Due Jan 2008 - Jingle Belles and Boys are on their way

[susiemj]

Hello!

No, we're setting it up tonight - If DP isn't too knackered.

The pool says we have to have a spare sheet for each time we use it. So one for birth and one for test. This seems silly so we're not going to. lol

Thanks for that. I know i'm worrying I just want to check that i'm not putting unnecessary risk in, if that makes sense.

When you due Sabinar? Have you been doing stuff to get going? I'm thinking I might start with stuff after xmas - pineapple etc.

hey Lucky

We're due on the 9th, but frankly I'd be quite happy if he hung on for a while after that! I've been working pretty frantically up until... well, I"m still finishing some stuff off today! So I'm not doing anything just yet to get him started! But have a terrible suspicion that the minute I have gotten everything done and relax, he might take that as his cue to arrive!

I'd love a few days of just lazing around doing nothing before he put in an appearance!

Will probably pick up a few pineapples and have the odd clary sage bath in the new year though

Last time the MW checked he hadn't started to engage, so hopefully that means we've got a bit of time!

Certainly is a good time of year for a homebirth I think... nice to be all cosy in your own home!

I think you should definitely give the pool a try and not worry about the extra liner

DH was trying out the TENS machine earlier today - hilarious. Apparently it's got quite a bit of kick to it! (I'm holding out until I actually need it, but I think he has a fresh appreciation of what I've got coming!)

Current DH status: in bed, reading the newspaper. Not doing any of the things he said he'd do! Grrr.

well my DP is out doing his xmas present shopping, after doing the food shopping straight after work this morning, (was on nights till 7am) It's his tradition to do xmas shopping on new years eve.

He's meant to be putting up the last of the wallpaper in the nursery today as well but I doubt he will.... bless him.

Today i've had my MW round and sat on the computer. lol. I'm meant to be tidying the house and doing the washing... Ooops

Happy Christmas Eve everybody !

firstly, having a show doesn't (unfortunately) mean imminent activity, can be up to 2 weeks til labour according to my classes last time.
so i told myself i had 2 weeks and these funny feelings weren't contractions, and that fluid leaking wasn't my waters breaking ...of course it can all start straight away!

home births are generally safer but the stats are skewed because high risk pgs don't tend to try for home births, so it's not a fair comparison. i think the previous point about having a constant mw supervising you is more important, they will spot anything amiss sooner. i feel confident in my mws and that is the main thing for me, we have to trust each other to believe when it is necessary to transfer.

dh status - watching war of the worlds and struggling to stay awake (oh that's me too!), at least ds has gone for his nap.
sure we shd be doing stuff but the fire is going, a cat has cuddled up and all feels sleepy, may have to nod off in a mo
dh is actually doing lots atm as he wants the whole christmas thing tomorrow, i would make do with a few presents for ds and lots of sleep!

still waiting for more announcements...

Lucky, true shoulder dystocia is rare, some mumsnetters have used the word midwife dystocia, as it is more often a matter of babies being hard to push out if you are made to lie on your back so having an active birth will help to avoid it.

The cure for shoulder dystocia is the same at home as in hospital, basically yanking your legs up to your ears to make more space, it has a fancy name andersons manouvre or something. So don't panic.

KT the good statistics (and there are lots of bad ones) compare low risk hospital births with home births. See www.homebirth.org.uk, so it is a fair comparison. I get a bit cross when I hear that home birthers are subjected to a long list of what can go wrong at a home birth. No one ever seems to do that for a hospital birth (i.e. intervention if you do not birth quickly enough for their liking, no midwife with you most of the time, infections, continuous monitoring which inhibits labour but does not actually help). Oh dear listen to me, and I unsubscribed from the homebirthUK email list as they were a bit of a militant lot .

Also agree with sabinar, I have heard that things go wrong in home births, particularly first ones, but it usually goes wrong slowly with plenty of time to get to hospital!

Awen, glad your lo has turned! I hope you get a few days calm and then a speedy labour .

Anyone else going to be around over Christmas or are you all off after today? It is so quiet here! I wish Amani would cut the suspense and tell us some more

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

Baby girl born on 22nd Dec (just as I had always wanted - what were the chances?!) at 0058am at 38+6 weeks.

Weight: 7 pounds and 3 ounces.

