BFPs after IVF - part 3 (babies start arriving)

[HopefulllHolly]

Hi all,

SENSITIVE CONTENT - discusses pregnancy and birth after infertility

Continuation of previous threads for anyone with a BFP following IVF. This thread we should have some of us giving birth!

@anniestar12
@dippyduck19
@fluffyted
@leaf86
@loup87
@natty2
@thepeachgoose
@always28
@edf

Hi everyone - starting another thread! Will post the link in the other thread in case others still want to chat but for now have only added people who have posted more recently. 😊

@HopefulllHolly ah yes, mum guilt, of course. And no, you're not scaring me at all! If anything, I like hearing these stories with all the good and the bad because it helps set realistic expectations. I have no doubt that we'll hit some bumps as well, but reading stories like yours makes me confident that we'll eventually figure out our way through them and it's not the end of the world.
The side feeding position is the other position that NCT seems to love! I'm so glad it works for you. It sounds positively lovely the way you're describing it. And I hope that breastfeeding is getting a little easier for you two every day.
Thanks for the tips and encouragement for the last few weeks of pregnancy! I do have some things in the calendar (friends visiting, cinema) but should definitely book some more pampering experiences.

@Natty2 oh it's next week, how exciting! And totally understand the scary part lol It's great that you have a few days off to prep for the arrival of the little one. Those Braxton Hicks contractions sound mad! Are you still getting them regularly? I'll update on here how my scan went, thank you.

@Faith2024 time moves in such a funny way after 30 weeks. In the beginning the due date feels ageees away, and then all of a sudden you have under 30 days left and you're panicking that you don't have everything in place lol
But it sounds like you have a toddler keeping you busy so no doubt that time will fly for you. Hope you're feeling comfortable and energetic!

@AnnieStar12 good luck tomorrow! hope all goes well for mama and baba

Thanks for the good wishes for tomorrow, I have to be there at 7am which means I’m on the morning list thankfully. I can’t really believe the day has finally arrived, not sure how much sleep I'm gonna get tonight 😬

Just been catching up on the thread. Loving hearing everyone’s updates - hope you’re all
doing well.
I’ll update you guys on the other side xx

@ThePeachGoose you are in the home straight now! Those last few weeks are the most uncomfortable, so hang in there. I definitely feel physically much better 4 weeks post c section then I did pregnant! The ability to curl my abdomen up whichever way I want without worrying about squashing the baby still feels novel haha! The reflux and breathlessness has gone for me, but I think my rib cage is still broader than before. My stomach is back to “normal” but I’m still about 8kg heavier than pre pregnancy and have lost a lot of muscle strength. I’m looking forward to starting back at yoga / the gym in a couple of weeks.

Breastfeeding wise, we are also going ok - it took 2 weeks for the initial toe-curling nipple pain to pass, and about 4 weeks total for baby to nail the latch. I ended up paying for a couple of hours with a private lactation consultant (highly highly recommend if breastfeeding is something you want to give a proper go). I think my supply is outmatching her demand at the moment, which is causing some issues. Hopefully things will iron out over the next couple of weeks. Position wise (and I’m no expert ) I think they can all be useful , but I tend to feed most frequently in cradle position with a cushion underneath baby or side lying when co-sleeping. In terms of getting baby latched on, baby girl took longer to get to grips with it and then I found it easier to guide her on in cross-cradle and then switch to cradle. My son was a bit quicker and I could use cradle from the start.

@AnnieStar12 best of luck for tomorrow! Hope you’re not waiting long and it all goes smoothly. 💕

@Natty2 best of luck for next week too! 💕 Can’t believe it’s come round so quickly.

@Faith2024 i also found that time absolutely flew from 30 weeks onwards. Hope the rest of the third trimester treats you kindly !!

@AnnieStar12 good luck for today. Hope all goes well. Not long til you will have your baby in your arms! Can't wait to hear your update!

@Leaf86 glad things are going ok for you!

