May 2017 #6........ 'Half way there and trips to Mothercare'

[Adventuregame]

And the chat/moans/advice/excitement continues.............any newbies welcome !

Hi everyone- happy new year! Haven't posted in ages as I was so busy over Christmas and it's actually taken me from Friday night to catch up with the thread- it's a busy one! I think I have managed to update my details on the spreadsheet too.

Congratulations on all the lovely scan news and hello to all the newbies! I'm 25 weeks this week and had to call the GP to ask them to sort out my MatB1 as my next midwife appointment isn't for another two weeks. So I now have that to hand in at work I also spent Friday writing the job ad to recruit my mat cover, which we need to sort asap. I have an appointment with the midwife at my GP surgery on the 24th, then one at the hospital on the 6th Feb. I'm not sure what that one is for, but I suppose it might be with the consultant as I'm consultant-led (having third CS).

Re a couple of recent discussions, I'm another major fan of Lansinoh- it's a miracle cream! We never had a nursing chair (I fed lying down a lot after a while at night) but we have one of those IKEA chairs which we have had for years and it was very useful and a lot less to buy than a specific nursing chair.

Congratulations Barnes!

Fox how is it going? I'm contemplating finding something, but they are expensive, and I'm worried that I'll just find it all a bit silly!

Congrats Barnes glad everything went ok.

For those that have breastfed before or are more clued up than me what do I need to buy beforehand. I assume obviously I still need bottles etc if I am going to express and a steriliser? Anything else?

lucie opinions vary! Bras and pads as a bare minimum.

I like to have a manual pump and steriliser just in case which usually comes with a starter bottle. But some will say that it's not necessary. You can hand express into a sterilise jug, cup and spoon feed or in the hospital use a syringe or their pump if you have a premature baby.

Lansinoh cream is brilliant.

Breast shells are also good if you get any cracks and some like nipple shields too but again arguments rage about whether they are necessary or not. If you live in a town and have a big Boots or Mothercare nearby you can always send your OH out to get bits as you need them rather than get everything at once. Breastfeeding might go fine and you never needed all the stuff!

Actually the best thing might be a book, like the LLL one or just reading lots on Kellymom.

Good question Lucieloos! I wonder too! My sister had given me a breastpump many years ago (9!) as I thought babies would have been on the agenda sooner, but as that didn't happen, I've given it away to a charity.
Not sure if I would even need one?

Fox how is it? I'm not overly worried about the birth but I am interested in the concept, I'm v into yoga and just use the patience and breathing I have learned through that to get through the pain. Coped really well with number 1 no pain relief and a very swift water birth I'm just praying for a repeat!
My big worry is breastfeeding, was a complete disaster 1st time but don't know what to do differently this time. Thinking about either doing the NCT breastfeeding course or seeing a lactation consultant but don't want to waste money so maybe I'm better off seeing how we get on and seeking help if there is a problem. Anyone 2nd time around and bfed successfully 1st time got any tips for me?

Second what tea says. You won't need a pump immediately so probably you can get away without buying one now. The LLL book has a cringy name- the womanly art of breastfeeding- but is actually a good guide to what to expect. I got mastisis three weeks in and bought an electric pump then.

Peas I found the prebirth nct classes on bfeeding really useless. What was more useful were the drop in sessions after the birth at children's centres etc. So worth finding out the dates of these before the birth.

Given the overwhelming recommendations I've ordered some Lansinoh cream, got to love Amazon prime

Also received the Hurrah For Gin book, trying very hard to do work and not read it.

It sounds bizarre but if you can watch some videos about getting the latch right when breastfeeding then that prevents virtually any problem you can get. Or watch someone you know breastfeeding!

It's good MrsJ. I have quite a cynical, logical way of thinking but it makes sense to me. The 'hypno' part makes you think of stage hypnotherapy and people clucking like chickens etc but it's nothing like that. It's just about learning to relax and let your instincts do their thing. I'm a bit crap at explaining. So far they haven't really told me anything I didn't know - this sort of thing is always popping up on my fb but it's nice to hear it from an actual midwife. DH likes it, I think it will help him feel like less of a spare part!

