The final *JULY 2014* The one where we ALL move to post-natal

[justhayley]

Hiya so this will probably be our last ante natal thread Really hope that our postnatal thread is as busy.
You ladies have been a great support, and it's been fab going through pregnancy with you all. I honestly don't know how I would have got through the last 6 weeks of 4am wakings without you.

I'm not due till 24th and have no signs baby is still coming early so will probably be the last one one here - don't forget me!

Anyway will love you and leave you - actually will now pop back onto our regular thread for a chat

Happy birthing

Thanks for support - sorry I'm selfishly not responding to anyone else ATM.

Yes, using a breast pump is an option , but I wasn't successful last night.
I will probably do the "5 mins pump on each breast after each feed routine for 4 days" routine, it helped with DD.
Still in hospital waiting for blood result. I hope the sodium level dropped and we can go hon soon.
If we have to come back tomorrow I don't know what we'll do, PILs had kids for almost 24 hrs now, non-stop.

Oh and giving water would be fine if he was gaining weight.
But because of combo of weightloss & dehydration we were advised to not give water, it would fill his tummy and slow down feeding so danger of blood sugar levels dropping.

So hot again today. Sympathies and ice lollies to all who are still pg in this heat.
Congrats on any new babies I missed.

Aww zing hope little DS is better today and blood test shows that his sodium level has dropped

Thinking of you and DS zing. Hope you are home soon and his sodium levels have improved now. I know a lot of people who have topped up for various reasons and have continued breastfeeding.

Re: dummies and nipple confusion. I introduced one very early with DD (within days I think!) and weaned her off it at 6 months. No breastfeeding problems. Obviously TT is a separate issue. I'm planning to use one again if we need it this time around. Introduced a bottle pretty early on too although I couldn't be bothered with pumping so we didn't really keep it up.

Thanks Auntie

He was weighed and has put 200g since yesterday, which is fab.
Sodium level back to normal so we are back home again.

It's really hard to wake him/ keep him awake during feeds, so if anyone has some good ideas please say.
I am wiping him with a damp cloth when he dozes off and that works, in this heat I'm not surprised he is sleepy.

The ugly ceiling fan we were so judgemental about when we moved in has become our best friend!

Kids are also back from grandparents, they are stressing me a bit but it's nice to be all back together.
What a way to start the summer!

auntie I think there's a difference between leaving to cry on their own for ages and pausing a little to observe before picking him up. I read a book about French parenting (published as bringing up bebe in the US but think it had a different title in the UK) and it talked about "le pause" where they wait 5 mins before picking up the baby and observe first to see what it is they need. For me, 5 mins of newborn crying is torture so I couldn't wait that long. I didn't do it with DD1 as I fed her if she so much as made a grunt but I can see with a toddler around I'm going to be a bit slower to react to the baby this time. We'll see. It's very easy for me say all this before baby is here as they're all so different.

Glad you're home zing! I bloody love our ceiling fan (supposed to hit 97F here tomorrow). Do nappy changes wake him up so he'll feed more? Tickle toes or chin? Can't remember what else I used to do with DD to keep her awake during feeds in the heat.

Glad all DS's signs are heading in the right direction, zing!

Just back from my 41 week appointment at the midwife, head only 3/5 engaged, had a failed stretch and sweep as cervix too closed , trying again on Sunday. It's my MIL's bday then I was soooo sure we'd have a baby by then!

Glad you're home zing and hopefully feeling a bit more positive.

auntie useful tip about not covering bassinets with muslins, would never have occurred to me.

Still not much happening here so induction is next step - will be on drip overnight . The pessimist in me has always anticipated an induction then EMCS. Feeling bizarre mix of boredom and pant-wetting fear (the pant-wetting is mostly my waters though, honest).

Baby is at least behaving itself after the heart rate dropping antics of last night.

Thinking of you plate! Do you have things to keep you occupied like kindle etc? Baby will be here very soon to keep you very very occupied. Glad heartrate is behaving now.

I'm having a very lazy day. I was supposed to be going to an expat meetup but it's a 30 min drive each way and couldn't face it. Would rather make the most of my last day of an empty house for a long time while DD is in nursery (DM arrives tomorrow).

I'm starting to resent dp now tbh. I know he's struggling with his mum's death but seriously he comes home for about 2 hours between work and a thing he has tonight makes a mess in the room I've struggled to keep tidy all day, does some work on his bike and takes it out for a test ride, makes himself something to eat and eats it, cuddles ds for a bit and then passes him back to me for nappy change and reads a bit of the book on his kindle. He's gone now and all I managed while he was here was to go to the loo and put some clothes away. I haven't managed to take my tablets on time or make myself food/eat. So now I'm sat here crying because I have a choice of putting ds down and eating while he screams or not eating tonight.

