Due April 2008 - the food porn thread for expanding waistlines!

[SantasGotABigFatEllieG]

Hello

Tell DH you require a bacon and RUNNY EGG sandwich as your first meal after childbirth! and your second...

Scamp, well were in! the move was ok apart from the lovely weather on Saturday (glad I was indoors all day doing the directing). Boxes everywhere, Joy

Oohh Smoking, how I miss it well sometimes. I had hypnotherapy after finding out I was PG but still get the urge

Runny eggs are in my dreams.... I keep making a list and giving it to DP. who just says I will never get thorough it all, just watch me

its fine, soph. i quit in feb so it doesnt even enter in my head anymore, and even if i wanted to i wouldnt because i couldnt bear the idea of doing that to millie.

and dp is mine we seem to be normal now.

Hi Ladies, well there has been quite a bit if debate since I posted that list For info it came from a friend's maternity nurse. Before you have any 'Claire Verity' ideas I met the maternity nurse myself once and she was a lovely lady in her fifties, really open and flexible to the mothers wants and needs. She was someone I could imagine my Mum (who is very much a down to earth Mum) getting on with. Anyway I think that show 'Bringing up baby' has done a lot of damage to the reputation of maternity nurses. I watched one episode and then didn't bother again. What is the point in trying 50's, 60's & 70's methods today? It was just silly. Surely caring for a newborn involves a bit of all known methods and a LOT of basic common sense. Anyway, I'm rambling. Just to say that the feedback since I posted the list has been very helpful. VictorianSqualor: The breastfeeding thread was really informative, thanks!

I've added all your comments to that list so my choices will be really informed. I'm not planning to buy anything I don't really need anyway and will wait to buy whatever I can after the baby is born. I hate having a load of rubbish that I won't use but at the same time want to be prepared.

And on the weight thing, I might have the record so far. I have already put on 9 kilos i.e. almost 20pounds! and I'm saying 9 to not depress myself too much. At certain times of the day, it is more like 10 or 11 kilos i.e. 22 to 24 pounds!!!! Considering you're supposed to put on 25 pounds for the whole pregnancy what am I going to do for the next 4 months?!

eat dust

seriously, dont worry.

Can anyone seriously beat my weight record or even come close? (you could lie to make me feel better )

Hi ladies
I haven't posted for ages. Have tried to read back through all the posts and sounds like you are all doing well and enjoying it - me too! No booze is a bummer as is needing the loo all the time but otherwise all good!

But - and here is my latest worry - what the hell do you do when you get your baby home?!

I know that sounds mental and I'm sure I'll muddle through, but I wondered if those of you who have already had babies would care to pass on any tips, advice, rountines (I use that term loosely) etc.

I'm sure it would help the other first timers too.

What I'd love to hear is sort of what a typical day is like. I know everyone is differnet but just a rough 'you feed them at blah, then they sleep and then they wake up at around blah'
Just what worked for you and how you managed it.

Been reading a few helpful books - and some which scared the hell out of me! I'm sure you can guess which ones!

Also Victorian Squalor - thanks for all the breast feeding tips. I read that other thread about expressing and it really opened my eyes. I was thinking of trying to express from very early on so dh could have the fun of feeding the baby too but now I'm going to give that more thought - might not be the best idea.

And scorpio I am all for dp catching the baby! My dh suggested it himself! We asked the midwife and she said no reason why not if all was OK. I know that's some people's idea of hell but we think it will be really nice that he's the first one to get his hands on the little guy.
I know idealistic and prob not going to happen!

Sorry for the long ramble and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
x

Hee hee ... I read all the books before I had DD and thought to myself, that sounds simple enough. Then I got her home ... and it all went out the window.

I know my DD wasn't typical and some babies are really straight forward and I think in these cases the routines and books are really good. And perhaps there was an element of me not really liking routine that much too. Interestingly, almost as soon as I got her onto food and formula, her routine fell into place and she's stuck with it ever since. She also slept right through the night from 7 weeks. Saying that, she wouldn't sleep during the day for months and would take a good hour and a half to feed on a good day.

