Due April 2009 - Chapter 26: Once We Pop We Can't Stop!!!

[SmuttyNuttyTaff]

May the popcorn continue to pop!!!

The baby list...
12 Feb: Skiingone: MARIANNA 4lb 4oz
20 Feb: Glaskham: RUBY MARIE 4lb 3oz
04 Mar: Barbarella: ESTELLA, ROSANNA, OTIS
05 Mar: Kazkiss: ISABELLE FLORENCE 4lb 6oz & OLIVER THOMAS 3lb 7oz
15 Mar: Babypringle: OSCAR WILLIAM 7lb 2oz
28 Mar: Claireykitten: VIOLET ROSE 7lbs 9oz
29 Mar: WhatFreshHell: BABY FRESHHELL 10lb 5.5oz
31 Mar: Mumblemum: ORSON XERXES

Still yet to hatch...

30 Mar : BabyBolat: 1st timer
01 Apr : Rachelinscotland: DD 3 years, and DS 2 years in March
01 Apr : Juwesm: 1st timer
01 Apr : Chickenbalti: DS 4 years DD 17 months
02 Apr : BoffinMum: BOY! dd(21) ds(10) ds(7)
02 Apr : MathsMummy27: GIRL! DD 3 years
03 Apr : purlease: 1 m/c, 1 DD 3 years
03 Apr : Kalikaroo: SURPRISE! (28), 1st timer, lives in Scandinavia (but too shy to say where!)
04 Apr : Bleuravin
04 Apr : Bumpalump
06 Apr : ToastnHoney: first timer
06 Apr : Mummyontherun: DD 22 months
06 Apr : pintofstella: DS 5.7
08 Apr : LuLuBai: 1 DD born 02 Apr 07
09 Apr : Oddeyes (30): GIRL! DS 17 mths, 1 mc. London
09 Apr : Minush
10 Apr : hopeful1
10 Apr : mrsfossil: 1 DS 6.5
11 Apr : Bubbaluv: 1 DS 1yo
11 Apr : SpringySunshine: BOY! 1st timer.
12 Apr : Brettgirl, 1st timer
13 Apr : Dungungirl(30): BOY! 1 m/c, DS 4 years
14 Apr : AuldAlliance: DS3.8 BOY!
14 Apr : Woody2shoes: Second DS
15 Apr : electra
15 Apr : Sarahmum: DS 10yrs
16 Apr : tristaleejac(25): 1 ds, 3 years
17 Apr : Surprisenumber3(32): DS1 9 DSS 9 DS2 5 GIRL!
18 Apr : gingersarah: 1st baby
18 Apr : Lauren61
18 Apr : salbysea: (28) 1st timer
19 Apr : Kittycatisgettingfat (29) 1st timer
21 Apr : B52s: DS will be 2 and a quarter
21 Apr : Staryeyed
21 Apr : Schulte
22 Apr : PuzzleRocks: DD 22mths GIRL!
22 Apr : soon2befamilyof4 DD 13 months.
23 Apr : FatandFedup DC3
24 Apr : conkertree (27): DS 17 months
24 Apr : Bronze (Gawain) - 4th DC
24 Apr : Frekkles
25 Apr : Swaliswan: DD 17 months
27 Apr : Bicnod
27 Apr : Carameli
27 Apr : ilovesummer 3rd dc
27 Apr : purplemonkeydishwasher DS 3yo
30 Apr : Nutty Taff (27) DD nearly 5 GIRL!

Would you take that as a "yes it is ok to use after 37 weeks to help encourage labour?"

Kitty, how annoying!

WFH, can't wait to read your birth story! & see pictures! I bet he's gorgeous & chubby Oh, & I'm not eating sponges!

Nutty, you're missing out without any JML products. At least get something Doktor Powery

at the idea of BB's belly denting the wall / contraction punching.

Ginger, I'm sure you have fabulous boobs & we'd all love to look at them Just don't know how medically valid it'd be, that's all...

I don't know what to advise about either of your problems, really. In any other circumstances I'd tell you to move & live somewhere nicer & cheaper, & let the landlord realise what an idiot he's been on his own time. But then with a very tiny baby, I'm not so sure...

soon2be, I'm not big on religion, but I think I could be persuaded to think about it if I thought I'd be getting such lovely food

I mostly love that 'frigidity' is a medical term...

Lol. I am not hugely religious but our local church is so lovely. We don't often go on a sunday but on a wednesday then have a lovely service for mums and babies/toddlers and always have tea and toast before hand. And as it is straight from the school run time, it isn't even like I have to go out specially!

My tummy has gone rock solid at the front. Do you think it is baby's back lying against me? DD was back to back last time so I didn't really feel her much.

