July 2010: We’re ready to drop; Not long to go until we pop!

[DesperateHousewife21]

Possibly our last ante-natal thread ladies!

I woke up naturally because my boobs were sore!!

TBH this is why I started expressing, because I was so uncomfortable for about 30-45 mins before DS was hungry, and I couldn't wait or I'd start leaking! As soon as I finished expressing, DH would give DS what he wanted (again without waking him) from a bottle, then whatever was left got poured into sterile bags and put in the freezer.

We built up quite a stock supply (turns out I make a lot of milk!) which I then used when cooking for DS during weaning (sweet potatoes mashed in milk was always a favourite!)

I will point out that we paid for the expensive tommee tippee closer to nature bottles because I was told they were best for combined feeding. Never tried anything else, so don't know if it made a difference or not, but I do know people who had trouble getting BF latch right once LO had tried bottles.

They were worth the investment though, because I still have them, and we just bought new teats for the new baby, so it's relatively cheap second time around.

The great thing about this type of feeding too is that you don't have to sterilise. Obviously you have to clean - but a dishwasher is fine and you don't have to mess about with all that cooled boiled water etc...

Have you tried several different types of breast pump?

I never got on with electric ones (bloody painful IME!) but some people swear by them.

Thing is, I could express more with my tommee tippee manual pump in 5-10 mins than a lot of people do with the electric ones! I think you need to test them out and find one that suits you.

The Avent one got nothing from me but the odd dribble, yet my cousin thinks it's brilliant.

See if you can borrow some to test from different people before you buy. It makes a massive difference.

That's brilliant, thanks so much! I do have some tommee tippee closer to nature bottles which I desperately tried with dd. We left it far too late with her though. I'll get some new teats...for some reason I completely forgot about that!

I had an avent manual pump with dd but didn't try anything different, have been given a tommee tippee manual to try for this one having heard good things but have not tried electric. I sort of have this mental block with having machinery attached to my boobs But if nothing else will work...my best friend has a medela one which she has said I can borrow so won't rule it out.

Thanks for the advice

Morning ladies,
Very interesting to hear about breastfeeding, expressing and waking babies up or not from experienced mums!
Just dropping in to say hi as it's my last week of work this week (still i am working from home so have been reading the thread).
I've been to NCT antenatal and hospital antenatal now and am all antenatal-ed out.
Met a lovely group of ladies at the NCT and we are now meeting every Tuesday for lunch and have had one birth already!
Also a friend from antenatal yoga just had a baby boy at 37 weeks....so it is all happening.
I actually feel better now than I have all pregnancy as my back/hip pains have gone - even though I am huge and can't do much.
I think the natal hypnotherapy cds have really worked as feeling calm (at the moment at any rate!)
Hope you all have a lovely day. Looking forward to hearing your birth stories!!!

Also can anyone tell me what is in the Tesco Pampers hamper? I have my voucher but can't be bothered to go and pick it up in this weather.

Definitely worth trying several. I know loads of women who have said the same thing. We all found different pumps suited us best and couldn't believe what the others were using! In fact me and one friend did a 'swap' so we wouldn't have to buy new ones but both hated the ones we had

Tommee one was best for me, that and generally being relaxed. I used to watch live at the apollo or something similar on iPlayer after a warm bath and I reckon I got milk out at record speed. A 12oz bottle took about 4 minutes, whereas for DS to BF that much would have taken at least 50 mins.

I think that's why it works well for them when dream feeding, because they get full super quick and don't wake up with the effort of sucking/latching.

I never gave him bottle when he was awake though, until he was about 6 months old (I went into hospital and my mum had too ) so I wonder if that also helped with him not getting confused about latch etc...
I didn't plan it. Just happened that way.

Hey ladies, things have been moving quickly here today. Regarding the waking the baby for a feed at night, I was told this from a girl whos lo who is bout 3wks old and the mw said they shouldnt have left him to sleep to long. X

Just to add, I tried a Tommee Tippee manual but it was so painful I swapped it for a Medela Harmony that was brilliant and so quick. Didn't get on with the electric Avent one I borrowed though, was slow and I felt so dumb!

stac when they're really little they can dehydrate very quickly so they recommend feeding often even if they're asleep. It's when they get a bit older that you can be more relaxed about them sleeping longer.

