October 14. Thread 12. Still no babies? Let the raspberry leaf tea drinking commence

[YellowWellies]

New Fred

Sorry excited x post!

Hope your tests come back ok excited, you can enjoy a lovely soon!

Fingers crossed its the beetroot goats and nothing else, will be thinking of you today.

Feeling very achey today, lovely Dh let me have a lay in as he's on lates today but still feel like i could do with another few hours

Ahh does beetroot clear you out? I had a roasted beetroot and butternut squash salad last week.....that would explain it, ahem
Hope you're chowing down into a massive slice of cake and knocking back some tea by now CJ, the thirst would get to me more than the hunger I think!

I'm having a beetroot and halloumi salad tomorrow night!

Two things I have been meaning to ask for yonks (preghead):

• the star blankets...are they a replacement for a pramsuit (the padded thing with long arms and legs and hood sometimes)?

• breast milk. I was talking to my friend the other day and she said her breast milk didn't come in for two days. So what does the baby feed on before that? Is it the colostrum? Does that not count as milk?

Thanks!

These beetroot salads sound amazing! Only problem is I like it with lots and lots of goats cheese!
I'm currently on a neonatal ECG as little one very quiet. Had consultant this morning and mentioned it so just being cautious really.
Anyone else struggle to differentiate between kicks and braxton hicks? My bump is hard all the time so makes things difficult!

Fat pony, yep the star blankets are and are safe to use in car seats. Bought ours yesterday, it's so lovely and cuddly can't wait to wrap our baby up in it!

I'm not 100% on breast milk, but I think from what I've read you produce colostrum for the first 3 days then the milk comes in.

Started reading the La Leche book but will not be finishing it. If I was a weaker willed woman it would set the fear of God in me for not breast feeding or for having a c-section. I'm thinking either the copy I have is an old one or it's never been updated as there are some questionable stats in there

Morning everyone, sorry to hear you're without water excited - hope you're gulping it back by now!
I've had quite a few 'clearouts' in the past week - not as if I have stomach bug but just feels like (sorry TMI) it's much easier to expel(!) and i'm fully empty afterwards iykwim! At first I wondered if it was a sign but it just seems a frequent occurence now. Would be nice to start hearing about some early signs from people though, come on babies!

Bought my birthing ball last night and just had a super extensive relaxation session with my hypnobirthing CDs, practising what it would be like using ball and birth positions too. I'm actually looking forward to it now. I'd def recommend the Kathryn Graves CDs to anyone considering it, it gives me such a good nap as I'm struggling to sleep well at night - think when baby's here it'll be great to put on whilst he's napping to make sure I get a proper refreshing rest at the same time.

I'm still not sure what star blankets are - can someone post a link?

I love this thread!
You guys are great cheerleaders. I am now home tucking into grilled bacon, dry fried black pudding, beans & some potato bread; washed down by a lovely cup of tea. Then off to work for the afternoon..
Pony, as binky said Star blanket is safer alternative to pram suit as the compression/popping out of car seat in crash thing won't happen with a thin layer of fleece v a big bulky air filled pram suit. Advice is to remove pram suits before transporting baby.
Colostrum will give baby enough 'food' until milk comes in can be day 3 - 5 for some. Just keep baby on your breast as much as possible & this will stimulate milk to come in a little quicker. As someone said previously, baby has tummy the size of a pea, doesn't need very much at the start.

Colostrum first, then milk after a few days. The transition can be tough if your baby is demanding milk and your boobs haven't quite got the idea - cue lots of hungry crying and long sessions - but it soon sorts itself out for most people.
I've not said much on the topic because it was pretty traumatic for me with DS and we ended up readmitted to hospital, classed as failure to thrive
But I don't want to scare anyone and I was very much an unusual case; though it is hard, the vast majority of my last bus had huge success with bf, despite some early challenges.
I also recommend The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding as a good read (best not consulted for the first time in a 3am panic on the Kindle, though ) and the LaLeche helpline ladies were lovely when I called them, tired, emotional and weepy.
I successfully mix fed and feel much more confident about doing the same this time, if I need to, despite many health professionals seemingly being baffled by the concept. I do live in a very pro-bf area and it took quite a lot for me to accept what happened to us, which isn't how it should have been.

tuppenceandcrumble.com/shop/index.php?route=common/home
Link to Star Wraps

Thanks for the link excited - your food sounds amazing by the way!
Looks pretty easy pattern to copy so I'm thinking I'm going to go to my local habadashery shop on saturday and get some fleece :) (cheapskate!)

I love this breastfeeding rap song! It's funny and educational m.youtube.com/watch?v=ax85hE3_2uE

Colostrum is also known. As liquid gold it is precious stuff filled with antibodies to boost babies immune system and is all babies needs.

excited poor you gasping for a drink how mean they didn't allow water for gtt! With ours you can at least hae sips of water. Glad your ticking in to a hearty brunch. I had leftover takeaway Chinese for lunch though ate it at 11:15 I couldn't wait for lunchtime! It was tofu and veg though (Ignore the egg fried rice)

goats bowel clear outs are a common feature of 3rd trimester. Though you are almost 37 weeks aren't you so you never know!

I am struggling to walk now I have such pressure (fanny daggers) it feels like I'm either goin to wet myself or my waters will pop! I hope labour doesn't start that way again for me as had to be induced last time due to waters breakif and no contractions. Despite what tv would have you believe the vast majority of labours start with contractions first and waters normally go towards end of first stage.

Ugh excited that sounds amazing. This cold has zapped me of all remaining energy and I could really do with some bacon right now.
I've been making some lists from a couple of cook books of things I'm hoping to make for the freezer and that's making me hungry too! Sweet potato and chorizo soup, leek and potato soup, spicy tomato and lentil pie, beef and ale stew and a bolognese, plus a veggie sausage casserole and a veggie chilling for dh. I am going to be a busy bee!