You could always just read the book, listen to the cds?

peas sounds like you were pretty much doing it already in your first labour!

jugo that's awful!! What a disappointment :( I'd definitely push for another scan. All ok with baby? Did she explain any of it to you? I hope you at least got to see your little one on the screen before you left.

Lovely news about your scan barnes :) So sweet about your mum!

lullaby hope you're scan goes well :)

fox oooh I want to do one of those! Do we start this early then? I haven't even looked to see what's about in my area yet but will get on it as I guess they get booked up.

Any luck of getting hold of midwife jw? I hope the pain eases soon so you can stop worrying.

Welcome buffy!! And thanks for the low down on classes newshoes :) reckon I'm going to do the same, NHS classes then enjoy going to classes once little one is here. I'm very lucky to have friends with babies/toddlers at the moment and years of nanny experience braving toddler groups, swimming classes etc. It'll be nice to go along as a mummy rather than a nanny!

Most people were about 30wks badger I just decided to do it now partly because I can't make the next one and partly because I wanted to do something to make me feel more positive about being pregnant!

Thanks Badger - pain is not constant, just when I walk, but I walk a lot so it's frustrating! Midwife thinks it's probably PGP and is doing a physio referral for me, but could take a few weeks to come through.

I think the baby has found my ribs and is kicking them!

Fox that sounds very good. I might investigate CDs first and keep an eye out for courses. I'm quite cynical and I've seen a few courses that sound a bit hippy for me.

MrsJ I think the book explains the theory behind it and the cds are like guided relaxations. Awesome for sending you to sleep if nothing else!

peas try not to worry too much about feeding, second time around it could be completely different. I failed spectacularly to feed DD1, she simply would not latch, nothing worked and I drove myself mad expressing for 5 months. Second time around after a sore could of weeks we were flying and I fed DD2 till she was 13 months. I bought a manual pump just in case but didn't need it. I gave her a bottle of formula at bedtime after about 6 weeks (I HATE expressing though) and it gave me a break and she never became a bottle refuser either.

So it can definitely be more positive second time around! I'm hoping to feed this one too, ebf at the start then introduce one bottle is my plan again.

*sore couple of weeks that should say!

Fox that would be worth it at the moment - my sleep is terrible! Is there any particular book you recommend?

I was given 'The hypnobirthing book' by Katherine Graves as part of my course, which I've only just started and it's the only book I've read on the subject so I can't really say!

My midwife told me that your milk comes in earlier the second time and 'your boobs remember'! No idea if she was just trying to put my mind at ease at what you do with the toddler if the baby wants to feed all the time at the start.

I have a swing pump,brand new as my friend bought it but never used it.
Only thing I have purchased so far is the nipple cream mentioned up thread (amazing! Been using it for weeks) and a box of breast pads so I am ready for when I start to leak. I am waiting to buy a breastfeeding pillow incase it doesn't work out.
We have a few bottles and will get a few cartons of ready made formula so I am prepared for the first few feeds if I give up on breastfeeding--we have a 24 hour ASDA closeby so I will send DH if need be.

Northern, your first sounds just like mine so give me some serious hope. I was also an expressing slave but got good results so happy to do that again a bit to give myself a break and I have all the stuff!
Will have bottle stuff at the ready also just incase- I didn't last time and it was stressful getting hold of the right stuff when he was only a week old and I was clueless!
My advice is read up on both ways of feeding beforehand and then your good to go whatever happens.

My gosh, is it just me or are there very few decent boys names out there which aren't over used? 😫

We are finding boys names harder than girls too.

Barnes, I find boys names so much easier than girls. Think I have named this little one if it's another boy but still mulling it over, if it's a girl I have no idea! What sort of thing do you like?

I think it's whatever your not having you struggle with! We were convinced we were having a boy and struggled to find names we loved but had a list of girls names.

Now we know we're having a girl, I seem to have changed my mind 🙈