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.

I don't disagree! It's just a shame that maternity units in London are under such terrible pressure as there are certainly instances where people don't get good care. And we all deserve that.
I certainly agree that I don't have the thigh muscles for squatting - I wanted to deliver standing up but legs kept giving way!! I ended up on all fours on the bed. It worked at least!!

I have just been looking thru all the pics on Facebook, and I now have SERIOUS bump envy. I still just look fat, not pregnant and am 24 weeks.

Starlight and Slinkie!
I'm glad you know what a worrier i am ... for this reason i haven't stopped seeing my previous consultant who delivers at the portland...the only problem is i want to deliver at chelsea and westminster. but if at the chelsea and westminster i keep being pressured into a c section then i might as well just stick to the portland with my old consultant and deal with not having a real hospital like environment. My stepmom agrees with you by the way and she's the most blood happy doctor i know...but never in a million years would she suggest a c-section to a patient like me...so i guess back to the portland...or think about st thomases again.

Mamamuffin You have been busy preparing!!!!!! :0 It feels great, doesn't it? Your baby is doing fine. Becaroo is right about ms being the cause. Just carry on eating well and your son will be a healthy weight. I went to the mw yesterday, the baby is a good size, but I was also worried because I am not eating as well as the first time, too busy. We all worry.

Yesterday night I realised what it was happening to me. Probably all second time mothers to be will understand me. I have always worried a lot about how I was going to manage to love my second child. My first took so long to come after miscarriages that
I did not think it possible to have enough love for another one. I felt somehow I was going to left my ds behind.
The good news is that it is happening naturally with all this buying and planning for Lorea's arrival.

Eandz I just saw the last posts ans I agree with Startlight.Please, follow your maternal insticts and change hospital. You want a team that will support you all the way, especially if you are paying.

My lovely midwife (jokingly) accused me of being her most boring patient yesterda - normal blod pressure, normal urine, normal baby growth. She said it was nice to have someone so dull!

morning all - i have no intention of fb use replacing mn... it's just nice to see all the photos

My placenta is anterior so i'm still feeling kicks quite intermittently - but they're very strong when they do come so that puts my mind at rest! It's apparently also quite low so i have to go back for another scan at 32 weeks to make sure it's not too close to my cervix. I also have a GTT at St Mary's - I think everyone does there.

Couple of questions for you experienced ladies... has anyone used the tummy tub and does it live up to the hype? why can't you just use a bucket (it looks just like a bucket to me). Also v stupid question alert (apologies if it's been answered before)... what is the difference between bodysuits, sleepsuits and babygros?

Am off the New Forest for the weekend to a lovely cottage with 6 close girlfriends - bliss. If the weather is crap we've got a large stock of girly magazines, SATC games and Gavin & Stacey DVDs to keep us entertained

LittleConnie - I haven't even heard of a tummy tub, and I too wouldn't mind knowing the difference between a bodysuit (no arms or legs??), sleepsuit (arms and legs??) and a babygro (no idea whatsoever!).

I thought I should issue a bit of a rip-off warning as well, we bought a Grobag temperature egg the other day - it's a thermomiter that is in the shape of an egg, it has a light on it that changes colour with the temperature of the room, except the thermomiter isn't accurate - seeing as taking the temp is its only function you'd really want it to be able to do it! I would suggest not buying it.

Morning everyone! I haven't had time to read the posts since my last one yet. Am off to get my hair done for the wedding this afternoon in half an hour so I thought I'd check in. I finally got to speak to my friend last night. They came home from hospital on Saturday and the baby is doing well. She is shattered of course! She has given up the breastfeeding though. Classic situation: she did finally manage to get him to latch on (and suck) in hospital lying down (remember she had a c-section) but the midwives wouldn't let her leave until she had proved she could also do it sitting up, and she and the baby couldn't get the hang of it (I remember the same thing happened to me and it was very stressful). By this time she also had very sore nipples and one of them was actually bleeding so she decided she'd rather give up and they let her go home. When she got home she decided to give it another go lying down, as that had been working, but didn't like putting a bleeding nipple into his mouth and (not surprisingly) found it agonisingly painful. So she decided to give up definitively and switch to formula. She is disappointed though as she wanted to breastfeed and says she'll give it another go with the next baby.

To me her tale sounds all too familiar and highlights why so many women give up b/f in the first week. I remember when I had DD that I had badly bruised nipples on Day 2 and I dreaded each feed (and they were every 2 hours). It was a case of gritting my teeth and trusting that it would get better if I stuck at it - which it did, but not until my nipples had had time to heal.

I also think that the midwives are pro-breastfeeding but they don't do enough to actually help you. They just tell you to keep trying. I think all new breastfeeding mums should routinely have an appointment with the hospital's breast feeding councellor on Day 1 or 2 and make sure the latch is right etc. Out of my NCT group all 8 of us went to see her at one time or another - and all but one of us made it to 6 months; in fact 4 of us made it to a year!