I'm planning to wash all the baby clothes this weekend - any suggestions of what non-bio to use?
Mrsb your soups and meals sound great too, I've never thought of adding sweet potato to soup, I thought it'd fall to bits? My fave thing with sweet potato is spinach, sweet potato and lentil dhal, ooft it's amazing.

Love the YouTube clip me makes it look so simple!

mrsb your food sounds amazing, so far I've made a batch of chestnut and fennel casserole which made last night's dinner and 3 lots for the freezer. I'm struggling to get round to doing much today. 2 loads of washing and thrown out the rubbish from the nursery wardrobe now having a sit down as I'm knackered!

It's one of those soups you blitz so it creates a smooth texture, it's a really yummy warming soup so perfect for the time of year.
I've just signed up to get a weekly veg box again which I'm looking forward to. With the HG and lack of any energy in pregnancy I wasn't cooking a lot but I have a real urge for cooking real food again
I have just the basic Tesco non bio. I don'tr think it has to be am expensive one.

kirsti I've used Fairy, someone suggested Ecover before. I'm rewashing the second hand stuff I had used dettol laundry cleanser with today, just hoping the sun comes out to dry it all.

Kirsti I would use any liquid non bio detergent (not powder as it contains bleach), and a small amount of comfort pure/fairy fabric softener to make the cotton more supple.

Colostrum has a ridiculous number of calories per drop, it's designed to tide them over until your milk comes in, even if that is 3 or 4 days, they are also born with additional fat reserves to tide them over this period. Don't get panicked at this stage that they are starving - it feels like they are but they aren't.

Also the longer the baby is at your breast (or even just lying skin to skin on your boobs) the better your milk will come in. Nature sucks a little but baby fussing (read getting shrieky) at your breast actually encourages your milk supply - so if they are fussing - leave them there don't run for a bottle. It's not a sign that you aren't making enough milk - it's the baby's way of getting your body to make more milk. Every time baby is at the breast, think of it as a letter to your boobs to make more milk.

BF is such a mine field mentally, you have at times to go against your rational instincts and just trust nature. I can see the appeal of FF if you are anxious because you can see the ml of fluid that the baby is taking - with BF you just have to rely on your boob feeling less full (and you dn't even get this in the first week as your boobs feel so engorged) and whether baby is producing wet nappies and whether they are screaming at you!.

The very worst thing you can do in the first few days is try to put baby on a feeding schedule - that will just stuff your milk supply. Babies and boobs haven't heard of 4 hourly or 3 hourly feeds. 4 hourly feeds initially would kill BF as that's just not regular enough to establish a good supply. Basically if you are sitting down, baby should be on your boob! If you are not, go on - sit down, have a cuppa, and put baby on your boob. It's natures way of getting you to slow doooooown and recover from birth. And bear in mind that BF even one month down the line is NOTHING like the intensity of the first fortnight when you are establishing your milk supply. It gets SO easy, but you have to do the hard bit first and after an exhausting labour and the mental upheaval of having a baby it does really test your mental and emotional reserves. I'd recommend getting your partner to read up on BF too as lots of blokes panic when baby is crying and fussing at the breast and are desperate to get formula 'to help' whereas what they need is to 'chill the f*ck out and remember this too shall pass'.

Just been for my BF workshop; bit frustrating as we were all 1st time mums, all intending to BF, and first 15mins was extolling the benefits, to the extent that I think if I were maybe younger & less confident I'd end up feeling a terrible failure if for any reason I were unable to BF. But was useful otherwise, quite a long time spent on explaining a correct latch, and some info about first nappies I wasn't aware of - boys can pass pink crystals and girls can bleed from their vaginas!? Would have frightened me if not aware so was worth it.

me23 'fanny daggers' - exactly this! Really unpleasant. So paranoid I'll wee have bought some Tena liners - just not confident in my bladder now, though have been doing my kegels I feel constantly as though I'm about to leak

Gap have a VIP weekend on - 30% off everything and a further 20% off if you buy more than 6 items. I just dragged ds round and saved £60 on a range of stuff for him. I asked him to pick out something for the baby and he picked a dress - although always saying it's a boy!

Ps the extra 20% is only it you shop in store.

I think the only thing DH remembers from NCT last time is that the baby's stomach is the size of a malteaser when born!! So don't need much to fill it anyway!

I also agree with all yellow say about bf. it's really hard at the beginning and you constantly worry they aren't getting enough. But after 2/3 weeks things really settle down and it becomes easy. You know when a growth spurt happens as they feed like mad to get your supply to respond. Then it's calm again.
Agree - need to go with the flow to start with and just keep feeding. Ds was every 1.5 hours in the day. But I just went with it. Don't read Gina ford as she will stress you about re schedules and what the baby 'should' be doing but it's all bollox and I threw the book across the room when she said I wasn't supposed to feed him between 7 and 11 am. Ridiculous!!! She makes you feel like a failure - on all accounts, but if you followed her routines you literally couldn't leave the house!!

slideIn - I'm neither young, nor lacking in confidence and my bf issues still cut me to the core. Just reading yellows post brought it all back - I did all that, and more, to feed my boy and still ended up back in hospital in dire trouble. As I said, I am very much a minority case, but it is really hard to be made to feel like a failure, or that you didn't try hard enough, or want it enough (both accusations that were made to me by certain health care professionals, post natally).
I really shouldn't post on this issue, as it is all still too raw. And as I said, most women I know who wanted to bf got through any early difficulties and went on to feed very successfully as long as they wanted to