~~August 2010~~ tummies blooming into bumps

[CherryPie3]

5th thread come grab a bean bag, theres a cake table in the corner (feel free to help yourselves)

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a lovely Easter weekend

I BF my DD - although it took us over two weeks and a few visits to the drop-in breastfeeding clinic to get the hang of it. I was expressing and topping up with formula until we finally got the hang of it. If you want to do it, I'd advise to take it as it comes. It't not always easy so do take advantage of any help that you can.

I BF for five months before moving onto FF. DD was a very regular feeder and although I expressed at times, it did mean never being too far away from her and always being the one to do the night feeds. FF gave me more freedom but did mean more time spent preparing and waiting for bottles. BF was a doddle on the preparation front!

I may not be able to BF this baby for long as I've developed a chronic illness since having DD and will probably need to go back onto a range of drugs quite soon after the birth. I figure that if I can at least do a week or two I'll have done the best I can.

BF warning - do not automatically assume that BF will definitely help you to lose weight. I put more on!

Pample more good vibes for the scan!

Alice I'm preparing for the worst case scenario for six months too, we're preparing to bunker down for winter(which is why I love your idea of stocking up on films..we're downloading films & I have a book wish list too) and doing everything we can right now in terms of seeing people, making an effort to get to parties, the cinema, out for meals, etc so that anything we get out of life between Aug-March over and above meeting the baby's basic needs is a bonus.

Today's news from Hectorland is that after 5 days of painting, the hall is finally emulsioned (Farrow & Ball off white - washable!) and glossed to perfection. Thank God because we're both sick to death of painting. I also caved in and ordered the mountain buggy last night.

Oh, and here's some banana & choc chip muffins (a bit stodgy, sorry) from earlier. My cooldar is obviously failing me these days - muffins & cupcakes are apparently now passe. I will try harder...promise some macaroons & old skool victoria sponge next time I bake.

Sorry about your illness, cakey. It's a shame more research isn't done into the effects of drugs on breast milk, because some could be safe I suppose, it's just not ethical to do the research is it.

Vix, that sounds like a gruelling post-birth plan! It would be great to do a few hours or even days BFing and then switch to ff if you feel it would be better. If you find a good sling you might find BFing easier because you just latch the baby on and get on with your work. It could well be the tiredness rather than the feeding that is the hardest to deal with. Have you got parents or ILs around to help (perhaps they could help you with night feeds once a week to give you a proper rest). Babies do sleep a lot during the first few weeks though so you should be able to get some stuff done

Oh, bouncing forgot to say the other day. I was an Aberdeen Uni gal too..pints down The Bobbin, The Blue Lampie, cheap lambrusco in Sivell's, the Tasty Tattie, rowies from the Auld Toon bakery, getting chased by the wardens for making snow willies on Bishop Elphinstone's tomb...now look at us... or I'm not quite sure...

Oh well, didn't attempt any uni work today. Spent the rest of the afternoon spoiling my girl again, I'll be bankrupt before she's even born at this rate! Haha!

I can't see me attempting essay writing before Thursday morning now because I have two days of spending time with the DH to look forward too. (He wants to take me for a picnic up Castell Coch tomorrow and then meal and film date Wednesday!)

Already in PJs and looking forward to a night cwtched up on the sofa watching stuff off my Sky box. Bliss!

Hope everyone has enjoyed their Easter Monday's!

I'm in my PJ's too

weehector yippee!! Brown Cows in Sivells and Triple Kirks were our favourite haunts seems so long ago now (graduated 1998 )!

neenz I love the way you described BF'd as your full-time job - I wish someone had given me this insight when I was pregnant with ds. It is a full-time job and imho I think many women put too much pressure on themselves to be perfect mothers (whatever that means! lol!) AND have a perfect house AND squeeze into size 8 jeans weeks after giving birth. I know I did (and I've not been a size 8 since I was a teenager!).

Anyway, sorry if I came across a bit preachy re breastfeeding. I just feel so passionately about it and could talk about it for Scotland having been through many issues and survived to tell the tale. Feel free to ignore me if I get up on my soap box again (or throw one of those muffins my way and tell me to wheesht!).

vix I think alice might be onto something there - if you do find breastfeeding a breeze (and there's no reason why not) you might find it easier to answer emails and check orders while breastfeeding rather than having to juggle making bottles. It didn't take me long to learn to breastfeed one-handed so I could surf the internet/TV channels at the same time!

Seriously, just ignore me if I start ranting on again. Sometimes I get a bit obsessive over these things and forget not everyone has the same obsessions

If we formula feed the feeding won't just be my responsibility as DH will be able to help as well. Aside from the work issues I have medical issues that would make BFing extremely difficult, so its not a goer anyway for me.

We went to see Shutter Island today and then had a nice healthy Wagamamas, I am stuffed! Want to go to bed but know I'll get indigestion if I don;t stay upright a bit longer!!

I'm glad there's a rational FF/BF conversation going on (unlike if we'd been trying to have this conversation certain places elsewhere on MN).