The woman at the breastfeeding workshop I went to yesterday said never wake them for a feed unless there is a medical reason. She was all for feed on demand.

Bright blue/pink mascara?
What on earth is that for?
In case you want to take your new born clubbing to celebrate?

Just got back from MW - seems I should have seen her 2 weeks ago and didn't - whoops, she didn't seem best pleased, but LO and I both seem to be in rude health.
I am engaged, or rather baby is, she didn't say how much, she said she didn't think birth was going to happen right away, but if I didn't have my bag packed I should get onto it, could I please try to wait until 37 weeks (I pointed out I didn't think I had much say) and to call day assessment straight away if I thought I was having any contractions.

I've been moaning and wishing this pregnancy over the whole time, and now suddenly I would quite like it to continue for a couple more weeks really, odd thinking it could happen next week, or it could still be 6 weeks. I am actually feeling really well, if a bit tired and scatty. Bricking it at the idea of labour - don't know why I had a fantastic labour with dd, the next day I was thinking wow wouldn't mind doing that again. There were some tiny babies at the doctors and I'd forgotten how little and helpless they are - dd really, really isn't a baby at all any more - not sure I remember what to do with babies.

WRT breast pumps - is really difficult, I found the tommy tippee manual one really useful and more efficent than an electric one, but it did make my hand ache after a while, I used it a couple of times at work, and it was good for that because it was obviously silent. I had a small electric yellow one, think it was meldela - worked well but was really, really noisy, couldn't watch telly and express with it, which was a pita. Thinking about going for the advent one this time as it is advertised as quiet, will be going back to work when lo is 6mo so really want a good quiet electic pump. Fed dd till she was 2 and would ideally like to do the same for this one so want to express to keep supply up and hopefully send ebm to nursery/childminders. Just so much money to spend, you want to get it right.

A friend of mine had a real scare during the first few days after her daughter was born - she had thought that she only needed to feed the baby on demand, but in fact the baby was too little and weak to wake up and start crying for food. She got a right telling off from the midwife, poor thing. She has told me the one thing she wishes she had known is that at first you do need to wake your baby for a feed every 3-4 hours. Interesting to hear how much the advice varies.

I'm not bothering to think about bottles/formula/expressing/sterilising at all before the baby arrives. I'm going to assume that I will be able to breastfeed and hope for the best! There are plenty of 24-hour supermarkets around in an emergency.

2.5 more days in the office... it's too hot to bother working though! I think we are going to put the football on the radio in a bit, and I am going to buy all my colleagues ice creams.

dh21 and chulita I think that must be the girl on the August thread - I'm also FB friends with her. It is so upsetting, can't imagine what she must be going through. It has made all of us on that thread stop moaning about our aches and pains, that's for sure!

Hi, just popping in to say hello, have managed to read some of the latest posts but not all, hope everyone is well.

No sign of any rumblings here, dreading going overdue and being induced, i'm hoping for this weekend - there's a full moon on saturday and they say more babies are born then than other times of the month so here's hoping! I'm also about to eat a load of pineapple and go bounce on my yoga ball in the hope of things moving!

I also got on really well with the medela electric pump last time, (was noisy though as wonder said) although DD wouldn't take a bottle after about 9 weeks old which was a pain as i was then stuck feeding when i would have liked DH to be able to do some of the feeds...think i'm going to try mixed formula and bf this time and keep a bottle going at least once a day from about 4 weeks to avoid that happening again.

