"hey Mummy! Ready or not, here I come! ;-)" - July 2014 thread

[ZingWhale]

Some of us has weeks to go, some just days and of course another massive Congratulations to all who have already given birth!

pack your pads, tiaras, nappies & Vaseline -HERE WE GO!!!

Liquid - hope things go well for you today and that you get to meet your little one soon! I can guarantee that when you're in labour all sense of embarrassment disappears, so don't worry about that.

So pleased to hear all going well biscuits apart from the sore nipples and lack of sleep.

Good luck today liquid. Just think - not long now!!

Ickle I remember a g&t really helped on day 3!! I also didn't know about growth spurts but DS followed the behavioural traits almost to the day and once I knew what was happening made them a lot easier to deal with. 6 weeks is a great milestone as is 6 months - not that I am wishing the time away!!

Good luck liquid !

DP is def in denial! Had a slight bit of blood upon wiping last night, told DP and he went all wide eyed and said 'us it happening?' I said no idea and went to bed.... Nowt this morning though?

I escaped piles last time, have them this time. So glamorous.

Us=is

Oh yes, days 3 and 10! Milk coming in and cluster feeding. Sometimes it helps to watch them while they're sleeping so you build up a little store of happy memories to help with the tough days. Hope you have a better day today, ismarah.

All the best for today liquid.

Feeling a little bit jealous of all of you ladies who are close or have your little ones already. I was feeling ready last week but not anymore, though it would be nice not to have all these aches and pains. (Of course, after birth you get new ones...)

It's not as hot as it has been here, but it's very muggy, so my feet have been swelling at pace. Now finding it difficult to sleep on my left side because of the ligament pain, so I am so glad that I am still comfortable on my back. I don't particularly like sleeping on my right side these days, no idea why.

Had an issue trying to make caramel sauce last night. Burned or crystallised 6 lots of sugar. Was so proud of myself for being amused rather than crying! DH was relieved by that response too. Ended up making chocolate sauce instead; can recommend as a grand way to wind down at the end of the day.

Ismarah it sounds like you are doing brilliantly. Everything I've heard about breastfeeding is that the dreaded days 3/4 are particularly tough when your milk comes in and hormones go crazy too. Thinking of you.

Fifi I imagine the situation your husband (and of course you) is facing is colouring things and stopping him being as excited as he might be. I also think this last bit of pregnancy is particularly dull for them as we can do even less. I'm sure he will be brilliant once the baby arrives.

Good luck Liquid! Biscuits great to hear things are going well for you, if not much sleep. My husband is only taking one week off for paternity so I'm pretty nervous about how we'll cope with a baby who only sleeps on us (which sounds like most newborns to me), but I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Since my sweep on Tuesday I've been losing what I assume is my plug, a little every time I wipe and then sometimes not so little either. I had what I thought might be early contractions yesterday for a couple of hours and about every 15 mins but they disappeared. Frustrating as I thought things might be happening and so now don't really feel like venturing too far from home; this morning I don't have any signs at all.

40+3 today... Another sweep booked for next week and otherwise induction gets started next Sunday, really hope I go into labour before then but just have a feeling I'm not going to.

liquid thinking v positive thoughts for a quick and smooth induction today and that you get your snuggly newborn cuddles v v soon!

Have a feeling I may have lost a little bit of mucous plug this morning...

Good luck liquid!

liquid

good luck today, wishing you all the best!

blue

promising!

Nancy

Happy Independence Day to you!
[flag of USA]

Good luck to Liquid and Blue better keep us posted - this thread is better than any soap I've never watched..

Zing thanks again for that google reminder - it was exactly what I wanted to look for. Everyone couldn't do it without you! Well, I could but am so glad I don't have to!

After vomiting twice last night and freaking DH out completely we phoned up NHS Direct Lite and got put through to out of hours care Dr at the hospital. He offered us to either come in to see him (but all chemists closed so any prescription would have to wait till morning) or I could phone GP in morning - but did definitely need to be seen.

So after a night of shakes and DH torture I phoned up and was lucky enough to get a locum instead of my GP and she was brilliant! We went through everything that was going on and what we thought might be the issue and she's taken me off the ibuprofen as she thinks my stomach can't handle it in the amounts I'm taking in now and certainly not without being able to eat to mitigate the effect it has on my stomach. She's prescribed omeprazole to help stomach settle and as I've been much better in the mornings we went on a little jaunt with bean.

