Due August '07 - Part 4

[tokentotty]

Welcome all !!!!

Ohh...that's disappointing for us H!! Was looking forward to having you check in with us !

On breastfeeding... I'd been wondering the same thing as you Mrs B. I'd really like to BF but I don't know if I'll be able to. I wasn't sure whether I should buy some bottles and formula as back up - just in case... Do you think you need to bring bottles and formula to the hospital or do they just provide them if BF doesn't work?? (Sorry that might sound like a stupid question...)

H - I'm glad we won't be able to see you on holiday (IYKWIM!!!) I'd be very very jealous indeed!! A few beers won't hurt and I'm sure they'll make up some lovely non-alcoholic cocktails for you to drink on the beach watching the sun go down...

Banana - I'm sorry your maternity care has been a bit crappy... I've not had a GTT test but I did have to give about 5-6 phials of blood at my first a/n at 16 weeks, as they realised I'd need my downs and Edwards tests done at the same time as all the normal bloods... Would normally have fainted but I didn't look and managed to stay upright

The Natal Hypnotherapy CD's were delivered to work today!! Looking forward to opening them when I get home... bit like Christmas

Hey Muffins, not sure re bottles in hospital - I think if you're planning to ff from the start some places ask you to bring your own, but if you hope to bf and it won't work I should think there'd be a backup available. Besides, depending how long you stay your milk may not even have come in before you go home.

This is the kind of question to ask on the tour...

Ahhh, the tour. Went on one at my hospital. So enlightening. Especially when the woman showing everyone round (a good 25+ people) said "if you have any questions, don't bother asking me as I'm just an assistant. Maybe ask your midwife when you see her"

I don't think you'd be allowed to take bottles into hospital. When I needed to have a bottle in hospital they had a whole load of little ready made ones that you just went and helped yourself to.

I'm really panicking about the feeding thing - had such awful experiences the other times. DH keeps saying to not put myself through it again and ff from the start. Just have this little nagging guilt thing that I should try (plus small amount of pressure from GP and MW and HV!). I know it's going to be even harder with another 2 kids to look after - this really is my biggest worry! (have put the birth thing on the back burner!)

Thanks Mrs B. My hospital doesn't do tours anymore - you just get to watch a video - sounds like a good question to add to my list for mw at next appointment though!

BTW - what type of baby sling did you purchase for the LO? (you know, the one your DH had the spuds in??!!) Was thinking it would be easier negotiating pedestrian traffic in the city centre with a sling rather than travel system

Oops x-posts! I'll check with my midwife about bringing bottles to the hospital - at least I'll have my (ever expanding) boobs with me, so I'll just have to hope they perform

TT - Spoke to a midwife friend of mine last night, she says it sounds very much like BH and is nothing to worry about. And even though it is not that common at our stage, it is heard of. She also mentioned that these can also be caused by having an overactive lifestyle. I dont know if that applies to you?

Am so jealous of you all jetting off to exotic places. I cannot get time off work for a holiday until end of June as we are 'too busy', by that time its too late to fly. So we have booked a cottage in Lake District for a week.

Have decided to try Breast Feeding but will have a stash of formula incase. I would assume the hospital would have bottles for cases when baby wont feed from mother?

Banana - if you are really unhappy with your maternity care try changing midwives, I did and my new one is wonderful. She makes ante natal appointments a positive experience.

Muffins, DH has one of these in manly khaki (though we bought from a UK supplier ) as they're easy to get the hang of.
I'm going for a wrap, like these as although it's harder to use I'd prefer to have the option of having it on both shoulders.

Hi everyone, just caught up on all the posts, phew!

bananabump - sorry you're struggling with mw appointments too. When I had my booking in appointment (at 17 weeks) she forgot to tell me I should book future appointments through my GP surgery. I'll not go through the whole saga again but basically I'll be seeing a mw at the hospital for my 28-week check-up and hopefully everything will be fine from then on!

Thanks for the Nappy Lady link, and all the recommendations. I can't decide what to do. We have a small flat so I don't know if there's room for soaking/washing/drying lots of nappies, but I have a big problem with disposables from an environmental point of view. Hmmm.

Really like the look of that sling Mrs B.

Katybird, I think even with limited space it's still worth looking at - it seems most people these days 'dry pail' rather than soaking and you can do that in (eg) a waterproof bag hanging on a hook rather than a bucket.
Some of the snazzy new microfibre nappies are dry almost as soon as they come out of the machine...

