Late December - Early January Thread 2!

[Bella1985]

Hi! We're on to our 2nd thread for babies due at the end of December/Early January. 3rd trimester is in sight...!

It is scary Bella, I'm petrified & don't know quite how Iv managed to get DS to almost 3! You will learn to trust yourself, it took for DS to get to 6 months before I stopped listening to the deluge of advice & go with my own thoughts. I tend to do a lot of research & make up my own mind. Being tired & emotional doesn't help either but be kind to yourself. It's the hardest job in the world & comes with no training!

I think the cervix acts very differently second time round. I'm in a lot of pain with my pelvis & tightenings. Trying not to get upset but feel really emotional. DH will be home soon so just trying to enjoy this time with DS.

Thought my waters had gone lastnight. Hospital checked me over at midnight & don't think it was. It was a biggish gush so not sure what it was. Had contractions throughout the night, they got to about 6 minutes apart & were so painful I was just about breathing through them but was getting to a point of wanting to pull my hair out. Got up this morning & it all stopped!!! Iv had a bloody show twice & now just got vague cramps. Not sure if this is just the sweep or if this baby is just taking its time. Really thought it was happening. So fed up

Oh, Emz. I'm sorry everything fizzled out. :( I had a similar night last night and it's so tiring and draining - physically and emotionally. I hope baby comes soon.

Congratulations Col - welcome to Baby Col! Can't wait to hear the story!

Emz - sorry baby keeps teasing you. I hope he/she gets a wriggle on for you and you get your new baby cuddles very soon!

Hoping things move for you Serial - must be so uncomfortable when you're overdue with the false labour.

Hope Happy is now enjoying baby cuddles after her repeat induction!

Hope all the new mum's and babies are doing ok?

Bella - I'm with you on the responsibility and conflicting advice! Every professional has given me slightly different advice re-feeding. It seems guidelines and advice change so frequently and also they seem to have personal preferences over how things should be done which they then try to dictate pass on.

We've had a rollercoaster with the feeding. After having a bad start, I think partly due to Christmas understaffing at the hospital, I've made the decision to stop breastfeeding. I feel so guilty about it, but deep down I know it's the right thing to do. H was not getting enough from me and was needing formula top-ups which seemed to increase in volume each feed, and negatively affected my supply. I've been torturing myself that I needed to breastfeed for her as it was the 'right' and 'best' thing. I think this feeling was magnified as I was not able to have a natural birth - I feel a huge amount of guilt over this even though this was the safest option for us both.

Yesterday morning, after a sleepless night (from me), I decided I needed to stop BF as I could see myself becoming more and more withdrawn from both H and OH and entering into a downward spiral. I was tired, emotional and had lost all rational thought. However, from yesterday afternoon I've become a different person and for the first time I have enjoyed being a Mummy. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I'm still guilty about the decision (had a big cry to the HV this morning about it), but know it's the best decision for me, H and OH. Sorry for the me me me post- but needed to get it off my chest

Admarks, it's such a personal decision. Please don't feel like you need to justify yourself to anyone. Baby needs to be fed and you need to be able to function. Simple as that. Sounds like you've found a way forward that works for you both.

I made myself crazy bf-ing my tongue-tied DD (she's 3 now) and while I'm glad we managed to persevere, I also recognise that I was putting far, far too much pressure on myself and really won't be doing that to myself again. It was too much.

Admarks, give yourself credit for doing it this far. You gave it a really good go & you have given her a good start. You have done what a good parent does & made the decision based on what's best for your child & You. I beat myself up for ages for switching to formula at 16 weeks with DS with his severe reflux. He was losing weight & in the first week of formula he put on 1.5lbs!!!! It showed I'd made the right decision but I still feel guilty & he's almost 3. Give yourself a pat on the back for doing the right thing & enjoy your baby. Easier said than done I know.

For the last 3 hours Iv had contractions ranging from every 10 mins when on my ball to every 20mins when lying on the sofa. I'm exhausted. DH came home to help with DS at lunchtime. I'm losing a lot of watery blood mixed with mucus. Assuming this must be it. The contractions are lasting 2 minutes and are pretty intense. Lots of heavy breathing!! Desperate to see my baby now & be put out my misery!

emz good luck!! How exciting.
admarks it is so hard as everyone around us keeps harping on about breast is best. We are mix feeding now and we've had lots of disapproving remarks from the midwives. But it's what best for us because with DD she outright refused the bottle after exclusively breastfeeding and the transition was so hard for her and for us. And it would have helped if DH could take some of the night feeds. I remember being so short on sleep and snapping at him all the time,I'm surprised we survived the first year and are still married!
My hormones are driving me mad. In one day I can feel on top of the world bursting with love for this little bub and then the next minute I'm all weepy thinking this is too hard and I'm exhausted and why did I think having two is a good idea. DD is acting up at the moment, she's perfectly fine during the day but at night she's waking if she hears her brother and getting into a strop as baby has us sleeping with him yet she has to sleep on her own. We've drowned her room in white noise now and she doesn't hear all DS cries. we are hoping when pre school starts again next week that she'll be more exhausted and sleep deeper
Hope all the new mamas are hanging in in there and good luck to all still waiting.

