June is approaching, the end is in sight, time to sort our lady gardens so the midwives don't get a fright - Due June 2010

[ConservativesShouldWinSurely]

30/05 GoodName, 31, #1 BOY
31/05 RnB, 31, #3
31/05 dinosaurinmybelly (DIMB), 37, #3 GIRL
31/05 - mampam, 30 #3
31/05 - minimoonumbertwo, 33, #2, BOY
1st - Appu, #1 Girl
1st - ELM, 29, #2
1st - whenwillisleepagain, 42 #2
1st - PogueMahone, 36, #3 SURPRISE
1st - madamefreckle, 34,#2 GIRL
2nd - meggymegmegs, 31, #1 SURPRISE
2nd - Justbeme , 41 #3
2nd - AlwaysHopeful, 35, #2 SURPRISE
2nd - roundabout1, no 2,
3rd - nickytwotimes, 35, #2
3rd - Jenba, ?, #3
3rd - Flossysmum, #4
3rd - marmiteaddict, 31, #1 SURPRISE
7th - MrsC09, 29 #1 SURPRISE
7th - perkster, no 1, SURPRISE
7th - Zeel, #1
8th - LittleRobbo, 35, #3 GIRL
8th - Saucepanman, 31, #4
8th - MrsAlwaysRight 31, #2
9th - greensnail, 28, #2 SURPRISE
9th - Boobz, 30, #2 SURPRISE
9th - Petitfilou, ?, 1
11th - shipsladyg GIRL
11th - woofie, 33, # 2 BOY
12th - Georgee, 38, #1 GIRL
12th - Elena67, 43 #1
13th - sobloodystupid, 34, #3
13th - WaiteH, no 1
14th - Fillybuster, 36, #3 - NOT TELLING!
15th - Ponymum, 41, # 2
15th - Millymollymoo, ?, #4 BOY
16th - NizzyNoodles, 35, #3 BOY
16th - Flossie69, 40,#2
17th - Bluesnowfalcon 28 #1 BOY
17th - Summerhols, 31, #1
17th - Barbeasty, 31, #1 GIRL
17th - chestnut100,30 #1 GIRL
17th - LateforWork,#1, SURPRISE
17th - Plum100, #3, SURPRISE
18th - Virgo1979, SURPRISE
18th - theperfectbaguette 34 #1
21st - Gizmo, 40, #3 GIRL
21st - Bubs1,?,SURPRISE
21st - Sunworshipper, 36, #1
22nd - gaelicsheep, 33, #2 - NOT TELLING
23rd - Bobolana, 29 #1 GIRL
24th - GibberingGinger 34 #2+3 BOYS
24th - lifeinthesun #2 BOY
25th - Ilovemyterrier, 38 #1 BOY
26th - herewegrow 31 #2 GIRL
26th - imkeepingmum, #1, SURPRISE
27th - muchchocolate, #2
28th - Wheredidmyfeetgo 32 #3
29th - CantSleepWontSleep, 36, #3, SURPRISE
29th - MrsDmamee #3
29th - playftseforme, 36, #2+3 BOYS
30th - MonkeyMargot, 36, #2+3 SURPRISE
30th - LaTrucha, 36, #2 BOY
30th - NotGrownUpEnough, 29, # 1, SURPRISE
30th - EssieM, 37, #1, SURPRISE
30th - Monthlymayhem, No.2, BOY

Congratulations LittleRobbo on the safe arrival of Summer

Not much to report here. Am supposedly 2 days overdue now although I don't think I'm actually due until tomorrow or Saturday (original due date was 14th).

Fed up with texts asking if anything happening. Am making a mental note of who is pestering me so I can do the same to them when they have kids!

Been into town with DD, got her fringe trimmed without her crying which was a result and then a spot of retail therapy curtesy of DH credit card. DH annoying me at night as DD keeps waking up 2-3 times a night for some reason and I am the one having to get up everytime - Grrrrr!!!!

Anyway enough moaning from me. Seeing the midwife this afternoon. Hoping blood pressure hasn't gone up anymore so I can still go to midwife led unit when baby decides to make an appearance.

I am fine thanks Ladies, after some very rough months I am now pregnant again and due in Feb 2011! Early days but keeping our fingers crossed for this time!

G xxx

Congrats Gina - Hope all goes well for you xx

congratulations littlerobbo on your lo, what a lovely name!

Well done littlerobbo and welcome Summer Am wondering where you gave birth?!