Thanks Mrs B, I'm going to spend the afternoon reading that site! I'm sure it's easier than it seems once you get into a routine.

Afternoon mums-to-be

Just a quick posting after reading the comments about breastfeeding. I've friends who gave up after a few weeks because they didn't have the right support and found it painful, so I reckon I'll want some advice to hand in that first week or so. The NCT say "Nine out of ten women who stop breastfeeding in the first six weeks are stopping before they want to. The most common reasons given for stopping, reveal that these women often didn't receive the accurate information and support that they needed."

There are lots of orgs which are meant to be able to help - the NCT for one, has a breastfeeding support line. Number and the numbers of other orgs which could help in your area listed here

Guess we could start a post-baby breastfeeding club for the first few weeks here to swap stories about the agony and the ecstacy !

I'm a bit confused about the whole business of expressing milk - should you wait until the baby is used to you first, and is a manual or electric pump one better? Lordy - so many decisions

Babylovesmuffins - let me know what you think of the hynotherapy cd. I haven't got round to buying it yet - will await your opinion!

Have bookmarked Nappy Lady site - ta, MrsB. I still can't get my head around all the bits you need!

They really are easy to use. I've done is both ways and find reusable not much harder at all.

The best thing to do is ring your local council recycling officer to see if they have anyone who can come and talk to you about reusable nappies. You might find that they give you money off too - you could buy just a few to start with and mix and match to find what suits you best. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I just filled out the Nappy Lady form (my, she's going to be busy after today ;) ) and was sent a useful link to what the jargon re reuable nappies mean.

Ah, so there are just three 'bits' to reusables - a waterproof wrap, the nappy itself for absorbancy and the liner which collects the poo and wee.

I geddit now...

Girls still considering prams - a mumsnetter is selling her Quinny Buzz 2006 with carrycot over on the For Sale section. It is a bit steep for second hand at £350 but sounds barely used and is half retail price.
Just looking out for you all!!

Did anyone see that link to Tchibo earlier? There was a really nice looking pram that fulfilled all my requirements (reversible pushchair seat, carrycot etc) for £180.

Been really lucky today. Went for my GTT test and feel a bit like a pincushion becuase the lady couldn't get any blood out the second time and then was fearful of my pumped up vein on the other side, really bruised on both elbows now - lovely. BUT the best bit was that I got a private tour of the labour ward and post-natal ward because the midwife is a parent of a child I teach. It was lovely, she showed be all the rooms, especially the pool room which had certainly made my mind up for the Water birth - it was really lovely, large, en-suite, comfy seating for DP. She was so nice and said that she would make sure I got a side room in the post natal ward too. Felt very special. Nice to be treated a bit special.

Annie, they say that you shouldn't express and bottle feed for the first few weeks until bf is established. They don't really have to put much effort into bottle feeding so if you ff too early they may start to refuse bf as it's more difficult.

I'm no expert so maybe worth putting a post on the main feeding forum.

Just wanted to say how I will be when you're all holding your new borns and my baby will be a year old.

Afternoon all.

thanks for the link to that sling Mrs B - don't you just hate how skinny the "just given birth" models are?? hee hee!!

Ludiloops - a cottage in the Lake District sounds like a grand plan! I'm desperate for a holiday at the moment but I've saved up all my annual leave until the end of July, when I'll be 35 weeks. I'm hoping DH will take a week off work then too, so we can go somewhere without having to fly!

Annie - I will let you know how the natal hypnotherapy CD's go... I have considered playing them in the car on the way home but they might induce sleep!! Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

Kiteflying - thanks for the lead on the Quinny Buzz. We are definitely going for a Quinny Buzz and I think the cheapest deal we've found so far is at Babies R Us (I think it was just over £500 for carrycot, pushchair and car seat). Will have a look at the second-hand sale!

The models on maternity wear sites always look skinny too, with a tiny bump! Makes it so hard to picture what I'll look like in a dress come summer when I'm the size of a blimp.

What was the Tchibo link TT?

funbun - of your hospital trip, sounds lovely. Will have to befriend someone in our labour ward!

I have lost faith that any of those models are actually pregnant. How do the Isabella Oliver models sashay around in those stilettoes if they are actually pregnant. Cheats.

Band of Mothers.... if you start trying now, you can be making us all jealous next year!

apparently the Tchibo pram isn't as good as it looks , which is lucky as they've sold out already!

I'll still be in there next week to grab one of those nursing nighties though - it's the first one I've seen that doesn't make me want to run screaming due to lack of style and/or extortionate price.