May 2014 - the Maybies get even closer to Definitely!!

[ClearlyMoo]

I've been brave and started a new thread. Hope the name is ok....

Sorry to all you ladies suffering from tiredness. I don't think I've slept many full nights in the last 10 years so I'm used to being up. If it's any consolation I always find I'm far more tired during these last 10 weeks than I am with a newborn (yes, get ready for all the helpful 'just you wait til the baby is here, then you'll know tired' comments.... Why do people like to make each other miserable??)

Sign me up for the insomnia crew... I've been trying everything as well, it's so frustrating to lie in bed wishing you were asleep and failing to get there! Then having to drag myself into work and appear to be a professional, competant individual for the day while contemplating the merits of using the keyboard as a pillow does not help. :(

Had my worst night for a while last night, hip pain adding to the insomnia. Especially frustrating as, for the first time in weeks, I'm actually planning on seeing some friends later. I really want to see them, but I doubt they'll be impressed with me being on the verge of comatose. Ugh.

Only 7 (and a bit) more weeks at work. Not that I'm counting down or anything. Then, with DH at work and DD1 at nursery I can (hopefully) grab a lie in and catch up with sleep by dozing through the day.

I found it easier having had the baby last time. The first few days I was very sore (I needed quite a few stitches) but DD1 was pretty sleepy and satiated for the first 24 hours or so which gave me a chance to recover and get some proper rest after labour and birth.

Then you don't have any pressure to get out of bed, let alone leave the house, and hopefully have a DH/DP or family around to assist with providing you food/drink and handling nappy changes. :) So all you need to do is sit and cuddle your LO.

For those planning on BFing, I found it to be amazing for helping me sleep. I think there's some hormones or similar you release that make it very easy to fall back to sleep afterwards. Possibly explains why babies tend to snooze after milk as well, if they get the hormones too.

DH and DD1 are painting the nursery this weekend, then I'll be getting my hospital bag packed. Still planning a HB, but it's a good idea to have a bag ready just in case.

I found it useful last time to put clothing into clearly labelled freezer bags with size and type on. Since it'll almost certainly be mildly panicked and sleep deprived DH trying to find a nappy/sleepsuit/vest/hat or similar when called upon by the MWs! Then, later on, you can use the freezer bags to chuck dirty clothes in to keep them from messying everything else up.

Don't forget baby wipes - mostly for you rather than a baby at first. They're more soothing on ragged bits than toilet paper (just don't flush them) and are useful for mopping up a variety of things.

I found large tena lady pants better than cheap granny knickers. Pop a maternity pad (or two) on top for extra cushioning/absorbtion and when you're done just rip them down the sides for easy removal and chuck the whole lot away.

Also, vaseline! Before the first nappy goes on, smother your new baby's bottom with vaseline. Makes the first poo much easier to clean. Otherwise, pack a chisel and wire brush.

Thanks for the hospital bag tips! I am sorting my hospital bags out at the moment and I don't have a clue what to pack. I can't remember what I packed the first time!

Today I'm suffering with really bad hip pain and round ligament pain too - which is nice . Yesterday I walked loads (well, about 20 minutes in total over the day, which is loads when you have pgp) and I'm paying for it today.

Work is much better today though

Thanks for tips Spirael, tena lady here I come! Sorry you're having bad days clearly & dobe with pain. Hope you can both put your feet up tonight. clearly, it's hard when people are insensitive but maybe look on it that she recognises you have a hard time coming up. Could have been worse if she said chin up, you'll be fine tomorrow!

Looking for some advice. I'm planning on BF but wondering if I should buy a couple of bottles, steriliser & formula just in case I can't? Don't want LO starving while DH shops

minions Not everyone will agree with me, but I'd not bother. I bought all that stuff when I had ds, but I didn't use them at all, so it was a waste of money.

I'm not bothering buying anything like that this time but mainly because I don't want to "plan to fail". (not that I'd think I failed if something went wrong and I couldn't bf, but you know what I mean) I think I'll get a breastfeeding counsellor on speed dial instead!

xav and spirael I am going to hang on to comments about final trimester being worse than having a newborn, tiredness-wise, they give me hope! I am fully planning to take to my bed/instal myself on sofa post-birth and make dh look after me whilst I try to BF. He has been warned about this, and to be fair is very good at domestic things so will do a great job.

clearly I know we are probably hormonal and over-sensitive but I do find it weird people feel the need to make these comments. Surely your colleague should realise that you are probably more aware of time passing than at any other time in your life so are well aware of exactly how long you have to go?!

Minions Clearly I am no expert but I think I am going to get a pack of those ready-made bottles that come pre-sterilised and filled with formula. I know people say you might give up trying to BF too easily if there is an alternative to hand but I think I am likely to be the type that gets more stressed if I know there is no option available and it wouldn't necessarily make me give up more easily. The pre-made ones seemed hassle free which is always a bonus particularly if you are stressed and upset (highly likely) and I think take up less room than bottles, formula and steriliser if I don't end up using them. I figure I can always get the proper ff kit if needed but at least will be able to feed the little one until I can get to the shops. You can get packs of 6 little bottles so would do for a few feeds.

wm I'm planning on a couple of bottles of that newborn formula stuff as I'm sure we'll all be stunned at how much milk the baby will get thru and I have a terror of not being able to produce enough or not having the right shaped nipples or other bollocks like that.

