October 2017 #5!

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Hope no one minds me setting up a new thread- we were getting full up on the other one!

Here is the link to the deets sheet, feel free to add or edit your details as you please:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pa8LZMKMLvREYH4kFiNqn1dD7aTb053cT_KHvghwvSM/edit?usp=sharing

Bring on the third trimester aches, midwife appointments and birth plan chat!

I actually felt a bit emotional reading that your midwife has said sleepyheads are a SIDS risk @GimbleInTheWabe. I've honestly been feeling that it's only me that thinks that, my DH (who has genuinely come to support my strong decision that I don't want one) had the attitude of "John Lewis and Mothercare wouldn't stock them if they weren't tested as safe". I remain unconvinced personally! I know the risk is still very small but given that both my grandmothers lost children within a few days of birth I have more anxiety about their wellbeing once they're out of the womb!! Equally I don't want to be an overly cautious parent, it's such a head job all of this isn't it!!

I'm a closet goth @pomparr and my EDD is 18 October.

Asked my consultant if I could have my CS on the 31st if I went over.

He said no 😂

My EDD is 24/10, so I'm hoping if I go over I give birth on 31/10, or if I'm early it's Friday 13th!

Aw my friend had a Halloween baby a couple of years ago, fab day for a birthday! And she sent out some very cute thank you cards with a photo of the baby sat in a pumpkin patch on her first birthday

Hi all, Hope it's ok to join. I was part of one of the earlier October threads but lost touch due to the manicness of this pregnancy! I'm due 17th Oct and feeling ever more excited and ever more nervous.

@GimbleInTheWabe I'm gutted about the Sleepyhead advice re SIDS. I've found knowing what bedding/crib set up to go for such a minefield and thought that was a perfect solution to just pop into the cot . Back to the drawing board!

Does anyone know whether your community midwife team are the team you see at the hospital midwife-led unit? That might be a really silly question but I've seen a different person each time so was curious as to whether one of these faces might be around when giving birth!

At the risk of sounding like a dumb arse @feelingblue123 , what are the milk bags for??

@kitkatsplat milk bags are for storing expressed breast milk in the freezer, takes up less space than those plastic tubs.

Ooooo, I hadn't heard of milk bags either but they potentially sound useful if wanting to hand express before due date??

I got a free sample of milk bags in one of my Emma's diary packs. They are very useful. My top tip is to defrost them standing upright in a glass, so you don't lose any precious milk if they have a little leak.

Is anyone else feeling like their bump is growing quicker than their body can cope with? I'm so uncomfy today, feeling all stretched and taut on the outside and squished up inside!

@PingusMistress - yep. I was genuinely shocked when I had a proper look at myself after getting out of the shower today. I thought I hadn't grown that much over the last month but clearly I have been totally deluding myself! I did get a slight twinge of panic over how the baby apparently grows 3 times heavier during the 3rd trimester. I'm only one week in! HOW BIG AM IT GOING TO GET?? I don't mean so much from a "Whaaa I'm getting fat because I seriously can't be bothered with body image guilt while pregnant", just more the logistics of it all! Walking around, doing stuff, and then shoving this baby out from where the sun don't shine

@kitkatsplat

The bags are here:

Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags (Pack of 25) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000BYAG5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_mxJGzbF0CY96P?tag=mumsnetforum-21

The breastfeeding course I went on said they were useful. I wanted DP to be able to feed (and bond) if I pop out/shower etc, so I figured if I pump and fill a few fridge bags and a few freezer bags, he'd always have some milk on hand. You need to label them with the time you expressed it and try to match that to the feed time if you can (day milk makes them awake and night milk makes them sleepy....boobs are magical).

As a result of the course I also bought a few bottles (not sure about sterilizing, they suggested just boiling them on the course if we're not doing it all the time....might get a sterilizer if DP does more than a few feeds, they are dead cheap 2nd hand on facebook). I also got some disposable and some reusable/washable breast pads and a little net to wash them in (super cheap on ebay) and some Lansinoh HPA Lanolin cream which they advised to start using a week or so before birth to avoid sore nipples.

I've also seen a breast therapy pads which I'd like to get - you can reuse them so better than cabbage leaves for relieving the boobs. Abd can make them warm or cool.

Link: Lansinoh Therapearl 3-in-1 Hot/Cold Breast Therapy www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JRLTP9E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ICJGzbWJJZV54?tag=mumsnetforum-21

So that's my bf'ing kit. Along with the pump from my sister and a decent water bottle and lots of snacks.

I'll be really happy if I can nail breastfeeding - it will suit our lifestyle well.

@mummabubs im on your team here too!! I guess doctors used to sing the praises of cigarettes and they were well wrong! In fact when I went to the baby store today even the owner agreed with me about the sleepyheads being a risk and she sold them!

@Daydreamer88 your MW set up sounds similar to mine. I think you are under the care of a midwife team and you can be seen by any one of the midwives who work there. And yeah I believe that it will be one of them who are present for the actual birth. But I'm still a bit about it all too tbh. I have my 31w mw appointment tomorrow so I'll ask her.

