food was placed on the table. I ended up feeding him at the table and eating with one hand. I guess that's the first time of many?

Thank you orange and mnippy

orange I like the excuse thst I got him a baby :) Cried on DH and he called me ridiculous and said wed just have takeaway like we used to before we were married. Feel a bit better about it now ive owned up.

Hope both our days are better than expected orange x

sending hugs dontworry whens induction? I know not ideal but just think your baby will be here in a few days xx

Awww Don't Panic I really feel for you, those last few days of pregnancy were horrendous. Just really make the most of some time to yourself and be smug that you don't have a bawling milk monster to deal with just yet.
Sending labour vibes your way.

Don't Worry, even. My poor tired brain.

orange and pink dh officially returns too work tommorow although he's worked 2 out of the last 20 days, now its the real deal and I'll have the school run to do and he'll only get one day out of 7 off per week. Its a scary thought isn't it?

Just wondering how long everyone's baby blues lasted? Today is day 18 for my and I still find myself crying roughly once a day most days, mainly cos I'm panicking about being on my own, I'm upset about missing dh going back to work and just feeling like no one cares about me

dontworry, sending you labour vibes.

pink, it was our wedding anniversary on Thursday. We had a takeaway and a glass of fizz and that was it by way of celebration. I can think of nothing I want to do less than DTD to be honest! My body image isn't too bad (given I still look about 4 months pregnant) but any time I don't have the baby attached to me, I'd rather sleep, shower, throw down some food (which was hot a couple of hours previously) etc, etc.

We're still struggling with feeding. Our latch is not good and it's still really painful. I'm going to a clinic tomorrow morning so hoping that will help.

natalie, I haven't cried for 2 days in a row and see that as a major victory. I see emotional turmoil as totally normal given were coping with newborn babies after a physical trauma! Be kind to yourself.

I dont even have an induction date! I'll see MW tomorrow - all my appointments have been late because they're short of midwives here. I so, so wanted to have a natural labour this time but doesn't look like it's going to happen. This time I know how tough the birth can be & how hard it is to establish feeding & deal with the sleep deprivation so it's difficult to be positive about not having long to go. I really appreciate your kind words ladies but struggling to take them on board

dontworry, I had an induction. When I was frantically googling trying to find positive induction stories, the majority I found were for second labours.

I know it's not what you want. It's not what I wanted either, and in fact all of the things I really didn't want happened. Now she is here though, there isn't a bit of it I wouldn't go through again.

Fingers tightly crossed you either go into labour naturally, or have one of those positive second time around inductions.

ana - in the 15 days that LO has been with us, I've eaten 3 meals without him being attached to my chest!

He seems to have a knack of waking up and wanting to be fed as soon as dinner is plated and it's easier eating one handed than listening to him scream!

don'tworry hugs for you. These last days are still so fresh in my memory and they are so hard... However, I also had a positive induction story - I had syntocin drip to deliver DS1 and it went well. And now I had the natural birth I wanted so badly but it was a back to back birth and I still can't walk or change position easily as my lower spine is still knackered. It goes to show that it's so hard to predict how things will go and what we expect can be so different from the reality. Don't despair - sending you labour vibes. xxx

re: dtd... DS2 is only 4 days old and I can't even face the thought of it. I expect it's not on DP's agenda either for a while. When I was filling in the satisfaction questionnaire as I was leaving the hospital, one of the questions was about my sexual orientation. I felt like crossing all potential options and writing "none right now" instead. Last time I had multiple second degree tears and went of it for three months. I expect it will be a few good weeks at least this time too... what is everyone doing about contraception by the way?

went off

clapham - I was on the microgynon pill and have been for over 8 years but after being off it for the best part of a year, I've lost weight and no longer get migraines which I'm putting down to that so thinking of changing to the injection instead but need to do some research first!

untitled Joshie knows when I'm about to eat or go to the bathroom. I don't know how he knows but he does. Normally I delay eating until he's calm but today was the first time we sat down around a table with other people.

I was on microgynon too untitled and also not keen to go back to it! I can't really put my finger on it as didn't have weight issues or migraines when I was on it but I felt better when I went off it. Just calmer and generally better - can't explain why exactly... are you BFing? I'm planning to for a year so need something compatible with BFing... are these injections compatible?

also, I'm pretty sure I'm done having children now, but (just in case I change my mind over the next two years... ) I've been told that I coils shouldn't be used if you are planning to have more children... anyone else has heard this? I gather a few people on this thread had it before getting pregnant? what are the cons of having a coil?

We'll be going back to using condoms. I don't want to use hormonal contraception and we've used them since we've been together before we were sure of each others std status. It's total habit now, TTC was weird, always felt like we'd forgotten something!

There's quite a lot of anecdotal stuff on the internet about Mycrogynon being a bit rubbish - I developed mild anxiety issues and depression while on it. There's a chance it was unrelated, but I felt a whole lot better after flushing the pills down the toilet and my mood massively picked up, one cycle later.

I think we'll go back to condoms too. I'm not too keen on hormonal birth control (for me).