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!

mlic i have been feeling great but like you, but yesterday scared me. I got scared thinking this may be it and decided preventions better than cure which is why i've taken meds. Felt like i was letting lo down but as dp says taking a 10ml tablet wont hurt x

Sorry for the belated response, this thread has moved so quickly lately I'm struggling to keep up!

Congratulations to memphis, kittykat and norky! I'm glad things went ok, though sounds like things were a bit traumatic for you, memphis! The end result was good though, and hopefully recovery will be swift.

viksam, it took about four days for my colostrum to switch to milk. Before then my breasts were still relatively soft and hand expressing or expressing with the pump rendered a bit of the golden coloured goop.

Most of the day Mindy was fine with it, but when she started to constant feed in the evening and I was literally switching straight back and forth between breasts for hours on end, she'd eventually reach the point where she'd suck for 10-15 seconds, then pull away and cry in frustration.

I couldn't get anything out either at that point through various attempts at expression, so reached the conclusion she'd drained me dry and I wasn't getting enough time between feeding attempts to refill. She was still crying with hunger and rooting. A tiny bit of formula (normally 1 fl oz) settled her so we could all get a bit of sleep.

I could tell when my milk came in partially because I was starting to be able to express yellowy milk that has now become white milk. Mostly though it was when my breasts started to rival Pamela Anderson and became really solid to the touch. I'm going to get measured for proper nursing bras on Friday... I'm slightly scared about what size I'll be.

The engorgement has eased off now though, they're only solid when they're full. It's quite easy to tell an empty breast from a full one now just by feeling it, though even when it's 'empty' I can still express milk so my body seems to be doing a better job at keeping the supply going.

I'm still having a few issues of keeping up in the evening with Mindy's routine, as from dinnertime until bedtime I am literally constantly feeding her at present!! But then I can't really complain that much, as she slept from 9pm until 4am last night. So I'm getting lots of sleep.

I keep trying to express earlier in the day so I have backup supplies as DH and I try to keep up with her demand for food, but she always wants that little bit more. Yesterday evening we gave her at least 4 fl oz out of expressed/formula bottles (mostly expressed), and she twice drained the breasts, in the space of three hours!

Where does she put it all, I wonder?? I thought newborns could only handle 2 fl oz at a time?

If she hasn't gained weight when the MW comes over tomorrow, I might cry.

stac14 I had one hormonal episode on day 5, when the MW did the heel prick test on Mindy. I knew she was fine, but I welled up never the less. Aside from that I've been ok thus far.

Hi all,

To those who recommended the breast shells, Ive had a look at them on the boots website and the reviews have been pretty crap. Everyone saying the milk leaks out the shells due to the little air vent holes.
I havent left the flat since Dylan was born so dont know how the breast pads Ive got are going to hold up with the amount of milk I leak. Really hoping not to be caught out!

spirael I am VERY jealous that little Mindy slept from 9pm til 4am, I really wish Dylan would sleep longer than an hour at a time at night. Im constantly up and down with him, feeding/changing nappy/changing clothes when he wees over them. Exhausting!

stac I got quite teary yesterday when I went for a wee and tried pouring water over me at the same time so it wouldnt hurt stitches yet ended up hurting me more, Dylan has slight jaundice so constantly worried about that and I just felt a right mess with my leaky boobs and sore fanjo I just broke down and had a cry on the toilet. DP has been fab though and gives me lots of support and cuddles when I feel down.

Anymore babies being born? Whats happened to the list!?

feel better today so its probs just been an episode as that was day 6. We're just back from registering Rileigh (i spelt it wrong ) so she is now an official person . We have to pop into mil's then home for a lazy day cos the weathers crap. What's everyone else up to? Any news from kk or anifers? X

I too have been thinking that anifers has been really quiet and hoping everything is okay with her. The prolonged silence is a little worrying.

As for kk, they keep you in hospital for longer after the birth in Ireland than they do here so hopefully that explains her absence.

For anyone buying nursing bras, someone on this thread had recommended these people - www.nursingbra-shop.co.uk/ - and I found them fantastic and would highly recommend them. Cheaper than anywhere else I found and a really fast free delivery service. I just measured myself and ordered some bras thinking I would return them if they didn't fit but they all fitted perfectly.

hi all congrats to all the new arrivals.

