Due Sept 08: Come on babies, 'cause we are running out of space.

[kiskidee]

New thread here.

Daft name cause we only have 4 more before we hit 1000.

imoscarsmum, as one of the posts suggests wait until you're well practised at BF in private before you go public.
Once you're established baby can latch on and you can hold s/he litterally with your eyes closed so feeding is really discreet.
I never had any issues BF my 2 boys in public ever I even fed DS1 whilst pushing a trolley round Tesco with one hand.
The only place I ever got tutted at was in the Drs surgery waiting room and it was by a handfull of pensioners, they couldn't see anything anyway, it was winter and DS2s head was under my ski jacket. Christ, I thought would they rather watch and listen to a poor infant scream and cry with hunger than allow him to be fed? I complained to the GP she rolled her eyes and said to take no notice.
I never discriminated where I fed, babies get hungry and surely its thier basic human right to eat?
All of my nursing tops came from H&M Mamma, fashionable, great colours to choose from and dead comfy.
Large Mothercare stores have really lovely feeding rooms as well as the larger dept stores.

izzybiz I'm so impressed by your energetic nesting! I have so much to do but am going to try to start tackling it now!

imoscarsmum I found the first public bf of ds hard because it just feels a strange thing to do but I got used to it fairly quickly. I'd echo what another poster said, practice at home and then when you first try in public be with a pro-bf mate or someone to chat to so you don't feel too self-conscious. At some point the LO will start to shout for milk and then you'll be too distracted to worry, or that's what I found. It didn't take long to get used to it and like others, I used a modesty-muslin as well. With some tops it's hardly necessary though. good luck!

My ds has gone away for a while with his gps and I was so shattered this am that I managed to dissuade a very determined friend from coming for lunch and I went to bed! I feel so much better, I don't think I'd realised how tired I was.
Felt very guilty though, so much to do......
Had my 34 wk check with obstetrician yesterday. He said all was well.
But is there a standard scan at this point? I thought my 20 week was the last standard one.
biglips fingers crossed for you! Are there any friends you haven't asked yet? People are often very keen to help, but I know it's hard to ask.

hi everyone feel much beter now!! the hormones must have fizzed down kids both came back in one piece and my sis is shocked at how well behaved they have been!!had hair done and actually love it lol got a good hairdresser although it was a bit pricey but tbh i don;t go that often so why not have a treat!sunshine i dread to think what my lady garden looks like too must have a a quick tidy just incase me thinks - although i bet the midwifes have seen some really awful ones! talking about anything like this makes me think of my nextdoor neighbour, she is a lovely woman but she never shaves her pits and always stands with her arms behind her head (you could plait it i kid you not) what confuses me most though is she obv shaves her arms as they are all stubbley just don't get why she wouldn;t do a full job iykwim

mustsleep to shave your arms and not your pits is quite an approach to depilation!

and not a pretty picture for a woman in your condition to have to look at!

hello everyone,
I have had a right week of it!
We have had some bad news my 4yo nephew is going to die very very soon they don't think he has more than 3 days left he has a brain tumor (has had it for 2 years) and there is nothing else that can be done so they have taken all his tubes and shunts out of him and let him go home with alot of morfine to die so I am at my mums house all the time at the min to look after my brother and her lodgers/students so she can be over with my auntie planning his funeral. I feel really bad being excited about the baby being nearly here when the family is going through this, so I am just keeping quiet and not mentioning anything baby related to anyone apart from dp.

Now my pregnancy moan!
I have swollen up like a balloon and I have been itching constantly all over even in my ears, So I got that bad on tuesday night that I rang the maternity assesment unit and they told me to come in so they could check me (this was at 11pm) when we got there (me, dp and ds because dp had to drive and we didn't want to wake anyone to leave ds with them) they were taking bloods and checking me and baby untill 1am so ds was knackered when we got home and dp took the day off so he could help with him the next day.
They said they think I have somthing wrong with my liver and bile levels so they are going to moniter me a bit more in the last few weeks to make sure it doesn't get serious.
Then I have had another appointment with my rubbish midwife who rushed me through because she was running late she only took my blood pressure nothing else as she said I looked ok and she will see me in 3 weeks.
But apart from being swollen and itchy I'm feeling ok.
the hospital midwifes were nice and were suprised I had 6 weeks left and was this big they also checked and babys head is right down now.

Thats my moan over now thanks for listening.
feel free to moan back

I'm now very relieved - MrNC talked to a midwife and PALS have coordinated with various teams, and confirmed there should be no problem with MrNC staying with me after birth.

They will try to put me in a side room if available but do warn that accommodation for him is 'basic' and meals will not be provided!
We've been given the name and phone number of the head of post-natal care, just in case.

Much, much happier now. And only one more day of work! Then I can sleep 16 hours a day with a clear conscience.

Was feeling very low a couple days ago with Squirmy being a right earthquake and I was worried he would burst out Alien-style or just fall out in labour - but he's now calmed down again after two days of madness. Possibly even head down. But can't say I like these period pain things.

bogie - sorry to hear about your nephew. Hope your itching calms down soon, too.

bogie..very, very sorry to hear your sad news.

Gosh bogie, I am so sorry to hear what you and your family are going thru at the moment. Sending you big hugs.

I have heard about that liver problem but dont know alot about it. I am sure someone will be along to put your mind at rest soon.

carrieon It was great to catch up today, your dd is gorgeous and so well behaved.

bogie really sad to hear about your nephew.

notcitrus good to hear that MrNC can stay with you, that must be a weight off your mind.

