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

[Momino]

Here we go....

ladyhelen - i was just about to post and i see you've just posted yourself. I wanted to say don't feel guilty about winding down the BF and increasing the FF. R will have gained a massive amount from the colostrum in those early days which is the most critical bit and you can't feel guilty when you have made such an effort with the expressing. I gave in last night and S had a drop of formula (as my milk hadnt come in and nothing was helping him settle). Think the milk is coming in slowly (no engorgement yet).

Better go- S is waking

aaagh... lost another long post.

Is it just me or has MN been really unreliable over the last couple of days?

will retype. grrr.

(No news though!)

Congratulations, emmab. What fab news and lovely to hear about a positive birth experience.

Happy Birthday, Fi! Hope that you do or don't get a baby for your birthday depending on what you prefer!

frazz, blotted, how frustrating for you both. Kepp your chins up, at least you're kind of making progress. Frazz, I also think you should call labour ward as it's been over 24 hours since your waters broke and they start to worry about the risk of infection.

Febes, good news re things starting last night, have my fingers crossed for you and hope everything keeps going.

Rosie, what a horrible thing to happen to you yesterday. I know firsthand how traumatic it is but I am also 100% sure it wasn't your fault and there was nothing you could have done. The same thing happened to me 5 years ago - 300 miles away from home, just set off on my own to go home (a 6 hour drive...) from my grandparents' house after having been at my nana's funeral; was crawling past a school bus and a young boy ran out from in front of it into the side of my car. I knocked him over and even though he wasn't seriously injured I was inconsolable. However, like you everyone around said it was in no way my fault - and clearly it wasn't yours either. The main thing is the everyone involved is - thank god - ok. You'll get over the worst of the shock in a few days, and start to feel less wobbly soon I promise. Just go easy on yourself for a few days; put your feet up a lot.

Emmab huuugggeee congratulations to you - well done girl! It sounds like you did a great job at home! Plenty rest now I think. Can't wait to find out her name.

I had an awful day yesterday - I was drivingin the car with DH and I hit a schoolgirl who ran out from a parked car.

Luckily I was only doing about 10miles an hour, and she is absolutely fine, just a bit of concussion. But it was horrible, she just hit the side of the passenger side wing and bounced off it. She is about 8 or 9. I was in shock and distraught,crying my eyes out.

we went to the police and made a statement then i went to A&E to get checked out - where we saw the girl with her parents, they were all worried about me and said it hadn't been my fault. the girl is fine, thank god.

I just have a neck strain from braking, and then went down to triage in maternity to get checked out - turns out they were having a busy night and we had to wait until after 10pm to get a monitor on me. Thank god the baby is fine, well down and head engaged and lots of movement and good heartbeat. So we didnt get home til around 11.30pm last night. Fortunately my SIL picked up DS from nursery and took him overnight. I just feel washed out today - the fright of what could have been is terrifying.

FiKelly Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you I saw a ... blah blah okay totally inappropriate I won't finish. hopefully made you laugh though.
maybe you will get the best birthday present ever today.

I'm hoping for the same as it's my birthday on Monday, although an early birthday present would be preferable !!

EmmaB'sMom WELL DONE - So happy you got your home birth too - sounds amazing.

Frazz feel for you - {hugs} I've decided to sit back today - enjoy the peace and quiet (DS still with Grandma and Grandad and is as happy as can be) and thinking to myself well it has to come out sometime, one way or another so I will just wait and see what happens.
I'm knakered after the trek DH dragged me on yesterday afternoon. So from now on I'm giving up all forms of labour inducing techniques - as all rubbish so far. If anyone else tells me to eat a hot curry I'm going to punch them.

Blotted hope something happens for you soon too.

Rosie gosh that sounds like a horrible ordeal for you - hope your neck feels better soon.

Febes you are brave going all that way alone having had contractions last night. I know I couldn't do it. hope you get there and back safely.

rosie how awful.. i'm glad to hear that all of you involved are well although not surprisingly pretty shaken up. Rest as much as you can for the next few days...