@Faith2024 it won't be long for you! The third trimester flies by!

@Natty2 not long to go! Hope you're enjoying mat leave and getting the last few bits done. Don't forget to rest too as it's much more difficult once baby here.

@ThePeachGoose good luck for your scan on Friday. Hope all goes well.

@HopefulllHolly can't believe your LO has been here a week already! Hope you're doing ok? Sounds like breastfeeding is going well and your recovery too. It's mad how quickly we recover. I'd say im 99% there after 2 and a half weeks! People keep saying to take it easy as I've had major surgery but I don't feel like I have 😂

I definitely feel you on the dog mum guilt! My dog just wants to check baby every time he makes a sound! And then gives him a little lick. Need to keep an eye on her because I don't want her licking his face! She just wants to protect him. I feel like I'm not giving her enough attention. Was cuddling her the other evening and had tears rolling down my face! It's hard work with a newborn and a dog but I'm sure it will get easier.

Not much to update from my end. Baby boy lost 7.5% of his birth weight at 5 days and is now above his birth so midwife is happy. We have one more appointment with the midwife next week as I get 28 day post natal care rather than the standard 10 to ensure I don't get post natal depression given my anxiety throughout pregnancy. Hopefully will be discharged then, as I'm generally feeling quite good.

LO is really constipated and he seems to have a problem with his big toes, so seeing the GP on Monday.

DP also goes back to work on Monday, which I'm dreading! Means all the night feeds will fall to me rather than him helping. I know I'll be fine but it's just daunting not to have him around.

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 Oh bless you - yeah it sounds exactly like my dog! He is desperate to lick her. I let him kiss the top of her head, but he’s after her face 😅 It’s really hard when they used to get all your attention and then very little and when they do get attention it’s like nervous keeping them away from baby attention. Must be really confusing for them. We have quiet time all together after dinner and all watch a film or something and last night the dog cuddled me for the first time since I’ve had her and I really sobbed. I hope it goes back to how it was at some point but I keep telling myself at least he’s not growling and jealous of the baby - that would be awful!

Im doing all the feeds myself if it helps - my other half has had to sleep upstairs with the dog (he won’t sleep downstairs on his own without barking all night - we tried for a year with him and it just won’t work, diva!). In actual fact it’s not that bad at all. I set my alarm for every 2.5 hours but baby wakes before then, feed her in the dark and then she goes back to sleep. I’m getting about 7.5 hours of broken sleep but it’s totally fine. I found no talking to her or anything helps her stay in a sort of sleep state and it’s not an effort getting her back to bed that way.

Poor little babe being constipated - that’s strange! Hope it sorts out, my midwife did mention something for babies tummy’s yesterday when she came round to weigh baby. Can’t remember the name now but I’m sure they can give you something! What’s wrong with his toes? I honestly don’t know if I’d notice anything like that yet - I can’t wait to give her a bath in a few days now her plug is off to give her a proper once over 🤣

Glad you’re feeling ok and anxiety and mood are all good! Really good they’ve kept a close eye on you and you’ve felt supported. ❤️

Im all good thanks - enjoying baby life! Though im finding days fly by and I don’t do anything other than cuddle and feed her. Finally feel ok though to have regular visitors and they are pretty back to back this week - Goldie meets her dads dad today and his partner, and we tell them her name (bit scared about this as they speak their mind and might not like it but I’ve said to my partner it’s tough, we both love it and so does everyone else we’ve told so far). So fingers crossed! Baby is back up to -3% of her birth weight so by tomorrow she should be at her birth weight again which is great. What a relief!

@Leaf86 thank you for the encouraging words! A life with more freedom to move around, no reflux or breathlessness sounds amazing. It’s funny that you feel much better 4 weeks post op than during the last few weeks - that’s something to look forward to!
Glad to hear that you and your baby are finding your way through breastfeeding. I’m planning to line up a lactation consultant as well for the first week if I struggle - how did you find yours? I’m curious what position we’ll find most comfortable and effective, but the whole position discussion makes me chuckle because different organisations strongly support one or another, and they rarely agree. But we’ll see when we get there what works for us.