It might depend on your area @daydreamer88. Where we are our care is very divided into different locations although it all comes under the Kings college hospital trust and there is some overlap between teams to cover each other but generally the following should happen:

We see hospital team midwives in my local hospital's antenatal clinic until we are 20 weeks. They mostly work in the antenatal clinic all the time. After that we see a specific community one in our GP's surgery. She will also visit us at home after the birth at 5 and 10 days after. The local hospital doesn't have labour and post natal facilities so we go to a different hospital about twenty minutes' drive away that does and they have their own teams of midwives in the labour, postnatal ward and antenatal clinics although I have seen one of them in both hospital's antenatal clinics. It seems quite complicated and we go in to Kings itself for our scans too!

@feelingblue - Wow, thanks for sharing all that great info! I want to bf but like you also want my partner to help. Those are some great tips. Especially this:

day milk makes them awake and night milk makes them sleepy....boobs are magical

Wow!! Amazing. Sounds like it was a really good course.

Loving the info on breastfeeding. I really want to do it and have bought an electric pump and a couple of bottles too.

Had a dream last night that I hadn't fed the baby for 3 days and hadn't even realised until DP made a comment on very few wet nappies lol. I'm sure my baby would never let that happen ☺️.

Also, has anyone else been considering buying some post birth clothing for the in between period after birth, but before fitting back into normal clothes? I'm looking at getting some mid size jeans and a few nursing tops to get me started, then see what else I neee once baby arrives.

@KitKatSplat glad it is not just me with rapid expansion! One day I'm going to sit on the floor and be unable to get up again, I'll be stuck there like a turtle on its back flailing my limbs around . I have a growth scan tomorrow (ironically because DD was small) so it will be interesting to see what they say.

Great tip about the day and night milk @feelingblue123. You sound really organised, I'm impressed! I second the benefits of lansinoh cream, I would never have coped without it.

The course was brill. 5 ladies on it, all between 15wks and 34wks. It was £20 and the facilitator was amazing. She gave us a proper weighted baby doll to practice the positioning and nipple insertion/latch with (We kept our kit on ). Lasted about 4 hours with time for snacks and drinks and natter. I came away feeling empowered and prepared...reccomend to anyone interested in bf'ing.

I'd really second the Therapearl pads, feelingblue. I can hardly say what a help they were. I'd put a hot one on when he started fidgeting for a feed, change his nappy and then feed him, then get a cold one to soothe. He seemed less chompy (he had a few feeding problems and could really hurt me otherwise) if I pre heated them and having something cool after was bliss. I also used them hot when I had blocked ducts and almost always had them clear within a day or two. The only not so good thing was the fabric covers. They may have changed now but they were some awful kind of fuzzy brushed nylon like nineteen seventies bedsheets and caught on any chapped skin I had. I replaced them with brushed cotton ones I made instead and that was much more soothing plus it could be hot washed if it got milk on it so it wouldn't smell.

Oh brill. They are definitely going on my wish list now. I've got a sewing machine so can make some covers too. Great to know whats useful .

Hi to all the new people! And so much good info here - must take notes.

I'm planning on BF, but still so anxious about it - on the one hand, anxious that it won't work, and on the other, that it will work but baby will then refuse expressed milk from a bottle and I'll have to EBF, which I think I'd find difficult to cope with. I have no issue whatsoever with people breastfeeding in public, but I think the prospect of having to do so myself would be enough to keep me at home, by myself. For at least six months. Yeah, I know I've got some issues there.

But the doula we found is one who really knows her stuff when it comes to breastfeeding, so hopefully she can help - we're also doing an antenatal session to help me learn to express, and hopefully collect some colostrum to have some "in the bank". I'm waiting to get a pump until I'm sure I can do it, though. Does anyone know if there's any official guidance about second-hand pumps, btw? They're a lot more affordable, so I'm hoping they're fine if they've been sterilised.

(I did get the steriliser, though - £1 for a Phillips Avent thingy that needed to be decalcified! )

Oh, and I'm so with you ladies on the rapid expansion issues. And I swear, I JUST got new bras. Stupid ribs.

Midwife confusion compounds.... had my 31w appt this morning and the midwife said that when I go in to labour I call the labour ward and it will be one of the midwives on the ward that cares for me during my labour, so not anyone that I've seen at Midwives House. This is at Kings College. So who the heck knows who it will be on the day ha.

She also advised me not to hand express from 37w as that advice is only for women who are diabetic so who the f knows! I knew I'd come across conflicting info but not so much from midwives at the same hospital.

@GimbleInTheWabe - that is confusing! When I asked one of the five midwives I've seen (also at King's) about BF, she brought it up that I should hand express and collect colostrum in the weeks before my EDD - and I don't have diabetes. Wouldn't it be lovely if they could all just agree and tell you the same thing?

@threefour if the pump you are considering is a closed system one (you can Google this info) then it can be considered pretty safe as long and you just replace the cups, collecting containers, connectors and tubing or any parts that do come into contact with milk. Pumps with an open system would be less safe as they can take milk into the pump motor which can't be sterilised.

I have an Avent Electric I used with my son and read up on it here and a few other places before deciding whether to reuse it: www.ebay.co.uk/gds/How-to-Buy-Used-Philips-Avent-Breastfeeding-Supplies-/10000000177742010/g.html.

my hospital have a harvest drop in session from 35 weeks where they help u to hand express and store and no mention of diabetes. so many conflicting and confusing ideas

Typical @ThreeFour! I suppose we need to get used to all this conflicting advice and just go with what we think is best hey. I think I still am going to hand express, it won't do any harm and I'll do anything to help my labour start (really really don't want to be induced!!). Goes off to google if I can buy tiny milk syringes online...

Anyone have any good info about storing the pre-birth colostrum?