February 2010: Babies have started arriving...

[woowa]

and here we are...who'll be next?

It's good to get on here and catch up each evening, though I've been expecting more births by now! My LO is quite happy where is for now, that's for sure.
Have had own bit of bad news this evening - my foster brother who has very severe physical and learning difficulties is in hospital with pneumonia 200 miles away. In any other circumstances, I would be dashing down there to see him and support his family. I really don't think it is practical to do so at the mo but feel very helpless and scared. I'm sure the pregnancy hormones don't help, but he is like my little brother and we've been part of his extended family for 17 years. It does sound as if he might be over the worst for now, but I know that one day he won't get over one of these 'blips'.

On a much lighter note, convinced DH of the benefits of MN last night when there was a juicy bit of football-related gossip on here! He didn't really object to me spending hours on here anyway, but is now happy for me to be on it even more!!

Have a good and productive weekend to those of you who want early babies, and a peaceful, restful one to those who are under the weather/hoping to nest for a bit longer yet.

Watch out bethylou. Before you know it, your DH will have a MN log on and will be shoving you off the computer to get here.

Sorry to hear about your foster brother. I am sure that they will understand that you can't really go trekking 200miles when you are so close to your due date. I hope he is better soon.

Congratulations to all new arrivals and very best of luck to everyone who's got a date for induction/cs!!
I am feeling bored....... DD1 arrived two weeks early and somehow I expected this baby to do the same but she can't even be bothered to pretend to engage yet! As she hasn't yet I feel better than I have done in months: SPD very managable, baby low enough to make heartburn less of a problem, and not low enough to cause discomfort when walking, sleeping fine... etc. Wonder if it's easier to just keep baby in? Can I change my mind on the whole giving birth business???
No desire to do any nesting ie. cleaning yet either mainly because it's too much work after having builders in for weeks...
Anyway, enough rambling on Will have to buy that pineapple tomorrow I think...

DD born 23 Jan after 10 hours of labour and a 30 min 2nd stage. 6lbs 11oz. Still deciding on name. She just shot out literally in 1 go on 2nd push and dropped onto the bed as the MW didn't catch her in time.

Had a good birth in water with gas+air. Felt no pain once g+a administered! Before then had TENS machine which is b**y brilliant! If you haven't rented one get one now. I recommend Elle.

TMI warning:
2nd degree perineal tears due to speed of delivery I saw a question earlier on any tips with BW when you have stitches: Simply - don't force anything. Just let it happen, your bowels will push it through when you need to go without you pushing too hard. Esp if you had constipation like I did! (for constipation, lactulose is fab)

And for those of you having trouble with bfeeding in the coming weeks, this link which I came across today has been a real godsend:
www.ehow.com/videos-on_5586_breastfeed.html

Forgot to add...

Good luck with your births in the coming weeks!!

It's been absolutely wonderful having her despite sleepless nights.

Congrats sunangel great news on your little one!

It's 3.20 and I can't bloody sleep !! Grrr.. except I have nothing to show for my sleepless night other than a few 'cramps'.

Fantasic news Sunangel congratulations! Ouch though!!

T4tastic DS Aiden James 17/01/2010 ?weight?
Sunangel88 DD ? 23/01/2010, 6lb 11oz
AngelaCarleen: Poppy Elizabeth, 25/01/10, 5lb 7oz
InmaculadaConcepcion DD Rosie Ines 26/01/10, 5lb 1
Clappedout Induction booked 27/01/2010
Mamaloco c-section booked 28/01/2010
GuernseyFrench induction bookded 02/02/10

Come on GF, want to be adding you to the list next!!

Sorry to hear about your foster brother bethylou, hope he has a speedy recovery.

Hope totally is Ok too...

Poor Totally I hope everything is fine for her and bubs.

Congratulations Sunangel Fizywizzle and FluffyCoo I also think it's pre-labour, and I want my name on this list!

So far I have tried:
-pineapple

• nipple stimulation
• curry

Also aiming to go for a walk this afternoon to see if it speed up the process.

But no sex yet as DH is working long hours now in order to have some free time when baby is here.

Managed to sleep for the 1st half of the night and then woke up at 4am with yet more BH and manage to go back to sleep by 6.30am!! BH are back now every 10mn.