Once I'd separated out why I was upset yesterday I figured out it was least to do with breast feeding; mainly I felt rough as anything and DH had a rubbish birthday which wasn't the plan. I did sent him out for one of those Aptamil emergency packs for newborns (six ready made bottles with teats) as a backup and bean was very happy with two of those fed slowly over the evening and night. This morning she was then happy again to go on the breast and has been the most settled we've seen her - clearly has a happy tummy and is comfortable. So our plan going forward, after discussing expressing, bottle feeding, combi feeding and breast feeding, is to continue with breast feeding but to have the option of formula for nights like last night. My milk still isn't in but if we work on that with mainly day time feeds and supplement with the bottle if needed we will be much happier parents. We'd specifically not got any bottles or feed beforehand so I wouldn't give up on breastfeeding at the first hurdle. Zings airplane advice of taking care of yourself first so you can take care of baby is sooooo true.

Oh and Dr was impressed with my level of mobility and told me to tone it down!

Ismarah I've been struggling with feeding too - it went so well until day 3' then he just refused to latch - we had a terrible night on Wednesday when he just wouldn't stop screaming - in the end DH went out and bought bottles and I hand expressed. We've since had to buy a breast pump, as it's the only way I can get him to feed. I'm absolutely gutted and spent most of yesterday in tears, especially after the midwife showed up at 8:45 and I just felt and looked dreadful, and couldn't help but think that she must have thought I am a terrible mother. Feel better today, and I'm hoping to see a breast feeding specialist this afternoon, but ultimately the main thing is that he's fed and healthy. You're definitely not on your own!

ismarah glad to hear things are a bit rosier today

becky you are a brilliant mother and no doubt the midwife thought so too - a fed healthy baby is not a failure . Hope you get to see a bf specialist today to help you along.

I have managed to make a baby bib today [smug craft face]

Blue Oooh, hope you're getting on well!

ismarah and becky Sounds like you're both doing great. Breastfeeding isn't always easy and I'm glad you're getting support.

Can you remember when it wasn't utterly exhausting to visit the shops for an hour? No? Neither do I. Feel shattered. Thankfully have a quiet afternoon planned to make up for this morning's jaunt.

And dentist was pleased with both my and DD's teeth, so that makes me feel good. Dentists usually make me feel like a naughty child so that's a nice change. DD has all of her teeth now and it's so good to know we won't have any more teething from her!

Alas nothing to report here :( might have rather overdone it this morning taking DS in the pushchair to the library and then the park to wear him out but think I may have worn myself out more! Hoping he has a good nap so I can get a decent lie down. Having said that I'm definitely getting lots of pains in bump etc but not sure if they're just BHs again. Would happily spend the afternoon bouncing on the gym ball if I could work out a way to snooze at the same time

ismarah you are doing so well!! And you too becky :) I can honestly say that breastfeeding is both one of the hardest things Ive ever done yet also one of the most satisfying and rewarding! As was mentioned up thread days 3, 6 and 10 are tough and throw into the mix a major bit of surgery if you've had a CS or just being totally knackered following labour followed by broken sleep plus your hormones doing crazy things and hey, no wonder there's tears and it all feels difficult! I used to randomly burst into tears and say to DH "I'm just a Bluebear" referring to the baby blues! (No link to my username that has a different history)

ismarah as others have already said you are doing brilliantly with breast feeding. With DS it was a massive struggle getting him to latch in the first few weeks and I used to dread every feed. I ended up using a supplemental nursing system in week 2, which is basically a bottle of milk round your neck with pipes taped to the nipples. It means that baby gets the quick reward of milk, but is also doing the work to stimulate your supply. thing was a bugger to use though so not a miracle solution

DD feeds so easily compared to DS - which is good because I would have stopped breast feeding her by now if I was having trouble (it was a nightmare with DS so I decided I wouldn't persevere too long this time if having problems). DD feeds very well, but I still find it is a long stretch of seemingly constant feeding in the evenings.

liquid I hope induction is going well. Good luck!

DD is 8 days old. I had my staples out yesterday (stung a bit but not too bad) and today is the first day I haven't taken any pain killers. I did my big weigh in yesterday morning. The day I went in for the c-section my pregnancy weight gain was 8kg. One week later I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. BUT most definitely not back to pre-pregnancy shape. I think that will take a while yet!

