March 2016 Babies!! Our Grape-sized babies are getting Bigger!

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Thought I'd start our new thread as the old one is full up!

DD wasn't refluxy (though she was very sicky, constantly sick after feeding, but a happy sicker iycwim). She also bf A LOT and I spent the first couple of months on the sofa watching box sets. A few of my NCT friends complained about the constant bf but I actually enjoyed it as I'm lazy and managed to watch loads of TV shows I'd wanted to for ages haha. Even by 6 months (when I went back to work) she was still feeding every two hours (day and night). Then we stretched out her feeds to every three hours simply by me not being there (DP had three months off and fed her expressed milk). I think we had a routine sort of in place around 4 months or so, simply as I knew when she would be hungry, and planned naps around then (with varying degrees of success). In fact DD never really slept, dropped down to one nap at 9 months when she started nursery! Which made a routine easier haha but was knackering. Even now she doesn't need much sleep (had no nap yesterday, I'm terrified shed going to drop her nap soon and she's only 22 months). Am hoping next baby sleeps more! I probably won't do a routine or anything as I think its hard to with a young baby whose bf on demand and I actually tried to introduce a bit more routine at three months with DD and ended up stressing about her not sleeping, instead of just going with the flow. but I think about four months is a good time to introduce a loose structure to their day which is what I'll try this time. Am sure the baby will have its own idea though!

"A few of my NCT friends complained about the constant bf but I actually enjoyed it as I'm lazy and managed to watch loads of TV "

Marmite - high five to that!

Yeah, I suspect all good intentions will go out the window, but I'm just wondering if I can anticipate and mitigate the disasters we had last time.

Unfortunately, I think the 4 boxes of baby gaviscon we have left go out of date at the end of this year. Ah well!

It's Monday. I have 3 days to get my shit together. (Well, for the INSET, and then the weekend to plan, if I have to!)

Oh, have people got special pillows yet? Lidl are out of the long ones. I need something, I've started getting that lower back twisting pain. I didn't buy anything special last time (and deeply regretted it when I could hardly sleep towards the end). This time we have a much improved mattress, but I need a pillow. What do people recommend?

I'm going to get one today Indomitable, I'm suffering too! I was going to get a long one from Argos, they have them for about a tenner. I have a Dreamgenii from last time but I didn't love it and think a big fat long straight pillow would be miles better.

Another one who loved all the time stuck on the sofa, hooray for Netflix! I think that'll be a distant memory this time though, with a toddler to look after.

marmite your DD sounds v similar to mine! Constantly on the boob and hated sleeping! I agree that trying to impose a routine when they're tiny can just be stressful unless you're happy to go down the whole Gina Ford route, which wasn't for us. DD still only needs 10 hours sleep at night (at 20 months) and also dropped to 1 nap at 11 months. And I think that nap's days are numbered We've ordered a sleeper this time...

Has anyone used a double buggy they'd recommend? I walk a lot so think I'll be needing one, but don't want a beast of a buggy. I do have some slings that I'll try, but DD hated them, despite wanting to be constantly held!

celen hope the bleeding had eased off. I second going to a&e to get a scan. Thursday is a long time to wait.

ginger sorry about the NT result. I have everything crossed that you're in the percentage where everything is ok.

I got 9 hours sleep last night for the first time in ages since DD was born and feel sooo much better! We're on holidays at the mo, so no dragging my sorry sicky arse outta bed at 6am, which is wonderful.

I got my big long V shaped pillow from ikea last time, managed to get it between my legs and round my bump when lying on my side (and I'm long!!) it was int £7!

I had no routine when I bf last time, only night time routine when day 1 - bath, boob, bed by 7 and this seemed to work as its stuck ever since! The rest of the time I went by her cues until she weaned off the boob!

13 weeks today - 2nd trimester and I've been sick !! I thought it was meant to get better not bloody worse! Gah!

rhubarb congrats on your scan!

indomitable, we got given a "Woombie" by a friend and used that for DSs naps and nighttime until he was too big for the second size. It's essentially a swaddling bag that zips up but that their arms can move in (but muffles the startle reflex). It looks like a baby straight jacket but I'm sure had a big part in helping DS to nap and sleep well. My sister had a 3 month old and borrowed them for him and it's worked wonders too. Maybe worth a look?

In terms of buying things we are also pretty well kitted out. Need a new Moses basket as borrowed one last time but other than that all good to go. we didn't find out gender with DS so he was in mostly gender neutral for the first few months. I also hate the pink/blue thing so even when he got older there's a lot of green, orange, grey and red in his wardrobe which would be fine to dress a girl in (really hoping for a DD as this is probably it for us for kids and I couldn't imagine not having a daughter, but we won't find out again, I love the surprise!!)