GuernseyFrench - I really hope things kick off for you. However - don't believe all they say about them not being proper contractions if you can talk through them. I have always been fairly able to chat through most of my contractions until literally 8 cm dilated. In fact, when I went in to the birthing centre in labour with my 2nd she wouldn't give me an internal as she said I wasn't in labour as my contractions were only 45 seconds long and a bit irregular. DD2 was born 2 hours later.

Just keep an eye on the length and frequency of them. If they are getting closer and stronger - even if not very painful then they could be real contractions!! Mine were every 5 mins, then 10, then 5,5,15,10 etc and 45 secs long all the way through and I almost left it too late to get to the birthing centre as I was waiting for the magic 1 minute long every 5 minutes - it doesn't always happen!!

sunangel - huge congratulations and hopefully your tear will heal well and not give you any trouble.

I had a look at the link that you posted re breastfeeding, and have to say, sorry, I don't think it is very good tbh. She makes it over complicated, too much equipment, not using a real baby/boob and hampering the baby's natural instincts.

Biological nurturing is what is currently being promoted by some hospitals and breastfeeding organisations for initiating breastfeeding. Obviously this approach is not practical for the long term, but the principals can then be adapted for being out and about.

It is important to be able to recognise feeding cues and allow the baby access to the breast as soon as you spot any of them. You need to be looking out for arm and leg cycling (exactly what the woman doing the swaddling is hampering), tongue thrusting, trembly lip, rooting (turning head, or moving it back and forth). As it shows on the wee video clip, the baby can often start hunger cues before they even wake, so sitting cuddling baby when s/he is sleeping is a great way to get familiar with the cues in the first few days. Crying is the very last cue to happen, so offering the baby the breast long before they cry and become upset will make for an easier time getting latched on, and if the baby latches on whilst being allowed to move freely then the latch is more likely to be correct, and a correct latch will be less likely to result in damaged nipples. Baby is likely to use a head bobbing motion to get the head in the right position, and this must not be restricted. In the more "traditional" breastfeeding holds, this head movement, and the arm/leg cycling can be hampered making it much more difficult for the baby to get a good latch.

Now, I appreciate that this approach may not work for everybody, but it is certainly worth giving it a go in the early days. Cuddling up with baby skin to skin for several days early in is the best way to get things going.

I am by no means a breastfeeding expert, but I am a volunteer peer supporter and many of the mums I have helped out have had success using this method.

HTH

galadriel77 I think you may be right, especially as all my medical history has always gone against the normality!

Have a good weekend ladies and let see who's baby is next

GF - how are you getting on? Good that you managed to get some sleep.

It annoys me a bit when I hear that people have been sent home without being examined, I realise there can be a risk of infection but I'm not convinced by their methods of determining whether or not labour is progressing. I've probably mentioned this before but when I was in labour with DS the midwife wanted to send me home, my contractions were irregular and she didn't think I was in enough pain. My best friend and most importantly, I guess, my Mum both had irregular contractions throughout labour. Also I knew I had a fairly high pain threshold (I have half a dozen fillings, all done without anaesthetic. When I was a teenager I had such a needle phobia I would always prefer to have the pain than the needle). They kept asking me questions when I was having contractions, which I now realised was to test how severe they were, which I would answer although it would be quite an effort to do so.
I refused to leave until they examined me, which they eventually did (after a lot of argument) and found that I was dilating and that DS was in distress so then I got rushed to the doctor led unit. My contractions stayed irregular until he was born, as did the level of pain and how I coped with it, so if I'd gone home I don't know how I would have known to go back in.
I met a woman a few months ago who had been sent home from hospital without being examined first as she had irregular contractions and "wasn't in enough pain", as soon as she got home the baby started to arrive, an ambulance got there quickly and the baby was born a street away from her home.
I don't want to worry anyone unnecessarily but don't be afraid to stand up for yourself if you aren't happy with what is happening.
Anyhow enough of my ranting!

Congratulations Sunangel!

Interesting stuff Mawbroon, I will have a look at that link.

This video is also useful although there are several aspects to it which are not ideal!!

I don't think the number of people in the room would be relaxing!! And also, it is better if the mother is reclined rather than lying flat. It will be difficult for her to watch her baby, and make eye contact (and an alert newborn will be able to make eye contact from that distance)

ktpie - I had exactly that experience. I called the MWs twice asking whether it was time to some in and each time she spoke to me for over 5 mins then said well we've been talking for sometime and you sound OK... just come in when the pain becomes unbearable.