Oh admarks don't beat yourself up about it. We all have to do what's best for us, whatever that may be. You sound like you have your head screwed on and you know that you've made the right choice, it doesn't stop those niggly-back-of-the-mind negative thoughts though. Try to stay positive about it all, your baby is loved and fed - that's the most important thing.

Good luck emz - lets hope this is it and we have another arrival soon!

lucy the hormones are so hard to deal with...I really can't imagine what it must be like with another child, I'm finding it so hard with just one. I've started to dread DH going back to work and he's not going back until mid january- I need to get a grip and trust in myself. I'm hoping the hormones calm down soon and I start to feel more confident.

Sorry for bringing this thread down a little but anyone else feeling a little resentment towards DH? He's fantastic, and has my best interest at heart- reminding me to sleep and doing 90% of the nappy changes and washing etc but after 4 days at home his game has slipped a little and I find myself jealous of his role in this whole process. What I'm mostly jealous of is that he sleeps between 1am and 11am. He tells me to wake him up anytime if I need him, and when I did this morning, he was fine a little sleepy but not grumpy at all but I just feel like he's getting an easy ride and as DS has mucus and his breathing is disturbed (which is scary) and he cluster feeds at night I feel really lonely and resent DH for it. I haven't spoken to him about it as I don't really know what I'd want him to do differently. He looks after DS during the afternoon and evening, trying to keep DS happy rather than throw him on my boob immediately so I can catch up on sleep so if DH didn't sleep at night, he'd be too tired to do this for me, so I don't expect him to stay up whilst I cluster feed. I think its just the hormones and I need to let it out somewhere. We have a really good relationship so I hate feeling like this about him, I'm pretty sure I'm being unreasonable, just can't shrug it off...and definitely don't want it to continue...

Bella, day 4 is right when I feel overwhelmed and fed up, so I think you are very normal. Your dh sounds supportive, so hopefully your hormones will settle soon and your relationship will definitely adjust. Time, I think. :)

Baby Serial arrived tonight at 9.07pm at home! It was a quick, hard labour, very intense, but he's out! Yay! 9lbs 11oz, no stitches required. He does have a posterior tongue tie, so I'll be keeping a sharp eye on that, but so far feeding is going well. He was quite sleepy when first born, but has since perked up a bit and latches on well. Those after pains, though! Yeesh.

Wow serial congratulations! Lovely news! Glad to hear everything is going well. Was it a planned home birth?

Yes, I was booked with the one to one midwives, an NHS unit based in the North West. Obviously I was getting to the stage where other interventions would be needed, at 9 days post dates. The Midwife can't do any induction aside from a sweep. So I was meant to have the ob take over tomorrow at my local hospital.

But everything worked out fine! It was so nice to not have to drive to the hospital during such an intense labour. shudders at the thought

Wow, congrats, and just in time too! He's a lovely size, enjoy your newborn cuddles

I'm very pleased to announce the birth of our little girl. Born at 7.55pm yesterday & weighing 7lbs 5. I arrived at hospital & gave birth 40minutes later. I did panic the poor student doing my obs when I announced that I needed to push moments after arriving. My contractions were all over the place, my waters burst everywhere at 5pm & they then suddenly went to 4 minutes apart. BF seems to be going well to start with. We had been told we could go at 11pm but due to a sudden influx of women in labour we are still waiting (I also can't produce enough wee!!!) just want to get home now. Hospitals are so hot!!!

Wow. Two thread babies within an hour! Congrats to serial and emz - hurrah that your babies are finally here!

bella I have had many uncharitable moments of fleeting rage at DH especially when he snores next to me whilst I'm doing the 3am feed and then complains about being tired the next morning - I think it's normal. DH and I are studiously just ignoring whenever one of us snaps at the other - we're declaring a general amnesty on being continuously nice to each other . When they're cluster feeding it's so overwhelming isn't it? Baby stealth has only had a couple of days of that but it just feels never ending and also takes it out of you physically.

admarks my goodness I wouldn't give it another thought. We live in a developed country with clean water - formula is absolutely fine and will keep your baby well nourished. The fetishisation of breast feeding in the U.K. is totally ott and you should pay it no heed - it's a fad. When I was a baby we were all formula fed as that was the fashion and I like to think that me and my friends turned out ok .

