May 2017 #13 the lucky thread

[Rustler74]

Just thought I'd get the next thread ready. Let them babies arrive!

I suppose that's sort of good @Barnes79 they will be able to reassure you hopefully that the growth is ok or if not make a plan to deliver you.

Heel prick and weight today for BabyTea. He fed constantly between 10pm and 2am. Eventually dropped off at 2.30am and then had a slightly longer sleep until 5. I fed him and then DH took him down and I stayed in bed for a bit longer which was nice. Thank goodness for Lansinoh!

I meant to ask, from the other side, were all of you who own Sleepyheads or cosleeper cots and equipment happy with the safety aspects? I'm fairly sure DS was just clustering overnight rather than uncomfortable and he did drop off eventually in his Moses basket and is fast asleep there now cheeky thing but in the depths of the night your mind goes all sorts of places wondering if he was uncomfortable or cold or just not happy. Ended up Googling everything and Lullaby Trust and UNICEF were very clear on 'how' newborns should be sleeping but in the real world people are using bed nests and safely cosleeping quite happily. DH and I have no risk factors for SIDS but still he is a bit more concerned than me about going off-guideline. I'm not on a budget so it concerned about prices of things though they are expensive can be resold.

stationary the cord ties are beautiful. Got my eye on the rainbow one :)

Wow yellow, you are getting to meet your baby this week!!

Hope your transfer goes smoothly mighty, you must be exhausted and frazzled

redblu sorry to hear you are in such pain! Who knew pregnancy could be like that?! Glad you've got work situation sorted.

peas hope your day gets better!!

Hi nurse15!! Glad you are home safe and sound :)

Hey barnes he's keeping you on your toes isn't he!! Here's hoping for a "good" scan.

Had slight tummy ache on and off yesterday then got woken at 3.30 with it kicking in more. Ofcourse my brain went to "hhhhmmmmm I wonder if this is the start of proceedings!?" I then remembered I'd had leftovers for lunch that I realised were off only after 4 mouthfuls so it was prob that! Then laid awake worrying coz I'd got up but she'd not woken up, then she woke up and had an hour long party followed by hiccups. Nutter!!

Woohoo nurse glad you got home. mighty that sounds like one awful nights sleep, well done to you and sister and hope you get home safe and sound. Was going to type something meant-to-be-amusing about VAT return but it's not funny is it, last thing you need to concentrate on right now hope you can get some help or an extension under circumstances. barnes poor you, no wonder you feel all over the place with DH etc, hope scan is positive for you. tea high five for the feeding you're doing great.

stationary thanks for the link to the umbilical tie they are gorgeous!

As of this morning 50% of my (admittedly small) antenatal class have converted their bumps into babies! The other mum to be and I are !

Last night DP and I went out for steak night at our local pub which is always fantastic. We had such a lovely time and I had the 6 cheese board for pud and ate all of them and were saying that in about 6/8 weeks time we'll be sobbing at the memory of nights like these. The manager and the chef were like 'ah it's fine, when he's still tiny come in early doors, have that secluded table over there, do what you need to do and best thing is you can BOTH drink the wine'. I love them.

Your pub sounds great dream!!

Glad you are home safe nurse!

Bit of a random question - my midwife asked if I tended to get kicks in a certain place and I said no. At the moment I'm getting kicks at bottom left and right, under my right rib and my bum hole all at the same time. Anyone else's LO do similar or does yours tend to kick one spot most of the time.

tea yes, happy with the cosleeping. Provided:

• baby is healthy (I'd probably be slightly more cautious cosleeping with a preemie or if there were any contra-indications, I had a massive post-dates baby so he was pretty robust!)
• no-one smokes in the house
• no-one takes drugs in the house
• bf is apparently a protective factor too.

I'd be less happy if I started doing it when baby was a few weeks old in case my sleeping patterns had turned deeper again, but would probably still give it a go.

I looked in rather great detail at the 'scary' studies first time around which showed co-sleeping was less safe but none of them bothered to split out other confounding factors. Such as 'accidental' cosleeping on a sofa, which is obviously much more dangerous as mother is exhausted (and in a deeper sleep) and the sofa isn't a safe sleeping environment for the baby, or cosleeping where baby was also face-down, etc etc.

barnes she was probably just curious whether baby was still floating around or had settled esp as she wasn't sure whether it was bum up or down! My kicks are pretty settled in the same place which is a bit annoying as baby is OP at the moment and I'd rather it wasn't. It will sometimes swing around to be OP the other way but still not where it SHOULD be.

Thanks @savagehk the other protective thing that is new to the guidelines is dummies which I'm not against but none of mine have been that keen on them. So don't know whether to experiment with that either.

I think that's a substitute for a breast, personally - I wonder if there was any benefit of a dummy if the mother was already practising safe cosleeping and fully breastfeeding, or if it reduced risk only if baby wasn't breastfed or there were smokers etc in the house?

Glad things have calmed down for you both mighty and nurse15.