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 oh I’m so pleased for you that you already feel 99% there 2 and a half weeks after the c section! And that baby boy seems to be doing well too. No doubt that both of these contributed to feeling quite good about things, and I’m pleased it went that way. Hopefully the GP will be able to help with the constipation, as well as those tootsies.

@HopefulllHolly good luck with the family today. If they like the name, great, if not, it doesn’t really matter. They’ll just have to get used to it. The important thing is that you both love it and agree on it.

@HopefulllHolly my dog has never been able to sleep unless she's in the same room as me. So all 4 of us are together. The first few nights she was really unsettled with baby crying and me getting up for feeds (as I feed in his nursery) Now she doesn't care. It's definitely been easier with the dog and baby this week. So you'll get there and your fur baby will adjust!

His toe nails on his big toe are triangular shaped and not formed properly. On one of his feet the skin at the side of the toe is growing over the nail and looking red so thinking he's probably going to get ingrown toenails 😢

On the plus side, he's just done a poo!!! So relieved 😂 warm baths definitely help. I've also added in gut bacteria drops to try and help his digestive system. So not sure if they help 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sounds like your LO is gaining weight well!!! Also agree with @ThePeachGoose re the name. As long as you love it that's all that matters! I don't think my ILs like my choice of name!

Hi ladies, I just had my scan and all looks good. Though it’s funny how little you see at this stage and how it’s all blurry. But the sonographer seemed happy. She said baby is in the 31.5 percentile, normal but smaller, placenta looks good and blood flow as well. So I imagine the obstetrician won’t bring the c section date request forward since nothing would indicate there’s any issues. We’re meeting them on Tuesday. Otherwise my c section will be around the 26th, subject to availability 😆

I also had my blood pressure taken today and it seems like it’s back to my more regular readings. So now I’m just tired because of the lack of sleep I guess. Funny that I’ve been eating my meals with more salt added since I’ve had a low reading and for the first time in this pregnancy now I’ve started getting swollen ankles lol you try to fix one thing and then stumble into another thing. But it’s not too bad, not like how ladies you were describing that you had to change shoe size. Or not yet!

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 oh no, poor little guy with those toenails, hopefully the GP will be able to help. What a success though, hope that you’re past the constipation phase now. Hope the probiotic helps to make him more regular. I got biogaia as well for my emergency kit, just to have in the house if there’s any issues.

Hi all, nice to see those of you with babies settling into life. Those first few weeks are so up in the air but fly by.

I have been having all the symptoms this time round, my first pregnancy was a 100x easier. Like insomnia, a baby that lives in ribs leading to lots of breathlessness, reflux and now something that feels like sciatica on and off but strangely I am just willing it all to be OK. I would rather be here than doing stims. I know it’s the final stretch. Just trying to do little daily things to make myself feel better. Also keeping up with 3 year old is full on but somehow I am managing.

Can’t help but notice the majority of us have/are going down the C section route!

Hi ladies,
My little one is here now! Arrived Thursday morning and discharged Friday evening.
The procedure itself was unbelievable- so calm and quick! Can’t believe you walk in to a room, lie down and 10 mins later someone hands you your baby!!
She is absolutely perfect, our little 1 egg miracle ❤️
Tho I am now struggling a little with the recovery - having all sorts of pains including horrible gas pains. i have only slept a couple of 20 mins naps since Thursday which isn’t helping - I’m totally shattered and feeding a lot which has cracked my nipples :( and still haven’t opened my bowels.
Hopefully I’ll turn a corner with the recovery over the weekend. I have been reading everyone’s updates but my brain is too fried to reply individually- but looking forward to hearing about the next babies coming! and how the rest of you are getting on settling in to life with baby.

Oh and she only weighed just over 7lbs so was a far cry from the extra large baby the growth scan predicted 🙄.

