Due May 09 - patta cake, jaffa cake, bakers man bring me a baby as fast as you can!

[Momino]

Here we go....

Spangle - I texted Dandy the other day, no answer... will try again tomorrow..

Phewee, its absolutely POURING here. So much for my day out tomorrow at Kew gardens....

Think I had a nesting splurge today. I dusted, swept, mopped, cleaned kitchen and bathroom, and did all the ironing. Good grief.

belgian, lol, i know what you mean about one handed typing - very time consuming.

i'm rocking harper right now. she seems to be a bit colicky: little tummy making noises, pulling legs up, very unsettled and mostly inconsoleable. bless. last 2 dd's had colic and tried infacol, cranial osteop but they just had to grow out of it.

she's fallen asleep so will try to put her down. hope all are well.

Good Shout Momino re the PND,AND, spirits high here despite the wait. echo your thoughts though, if anyone is feeling low please use us everyone here wants to try and help in anyway.
Sometimes it is much easier to admit you have problems through the internet rather than face to face.

LOL @ Febes you will still beat me

i am 1 handed typing too. S is fast asleep and his basket is here, but i am enjoying a cuddle for now. he has been so much more settled today.

congrats detsy on little archie.

emmabemmasmom- hope your hb is going well.

momino- i havent had and/pnd but was really down after having dd. having 3 dcs seems a breeze compared with those first weeks with just dd. i guess its early days as i might not be so +ve after a few weeks of broken sleep. i thought id made the biggest mistake of my life when i had dd. i still dont enjoy the newborn phase- i see it as something i just have to get through. i will be glad when the first 6 weeks have passed...

i am dreading s getting colic- neither of mine had it although dd was often unsettled in the evenings.

mini I've stopped expressing and had no more contractions so this baby doesn't want to come out yet. Oh well. Hope frazzled and emma are going well for us.

PULA DETSY JENNSTER - very many congratulations. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying cuddling your lo's.

FI so sorry to hear about Douglas .

LADYH I can feel your pain in your post. What is it about bf that turns us into a guilt induced emotional wreck? The lack of supply affected me with dd and I was permanently crying until I started her on the formula, as she was permanently crying through hunger. Plus she didn't regain her birth weight for 6 weeks. With this one, I vowed not to put myself through it again if it showed signs of not working out. Having said that I can be stubborn and determined, so was really hacked off when it was getting too much for me this time. Interestingly, my right boob since stopping bf showed no sign at all of engorgement unlike my left one which makes me wonder if the supply on one side was poor. This time, I have shaken off the guilt much quicker (after a couple of days) but think I still feel regret and shame as I havne't told loads of my pro-bf friends / family that I have switched.
As others have said, you have to do what is right for you - you know in your heart that you have given the best start whatever you choose. I cannot fault your commitment.

MOMINO thanks for thinking of our emotional state. This is really bizarre but I am feeling so normal and alert, which is in complete contrast to when I had dd. I keep waiting for a hideous crash of emotions, but in the meantime I am thankful . How are you doing?

FEBES / EMMA am hoping for news next time I log on. No pressure

Well, tonight is the first night dh is on duty all through the night . Will give lo a feed at c 10.30pm, then hope to get a full night's sleep to c 7am whilst dh sorts him out. What;s the betting I can't sleep as I'm too busy listening for cries!

It's chucking it down here and am in the middle of a thunderstorm...

Belgianchocolates Dandylioness Flippineck Pulapula Jennster Detsy congrats on the birth of your beautiful babies. cant remember where i got to on the cogratulating so just hoping i havent missed anyone.

good luck to those who's babies are coming soon or already on the way!

had midwife appointment today at 37+5wks, everything fine, wee normal, blood pressure good, lo's hearybeat strong, head 2-3/5ths engaged, baby has moved back to back though so hoping he turns around again. bump measured 36cms. so baby seems very happy in there and not likely to be making for the exit just yet

fi so sorry to hear about your dog, hope your feeling a little better now and had some sleep.

anyone having problems with breastfeeding you totally have my sympathy, i know how hard it is, and please dont feel guilty about formula i made the decision to put ds onto formula at 3wks old and it was def the best choice for both of us, we were both so more settled and happy and ds has always thrived growth and develomentally wise. like someone said formula milk is there for a good reason and we shouldnt feel guilty for using it if its best for us and baby.

anyone heard from bantam73 have been thinking about her, hope everythings gone ok and she has lo in arms

to all those overdue now Febes Cloveofhislife Minimenace ReeBee Lazzer (going by list so hope ive not got anything wrong) sending labour vibes your way and hugs i went over with ds and know how annoying it is.

