Due Sept '08 - Counting Down Rather than Up Now!

[Sunshinemummy]

Thought I'd do this and post my last comments:

Hi all. Glad to hear more good scan news!

We had MIL visit this weekend and she is such hard work. She literally never lifted a finger and kept going back to bed every couple of hours. I've asked DP not to let her come again for a while as it's hard work waiting on someone.

We also finally put DS in his 'big boy bed'. Went quite well - he went to bed no problems, but he woke up at 2am crying as he'd got stuck under the duvet. He was then awake for a couple of hours so I'm feeling shattered today. Anyone of you with older children got any tips?

Slinkie we'll be near each other for mat leave won't we? We can have some fun together I'm sure.

Meglet I'm the same as you with the whole bf thing. I hated it last time and was relieved when I gave up. I keep veering to and fro with regards to trying it for this baby. I had such a happy time last time round, really enjoyed the whole experience, and am worried that attempting to bf will make the whole thing fraught.

johnworf,

make sure to stare down the hospital staff your talking too...whenever i do it, people don't mess with me and i usually get the answers i'm looking for...but then again i have a rather pointy look...and i'm quite loudmouthed about health care services private or otherwise in the UK.

will look with interest for your report back johnworf.

also, if it turns out that they do not have an infant feeding specialist or that you feel fobbed off and patronised again, ring up a breastfeeding helpline. They can confirm (or deny) what I am saying and give you more pointers on how to proceed. The NCT has antenatal / postnatal leaders who will, since they are a charity, do advocacy, give you info on how to move forward with speaking to your hospital. Since they should have a counsellor or postnatal leader local to you, they have an ear to the ground in your local area so they can give you more specific advice on who to see, etc.

Disclaimer to everyone: i am a mother supporter for the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers so I can't give advice. I am also training to become a breastfeeding counsellor with them but it will be a while yet before I can give advice using the ABM title. Whatever I am saying on this thread is based on my experiences as a mother and I try to always provide evidence based links which should show that I am not talking out my backside. I hope anyway.

I have spent a lot of times looking at the web and books getting to the bottom of why things went so wrong in the first week with my dd and myself. Along the way, I have come across a lot of connected material. I just want to share some of that knowledge on here. I am the geeky kind of person who sometimes get obsessive about finding everything I know rather than letting go.

BTW, you are not a crank. you want something that your hospital should be able to deliver for you.

Hi, just to tell you that I am still here, knackered and very big.
I am reading your messages with interest.

I am starting to panic because I still haven't sorted out, washed and store the clothes for Lorea.
I just don't have the energy or the time and because of the placenta problem she could be arriving early.
I need to go through lots of my ds clothes and decide what else I need to buy. I need to find the steriliser, althought I hope not to have to use it because i hope to BF only, the bottles, just in case, the breast pump, the baby bouncer, the baby gym and its pieces,the baby bath the pieces for the crib (he never used it). I musn't forget to buy new mattresses for the pram and the crib..........LOTS of things to do with a 3 yrs old around.
Next week is half term so he will be at home and little boys don't help you to sort out clothes, they just throw them on the floor instead.
HELP!!!!!!! I wish I had nice family around to give a hand with him while I do the "nesting"

Thanks ladies for your very encouraging words. I've just looked at my ANC file and it says I can request a copy of the Trust's policy on BF. I think this might be worth a view to see exactly where they stand on this.

I'm already thinking about joining my local NCT so mebbe I can get some RL support from them

everytime i mention getting things ready for the baby my husband says we have plenty of time to do that stuff but then has scheduled a bunch of random little trips to the middle east once i said ok to going to dubai...apparently now i'll be off to kuwait as well as bahrain... i have a feeling we're gonna have this baby and i'll have to use my old clothes as nappies.

Oooh, oooh, my dad and step mum have just offered to buy the Stokke cot for the baby! I am so excited, it's the one other big piece of kit we need to get, and i was vaguely wondering about how to pay for it. Is v generous of them.

Potxola keep calm about all you have to do - even if Lorea arrives early you've probably still got plenty of time! Just try to think about one little job at a time, the last thing you need to do is get knackered trying to do everything, as you'll only end up having to rest more.

you dont have to be a member of the NCT to use their services. but of course they will be happy if you join up too.

potxola, good luck with nesting. I am delaying it as long as possible I know that everything is in the loft and i'm currently happy to procrastinate. We intend to cosleep so we are not even bothering to clear out a room to decorate as a nursery or to put up the cot.

mire, tengo un secreto. soy latinoamericana, pero originalmente de belice donde espanol es primero o segundo idioma de mucha gente. de verdad, soy profe de espanol en una escuela. voy a barcelona el lunes y tengo no un plan sino relajarme porque aqui en el noreste de inglaterra todavia hace fresco.

Agree Starlight DS has a lot of things I intend to use for Baloo with clever accessorising so no one asks me if she's a boy. Although because DS has long hair people assume he is a girl all the time, even though he is a really boyish boy! And for some reason it makes me insanely cross

Starlight I got really cross the other day as DS spotted someone who he knew from nursery and started shouting her. We walked quickly to catch up with her and her grandma (who picks her up) and the grandma asked me what her name was. When I told her (it's a really boyish name too) she interpreted it as 'Sally' and kept calling DS 'Sally' as we walked along. I got so annoyed I sped up and said goodbye to her. Pah!

so for future reference, how am i supposed to keep certain relatives away from picking up my child at family events?

my husband has some very interesting relatives that i just don't feel comfortable talking to let alone letting them hold my child..i don't want to offend anyone either. just because they look weird doesn't mean they really are, ya know?

Mamamufin Hurrah, you have nursery 'lift off'! I expect pictures and updates at various stages!