Pillow-wise, I've got a long curved one from Argos (think it's a cheapo version of the dream genii) and some wedge ones, which were useful for supporting the bump when it was bigger, from TK Max. Must locate them all.

Hope everyone's enjoying their bank holiday!

Smirking, I've got worse too at 12+4! Feel more sick and am so ridiculously tired, surely it's too late for everything to be properly kicking in??

crispylicious the Phil and teds changed my life seriously ! Made going out with a newborn and toddler a breeze. And took it around the world too, including winding narrow bazaars in Morocco where it was a dream to push , on and off planes and ferries too! Can't recommend it highly enough. For a single baby, nothing beats a from birth maclaren and believe me I've tried quite a few

marmite this is my third dc my other dds 8 pounds and grew fairly quickly but I still remember using newborn stuff and finding the 0-3 stuff baggy although maybe my memory has gone a bit fuzzy!! I do remember that they seemed to jump from newborn to 3 -6 pretty quickly though !

Very rainy bank holiday Monday here in London. DH has gone to the rubbish dump in the rain with a load of garden crap and DD and I are on the couch under the duvet watching CBeebies. Only a 2 day working week ahead thanks to the be. Happy days :-)

We had a surprise last time so like others DD was in v neutral stuff from the start. We were given loads of pink c**p though as presents. All v generous and sweet of course but I really struggled to bring myself to put her in any of it. She's quite a tomboy now so not that into pink or girly stuff. Mind you she's now insisting on choosing all her own outfits which makes for some interesting outfits :-)

We reckon we will find out the sex this time. The organiser in me wants to know if I can get rid of any of the v girly stuff we do have. Also I think DD will find it easier to understand the whole sibling concept if we can tell her it's one or the other. Though she has already decided it's a sister!

We have most of the practical things sorted from first time round. We are planning to buy a new cuddly toy and a special day 1 sleep suit for the baby pretty soon, like we did for DD. This one is going to have so many hand me downs so we'd like him/her to have a couple of things we have picked specially.

The one practical thing we need to sort is the buggy situation. We have a secondhand maclaren that is really on its last legs plus an uppababy crux travel system which we love but tend not to use on big days out or when on trains and buses. Not sure about a double buggy as increasingly DD wants to walk places and she'll be nearly 3 in March. So reckon we'll replace the maclaren and probably use the Cruz with its carrycot a bit in the early days. Then dd in maclaren and baby in a sling. Which means buying a new sling. Ah the permutations!

Has anybody else been suffering with headache/ stiff neck? I woke up this morning at 5am with an awful headache, I had to take a paracetamol and come and lay on the sofa as I couldn't sleep. Now I'm all snuggled with my quilt watching Friends...

Thanks Miss and Crispy for those tips. I've put a woombie on my (secret) Pinterest board and have found a couple of pillow candidates in Argos. Think I might get the body pillow, since I've already got a useless wedge from last time.

Sorry some of you are still feeling heinous.

With DD I bought an L shaped pillow from eBay for really cheap and wedged it between my legs. I've already started using it now. After DD was born I used it as a bf pillow and then head rest in bed, DP liked it so much (we both do quite a bit of reading sat up in bed) that we bought another one for him so I have two for when I get really big (DP doesn't know I'm commandeering it yet haha).

I really don't want to get a double buggy. I actually have a very old (6 years) Phil and teds dash which my brother gave me as a hand me down when DD was born to use as a buggy for her, but I really didn't like it. I'm going to try to just use a sling (got my eye on a manduca) for new baby and my crappy lightweight buggy I have for DD. My friend has just had a second DS and is using a buggy board for her older DS who is almost three. So I might try that. Think I won't make any plans till baby is here and see how the logistics work. DD is at her grandmas on Mon and Nursery Tues-Thurs so Friday is the only day I'll have both without DP around, so hoping I can get by without a double buggy. We'll see!

sherazade it may just have been that DD was long then. Long and skinny! So newborn was too tight length wise, but 0-3 was baggy, but a better fit. I'm probably not going to buy much newborn stuff this time, and may end up regretting it...

With my first baby i was desperate for a boy and i got him. With my second I was desperate for a girl and I got her. Since then I haven't been fussed - the third was a girl, won't find out what this one is.

I normally buy something for the baby in very early pregnancy but haven't bought anything this time.

Hope everyone's ok today.