I think i've decided i fancy going out somewhere for tea and cake later today. Just trying to work out which of our lovely local places will have the best selection of cakes for me to choose from. I don't mind the prospect of going into labour today... but ideally would choose it to start after ds has gone to bed tonight. So maybe i'll suggest some induction action tonight to dh... he'll think it's his birthday as there's been hardly any action on that front for some time!!!!

Rosie, my heart goes out to you. i hope you're feeling better from the shock. glad you, baby and girl are all ok.

Fi, hope you have a great birthday .

emmabsmom,congratulations! sounds like you had a great birth, am so pleased for you. can't wait to hear the name.

I'm so impatient today. Harper is taking over an hour to feed, sigh. because she slept on/off the 2nd half of the night, she's tired so keeps falling asleep on the job. i'm able to wake her to try to finish but she falls asleep again.

BF can really be a chore IMO. that's why, ladyH and others, you can't feel bad about your difficulties and moving to FF. it's not an easy thing. Harper is quite 'robust' and has reached her birthweight so we don't have weight issues at the moment and can see how we get on with it. but it's so timeconsuming. i can only do this with DH home to amuse the other DD's. we'll see what it's like when he goes back to work.

has it stopped raining in your area? it didn't stop yesterday. lovely british weather .

Fi incase you didn't get that I missed half out it should have said.

Happy Birthday to you Squashed tomatoes and stew, I saw a ...

momino we've a blustery overcast cloudy with drizzly spells day today... yesterday was really wet and wild. I have pea plants on my kitchen window sill desperate to be planted but it's just been so awful weather wise for me and ds to go out we've not had a chance.

I remember the being stuck on the sofa bf for ages and ages bit.. having to tickle ds's feet/ears to keep him 'at it'. Your milk is in properly now i expect so this could be the first of the growth spurts?! or maybe you're just being used for comfort sucking?

DS used to fall asleep while i was bfeeding in the early days but i think it had more to do with my lack of supply combined or maybe a latch problem? it was hard work and wore him out trying to get the milk out of me i think.

Congratulations to all of those who have had their babies. It is so hard to keep up with this thread now, in between nappy changes, feeding, sleeping!

Hopefully I've managed to catch most people via facebook.

George is doing well and is a much better sleeper than his brother ever was. We are co-sleeping though which I was too scared to do with DS. The big test comes next week when DH goes back to work.

I hope everyone is well.

llareggub- I am co-sleeping with S at the moment too- i get very scared about it, but after trying to settle S at 10.30 in his basket, and again at 11, and then having an over-tired hungry screaming baby who couldn't settle until after 2am, its the only way we get any sleep at the moment.

I am ready to start the post-natal thread- if no-one objects, how about something like

May 2009 - loved-up new mums and/or sleep-deprived zombies this way please

Laptop low on juice so might not be back until later this evening. Got family visiting this afternoon.

Gaahhh I leave you alone for a day and a half, and there's so much to catch up on! Will try my best but sorry to anyone I miss...

So frst, congratulations detsy and emmab!! Another quick delivery detsy - I so hope I get one too when my turn comes round! And emma it sounds like you had a great experience, so happy for you and looking forward to hearing more about it.

Frazzled and blotted how frustrating. Do rant whenever you like, it's what we're all here for! I hope things get going properly and you have your babies SOON.

Really glad to hear that you're home divedaisy. I hope it's good to be back and Sofiah is settling in well! Sounds like you've baoth had a tough time of it so am crossing fingers that things are nice and calm and you can settle down together now.

Fi HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And so sorry about your dog. What horrible timing. Glad you are feeling a bit better now, and I hope you have a lovely day.

Rosie how awful for you. So glad you, baby and the little girl are ok. I have nightmares about that happening every time I get behind the wheel at the moment, not sure why but very very glad to hear that things weren't worse for you.

spangle about talking to Harvey non-stop, I rememer doing that with dd when she was little. I think it's lovely!