Thanks for the advice on the sitches, episiotomy did anyone else have one? I'm starting on the tea tree oil baths tonight? Do I need a carrier oil? I am so fed up of this pain I feel I cant enjoy my baby whilst being so uncomfortable. It will get better wont it?
saw mw this morning- said sitches are healing but one end is overlapped a bit but will heal and it will get better but she doesnt no when. great.
Sorry for the whinge.
I had a bad day yesterday too stac, hormones and a windy baby though infacol seems to be helping.
Am off for a bath while roo sleeps.

hope everyone else is ok, shame the weather is so rubbish.

My mw recommended a little milk to put tea tree oil in for the bath - seemed to work well last time - is doing wonders for my thrush atm, better than the cream the doc prescribed.

Stitches will get better - keep up with painkillers.

I was feeling really good yesterday and thought that I was going into labour last night, but after a couple of v. strong braxton hicks all went quiet, I had a good nights sleep but am shattered today.

just caught up on thread, well one norky what a trouper!!!
kk well done to you 2, very weird that your baby was born at 3.39 as mine was born 3.39pm monday!!!
gracie they realy didnt want to let me out but as lyndon is thriving they cant make me stay in!
i slept so well last night!! and i can actually walk with my feet flat today!! being trated like a princess and dh keeps telling me how proud he is of me! bless him, Lyndon had feed at 10 last night then got up at 2 then 6 dh took over the 2am feed as i couldnt get up with the pain and then by 6 feed i was feeling a lot more mobile! mw just been and doc is coming out soon!
got to go back to hospital in morning and stay until ive gone toilet 3 times! but not feeling as swollen today so feeling confident! hope everyone is feeling ok, i cant believe im finally a mommy!!!!

lola I really do know how you feel, my stitches are really causing me agony too. Try sitting in warm salt water too, really helps them heal.

Ive just had the mw here, she said Dylan is a very laid back baby as he falls asleep when feeding and he has to be physically woken up to feed. She said if he doesnt empty my boobs I have to express as Im at risk of getting mastitis. So will be investing in a hand pump I think.
The heel prick test wasnt too bad for him either, he seemed to be more fussed about her holding his foot than the prick itself!
Hes lost a few pounds which she is happy about and his jaundice doesnt look as bad but Ive got another mw coming here on Sat just to keep an eye on it.

stac your doing alot very soon after your c-sec, I havent even left the flat yet I can barely walk my stitches hurt so much.

We're registering Dylan in a couple of hours which will be nice

Just wanted to add another piece of advice for those with stitches, the only way I could go to the loo totally pain free after ds1 was to position myself over the toilet, then bend down towards the floor(as if touching toes) whilst peeing-that way no urine touched my stitches. I would then v v gently pat myself dry with toilet roll.

I hope that helps x

Oh also re stitches, Im using fragrance free baby wipes instead of loo roll and patting the area so its softer and cooler.

dh the reviews must be from people who don't know how to use them!
You put the air holes at the top (so that air can escape and stop pressure building as milk comes out!) and you don't wear them all day, just when you are feeding to catch the leak from the other boob.
I found them really helpful, but obviously not essential. You could just hold a muzzy over to catch the leaks :-)

gracie yeah I was a bit dubious when I read those reviews as they were from women saying you cant bend forward or sleep with them and I was thinking "surely you only need them when your feeding/leaking, not for 24/7 use!"
I may give them a go or just invest in a hand held breast pump, the mw said I could even just hold a bottle underneath the boob to catch the drips.

hey everyone!haven't had the chance to read back through so dont know if anyone else has had babies!well we brought our absolutely gorgeous baby girl into the world at 10:15pm monday night!she's just beautiful!we called her Ellie May. so after i posted the other morning i went for a shower and decided that it was definately contractions so woke dp and he started timing and they were 5 mins apart! so went straight to hospital and they took one look at me and decided to send me straight to labour ward.so they checked there and i was 2 cms so went for a bath and walked around for 2 hours and went back to labour ward as pains were getting unbearable and i was 5 cms!so started on gas and got epidural soon after.then my waters broke when i was 6cms and then everything just stopped! turns out she was OP so there was no pressure coming from her head to dialate me any further where the waters were doing the work before that.so had to go on the drip that makes your contractions stronger and took a long time to get to fully dialated and then she came into the world after about 15 mins of pushing!(i was just mad to meet the baby at this stage!).got few stitches which are very sore but she is worth every bit of pain! we'r just so in love and besotted with her! she's sleeping and feeding very well so we're happy out so far! will try and get around to reading back as soon as i get the chance but for now im just going to stare at her for a while as we're just home there now!xx

Many congratulations kk - great news!

