"By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples": Christian Prayer Thread for April

[Tuo]

I thought it was about time we started a new thread, seeing as the previous one now has over 600 posts, making it difficult for some people to load it and navigate around it. I used the quote from John 13. 15 that I posted on the previous thread on Maundy Thursday, because I think it sums up what this thread - and this group of people - is all about.

We pray particularly at this time for RoomForALittleOne: that her baby hang on where s/he is for as long as possible and continue to grow in size and strength, and that Room stay well and as pain- and stress-free as possible. Prayers, too, for the medical team looking after them both at this worrying time.

We pray also for:
amberlight ? for her work raising awareness of ASDs, and for her friends who have cancer;
BabyBeatrice and her family ? for continued healing and with thanks for recent good news;
BlackEyedSusan ? for strength to cope with all the many things on her plate, for health for her mum, and for happier times at school for her DD and DS;
BlueTinkerbell ? for work possibilities and for her vocation;
charlottecollinsislost ? for a peaceful holiday, despite the circumstances, and for as pain- and recrimination-free a separation as possible for the sake of all concerned;
Dontsteponthemomeraths ? for her as she dips her toe back in the 'dating pond'; for her ?LM? as he tries to establish contact with his children; for her brother to regain full use of his thumb, following an accident;
DutchOma and Bob ? for health for Bob, and for Oma to feel supported as she cares for him day-to-day; also for Oma's planned trip to Holland;
GingerCurl ? for the successful and (relatively) stress-free completion of her thesis;
HavingALittleFaithBaby ? for as easy a time as is possible during these last days and weeks of her pregnancy;
jann2013 ? for strength for her following the break-up of her marriage, and for her dd who has badly broken her arm;
Kaykat ? for her and her DS to know peace and happiness as they emerge from an abusive relationship, and for the legal issues to be sorted out quickly so that they can get back into their own home;
MadHairDay - for strength as she lives with chronic illness and for the Spring to bring her better health;
MaryBS - for peace and happiness following a difficult situation at Scouts with her DS;
PositiveAttitude ? for her mission overseas and for her family both over there and back here, especially her DD1;
...and for all who post on this thread, for those who lurk, for occasional visitors, and for those known to us who are in need of prayer, whether mentioned here or not.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

faith have you tried bedsharing? Lotta slept in with me till 4 months.
Advice is to wait until 6 weeks at least before starting with bottles to not interfere with supply. It is very tough those first few weeks. Hang in there! DH can bond with baby in other ways!

Don't be afraid to bed share. Throw the pillow out and maybe dh and take your pyama top off so Faithlet has uninterrupted access to the bar.Show dh some of the advice on MN, he might be persuaded. DD's DMIL drove her up the potty wall by suggesting (frequently) that she give dgrandson cool boiled water. Breastfeeding has changed ever such a lot since they were feeding their babies.

yawn. it is quiet and lonely. I hardly saw the children today. ah well tomorrow has more time after school.

Prayers continuing from here as I read through.

Yay, Oma, so pleased you're having a good time, and that Bob is settled. I know that you're more likely to relax and enjoy yourself if you're not worried about Bob, so thank you God for that.

Praying for Momey - that the phone call was reassuring.

Room - praying for your MIL... for peace of mind for her, and for her to feel supported in the situation with a fair outcome. Is she in a Union? Hopefully she'll be able to get the support and advice she needs.

Faith - praying for enough rest and good feeding from Faithlet. TMI warning... if of a squeamish disposition, look away now! DD2 didn't poo more than once a week for a while when she was probably between about the age Faithlet is now and about 6 weeks or so. It felt like longer because the suspense was a nightmare... and when she did 'go off' ... oh boy!! One time there was so much poo up inside her vest that I got a scissors and cut it off her because there was no way I could have pulled it up over her head. Grim! But remember, 'this too shall pass'... in the scheme of things they are tiny for such a short time.

BES praying you had a good night's sleep and that your problems with the school will be resolved soon.

MHD it's good to see you but I'm sorry things are so tough. Praying, of course.

And PA - good to see you too. Praying for you and your family.

Thank you TUO and everyone else who prayed for us.

Remembering you all in my prayers.

The atmosphere here in Holland is quite amazing: everything focused on the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander. So pleased to be here on the day.

How exciting DO!

Thanks for the advice re Faithlet. As it stands we're not set up to co-sleep - I'm under a duvet for example - but I found she settled by feeding lying down then falling asleep next to me last night (easy transfer after a while and physically comfy for me!). I made the mistake of waking her to feed later (having had 'She must feed every 3 hours' drummed into me in the hospital) only to find she was too sleepy to feed effectively but then wouldn't sleep again! Tonight if she's sleeping I'm going to let her sleep. As DH says she has no problem telling us she's hungry in the day!

Tuo it took til 11.30 to settle her last night so about 4 hours non-stop feeding but I did think This too shall pass!

bes hope you get some nice time with the children this afternoon.

dd and ds used to sleep on top of the duvet to keep them cool while i slept under. I found having a combination of clothing so that boobs could be exposed without much other flesh freezing helped.

thanks faith. I hope so too. ds was reluctant to go in this morning, and the person I was supposed to hand over to at the door was not there.

he was not right yesterday after school. I could feel it. he had a bit of doozy in the library.