I hope this story helps rather than scares the first-timers out there. In my experience, the first couple of weeks are b*** painful, especially when they latch on, because your nipples get damaged from a bad latch, but if you can get past that it gets much better and in the end it doesn't hurt at all.

hopefully you're lucky. Wish I was a 'boring' patient! I feel fine, my bp is normal (with tablets) and aprt from being more tired (due to tablets) all is OK. Flumpet is right size for dates etc. but the hospital have decided I am high risk, so I get lots of tests, scans etc.

Thanks for the reply re placenta lollipopmother. Checked my notes and it does say anterior placenta, so I assume it's at the top and front. Does this mean I'll never feel baby kick at all? I do feel movements and have felt hiccups but it would be sad to go through pregnancy without ever feeling kicking.

And finally, think we've chosen our pram - it's now between silver cross sleep system or iCandy Apple. Off to Portugal on Sunday, so serious buying will commence on our retunr (How will i ever catch up with this post! You'll have moved onto new thread and I'll lose you )

out of curiosity, how long should you ideally hope to breast feed for? 6months? 1yr? 2yrs?

imoscarsmum,
you wont lose us...we'll find you don't worry.

Thanks eandz. I really hope to bf and am prepared for 2 weeks of hell, but even if successful I doubt I'll keep it up for more than a few months (going back to work plus I'll need a drink I think!!). I may be wrong, so no firm plans and keeping open mind. Even if you can bf for jst a few weeks they say it does the world of good, however my nephew is bright & absolutely fine (he's 5 now) and he had formula from day 1.

*LittleConnie" Don't worry we have all had to learn thiese things. I remember I did not have a clue. The best thing is to get hold of a catalogue like Mothercare and look at what there is on offer.

Sleepsuits cover whole arms legs and feet. You use lots of them the first 2 months, especially if born in September over a bodysuit and under a pramsuit, all in one or snowsuits (These are like trousers and jacket all in one) . Babygros are sort of the same, but sometimes the feet are not covered and you used them to go out, not to sleep. They can open by the front with poppers like the sleepsuits or not. I didn't used more than 2 babygros with my first born. When he was 2 months, he was already quite big and I bought him jeans and jumpers.
Bodysuits is underwear with long sleeves or not and you need plenty of those too. You can buy them in Boots or supermarkets.The basic ones are quite cheap.

RE. the Tumy tub, the material is not toxic for babies and is supposed to be a good transition from the womb. It helps them relax before bedtime. That is my reason to buy it, that and the fact that it is easier to carry it to my room (warmer than the bathroom) than the other bigger bath I have.
Have a look at their website:
64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:ej5YD2OayhAJ:www.tummytub.co.uk/+tummy+tub&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=uk

Eanz
I BF my ds, who was big and always hungry till he was 2 years and 2 months. I gave him purees at 4 months, but I BF at the same time.
It is painful, but worth it and it can be done with support. I had problems last time because he was in the neonatal unit, but managed to do it. I would definately do my best this time as well.

the tummy tub looks cute...but seeing as i haven't touched a baby since 1992 i'm not sure i trust myself around babies and water. i think i'll let my husband take care of that for the first few weeks.

Imoscarsmum - Well I have an anterior placenta and I feel plenty of kicks, but my baby is breach (although apparently to start with a lot of babies are) so this works well as she is kicking low down, where there is no placenta. However I do feel the odd prod high up but it's very rare. The mw yesterday said that later on the baby will be so big that I'll feel all over and certainly will see it too.

i can't wait for the messages about everyone being able to see the kicking ... whats our next landmark?

Starlight -can you really drink and work while bf? Wow, that would be great. I once read an article where a new mum said she gave up bf after 3 months as "frankly, I needed a drink!" - any helpful tips as to how? I'm not a raving alcoholic, honest, but I do miss having a couple of large chilled glasses of vino at weekends!!
My job involves me travelling for most of the day all over the north, so i am worried how I'll be able to bf as expressing may be awkward in a parked car!!

phew, it's taken me a good hour to catch up on all the posts since wednesday afternoon.

lollipop Can you add me as SURPRISE please! Very good of you to have a spreadsheet.

eandz hope your consultant backs down, I'm sure if you stress how important it is to you to avoid a CS then he'll realise that you're not one to be bullied.
By the way, we can already 'see' the kicks. Especially when lying down, DH was watching my belly last night and everytime we saw a kick, we'd give a little prod back - it was loads of fun and made us giggle.

Baby is moving loads today, at one point it actually kicked right into my hand and I thought I felt something 'pop'. Cue two seconds of wondering whether the baby had managed to break free of the sac!

I also have the GTT, had one at 20 weeks and got another at 28 weeks - although I didn't get lucozade to drink, I had a small cup of disgusting warm water with about 5 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in it. Now that is gross!

sunshine v. of holiday. we're going to dorset in about three weeks, as I can't face anymore flights since my mauritius trip back when I was 5 weeks pregnant. got my fingers crossed it's a sunny week.

hopefully my last mw check up she told me to stay nice and boring! I truly hope to continue having a wonderfully uneventful pregnancy.

My braxton hicks are getting stronger. Womb goes rock hard in the morning, then I get them throughout the day by the evening they start to feel a bit crampy. Was wondering if they squashed the baby.