Due April 2009: Episode 16 - BB's magical cervix dust prevents birthing. But Barbarellys Babies are here !

[SmuttyNuttyTaff]

here, that was close

Oh and I wouldn't know about mixed feeding but you are bound to get some good advice on the breasfeeding threads, plenty of occassional mix feeders around. Or maybe advice on which pump works best. Boff might know.

That's what I had planned to do Puzzle - some balloons, fairy cakes and streamers etc. But it looks increasingly likely that our kitchen won't be quite ready by then. We'll be able to live there, but can't really entertain a gaggle of toddlers with it incomplete.

(or perhaps the collective noun for toddlers should be a 'giggle' or a 'tumble'?)

Schulte - do you have any plans for your DDs 2nd?

I always found pumping more difficult - my boobs wouldn't let down properly unless the baby was there, trying to get the milk out.

Good luck Barbarella !! Will keep everything crossed for you and the babies!

Lots of 3 year-olds have just passed my kitchen window all dressed in snow-suits and in crocodile formation! (very cute) There's a kindergarten type place down the road and they often take the kiddies out to the park near my flat. It's minus 5 degrees just now....good Scandinavian attitude to fresh air here !

(Can't wait for spring to come and all the ice to melt though - getting around is too difficult when the size of a hippo!)

Just looked at those cervix pics - kind of interesting but gross at the same time! Never tried to get to grips with mine (and doubt I could reach now anyway!).

Far too many exclamation marks in my last post...

Yup electra - I did try pumping one boob while she fed on the other, but that was rather logistically complicated.

Realistically the only time I could do it was when she was asleep and spending 40 minutes generating one small bottle of milk when I could be getting on with the loooooong list of other things which needed doing seemed wrong.

A friend of mine recently confessed that she has breast milk in her freezer dating back to her first child - who is going to 8 next month! She can't bring herself to discard it, thinking that if there is some sort of bizarre emergency it will be good nutrition for the kids.

Hey Electra, oh wonderful buddy of mine! I've heard that BH are worse in subsequent pregnancies as your body 'knows' what it is doing.

Typical, I've started niggling away and have diarrhoea again. I also feel incredibly tired but need to keep going to get this bag sorted out. It is horrible to feel like this because I remember feeling like this the day before I had DD. Does anyone else feel like they are trying to spot symptoms of early labour in exactly the same way as they were trying to spot pregnancy symptoms before they got their BFP? I know that I'm only 32+4, but I am so anxious about having another premmie. My MIL understands my anxieties as she had DH at 32 weeks and SIL at 35 weeks.

Aaaaw Kalikaroo that sounds gorgeous.

I haven't managed to get more than a vest on DD yet this morning. And even that is now covered in marmite, so I need to start again. She's in a very 'naked' mood today. Don't know how Scandi mums cope with all the layers and layers needed!

Puzzle, I'm still in pain every so often, although so long as I don't move it tends to be okay It's getting to the point now where I almost just accept it as another one of those things - like the baby kicking so it hurts. I'm trying not to focus on it too much & when it starts to get too painful to ignore it's time to sit down again. By which time it's really quite painful for half an hour or so, but does die down eventually. I woke up in quite a lot of pain the night before last, but took some paracetamol & managed to get back to sleep after a while. It's not too bad.

Kalikaroo, I want to play with those children! Toddlers in snow-suits are the cutest thing ever!

Swaliswan I have exactly the same worries I had last time - that I won't actually know I am in labour. Although last time it was blindingly obvious when I had my first contraction. So I don't know why I fret.

I have found myself googling early labour signs and analysing the patterns of my bowel movements and all sorts of ridiculous things.

The fact is that my bump is still really high up - right under my boobs and still stretching my rib cage really badly - so I really doubt I am about to go into labour.

Lulubai - I like the sound and idea of a tumble of toddlers. It just sounds right somehow.

Finally had an appointment with MW yesterday (first one since 21 weeks!)and it wasnt my usual MW it was a stand in and she was lovely, first thing she did was check my due date and then said right well you are entitled to this HiP grant heres your form get it posted ASAP which since I have been getting myself worked up about not gettting in time I was really pleased about. She quite happily took blood to get my iron levels checked and then said she was going to get my Ferritin(?) levels checked as well becasue that is my iron stores so we can see if my body is actually storing iron as it should as well. She also told me that rather than just taking my iron tablets I would get more iron and quicker by having 2 baby rusks a day so I am from now on going to be happily munching my rusks! THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE NO EXCUSE TO REFUSE ME MY WATERBIRTH!!!!

Hi ladies! I'm lurking today... feeling really good after the first proper night's sleep in I can't remember how long! I've also just received the despatch email from Kiddicare, so will have lovely snuggly baby things to play with shortly... Hooray!