Baby is ok, just slight janudice and I'm ok too, so bloody tired though and this BF business is soooo bloody hard, but giving it a good go. DD decided being on my breast from 9pm to 3am on/off would be great fun last night...taking it day by day and hopefully it will become easier onces the milk comes through...

Just quickly, started getting pains above my pubic bone at around 3pm on Friday (around the time I posted), no real patter to when the pain came and went only the intesitiy getting stronger. At this point thought it was B-H contractions. Was umming and ahhing at 9pm whether I should call hospital, but decided to have a wait and have a bath to see if it would ease the pain. At this point still thought it was B-H-C as there was no pattern to the duration and timing of pain and pain was still just above my pubic bone and I thought if it was the real thing I would be getting the pain all across my stomach (in my case never did pain across the stomach at all). Anyhow at around 10:30pm, heard a POP and waters went and that's when I thought, this MIGHT just be the real thing!!! Went into hospital at 11pm and MW confirmed I was 8 cm dialated! With a bit of gas and air (fantastic stuff - DH told me later I was on such a high I asked the MW to give him the snip and myself liposuction - just to make our journey into hospital even more the worthwhile!) and with a shot of pethadine (which did not make a jot of difference to the pain) DD2 was born 2 hours later.

No name for her as yet, got a couple in mind, will post once we've decided (and I'm more rested!)

Thank you to everyone who wished me well, good luck to you ladies and hugs to anyone who is not feeling good; sorry haven't had time to read up all the posting.

Amani - fantastic news, well done to you

I hope the bf gets easier - it should do once the milk comes in properly.

Enjoy Christmas with your gorgeous little baby girl

And Merry Christmas to everyone else too .

I'll be popping in from time to time to see if there is any more news!

[fmsile]

Or even

yay Amani - that sounds like such a great birth experience. V happy for you and your newly expanded family! I also hope that bfing gets easier - apparently if you can hang in there for the first couple of weeks it tends to come good - fingers crossed for you!

madmouse - I'll be around over Christmas, we're having a super quiet one here.... by the looks of things DH is not even planning to get out of bed for it!

ANOTHER BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT.

Ffion Aurelia was born on Friday 7th December at 5.26am weight 5lb 3oz. Early baby born at 36+2 weeks.

I haven't posted on here for ages and I haven't had time to read through all the posts. Congratulations to Amani. Is it just the two of us or have any more babies arrived?

As Ffion was born early she was too weak to feed for herself at first and I had to feed her expressed milk through a tube in her nose. We were in hospital for two weeks. Then, as she became stonger she started to breastfeed. Pleased to say we are home now and Ffion is now 5lb 7oz.

Amani I know what you mean about the night feeds. The first two nights at home Ffion was feeding every 15 minutes through the night and screaming lots. Now she feeds every 3 to 4 hours and sleeps between feeds.

Wishing you all a Merry Chrismtas

Oh my goodness many many congratulations to Amani and Louisesj
How fantastic for you both. Christmas babys how yummy
Ah makes me feel quite tearful to think of these lovely little beings joining us at this time of year. Aw well done ladies. XXXX

Amani - great to hear form you!! Congrats, sounds like you have done brilliantly.I hope you will be able to put up a piccie soon? Good luck breastfeeding. I hope it gets easier soon.

Louisesj, don't think we have met , I came fairly late to this thread. Congrats too, glad to hear your Ffion is doing so well. Fruitful had her baby too, at 33 weeks. She had to have drastic surgery and Theo needed special care so they have not been on much. Fruitful, if you read this, how are you??

Sabinar - glad I won't be alone

Wow congratulations both!! Love the name Ffion as well!

Can't believe we're starting to get babies now!! Have we got a post-natal thread set up yet?

Had my MW appointment today - my baby's growth is officially off the chart - according to the fundal measurement he's measuring what he should be for a 43 week baby, with a current estimated foetal weight of 10.5 lbs!!! Unfortunately she couldn't give me a stretch and sweep as they don't do that without a full assessment before the due date, so I've been referred for an urgent growth scan and full assessment. Unfortunately as it's Christmas Eve, this probably won't happen until the 27th at least which is rather frustrating! It looks like I'll be induced pretty soonish, although still getting loads of BH and niggles, so will continue to try and get stuff going myself. I laughed so hard when I saw his growth plotted on the chart - it's just ludicrous!

