Morning all!
It's normal to be worried about LO's arrival, WorrisomeHeart. I was more worried about having a child in my life than the process of giving birth! So far it's been wonderful though, Mindy has successfully wormed her way into my heart and now DH and I can't imagine how we were ever without her. I'm sure it'll be the same for you.
Even in the first week we've been able to go out and do things, and invite friends over for an afternoon/evening, so it's not like you suddenly change into a completely different person with a different life entirely! The main difference at the moment is that things take a bit more planning and timings need to be flexible around LO's stomach.
pixiestix it's also normal to get increasingly worried about the LO inside as pregnancy progresses. I was the same as Ozziegirly, trying to be really chilled out, but the closer it got to the end the more I was worrying over how long since I last felt movements and whether LO was ok. I found drinking lots of cold drinks and eating ice-cream was the best way to calm myself, as that inevitably got me booted in the ribcage!
Nope, this is definitely the first one for me, fudgecat. Though amusingly enough DH and I did have a conversation last night about having maybe a couple more, so pregnancy, labour and having a newborn evidently can't be putting us off that much.
I'm so glad to hear Splodge has gained weight. Splodge really is a little fighter! I'm keeping everything crossed that things keep going ok. Viability is improving all the time!
Well, my feeding plan almost worked yesterday, except DH accidentally threw out one of my expressed bottles...doh! Mindy went through both breasts, the other bottle of expressed milk and a further 1 fl oz of formula in the space of an hour last night. I'm not sure where she puts it!
She didn't sleep through entirely, but we only had one wake-up half way through for a feed/change, and two lots of 4 hours is still ok by me.
I'm starting to notice my hormone levels fluctuating a bit, finally. Nothing too bad so far, it's been kind of like the night before AF is due with emotions bouncing a little and wanting to cry over nothing?
The MW came over yesterday and gave Mindy her heel prick test and I found myself crying when Mindy did, upset that she was hurt, even though the logical side of my brain knew she was fine! I also felt upset that she'd lost 11% of her starting weight, even though that's not a problematic amount.
Most of the time I'm fine though. Just something to be aware of!
Got a new tip!
- When breastfeeding, all the books say to switch sides once LO is done with one breast. However! In my case Mindy was stopping for a 5-10 min break after 10-15 mins sucking without entirely emptying the breast. I was dutifully switching back and forth, but what this meant is she's been getting more foremilk than hindmilk, which isn't as filling.
The MW yesterday realised this, so now I feed twice on the same side in a row, and it is helping Mindy go for longer between feeds in the day, Hopefully it'll also get her weight up better as hindmilk has more calories.