I hope those of you who want their babies to come start getting some action and those of you who aren't quite ready don't get any action!

ismarah

I am more than happy if anything I say helps.

I bet your DH cares about you & Emily's health and well-being way more than his birthday.
But to make you both feel better tell him that he can have an Official Birthday Celebration, like the Queen to make up for yesterday - when you have got past these first few weeks/months that EVERYONE finds tough.
let me know what he thinks!

good job getting help, sorting out your feelings and persuing bf. I'm very proud of you!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

Baby Oliver arrived on the 24th of June by CS. I am deliriously happy and super tired
sorry I haven't had a chance to come on MN as have been inundated with visitors/phone calls/messages + I just sit and stare at the baby when he is sleeping and I dont get on with stuff

Some of you may remember that I was quite worried about the baby due to my OC and in general not feeling too excited. Was v nervous the day before the CS. On the day, however, the moment I laid eyes on him, I was soooooo in love. He came out all pink and crying which was such a relief since we were expecting him to go into special care unit!!! He is absolutely gorgeous and I cannot believe I was capable of loving him so much.

My message to everyone is that please do not worry too much about the birth. I know it is easy for me to say as I have had a good experience BUT when you lay eyes on your baby, you really will forget everything. And that is quite something coming from me as i was most cynical if anyone said that to me.

On a slight downside we did have a nightmare BF on day 5 and the cluster feeding yesterday was so tiring and sore. Also ripped some of my stitches sneezing and vomiting so the wound is gaping slightly but in the grand scheme of things it really doesnt matter.

so good luck for the births and congratulations to those who have had their babies. I will read back on the tread soon.

Congratulations coco and a massive welcome to Oliver! Glad everything went well, have been wondering how you are getting on.

ismarah, becky, biscuits and any other new mums I have missed, I am in awe of you all. As the birth approaches I'm finding I'm less nervous of childbirth than I am about what happens after (a fantastic, realistic, practical 'active birth workshop' at our hospital today has helped with that, I bloody love the NHS!) so kudos to you all for getting through these early days. I think someone said upthread that we all know we'll be facing v similar to you soon!

Good luck for today's induction liquid. Hope it all goes well - thinking of you.

Congratulations coco! Glad you're doing well and enjoying your precious baby Oliver (cute name).

Nudges Foxtrot nudge nudge wink wink eventually we can also hope to get some action...

Too soon? Yes. Too too soon.

Let my experience with the ibuprofen warn you - even though you've previously tolerated whatever pain relief you are given, in the high quantities you are likely to want (max dose 6 pills per 24hrs for me) if you do have an upset stomach post birth 1) you can still vomit after abdominal surgery although I don't recommend it and 2) it really is best avoided if possible.

Bean's new nickname is squeaky bean. DH got to feed her and then cuddled her for 2 hrs while I had a nap. That man is awesome sometimes!

Oh and we had a mini-Zing in the ward. Went home the day aftet surgery because 'highly experienced mum'.

Congratulations Coco!

Congratulations coco :)

Great to hear from you Coco so glad all is well!

I've spent the afternoon attempting to have a nap and then doing odd bits of housework and bouncing on the ball inbetween. Keep finding myself getting bored though as I've pretty much got everything sorted and aside from looking after DS and cooking etc (which are both exhausting) I haven't got much to do. Feel like I need something exciting to distract me from over analysing every possible early sign of labour. I'm so not good at waiting for anything [impatient emoticon] and made worse by first proper signs of labour with DS being the day I was 39 weeks (which would be tomorrow) he was born at 39+4. Guess I've always assumed this one would be earlier probably totally foolish ho hum!

Huge congratulations coco hope feeding goes well and recovery is straightforward!

blue I fear I may be too quick to give up breastfeeding- seen ladies keep going too long to the deficit of mums health. I know it will be hard and painful at first, I do want to persevere however not forever. ..will just be trying to take each day as it comes!

Went out to friends at 10 didn't come home until 3.30!!! So much for getting lots done. Have stained a chair and got another meal for the freezer in the oven, glad I did washing up and putting clothes away before I went! Having a lie down watching Wimbledon at the moment- so glad that is on at the moment! Wanted to bake a cake today but that may become tomorrows job...