My MW was very sympathetic though - I think she understands why I'm so uncomfortable now! I think I need a space hopper more than a birthing ball...hmm not a bad idea that actually!

Hello madchristmasmouse. No we haven't spoken before. I used to post on this thread now and again, but always found it hard to keep up as there seem to be hundreds of new messages every day.

I hope Fruitful and baby are doing well. I spent some time on the special baby unit with Ffion. I realised how lucky I was that Ffion's only problem was her inability to feed for herself at first. Every day I would see all the very tiny babies in the incubators.

Naetha 10.5lbs!!!! That sounds very scary!

Poor Naetha, have you measured big throughout or is your lo putting in a growth spurt? How do you feel about induction? Not sure how well equipped a mw is to guess size of baby based on a tape measure? . Let us know how you get on. How many weeks are you now?

oooh! it's like Christmas come early around here today! Congrats LouiseSJ. Can I ask a dumb question? How do you pronounce your Ffion? Is it just like it looks or tricky? Love the middle name too - gorgeous.

eh. I am so suspicious about these 'big baby' scans and measurements. I reckon everyone I've ever heard about who has been told they're having a 10+lb baby ends up having one that's somewhere in between 7-9lbs.

I know you probably don't want to risk ignoring it, but it seems unfair that they can essentially frighten women into inductions when their measurement methods are obviously entirely unreliable.

Hi all - its only been a few days since I was last on here, but gosh we all talk a lot, don't we?!

Massive congratulations to Amani and Louise - well done to both of you and your little ones...!!!

Amani - I am so so so impressed by your birth story and desperately hoping that I might get a labour like that as well this time...sounds brilliant!!! Don't expect the first few days to make any sort of sense, and yes, BF-ing is bloody hard, especially to start with, but stick at it and get as much help as you can with latching and positioning and stuff and it should all click into place soon. Oh, and make sure you apply Lansinoh cream before and after every feed and shower!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone...sending lots of

in

I've measured in the 90th centile since 30 weeks, the 95th centile since 35 weeks, and now off the chart!

In all honesty I'm happy with an induction. From what it seems, I'd rather have an induction and vaginal birth than a c-sec. I'm just hoping that I'd be able to have induction with pessaries/gel than on an oxytocin drip.

At least DH is loving all the sex - can't say I'm all too keen

Lovely to hear the story Amani and congratulations Lousie SJ!

Good luck with the breastfeeding Amani.

Naetha - My MW is very sceptical about 'large' predictions too. Baby here is still measuring well ahead, even though she's engaged and therefore 'should' be measuring smaller. She's not that bothered though because the baby has engaged and that means that my pelvis is probably big enough for her. Has your babe engaged at all?

Sex is a distant memory. Can't imagine doing it!

ouch ouch ouch. Pains getting worse and more difficult to deal with. NOt wanting to go to hospital yet.

2 birth announcements, whoopee

congrats again amani , look forward to hearing what name(s) you go for, bet family & friends are driving you crazy with questions & suggestions! great birth story - one like that for me too please
best of luck with the feeding, second the lansinoh idea.

congrats louisesj
love ffion
glad you are both at home now, must have been a shock to go so early, or did you have warning signs? and always nice to hear that feeds can settle down quickly (have told dh to remind me that time flies and to a)appreciate their littleness & b) not get down about awful sleep/feeding patterns at the beginning).

naetha - i can't believe their measurements ! i'm so curious now to see what size baby naetha comes out as, you shd get them to bet on actual birth weight, see if they will put their money where their mouth is!!!?!?!?

madmouse - don't worry i am of the pro-homebirth group, just don't want to give first-timers a false impression of security at home if they are unsure. i think the biggest thing is faith in your mws (tricky if you haven't got on well with them or seen so many diff ones), and them in you. with ds, they knew i was really determined to stay at home so even when i whined about 'not being able to carry on and take me to hosp & cut this baby out of me ', they knew i didn't mean it. also i know that they are committed 'home birthers' so if they say we need to go then i know they mean it. i 99% believe that we can do it on our own (well with a bit of gas and air maybe ), but we need to accept that sometimes we are the 1% that needs help to get baby out safely.
altho people always say don't be too set on your birth plan, i know i would be so upset to end up in hosp, so i just try and stay positive.
oh and it also depends on your hosp, here they are v interventionist and have timescales for things - bit like luckys i think - whereas i have heard lovely stories about other places and i might not have thought of a home birth if i had that.

i'll be popping on tomorrow, addict and anyway we might have more news..!

well i'm 36 wks tomorrow, this time next week plus a few hours baby can come, hooray

oh awen (((hugs))) sounds like it could be xmas baby then....
poor ds! best of luck to you and LO tho.

oh & ps gingeme - glad your big boys got to you ok, how long since you've seen them?
have a fab time tomorrow with 4!