In the end I got my husband to call instead, we went in at 3am. I was 4cm dilated and the MW asked if I wanted to go home (!) Luckily not as 2.5 hours later baby shot out!

All the way throughout I was being told that it would take at least another 14 hours, when I was telling them the baby was close. Prob thought I was high on g+a. Finally, I think it was at 5am they did another exam then realised I was about to give birth in the water then quickly got me out as they didn't have someone to hand to do a water birth. Frantic rush to the room on a wheelchair (with me kneeling on the wheelchair!) then onto the bed on knees.

I have to say g+a is v interesting. Dunno if anyone's had it before but I felt time stopping. we had music playing in the background and when it got to certain stages the music slowed to a single note, then speeded up again.

I had G&A in A&E when they were putting a plaster on my broken ankle.

At first I was like 'oh no, this is horrible, like being so drunk the room spins'. But, the doc told me to keep breathing and I started hallucinating.

I could hear the nurse saying to the doctor 'it's awffy wee' LOL (think she was talking about the bandage rather than anything else ) and then she said 'it's awffy wee, it's awffy wee, it's awffy wee' over and over and over again.

I was then dreaming/hallucinating about going up the artificial ski slope on a sledge, and then came whooshing back down again.

I did hear the doc say 'I'll just manipulate it a bit while she's out of it' and then as soon as they said they were done, I was back to real life in an instant!! Incidentally I had tears running down my face from the pain, but the G&A took it all away.

Can't wait to ever get a shot to try it again.

It's full moon tonight, let's see if one of us will have a baby!!!

Took our youth group to beach this afternoon, 0C and snow! Was hoping the exercise would encourage labour, but nothing happened so far.

Congrats to Sunangel... I'm hoping for something just as quick! Though perhaps not with tearing. I'dheard that water often stopped it and pinned my hopes on that, but clearly not 100% of the time. ouch...

Thanks Mawbroon for the feeding cues paragraph. I'm going to forward it to my NCT group if that's ok? Our teacher said today "did BFcounsellor go through feeding cues with you last week?" I'm not kidding, all the mums shook their heads while all the dads said "yes." We think we must have been having shared pregnancy brain at that point!!! So what you said is a great help!! And I think you can claim to be a slight expert after 4 years BFing - no?!! NCT have been great at describing the biological weaning too, and skin to skin etc . When I'm not grumping i'm really looking forward to having my LO put on my tummy that first time!

GF do DHs not get paternity leave in guernsey? am if not.

off to faf the evening away, despite having tons of stuff to do before tomorrow eve. I'll do it tomorrow!
Night all!

mawbroon - just tried bfeeding again after reading through the BN article. You know what, it worked! been having the most awful time on my right nipple, and just now DD managed to latch on without causing any pain whatsoever.

The videos helped move the pain from a thousand paper cuts to strong pressure. But the article got bfeeding to something enjoyable.

Don't want to put anyone off but I was so unprepared for the post-natal experience, I wish someone had warned me about what to expect. I'd been stressing and mentally preparing for the pregnancy and labour, and those went relatively well. What really threw me was what the pain was like post-natal. I'd only heard from a friend that she was up and about throwing a dinner and cooking for 6 ppl 3 days after birth, and of course there was that French minister that went back to work after 3 days, so I'd expected to be able to get on with things.

The reality was that I had those stitches - in fact it was quite a bad tear, almost 3rd degree but luckily didn't quite make it into 3rd otherwise I'd prob still be in hospital. The first BW was literally worse than the labour experience. And don't mention bfeeding. Papercuts are bad enough normally but imagine having them on the nipples while you work out how to get it right Anyway, hopefully that's mostly passed now

In contrast, pregnancy was a breeze - there's heartburn and difficulty sleeping but those were "manageable" and expected. And labour I found quite enjoyable (!) so much so that I'm looking forward to the next g+a experience hopefully in a couple of years' time, where maybe I might be able to control the pushing and tearing - silverlining from the constipation, actually learning that sometimes if you leave the body to get on with it rather than forcing/pushing hard, things just happen.

woowa - suspect there prob won't have been that much tearing in the water. But I had to get out as the MW looking after me didn't have water birth experience

mawbroon - on the g+a, I actually sussed out the meaning of life.... only forget it again

LOL at the meaning of life on G&A sunangel. Whilst whooshing about on a sledge, I remember thinking 'I have to remember what this is like so I can post on MN about it' LOL Fantastic that you managed to get the biological nurturing position to work for you. I so wish I had known about this when DS was born. I am really looking forward to trying it with this baby. It just seems so lovely and snuggly and restful for both mother and baby. Any other breastfeeding queries, please feel free to post them and I'll do my best to help you out. Do you have Lansinoh nipple cream? Hopefully your sore nips will be healed in a day or so, and if you continue to get a good latch, the pain should subside.