@AnnieStar12 huge congratulations to you! So pleased to hear you are back home with your little girl and all went well 💕 Hope the recovery is going well this weekend

@ThePeachGoose glad all went well with your appointment. It's definitely hard to see the baby towards the end! Exciting that you'll be meeting baby in a few weeks!

@WhiskeyInTheJar33
Glad to hear you've been adjusting with the dog and baby. We have ours booked in with a sitter for a few days post c section and then will hopefully start to adjust too!
Sounds like you are getting on well and hope your little boys toes are ok 🩵

Hope everyone else is doing well with baby and pregnancy!

@AnnieStar12 Yayyyyy! Congrats on your miracle girl! It is amazing how quick and calm it is - it’s like a weird out of body experience isn’t it! I bet little girl is absolutely perfect. We named ours Goldie as she was our one golden egg. We thought everyone would hate the name but actually everyone loves it, so it’s been a pleasant surprise. Off to register her next week!

In terms of pains - I had terrible trapped gas (was my worst part of recovery) - peppermint tea really really helped me, and I lightly massaged my tummy pushing the air downwards. Some of the noises your belly makes are terrifying! I weirdly had absolutely no issues with toileting - I just didn’t think about it or stress about it and I went on day 3 or 4. Wasn’t a solid one which helped, and since then I have been every day. I only drank loads of water (which I need for breastfeeding as I’m sooooo thirsty!). I have a whole pharmacy of stuff for helping to make you go and I didn’t touch it, so hopefully you will be the same! I think you’ll feel alright in a few days. I’m 9 days past and I feel like myself. You can’t even see my scar at the moment so I’m lucky! I’d say try and get some sleep but I think it’s near on impossible as you’re just running on adrenaline. Everyone kept trying to make me sleep in the day time but I couldn’t. We’re now feeding every 2/3 hours in the night so I’m getting enough - having to co-sleep though as she won’t be put down in her cot at night whatsoever. Little madam!!

@ThePeachGoose Lovely to hear baby is doing well! Not long now. I bet the month flies by. 31 percentile is good! I don’t trust them anyway - I think everyone here has been told the wrong weight so far 🤣 so don’t worry too much. My bloating went down really quickly - my shoes fit again mainly, and back in my old jeans which is a relief as my maternity jeans all have a seam right where my section scar is and it irritates it.

@Natty2 How are you doing? Not too much longer! Hope you’re doing well!

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 Oh no sorry to hear about little boys constipation and toe nails. Hope the doctor can recommend something. You could try baby massage? There’s a few little videos online I have done with baby when she has trapped gas that have helped. I feel like my little brother had the triangle toe nails you know! It’s weirdly brought up a memory for me (he’s 12 years younger than me so I looked after him loads when I was young as I was obsessed with babies even then!). He has normal toenails now 😊 not sure what the treatment was if anything but I can ask my mum if you don’t get any answers.

@Faith2024 Hang in there! Literally all those symptoms will go straight away when baby is here! Must be so hard with a toddler but hope you are getting some rest and time to yourself. Almost there!

As for us - I’d like to say we have a routine but we absolutely don’t. We tried to sleep all in one room last night (partner has been upstairs with the dog as I have had to co-sleep with Goldie in order to get any sleep whatsoever), was not successful. I tried for 4 hours but every time I fed her and got her to sleep enough to put her in her cot she’d wake up and want more boob and it was relentless. Then my other half and dog fell asleep and were snoring so I kicked them out at midnight. Fed her again and she was asleep in 5 minutes next to me.
I’ve bought a new electric breast pump to express and give her a bottle every day as her weight was an issue, she’s back up to birth weight now which is a relief. Didn’t want to introduce a bottle to be honest but my partner is happy to be able to feed her (or be helpful and be able to soothe her, as he put it), and it’s been good knowing she definitely gets XXml of milk.
We are starting to get to know each other better now though, and some of her nap times are quite fixed in the day time which helps a lot with getting stuff done, but in fairness my partner has been absolutely amazing. He’s cleaned the whole house today, cooked all my dinners, done food shopping, gets us both anything we need. I haven’t had to lift a finger other than looking after baby.
Going to attempt her first bath tonight. Hope she is the type to love them! And I hope it helps relax her enough to sleep in her own bed tonight, even for a bit! She’s fine in the day time so it’s really annoying she doesn’t like it at night! 🤣

