July 2010: Our babes are due! Within the month, they'll all début.

[Chulita]

Thanks to spirael for the title, hopefully we'll all pop before this thread ends!

making!! I teach children how to spell for a living

Morning all.

Many congrats to everyone I haven't said it to already - it's lovely to hear of all the new arrivals, and the names are all fab (what great taste we have!).

I'm still here, still having v painful contractions (am sure they aren't BH anymore as they HURT!). I really thought things were happening on Friday night as they were down to 4 minutes again, but no such luck.

Due date isn't till tomorrow so I suppose I should just calm down and stop thinking about it.

Hope everyone has a good day - happy birth vibes to kk!

Hope memphis has had her baby by now!

wonder if eating dried apricots doesn't work I'd try and get some lactulose. It's the only thing keeping me going at the moment.

Morning all. Congratulations to all the latest arrivals!! They're coming fast and furious now, huh? We're almost half way through the month, are we half way through the list yet?

Things are still going well here, I have no complaints. Mindy has developed a strange feeding pattern that starts off as once every two hours in the morning, then increases in frequency during the day until it ends up with constant just before bed... Then she sleeps through the night for eight hours before starting the cycle again!

I don't know whether to be worried or thrilled?

I needed to mix feed and give a tiny bit of formula (max of 2 fl oz per day) in the evening for the first few days, as my milk was a bit slow to come in and Mindy was ravenous. I think because labour was so fast?

I'm phasing out using any formula though, today I'm currently ahead of the game with some expressed milk ready in the fridge, so if Mindy drains me completely during the evening I can offer her expressed milk rather than formula. Not sure if that's how you're meant to do things, but it seems to work ok for us!

We've booked to go and get her registered at town hall on Friday, my PIL will hopefully be able to come along for that too, so it should be a nice trip out and I have plenty of support if I need to feed or such when out and about.

Nice to see you on here, CherryPie! I was stalking you in the August thread and saw that Corey had been born. I love his name! I'm glad things went well for the birth.

It's a good job our LOs decided to show a bit early, as they're both good weights. Will you be joining us in July Postnatal, once a thread is set up? We'll have to arrange a meet up some time once things are settled, so Corey and Mindy can be introduced!

spirael with a feeding routine like Mindy's I suggest being thrilled. That's fantastic and makes me very and hopeful that maybe this LO will be like that. DD never got the hang of 'cluster feeding' and would feed every 1.5-2 hours all day/night. 8 hours a night is brilliant!

Not read todays posts yet, but just back from CAMHS appt. It went really well, we ended up being there for 2 hrs in the end, buit managed to convey most of the key points we needed to.

She said she has no concerns whatsoever with our parenting and thinks we are doing all the right things(such a huge relief after 2 +yrs of feeling like the finger was pointed at us) and our boundries and dealing with problems are spot on etc
She thinks he may be on the autistic spectrum but as we have said before if he is, its on the cusp and its definately not clear cut he is/isnt.She said this is probably why weve had a crap experience with the pediatritions as they are apparently used to seeing clear cut cases and more complex children end up in camhs, where they may or may not eventually fit a autistic diagnosis.

overall were so happy that we feel listened to and that someone feels its not our fault and that things are now moving forward. Theyre going to give me a few weeks to have the baby and settle before contacting us again to arrange to see ds1 and go from there. feel much better now and feel I can relax and hopefully go into labour!

will catch up with everyone this evening x

glaston that's great news! Lovely that she said you were doing the right things, must be a real confidence boost

Hoping that no more news from memphis and kk means they are both well on there way to cuddles with their new babies

Glaston so glad to hear everything went well today! My SIL felt the same as you re. parenting skills and CAMHs also reassured her and supported her methods! My niece is still working closely with them and the whole family is becoming much more functional with their support!

spirael got no experience (yet!) but a full nights sleep souds good to me!!!

MLIC glad you got you icandy all set up i'm desperate to see mine but all in good time! Thanks for the heads up on going to the toilet, did the MW suggest anything to help?

I'm not long back from the hospital, urine all clear now and BP back to normal so no more worries of pre-eclapsia Got my induction date for this sunday- unless nature kicks in before then! Got given a leaflet with all the different methods so off to sit down with a cuppa and read through- i'm shaking inside at the thought of it all- my first bout of nerves! AGH!

Hi all,

Just dropping in to say hi and big congrats to those who have had their babies. I clearly dont come on here enough I have to rely on the list to tell me who has had their baby!