Momino good idea to ask about the PND/AND - one of the reasons I love this thread, we can do such a good job of looking out for each other. I have recently been thinking that my AND has totally lifted over the past few weeks, apart the odd moment of panic about dealing with 2 dcs but surely that's normal. I think circumstances were also really difficult when I was struggling but things are much much better now that I am not working and we are moving back into our house from FIL's (tomorrow YAY!). I have been wondering about PND but suppose all you can do is be alert for it and deal with it if/when it happens. Glad to hear that you are feeling alright this time round, and hoping that things continue well.

pula yes dreading colic too, I do hope your little S doesn't have it.

Looby I hope your trip out went well and the scar heals well soon. Holiday sounds fab - we have booked to go semi-camping (in a chalet on a campsite) when ds will be 3 months - as others have said, by 5 months you'll be fine, much more settled and in a routine, plus not having to worry about solid food for Matilda yet. Enjoy! And I am not thinking about grumpy's caravaning experience, eerily similar to mine but obviously I chose to ignore that when booking the whole thing...

And finally hi llareggub! Glad to hear cosleeping is working for you. We never did with dd (too nervous) but am gearing up for it with ds, as I reckon with a second dc it helps everyone get more sleep. Will be crossing fingers for you next week when your dh is at work.

Well I will probably be offline for a couple of days as YES we are moving back into our lovely renovated house tomorrow!! Dh there now trying to get it in order, lovely man. Our builders will be there on and off through next week too which is why I might not get a chance to post much but I am just SO happy that we will be there before I go into labour and can settle in (sod's law says I go into labour tonight of course ). I was there yesterday and it is just so different and so much better. Anyway, best wishes to all having babies in the meantime, or impatiently not having them! Sorry for not namechecking you all . Will be back when things calm down a bit...

Btw one of the first things I am going to do when unpacking boxes that hae been in storaage in the attic for a year is find my breast pump, ready for when I want it! V impressive work there emmab!

Wow that was a long one! Sorry!

Hi all. Back at home after monitoring in hosp this morning. I phoned them at 8 am and they said that the midwife who had assessed me yesterday had been worried about me all night and was just about to phone me to ask me to come back in. They are STILL not 100% sure my waters have gone as I hadn't lost anything much since yesterday (on pads) - apart from gunk obviously. Did a speculum (nice) and wasn't sure if she could see trickling or pooling or whatever or not. However, just before I got in the shower this morning I had a small contraction and water ran down my legs so they are guessing on a hindwater leak.
They have a rule of 24 hours from waters breaking before induction (and I'm well over that now) so took my temp (much higher than yesterday) - 37.2 and pulse - 98 (again yesterday was 84) and then got worried I might be 'brewing' an infection. Was offered to go on list for induction this afternoon - although labour ward is full so are no beds for me. I said no anyway as don't want to be induced if can avoid it so was sent home with a thermometer and told to take pulse and temp every 4 hours and phone in the results. Have to go back for more monitoring this evening at 9pm so no early night for me.

Currently sitting on my bed with my norks out using my breast pump to induce more contractions - midwife said she has no idea why I'm not in full labour as was contracting again on the monitor this morning and 4cm yesterday. Don't know why either but have constant stabbing pains in fanjo currently and strong tightenings again. Was quite relaxed about no induction until a friend phoned and told me a horror story about her friend who the same thing happened to whose baby got meningitis as a result of her brewing infection and not being induced quick enough - the baby almost died and is still 'not right'. DH is now panicking so I've sent him out for the afternoon to see some of his friends (and get him out of my hair).
Anyway sorry, long and boring story. Am very hacked off.
Someone tell me some good news please?