Auntie - you must eat. Can you eat while feeding him, if no other way?
I tend to do that.

Otherwise let him scream for 10 mins and please please eat. You need the energy - for so many reasons.
And make sure you drink water!

Putting clothes away is not important btw.
Food, water and sleep - that's important. A shower or bath is good too.
I really feel for both of you. Really tough times.
I wish I could come over and help you. Is there anyone who could come over to help you for just 30 mins or an hour?

Plate - oh, fear is horrid.
I wish you all the best, really hoping induction will work.

Should you need a C-section due to slow or lack of progress the likelihood is you will be told in a calm and considerate manner, and it will be probably scary but by then the best option for you and baby.
Should this happen I hope you won't panic.

I really really hope things will progress though.
Come on BabyPlate, be kind to mummy and get born soon!

Auntie yes you must must eat. If you get run down then you're all in trouble. DP needs to know this and he needs to make you his priority right now. He needs to make sure you have eaten before he leaves you to go out (not suggesting he becomes a hermit but he needs to make sure you're okay first). He can fix you food that you can eat one handed if necessary (quesadillas are good for that). Even a plate of cheese and crackers is better than nothing. Nuts and fruit etc.

When DP is home he can do nappy changes - why is he handing him back to you? If he's not confident about doing it then he needs to learn.

Seconding zing on leaving the clothes. Tidy doesn't matter right now.

Thank you zing you are a calming influence! .

Lovely thing: one of my buddies from NCT has been in bed next to me on ward all day, is also in process of being induced. We've been sharing the boredom/fear all day.

Have had pessary shoved in, going to try to get some sleep before the dreaded drip!

plate glad you have company :)

Newborn poo question coming here guys!

My four day old breastfed baby just had a very very watery yellow poo. Is this normal or should I be worrying about diahorrea?

Thanks!

How is everything going Plate? That's good that you have company it really makes things easier and hopefully is taking your mind off things. Remind me how many weeks are you now/due date? Any updates?

I've had a horrible day because we found a mouse in our flat a few weeks back (we're renting in west london) and a guy came up to seal a hole for us in the kitchen (after I had spent ages cleaning the place because we were so distraught) anyway he pulled the washing machine out before turning off the water, snapped the valve and left us with water gushing everywhere while I had to wait for an emergency plumber. They left such a mess to clear up not what I was wanting at 39 weeks :( was thinking of going to stay with my mum and dad near bristol for a few weeks as she is a teacher on school holidays (me and HB also teachers so could go down) but don't know whether I would be able to change to have the baby in bristol this late?

Auntie - I will remember your tip about draping muslin as it's so hot I wouldn't want the baby to overheat.

X

Auntie - keep your strength up! And try to stay strong and positive.. X

collie sounds very normal for day 4. See kellymom for a poo description! I spent many an hour goggling and obsessing about baby poo (we had a green phase) when DD was little.

Right.

Yet again, congratulations to everyone I've missed - Osinachi and others. Welcome to Emily - better late than never to hear the hard-earned wisdom of Zing..

Zing bean has been fed both BF and FF kind of at random as well as having a dummy. Admittedly she does not have TT but she's been fine swapping between them. She's never been amazing at latching - but has improved - and still falls asleep on the boob, more so than on the bottle. She will never stop BF but pushes the FF away when she's had enough each time.

I'm under no illusion that I'll be supermum, still BF at 1yr or more. But something is better than nothing and if BF is what you want then I'm sure you can make it work - when you're not stressed and upset and frazzled.

Plate and NCT buddy - good luck!

Re yoga - I am waiting for the 6w checkup before I do anything other than housey / baby things, and walking. I'm being unusually good. So by that point maybe I'll be more comfortable leaving bean for a bit.

Feeling v v v guilty about my choice to live in the UK right now. Bean is changing so fast and my parents will miss great big chunks of her development. #sadface

Someone shake me (gently) and tell me that neither DM (who arrives tomorrow) nor baby (who will hopefully arrive soon) will care about the cleanliness of my house. It is too hot to be cleaning (38C right now) but I can't help it.

Nancyincali nesting??

