Summer holidays are over, the PESH are bringing their bumps and baybees back to school

[TheOriginalWinkly]

Pack your giant pants in your satchel and maternity pads in your pencil case, it's the antenatal thread for BESH graduates

CRESH

Faith - pinky faithlet arrived 14th April 2013
Pinkr - suitably pinky one arrived 25th August 2013
Jethro - blue one arrived 23rd September 2013
Noks - pink one arrived 12th January 2014
Frankel - large pink one arrived 10th March 2014
Merks - pink one landed safe and sound 21st March 2014
Sinky - Stubborn blue one arrived 26th March 2014
Driz - blue one arrived 12th June 2014
Kat - pink one arrived 21st June 2014
draf - pink calf on 1st July 2014
winks - a pink one dragged out kicking and screaming on 4th July 2014
euro - a pink one in a hurry to see the world, born on 17th July 2014
dor - a pink one born at speed on 28th July 2014
ginge - completing the ESH Summer of Pink on 23rd August 2014

PESH
Buggerlugs - Buglet due 20th October
Fankle - ESHlet expected 4th January
Cunty - Minichops expected 7th February

Well done bugs

A sad day for my tummy today. Bye bye lovely maternity trousers with your comfy jersey belly warming panel. Hello proper jeans with a belt a whole bloody size bigger than I used to be. Time to lay off the cake :(

Kat, I'm refusing to buy anything in a bigger size (bar one suit I needed for job interviews). It'll just tempt me to stay that size. And being incredibly bored of the few things i can get into is a good incentive for me. I'm starting calorie counting today. I'm 11 weeks pp tomorrow and I'm fed up of looking down at my jelly belly.

Its my fat are that is the problem. The only trousers I can get in are maternity but they don't stay up well due to not having a ginormous bump. I just got one pair of cheap asda jeans. I need to chuck the maternity stuff out now so I can't keep wearing it. I am so bored of my clothes. Breastfeeding means I have about five tops I am wearing. Children mean lack of funds for wardrobe splurge

I am still a size bigger than I was pre-pregnancy. Abigail is 17 months old I am at fat club though and have lost 3lb since I started 4 weeks ago.

I regret not losing weight between pregnancies. I have two lots of baby weight on me plus comfort eating from my besh days. I need to lose four stone now! Shit!

I'm still wearing maternity jeans around the house. I can get into my pre-preg ones (just) but they press on my scar and it gets a bit much after a few hours so I only wear them when others can see me!

L is two this month and I am currently wearing my lovely soft maternity trousers... In my defence it's the only maternity item I still wear!

It does. What's up?

It's probably the hormone crash Bugs, this happens to everyone and is totally normal. I promise it does get easier, just take it one day at a time (heck, one hour at a time if you need to!). Don't push yourself to "do" things every day. If you are showered/dressed and P is clean and fed, that is enough.

I can fit in one pair of fat jeans and one skirt, haven't been in maternity stuff for a while. Suspect I still couldn't fit in my normal jeans though, last time I tried even my calves were too big

It does get easier, bugs - right now HOTB is upstairs reading bedtime stories with the calf while I watch bake off :) I found that even as she remained quite demanding with feeding, my boobs got used to it and we got into a bit of a rhythm. You'll find your feet, never fear.

(Just heard HOTB doing a "scary monster" type deep gruff voice, followed by crying - think the calf might have been a little too into the story!)

Oh, and yes hormone crash and getting to grips with feeding is not pretty. I especially struggled at night - was feeding (or trying to feed) in tears many times, with HOTB hovering in an encouraging fashion. It really didn't last long though: we had much more idea what we were doing after a week, and my nipples had healed after three weeks. The calf is now thirteen weeks, and though she's a bit shouty every now and again, on the whole we are on a much more even keel and everything is hunky dory. Do not panic, all will be well :)

It does get easier really quickly. I mean, there are hard parts about every stage but the newborn days are relentlessly tiring. At first the pure elation of winning your baybee keeps you on cloud nine. The sleep deprivation catches up with you. As others have said, dont try to do anything non essential. Your one job right now is breastfeeding buglet. That's it. Let others do pretty much everything else. Eat takeaways and ready meals if you aren't up to cooking between the two of you. Sleep when you can. Fuck the state of the house. Have a pyjama day. Take it really easy so you feel a bit rested when Gp goes back to work and you have to go solo. Many of us are still night feeding so a around here and fb for support even at silly hours.

I was fat to start with, but pretty much all my clothes fit again. I'm a different shape now, I used to have a nice flat tummy, so they don't all look nice but I'm going to buggyfit and pilates so hoping to be much more toned by Christmas.

MiniWink went to the docs on Monday re her cough and seems better today not that anyone asked

Bugs it will get easier. I categorically hated the first few weeks. Sleep deprevation makes everything a million times worse. So does low blood sugar so make sure you're eating

My advice for coping is to lower your standards.

Don't expect to have a perfect house.
Don't expect to have a perfect baby.
Don't expect to look fabulous all the time.
Don't expect to be all singing all dancing.

However, I would say, try and get out of the house every day if you can. Even if it is just for a short walk. It is incredibly grounding and restorative and the fresh air helps massively.

Winks I'm glad miniWinks is on the mend!

bugs I sobbed and sobbed on day 4. We were still in hospital and I remember thrusting her at the midwives saying WHY WON'T SHE SLEEP?. However that night was a turning point as Faithlet got the hang of feeding every 3 hours or so. It is so tough. Nothing can prepare you. But it does get better. Really it does. Soon...

I spent the first few months after Faithlet was born in joggers. Comfy, roomy and I didn't have to undress to crawl back into bed which I did frequently

Oops name change fail!

Hope you have a good night. Hopefully she will have a 3 hour stretch at some point for you. Any concern about your iron levels? If you lost more than an average amount of blood during delivery that can make you feel unwell. AlwYs worth asking. It is hard but you can do it!

I would echo Dor's advice about fresh air each day. It does help. And also about lowering standards. Actually, just listen to Dor in general

But you are right, it really is hard and it's nothing you can prepare for. I think I said on t'other place, the best advice I had was not to fight it. Just go with her timetable, nap when you can. This is probably the hardest time when the adrenaline starts to wear off but the hormones are flooding in, reality's kicking you in the boobs and it all seems impossible. In a few more days it will be different again, then a few more days another change, then weeks then months and then they're toddling around and answering back! It is never static and that is amazing and terrifying. Just keep chatting to the people who understand and care (and also get the added pressure of a much-fought-for baby) and you'll get through one hour at a time!

What is up with the boob? Might be worth a call to one of the help lines in the morning. La leche league are amazing, i got so much support from them. Expressing is a nuisance but if it gets you through tonight then go for it. The trouble is you are forcing your breasts to produce more milk than she is drinking. This leads to over supply and engorgement. But for one night that isn't going to be a problem. The soreness could be the start of mastitis, might be worth looking up self care advice to stop it getting worse. If you continue to have pain on latching do get real life help.