Due Dec 2007 on the wind down?

[suey2]

has this worked?

i think the last woman actually worried me more as i could see how people would see her as maybe reasonable and i dont think she was - i mean cots victorian... please.

at least with the strict one most people could see the wrongness of her ways.

Loved the Bring Up Baby prog - being a child of the 60's myself Spock seemed my favourite! I'll be using a bit of everything - I like the idea of baby in the pram outside - but with me as well - I couldn't leave it alone. I'd have lamped the smug-faced nanny - she doesn't even have any kids of her own! Makes she-who-could-not-be-named-before-on-MN seem cuddly! Slings are OK but a breastfeeding counsellor I know would be horrified at the thought of baby in one for extended amounts of time - regarding cot death, the best position for babies is on their backs so slings are like car seats - limited use only. I used one with both DDs when they were grizzling and I had things to do - rather than spend ages rocking them, I just strapped them to me and got on with things.

RE: Homebirth. I'll get some new towels. I've got loads of old manky ones that I'll be delighted to soil and chuck out. The main reason I've decided to do the HB is because the pg is going to plan, but mostly DH can't drive and we don't have a car. Don't fancy using the local Taxi firm or 41 bus and don't want to rely on friends - that would stress me out too much. So I thought I'd get the midwife round and see how it goes. We can always transfer to the hospital, its only 10 mins drive away.

I'm going the cot route. My brother and SIL slept with their little one in their bed, or adjacent in the cot with one side down and they had real problems with her until she was nearly 4 years old. She wouldn't sleep in her own bed. No thanks to that!

TENS machine rental - if anyone is going to hire one and hasn't yet, there is an offer from Mama Tens for a 4-6 week hire for £27.50 if bought online, including free hire of a heartbeat listener - details here:

For further information and to reserve your MamaTENS, please visit www.mama-tens.info or call our helpline 0845 230 4647. When reserving please enter the promotion code, JC508, in order to get in order to get a FREE loan of our ?Baby listening device?

yes but the big difference for me was that although she was a loon she wasn't proposing anything that would harm the babies - the other woman (IMO) really and truly was - I couldn't bear to watch as that couple listened to their one day old daughter crying upstairs knowing that they had a another two and a half hours longer to endure it - absolutely horrendous - and I know from my research that causing prolonged distress like that in a newborn baby will fundamentally affect their stress system and the damage is long-term - there is loads and loads of research showing this to be true

I see what you mean Skidaddle. I didnt understand how she became a professional, why would you listen to her if she has no children???? I just dont understand.

oh gosh tens machine - hadn't even thought about pain relief...

I was thinking of getting one this time to help me manage at home for longer.

mind you, God knows how the 3rd woman came to be a professional either - she looked like she'd just sat her GCSEs! Maybe they do GCSEs in 'feelings of rightness in babies in the Amazon and beyond' nowadays...
oh no do I sound like an old lady?

oh skidaddle that made me laugh.

ohhh ow ow ow don't remember these with No 1 are BH supposed to be quite so painful and hard

I didnt get them first time either.,... but finding them very difficult this time.

Morning ladies,

Miss that programme on C4 last night as I crashed out at 9:30pm after putting DD to sleep! Seems like missed a lot of controversy.

McDoodle - am getting a lot of awkward kicks today too, mostly around my cervix area and it keeps making me want to go to the loo - apparently my bladder is a football!

Am interested in a sling too - as I have a DD who will be 2 years old when bean arrives think it might make life easier if I can carry no2 around in it. Only thing that worries me is that I've heard keeping baby in a sling is not good for its back???!!

Buzzy - sounds like you had a lovely holiday.

Something I read on the bbc news this morning - love the final quote!

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7013387.stm

Hi all!
Macdoodle, I have been getting BHs for a few weeks now and sometimes they are so hard it makes me short of breath! I didn't get them this early with either DS but I think it is normal to get them earlier in subsequent pgs.

Insy, I think your Mum is right - you get given/read so much information on babies but I think the most important thing for baby is a happy and relaxed Mum so I wouldn't stress too much about what is right. Do what works for you and leave out what doesn't. I didn't see that programme last night but it does sound like they were all a bit extreme - each baby is different and I think you have to go with it. With my DSs I went with what they needed until they were about 6 months old and then started to get them into more of a routinue of sleeps and feed times. It worked for me! I could not leave a day old baby to cry! I did use controlled crying, along with gradual withdrawal so I could see they were okay and they knew I was there, but not until they were over 6 months old.