FiKelly and Nauseous happy due date day today

hope blotted 's induction is going well

emmabemma good luck hope everythings going well and you have lo soon.

febes good luck with expressing/induction technique, hope it works, might have to give that one ago myself soon

belgian glad you had a good day today

right i think ive namechecked as many poeple as i can, i hope i havent missed anything important or left anyone one out, i do apoligise if i have sorry.

take care everyone x

oh no! have just noticed that things are happening for frazzled too. good luck to you too.

evening all.
quiet in the house, thankfully H dropped off at 9pm with the aid of a dummy. didn't use one for the other 2 DDs but seems to work for dd3 (as long as i wean her off by 4 mos!).

ladyH, try not to worry about the way you feed LO. as a mum, we can't win and are damned whichever way we decide to feed so let's just ignore the critics and feed whichever way we are comfortable with - as long as baby gets milk! try not to feel guilty.

about PND, reggiee, I'm surprisingly fine this time. i've been braced for a tough time but don't feel as emotional, depressed, hopeless, guilty, spiralling downwards, etc as I did last time. I am checking myself since i know if i 'fell' again it's not my fault (iykwim) and there is help. this is why i asked all of you. wanted to be sure everyone is feeling ok and if not, that there is help/support out there if we need it.

Momino it's good that you asked about AND/PND. It's easy to get so caught up in looking after LO you don't even think about how you're feeling in yourself. I'm fine, I know I'm not getting PND but there are still moments/days when I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. I'm trying to give myself a bit of space to acknowledge what an intense and emotional experience this is & that it's ok to not feel 100% positive all the time.

Hmm, the bedtime 'routine' we'd started for Harvey (bath, feed, bed by 11pm ish) has gone out the window tonight... he's been awake all evening but finally dropped off half an hour ago and I don't want to wake him. We'll see if it makes any difference. It was working quite well - H seemed to be getting that this meant night time & was dropping off straight away after the 11pm feed. I'm definitely not a routine person myself, quite the opposite, & I'm definitely not getting hung up about it, but I feel it's time to gently introduce some bedtime habits. It's weird - I read all the books etc about pregnancy & childbirth and meant to read the baby ones on maternity leave but didn't get a chance, so I'm just winging it. Hopefully H hasn't noticed

Ooops am rambling when I need to be getting some zzzzzzzzz's. Night all x

Morning girls.
Right so, get ready for a me, me, me tearful post from me. But first detsy you are a STAR! WELL DONE, WELL DONE, WELL DONE. I was sobbing all over the hospital cafe where I was sitting with (very embarrassed) DH when I got your news about Archie. Lovely name, can't wait to hear all about it.x x x x x x x x x x xClever clever clever detsy
Apols haven't caught up on the thread yet so don't know if there are any other new ones but will have a read later.