You know what, the post natal thing varies so enormously from the people you describe running about after three days to having the most horrendous time ever and wishing you could die!! And of course all places in between. I truly believe that there is absolutely nothing that anybody can tell a first timer to truly make them understand what it is like - and that included me! It's almost as if the mind just can't process anything past the birth.

woowa - feel free to use what I wrote about feeding cues. Tis a public forum after all for anyone to see. After 4yrs, I would say I am an expert on feeding my ds, but no, not a breastfeeding expert. Just a mum with personal experience and an interest in helping new mums get things going. A walk on a freezing beach sounds lovely. [jealous] No long walks for me for months methinks.

I had a weird hormonal thing going on this afternoon. I was feeling ok about everything, then suddenly, whoosh, I felt my mood plummet. I went for a bit of a lie down and ds was playing in the bed beside me faffing about so I couldn't sleep. He then accidentally managed to knee me in the eyeball and I just burst into tears. Feeling a bit better now after a snooze with him when i put him to bed, and the tea and cake that dh brought me has also helped.

Dh got a few bits out of the loft and I think I was just a bit overwhelmed at having to wash all the baby clothes and get all the stuff from my shopping list, as well as make it to 4 different medical appointments next week and organise all my helpers who are collecting ds from nursery etc. Ah well, I'm sure I will feel better once it's all done....

With my first I clearly remember asking the midwife if I could maybe please take the gas and air home with me...

Hi all!

huge congrats to angelacarleen and sunangel!!

so glad the message got through about the arrival of our little Rosie Ines - I asked DH to post it on my behalf, but he confused threads (understandable!)

We're back from hospital after 5 days - sore and tired but happy (in my case) and tiny but healthy and adorable (in hers).

It was all a bit sudden in the end - 8pm I felt uncomfortable twinges which I put down to a spot of indigestion. By 9.30pm these had become strong and fast. By 10pm I was alternating between feeelings of fever and chills, couldn't talk during contractions and during an urgent bathroom visit, realised I was discharging some blood. Still thought it was a false alarm, but suggested to DH we should get checked out, so he drove us to the hospital.

I was 2cm dilated at their initial examination, then 15 mins later 3cm. She was still in breech position, so the medical team decided to take no chances and wheeled me off for an emergency C section. Those of you who've read DH's blog will know that this was a traumatic time for him (they're not so keen on letting partners into the theatre here in Spain) but I actually felt very calm throughout. Didn't see DD for more than a few seconds before she and I were whisked off separately for overnight observation.

All of this was diametrically opposed to the type of birth experience I'd had in mind, but never mind. At the time I was just pleased she and I were both okay.

Didn't sleep a wink in ICU (too many bloody bleepy machines and auto blood pressure checks!!) and was most impatient to meet my DD by the time they finally started unhitching me from the various drips and stuff ready to be transferred to Maternity.

The moment when they finally wheeled my tiny LO to my bedside was priceless. She was 3.2kg at birth (less than 5lb) but otherwise in good shape. I think I fell in love!!

Anyway, because of her immaturity, breastfeeding is proving an uphill struggle and I'm having to supplement with a bottle (mainly with expressed milk), but the hospital staff have been great at supporting me, giving me techniques etc. to encourage her to suckle properly, so I reckon with perseverence we'll get there. But any advice is welcome, mawbroon!

woova DH is self-employed and the boss, so unfortunately no paternal leave for him but luckily at the moment we are fully staffed and he has managed to organised the rota so they can cover if he is dealing with a...birth

g&a sounds very interesting and fun girls!

Welcome back IC glad to see you're back home and the 2 (+DH) are fine

Aw - IC - sounds fairly traumatic but obviously worth it. Well done to all of you.

I really want to try Gas and Air now! You have me convinced sunangel and mawbroon!