(oooh, I did get text from detsy again this morning saying she's coming home this afternoon and all fine). Can't wait to hear all her news and the full birth story. Hankies and waterproof mascara at the ready!

rosielady - oh you poor thing, what an awful thing to happen. I hope you're ok, sounds as if the little girl is fine - am more worried about you. You must have been very shaken up - take it easy.x x

mini very sensible to enjoy peace while it's on offer. Me too - am now refusing to answer the phone or return text messages. am too grumpy and it's pointless - can't be bothered to talk to anyone [grrrr]

blotted Well I'll agree to a race if you like.....but reckon you'll beat me to it! Good luck x

More contractions here now but am IGNORING THEM until they get so bad I want to push otherwise they'll just go away again and I"ll explode. God, am a miserable cow this afternoon. Mooooo.

oh fgs I meant to say HAPPY HAPPY B'DAY TO FI. Hope you get a lovely little cuddly birthday present very soon. x

hi just a quick one. glad some of you are saying you're feeling ok with regards to PND/AND. Being a mum is the toughest job i've ever had (beats the project mgr i used to be!) - physically and emotionally.

i must admit to calling on MN (ie, you lot ) so much more this pregnancy than the last one. maybe because i was still in such a low place and chatting with friendly, objective people with same due date month really helped. i'm so grateful for your support and advice through all this [wipes tear from the eye].

Hey momino - Hear, Hear to that. This thread has helped us all I think - I too am so grateful I found it!
[also wipes tear from eye and sniffs]

So true momino. DH thought I'd lost the plot completely when he found be crying over Spangle's birth story. All of the other stories and announcements brought a tear to my eye but Spangle was the first and I was amazed at how much a bunch of words on the screen had come to mean to me.

Bet you are all a load of hairy arsed truckers called Dave really.

Anyway, I've just had a snooze (bliss) and I am about to eject myself from the sofa to take the washing out of the machine.

Hi I'm back with Mother and Aunty in tow. My aunty is already driving DH mad so it could be a longer few weeks but I'm loving it and aunty has taken DD for a walk up town so its nice and quiet here now.

Momino You speak the truth. The ladies due in May are very cool.

llare oh no! the secret is out 'my name is dave and actually i've been growing a major beer belly' LOL

llareggub, lol at 'hairy arsed truckers...'

my DH thinks it's amusing that i spend so much time on here. i think he's also a little as he doesn't get as much attention. poor man, he does deserve more.

frazz, what a palaver! Sounds like you are progressing but how v frustrating. Fingers crossed the ctx you're having now will be the real thing and you'll go into hosp for 9pm and come home with a baby.

If I'm a trucker, can I be one with slightly weird 80s artwork on the back of my cab and some random slogan in italics?! You know, a picture of a lorry next to a laydee riding a horse with doves and stars all around.... called 'Winged Beauty' or some other tat? That kind of thing never fails to amaze and amuse me in equal measure! (I mean, really, why would anyone?!))

Been for a pre-emptive nursing bra fitting today which was painless if a bit inconclusive. Got a black one, a white one and a hotmilk set (yay; there goes the rest of my HiP grant!) all in slightly different sizes; the sizes really vary from bra to bra (even within the hotmilk ones). Anyway, I can take them back if our guestimates are all wrong.

Right, am now crossing my legs and refusing to contemplate baby arrival until midnight tomorrow night. As still have no signs at all, doesn't look like it'll be an arduous task!

PS Have I thought about the trucker thing too much?!

Just wanted to pop in and say Happy Birthday to Fi and congrats to Detsy and Emmab!!

I've felt pretty low today - think its the an accumulation of a week with little sleep and the fact that the house looks like a bombs hit it! I'm a little of those who are nesting as I didn't get to finish mine!

Anyhow Frazz hope you have your lo tonight!

Hello folks. Not managed to read anything. This is purely selfish ME post. I've sore nipples. I know what to do but lo isn't behaving and opening her mouth enough. I'm seeing a fellow BfN helper tomorrow. Just goes to show, even 3rd timers who have bf successfully twice before get problems. Milk is nearly in so hopefully everything will get a little easier soon.

Oh and I am farting for blummin medals. They absolutely STINK. I have done my first poo so not that brewing. I guess I'm just not eating my usual healthy diet.

Good luck to those brewing, waiting, hatching. Happy birthday to mummies and babies.