Feeling terrible today sad
I was meant to have a baby in March sad . So worried baby will miscarry naturally if theirs a major issue or the little heart will stop as their may be a heart defect.
How has this happened I'm only 21 no family history of conditions. I'm gutted my risk was so low and now it's so high.
Worried about the cysts as I had one then a week later two and what looks like fluid in my tube wtf! Does this mean I'll never have healthy children as something must be very wrong to cause a disorder at 21.
Nhs scan is 9th September, having my combined test I wasn't going to but now I have to after finding that out.
The waiting is awful I havnt done anything since I found out other than lie in bed and sleep and cry. I don't know how to pull my self together, the lady who did the scan was so negative she never said anything postivie. She didn't point out any soft markers. But why would my nt reading be so high at 11 weeks 1 day, also worried when we go back that it will be worse and all round baby and inside babies tummy etc

Mine were in newborn for about 12 weeks! But they were 5lb 10z, 5lb 12oz and 6lb...

Ginger i know everyone says try to think positive etc but I'm like you; a serious worrier and pessimist. I find it hard to deal with problems and my way of tackling them is often just crying my eyes out. Try to do something, anything to keep you distracted and speed up time until your scan xx

Thanks, I am a serious worrier as well.
Tried to contact midwife but she is not working today :(
How does this happen ?
Why me ?
What have I done ?
I had days where I couldn't keep folic acid down due to horrific vomiting for a week is it my fault?
What if I can't carry a baby that can live to full term ?
I have so many questions. I'm sorry to be a downer on this thread before the weekend I was all happy I even bought some clothes and now looking at them is heartbreaking. I'm sitting in the room that would be their bedroom and feel so unhappy.
Off to see mil later to speak to her.
Hope everyone else is ok xx

Oh ginger, I'm sorry you're feeling so down. I tend to think negatively too but nothing is certain and you don't know if there is anything wrong. Can you call your midwife in the morning? How is your dp feeling about it?

When is your nhs scan? Please try not to get too hung up on what the sonographer said or didn't say, I've encountered quite a few who have given minimal encouragement when I had bleeding or they couldn't feel my uterus yet, leading to.me believing if the doctor thinks it's all over it must be, and it was more that they didn't want to risk giving me false hope than that they thought there was none, if you see what i mean.

I have left an answer phone message fir my midwife.
I've noticed on the scans the baby barely moves at all either, it sits still and occasionally moves its arms that's about it which is very worrying to me.
My dp is worried inside but he doesn't show his emotions like I do and his trying to help me. Nhs scan is 9th September so a week Wednesday. Feels years away now though.

I know answers might not be what you actually want right now - skip this if you like. But assuming the ultrasound technician is correct:

How does this happen? Random chance. The likelihood increases as you age, but you may have been unlucky this time.

Why me? Random chance. It's not personal. Unless you're religious and it helps to think that you have been chosen as a strong person to give this special baby the care it needs for its life, however long or short that may be.

What have I done? Your best. You've done nothing to deserve this worry.

I had days where I couldn't keep folic acid down due to horrific vomiting for a week is it my fault? Absolutely not. That has nothing to do with this random genetic event. It's nothing you've done or didn't do.

What if I can't carry a baby that can live to full term? That's unlikely to be the case. The cysts on your ovaries could just be to do with the HCG/progesterone in your system at the moment and they might naturally resolve themselves in time. Or you might have PCOS, which might make it more of a challenge to have more children, but doesn't rule them out (my fried has PCOS and two children close in age).

Personally, I think it's outrageous you've had an US technician tell you this when she scanned you outside the recommended window. Any queries should have been reviewed and double checked by a qualified consultant. Which is what they will do with your NHS scan.

These measurements can be out if the baby isn't in the exact correct position, if the image isn't the right size on the screen, and (of course) if the calliper tool isn't positioned correctly. Even then, it's not a diagnosis until followed up with other tests. I am angry for you that they have left you high and dry after this.

Maybe you should ring the maternity unit tomorrow morning and explain the situation. See if they can see you sooner.

I will be amazed if this does turn out to be bad news. I think you have everything going for you for this to be a horrible mistake.

Indomitable what a good post.

Ginger i know this probably means nothing to you right now but in every one of my pregnancies I've struggled with folic acid due to sickness but it didn't cause any problems.

Thanks for taking the time to write that post.
What is the recommended time window our baby measured at 11+1.
She said when she started the scan but baby took about 10 minutes to move position to get the reading. Was a bit worried she could see it even before moving baby.
The second photo is the reading she took measurement from.
Also attached my 9+6 scan photo where I think I can see fluid their to. This was done on the nhs . I had opted out the nt test but if she had noticed this would they of told me anyway?

I meant she said she could see extra fluid when she started the scan.
I hate my iPad sometimes x
Thanks for taking the time to talk I so appreciate it