Just to say NO BABY HERE yet despite waters (hind waters it turns out) breaking on Thursday night 8pm and having contractions off and on ever since. Went into hospital to be checked and monitored 9am yesterday and they said hind waters had def gone but because I'd more or less stopped trickling probably not the proper 'forewaters'. Examined me and did another 'sweep' - was a good 3-4 cm, very stretchy, having mild contractions every 5 mins. All looking very promising. Was sent away 'for a few hours' until established in labour and was advised not to go far as it was now likely to be 'very quick'..........erm, oops I am still here and bugger all has happened. Well apart from me not having seen my girls since yesterday morning (miss them like mad) and DH and I pottering about timing my contractions ALL DAY yesterday until they stopped at about 7pm last night. And since then, bugger all (well except the odd one, in fact having one now but am ignoring it). Due today. Very tearful, grumpy, generally upset and fed up of the whole thing. Don't even want to have a baby any more. Just want to get my kids back this morning, stop with all these contractions (bored, bored, bored of being sore all the time for no reason) and get on with my life again.
See, told you I was going to moan.
And not even sure if I should phone the hosp back to ask about the broken waters thing - they didn't tell me what to do if I wasn't in established labour in 24 hours - they basically said it was a certainty that I'd have had the baby by last night (in retrospect very silly of them to say because now I'm feeling like a failure and DH is getting hacked off).
What is they say about a 'watched pot never boils'........and because we had to call in help to pick kids up from school, stay overnight etc everyone knows I'm supposed to be 'in labour' - not - and I'm getting constant 'have you had it yet' texts. Phone is off now as I can't deal with it anymore.

Right, feel better for ranting. I know you lot will understand how I feel. Am off to make a cuppa and read through all that I've missed now. I'll be back later to chat (in a cheerful manner) and promise not to moan or cry any more. x

frazzle rant away.. I'd feel exactly the same! my due date was yesterday and the strong period like pains I had thursday pm have stopped. . back to twinges and twangs. this stage is so frustrating! I think turning your phone off is a great idea.. keep everyone in suspense

Oh Frazz Poor you. You must be so uncomfortable and so fed up. I can't believe the hospital said that, they normally say completely the opposite!

I wish there was something I could say to make it all better.........

Quickly read through the rest of the thread and just wanted to give ladyh a huge hug. I really feel for you having had similar supply issues last time - I ended up breast and bottle feeding for about 4 months. It was fine. However, if you feel you can't continue with the b/f then don't beat yourself up, just make the decision, get out the formula and off you go. I think the amount of pressure put on women to b/f is terribly guilt-inducing and very unfair and despite what we're told NOT EVERYONE CAN DO IT. In an ideal world, yes but formula milk exists for a reason IMO. If you want more help with the b/f and supply issues I'm sure you can probably get it (NCT, La Leche etc etc) but if you feel you can't carry on with it all and you've had enought, and it's making you miserable and stressed I'd say IT IS OK TO STOP. There I've said it. It's such an emotinal subject and I wish I could give you a hug and make you feel better. Hope you have a better day today.
momino hope you're doing fine, the AND/PND thing is a good shout from you. I've never 'officially' had PND but looking back may well have done esp last time. Am def on the look out in case it gets me this time. Great idea to mention it here tho, as someone else said it's easier to be open with 'strangers' as it were.
mini I'm in competition now with you it seems for the worlds longest labour............God and I thought by the time I was on baby no3 my body might know what to do. Can't even bear to think of it at the mo - hope you're faring better
emma good luck, sounds like things happening for you.

Right I never did make that cup of tea so off now. Nobody else up at this hour on a Sat? Sensible people. x

coping a lot better today re douglas.. thanks for all the support and hugs. I'm only blubbing away when I start talking about him now. I got a good sleep yesterday afternoon and last night.. although ds woke at 5.30am today.. urghh.

congrats detsy fantastic news yahoo

oh and fi I did mean to say that I'm so sorry about your dog. We had dogs all through my childhood and it's just so awful when they are ill / die - and especially now when you're about to have a baby and already emotional to start with. Glad you've had a decent sleep. Hope you have an ok day today.

Morning all!!!!

Proud to announce that our baby girl (yet to be named) was born last night, at home, at 9:45pm weighing 6lbs 5oz!!!!

Oh it was amazing! My body just knew what to do and as it was happening I just kept thinking 'oh god this is amazing, oh god this is amazing'. My friend had my family on the webcam in the states so they were able to see us right after. I had no tears or grazes or anything! I am feeling great as well. Baby ? got settled about 2am and slept through until 7 so I got some much needed sleep.

Will post more later, but wow...what an experience!