I've just got back from visiting my friend in hospital - I'd forgotten newborn babies were so tiny! She is still having trouble feeding but finding hand expressing easy (!) so is feeding him every 3 hours from a syringe. She has tried countless times with the help of midwives to get him to latch on and apparently he did manage this morning and fed for 5-10 minutes. That was when he was wide awake as they'd just bathed him. But he hasn't latched on since. When I held him he went for my nipple and was licking my top so I told my friend he was rooting and we tried again. This time we managed to get him to latch (we think) but he won't suck, he just falls asleep. This seems to be the general problem. We never had this with DD as she was a good sucker from the beginning. She may be released from hospital tomorrow (although I'm surprised when he's still not feeding properly). Could it be the heat stopping him? (he's back at the right body temp now). We tried feeding him just in a nappy but it's very hot in there. Her DH is off to buy a breast-pump tomorrow. They are quite happy to keep expressing but I explained (as someone said earlier on this thread) that they will get sick of it and they do need to get him to feed from her asap. Any further advice I can pass on? How do we encourage him to suck?

This is the problem I had with my ds jearund...he just wasnt interested at all and coulnt suck properly anyway.

I was discharged with a 4lb 8oz jaundiced baby who wasnt feeding so nothing surprises me!

Really dont know what to suggest...is he jaundiced at all? Has he had his blood sugar checked? Did she have any drugs e.g. pethedine that could still be in his system?

Sorry, grasping at straws a bit.......

Eandz, a good sling is great to keep baby with you. Few people would start rummaging around in a sling to get the baby off you =)

sunshine grrr at that granny

eandz just say that the lo can;t be picked up as he/she is asleep about to go to sleep just eaten etc

i hate it when mil comes she always feel the need to prod at them with her smokey hag fingers

have just been to docs and got a sick note for 4 weeks which should mean that when i go back it would be for three weeks then i can leave am sooo happy if not in pain

does anyone know if deep heat can be used in pregnancy the doc had no idea - or any other back pain tips would be great

have just ordered a loola changing bag as it will fit onto the bag clips on the streety so that's another thing out of the way

We had the worst night ever with dd last night, she screamed from 12-2am. Bonjela, calpol and a dummy didn't touch it, only cuddles. She appeared to be afraid of the dark and panicked even when being held by me when the lights went off, but a tiny nightlight made a lot of difference. Eventually she calmed enough to be put back to bed, but then we only got 5 hours sleep. She was fine being put to bed in the dark at 7, and for her nap today, and for bed just now. I@m happy to leave her to cry overnight, but this was something else, I actually thought she might injure herself with all the screaming. Thankfully she's been fine and chippa all day today, but the same can't be said for her sleep-deprived parents!
My mum arrives tomorrow so i'm going to spend the week catching up on sleep.
I had coffee today with the girl I'm being bridesmaid for on monday, apparently the forecast is for storms

Another busy day here. This thread will be full before the week is out!

Had a very busy day at work today and then we were told at the end of the day that OFSTED are likely to be coming in within the next 6 weeks. ARRRGGGGHHHHH

Going up to Scotland tomorrow so won't be on here for a week possibly. I'll never catch up when I get back.

Hope the fellow teachers (kirstygem and sassafrass and anyone else?) have a nice and restful half term. Then only 7 weeks tiull summer hols, yeah!

carrion sorry to hear about your dd, ds used to do something which sounds very similar it was like he had a bad dream but didn;t realise he had come out of it v scary. i did some research and it sounded like a night terror - good night light in ikea for £8 it's like fully sealed rubberized led in the shape of an alien and you charge it during the day and it stays lit all night ds loves his and it's not over bright

Carrion I have been there some nights nights when ds was small and I understand how awful you feel listening to her crying like that. Yes, make sure, you rest and let your lovely mum help you. Can I use her services as well?

Hopefully I always loved that cot and if I had had the money I would have bought it 4 yrs ago. After my last post, I managed to find and sort out the 0-3 months clothes and tomorrow I would start washing them while my husband puts together the new huge set of drawers for Lorea.
I have lots of bodysuits, white and bright colours ones, and lots of sleepsuits, again very bright except some blue ones that I will keep for emergencies to use at home.
Apart from a couple of cardigans, the hats hats, socks and mits, that is it.
There is another suitcase somewhere with jeans and tops, anyway I feel better now I have started. Thanks hopefully.

Starlight Great tips as usual. Please come to live to Devon!!!!!!!!!!You are a gem.

Kisdidee That is a surprise. And a fellow teacher like me!

jearund: my only advice is to not put any clothes on the baby or on the mum's top half and keep him skin to skin or side by side as much as possible. The heat won't be affecting him. The womb was much warmer and babies are born in hot countries everyday. It was the kind of birth that did.

He will get there. I hope your has a private room.

Thanks DebitheScot. Got lots of reports to write but have brought the laptop home so hopefully I can sit out in the garden and do it while dd plays. And then.... only 4 more weeks to work! Getting my maternity pay is proving to be a hassle though. When I started this contract I was 6 weeks pregnant and for the last couple of months had been working fulltime at school in same county, but on supply basis, so I figured I wouldn't be eligible for smp. Now it turns out I still have to apply for it so I can get my smp1 form saying I'm not getting any before I can apply for maternity allowance. I just hope they're quick because I want my mat allowance to start in july.

I'm starting to get some serious nesting instincts now. Nothing to do with baby stuff, just want to get the house just right. We moved in a couple of months ago and still have some boxes around and haven't sorted everythign to my satisfaction. I really really want to get some cushions sewn as well for the garden benches and buy a table to have out there. I also have a serious craving for buying a wardrobe =)