@AnnieStar12 congratulations on your little girl!!! Glad the section went well. It is a very strange experience!! Hope you're settling in at home and managing to get some rest x

@Natty2 good idea to book in with a sitter. My dog went to my parents while I was in hospital and then they kept her until I was up for visitors (48 hrs after coming home). Which meant we could settle in as a 3 first before adding a dog into the mix.

@HopefulllHolly love the name and its meaning!! Glad it's been accepted by family. We registered Reuben this week too and then went to a pub for a celebratory lunch and drink 😋

We've been doing some massage and bicycle legs and bathing more regular than we probably should to help the constipation. I figured dry skin is probably easier to deal with than the constipation. He loves the bath. Hopefully Goldie will too. I'm going to book on to some baby swimming classes when he's a little older if he still loves the water. On the plus side he managed a big poo yesterday!!!

How weird the triangular toe nails has rung bells for you. After some googling, it does correct itself in some cases. There's a condition called congenital nail fold hypertrophy which looks tricky to sort as the skin around the nail can keep growing even if they remove it. So hoping it's not that.

@AnnieStar12 congratulations !!! I totally relate to the lack of sleep in hospital - I was the same. How are you guys doing now? Are you home?

@HopefulllHolly love baby girl’s name. I only know one other Goldie (she’s about 2) and have always thought it’s very cool.

@Natty2 is your c section this week? Hope you’re all ok and it goes / has gone smoothly.

@ThePeachGoose how are you feeling now? Hopefully not too uncomfortable. Do you have a date yet?

@Faith2024 sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with this pregnancy, but it sounds like you have a good attitude towards it all.
I have the same issue with the baby living up in the ribs and I can totally relate to your frustrations with breathlessness and especially reflux, but also quite a bit of rib pain. Sometimes I dig my fingers in right bellow my rib cage to get some relief from the pushing and the kicking, and the baby and I are actively fighting over that space lol I think that they should give you a medal for going through all of this with a toddler! Joking aside, I hope that you have a good support network around you.
Apologies if you’ve mentioned it before, but what is your due date again? Or your c section date?

@AnnieStar12 MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS!!! Hopefully by now your recovery has improved and you’ve been able to sleep and get more comfortable. How is the little one adapting to the outside world? Oh my it sounds like the estimates were way off!

@HopefulllHolly I was wondering about the peppermint tea whether you feel it influenced your milk supply at all? I know that they say that milk may come in a bit slower after a c section as well, so tough to separate. I’ve stocked up on tea and trapped wind pills (which actually have peppermint oil in them) as well, and I’ll ask the maternity for a laxative I think and see what they recommend from there. Other than that, I'm planning to just have lots of water and fruit / veg / dried apricots, and my usual probiotic. On my current diet I go like 1-3 times a day atm so I wonder if it will just suddenly come to a halt, it would be so weird lol
Ah yes, if I’ve learned anything from this forum, is to not trust the estimates.
But I’d be pleased to have a petite baby as I’m petite myself and it will just make handling her easier. My niece has grown so fast and strong so quickly, that I was honestly struggling to hold her towards the end of her first year. Her dad is very tall though, whereas my husband is tall but normal, they're brothers.
Great to hear that your bloating went down so quickly and that you can fit into your old clothes and shoes again! Good to know about the maternity jeans after a c section, I didn’t think of that. I guess I’ll have to pull out my old clothes and just see at the time what I’ll be able to fit into lol
It sounds like you are doing amazingly as a unit, though I did chuckle at kicking your partner and dog out of the room for snoring lol Hope that the first bath went well!