How does everybody feel about labour? I had a crap time last time and it has made me quite nervous to do it again. I can still remember the pain - most people say they forget it all straight away but I had flash backs for months. The contraction pains I am not scred of and have completly forgotten about the pain from them, I did straight away really. But it is the pain of the head crowning and pushing her out that terrifies me! Sorry if I am scaring people, but needed to get that off my chest I think!

Hello everyone, happy sunny April!

Juw, since you're handing out advice, can I ask you something too? When I have to manage DD's fever I always put her on maximum doses of alternating Calpol and Calprofen but I am never quite sure how to space them out / how to time them throughout the day. I have done something like giving her something every 4 hours but is there a better way to do it?

Thanks ever so much for your advice... this is a constant source of worry for me I must admit.

To all those not feeling well / feeling frustrated.... hang in there.... not long now!

And WFH yes please for birth story!

Ginger, if you are still worried, then how about talking to a voluntary organisation about your fears?? Just while you get the medical side resolved.

Helpine here

Breast cancer haven

soon2be - I found the pushing stage quite liberating because I could actually DO something by working with the pain, rather than just breathing through it. Head crowning - I was so focussed on the panting and what MW and DH were telling me to do that it didn't even seem to hurt all that much. Plus, I knew this was it and once the head was out the pain would pretty much stop. And finally, everyone says pushing is much easier and quicker second time round.

Hope this helps.

soon2be, you're not scaring me. I try not to think about it, to be honest. Que sera, sera & all that. I got really freaked out at my NCT thing when she was talking about the perineum stretching over the baby's face. That didn't sound nice. But then I'd forgotten all about pain relief as she was doing that - as soon as I thought 'well I can just have an epidural if it's getting to be too much' I just shoved it to the back of my mind. I think it's easier to do that due to my ignorance than it would be if I'd had a horrible experience, though.

As for the solid tummy, could it be BH, perhaps?

& the church thing sounds really lovely. I've been to a few services (my 4 year relationship was with a vicar's son!) & really enjoyed the sense of community afterwards, even though I didn't believe the religious aspect of the service itself. I have to say though, that I mostly agree with the moral bits, so I never found it too uncomfortable. It was generally a nice experience.

soon2be the other one that might or might not help is evening primrose

Bronze - I am a bit wary of evening primrose and I will tell you why, but I have no idea if this is actually true or not!
Last time, I had the evening primrose capsules. I used them from 37 weeks or whatever. It wasn't till after DD was born and I heard that they can thin the blood, that I realised they might have contributed to some of my issues I had in labor (although minor issues, nothing serious). When they needed to put the drip in my arm, (Bearing in mind I am needle phobic anyway!) it took several attempts, 3 midwives and eventually an anesthetist because blood was just pouring out my arm. I don't know that this was due to the evning primrose oil, but I have never had this at any other time and have had a fair few needles over the last couple of years. I wasn't watching what they were doing because I don't like needles but when they finished the first attempt to get it in, I turned round expecting it to be done and there was blood everywhere, all over the bed, floor, dressing gown, midwife etc. My mum had to leave the room because she doesn't like blood.
Anyway, not saying it was definatly that that did it but it is enough to put me off. I can't think of anything else that caused it.

Hello all

Well it seems I have actually wrecked the bathroom - not sure this was a good idea - in my defense I think the walls are just crap and they tiles straight on to plasterboard which is flimsy but we have whacking great holes if the wall!

ok back to the bathroom wrecking!

Juw you are right - I have cuts and nicks all over me!!!

soon2be - a bottle of jasmine massage oil is on it's way to me now, thanks for the tip, I'll massage it into my bump during labour.
If nothing else at least I should smell quite nice!

BB - wanna borrow my plumber??? He was quite cute actually... and funnily enough, has just had a baby at Epsom Hospital and was telling me all about it!

He's fixed the problem, thank goodness - now just waiting for the MW... then I can go out and get something nice for dinner. I might have to stop past Cook and see what's tasty and frozen today...

ooh so much to comment on-no way i will remember and typing one handed as ds lies on me asleep.

bb-poor you. dh cant be too cross after your crappy mw experience.

we use tots bots which i love and bambino mios which dh likesb and i hate but use disposables too at times and will definitrly for the first few weeks.

ds doesnt have chickenpox - he has an ear infection and threw up his fkirst dose of amoxicillin.

cant remember what else - oh yes the fear since last labour n- i am nervous of the out of control feeling at transition but know what it means this time hopefully

puzzle - i have been taking piriton and prescribed loratidine for ages cause of itching - all fine

website i read said that jasmine oil should only be used in the later stages of labour rather than later stages of pg - think the advice changes so much depending on the website

Thanks Oddeyes

soon2be, I am more scared of labour now that I know what it involves. DH keeps trying to reassure me that it'll be shorter than last time and that having experienced it once I know it's just something that has to be endured. I still have moments of panic and memories of feeling completely overwhelmed.