As the time creeps on I find I'm getting v paranoid about stuff. Like the fact we don't have a pram yet. Or a car seat. We have 3 newborn size sleepsuits and 6 newborn size short-sleeved bodysuits, a big box of newborn nappies and a steriliser and some bottles (despite my plan to BF, I think it will help DH immensely if I can express some for him to feed Bean with, speshly once he's back at work and leaving at 6am not coming home until gone 6pm, poor thing, he's taking a month off once the Bean arrives, 2wks annual leave and 2wks paternity leave, it's going to hit him really hard going back to work )
I am freaking out most about the car seat, who's yet to buy one? We're going for the MaxiCosi Pebble we think, and the FamilyFix/DualFix base? The newest one, anyway, that also works with the Pearl seat up to 4yrs. That's £200 at least without even starting on the pram haha I'm not shocked at the costs, DH is. Constantly. I tell him one month "ooh babe we should probably start thinking about getting the car seat, they won't let us take Bean home without one!" And he asks how much it'll be, and I tell him, and he falls off his chair. And then I have to say that it'll be the same again for the isofix base. And he falls off his chair again
Then I have to do it all again the following month. We're on month 3 of this

Oh but if anyone is wondering about prams, maybe wants a Bugaboo but can't stretch to full price, we're going for a reconditioned one from a company called Zebbingtons, they're around £450 for a Cameleon 2nd generation, which is good considering they make sure you've got all the accessories/peripherals you need (rain hood, parasol, foam-filled anti puncture wheels, all fabrics steam cleaned and repaired/replaced if necessary) and they'll even throw in a car seat for that price (usually a MaxiCosi Cabriofix, but I'm not sure we'd even use that as it's second hand, not sure what assurances they'd be able to give that it hadn't been in an accident, y'know?)

Anyway, now I've inadvertently plugged this random company I found last week, I'm off. It's DECAF COFFEE TIME not as satisfying as normal coffee, but at least I won't feel like I've got a chestburster from Alien in my uterus in a couple of hours.

I have bottles and a sterliser from last time around, as I often expressed and occasionally mix-fed. However, Minions, if you're intending to exclusively BF then it might be worth just looking at getting something like this? The pack has everything in that you need to formula feed a newborn for 24 hours. There are similar for the other brands too.

I've got the above pack, I figured it's easier to shove in the bottom of my hospital bag than trying to faff around with making sure a freshly sterlised bottle is ready to grab at any given moment! The one I got last week lasts until the end of August. Any left over after the birth I figured I can shove in the bottom of the changing bag for use when we're out and about, in case there is ever a situation where I feel unable to BF.

Always worth being prepared for every eventuality, I reckon. :) Not just for if BFing fails, but also for other situations like I need a general anaesthetic for an emergency CS and don't come around before LO needs feeding, or (morbidly) if something goes catastrophically wrong and I don't survive. Gives DH one less thing to panic about, if food for the LO is there and ready!

Oh, random question but is anyone else stuggling to regulate their temperature at the moment? I am fine most of the time, probably feel the cold less than normal, but in the afternoons at work I am getting something that (I imagine) resembles hot flushes, feeling suddenly very hot and flushed.

wm3010 I'm always warmer than everyone else! When I come into the office, my boss is putting all the heaters on, saying how cold it is and I'm taking off layers and directing a huge fan on my face.

I'm normally cold blooded, so being pregnant seems to bring me up to the same temperature as everyone else. It's also the only time that Raynaud's phenomenon doesn't trouble me during the winter months.

I thought the other day that I might be suffering a hot flush, but from the complaints of my colleauges it seems like it wasn't just me feeling that the office was too warm!

Minions I'm hoping to exclusively breastfeed, but I've been given a Tommy Tippee Closer to Nature Starter Kit (MIL bought it a while back as a gift for a family friend, but someone else gave said friend the same one so rather than returning it MIL kept it 'just in case'). It has an electric steriliser, several bottles and several other bits and bobs. I'm also planning on making sure we have a tin of formula in as I am paranoid about finding myself with hungry baby that I'm struggling to feed in the middle of the night when no shops are open, but I am determined not to give in easily!

To be honest if I hadn't been given the steriliser kit I probably wouldn't bother buying all that gear until I was sure I needed it. Those ready made bottle packs seem like a good backup instead.

I normally really feel the cold so I'm finding the extra warmth that comes with pregnancy quite pleasant!

It's 30degrees here, and I don't say that to brag. I am melting!! No swollen hands or feet yet though, amazingly.

I'm also starting to panic now. All along I had this mental list of things to do, that I could put off until after 30wks. I'll be 30wks this week! And that list goes something like this: finalise obstetrician/hospital for birth, antenatal classes, start listening to hypnotherapy cd, perineal massage, wash baby clothes, pack hospital bag, take raspberry leaf tabs....