So basically what I learned is for the first 4 or 5 months, routine is great if you can get it to work, but if not, don't panic.

MMF - first time round I gained 13kgs in total during my pregnancy and didn't lose all of it (probably still had about 2kgs to go when I got pregnant again). So in reality I've put on 7kgs and I'm sure if I weighed myself at night it would be more.

Don't worry about it. There could be all kinds of factors contributing to your weight gain - lots of amniotic fluid (ie: extra padding for LO!), a healthy baby or even a bit of fluid retention. It won't all be the extra calories!

No idea about mt weight gain tbh, I don't posess a set of scales and neither it owuld seem does my MW. best bet by far- you can gain loads and lose it all anyway, whereas with ds1 I agined very little (until just before birth but that was fluid) and then gained mightil;y whilst BF. Its not predictable.

Dolly- besta dvice I can give as a Mum of 3 already is to just relax, watch for the routines your baby goes by and sort your life around those. IMO it makes things much easier. It won't tkae long for a routine to emerge and you can finalise that being established yourself to suit your needs 9so a napt at 1 might be great for lunch but not oher and toddlers, so you pop into the buggy at 12 and off they go to sleep....).

Well, I can console myself with the fact that I wasn't huge to begin with and my Doctor says not to worry about it. She doesn't even bother weighing me. Still I wonder just how big I will be by 9 months!

Dolly, best to get him 'helping' by doing dirty nappies at the beginning, oh and long walks so you can sleep, and the dinner, and the washing up, and, and

I think the first time I expressed DS was about 4 weeks old and it wasn't a problem really, it was for my birthday party and the only thing was that I was soaked through in the morning whre my boobs had leaked!!!

My only real advice for anyone with a first baby is to get a bedtime routine established asap. I do not mean expecting your baby to sleep through, but once you know the last feeding time for LO, start to arrange things around this. Bath, and last feed then to bed.

Keep everything mellow and calm so that baby learns the difference between day and night. When baby wakes in the night, just reinforce that it's nighttime, speak in hushed tones, keep lights and noises to a minimum (might be worth investing in a lamp for bedroom or living room, depending on if you'll want to havebbay sleeping downstairs til you go to bed or upstairs).

It helps to teach baby that if it isn't hungry there isn't much point being awake at night iyswim, so gently pushes them towards sleeping through once they are taking big enough feeds (which happens when belly is big enough normally!!).

It also creates a constant so that when you decide that your toddler or older child has to have a bedtime and a routine it's already there for you, so no hassle. I've never had a problem with sleep with eitherof my two and I swear it's the nighttime/daytime differences that instilled it in them.

Molly, I'm glad you're taking on what I said, I felt quite mean picking at that list tbh!

BTW, what I mean by knowing the last feed for LO, I mean the one he/she decides is last feed, like peachy said, they all fit into different routines.

After a few weeks, they will normally have established a rough time for their feeds, you may even find that they are awake and feeding at the same time as they were most active in the womb, my two were anyway once they got into their own little bodily rhythms.

i deffo second the night-time thing. dark/dim lights, minimal talking/nappy change/eye contact only if you have to, etc. be firm about putting them in their bed alone, to eventually go to sleep themselves when they are a couple of months. and yes, i know when we have them all we will want to do is snuggle them all day and night, but dont at night!

Have had 20 weeks scan (not had one since 6 weeks) they now agree with my LMP dates and I have now been shunted backwards to the 21st of April 2008.

No worries about picking at the list TTLIVS! You did a good job. In general it's a fairly good list but I love getting the comments. Makes me think twice before going out and buying stuff.

On the baby sleeping at night issue. My mother recently told me that she NEVER gave me a night feed. She would give me a feed around 10 or 11pm and then I wouldn't look for anything until 6 or 7 in the morning!!! That was from the day I was born... I didn't even think that was possible! I hope my little girl will take after me

I haven't been on here for absolutely ages but I just read through the last few days' posts.

I found notes the other day from when DS1 was about 7 months old and it set out an IDEAL day, starting with "Up at 5.30 am"... WHAT?!! Remind me why I am doing it all again...