Brilliant news about your pregnancy gina- hope you're not feeling too rough in the first trimester, though I don't suppose you really mind

Laurie's doing really well and is (so far) a very chilled baby. I'm still in the birthing centre, and am planning to stay in til Saturday morning. Though I'm missing ds, it's fabulous having some quality bonding time without the spectre of our imminent house move in my face (house is currently full of boxes). I literally can't believe this kind of care is available on the NHS- I've been in a private room since the birth on tuesday, a midwife pops in every hour or so to check feeding's going well or ask if I want a cuppa or a lavender bath... The unit seems to be v underused, as I guess people are worried in case they need to be transferred or else it's just not very well publicised, but I'm going to be evangelical about it to all the York expectant mums I know! Sadly it'll probably be one of the first things to go when NHS cuts kick in. Seriously though, this is what birth and getting to know your baby ought to be like- and it couldn't be more different from my experience in hospital first time round. Sorry for the over-zealous post- guess the happy hormones are still in the building!

Hope the overdue ladies get some movement soon.

Congratulatiosn LittleRobbo - gorgeous name. I look orwad to the story.

Congratulations GinaFB. That's lovely news. I keep trying to think what other thread I know you from. I'm sure we've crossed paths before (I changed my name two years ago though, so you might not recognise me anyway).

Woofie - that sounds lovely. I'm so glad for you. I almost had the option of having DD in a place like that but we moved house just beforehand. It looked great, but yes, I did worry about the possibiloty of an emergency transfer through the Welsh Hills. Lucky I didn't in the end too, as DD was an emergency.

Sleeping all day today. DD at nursery this morning and fortunately exhausted afterwards. We've both just had two hour naps! She's calling now though.

Ps meant this is the way birth should be in terms of the support and calm atmosphere - am not part of the Sheila Kitzinger brigade!

Hi all hope you are well.

CONGTRATULATIONS to those who have given birth since I was last here (woofie and LittleRobbo I think).

Been a bit hectic here, Tilly still not really putting on weight (think it's 70g this week), I've got an infection in my wound and possibly my uterus and have been ordered to rest (easier said than done!), got summoned to the hospital yesterday with less than 24 hours notice by some snooty cow who was really bulshy and rude to me on the phone, later got a phone call from the paediatric consultant to apologise for such rude behaviour , appointment was because Tilly had clicky hips when she was born but I'm pleased to say she is fine now .
Wishing the MW's would leave us alone now as we've seen 4 different ones since we've been home and they all have conflicting advice and it's doing my head in.

Congrats to LittleRobbo on the birth of Summer Dawn! Can't wait to hear the birth story!

Well still waiting here. Had my 3rd and final membrane sweep this morning have been a bit crampy since and a few contractions but nothing major. Midwife booked me in for an induction Sunday 10am

Woofie I'm doing ok, much better than last time, I'm feeling healthy but hormonal so keeping fingers crossed that it means baby is ok this time! To be honest I'd be happy to put up with the worst pregnancy symptons as long as baby is healthy!! HUGE Congrats BTW! xx

LaTrucha I was on here from Oct last year then DD was diagnosed at 20 weeks with spina bifida... not really posted anywhere else apart from antenatal tests/choices thread... so not sure!!! Hope you are DD are doing well!?

Love to all xxx

Congrats LittleRobbo!!

I agree that third pregnancies seem the longest (even when today is when I normally give birth!).

Have had a show and keep having the odd cramp - but if nothing happens by tomorrow - Im to go in for a scan and for them to check the cord?? or something. I am truly fed up.......................

congrats littlerobbo and welcome summer dawn. Lovely name. Was just thinking how quiet we'd been on the births front.

CSWS - love the fact you call me young lady when I'm pretty much the oldest person on this thread! but thanks for the thought - popped caesar stitch looks absolutely fine, so fingers crossed will stay that way. Hope your baby obliges by waiting till your DH back

la t - what everyone else says, sounds like the breast referral super cautious, although as you say, not what you wanted to hear. Take care

Hello -

quick post to those ladies with BF experience. I'm now on day 5 and everything seems to going better than my previous 2 experiences (bear in mind the baby has yet to be weighed). I'm wondering how you feel about expressing to keep the supply up? I'm noticing that after Zoe has fed there is still some milk left when I squeeze - I have a manual pump and am wondering should I try to take an oz here and there after she is finished, or will this just lead to a real imbalance and possibly engorgement (which I've suffered before from not emptying the breasts often enough and really don't want to go through again).