Despite mat leave I am struggling to keep up 🙈 I hope the baby won't arrive early as I am fully immersed in batch cooking, cleaning and constant laundry. As soon as I've washed the carpet one of my cats decided to vomit on it 😫 Obviously I can't expect him to puke on a dirty carpet 🤔 Got fed up and went to the hairdresser to calm down a bit and pamper myself.

@teainbed thank you for sharing your experience on maternity pads, bf etc - it is priceless for us first-time mums. Please keep it going.

@Nurse15 and @mightymouse76 - glad to hear you are getting better. It is surprising to hear that the hospital does not cater diabetes diet 😱

@dreamofhungarianlanterns I feel the same - the perspective of a baby arriving soon seems a bit unreal. I can't believe it!

@Nurse15 glad you're home again, hope baby stays put for a little while longer.

@teainbed That's some marathon feeding session, well done!

I have a strange one today my ears are really blocked up, normally I'd reach for the sudafed, does anyone have any magic tips?

Random question but I'm in town (I live in a very small village so this many shops is a novelty I may not see for a while!) and can't remember what oils etc are meant to be good with healing and so on after birth. Any suggestions?

@Tickyboovicki I have heard that witch hazel is quite good and helps with healing.

@Tickyboovicki Lavender oil in the bath, works wonders apparently

Teainbed - what are the new guidelines on dummies? Just interested, as dd had used one when she was a baby. Will have to see if baby boy takes to using a dummy but haven't given it much thought.

Rise we've heard nothing about any home visits. I'm just going to wait and see what happens!

Went to the midwife this morning - a different one this time and I really liked her. She was reassuring on swimming, definitely no need to stop. Not sure where the physio got that from. She seemed happy with baby's position, and gave us a thumbs up for the birth plan. She also gave us some helpful info, like where we need to go in the hospital if we arrive late at night etc. She seemed more proactive than the one I saw the last few times.

jenny

eg here (ISIS again!)

Research has shown that sucking (e.g. breastfeeding, finger-sucking or dummy use) has a calming and soothing effect on babies, including a reduced response to pain. In addition, since the early 1990s studies have shown that dummy use is associated with a reduced risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), compared with babies who did not use a dummy.

Recent American SIDS risk studies have found that dummy use is associated with a lower risk of SIDS.?
One of the largest UK SIDS risk studies? along with many studies elsewhere in Europe, Australasia and the Americas, have found the same association.
However the most recent UK SIDS risk study? found that the importance of dummy-use in explaining SIDS risk had decreased, since the earlier large study.
Because of the strong protective effect found in some studies, some authorities now suggest that parents think about using a dummy when settling their baby to sleep. However, it is not known how dummies reduce SIDS risk. Some theories? include preventing babies from turning their face into bedding, altering the way babies’ hearts work, or stopping them from sleeping too deeply. These theories are also among those used to explain why breastfeeding reduces SIDS risk. It might also be that there is something else - that we don’t know yet - about people who are more likely to use dummies which puts their babies at lower risk. They may, for example, be more likely to check regularly on their babies while they sleep, or to keep their babies in the same room.?

Argh - sorry about the strange ?'s throughout that copy/paste!

Lullaby summary here www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/dummies-and-sids/

Oops - just realised the rest of the ISIS article is as interesting as the bit I posted! Here's the rest (from here - www.isisonline.org.uk/sleep_health/sleep_aids/dummies/ )

In some of the SIDS studies it was only babies who didn’t have a dummy – but normally used one – that were more vulnerable. Those babies who never had a dummy were not at higher risk, which suggests that if you start giving your baby a dummy for sleep then you must always give it.

Studies have shown that dummy use can have unwanted effects. Some have found that dummy use can lead to less breastfeeding and earlier weaning from the breast. An up-to-date review of research found dummies did not cause mothers to stop breastfeeding earlier (up to when their babies were 4 months old) when were very motivated, or keen, to breastfeed. However they were not able to say whether or not less motivated mothers might be disadvantaged by dummy use. Breastfeeding in itself reduces the risk of SIDS, along with other diseases, and helps with mother-baby bonding.

Links have also been found between dummy use and tummy and chest infections? and recurrent infections of the middle-ear.

For these reasons, along with the lack of information we have about how dummies work to reduce SIDS, and in which groups of babies they might have most effect, the UK Department of Health does not currently recommend dummy use as a way of reducing the risk of SIDS, however some cot death prevention organisations do.

I'd heard the dummy was to help regulate their breathing? Interesting reading thanks savage. At pregnancy club they did a talk on sids and still recommend dummy, same as ante natal classes and also tell us about lullaby trust etc.... it can get confusing?!

mrsjw that sounds like a good mw appointment :)

Just got an Asos package arrive with maternity dresses I panic bought to try on after realising I have a 40th to go to next wknd and loads of people I haven't seen for years will be there and I decided I wanted to look..... wait for it....... sexy
Yep. Did I forget I'm about to drop a sprog?!?!

@MrsJW15 midwife who does antenatal class says you can swim whole time and waters breaking I s unlikely to not go unnoticed in swimming pool or bath.