Hello everyone. Finally got them to release Hannah and let us come home. she was very poorly with somehting called TTN and something called RVS and then two infections on top so we were worried sick (even though logically we knew that she wasn't at deaths door or anything). Anyway she is home now. Her weight is down to 6lb 6 but she is breastfeedign for england at the moment so am hoping that comes back soon.
C-section went like a dream (honest) though I was shi**ing bricks when I went in. Had to laugh though as all the staff in theatre were male and young and all very goodlooking and flirting like hell with me. Felt like I'd wandered into an episode of the Green Wing. DH said he nearly fainted when he saw one of them up to his elbow inside me. With a TOWEL. Freaky. I felt no pain but did feel them moving round inside.
Anyway recovery is fine and I'm doing well.
Have read through the threads briefly and can;t stay to talk long but had a couple of bits of comments...
Thrush - if you can't use canestan, natural yogurt works.
breast & bottle. I used both last time - expressed with a madela and stored so we could go out and I could occasionally have DH do the night rota. Can't recommend it highly enough though with me I had to use a nipple shield because DS got confused between breast and bottle at the start. Using nipple shield not a problem really, just had to take one with me everywhere I went.
Swizzler - cannot believe you are leaving conkers round the house and not ROASTING THEM and munching them with lashings of butter. At the farmers market here in Canterbury they charge a small fortune for tiny bags of them, and I remember when I was a kid I would go to the woods every autumn and pick bagfuls for my mum as a treat for her. If I remember rightly my mum favoured par-boiling them for a few minutes and then roasting them on high for 20 mins or so but you will probably find a recipe if you google horse chestnuts roasting or something.
Re hospital bags: don't forget DRINKING STRAWS. whichever way they come out you won't want to sit upright for 24 hours. drinking straws are a lifesaver. If I could only take one thing in to hospital with me it would be straws. I also packed ribena and evian and was very glad i did as hospital water was stael and disgusting.
RE Helios homeopathy kits - I used one this tme and found it fab because I knew in advance what I needed for a C-S (arnica, celendula, Hypericum, Bellis Per) but I must confess that I found it less helpful with natural labour as it was difficult to distinguish between all the different options of how I was feeling quickly enough for DH to extract the correct treatment... but it was good for after labour and the dosage is much stronger than you can buy in health shops etc.
Re bottles: found Dr Brown bottles to be fab - they have a funny contraption that makes it easier for babies to drink without getting wind/colic. Never needed to burp DS when I used these.
Hope Emzickle doing ok and that all you ladies with high PB take it easy; I can personally confirm that hospital food does not get better with familiarity so avoid getting yourself admitted early at all costs. In fact I think I carried on with the morphine more in order to stomach the food than to ease the after-pain.
Also, just before I had DD I discovered that Gaviscon have brought out new version of gunk - double action or something - much much better than the other types.
Off to go cuddle my daughter.
whiffy x