Excellent news from KK and Memphis very happy for you both

Will pop off and update the list just now- will do my best but feeling a little flu-like today so apologies if i miss something!

ARRIVED
26th June 8:40pm (Due 29th June) - violetbubbles, 33, Glasgow, #1, GIRL 6lbs 6oz, Iris
29th June 0:50am (Due 28th June) - WickedWitch, 30, Bristol, #2, BOY 7lb 10oz, Edward Davis
29th June 11:15am (Due 29th June) - JoJo, 34, N London, #2, BOY 8lb 13oz, Frank
30th June 1:54am (Due 6th July) - Delta4, 34, Leicestershire, #2, BOY, Isaac Henry
30th June 4:32pm - Randomama, GIRL, 6lb 12oz, Vita.
1st July ? (Due 9th July) - Kapars, 36, E London, #1, GIRL, 8lb 4oz, Yasmin Sophia.
6th July 9.23pm (Due 3rd July) ? MyLifeIsChaotic, 29, North East, #2, BOY, 8lb 4oz, William.
7th July 9.23am (Due 25th July) - Spirael, 28, West Yorkshire, #1, GIRL, 8lb 3oz, Miranda Jane.
7th July 11am (Due 7th July) - Stac14, 30, Glasgow, #2, GIRL, 9lb 12oz, Riliegh.
8th July 1.22am (Due 23rd July) - Firerise, 31, Hampshire, #1, GIRL, 7lb 4oz, Imogen Frances.
9th July 8.57am (Due 18th July) - DesperateHousewife21, 20, Kent, #1, BOY, 7lb 2oz, Dylan James.
10th July 11.35pm (Due 4th July) - Orangefizz, 34, southeast, #2, BOY, 8lb 10oz, Samuel Edward.
12th July 3.39am (Due 18th July) - Kittykat77, 33, Lincolnshire, #3, BOY, Thomas Mathew
12th July 3.39pm (Due 9th July) - Memphis83, Leicester, #1, BOY, 6lb 14.5oz, Lyndon Freddie
12th July 10.15pm (Due 4th July) - kkfairybrains, 25, Ireland, #1, GIRL, Ellie May
13th July 9.51am (Due 13th July) - NorkyButNice, 30, Kent, #2 BOY, 11lb 3oz

GIRLS: 7
BOYS: 9

PENDING
4th July - Irishfairy, 25, Oxfordshire, #1, GIRL
11th July - Beckyg123, 28, Glasgow, #1, SURPRISE
12th July - GlastonburyGoddess, 25, Glastonbury, #3, SURPRISE
12th July - DeeLite, 36, Sussex, #1, SURPRISE
14th July - secondcoming, 37, Manchester, #3 SURPRISE
15th July - Viksam, 35, Somerset, #1, SURPRISE
16th July - nixster, 28, bedford #1, GIRL
17th July - Grumpypumpkin, 35, Sussex, #1, GIRL
18th July - Wonderstuff, 31, Hampshire, #2
22nd July - Chulita, 27, Dorset, #2
25th July - Emster30, 29, NE London, #1, SURPRISE
26th July - Anifersgirl, 33, South Bucks, #1, GIRL
27th July - EmsieRo, 29, S London, #1, GIRL
31st July - Gracie123, 26, Cumbria, #2

Still need a few more details from the new mums when you get a chance-
Norky ? baby?s name?
KittyKat and KKfairy ? baby?s weight?

Congratulations kk thats wonderful news

Im back from registering Dylan, hes now officially a person of the world!

Congratulations memphis, kittykat, norky and KK!

sorry earlier i put kk instead of kitty on time of baby arrival!
congrats kk lovely name for your little girl!!

on stitches i had a lavender bath last night and today and the stitches are not so swollen! also physio told me never sit directly on them as this causes slower healing so to sit like a mermaid to the side

Congratulations to Memphis and KK fab news and thank you for sharing ur stories.