@Leaf86 yes, I went to see my midwife today and she said I’m already booked in for the 28th and that I should hear from the hospital soon. I imagine that since the scan looked good and had a good chat with the obstetrician yesterday, the obstetrician just went ahead and approved it, and now the ELCS team has booked me in. I originally asked for the 26th as I had this vague memory that they don’t do electives at the weekend and the 28th would be a Friday, but the obstetrician assured me that the requested dates don’t mean much and the ELCS suite will decide my date based on due date and availability, and that they try to do them on the same day as much as they can, but if they are not able to, apparently they’ll keep me over night and the emergency team will take me on the next day (Saturday). Good thing it’s not a leap year, as that date would have stressed me out lol most people around me think a 29th Feb birthday would be cool, but I’d just feel sad for my baby because technically she would only truly celebrate her birthday once every 4 years.

Otherwise I’m feeling as well as I possibly could for almost 37 weeks, thanks for asking. Blood pressure readings are back to normal, but now I wake up every 2-3 hours during the night like clockwork, mostly due to reflux / rhinitis / needing to go to the loo / some sort of discomfort, so I’m quite tired during the day and I run out of energy quickly after doing anything. I still go to the gym once a week though and am able to do a few things in the day, but I’m no @HopefulllHolly who at this point was deep cleaning her house I think haha

I'm going on maternity leave at the end of this week and I still haven't figured out how you do KIT days yet. My payroll team is so lax about it, I need to chase them again as I'm trying to understand whether I need to give them a plan with dates now, or whether I can just tell them before every payroll is processed whether I'm planning to do a KIT day the next month.

From here on, all I have is another midwife appointment at 38 weeks (on the 18th) and then the c section date on the 28th. We've finished our antenatal classes, we've bought everything we needed and we've prepared as well as we could for the first couple of weeks, and from here on I guess it's just a matter of making it to the 28th and seeing how much we can fit in before then, as if it doesn't get done now, it will probably need to wait a few months.

Congratulations @AnnieStar12!

@HopefulllHolly thanks I am looking forward to being in the other side. I definitely won’t be one of the mamas that miss their bump!

@ThePeachGoose official due date is 9th April but hoping to have C section confirmed for week before then (31st March - 4th April).
You sound very organised! I am on mat leave from March so really looking forward to that. Sleep interruption and tiredness means focus is gone.

My plan is to finish off everything in Feb including hospital bag (i bought most things) and then take March as a real rest and self-care month. Hope baby does not come
too early.

@HopefulllHolly love the name, and cute meaning too! We’re still struggling with a name, baby is 9 days old now and we can’t find a name we both like, argh! Our registry appointment isn’t until 26th so we have time but it would be nice to name her before that.

We are muddling through, most of my initial pains have gone and I’m walking about now. The gas pains were by fast the worst part of recovery and lasted about 4/5 days. That’s all fine now. Baby is still mostly sleeping all day with lots of feeds. We just had our first outing this morning and did my first out-of-the-house feed which feels like an accomplishment!
Baby is quite jaundiced but levels aren’t so bad she has to go back in to hospital for light treatment. The midwife said they’ll check again in two weeks so hoping to flush is out by then with all the breast feeding.

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 how you getting on? Hopefully baby’s digestion is improving!

@Leaf86 how you doing? Yes we were home the next day so luckily only had one night stay at hospital!

@ThePeachGoose great you have a date to work towards. Definitely do some nice things for yourself before then. I did a few daytime cinema trips / massages / lunch with pals in those final weeks. And I’m glad I did that now I’m on the other side.
On the laxatives - I took peppermint oil capsules, drank peppermint tea and had prunes packed in my hospital bag which I’ve been eating for breakfast every day. I also started laxatives on day 0 - I just covered every possible option as I had horrible gas/bowel issues last time. I think that all helped and there was no issue at all with milk supply. My milk came through fully by day 3.