That doesn't include the huge list of things we still need to buy, like somewhere for the baby to sleep! Aaaaaaggggghhhhh. Deep breaths....

Hope you don't mind me joining in! Just marking my place to catch up as I've not been on a Maybie thread before, 28 + 4 and starting to panic that you're all packing bags and writing birth plans!! Inspired me to get my arse into gear!!

Welcome owl !

I need to get my hospital bag ready as I have NOTHING apart from something to wear in labour and half a packet of breastpads! I also need to get a car seat base, a cot mattress, a baby moniter, the baby's future bedroom and ds's bedroom need painted (dh is doing that but he thought he'd have it done by now) and I haven't even researched slings and I need some baby clothes too! ARGH!

Also I have no baby bedding except for some ridiculously expensive gorgeous wool stripey blanket.

Oh god I completely forgot about bedding!! How can I have forgotten blankets and sheets!! Bloody hell ....

Welcome owl :) I doubt I'd be anywhere near as organised were it not for a stay in hospital last week, it's scared me into action!

31+2

Welcome to the thread owl!

30+4 and my hospital bag is nowhere near ready. I have a few old t-shirts that my mum gave me which are absolutely huge on me, so they're for labouring in, but apart from that I have nothing except the bag itself! I'm going shopping with MIL this Saturday so I'm hoping to get the bulk of the stuff I need then.

Tonight I'm planning on going through the boxes of second hand baby clothes and assorted other bits that we've been given and making a list of what we've actually got, because I have no idea what's in them at the moment!

I've been having a wobble about birth choices. I was planning on giving birth at the local city hospital, but the more I think about going into hospital the more anxious it makes me. I can't even put my finger on exactly why. I think part of it might be because I'm not very assertive and I've always tried to be a people pleaser so I'm worried I won't stand up for myself when it comes to birth positions and interventions and the like, and end up agreeing to things I don't want. I might find it easier to stand my ground if I'm not in a hospital environment. I've already told DH he will need to be my advocate. I'm also worried about DH leaving me there alone after I give birth, even though I know the maternity team there won't make mother or baby stay in unless its absolutely necessary and they will normally try to discharge you straight from the delivery suite if they can.

I'd like a home birth, but I'd also like a water birth and I'm not sure there's anywhere in our house where we could fit a birthing pool with room for the midwife and DH to get around it. I'm also not sure our creaky floors could take the wait of full birthing pool + heavily pregnant lady and don't fancy explaining that one to our landlord when the floor collapses!

I'm also concerned I won't be allowed a home birth because it's my first and I'm obese (admittedly, borderline, and my midwife said my weight wasn't far enough over for it to really be a problem - she actually forgot I was obese and would need a GTT because she didn't think I looked that big - but still...)

At my booking appointment I recall my midwife saying something about a midwife led unit at a community hospital in another town not too far away so that could be a compromise. I'm seeing her on Monday so I'll discuss my options with her then.

Evening all!

wm another one sweltering here too! admittedly, like samba it is rather on the warm side anyway, but honestly I'd have spent the afternoon in the buff if I could have - even the thinnest dress was too much!!!

welcome owl!!! good to have you aboard! Don't worry, you'll find we're all in various stages of dis-array!

pixie are you in cornwall by any chance? (if not, sorry, my memory is appalling!)....if so there are midwife led units in St.Austell and Helston... also now need to think about where baby will be born now its changed from Zimbabwe to Cornwall!!!

clearly so sorry to hear you're in so much pain... do hope you're now at home and able to put your feet up and get DH to give you some massage (when he gets in from the cows anyway!)

Tesco have 6 packs of pampers wipes for 4poind

Ah Zimbabwe/ Cornwall, similar really and welcome owl lovely to have you here!!

I get so out of breath at the moment :(

Thanks Bush! Exciting for you now you can "make plans"!

Pain hasn't improved. Managed to cook dinner (toad in the hole), though finding I need to turn and walk forward as side steps are agony. As is standing up after sitting for longer than 10 minutes!

GP (locum) appt booked for tomorrow! Amazing NHS! Made it tonight for tomorrow. Will see if I can get physio referral. Have private medical with work so hopefully won't have to wait! Has anyone gone to GP with suspected PGP/SPD? Do you think they might do an internal? I'm very very unkeen on that idea!

Welcome owl! Everyone is sounding organised!

clearly, not sure how it works where you are but in Scotland they give us a number for maternity physio as part of the maternity notes. I went once (midwife told me to phone the number) and after that they said to phone again if more issues. Sounds like between your gp & med insurance you'll get seen quickly anyway but if any probs call the midwife.

Thanks for bottle advice, looks like the ready made six pack (chortle) is a good option.

For those looking at maxi-cosi car seats, there's a new isofix base for the pebble. It's the two-way base & fits the pebble & new two-way pearl. It lets the kid stay rearward facing until they're 4 years(ish) which is meant to be safer. And complies with new I-size guidance/regulation. Pearl seat can still face forward, your choice. We went for that one, not available everywhere yet but we got it in John Lewis. Mothercare only sell it as a bundle with the pearl.

No hospital bag ready yet, still firmly in denial that that's happening soon...