The due in September crew head into the second trimester! :) (Thread 6)

[Treaclepie19]

Hi all! Stats sheet here :)

Meant to say that I tried expressing and couldn't get much out.

This time I plan to bf again but want my husband to be able to feed if I'm out/asleep. we are going to try and introduce a bottle at 2/3 weeks and use formula in the bottles.

The one thing that worked getting DS to take a bottle in the early days - 2/3 weeks was for me to be nowhere near at all just for the first week or so like in the garden or different floor of the house.... in bed. I swear newborns are like bloodhounds they can smell breastmilk/mummy a mile away !!

shoot that link is excellent wish I had seen that when we were struggling with my son. It didn't occur to me at the time that I had a lip tie when I was younger which was removed by my dentist when I was about 12. I didn't need braces in the end as the veneer to fix the front tooth that I broke closed the gap cosmetically.

lovesmycake midwives/hv's told us last time that newborns definitely recognise smell of breastmilk which is why it can be hard drinking from bottle from mum. We didn't have that problem but i think DS was hungry so he didn't care where it came from :-/

Worry you'll need to replace them as rapidly - you'll be truly eating for two. Ds self weaned at 15m and up to that point, I'd eat

Porridge with dried fruit at 7am
Egg on toast at 10:30 am
Sandwich at 1
Cake mid afternoon
Big dinner around 6
Cereal before bed

I dropped the first 1.5 stone within 3 weeks of birth, the other stone came off when I stopped bf and therefore eating (was in prepregnancy jeans after 3 weeks)

It's virtually impossible for me to make myself eat enough for that :( wanted to atleast give breast feeding a try!

We found out the sex from the harmony test, and told everyone. Tbh, part of me wishes we hadn't told people- there seems to be lots of congratulations and exclamations (from the old school parts of the family..) about the fact it's a boy and how great this is, compared to a girl (not actually said, but implied) which sets my teeth on edge.

I'm also majorly pissed at the OH as we've thought of a couple of names that were contenders and I said last week I wanted to keep them quiet until after I gave birth. He's now gone and promptly blabbed these to his eldest daughter "not remembering the conversation we had last week" which has annoyed the shit out of me, not least because she's excited for the pregnancy supposedly but not enough to actually reach out directly and send me any congratulations or similar. The joys of step parenting...

For some reason I'm superstitious when it comes to pregnancy and am also having trouble taking in that I'm actually pregnant after so long ttc. I'm classed as high risk by my consultant due to clotting issues so I'm taking the whole thing a day / week at a time. Both of these are making me antsy about the high level of expectation, excitement and planning everyone else seems to be doing already.

I think I might take my overly hormonal self off in to a corner and sulk for a bit

It burns around 500 cals a day Worry. If that is too high for you to maintain then think about mix feeding. You can get bottles called breastflow I think that mimic breastfeeding to reduce confusion if that concerns you.

Day two at centre parcs. I'm shattered and W is having a good nap. DH has gone home to pick up some bits and then we will go swimming. I woke at 4am and didn't get back off and then did some lovely puking.

I'm not saying don't try, just make sure you consider your own health as much as your baby's (hug)

worry If it's important to you why don't you set yourself up to just breastfeed the colustrum so first week for example, then see what is achievable after that with support from your consultant?

BUT I think what's really important is you don't beat yourself up about it - it really doesn't matter, your baby will be fed and loved and happy no matter how they get their food and it definitely should not be something you worry about for the next 6 months. (I have absolutely zero experience with eating disorders so please ignore me if I'm talking crap)

meinthecorner yes, a helpful website, I wish I'd known half of what I know now with DD, it might have saved a lot of sleepless nights! I have mild upper and lower lip ties and a thick posterior tongue tie. In my case the TT may well account for childhood migraine, glue ear, sinus infections, muscle tension, back problems, and a host of other stuff. Trying to get it revised as an adult is nigh on impossible but I really do want the TT cut. It seems like such a minor thing compared to the years of medication, teeth grinding, physio etc. And if it doesn't work, at least I will have ruled something out!

Sadly I don't think anyone is going to laser my TT while I'm pregnant

Jessica I completely agree. When I first had my baby I was of the opinion that if evidence shows something is healthier for your baby then you do it no matter what. By she was a year old I was letting her watch TV and eat bags and bags of baby crisps as it was the only way to stop her screaming in the car. She's now forward facing which I had stupidly said I'd not do after reading up on extended rear facing. I still think erf is safer but I feel much safer driving with a happy baby than one who used to make herself choke through crying in the car!! I think it is impossible to judge people unless you know exactly what their situation is and also if someone chooses to do something not 100% ideal that's their choice.

Re Nct fluffin DH and I did it and hugely enjoyed it but it's the kind of thing we like - lots of debating and cringe-inducing role play! Our group was fantastic but unfortunately two couples lived miles away and weren't that into socialising. Although I see two of the girls regularly and consider them good friends we don't all go on big Nct trips away like lots of my friends' groups do! So basically it is a bit pot luck in terms of meeting people. You definitely don't need to do it to meet people but I really liked to meet women going through similar things at the same time. My friends who didn't do Nct made equally good friends through aquanatal and pregnancy yoga. The info given was very thorough but definitely focused more on birth than looking after a baby so be prepared for that. . I did like the breastfeeding session though.