@Faith2024 enjoy the time off work!

@AnnieStar12 glad your recovery is going well. Hopefully you'll find a name too that you both agree on. You have plenty of time.

@ThePeachGoose enjoy mat leave!!! Not sure how KIT days work. I'm debating whether I want to do some or not but won't be for a couple of months yet.

I'm doing ok. Baby's digestive issues seemed to get worse over last weekend. Constipation, colic and reflux resulted in a very unhappy baby!!! We changed to a comfort formula which is helping and saw an osteopath yesterday which will hopefully help some more.

Hi all, hope everyone is well!

Just a little update from me, that our baby boy arrived on Friday, via our planned C-section 🩵🩵 we were first on the list and he was here all before 9am. I'm sure like everyone else, it feels completely surreal that after our long IVF journey he is finally here 🥹🥹

@Natty2 aww congratulations!!! So pleased baby boy is here safely 🩵 hope you're doing ok.

@Natty2 Congratulations lovely! So sorry I didn’t post to wish you luck, I was thinking of you! Still in newborn whirlwind stage and spent 8 hours at the hospital last week (spots in babies eyes and eyelids which caused a lot of stress)!
Hope you and your little boy are loving getting to know each other. Enjoy every second. I can’t stop crying with happiness still!

Will reply properly asap - Goldie has a cold now and I’ve had very little sleep/very grumpy clingy baby stuck to me! Will come on as soon as I can to write something fuller to everyone xx lots of love to everyone!

@Natty2 congratulations ♥️ so lovely these babies are all arriving safely x Hope your first days are going okay and you’re enjoying your baba x

@HopefulllHolly sorry to hear about Goldie’s eyes and now a cold. Hopefully it’s all okay now and eyes aren’t anything to worry about. Hope you can get some rest x

@Faith2024 Not long to go! Fingers crossed the baby will take their sweet time and not come before the planned c section date!
Lol funny you say that, about being organised. A month ago we basically had nothing outside of the big items, and no clue how to raise a baby, but going through the antenatal classes in the past month helped a lot. The looming deadline has also been very motivating, especially when it starts going into under 50 days left until due date, then 40, and so on.
It sounds like you’re almost there with the prep. You probably just need the time and the energy to get it all packed, so hopefully you’ll be able to find a day or two for that. Your March plan sounds perfect! I’m here 3 weeks before my due date expecting for builders to come in first thing tomorrow to fix the ceiling holes that 3 consecutive leaks left behind in my living room a few months ago. But I’ll be so pleased to have it done before the baby arrives and not have to think about that again.

@AnnieStar12 pleased you’re feeling better and that you’re past the gas pains. Sounds like this constipation / gas must be really bad in general as you had to take quite a few things there! But really good to know, thanks for sharing. And good to know that it didn’t affect milk supply and that it came in without delay. Congratulations on your accomplishment - first feed out of the house!
Thanks for the tips. I have some friends lined up to come visit me, going to the cinema on Fri, and great idea with the massage!

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 i spoke to payroll and they were very lax about it. They just told me to let them know at the beginning of the month I’m planning to take a KIT day. See how you feel when you get there. It will obviously depend on the nature of your job and your motivation I think, whether you prefer staying away from work completely and focusing on your baba, or whether you’d benefit from the continuity and staying in the loop for when you eventually go back.
Nooooo so sorry to hear about the unhappy baby! Hope all the changes will make them a little happier and comfortable every day.

@Natty2 MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS!!! So pleased that all went well and you and baby are both healthy. Can’t believe that you just popped into the hospital and had a baby 1-2 hours later lol enjoy your little baba and your little bubble!

@HopefulllHolly oh no! So sorry to hear about the baby’s eye spots, what even is that? So scary. And now a cold too? What a rollercoaster, but hope she’s better now and recovering well.

