February 2010: Babies have started arriving...

[woowa]

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

absB my birthday is 20th Feb too! But I'm due on the 11th so i really really hope we won't be having to eat curry by the 20th! I would like to meet this LO asap now, as it's measuring a healthy weight and I'm nearly 38 weeks...

Struggling to believe there are two people on here with broken ankles operated on the same day...are you sure you're not the same person!!?? I hope both your babies stay put for as long as possible to enable you to recover and have nice active births.

xx

LOL woowa. The days might be long and boring sitting with a broken ankle, but not so boring that I need to post to myself on MN

Just having a wee sit down after starting making the tea. Who knew that chopping and frying up a few veg, setting the table, folding up the washing from the drier and making a salad was so exhausting......

LOL woowa has anyone seen mawbroon and catinacast in the same rooma at the same time?!

Real shame and hugs to all those with breech babies who will be having CS. I've read (in Ina May, etc) that it's possible to give birth vaginally to a breech but you'd need a MW experienced in vaginal breech births and there probably aren't too many of those about. Well, whichever way your LOs come out, as long as they and you are safe that's what matters .

GF any news?! So hoping for a birth!!

I'm torn between wanting baby out and wanting him/her to STAY PUT until due date at least (a fortnight today, woo!). The only reason I want baby out is because I CANNOT SLEEP and it is making me stressed, tearful and soooooo frustrated. Being tired doesn't help, yesterday I was exhausted from three nights of barely any sleep and STILL lay awake for three hours before dropping off . It must be hormonal; it's driving me mad.

Other than that, I still have things to get, things to do and LOTS more relaxing to do (why do I seem to spend my time haring about like a legless chicken, yet never get anything done?!) so I'd be happy with another fortnight in utero.

Are you all being really good at doing your pelvic floor exercises? I remember about once a week . Tell me I'm not the only one.

(Oh flyingcloud I hadn't thought of the rasberry leaf tea but I've been drinking that for a fortnight and that coincides with the bowels so I guess that is the culprit! Thanks!)

I'm quite about having to have the section - especially when I'd been working so hard at my pregnancy yoga exercises and drinking copious amounts of raspberry leaf tea. I suppose I was quite looking forward to a natural delivery (to be honest I've probably over romantisised it!). Am currently wavering between putting on a brave face and crying my eyes out, poor DH feels helpless (to be honest I think he's a bit relieved that he doesn't have to watch me go through the pain of labour) but he's trying his hardest to calm me down a bit.

I'm sure everything will be fine, I'm just worried about the recovery after and not being able to enjoy my baby. I really want to breastfeed as well so I hope it doesn't effect that too much.

The consultant did mention vaginal delivery (I think just to be informative rather than 'cos he was advocating it) but to be honest I would never forgive myself if my desire for a natural birth caused any harm to my baby.

Thanx for the kind thoughts.
x

lol at thought of mawbroon posting to self because so bored, what with DS to look after and everything!

God. I wish it wasn't true! Although fair to say we probably haven't been seen in the same room at the same time. The midwives think it's hilarious so they'd seriously wet themselves to find there were two of us!

I know a doula who specialises in breech if you're interested in paying for someone and live north london!!!!???? I know... long shot.

fizziwizzle We're both still here.

The mw reckons that it's early labour and to contact her if the cx get closer or I've a show or water break,,,

So I need to wait and see. This'll teach me patience

catinacast - poor you! I am amazed that you and mawbroon are in the same boat, and it's not even like yours was snow related. You are both very brave and I have huge respect for your coping skills.

angelacarleen - poor you too - sending you very un-mumsnetty hugs - as I think you are being brave too, and pragmatic. I find it hard enough to cope with minor day to day problems now that hormones are raging and lack of sleep is taking over, so that things like spilling milk and dropping the flour pot tip me into tearful rages, so you have my respect to.

GF wheeeeerrreeee aaaaaaaarreeeee yoooooouuuuuu?

Good evening folks! Well I'm feeling a little dispondant (spellt right?). First my DH is having quite a few problems at work and OF COURSE it's natural that he should be sharing them with me - I wouldn't have it any other way - but a little selfish part of me just wants to bury my head in the sand and not feel worried during the next few days. Oh well, I guess that's life, right?

Second, I had my MW appointment at the hospital today. Everything looks great and the last batch of lab tests were good which is fab news. What is less fab is that my MW believes this baby of mine will not arrive before or on my EDD of 30 Jan, but probably 1st or 2nd Feb as my other two arrived late and also because my cervix hasn't budged one jot. Plus she firmly believes it will be a 4kg wonder just like my DD (who is skinny as a rake now) . So at 40+3 weeks I have to wait for another week. Hmmmm.....Anyway at least it fully justifies my desire to join the February thread apart from the fact that you all seem lovely.

Oh Lord I was nervous excited before the appointment about the birth now I'm really sh bricks!!!

I hope everybody is well and happy.