Cant wait to hear birth stories and see lovely pics of all the LOs

Ack! beckyg, I hope everything goes naturally for you. With DD they insisted I wasn't in labour and needed to be induced, went in to hospital for them to find I was 10 cm dilated...I had been in agony for 6 days and insisting it was 'real' labour and I wasn't just a wimp. I'm glad I didn't have to be induced though - it scares me!

mlic I'm glad you don't feel like your DS1 isn't your baby anymore. I still get the wobbles a bit with DD but I'm sure once this LO pops out they'll both be my LO's

I've just had a phonecall to say that the hospital can see DD today for her skin (she's got really bad infected eczema that we can't shift) but DH has the car at work, and he's got a really busy week this week. Timing's all off...maybe we shouldn't have sold our second car

chulita why does being induced scare u? Am i really niaive, is it that bad? My EDD is this thursday and apart from the odd twinge i have had nothing so i really think i will need to be induced.I hope u manage to get to the hospital with DD, thats not much notice for an appointement is it.
becky glad u got the all clear, i awlays find it unexpectad that they do stuff on a sunday, do u know how soon after they induce u u are expected to go into labour? Do u have to stay in the hospital or can u go home?
spirael Im hoping to BF and bottle feed with expressed milk, stupid question.......how did u know that she needed formula, how did u know ur milk was slow to come in, was she just not feeding??? These are the things that worry me, how do u know stuff like this?

I think the contractions you get from induction are more painful than those that start naturally, as there's no gentle build-up. Am hoping to avoid it myself, but if needs must!

I'm nervous at BF too - I had a breast reduction many years ago so had to mix-feed DS, am hoping we'll do a bit better with this DC.

Am having contractions again although not overly regular - went for a long walk around Bluewater and was asked SO many times when my due date was! The shop assistants all looked a bit worried when I said "tomorrow"!

Well I have had better days
Have overspent this month, so money being saved for hols is now going on rent

Dh is bricking it about me going into labour - I thought I had a really good labour with dd - I feel really positive, but dh thinks it was horrific, he hates hospitals, hates seeing me in pain, etc. upshot is he is v.stressed about it, and now is stressed about money and has also decided to give up smoking - now I'm thrilled he is finally going to kick the fag habit, but he doesn't do stressed well and is going to be a total nightmare.

I ache and I'm shattered despite a good nights sleep

DD is currently asleep, she had late night last night because we were out watching footie at friends, now is exhausted, which means bed time is going to be a nightmare

Just found out that my classroom at work is being taken away from my department because the head has 'other plans' for it. The head has spoken to the deputy who is in overall charge of the department, but she didn't pass the info onto my line manager (or it seems fight our corner in any way) line manager heard a rumour and confronted deputy who confirmed it. I have had a lovely classroom, who knows if I'll even have a desk in Feb when I go back. Really at total lack of communication. Not surprised, this is the way the management of my school normally operate. Too late in the year for job hunting too.

Best start tea really.

Ladies worrying about induction - I was induced by syntocinin drip with DS1 and it wasn't that bad. Having said that I have never had a natural labour to compare it to!

They put me on a drip and within a few minutes I was having really long contractions, but I didn't need any pain relief. It was just exhausting really. You don't get much break between contractions and as someone said earlier, there is not build up. Once they start, that's it!

Because of complications we did end up with em c/s, but I laboured quite happily for 16 hours first with no pain relief, and I'm a wuss, so I don't think you have anything to worry about :-)

beckyg c/s means i haven't experienced the pain problem with going to the loo, but my friend is a MW and she says if you have a bidet or bowl you can fill with warm water and wee into that it will sting less. Alternatively peeing against a wet flannel that you can chuck in the wash is supposed to help.