Have now had several messages from estate agents and landlady, who have concluded I've given birth because I'm not replying or returning their calls. Not sure how long I could spin this out .
I did say to the landlady that just before and after the birth I might need a break from visits (meaning I'd be too knackered to keep the place presentable and to put up with endless strangers traipsing through the house waking up the baby). She seemed not to see the point and offered to come and show viewers round instead of my doing it .

It's very quiet? Dare I say it??? You're not all having babies are you?

Conker - I hate bambino mio too. Bought tonnes when pregnant with DD but selling them all off as I just didn't get on with them. I use them for changing mats though which is fab for letting small babies have some nappy free time. In fact, DD still sometimes sits on one while watching TV (only way to keep her there) when she gets a sore bum. And they are fab for mopping up the water when we spill the cat bowl! lol

My birthing center that I hope to go to does lots of aromatherapy and they use lots of essential oils so will ask at my next appointment if they can recomend any for you lot to get when in labour! They will provide them for me so I only need to buy what I want to use now really. I am going to order a bottle of Jasmine now so I can make myself some nice massage oil for early labour and it says it is good for strech marks which would be fab as I have got LOADS! lol.

BB: is your bathroom usable now? Am very impressed at your undertaking demolition work just before giving birth. Let us know how much time goes by before it gets re-tiled .

Schulte - re: combining paracetamol and ibuprofen - there's not really a better way of doing it, but you could reduce the dose interval to 3 hours.

The main points to remember are:

Paracetamol
To leave at least 4 hours between doses
No more than 4 doses per day.
The recommended doses that you get on the packaging are quite 'general'. When we supply paracetamol suspension for kiddies at work, we calculate the dose for it as 15mg per kg of weight (as long as the child is not underweight/ overweight based on the average for their age) - this gives more accurate dosing, but it does get more fiddly and the risk of giving the wrong dose is higher - I suppose it depends how confident you are at giving meds and how clear the instructions you've been given are.

Ibuprofen
To leave at least 6 hours between doses.
Doses on packaging are usually maximum three times daily, but you can give it four times daily (but no more than 4 doses) as long as you don't exceed a daily max (of 30mg/kg !!!
Again, if you base the dosing on weight, you would give 5mg per kg weight per dose.

There was some recent hoohaa about dose alternating, but I think it was mainly based on the risks of getting confused with doses and the risk of accidental overdose. This obviously becomes higher if you start trying to do mg per kg calculations, with a different dose for each drug! However, it could be worth doing the dose calculation just to get an idea of how close the 'packaging' dose is to the 'ideal' dose.

Worth noting that current guidance is to start off with one drug first, not to automatically start with dose alternating. Theoretical concerns about increased risk of kidney or liver damage when giving both, and I suppose it is just common sense to give the smallest amount of medication you need to do the job!

Sorry - went off on one a bit there. Long and short - you can safely alternate doses every 3 hours! If a fever wasn't coming down on a regime like this, it would be worth checking with GP to see if dose could be increased based on mg/kg. Disclaimer: You should discuss with your GP or pharmacist before giving doses other than those on the packaging! Remember - these drugs reduce the fever but they don't remove the cause of it! Always seek medical advice....etc etc etc

I have just watched Atonement, and was pleasantly surprised. Haven't read the book though. I also have A Mighty Heart to watch - does anyone know if it's any good?

My baby is still not here! Dh is home though, maybe he will take me to the seaside.

well I have given up, my back hurts and my hands have gone rigid from all the banging and it is just depressing looking at the holes in the walls!!

DH is actually OK with it - he rushed home because I missed his call (12 times) and found me not having a baby but stressing out in the bathroom over the now 8 massive holes in the wall and basically said not to worry that it's probably best to just rip the whole wall down and then we can put in new plasterboard and then decorate on top of that - will actually make the end tiling much easier as the walls will be straight and will save a lot of time filling in plaster on the current walls! I have also just looked at wickes and plasterboard is only £5 for a big old sheet so should only cost us about £20-£30 so am not to worried about that - however, I cannot do any more tile removing so DH is going to rip the rest off tonight and then tomorrow I can just bash off the easy bits, sand down the external walls and he will pop the new walls up tomorrow night or Friday.

Bleurgh - RLT has gone cold.

BB - I think you should go in to be induced immediately, or you may not have any house left!

I'm sure I bought some disposable nappies, for when it turns out I can't be doing with reusables, but now I cannot find them. Hmmmm.

Auld, the toilet is useable, the bathroom definitely not. We will be ripping out the suite on Friday for the new stuff to be put in on the weekend so the bathroom wont be re-tiled until next week. I am crazy for doing this I know!!! it seemed like such a good idea at the time...

bb- your dh is forgiving