Was about to post to say that SPD (pelvic girdle pain) has stepped up a gear and is driving me slowly mad, but then read about cat's ankle and AngelaCarleen's breach and feel have no grounds for complaint really - wishing you all well.

Really can't pick DS1 up now so having to coerce him loads (i.e. resort to bribing when all else fails and we're going to be late/I'm going to lose the plot with him!!) It's suddenly hard work and I look like a rubbish parent as he seems to have worked out that I can't do a lot about it and he is completely ignoring about 90% of my instructions!! Plus, I can't run after him when he runs in the opposite direction in public so we might be stuck indoors for a couple of weeks till the baby makes an appearance. Am booking myself in with the physio. Hopefully, even if they don't see me in time beforehand, they will have me on the books to sort me out for when the baby has arrived. I only finished physio after DS1 in June!!

Am wondering if nesting is real or just because mother in law will stay here while I'm in hospital. Either way, now have very clean window frames and cooker!!

Wishing you all a comfy evening and night ahead.

bethylou, there's nothing quite like MIL coming to me clean up! otherwise she cleans, which makes me feel utterly awful. The exception will be when she visits after sproglet born! i won't be cleaning then!!!

ooh, just noticed thesev wacky characters... , [bbiscuit], etc!

oh, [bbiscuit] doesn't work.

Catinacast and mawbroon.. hope you both get the casts of soon.. huge respect to both of you.

Angela.. sounds like your little one is footling breech if the feet are dangling down, my DD was footling, and csection. The csection shouldnt affect you breast feeding at all..

Saw MW today, baby is now 2/5engaged, so he is working his way down.. which both MW and I are shocked at as subsequent babies dont genrally engage.. and boyt can I feel it. The piles are reducing which is good. Sorry if TMI.
I have a scan in the morning so looking forward to that . DH has informed me that I have to repack my hospital bag as havent re done it since getting home. He wants it done tonight and put back in the car so Ihad better get it done just in case..
Take care all x

Feels like the baby is trying to get out of my belly button... Obviously no signposts in there to show the way.

Hello ladies. Had my scan today at 35 + 4 and the baby weighs 7lbs!!! and I have another month to go... so this baby is bi-ig! Has anyone else got a big baby??? Turns out DP was 10 lbs when he was born so better start taking that perineal massage more seriously

The good news is that the placenta has moved up and the baby is big and strong... also DP and I had a full tour of the delivery suites, labour ward and post-natal ward. Everything was really calm, we were so impressed! AND more importantly, the midwives, consultants and nurses were all super friendly. I was expecting Victorian style chaos and lots of noise but it really wasn't like that at all, so feel much better about having a hospital birth

woowa I can't believe we share a birthday and are in our last month of pregnancy! That is fantastic! TBH I didn't think I'd make it to my birthday as really thought I'd started labour on Friday night, turned out it was just serious BH...

Mawbroon and Catinacast I am SO IMPRESSED with you both... are either of you at Queen Charlotte's in London? I saw a pg lady in there a couple of weeks back with crutches, leg in a cast and she looked so miserable! I really felt for her... I also saw another pg lady in there today having an ultrasound...without a cast...

AbsB - I had my scan today too, at 35 + 3! Baby weighs 6lb 3 but is very long apparently! Placenta has moved away, and baby has turned from breech 2 weeks ago... which is just great news all round, very relieved

Loving the Burns emoticons !

I was just saying to DP that I should pack my hospital bag as I keep reading about you lot having packed yours, and we've realised that we don't have a bag . Better add 'acquire bag' to my list of Things To Do then.

I'm so tired but putting off going to bed as I don't want to lie awake for hours as I did yesterday. Night all.

jardins Major problems with my husband work here too, and I just wish he would calm down for a few days and just think about me. I know it is selfish but the csection is booked for thursday (2 days!!!), instead of that I have to anwer endless questions about "where is my stuff...", deal with the huge mess brought back from work, and his stress and his sleepless nights on top of mine.

For those who are having a Csection because of breech babies, don't worry it is not that bad, for your first. Mainly because you don't have to do anything except taking care of your baby and rest, so you have more time to bond. NO cleaning duties or shopping for 6 weeks (how fab is that!). Make sure you arrange some help though.
More seriously, MW said problems with BF is not the Csection but the bleeding which can happen with a natural birth too, if you lost a lot, especially if you need blood transfusion, you have nothing to make milk, it is still feasible but baby might loose a lot of weight waiting for the milk to come (if it does come) and it might not be the most sensible thing to do for your health too.

I guess I will be off MN for a while. A bit scared about thursday, it is really weird to have a date to go in!!!