Thank you as well for all the well wishes. Wish I could post more during labour but yeah didn't really work out lol

emma HUGE congratulations to you! Sounds like you've had a lovely labour and delivery and congrats on your little girl. Am very, very pleased for you.
(but also very )
Enjoy your first day with your LO!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ladyh I agree with everyone re bf. I too had to FF ds as my milk never came in.. I was absolutely devastated about it but ds thrived so in the end I know it was for the best. this time I'm giving another go too. I think you've persisted far more than most would ever have done and deserve a medal. I know I'll be disappointed if bf doesn't work again but I'll try hard not to give myself the major guilt trip.

emmab yay another arrival and delighted it went so well too.. congratulations

it's my birthday today.. if sods law works I'll start today!? we didn't make plans as due date was yesterday so don't know what to do today

emmab so many congratulations, sounds like a brilliant labour

Hang in there Frazz, have a cup of tea and ring the delivery suite to see what they recommend. I thought there was a time limit after your waters break, but then mine have never broken naturally, so I'm talking out of my big fat bum, probably.

Happy Birthday Fi I guess the best present would be a baby

Right off to dispose of DD2's crusts safely (she's acting as though they're unexploded bombs, shying nervously away from them DD1 has only just started eating hers)

I'm still in hospital, bugger all happening. Waiting to see a Dr now to be reviewed and PRAYING they'll give me one more dose of prostin rather than slapping me on a drip. Congrats to Emma! And happy birthday Fi. I'll try and keep you guys posted either here or by texting Grumpy (who very patiently put up with my whining yesterday.)
Fraz - race you? ;-)

blotted sorry didn't realise you were still in.. complete utter pants being in hospital.. how many doses of prostin have you had? have they done the gel yet? it's supposed to be more effective than the pessaries. with ds they did the gel as the final 3rd lot of prostin.. not that I responded to any of them!

Rosie How awful and scary for you thank goodness the girl, you and LO are allfine. Very stressful though. My mum hit a boy who rode his bike out of a drive way in front of her once thank goodness no serious injury as she was going slowly but it gave her nightmares.

Fi Happy birthday glad you are feeling better. Go out and have a nice meal it might be the last one out for a while!!

Frazzled and Blotted sorry things are progressing so slowly. I'm in the same boat but luckily still at home. Hope you hsve you LOs in your arms soon.

Emmabe your birth sounds amazing and I bet you are so glad you decided on a home birth.

Well I had a moment of excitment last night at about 11.30 i thought my waters broke as i felt a pop and a slight gush. Now I'm not sure if it was waters or just a big show. I think probably a show. I then a a few big contractions and then slept for about 45 mins and then woke and had some more huge contractions for about 2 hours. DH got all excited and got dressed I had a shower and then felt really tired so thought I'd just lie down for a bit so DH took off his shoes and we both slept for a few more hours. Luckily DD stayed quiet until 8.40 am so we had a bit of a lie in. Had nothing this morning but I at least feel like things are progressing if a little slowly. I'm off to pick up mum and my aunty in 40 mins. I'm a bit nervous to drive all that way about an hour on the M25 and then an hour back but at least my mum can drive if anything happens on the way back. I don't want to sit around waiting for DH to go and we can't all fit in the car.

emmab huge congratulations to you. You ound so happy in your post!
frazz I really hope things have started moving for you. I can't believe the hosptial didn't tell you what to do in case nothing happened. When my waters went, they said if nothing had happened over night, to call delivery suite in the morning to see about a bed for induction as they wouldn't let a lady with broken waters go over 24 hours without labour starting due to risk of infection. Am sure things are prob moving for you now as you've not been on this morning!
rosie what an awful thing to happen. Poor poor you. So glad all involved ok. Rest up today and remember not your fault at all.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my BF situation. Do feel slightly better this morning. Its not as though I just go cold turkey. It will be a gradual stop over the next few days so I shall feel that I am giving R something and I think I read somewhere that every BF counts so that makes me feel ever so slightly better.

Got my SIL and her kids coming over this morning to admire R. They are a bit like having a whirlwind in the house. They do dote on DS1 and I reckon they'll be the same with Rufus too. And then a trip to town this afternoon. May treat myself to somenew frivolous make up. Benefit are always a good bet and I have some Boots points to use....