Everyone has to do what's best for them, and deciding from the start to FF is really not a terrible thing. Some people have no physical choice in that they cannot produce breastmilk, others know themselves and their histories or lifestyle and what they can cope with. The pressures of a newborn baby are very great, and many first time parents just cannot realise this till they're faced with it. Adding in breastfeeding pressure is not always appropriate.

I personally want to give my baby as much breast milk as possible because we know there are health problems (such as asthma) within our families for which there is a high statistical correlation of being not as bad if you have breastfed. I'm still worried about it, and I shall have bottles and formula ready.

For those that do go onto formula, ready made cartons are wonderful (though you can't get them in the easy digest or premature baby or other specialist formula varieties). They are great for out and about, and I must admit that I'm lazy - I take a sterilised bottle and a carton up to bed ready for the first thing in the morning feed (still) so I don't have to go downstairs and faff with kettles and the like (I'm not convinced flasks keep the water above 70C for the whole night), but can cuddle up in a nice warm, comfy bed with my little boy immediately.

For those that pump, (and bear in mind I pumped for 20 minutes every 4 hours for a few weeks) I found getting a good quality (expensive) pump made a huge difference - we ended up with the Ameda Lactaline and used both horns at once with the dodgiest looking unsexy "pumping bra" ever. At least I could relax, look at my baby (useful when trying to get "let down" the first few times), read or type on my laptop while pumping. I did have a problem that the Ameda pieces couldn't be microwave sterilised (ones like the Philips Isis can) and the electric steam sterilisers we had all conked out really quickly in our hard water, sometimes having to be run several times before the cycle would claim it completed successfully. At 3am trying to make sure I'd have sterile components for the next session at 7am, this was very unpleasant. (Oh, and you can hire good quality pumps from the NCT and some other places - erm your health visitor or midwife will have contacts).

Hmm that's a lot of brackets.

Good night!

Also loving the rational BF/FF debate; seems to strike the right tone as surely we're all here to be supportive to one and other?

About to head off for my scan this morning. Excited but oddly scared, have been awake since 5.45! Wish me luck.

p.s. I shouldn't be scared as baby did a few big walloping kicks last night right onto DH's hand, which excited him muchly and suggests the little monster is alive and well!

Have been reading the BF/FF talk with interest. I BF DS1 and in an ideal world plan to BF no.2 aswell. Talking of no. 2, I have my scan this afternoon, not until 3pm though! Looking forward to finding out what team we're on.

Good luck with your scan pamplemOusse, enjoy!

Good luck with your scan pample!

My last thoughts on the breastmilk vs formula debate before you all certify me insane :
If anyone is interested in the differences between breastmilk and formula, simple type 'just one bottle of formula' into google.

Have a start to the week everyone - nice short week for me - only 2 days! Then I'm having a few days off with ds and my mum.

All this talk of holidays on here recently has got me thinking though, might go and investigate some cheap weekend away options...I have a yearning for sand between my toes and cream teas

Good luck with the scans today, mine is tomorrow and I am so excited. Been frustrated all weekend with nothing to do but look forward to the scan and hopefully finding out what team we are on! Getting so many kicks now it is unbelievable, they are so strong and at really regular time intervals - baby has a routine already

Good morning girlies

Good luck to all those with scans today - looking forward to hearing all about them later.

Not much to report from me really. Had a fab weekend despite working Friday, Saturday and yesterday. Kids actually pacing themselves with chocolate and ds, bless him, was giving his 'spare' eggs to me and dh because we didn't get any. So thoughtful at times.

xx

Good luck for the scans today ladies.

So just how slowly do you reckon a 4 day week can go by?

Cherry - I didn't get any easter eggs either.....

Aussie On Friday, I went to Asda and bought 18 creme eggs for me and the girls/guys at work. We only ate 6.

When I got home there was another 6

I swear my sugar level is gonna be through the roof!! Lucky my GTT is still a few weeks away

I'm craving cheese pasty and chips for lunch. Problem is in my office anything other than sushi, pret-a-manger or graze boxes gets an up-turned nose reaction. To rebel or not to rebel...

omg aussie cheese pasty! droooooooool...

I just had pret and it so did NOT hit the spot. Hope you rebelled in the end!

I think the most important thing is to keep an open mind about bf'ing - it might go fine, so you don't want to 'expect' that it won't, but it might not, in which case you don't want to feel shocked and like a failure (which I did). Before DS was born I always thought that women who said that they 'couldn't' bf, or that it just didn't 'work' for them, were just making excuses . I 'knew' from the start that I was going to bf exclusively for a year, and I couldn't imagine why this wouldn't work out as long as I was determined (and I'm a very determined person ). Boy, how wrong and stupid did I feel six weeks later!