You don't need to clean it's too hot and probably not that messy that's what your mother is there for, I'm saving jobs for my DM to do when she comes to stay!!

nancy don't clean what will dm have to do then?! Eat ice cream, drink water, sleep and prepare for this baby!

ismarah sure everything will feel more achievable after 6 week check (must keep telling myself this!!!)

emily what a nightmare with plumbing however I think your fine to go to any hospital with your notes so if that would help do it!

plate so lovely that someone else on ward with you to chat to. Hopefully things will have started by now! Exciting times!

auntie not surprised you are resenting dh sounds very unreasonable- another chat needed. At very least selfish to make food just for himself! Hope you get some sleep tonight .

zing so glad you are home and everything going in the right direction! As for sleeping when feeding we strip back to a nappy, change nappy, blow gently on face, stroke cheek, move legs up and down or give up! Good luck!

Hiya so today or yesterday I guess as it's 4.30am now my due date came and went had a pain or 2 in the evening and got really sick after dinner so thought maybe that meant something - apparently all it meant was I shouldn't eat Quiche.
I can not believe that I'm still pregnant after consultants telling me every 3 weeks to prepare for a premature baby!
I know obviously one way or another she will have to come out in the next 2 weeks but at the moment I just feel she's going to be in there forever.

My DM has been with me for 2 weeks now and as much as she's helped not having had a moment without her for that amount of time is starting to grate. She's trying to help but can at times overstep the mark & pretty much start taking over my life & telling me how to run my home or simply changing it. For example I had 3 ikea bags full of clothes in a cupboard - she decided yesterday to sort through them (without asking) which began by tipping them out all over my bedroom and asking me one by one if I wanted each item. I had already sorted out the bags into keep charity eBay and couldn't remember what was what. It wasnt a huge deal but it really stressed me out. I also have my toaster on an angle and everytime she wipes the kitchen side or uses it it ends up straight - again seriously not the end if the world but it irritates me everytime I go in the kitchen. I'm totally aware I'm sounding like a spoilt ungrateful picky brat but I just want my house back now!

Zing glad your home & things are looking up. My DS had low sugar levels which kept dropping - he also fell asleep during feeds which didn't at all help. The advise I was given was to gently blow on his face when he started to drop off, or remove him from the boob before the feed ended which would get him unsettled then put him back on & start over. I also had to top up for this reason, did it for 5 weeks and also gave the odd bottle without BF. It didn't at all effect my supply and I stopped BF him 2 months ago at 25 months because my supply went before my colostrum came in for this baby & I developed a but if a breast feeding aversion, also it just seemed we were both ready for him to wean. Join the Facebook group "kent boobies" it's a closed group so only the people on it can see what your saying, it helped me with BF to no end. Recommend ALL the BF mummies to join it actually.

Collie: yellow runny poo sounds totally normal to me.

Auntie: so sorry your still having a crap time. Sounds like it's taking your not so D DH time to adjust to parenting - mine was exactly the same. He had no instincts and actually realising how much goes into a baby and the fact he was a dad now & his life also had to change definitely took a while to kick in. (2 years on he still sometimes forgets). Youv been really understanding regarding his mum, but the 2 have nothing to do with the other. Grief would not stop him giving you a break or making you food as well as himself. If he was in bed crying fair enough, but he's getting on with things but just his own things. (Sorry don't mean to sound harsh).
When he try's to hand back DS for a nappy change, rather than taking him, I'd say hold on I'll grab you his bits. Although it's not necessary and you don't need to get him a clean nappy etc DH will soon get the message, even if it means he changes DS in funny places for a while.
Also fib a bit and tell him you almost passed out while he was at work or something, leave the housework & let him think your even more vulnerable than you really are; always gets my OH doing a bit more. except for the other week when he did nothing & I was on here having a breakdown. I think as soon as we give birth or conceive actually our whole attitudes change & we don't even contemplate putting ourselves or own needs before little ones, but it seems to take a lot if men a hell of a lot longer.
Talk to him, & hand baby over and don't take him back till you'v eaten and bathed, not saying I can smell you from here or anything . It will do you both good. If you don't look after yourself you'l be no good to anyone xxxx

Plate how are things going? Do you have a baby yet? Hope all goes smoothly for you.

I read that muslin article as well, it freaked me out as Iv always covered DS with one when it's too sunny. Luckily with my new double the back of the seat comes off so it's just mesh, so if sun is beaming on his face I can cover the front and open the back so air gets in. It's a really useful function actually.

Know there was a few more posts I was going to reply to but can't remember what they were now.
I'd like my baby today so all get sending labour vibes my way. Xx

I'm with you all the way Hayley, due date today and sweep should hopefully be offered by midwife appt at 11.20!! Fingers crossed it gets things going!

What is the success rate of sweeps? Has anyone started labouring the same day?