Might be the start of something...how painful should it be before hospital dash?!

[Laquila]

Morning all,

I'm 40+6 and Have been up since about 3.45ish with what I think are mild contractions. I say mild - they're very uncomfortable but I wouldn't actually call them painful, but they do seem to be only about 6 mins apart.

I thought I had Braxton Hicks a couple of nights ago, but those felt like strong and quite uncomfortable tightenings across the top of my bump, whereas these feel much lower in my bump. I also feel pressure in my bottom (like needing to go but not being able to) but not super strong.

I'd think that maybe these were just Braxton Hicks but they do feel like they're in a different place to the ones the other night. I'm hypnobirthing, so have done a lot of work at feeling quite calm and in control, but even so - if these are real contractions and are only 6ish mins apart, shouldn't they be more painful?!

We live a good 35 mins from the hospital so am wary of going in too early.

N.b. I haven't noticed that I've lost my plug/had a show, or that my waters have broken, but I did feel yesterday as though maybe the baby was starting to fully engage - felt let of heavier further down my abdomen.

Any advice or thoughts gratefully received!

Congratulations on your perfect baby boy! Sounds like you did brilliantly under tough circumstances!

Just re. the nipples - yes to the nipple shields if they help you through it, my friend got on great with these at the beginning and went on to breastfeed past 6 months without needing them after the initial months.

I breastfed my first baby with hardly a twinge BUT my second was a completely different story - my nipples were in shreds, it was agony, if he had been my first I might well have given up. As it was I had to give him a couple of bottles to give me a break (but my natural laziness meant that returning to painful bf-ing was preferable to making up bottles!). There was nothing wrong with the way he was latching on - I think he was just a very enthusiastic sucker, and while he was tiny he was going on fine then slipping off the latch slightly during a feed and doing the damage to my nipples.
I got through it with - painkillers, a glass of wine (!), lots of Lansinoh, and if I felt him moving off slightly during a feed - being religious about taking him off and putting him back on correctly.

Good luck! And of course NOTHING WRONG with bottles if that makes for a happier start to your life together.

I think my LO actually learned how to suck on the bottle - I used Medela Calma - she lost a lot of weight so I was expressing after each feed to try and stimulate supply and topping her up with it each night. It seemed after a few days of bottles she got better at sucking on me too. My point simply being bottles are not always bad.

Once she got up to weight I got lazy, stopped expressing/bottles. She then never took a bottle (well, maybe a couple of ounces if she was really desperate when DH looked after her for full days, but she avoids as much as she can), she clearly prefers boob and is still on boob at 8 mnths.

Do whatever works for you. I heard good thing about nipple shields too from a friend

good luck

Congratulations! And well done :-)

Has he been checked for a tongue and or lip tie? That can make a massive difference. Good luck - it is really hard to start with - but gets so easy if you can just make it through the first bit.

Try jelonet wet gauze for your nipples, I used them between feeds with DS2 and it helped so much. Took me 6 weeks to get past the painful bit despite an easy 9 months of nursing with DS1. Worth it for all the extra sleep I've had since.

I had two caesareans and it's not easy is it? My best tips are

1.Take a little longer than you think you need to get active again and

1. Make sure you keep the wound clean. Send someone to boots to get sterile water for contact lens (comes in a big bottle) and a small plastic squirty bottle from the travel section, then spray your wound with the water a few times a day and lie down to let it air dry.

Congratulations on baby!!