Hello all. Dolly - I had the same worries with my first and bought loads of books advising this and that. In the end I was too knackered to read any of them . We just worked it our for ourselves really. DD ate when hungry, then winded her, changed nappy if required, slept and then the same again. DD gradually fell into her own routine. The only thing I was ever remotely strict about was bedtime. Always bath, low lights, cuddle, milk and bed by 7.Slept in her own room from about 8 weeks. Babies snore you know ! DD is now 2.2 and is asleep by 8 every night without a peep out of her. She normally sleeps through till half 7 ish. She took a bit longer to sleep through than most of my friends (about 6 months). She used to wake for milk at 2AM. I have vague recollections of reducing the amount and then replacing with water to get her to drop this. The best advice I can give is to do what feels right and give yourself time to learn. To be honest they just sleep alot for the first few months so you probably wont be doing as much as you might imagine.

Molly - I put on 3 1/2 stone with DD and only just lost it two weeks before getting pregnant this time round! I think I'll put on at least another 3 stone this time too - one of those things I think!

Dolly - DD was born at home at 10pm and the midwives left around 1pm. It suddenly dawned on us we were on our own and had no idea what to do. We slept about an hour that night cos we were a bit freaked out(although DD slept more).

I think the thing is not to worry too much and allow yourself time to find your own way. We tried to get DD into a routine within a month as that's what the books said. Pah! I won't be doing that this time - although agree with the posts on bath and bedtime - definitely worth getting LO used to bath and winding down time as a cue for bed, then doing nappy changes and night feeds in the dark and very quietly.

MMM - Would like to make you feel better, I got on the scales today and have put on 2 stone (23/40), I had been deluding myself that only done 1 1/2. Hey ho I might just stop getting on the scales and then Ill only put the 2 stone on, surely if you dont look its not happening??

Dolly I used with both of mine, DD 5 1/2 and still sleeps 12 hours a night, DS 15/12 does 12 hours at night and 2 hours in day. Massively regimented and unflexible but really helped me to establish a routine, stopped being so rigid once sleeping through (DS 7-7 by 10 weeks, longer with DD, didnt start with her till about 4 months though). On recent weekend away with friends and kids galour the 2 of us that used this approach had the kids who settled to bed despite the strange environment - co-insidence? maybe, maybe not. I love the idea of the continuem concept but know that Im too selfish to have baby encroaching on that much of my time and def couldnt share my bed with a third person. Think you need to have a look at diff techniques and decide what will suit you/DP and lifestyle best - think they all turn out the same in the end.

Just like to add why are churches so cold, got back from chritingle service an hour and half ago and still freezing.

Night all

wow lots of advice to take in. One of my BF's has 2 LOs both of which she used Gina Ford to get them into a routine of sleeping through. Has anybody else used this sucessfully?

Oops forgot to say, I have my first apt with the new doctor and midwife folowing my house (and area) move, hope they are as nice as the old ones, fingers crossed

I absolutely agree with all the advice on here re: night/day time. I think that's one of the biggest problems people have when trying to get baby to sleep at night.

Also, I don't want to be controversial but don't absolutely bank on your baby doing nothing but sleep for the first few months. Everyone told me that's what would happen but DD had a completely different idea and really struggled to sleep during the day - it was almost like she didn't know how.

I tried both of the books mentioned on here and they just didn't suit either me or DD. In theory it all sounded so simple ... but when it came down to it, ugh!! Saying that, I know people who've used Gina very successfully - but I sometimes wonder if that's more because it just suits that baby. I don't think it's a one size fits all as she claims it is.

One more thing and I'll shut up (I find this subject fascinating and do get a bit over excited!!) - we went away with friends and there were 5 babies when DD was about 9 months old. She was the only one that went to bed at 7 and slept all night despite not having had a daytime routine in the early months.

I think it all comes down to trying different things and working out what is right for you - if that's a strict routine, fine - if not, that's fine too. I got really stressed in the early months because everyone kept telling me that without a strict routine, DD would never sleep through and would never be content. I really wish I hadn't listened.