I've read on the nbci website that expressing at any stage can mess things up, let alone in the early days, so am keen to a bit of research before doing anything..

Congratulations littlerobbo - looking forward to hearing your birth story when you have time. Summer Dawn - what a beautiful name.

dinosaur I wouldn't bother expressing if I were you. It just creates more work for yourself and then creates worry if you find you're able to express less one day than normal. Try to trust that if Zoe is feeding effectively then supply and demand really will work properly and you will make just what Zoe needs.

Have had a bit of a wobble this afternoon as HV visited and was quite unsupportive of my tandem feeding. Feeling a bit brighter now though as I've reminded myself just to ignore advice which isn't helpful to me and the girls. Alice is still struggling with her bowels as well, but am trying to stop myself becoming the type of mother who obsesses over her daughter's bowel movements so I won't mention that!

mampam really feel for you with the conflicting advice. Try to remember you are an experienced mum, listen to the advice and take what you think will be helpful to you and your family and ignore the rest!

Congrats LittleRobbo and welcome Summer Dawn (what pretty names!)...can't wait to read the comedy birth story when you have time and energy to write it

And so pleased to hear you're expecting in Feb 2011 GinaFB, fingers crossed everything continues to go well for you

Loving your loved up postings Woofie, long may they last...and so glad you're having a good time getting to know little Laurie. I must say, your unit sounds very different from UCH where I will be (hopefully) having flump sometime soon...and I am a little bit but I'll settle for nothing going wrong and going home quickly as a good outcome....lavender baths and cups of tea don't get a look in in central London hospitals!!

Really glad the feeding is going better than previously DIMB I'm a bit fan of expressing a bit to keep up supply, but not for the first 2 weeks - remember, your milk has only just come in and your body is still figuring it all out....Once I get past the 2 week mark I tend to express 'properly' (ie until completely empty) once or twice (max) a day, generally after the first morning feed and sometimes after an afternoon one (although thats rarely worth the effort) - I've found it has helped keep supply up a bit which helps with the growth spurts and also a) allows me to freeze some ebm for emergencies b) means dh can do an evening/night feed and let me sleep and c) means that dh doing the evening/night feed doesnt completely bugger up my milk production because the extra expressing balances out the demand/supply equation, iyswim. But give yourself a bit more time to recover from the birth etc first - and see what CSWS, LaT and Greensnail all have to say, as they have a lot more bf experience than I do

congrats little robbo and welcome Baby Summer Dawn.

lovely name

Congrats to you also Ginafb hope all goes well.

Congratulations to the new mums.

Looking forward to the birth story Little Robbo. Thinking about where you gave birth though. Did you see the video of the poor lady who just about got to hospital and didn't even make it to the delivery suite - she gave birth right there in reception. Hoping you didn't re-enact that.

I had a growth scan yesterday and everything looks fine. We knew it would be - it was just precautionary. Now just waiting for things to kick off. My mother wants to know 'when I am planning on giving birth' because apparently it is diffcult for her to make plans.

Does anyone know how accurate the estimated weight of the baby is? I was told yesterday that they are estimating 8lbs 10, which is 1lb more than Boy GoodBits. So I am wondering how they can tell because surely it is difficult to take the waters into account.

We have a long list of potential names, which we will go through tonight and hopefully come up with a short list. And also just waiting for my 40wk mw appt on the 16th - my due date. I can sit back and twiddle my thumbs this weekend. Or should I be twiddling my nipples?!

About a 20% margin of error on weight estimates GoodBits, so they are only slightly more use than a chocolate teapot!

Congratulations to LittleRobbo. Also looking forward to the birth story. Are you an Eastenders fan at all (name connection)?

Glad that things are going better for you Gina.

dimb - I'm siding with greensnail on the expressing front (and snurking at filly's caveats). Your body will sort out the whole supply and demand thing by itself given a chance, but it can take a few weeks to settle down. Expressing during that time can lead to it getting confused, and as you mention, potential engorgement if you then miss an expressing session. By all means if you want expressed milk to feed occasionally or even on a regular basis then express for it, but leave it a few weeks first .

Greensnail - to hear of another rubbish hv who is ignorant about tandem nursing. Glad to hear that you are taking the right attitude and ignoring her. I am hoping that I get the same hv this time as the last two times, as she was always very supportive and interested to learn stuff from me about it too! It used to be guaranteed that I'd get her as she covered the whole village, but last time she had to 'bags' me when she saw my name on the list, as we now just go into the pot with the rest of the births from the nearby town.