Hi Buzzy! Glad you had a nice hols!

dh and i thought it was a bit of a shame that the sling lady last night was so waffly and kept banging on about rightness- like the idea of a sling, but not sure how it will work in practice. found a great ?american website that shows you loads of different styles of baby-wearing most of which just use a spoc (simple piece of cloth)- loads cheaper than a fancy ring-sling. www.wearyourbaby.org/

i seem to be having my first really emotional time at the moment- burst into tears last night when the opening credits started for that programme last night as soon as I saw a baby's fingers. thereafter just thinking about the fact that babies have toes and fingers has set me snivelling like a girlie. wierd.

I've been having BH for weeks and weeks. Is this unusual? It must have been at least since week 20.

MotherofZ - I think I'll make a lamb curry then shall I? Would love an 8 minute labour.

I think that would freak me out... amazing.

wow I'll be getting that receipe for lamb curry for the 18th Dec!

thanks for the link dundee, I will be checking it out
can slings damage babies backs?!? anyone got any links for that? also figure I must be able to make one since they don't pop out to JoJo mama bebe in Africa I must be able to do something with a length of cotton....

hired a tens from mama tens last time and it was fab (think they also donate money to baby charitys too) must add that to my list of things to do...

insy - no links but I'm sure I have read that slings are OK because they are soft so baby's back is fine - car seats are too hard?? Also some people reccommend that you don't have them in slings for too long because they are more likely to sleep and this might make encouraging them to sleep more at night difficult...

speaking of short deliveries - I know of two recent examples of 2nd and 3rd time mothers - first was 18 mins between first contraction and baby being born (she just made it to the hospital) and second only made it to the hallway and her DH had to deliver the baby because it came before the ambulance arrived!! This is what makes me wonder how useful a TENS machine will be for 2nd+ labours...

thanks skiddale - the sleep thing is something to think about - i turn into a monster without my sleep

maybe ordering a tens will be one way to guarentee you don't use it I've heard stories like that for 2nd and 3rd time mums who've hired a birth pool and never had a chance to get it filled in time

hi all,
just back from hozzie. Results in 2 days to 1 week.
Had to fast from midnight so have just gorged myself on some yummy peanut butter on toast.
Missed that programme. Damn. but did see a reivew on the sunday times. I do think it would be rather more helpful to not have people with such extreme views!
Trying to keep the 8 minute labour away from DH's eyes! Driving through central london traffic so close to christmas is likely to not be joyous- all those christmas shoppers. Visions of popping out junior in the passenger seat!

suey2 - think you're more likely to get a 24 hour one first time which is good in that the build up is nice and slow but obviously not so good in that you'll be more tired and the pain will last longer... but there are some women who just have really quick labours -my SIL was only 2hours with her first (made it to the hospital though!)

suey2 can I ask what symptoms of GD you have had? Im worried I have it

Mixedmama I'm with you on the baby thing, I love babies and like looking at and holding other peoples babies but I'll never take them unless I am offered a cuddle. I also used to hate it when people took dd off me and was really jealous if i was sat there while friends and family were holding her (sounds silly I know). Shouted at MIL once cos she took dd off me when i was bf her!! Felt bad cos she was only visiting for 2 weeks so she needed to fit a lot of cuddles etc into that time but thought that was going a bit too far!

Watched that programme last night too (also cried as soon as it started without even knowing why-think was just the sight of those teeny tiny babies). Wanted to KILL the strict woman, how on earth can you leave a 1 day baby to cry without even trying to soothe them? And really don't see how that is beneficial, although i'm not really one to talk as dd only started sleeping through at 15 months...

Sling woman was ok in principle but also a bit too extreme. I bf dd and used a sling (and will be again) but i also needed to put her down sometimes or i would've gone mad! She slept on me for the first 8 weeks, but the ultimate aim was always to get her to sleep in her own cot(which she does), although if she is poorly or generally unsettled i will still let her sleep in with me.

Just before i had dd i panicked and got three different books out from library, when i read the first chapter of each and saw how much they differed i thought sod it, if the experts can't even agree then i'll just do it my way, and it worked for us for the most part. There have been times when i've just wanted someone to tell me what to do but then again i usually ignore what they say anyway