Loving this weather - (apart from heat at night) going to go and sit in garden until football is on...

chulita baths do ease it slightly so i leave it til last thing at night so i sleep easier.
walking around eases it too so i went into town to make a last visit to boots for the odd bits (i have an obsession with boots) was walking around and started getting pains and (sorry TMI alert) thought my waters had started to go, i realised when i got to loo it was discharge thank goodness for liners
dh at least if lo arrived via a carnival float i would know he is arriving on carnival day, its the not knowing what day he will be here that is driving me mad! when i 1st found out i was pregnant i said i thought he would be here on the 26th or 29th of june so heres hoping i was right!

i agree with emster there are lots of conflicting advice. Personally i wouldnt be waking lo for a feed if she doesnt need one. You spend the first few weeks trying to get them into a routine to sleep at night to be told you have to wake them/dream feed. Even the advice to change the way they are formula fed and weaned from when ds was born has been quite dramatic and while i can understand the reasoning behind it, it makes me wonder why it was ok for ds but not for dd. Like making up bottles and no solids till 6mths

Was at hospital today and lo has grew, the doc thinks the last measurements weren't accurate. So next wed i have to go get a steroid injection then go back on thursday for the 2nd jab. I have to stay in for a couple of days to ensure my blood sugar levels level out. If they stayed high they would deliver so tbh just can't wait till lo gets here. Oh and mw says losing plug means things are loosening

Soz a bit of a self indulgent post. Does anyone have a hospital bag list for an elective? Thanks ladies

Afternoon all - how is everybody?

It's too hot here in Kent, I've got all the windows and doors open to try and get a breeze through the house, but the south-facing side is just unbearable! I set up a lounger chair in the garden but it's even worse out there, no breeze at all. Am now sat 2 feet in front of a fan on full blast!

On the feeding front, I've always been told that in the first few weeks it's important to get some food into them during the night (even if it's a dream-feed so they don't wake up) - especially if you're BF'ing as you need to establish a good supply with regular feeding.

DS was mix-fed at first, then solely FF, and he woke throughout the night for food till he was getting on for 1! No rest for the wicked here.

I'm having lots of cramps, but nothing regular or too painful - I've got my 2nd growth scan on Monday so am hoping baby hangs on till then and we get an idea of how much it's grown!

dh i am really sorry to hear about your friend and her angel baby. Its very hard to hear so close to your own birth and devastating. Wish i knew something comforting to say, but sending virtual hugs x

mlic thanks for the hamper advice. I'm doing online shopping now and can't face a trip to Tesco for some bright pink mascara!
As all quiet on the work front, guess I'll pop the footie on now then...

dh sorry meant to say - sorry to hear about your friend. Hope you feel ok. x

Jealous of all you people who think it's too hot. I'm tucked up on the sofa with a blanket. DS is insisting on playing outside which means I have to have the front door open to see him and it's blowing a gale throw here!

Just found out three kids at my sisters church have chicken pox. Praying they don't get it as I have to go and stay with them in a week or so to see my new consultant (our house isn't ready yet, she lives 40 mins from hospital, whereas I live 5 hours away ATM!)
Really can't face much more of a sick DS right now, and would be really worried about bringing new born home if he had it.

stac i couldnt believe it when i read that you couldnt wean until 6 months my friends baby is 18 weeks and he slept through night since 8 weeks now up all time as he is starving and no matter how much milk he has it isnt enough yet hv says definatly no baby rice or rusk to build it up! its so strange how different areas are giving differnet advice, my friends dd is now 4 but when she was born she slept 8 hours at a time and hv said to let her sleep she will wake when shes hungry, at 4 she is still a funny eater, they live in next county but here they tell you to dream feed but dont wake your baby, the closer it gets the more confused im getting!
kapers i live right by a tesco and they havent had the hampers for 3 months so ive given up on mine now, i only go there if i forget something never to do my main shop!

DH I am very sorry about your friend. How dreadful.

Gracie I think it all depends on a baby. My daughter is and always was great at bedtime routine and eating. When I say don't wake up a baby I mean at night for changing nappies, unless soiled. Or for feeding at night unless baby is a bad eater or does not weigh enough... But again that depends on the baby and that is why we check there nappies and weigh them Everyone is different ;) I fed on demand and From the start kept the night as the time for sleeping and no lights. And it worked for us

memphis im the samw getting confused with all the different advise.im hoping i'l just know instinctively when the time comes!!
thanks for all the info re the dream feeds! im gonna have everyones head drove mad asking questions about everything!
havent done a tap all day. just have no energy! gonna get up off the couch after the footie and do something x