Dh has managed to reduce next week's trip to Tues-Thurs, which is all the days with morning school runs, but at least means that I only have ds to deal with during the day. No such luck for the following week, but my parents are prepared to come down for 3 days if I want. Not as good as it sounds, as our relationship is somewhat strained and I will spend the whole time tense and walking on eggshells, but we've agreed to see how I get on next week before making a decision.

DIMB - I'd say leave it alone if it's going well. You will always have some milk in your breasts as it is produced continuously on demand. What did I read the other day? Something like, milk supply more like a river than a pond. Filly has obviously found it fine after a couple of weeks, but it is difficult to tell when supply is actually established (most say 6-8 weeks but it's not hard and fast) and whether you will be one of the ones affected or not. If there's nothing to suggest your supply needs 'upping' (as there was with me as I had been persuaded into giving DD formula, so had to get supply up to match that) I'd leave it be.

Goodbits - I had a growth scan the day before DD was born and it was a whole kilo out!

Filly - nonsense. You've had two, I've had one. I'm a bit in case I have problems this time. I'm supposed to know what I'm talking about this time after the training! (although I've only done the very first stage). But you never know.

I was looking for a gift for an acquaintance's daughter whose party I've been invited to and I found this. I thought it also might be good as a 'keep the toddler occupied while mummy id bf' toy too. Thought I'd pass it along.

We're home. Hurray. We received great care at scbu in ninewells hospital and I'm very grateful for all they did for us, but I am soooooooooo glad to be out of there and come home. A fortnight in hospital is more than enough!

Both boys are doing fine. Douglas is a great feeder, but James is still very slow and gets exhausted quickly. He doesn't lack enthusiasm, just has such a poor technique due to his tongue tie that he can't get the milk out of the bottle, even with the specialist bottle that we have been using. Hopefully as he gets bigger and stronger he will get better.

I must admit I'm pretty disappointed to not be breastfeeding. There was a lot of tears shed in hospital. I initially wanted to breastfeed Douglas and express to feed James - but in reality with a toddler this wouldn't have been sustainable at home. I could have breastfed Douglas and bottle formula fed James but this felt unfair to me. So they are both on formula. I expressed all the collostrum for them, and am still expressing a little in the mornings and evenings for them, but will see how much longer I have the spare time for it.

Congratulations to all the new mothers on the thread! Lots of lovely names. And best wishes to all those who are overdue and those whose due dates are still to come. Am actually missing my bump a bit (its all flabby and deflated now ) and all the kicks inside me!

Quick comment/update re the expressing. I have pretty much jacked it in, as Gabriel cluster feeds so often it leaves me with little time to express, and I wasn't getting much out. Gabriel has gained 120g in a week, and fingers crossed continues. On my breastfeeding thread tiktok has advised me and been pretty much the only HCP to say don't worry about expressing. I trust her knowledge and advice so that's good enough for me.

Had ridiculous HV round today, she honestly seemed on another planet. Didn't answer any of my direct questions, re expressing, thrush etc but did tell me to give cooled boiled water after feeds to keep him used to bottles She also went to wash her hands in my kitchen and used plant spray instead of the carex hand gel sitting next to it!

GibberingGinger ikwym re missing the bump! I was sterilised during my section because my previous 2 sections were so complicated that more pg were not advised (also we can't realistically afford more children) and I still found myself thinking about a wk ago "ohhh I wish I could have more!" DH said I am mental I am trying to preserve my memories of Gabriel's pregancy as much as I possibly can

Congratulations Littlerobbo

Thanks everyone for your advice re: expressing. I think I will hold off for now as it makes sense to me let baby & boobs have some time to adjust for a while...

Day 5 yesterday and everything was going well until the evening when I was putting DS1 to bed and he was being really naughty (both boys are being testing in different ways at the moment, which I suppose is a natural reaction). I had to use my strict voice to tell him to get into bed now, and he immediately started crying and asking for his Daddy, and then his Granny. It made me so sad that when I eventually got him settled and went to the other room to feed Zoe I was in floods of tears. DH came home and I told him I just wanted to be left alone. I had always remember it being hardest a few days afterwards as hormones adjust, so I'm hoping that was it last night and I'm through at least some of that blue period. On the upside though - Zoe is also a little cluster feeder in the evenings and luckily I have time when the boys go to bed to just feed feed feed, and I can really see now my supply building, which is such a relief.