December 2013 - the one where we really just talk about kittens and deny the inevitable

[LadyMedea]

Sorted

Just catching up, congratulations loki and Daley!

Hope that those of you who are contracting get speedy, pain free labours!

DP went back to work today but my mum is up to stay which if nothing else is making my 3 year old behave!

Hopefully we've turned the corner with this breastfeeding malarkey, it's still pretty sore but the mangled nipples are healing, the little un just feeds and sleeps all day.....until 1am comes around

bohemian hope all is ok- best get it checked even if just for peace of mind.

I'm getting loads of BH tonight. God some are quite painful.

clare how have you got through the pain of bf? That's when I give up when they're cracked and bleeding and I'm a sobbing mess feeling resentful every time it's time to feed! I'm hoping I'll get through that bit this time but really don't know if I will....

oh I originally came on here to mention that Mothercare is having a 20% off Xmas sale thingy in case you didn't know.

I'm off to buy my moses cot mattress and breast pump!....

Wow is everyone going to have their babies tonight!!

Iv bedn attached to the toilet today (sorry) :(

It's weird isn't it,that now the MW has said I might go into labour soon,I'm freaking out!

Clare, you haven't asked for advice, so please feel free to give this post a good coat of ignoring ...... but for both you and mum I have the following pearl of wisdom!
I had a terrible time feeding at first with DD - cracked, sore and bleeding boobs - when DD started puking milk mixed with my blood i knew we were really struggling!
I went against all midwife/health visitor advice and bought a set of nipple shields (medela ones ...... don't know if the brand matters!) I slapped on the lansinoh so that the nipples were soothed, the shields stayed in place and I plugged baby on ...... this didn't last for long, just enough time for me to heal and pluck up the courage to feed without them.
Contrary to all advice given, DD had no nipple/teat confusion and happily breastfed until she was 20months! They really made the difference between feeding or not and for us they worked a treat!
Hope that's helpful, if not, as I say, just ignore me!

Thanks one I did try nipple shields with ds1 but found my nipple didn't go right to the end IYSWIM and so don't think he was getting enough milk each time but I don't know what make I used so I'll certainly try the Medela ones and see if that helps. (I guess fit could be important so maybe they weren't the best for me) No harm in trying and like you found it might just give me enough relief/my boobs to heal then keep going.

For those thinking about slings, I've had Ben out in the stretchy wrap yesterday and today, and oh how I wish I'd heard of them when I had DS1, life would've been SO much easier! After looking on YouTube for how to wrap, and a couple of practice runs in the house, I walked to the post natal clinic with him in it yesterday, then to go shopping, and today I've carried him around town for about 3-4 hours. He loves it! Just goes to sleep! I put him in a long-sleeved vest with a sleepsuits over it, then a fleecy sleepsuits over that, with socks on over the first sleepsuits and a hat and gloves to finish the outfit. I then wore a big wraparound cardie which I kept wrapped around him when we were outdoors. Nom, does that sound like a reasonable number of layers do you think? It's felt like around 3-4degrees here today.

Thank for the reassurance ladies and yep, after a worrying twelve hours of only faint little flutters, finally rang the unit and was told to come in.

Spent the two hours at the hospital being poked, prodded and tested. Then spent the last hour strapped to the monitor which, naturally, the minute I am attached to it provokes junior into an absolute delighted melee of kicks, twists, rolls and punches that last for most of the 45 minutes. Contrary little bugger.

Upshot is, he's healthy, lively and fidgety but less constant and will be having a couple of quiet days here and there as he's fully engaged now.

The two other positive things learned are: blood pressure back to a much more acceptable 120/70 and the delivery unit is not that bad. Still would prefer the MLU but it's not an absolute tragedy.

Mum, I'm no expert, so please don't take what I say as gospel! My nipple didn't reach the end either, but the slathering of lansinoh around the whole area made the shield stick so the baby could build up some suction and create a vacum! As I say, I didn't have to do this for long and it helped.
I feel like I've jinxed myself now for this time ..... what works for one baby may well not work for the next ...... I'll be the blubbering wreck in a few weeks time really struggling with feeding!