Here's to Barbarelly - Happy Birthing Day! We're thinking of you... XXX

Oh my God, Rusks! I knew there was a reason I'm having this baby! Mmmmm, Rusks.

I can't believe I missed the birthday maths!

So excited for Barbarelly - fingers crossed all is ok and she has three beautiful bundles. Can't wait to see the pics of them snuggled up together

Well mathsmummy - you would have been ashamed of me. After Puzzle revealed that she has same birthday as my DH I got all excited thinking that she might turn 36 on 12/12/12 (3x12=36 - see how cool that is).

But then I realised before posting that she won't be that old. See how crap I am .

i introduced a bottle of formula every evening with ds so i could rest and dh could have a go. Unfortunately my milk started to dry up and ds dropped some weight. I ended up giving him more and more formula as my own supply dwinddled. I think i will still try the odd bottle but maybe not in the first few weeks. I have a concert booked with dh and friends for late june so need to leave baby with mil for about 4 hours. I also didn't get to grips with expressing last time so would need to leave some formula.

[blush} I sound like a great mum, haven't had baby yet but already organising babysitters!

claireykitten. I've read that not to drink tea or coffee while eating as this prevents your body absorbing the iron from the food. If you have a drink with vit c in this helps your body take the iron out of the food. (apparently)

Mrs Fossil - I've got a wedding at the end of May on the other side of the country. They have said that I can take the newborn if I really can't leave it (ie won't take a bottle). But understandably they are trying to reduce the number of kids. If everyone they invited brought all their children they would need to hire a marquee 3 times bigger.

I've also heard tea & coffee can reduce iron consumption. Smoking strips vit C I think.

Lots of breakfast cereals have added iron in them. Also loads of baby food (anyone for a bowl of baby rice?) Worth checking the label on stuff though as loads of foods have added iron. Also have a green side salad with every meal. As it's raw the nutrients are more intact than in cooked food.

mrs fossil hit the nail on the head there. it can be dangerous to mix feed before BFing is properly established because you NEED to feed to keep up your supply. (the more milk that comes out = the more milk you make)

it's a slippery slope if you start topping up too early.

Can I just ask all you knowledgable ladies why my iron being low would mean I cant have a waterbirth because nobody has explained it to me it just keeps getting hinted at?

springy, puzzle, sorry I went for a bath!

It was a bit of a tough time to be honest. I was hospitalised at 27 weeks but they kept letting me out for a few days and the midwives would come every day, meanwhile I was still trying to sneakily go to work (15 miles away)...SO stupid I know.

I was kind of stable on meds but then at 34+5 weeks I went for a scan and baby hadn't grown and hardly any water and placenta looked 'old'. So I was sent to see consultant who took bloods etc and said my kidney and liver were about to fail and I was at risk of a Stroke and I had to deliver within an hour

I had a c/s and then was put in the high dependency room where I was quite poorly for 24 hours.

Ds1 meanwhile was doing great! They said he'd be in hospital until the date he was due and wouldn't cry when born but he was born screaming and was in hospital a total of 10 days on SCBU (they said he could come home after 5 but then he was jaundiced so he stayed in another 5).

He was born end August so should have been in a lower school year than he is and he struggled in reception but has since flown by and is now in Year 5 and in the top groups and an average size for his age.

Was an emotionally draining time but everything worked out fine in the end. Was a bit worried while pg with DS2 but he was born at 40+6 with no probs

Is Kiddicare the best place to buy things in terms of cost efficacy? I am debating about whether or not to buy a vibrating cradle - used it a lot for my dds but this time want as little clutter as possible.

Hi Swaliswan, I am doing what you are doing wrt looking out for labour signs. This pregnancy has turned out so differently from my other two that I'm kind of worried what will happen next!

Hi Electra - kiddicare is very good but check thoroughly exactly what you are getting.

I got a babydan playpen through there. The wording implied that it came with wall fastening attachments (I wanted to use it as a room divider rather than a playpen so this was important). But in actual fact it didn't come with wall clips and you had to contact BabyDan directly to get hold of these. My friend who is a lawyer got 'done' by the same wording and gave them a hell of a time for being misleading. I believe they changed the wording fairly promptly!

So in short check what you are getting. If it is something fairly straightforward (changing mat , toy etc) then usually very good, delivery prompt and they even text you to tell you when it will be delivered but if it is a 'bundle' deal on e.g. a travel system or whatever check thoroughly first.

Electra if you know the brand, model number etc of the one you want search for it on 'google shopping' and see what prices you can find it for (check P&P prices and delivery details too).

Thanks LuLuBai Unfortunately I am out of the loop with baby stuff because my youngest is now 5! I will try that with google shopping though.

Electra - are you me? I live in west mids too and my 3rd was a bit of a shock!

Keep thinking about barb - how exciting!