Hope this ok?

Kerrlou - 27 Dec, first timer?
Beller - 28 Dec, first timer -Suprise
PBirdy - 28 Dec, first timer
Toomanyshoes - 28 Dec, DD 2 Expecting a BOY
Housemum - 29 Dec, 2 DDs 14 & 4
Ozzymoo - 30 Dec, DD/DS?
Macdoodle - 30 Dec, DD 5
Naetha - 30 Dec, first timer, Expecting a BOY
Awen - 31 Dec (poss earlier), DS 7 Expecting another BOY!
Imawurzel - 31 Dec, First Timer
Bettymamma - 31 Dec, DD 2 Expecting another GIRL!
mixedmama - 31 Dec, DS 22 months BOY
BWMum - 1 Jan, First timer - Surprise
jellyjem - 3 Jan, First timer
Chunkypudding - 3 Jan - First timer - EXPECTING A BOY
lulubump - 4 Jan, First timer, Surprise
KMT - 5 Jan, First timer
lilyloo - 5 Jan, DS 5 & DD 2 (think sonographer let slip, a girl ? )
MoominMum - 6 Jan, First timer
ScotsgirlinOz - 7 Jan, 1 DD
mummybear43 - 7 Jan
firsttimemother 8 Jan, First timer
ledodgy - 9 Jan, DD 4 & DS 18mo
Sabinar - 9 Jan
Sarahjct 10 Jan, 1st timer
Angelcake99 - 11 Jan, DS 2
LuckySalem - 2 Jan, First timer
Pinkelephant -11 Jan (ish), First timer
Susiemj - 11 Jan- expecting girl First timer
BeckyAu - 13 Jan, First timer
Gingeme - 13 Jan, 4DS 13,11,3 & 8mo
weblette - 13 Jan, dd 7, ds1 5, ds2 3
tripletsandtwins - (twins)13 Jan (probably earlier) dd1 3, dd2 3, ds1 3
Letsgo - 14 Jan, First timer
AngeChica - 14 Jan, First timer, surprise
Barristermum - 15 Jan, First timer
GemTubbs - 15 Jan, First timer
MrsMcJnr - 15 Jan, First timer, Surprise
Louisa - 15 Jan, ds1 6, ds2 4. Surpise
Mum2sons - 16th Jan, DS 12 & DS 3
mum2sam - 16 Jan, DS 2.5
PinkPetal - 18 Jan, First timer
Scampynoodle - 18 Jan, First timer
Katyt - 22 Jan DS 1.5
Cazzybaby - 22 Jan, First timer
Fluffymummy - 22 Jan, DS 2.5
PussyCatMomma - 24 Jan, First Timer
Bluebell - 24 Jan, First timer
Mrs Biscuit - 25 Jan, First timer, surprise
VP - 25 Jan, First timer
Iwillbe - 27 Jan(doc says 30 but i disagree), First timer
Horsygirl - 27 Jan
Nicky6 - 28 Jan, First timer
Spackcat - 28 Jan DS 8
Mummyto2littleprincess - 29 Jan, 2 DDs 4 & 2
Spud01 - 30 Jan, DD 15 & DS 3, Surprise
ayrshirelolo - 31 Jan
VictorVictoria - 1 Feb, DS 2
efmc - 2 or 4 feb. First timer (dd was 31st jan)
Madmouse - 30 January, first one, having a boy

Babies here
LouiseSJ EDD 2 Jan First timer Surprise
Ffion Aurelia 05:26 7th Dec 5lb 3 (36+2)
Fruitful EDD 30 Jan DDs 5 & 2.5
Theodore 23:53 11th Dec 4lb 4 (33wks)
Amani EDD 30 Dec DD 23 mths Surprise
girl 00:58 22nd Dec 7lb 3 (38+6)