Oh yes, she's only puked once (first time I gave expressed milk) and it was full of blood, totally panicked until I realised it was from the bleeding nipples

Tried the medela nipple shields and though the pain was less, she fed for ages but didn't seem to be taking much in and when she came off the boob it still felt really engorged

The things that have helped me are:

On Saturday when she was 5 days old my poor nips were in such a state that I just expressed milk and gave her that for just over a day to try to give myself a chance to heal up a bit, did a mix of direct feeding and expressed milk feeding for a few days and have just been back on boob for the last couple of days.

Went to a breastfeeding drop in at the hospital and the midwife there showed me how hold her under my arm to feed, so even when the latch isn't great it's a different bit of the nipple taking the hit.

Lastly the bf supporter I saw on Wednesday called the health visitor and got her to get me a prescription for some gel wound dressings to help heal up even faster, only just got them tonight so finger crossed!

Anyone else having trouble with itching? It's driving me completely insane, lying awake scratching myself!!

I had awful itching when I had liver problems earlier on, got covered in lovely red lumps and bumps, it was hell! I found keeping a tub of moisturiser in the fridge and slathering it on liberally a million times a day helped.

my bump is SO itchy tonight... saw what I thought was a stretched mark and freaked out slightly to realize that it's just a scratch that i gave myself....

Hehe, I've given up getting stressed by stretch marks, I had a few before getting pregnant as I've been quite overweight but I've added more than a few to my collection now. I'm lucky enough that they fade quite quickly and end up being pretty invisible, have decided that if any of them get a bit stubborn and stick around I'll come up with a beautiful tattoo to cover them once I'm at a better weight. Might as well do something with them if they're going to be a part of me.

Back in hospital now 3cm despite all the bloody pain
Keeping me again to check again at 7 and ill be sent home again

I have just spent nearly an hour catching up on this thread. So much, so fast!

Congratulations to those of you with new arrivals, good luck to those of you with the imminant promise of new arrivals, and fingers crossed the rest of us join in soon.

Near the end of the last thread someone asked (I think it was dusty) how to join the FB group. Just stom to get things sorted.

I reached 36 weeks on Thursday and following the thumbs up fromy consultant (now discharged to midwife led care), I am arranging my home water birth and i have had a chat with the baby saying I will bounce while drinking raspberry leaf tea and burning clary sage oil, we have a partnership going on and it has to do its bit to come out shortly after next Thursday.

My stretch marks were horrendous last time. For some reason, they're not as bad this time. I'm hoping it means a smaller, calmer baby! Fingers crossed...

Alyssa...let's hope things progress quickly soon, you must be even more fed up than the rest of us!

How's it going, Alyssa? You must be climbing the walls...

4cm now but contractions are all over the place so waiting for the doc to do his rounds and hoping I can convince him to break my waters.

How's everyone else doing?

Fingers crossed for you Alyssa!!

Rose your so lucky to not have any stretch marks my bump is covered I only got them when I hit 30 weeks but I think its were I am huge. I don't look pregnant from behind and I haven't put on any weight anywhere else literally just bump. Im looking forward to being able to wear my jeans again! And as for the stretch marks I call them my battle scars ;)

Alyssa this is so exciting good luck!!

Looking promising alyssa good luck!

Feel so much better after sleeping in my own bed, no hip pain!

Got to see the low dependency unit before I was discharged yesterday which seemed quite nice so hoping for the rest if this pregnancy to be straight forward so I can go there.

Have a good Saturday everyone :)

Right alyssa this isn't good enough. I expected a baby by now lol. At least you are dilating even if it is slower than you would like. You are nearly half way there in theory!

Off Christmas/last minute baby shopping today. Sounds exhausting already.

And then tomorrow we are going for tgi Fridays. Is dds special last weekend together as the 3 of us! She is at her dads next weekend and then baby will be here by the weekend after.

Morning ladies

Congratulations to Daley and Loki, really glad your little bundles are safely here! (Or not so little in Loki's case)
Alyssa here's hoping things speed up nicely soon.
Today is my due date!!!! Hope LO knows this as I'd rather like to pop him/her out today! Suffering badly with heartburn Apart from some strange one sided pains in my lower right groin/hip a couple of days ago I've had no signs at all, so today will be eating pineapple and drinking Gaviscon!!

Hope everyone either has a baby or a pleasant weekend x