Hello, i'll try to type left handed while LO is feeding! My birth story:
Waters broke saturday about 11am whilst out shopping but only trickled so no embarassing puddles(!) so thought best head home, started getting a few mild pains so i had a bath, wasn't really sure if it was proper labour, but as time went on they got stronger so realised it was the real thing. Luckily being saturday it was quite civilised packing DD off to parents at a good time.
So then i put the TENS on (which i ended up using the whole way through) and laboured at home until ctrx were about 3 mins apart when we thought best time to go to hosp...
when i got there and was examined was only 2-3cm dilated though so they said i should either go for a walk or go home - i opted for the walk and within an hour things had really intensified so i asked for gas & air and when examined was 5cm. anyway, that was about 9pm and in the next 1hr45mins went to fully dilated! I was really pleased because i managed to do it all with just g & a (despite screaming for an epidural at 9cm and being told it was too late!) and pushed him out in 3 pushes and 15 mins. It felt like a bit of an out of body experience but was really great overall, even having the stitches wasn't too bad (i only had a minor tear). It was lovely to give birth with just the midwife and DH compared to in an operating theatre full of people and bright lights like last time and be able to have a bath etc straight away.
Haven't had much sleep since as Sam is constantly feeding, i think because i haven't got enough milk for him yet, so am knackered, but hope that will get better soon. It's all worthwhile! Sorry if thats all a bit garbled, my brains not up to much at the mo!

Hope things are happening for those of you overdue, excited to see who's next

wonder some crappy things today then, DH giving up smoking is good news but is this really the right time, i understand that u could never say that to him though. Money is the bane of everyones life, i had to use the holiday fund this month too, its an expensive time. It will probably never be replaced either. My DH is in education so ur story does not suprise me at all, management is just as bad everywhere i think! Ur DH bricking it about labour is a bit rich isnt it, he doesnt have to do it! and hasn't had to do it for the last 9 months. Im sorry to be harsh but i think the least they can do is be supportive......in my opinion of course, u may think completly differently.
Lets hope tomorrow will bring better things for u!!xx

Good evening all still trying to catch up- looking at the list too from what I've read am so glad its not just me who is having loo issues- it just hurrendous on the latcalose/lots of fluidscoe fruit and veg so fingers crossed things get better im really struggling. Anyone who has had stitches- the pain, when does it go away? How did you cope with it? Am sitting on a duvet using witch hazel taking arnica and paracetamol. Getting desperate . Roo however is great, feeding really well and we're bonding really well. Congrats to any new arrivals. Hope everyone is well

viksam I've just had 2 friends who say that being induced was horrible so that's the only reason - no scientific reason at all! To answer what you asked spirael, my milk was slow to come in with DD, took about 5 days and she was feeding non-stop. I didn't use formula but it was hard-going for a bit, you can tell when your milk comes in cos it changes from colostrum (yellow) to milk (and some people get really, really full boobs).

Just got back from 5 hours at the hospital for DD's skin and we've not learnt anything new really...just getting tea on and then I'll catch up!

orangefizz thanks for writing your birth story, I love reading them! And good on you for getting through it just with g&a

thislittlesisisterlola sorry you're in so much pain, I don't have any advice, I just hope things settle soon. stac earlier suggested an inflatable ring to sit on?

Evening all,

Just popping on quickly to say our baby has arrived! 3:39am this morning, and called Thomas Matthew.

Will come back with more details when I am less knackered from being up all night and having no sleep...!

thislittlesisterlola I don't remember when my stitches started feeling better, at least a week or two afterwards, do get your mw to have a look though and maybe take a swab - mine got infected and I had to have antibiotics for a few days. I found having a cup of warm water to poor over them when I had a wee was really helpful. Does depend on how much damage has been stitched - my friend had a third degree tear and said it took 12 weeks to feel herself again.

glastonbury so glad CAHMS went well. Must be a relief. Interesting about autism possiblity. I teach some children with Aspergers and they have what is called a 'spikey profile' in some ways they are very normal, but certain things they find really really hard - is a challenge to explain to other teachers sometimes that even though child x seems to cope really well 90% of the time, and doesn't appear to have anything wrong with him he actually finds some things totally impossible and isn't being naughty. Is very difficult to diagnose often.

orangfizz fab birth story, thanks for that, sounds like a really positive experience.

Sorry for self-indulgent ramble earlier - was feeling very hormonal and emotional - got a bit of a better grip now. Wouldn't swap my bag of troubles for anyone elses and all that. Annoyed about work, but at least I have a job.
Dh has been fab all through this pregnancy and I have been a real pita, utterly miserable. I do have some sympthy with him worrying, he is just scared for me, but it is annoying because I'm not scared at all and I'm sure that if he had read a little more about giving birth before we had dd then he might have found it less traumatic. We chatted about it - 1st stage (the bit where he rubs my back) really wasn't so bad - he coped well 2nd stage (the scary bit) probably be over much quicker this time - I will be fine. I've sent him out to go swimming and clear his head.

Think bath and bed is in order - maybe tomorrow I'll have a baby

Congratulations kittykat