BTW Blueberries, I think it's brilliant that you're thinking of becoming a bf counsellor - we definitely need more good ones. But I would just say that, although good support is vital, it doesn't always solve the problems. I had great support from bf counsellors, but none of them were able to help me. TBH I think it partly depends on what else is going on with your baby. Because DS screamed so much and rarely slept for longer than 20 minutes at a time, it was very difficult to remain calm enough to bf successfully. Counsellors kept telling me to find a quiet time when the baby was asleep to express, for example - but those moments hardly ever happened, and when they did I was so stressed and exhausted that I never managed to express successfully (and TBH trying to snatch a few minutes of sleep was a bigger priority).

It also made me slightly to hear bf'ing described as a full time job. I totally agree - I think it is - but it makes me wonder how on earth I'm going to manage it while looking after a toddler . At least with your first baby you've (generally) got nothing else to do except focus on yourself and your newborn.

Ohhhh, the joys of new babyhood . I can't wait, but at the same time I'm a little bit anxious as well!!

Anyway, enough worrying. DH is back from a very successful school trip, so he's much more relaxed, and DS and I are doing our third Easter egg hunt of the weekend this afternoon!!

Is it just my computer or is the text coming up bold for everyone?

Hello! Back from a week away with family which would've been good had DD slept, then she was ill again over the weekend so we're just getting back on track.
I'm a bit about bfing with a toddler too, DD used to feed for about an hour, sleep for 30 mins and then want feeding again. Knackering enough without a toddler pottering around, eek!
Anyone who's had a toddler know how long it takes for them to get used to not having a side on the cot? DD keeps getting out and falling asleep in the toy box.

Morning (it is morning for me as I stoopidly stayed up until 5am working then got up at 8am to email work so the client wouldn't suss I was such a time management loser..the glosswork seemed so much more Important yesterday).

I think that'll be us now forever discussing BF on & off for the next few year and a jolly good thing it'll be too.I'll look on you guys as my virtual breastfeeding support group as it sounds like if there's an ishoo that will trip us first timers up & make us feel inadequate, it's going to be BF. I bet even those of it that manage it for an amazing 6 months are on feeling guilty about wanting to get their boobs/life/sanity back in a year..

Whilst I'm not judgemental about BF, my open mind policy doesn't extend to feeding babies & small children. I'll admit to being a bit sniffy about toddlers with lardy sausage rolls being badly behaved in the doc's waiting room - known as Greggs dummies in the organic Republic of Hectorland though it's double standards on my part as I'm partial to a cheese pasty myself - so I totally deserve a wee brat who refuses to
eat anything nutritious. It'll be interesting to see
how our first timer lofty preconceptions work out...

elusive talks about keeping an open mind..can I vote that we extend it to motherhood & life in general as I think the pressure to be the perfect
wife/mother/employee/homemaker thing is getting way out of hand. It all sounds like a fast track to PND to be honest.

Right, I really need to do some work as my day needs to be structured round what I'm going to have for dinner & Masterchef. Anyone else hooked?

Aussie know it's way too late for lunch and a done deal but Pret do a decent hot ham & cheese croissant. Might provide an alternative to a pasty tho' they're a bit insubstantial..you might need 2 or at least supplement 1 with a lemon cheesecake.. Funnily enough the one thing I miss about working in Shoreditch is not having to decide between a Brick Lane salt beef bagel or an Itsu for lunch..

Chulita we didn't take the side off DD's cot, just got her a toddler bed which she loves. She did get out a lot, but would get back into her 'big girl' bed when tired.

Weehector i had so many set ideas before having DD, but it is amazing how quickly your standards slip! Sometimes DD and i will share a sausage roll or portion of chips in town (especially when it is cold) and the looks i get it is funny now as i know it is not doing her any harm, but to start with i was very against giving her anything that wasn't especially made for babies.

Hi Everyone - been ages since I have been on somehow I lost everyone and then......just never found you again until now. Hooray!

All going well here although had a small mishap last week when I fell down the stairs holding dd, fortunately it was the day of my scan so we went to the hospital and everything was fine. I however am incredibly sore and uncomfortable and my bum hurts like nothing else!

Re BF, I wasn't sure and ended up bf for longer than I expected. DD was good at it and I really enjoyed it so therefore I did find it much easier. there is also the fact that in the middle of the night (lazy cow that I am) I didn't have to do anything but whop out a boob.

however with a toddler and a baby I am not sure which way I am going to go and because of this enjoyed the time I did bf much more thinking that I was never going to have that piece again. Also if I can make a suggestion - don't make any rash decisions in the first couple of weeks, you may find it quick and easy and something that can be done with little hassle, whilst sterilising etc etc can be a right old pita at times. Also it isn't always easy to start off with but once they get the hang of it and you do it gets much easier.

That being said, if ff is the thing for you then go for it! Personally don't have feeling about whether or not it is better for the baby or not, as we introduced a ff to help sleep through the night (actually what happened was I was knackered and after a day of expressing when I could, I dropped all the expressed milk on the floor - can't tell you how much I wanted to cry!!! - and dh did the night feed with a bit of bm and some formula and it just kind of went from there.)