Hi everyone! Hope you’re all ok? So sorry it’s taken ages to write a proper post. Everyone always says that time passes quickly when you have a baby and god they were not lying! I can’t believe Goldie is nearly a month old - i wish I could go back to the day I had her to be honest!

Hows all the mummy’s doing? @ThePeachGoose How are you doing lovely? Not long left at all! Less than 2 weeks! I’m so excited for you. Do you feel ready?

I won’t send everyone individual messages but would love to hear how all the mums and babies so far are doing? Hope it’s all going well!

Goldie is thriving - she’s put on lots of weight after losing 11% of her birth weight so that’s a relief. I’m loving breastfeeding but if I think too much about it it can feel overwhelming - you are literally chained to the baby. I don’t mind as I know I’ll never get this time back but there have been tears. We’re very slowly working out her routine and have successfully managed a few lunches out now - today we made it out and had a lovely long walk and then had a roast. Fair enough mine was cold as she wanted feeding but went straight back to sleep again so was still enjoyable! She’s started sleeping 2.5/3 hour stretches at night now - still some nights she’s a monster and wants feeding every 45 minutes but they are less often than the good nights. She’s started being able to focus on things so has started holding eye contact - I can’t wait for the smiles! The eye contact as it is makes me cry with happiness at how lucky I am to have such a beautiful perfect little baby after all the struggles of ivf and infertility. I would already love another baby - had to start working out what to do with my maternity clothes and pack them away or sell them and I’m really torn! Realistically I know it won’t likely happen but it feels very final! I don’t know quite why I’m thinking so much about it when Goldie isn’t even 4 weeks old but I already miss lots of things and she’s not even stopped doing them! 😩😭🥺
The dog is like a different dog too - he’s grown up completely and is no longer needy or demanding of attention. Doesn’t even bark at other dogs anymore, isn’t anxious on walks like he was. It’s quite crazy tbh! I’m so proud of him. Sounds so silly but I was so scared of how he’d be. It’s made the whole experience of a new baby much less stressful.

Hope everyone is ok - so crazy we’re almost all now on the other side of IVF and getting all these amazing memories with our babies. Feels like a total dream come true! ❤️ Sending lots of love to you all and your little ones (earth side and soon to be earth side!). @ThePeachGoose will be thinking of you! Keep us posted and shout if you need anything! Xx

@HopefulllHolly oh I’m next in this group! And thank you, you’re very sweet to think of me. I’d say that I’m ready emotionally though it still hits me sometimes, things like “oh next time I see this person we’ll be a trio” or “in 2 weeks we’ll be three walking down the street, not 2” stuff like that. But we’re both so excited to meet our baby and see how she looks like! Then on knowledge I feel exactly like you were before giving birth in that I feel I forgot everything already. And house / tasks-wise, I’m getting there. I’m so pleased I finally got my living room done (had 2 holes in the ceiling from 3 water leaks last autumn) and now everything is covered, repainted, cleaned, put back, and I’m so happy to move on from that. I have a long list of tasks that I’m trying to get through, and I’m doing quite well with it, but I get tired easily. So I’m trying to prioritise and whatever doesn’t get done in the next 2 weeks will probably just have to wait for a few months and that’s that. But we have everything for the baby, hospital bags are packed, so I’m not necessarily worried about being behind or anything. I’ll aim to slow down a couple of days before though, to get in the zone, get a pregnancy massage, stuff like that.

It sounds like you’re thriving with baby Goldie! Very impressive that you were able to have a lunch out not even a full month in! And I’m not surprised you’re overcome with emotions. This is such a big life change, it’s been so long in the making, and there’s so many hormones and feelings and questions about identity and future flowing around, but it all sounds very positive and happy to me so far! Be kind and patient with yourself, let yourself feel it all, be in the present moment and with time everything will fall in its place. I love that you’re already starting to experience little milestones awwww That’s really adorable. I look forward to my baby smiling and I’ve never even held her yet lol

Lots of hugs to everyone! Hope everyone is doing well.