Just as an aside, has anyone ever done the NCT refresher course?

Right while DD is still asleep I need advice and opinions please. DH, DD and I all share a surname AND all our first names start with the same letter! This wasn't at all intentional! However, the two frontrunners we like (well esp me) for the next baby's name also begin with the same damn letter!! Again this is unintentional!! DH is convinced this is ridiculous and no way can we do it (even though most people know me by my nickname which begins with a different letter). I agree it may be difficult when we get a letter and don't know who it's for but I really really love those names as does DH if I press him on it and neither of us can really think of any alternatives!! I actually think it might look more weird to have three initials the same then one different. Bit what if we then had a third baby?! Surely five names beginning with the same letter is really silly?! Arrrgh! Another question about names. There is one other boy name we love but it's Freddy and our daughter is Rosie. Would Rosie and Freddy be too reminiscent of Fred and Rosemary West??

Shinjuku the West's didn't even cross my mind until you said. Presuming your surname isn't West I don't think it's a problem! I think you should go with the names you like best or you might regret it.

If professional people, like banks, write letters you can probably have your names written with a middle initial. My mum and I have different letter first names but our middle is the same. We both have the same bank which uses our middle initial so when I lived at home we did have to look properly as our letters looked similar. You would just have the same first initial instead of 2nd. We have both opened each other's letters but noticed v quickly.

By the way, my favourite hotel ever is in Shinjuku, keep thinking about it every time I see one of your posts!

I know a Charles and Elizabeth subset and yes, the royals cross my mind sorry!

Hurrah Jessica!!! Lovely scan pic!

I am (at the moment!) choosing not find out the gender at 20 weeks (if we can avoid it) mostly because I want the surprise and partly because I'm being a little bit pessimistic/careful about this bub (very unlike me) so I'm scared (ridiculous I know) to start calling it by name or by he or she before its squeezed safely into the world! (BUT I'll probably change my mind in the next 8 weeks - the little miss fickle that I am!)

GoooRooo the sonographer couldn't get my NT measurement to start but after she'd shuffled me about to wake up the bub, it moved into position so I have my fingers tightly crossed for you xxx

shinjuku haven't done the NCT refresher course but think I might (need to discuss with OH first!). We did NCT first time around but I didn't actually get to put any of it into practice because I developed obstetric cholestasis and had to be induced and then had an emcs. My plan is for vbac so I think it might be helpful to run through it again. For first timers NCT courses are good - you get much more time to talk through things in a smaller group than in the NHS ones which were quite generic and the one I went to got monopolised by a couple of mums-to-be. That said the NCT course was pricey but they have changed the format so there is a shorter 'essentials' course which is cheaper. Still a week until my 12 week scan (will actually be 13 weeks then.....).

Thanks Sauv!

Shinjuku I hated the NCT classes so won't be doing the refresher.

I didn't do the NCT course but the did the NHS one which was fine. In terms of meeting other mums I took a baby massage course at the local children's centre when DD was 10 weeks and met a small group of mums who have become really good friends! I also did a baby and me course which was great for meeting people.

Shin, Rosie and Freddy are lovely names!

Just remembered, we did Hypnobirthing last time and that's something I would really recommend. It made me so calm in labour and even though things didn't end up as we had hoped (back to back labour, ended up on drip as contractions stopped and nearly ended up with emcs but luckily she came out with an episiotomy and some pushing) but I wasn't worried or stressed at the time, which I 100% think is down to the techniques I learnt in Hypnobirthing.

Dela did your post relate to mine about names?! If so I apologise as I don't understand it!! Think I'm being slow!

Thanks everyone for the opinions on the name thing! Jessica good point about the initial thing. Only thing is I don't have one and don't think any of the DC will but DH does so that might help.

Oh Jessica which hotel is that (on very slim chance we stayed there or that it's the one from Lost in Translation as don't think I know any others!!!). I loved Japan so much I think I left a piece of my heart there when I left (I am not usually soppy but that's how it felt!).

Sorry meant to say we do have initials but not middle names!!

Jessica DW and I are desperate to find out but are Most Definitely not going to (she says!)
Everything with the early part of my pregnancy were so clinical - we knew the date I had to poas (even though I was getting positives 6 days before lol), all the drugs, injections, scans and procedures I had just to get pregnant took the excitement away so the 'it's a boy/it's a girl thing is really important to us... I'd really like my wife to be the one to look and be the first to know. Saying that, I refer to bump as 'she'... No idea why!

Oh man CRUSHING tiredness today! Anyone else? I thought I'd already experienced tired but my god!!! It hit me like a wall at lunchtime and I instantly felt like crying (and getting into any bed anywhere!). Argh! Got home at 4.30 and been asleep in bed til now. YAWN. X