September 2019 babies - thread #4

[Stroan]

Starting a new thread before the old one gets filled up!

Wow!! @boodles101 did you think it might be twins?

florence I was really anxious about a scan as I just didn't want to get excited before finding out everything was ok. I said to my husband the other day that statistically speaking, there's so many women on this thread that someone will probably have twins. I kept thinking about twins but didn't really have any proof. I saw them as soon as the sonograoher put the thing on my belly.

Oh wow @boodles101 that's amazing! Congrats!!

Loving the placenta chat... what is all of this about a pill? I definitely would like to have a look... definitely will not be eating it!!

OH MY GOODNESS boodles two babies
Double congratulations!!

kyles you can pay to have your placenta “encapsulated” - is dried out and turned into pills that you can take.
There’s no scientific evidence of it being beneficial or not, only anecdotal evidence from people who’ve done it.
The only things that’s recently come to light and may have some scientific basis, is that consumption of the placenta (either eating it or taking it in pill form) could have a detrimental effect on breastfeeding due to the body recognising foetal dna and hormones from the placenta and dials down milk production because it thinks you’re still pregnant.
I posted a link upthread about the findings of an IBCLC. I’m expecting lots more people to come forward saying similar things in the near future!
After everything I’ve read, it’s not worth the potential risk for me. That risk outweighs and anecdotal benefits.

Boodles you're gona have your hands full!! Congrats :)

@boodles101 wow beautiful! Are they 1 split egg or 2 eggs? My DH is a 2 egg twin

Thanks eggy, I'll give that a miss then as it's quite important to me to give breastfeeding a really good go. The only problem is, I know maybe 15-20 friends who have given birth in the last 5 years or so, but not one of them has managed to breastfeed, despite the vast majority of them saying beforehand that it's something they wanted to do. Is it really that common for women not to have enough milk? I understand that it will be painful to begin with, and I don't think the support in the hospital close to here is great, but there are private breastfeeding specialists who can help local to me, so I'm thinking maybe I'll need to book that?

Aaaaaaaaa boodles I was just thinking we didn't have any twins on the thread so some were bound to pop up at the 12 week scans... double congrats!!!
kyles in cultures where breastfeeding is the norm it's very very unusual to not be able to. We have a culture which makes it harder, and if your hospital is not providing the right support, that's probably enough to explain your friends struggling. We are very good at pressuring women to feed without supporting them properly, it's a receipt for a lot of stress, pain and agony. There are indeed other organisations you can turn to- look for your local branch of la leche league, and see if there are any IBCLC certified lactation consultants near you.
For what it's worth, I have found breastfeeding easy and painless. Lots of factors in my favour- but assuming that it's normal, and it will work just fine, is a good start. Hard to do in the mess of hormones of the first few days! Even though it was easy for me, I was nearly scuppered by a godawful agency midwife on the night shift who, 24 hours postpartum, told me I didn't have milk and should use formula. I am stubborn as heck, and had really done my reading so knew she was talking utter nonsense, but i still found that really hard. If I'd been more wobbly, or less prepared and supported, that could have sunk me. It sometimes doesn't take much, at a really vulnerable time. So yes, I'm your shoes, with your hospital's record, I'd get other help lined up...

Oops, sorry for that rant...

kyles exactly what Dusty said is spot on.
Majority of women do have more than enough milk. We just live in a society where biologically normal, newborn behaviour is seen as some sort of problem that needs fixing.
Your baby feeding is how your boobs send the signal to your brain and back again that they need to produce more milk for his/her next feed. So a newborn feeding very very often is completely normal behaviour - my DS fed every 45 mins to an hour for the first few weeks! We unfortunately live in a society where formula feeding is so common, it’s seen as normal for all babies regardless of how they are fed to go 3-4 hours between feeds - and that simply isn’t the case for most breastfed babies! A lot of mums think that because their baby wants to be at the breast every hour or so, that they aren’t making enough milk When actually, that is totally normal behaviour for a baby!

@boodles101 congratulations! How exciting!!

Thanks so much both. That is really reassuring. I'll have a look at whether we have a branch of la leche league (sorry if that's atrociously spelt!) although my nearest NCT is 40+ miles away so I don't hold out much hope!
I love a project though, so researching breastfeeding will be top of my priority list, I agree that if you're not well informed and don't have support easily available then it's easy to be sidetracked by the easier option... especially if suggested by a professional...
thanks again, I'll probably be asking more questions as I start doing some reading if that's ok?

@boodles101 congratulations! I was also thinking that we didn't have any twins yet and now we do! Do you have any DC already?

Twins fascinate me, I even used to have imaginary twin friends and went through a phase of telling people I had a long lost twin!

kyles there’s also some brilliant Facebook groups with some really knowledgable ladies on there!
Some of them seem quite militant at first, but they are fab for practical advice when you need it

Just catching up - glad all is well @Stroan and double congratulations @boodles101! Was just thinking there was bound to be some twins appearing sooner rather than later. Are they identical or fraternal?

@kyles101 I could rant about this all day, but breastfeeding support in some areas of the UK is terrible (don't want to say all areas but it's definitely possible). It's very rare for someone to be incapable of breastfeeding, but it can be very hard in lots of ways.

My DD never latched on, ever. In hospital, I got no support to help her learn and even had one nurse tell me that the pediatrician would take her away from me and formula feed her if I didn't do it myself. Then when we got home, the midwife forgot to refer us to the support team. By the time I realised and pushed for help, they told me that they had younger babies who were their priority. I fed using nipple shields, xpressed milk and formula top ups for 7 months. It was exhausting and stressful. My HV didn't care after 6 weeks - they have BF targets for the first 6 weeks and then they pushed me to move to formula only.

La leche are great, plus most areas will have breastfeeding support groups. I used a private consultant but it was really too late for us. I'm seriously considering having a private one booked for as soon as we get home in case of similar problems with this baby.

Thanks everyone. Yes I already have a 2 year old son so I'll now have 3 under 3 they couldn't tell if they are identical or non identical, but I have 2 placentas. Will have to wait and see what type they are! Have agreed to let DH find out the sexes this time to help us prepare a bit more!

Oh Boodles, congratulations! How are you feeling about it? You don't sound phased at all!

I think I'm probably still a bit in shock! It's great news and obviously will be hard work but I'm kind of glad that I at least have some experience in dealing with my son already. Will have to make a few changes like a new car etc but we will be able to deal with it all. It's great news!

@boodles101 congratulations!

Such brilliant news @boodles101
You are so lucky to have twins, so special. But I bet its a huge shock!

I swear to god, these kids are determined to break me.
DH is still away. DS woke up every few hours last night, and then decided 5am was perfect to start running around the landing. I spent from 5 until 6 putting him back in his bed, telling him it’s still night time. 6:15, Dd gets up and starts singing.
6:30 I gave up and gave them the tablet, and all they e done since is fucking fight over it
Lack of sleep has me inches away from blowing a gasket

eggy

IVEgot you know those mornings where every little sound makes you want to kill someone?
I love these kids, but their voices right now are making me want to ram a screwdriver into my ears