I want to have a lavender bath do u just put a few drops in the water?

spirael Thanks for explaining the whole BF thing, there was loads of good info in ur post and I understand a bit more now. Thanks.

glasto I have a puergeot 306 estate, i went out on my own today in it and got on fine, its very different to my old Audi and Im struggling to find a comfy seating position but thats more to do with this football im hiding up my top!!!

The health visitor came today, bang on 10am!! She was very nice, almost to nice though, a bit sickly really, not very down to earth, just said 'yeah yeah' a lot. They offer good support with BF so im a little less worried about that and I have a good idea what to expect re support when i get home too, so thats good. She gave me the NHS book and some leaflets to read. Is everyone else having the baby in their room for 6 months! I think that sounds like a long time.
She asked about depression and PND and domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse. She didnt look around the house or ask to see where the baby will be sleeping but she did ask about the animals and how we think they will be with the baby(i have two cats and a sausage(dog!)I didnt tell her the cats freak me out now and I would defo get rid if i could!!

Hi everyone, mind if I join you? I did pop my head in months ago, but RL seems to have got in the way since then!

I am very excited about all the new arrivals - congratulations to you all and love reading the birth stories. I am due on the 18th (so now 39+3), #2, Boy (have 4.5 yrs old DD already), I am 40 and live in N London. Due to my age I am classified as a geriatric mother, ! However, it does mean I've had some extra scans which has been great.

DD was a week early, so I did expect this one to be too - I am really mentally ready to pop now, but no signs of anything happening [frustration emoticon] I am reading all your comments on induction with particular interest!

Evening all

Congrats kk love her name. How are you?

dh i'm trying not to do loads, didnt go out at all from friday to tuesday. But when i went today it was straight from the house to the car so keeping moving to a minimum. My aunt says i've forgot i've just had surgery . I know the idea of sitting on a blow up ring seems ridiculous but i can honestly say it eased the pressure on fanjo. For peeing i used to just push it out quick, kinda like ripping a plaster off.

memphis you could be at the hospital for hours hun, couldnt they allow you to send samples in?

lola we are using infacol too and it has helped. Dp was saying she had colic cos she cried while waiting for her bottle, but hey men like to exagerate. How you finding it other than the wind? I'm just in love lol

becky you ok? Has the fluey symptoms went away? Do you feel better about sunday? I know its hard when your anxious about things (i was freaking about the section) but if you focus on the end result its not too bad. And you'l be a fab mummy

wonder anymore pains?

glaston any news your end? I meant to ask you had said dp gave you a ve, how does he know what to look for or do? Soz if thats nosey its just my dp escaped from the room when i got a ve lol

viksam we haven't even met hv yet. Mw is nice, kind of matronly. Have the feeling if she felt i was doing wrong she wouldnt hesitate in saying. Other than being sickly nice do you think you'l get on with her?

Hi amiable welcome to the club lol. I was 9 days late with ds and was certain this baby would be the same luckily (sort of) i had a section 10 days early. Thats terrible bout being called a geriatric mum at 40, it just bugs me that people are pigeon holed due to age, weight etc. Hows your pregnancy been? X

congratulations kk!

stac-Ive done a year of my midwifery degree so I talked to him at length about what he may or may not feel and coached him through it!

sorry self absorbed post here but have had a bad end to the day. S+S went ok, findings confirmed what dp had already said, shes booked me in for another next wednesday if nothing by then. havent had anything except cramps and show yesterday.

went to pick up ds1 from school and hed had a terrible day, ending up being carried by staff off the playground both break times after kicking and swearing at other children teacher says he will be kept in all day tommorrow because of how he was today. teacher said he got upset about some kids picking on him in the park round the corner from where we live(he went there on his own on sat for about 40mins). apparently the school which these boys go to rang the school my son is at to report this(no idea of the specifics) I said ok, he wont be going there anymore and hasnt been there previously for over a month before sat.

get home and ds1 very cross, telling me hes going to kill himself over minor issues, then passes out on sofa for an hour. during this time school ring me, the head says she cant be sure I wont let him go to the park on his own again and that she has reported us to social services.

Im utterly shocked at how this has been handled and Im not even clear on what basis she has rang them, was too shocked when I heard what she said, to ask her.

Ughh, what a time for something like this to happen

OMG Glasto thats horrendous! I hope ur going to go over the school tomorrow and see the head, she sounds like an idiot. I know they have to look after the kids in their care but my god, what does she think she is going to acheive by doing what she has done, thats terrible.