(yawn) I may have accidently slept for 2 hours this afternoon. oops.

Someone talk some sense into me please. I can't go on like this. I am exhausted from having tightenings intermittently all night, every night. I have horrific nausea and have had to increase the medication that I'm on for hyperemesis. Because of that I have hideous constipation that no amount of bran, linseed or dried apricots can help. I am so fed up I feel like I want to have this baby now. I'm 29+5. Forgive me for saying this but I'm being a selfish b*tch and need to get a grip. I do not want a 29 weeker. Please Lord make the pain stop

:( Room. You're not a selfish bitch at all, you're just having a really, really tough time, and anyone would say this (I did when I nearly went into prem labour with dd at 28wks with pneumonia) - it's so hard to see beyond the pain, and constipation can be beyond hideous when lactulose etc does sod all except cause more wind. It's horrible :( I don't know what hyperemesis is like, but can only imagine it is utterly miserable, from having had normal ms and it being fairly hideous.

Of course you're exhausted. I haven't got any words to make it better or advice to make the pain stop. I wish I did. I am praying. I will keep praying. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you.

un mnetty hugs galore

Oh Room, you poor love! I can't type much cos I'm on phone, but you are not a selfish bitch by any stretch of the imagination. Have you been back to doctor/hospital? Seems like you need someone to take you through all the options calmly and objectively and come up with a care plan that works for you. I will be praying that you get what you need to make the next weeks bearable for you and safe for LittleOne. Sending love...

I'm back at the hospital on Thursday. There isn't anything they can do though. The only way to stop it is to induce labour and they won't do that.

(((Room)))

[Don't care if it's Mumsnetty or not.]

Oh my love, nobody would think you are in any way selfish. Praying that somebody can think of anything to help you. Would an enema work? Not that that is a picnic, but still...

Praying for you Room. Go away contractions, constipation and sickness. That you get a decent nights sleep and the best doctor on Thursday.

Faith I found BF very difficult to start with then ended up doing it for nine months, hang in there it will get easier.

Thank-you for prayers. DO I'm not allowed anything that would be vaguely effective in case it stimulates contractions I'm afraid I did find out a glycerin suppository though which took less than five minutes to achieve far more than I had in two hours (sorry if TMI!).

Faith I keep meaning to say that you are going through a very similar time to my initial BFing days with DD1. I hung in there and refused to give up. We managed 16 months BFing. She refused every bottle under the sun anyway. She just wanted boob and a lot of it! It was unbelievably tough at the time but it was only for a while and gradually improved. You have already done some weeks that you never have to do again and you are that much closer to everything getting easier. Go with what your gut is telling you.

Desperately tired and haven't read through today yet. I did speak to someone in the Compliance Team yesterday, she seemed very non plussed about it all tbh. I sent all evidence today by recorded delivery. As my childcare is averaged out over the year and the most costly part is Summer hols. I suspect I'll have to pay some back They're only interested in the previous financial year. Who knows?

ds mixed fed from day 3 my boobs hurt so much. the midwife waas convinced that he would therefore give up breastfeeding. i suppose she was right... but I had to wait 2 and a half years to find out.

oh and mum is not very well. her blood pressure has gone up to dangerously high again.

I am going to see herr t the weekend, if I m not hormonal. no af no visit. too stressful. I will put it off to the following weekend. mind you, i am feeling quite miserable, so it may be due soon. difficult to tell as it is always erratic

Oh Room you're just hoping for the best out of a very difficult situation! I can't imagine how uncomfortable you are right now. I'm praying for a change in circumstances. The only thing that really resolved my constipation (and with IBS, pregnancy and a regular codiene habit, it was bad!) was taking a daily probiotic like Yakult. I was surprised how effective they are.

Praying all this paperwork gets sorted and they understand your circumstances Mome.

Sorry to hear about your Mum bes. Really praying that God's breaks into your circumstances.

The BF is getting easier. I think the current growth spurt is easing off and I'm learning her cues to feed sooner so she's less distressed. We had a much better night last night too which really helps. I'm getting chunks of sleep which is great! Yes Room at 17 days I feel like I've conquered the toughest part. She's now latching consistently and without a nipple shield and feeds fairly regularly. Big challenge starts tomorrow when DH goes back to work!

Make sure that DH sets up everything for you with regard to the shopping so that you don't have to go out if you don't want to. Then do exacctly what you want to while he is away, sleep when Faithlet sleeps and rest as much as you can. Make sure you have a drink by your bed/chair when you start feeding.

a child rode a bike into my car door this morning. she was going really fast on the pavement and went over with a bump. I am off back to school now and am a bit worried about it. it took me all day to calm down and I am shaking again. hoping i do not get acused of stuff I did not do.

Prayers very much appreciated here, I've got a very important job interview on Friday.
prayers that God tells me this is the right place to be, prayers that MIL will get along with DD3 during the day. prayers for safe travel there and back. Prayers for DD1 and DH to manage without me :)

I really hope I get this job, if not, I have 2 more job interviews lined up! :)