I was just coming on to have a minor gripe -and i'm sure its not just me. DP has been unusally helpful mowing the garden and strimming it etc, but then I am left to get on with dealing with a tantrumming toddler. TBH I think it would be far easier for me to have done the bloomin' garden and he sorted out DS. At least the mower doesn't kick my tummy, slap me, scream and run off in the opposite direction. .

Its called obstetric cholestasis bogie and there is some degree of debate amongst doctors over whether it consitutes a problem or not....very uncomfortable though.

bogie - im so sorry to hear about your nephew .

Just had MIL on the phone. She is lovely, but a tad prone to the TMI. In trying to reassure me about labour, she has just gone into detail about how during birth of child 3, she had the most fantastic orgasm of her life...

She was also a bit upset because she just met SIL3's new baby and SIL3 had a go at her for getting chocolate on the chairs last time she visited. Apart from the fact she didn't, this just makes me more wanting to see SIL3's reaction once her ds becomes a toddler... and if he's a miracle baby who never makes any mess, we'll just have to bring his three cousins round!

Oh bogie I am so sorry about your nephew, I know how awful it is

After my niece contracted pneumococcal meningitis, she was transferred to our local childrens hospice for her final hours.
everything was removed and she passed away in her daddys arms tucked up in bed in her Pj's.

We all said our goodbyes, it was the most painful thing I have ever done, but at the same time so peaceful and beautiful.

My thoughts truly are with you at this time, my SIL was also 30 weeks pregnant when her Dd died

We are all here to listen, I ahd a liver complaint with Dd but it wasn't choleastis, it was fatty liver of pregnancy, no itching, very rare.

Hope its all sorted for you soon.xx

Bogie really sorry to hear about your nephew .

I had the fright of my life at dinner time today Ds choked on a bit of chicken he went blue i just turned him upside down and wacked his back it felt like ages before it flew out of his mouth after it came out i felt so sick and faint.

ive tried everywhere to get a small moses basket matress the ones in mothercare and babiesrus are to long but ive managed to find one online with john lewis and its free delivery

Just got to pack my hospital bag now then im already for this baby to come out

Im really looking forward to the meet up next week

bogie sorry to hear your awful news

meglet it so reasuring to hear that someone elses toddler is performing to..i'm not alone!! mines pushing constantly at the mo feel awful as he's just gone to bed without his story...he loves his story, but he was given choice or consequence and he chose consequence unfortunately.....why do i feel so awful now

Bogie's and izzy's stories certainly put our gripes into perspective doesn't it? Wishing the best for your family bogie.

Izzy so sorry to hear about your neice, my ds had pneumococcal meningitis at 8 weeks but luckily we caught it earily enough (because my cousin had died of meningitis a few years before we knew the symptoms and rushed him straight there) it is a horriable horriable disease and so so quick that you have no time to prepare yourself.
We all knew for the last 2 years that this day was coming so that helps, but it is still so so sad he is lovley little boy but it will be a relief to see him stop suffering so much.

We had DD in sleepsuits until she outgrew newborn (which was a few weeks - I mean the "up to 11 lbs" newborn - she was too big for the "up to 7lbs" ones when she was born! Until she could at least hold her head I didn't want to be messing about with t-shirts etc - sleepsuits are great as they do up the front (if you get the right kind).

Breastfeeding in public - I did lots of this! I just decided that if she needed feeding I would quietly get on with it and try to be as discrete as possible. I bought breast-feeding tops which really helped as no one saw anything. I also carried my little NCT breastfeeding pillow everywhere which also helped enormously. I have fed in a couple of restaurants, in a motorway service station while eating my own meal with one hand, in cafes and even on a park bench! My best tip however is Mothercare - they have a great baby area with feeding chairs and a separate changing area. If in town I would always go there to feed - no point feeding in public just for the sake of it. But I refused to do in in toilets so if there was nowhere suitable I'd just do it where I was. No one has ever said anything to me and I intend to do the same again. I think being discrete about it is the key - no need to give people a reason to complain!

Bogie so sorry to hear your news

biglips I had a peek at your thread. It is soooo wierd - no one cared in my 1 st preg that the baby looked a bit big, I saw the consultant and she was like oh well scan's are often wrong. He turned out to be 12 4! I 'm afraid in my case it was not a natural birth but I did not go into labour so I don't know if this was due to size or not.

In my second preg no one gave a monkeys either and they agreed to let me have a vbac with no additional growth scans- he was a mere 10lbs but again no labour so ELCS.
this time in a different hospital they are really into serial growth scans but it will make no difference because it will be a planned CS! does not seem very logical to me!

so I suppose what I am trying to say is hospitals and individual midwives/docs really vary in their thoughts on this matter so try not to let it influence you that they think it could be a big baby, they could be wrong and even if they're not it doesn't mean you can't push it out. focus on getting babes in a good postion - I think that is much more important.
and remember Billy connolly was 13lbs and delivered naturally on his mum's kitchen floor!

ooh and breastfeeding in public - just think of all those overweight blokes who wander around with no tops on and no apparent shame and compare that to the naturalness of giving your baby some nosh. always worked for me. I preferred to be as discreet as poss but did it anywhere and never got a dodgy comment. But I do agree wholeheartedly with the practice at home first idea - it takes a while to get smooth at the whole thing and of course embarassment makes it even more awkward.

I suppose wandering around half naked is not unnatural as such but yuck! breast feeding is lovely!
(I think I better shut up now and go to bed)