Congratulations, Emz! Sounds like you had a fast labour too!

Congratulations emz and serial!! It's amazing that both of you had such quick natural birth with minimal pain relief!

Still pinching myself that she's here! We got home at 7.30am this morning. Just as DS woke. Feeling a little overtired but hey ho. I also keep wanting to punch myself. It's all so surreal. DS loves his sister but his loving strokes & cuddles can be a little too enthusiastic, it's hard not to put him off. She fed about 6 times in the first few hours & now she's just wanted to sleep since 5am. Is this normal? We didn't have any of this with DS as he was in intensive care for the first day & on a drip. This is all new territory. Feel rather sore from the stitches, she came out with her hand on her cheek. Wonderful! I didn't have time for any pain relief at all & just used my deep breathing to get through. I do remember breathing so loudly I couldn't hear the midwife talking to me.

Sorry, I meant to say, Congratulations Serial. Can't believe we had our babies within a few hours of each other. Hope you are ok.

My method is just to offer the boob at every opportunity. :) He slept from about 2am-6am and has been feeding off and on all day. I haven't really kept track except to try to switch sides. He has been seeing and pooping so I'm sure he's getting something.

I was very loud and incredibly upset when told I couldn't have the g&a. Too close to the finish, she said. Bah humbug! It was a crazy fast labour though and she was only here for about half an hour before he was born. Felt longer at the time...

Just popping on very quickly to say that Baby Happy (Better know as Louie William) was born on Weds @ 12:47, weighing 8lb 3oz via section after failed induction. We are still in hospital as there were concerns over his rapid breathing which has now stabilised but we are now awaiting the results of a jaundice test before being allowed home (day 7 of me being in hospital!)
Haven't had chance to read back over all the thread but I did spot that Baby Col shares a birthday with my LO - Congratulations Col. Will hopefully have chance to catch up soon, hope everyone is doing well.

Hooraaay! Congratulations emz, serial, happy and col - is the waiting lounge now empty?! That was fast!

Wonderful to hear of the new arrivals. The wait is finally over! Look after yourselves with the recovery process. No pain relief emz and serial - wowzers you must be tough cookies! Looking forward to hearing more about your birth col.

I guess we'll fill this thread before heading over to the postnatal section of the site...!

stealth thanks for sharing about you and DH. I told mine how I was feeling and I instantly felt much better! He was fine with it too, we've agreed to not take anything personally until we start getting more sleep and have passed the first month or two. BabyBella has been feeding constantly this afternoon so we're either in for a horrendous night of more feeding or we could be treated to an hour or two sleep - either way I'm glad I've got the negativity off my chest before it manifests and becomes a serious issue.

emz DS slept quite a bit over the first 2 days - enjoy it while you can!

Congratulations to anyone I've missed in the waiting lounge. :)

Baby Serial has been quite phlegmy overnight so it was a long one of coughs and splutters before he finally managed to settle down to sleep.

I'm STARVING but am too tired to move!

Wow - what a flurry of babies! I think we have all arrived! Congratulations Emz, Serial and Happy! Hope you're all doing ok and that you get discharged soon Happy - 7 days in hospital is a long time!!

Thanks for your support with the formula feeding. I'm so much happier for making the switch and starting to bond with H. Sleep has also improved for us both - long may that continue!

Full respect to you all BFing! I'm in absolute awe of you coping with life, no sleep and cluster feeding!!!

Waiting Lounge:
Empty!!

Arrivals:
Baby Boy Stealth: 18/12/2016, 8lb (EDD: 31/12/2016)
Baby Girl Admarks: 22/12/2016, 7lb 2oz (EDD: 30/12/2016)
Baby Boy Bella: 27/12/2016, 7lb 15oz (EDD: 30/12/2016)
Baby Boy Firsttimer: 28/12/2016 (EDD: 29/12/2016)
Baby Boy LucySB: 31/12/2016 (EDD: 05/01/2017)
Baby Boy Col: 04/01/2017 (EDD: 30/12/2016)
Baby Boy Happy: 04/01/2017 8lb 3oz (EDD: 28/12/2016)
Baby Boy Serial: 05/01/2017, 9lb 11oz (EDD: 27/12/2016)
Baby Girl Emz: 05/01/2017, 7lb 5oz (EDD: 02/01/2017)


Team Blue: 7, Team Pink: 2

Hopefully the stats are correct??