Good luck all.

thinking about you all down here! i've got minor gripes at the side of the broken ankles, protein in pee, unexpected CS bookings etc... but can i gripe briefly anyway please? cos my ma is here and am putting on a 'brave/ not bovvered face' cos i can't be bothered with the 'wasn't like that in my day, we just go on with it blah blah...'

anyway... my minor gripe is that last week i was ROA and 3/5 engaged... i've carried on crawling around and bouncing on the ball etc and today he's back to back again and not engaged at all... bloody rubbish... anyway... like i said, a minor gripe... oh, and mw reckons he's currently about 8.5lb... (i'm 37 weeks... oh pants).. DD was 9lb and 15 days overdue... THAT's NOT happening this time!!

thanks... feel better now!

good luck all of those booked in the next few days... and everyone else of course!

Mamaloco I'm sorry to read you're in it too with your husband's work. Feel free to rant if needs be, ok?

I just wanted to pick up on the point made by about blood loss and breast feeding. I wouldn't dare dispute what Mamaloco's MW said but if it's any reassurance to anyone out there I lost a lot of blood with both births and this did nothing to limit my supply of breast milk. Honestly!

Well, after feeling a little sorry for myself yesterday after my MW told me this baby wouldn't make an appearance for another week or so, I ended up having contractions most of the night! Ha! That was stressful! Lying awake in those dark hours I was aware that this could go on for another week (leaving me sleep deprived before the real thing) OR this could be it! After all they were the same kind of pains as I had six hours before giving birth to my DS. And again, lying there in the dark I thought to myself 'so when do I know when to go to hospital?' What really decided the MW at the time was when I politely informed them at 3am that I had gone to the bathroom and noticed that I was bleeding fairly profusely The trouble was that by then it was almost to late: cue almost gave birth on a Parisian pavement at 4 am!!

Needless to say my main objective today is to finish packing my hospital bags .... and go to my DS's first concert tonight.

I hope everybody else is doing well!

jardins - same here. I lost something like 1400mls of blood with ds and said I didn't want a transfusion unless it was life or death. My milk came in on day 4, and breastfeeding was unaffected by the CS. The reason that the milk might take longer to come in is that with the reduced amount of blood, there are less of the milk producing hormones floating around. Milk not coming in at all is pretty rare. And I would dispute what mamaloco's MW said about it not being the best for your health either. Beware guys, not HCPs are clued up about breastfeeding.

IME with DS, having a section meant that we did nothing but cuddle up together for a good few days before I felt up to doing anything. This is the perfect start to breastfeeding - loads of skin to skin and cuddles. The colostrum will keep the baby going until the milk comes in and formula top ups are not a good idea at this point in the normal course of events. Yes, it is tough going to start with, but it's not like one can (or should) be rushing about doing stuff straight after a CS anyway!

No, it wasn't me at Queen Charlotte's the other week btw. I am in Edinburgh. Not sure where catinacast is though!! Or could there be a third pregnant-woman-with-broken-ankle out there!!!??

Mawbroon Good to see you post re: milk supply. I'm going to get down from the fence here and say that I have honestly never understood those who said they couldn't feed because their milk never came in. It can be hard to get started, especially for some first timers, but it is MORE than worth it when you get the hang of it all. I remember the toe curling pain of cracked nipples with my first - easily remedied with short term nipple shield use - but I was so grateful to the MW at the hospital who, instead of telling me to give up, encouraged me to persevere: 'in 6 weeks time you'll feel as if you've always been breastfeeding', she said. She was absolutely right!!!! Good on her!!

Of course the cracked nipples are by no means compusory: I just had feeding position and latching issues which could have been avoided with better follow-up care and advice.

Good luck Mamaloco!!!!! Try to do some deep breathing and don't let your hubby's stress take over, you need to be calm and relaxed (advice from a first timer!)

Stressheaderic you are right behind me then... sounds like yours is a big one too. My sister had twins at 34 weeks and they were born at 4.4 lbs and 4.6 lbs! She's given me her tiny clothes which I'm going to have to send back (she's in the US)... Good luck and keep me updated.

Jardins and Mawbroon good to hear some advice regarding breastfeeding. I'm terrified that someone is going to take over control if I'm in a weak state, and insist the baby is losing weight, forcing a bottle onto them... I'd rather persevere and find out I can't do it, than have someone else make that decision for me!

Not that I want to downplay having a CS but it does sound rather nice to be having quality skin to skin time with LO without having to lift a finger!!!

Good luck all, sounds like it's all happening!

morning ladies, just a quick update, spent 6hours in daycare yesterday being monitored as thought i was in labour [if you remember my post a few days ago] got a lovely student MW who really calmed me down, kept coming and checking on me. then the ob/gyne came round, i'm sure my BP raised though the roof, talk about patronising! ok, so its my 1st, i dont exactly know what's happening etc, and i would have liked her to be more considerate, but to basically tell me i was imagining it because she couldnt feel any contractions.... urgh, silly woman. anyway, have been given codeine to take for my back and severe ligament pain, which knocked me out completly last night, nice to have a few blissful pain free hours, but now this morning they're back, ahhh well, just a part of being PG i suppose.

good luck to everyone who has c-sections booked in the next few days