september edd new babies arriving come share the ups and downs here

[ssmile]

Hello. Think i was first to deliver off the September EDD thread so waving to see if anyone else out there yet to join me :)
Had my 2nd DD on 26aug by C-sec. We now home but struggling with BF and baby lost 10% body weight in 3days. Started to top up with formula in syringe to try give cracked. Bleeding nipples a rest, but milk is starting to drip out now leaking everywhere! Hoping for a better night tonight after 3nights of hourly feeds and snatching 2-3hrs of sleep.
Anyone else struggling too?

A better morm here after extra hr sleep babe unsettled from 3am instead of 2am, we did Lidls this morn after school run, came home made chicken soup& 2chicken n Bacon pies using up roast and jam tarts for DD1 after beans on toast tea yest as just couldn't put Lo down without tears. Hoping for nap now......is that pushing my luck today :o

jimmijam I was going to get mirena coil so can't help u. My SIL had probs with hers too but got it fixed under anesthetic. I really don't want another preg at nearly 39 with 2kids so other than snip for hubbie which we considering, coil its best option at mo for me.

100yrs impressed you got energy for eve outings, I'm in bed by 8.30pm everynight as soon as babe settled. DD1 touchwood sleeping much better but we normally get a blip at full moon, just wish she would stop gettin up at 5-6am needing a poo! It's her latest "im want attention scam" I think as we tryin to get her to take more control wipe her own bottom etc and out of night nappies so she knows it guarantees attention! At 4.5yrs most of her friends are dry at night I assuming she will do it when she ready.

After a lovely day yesterday it's all gone to pot today. I had a shower last night and lay on the bed to let my c-scar get some air, DH walked past and commented that the righthand side looked a little bit red and puffy. I spent all morning today fretting about it (I have a paranoia about infection and splitting, etc thanks to horror stories from my cousin about hers), it didn't feel puffy but was tender so I eventually texted DH a picture asking if it looked worse. He said it was more red than yesterday. I've got to ring my GP back in half an hour to see if they can slot me in to check if it's infected :(

cbear I had to put spray iodine from chemist & a dressing on part of my scar for few days then got GP appt who gave me antibac cream mine was rather red outside but not infected inside. Gd luck

Jimmi, I was thinking about the coil but I've heard so many unpleasant stories that I'm really wondering. I'm also not a fan of condoms (and DS keeps uncovering ours and wandering about with them because he likes the shiny foil packets ). We also considered snip but I'm not sure I want to completely rule out DC3 yet I'm really not sure so I reckon I might just have to go for the mini-pill and hope my memory holds up.

I haven't left DD with anyone yet, mainly as I haven't got around to digging out the pump, bottles and steriliser bags. I really cba to express but I desperately need a haircut so it's going to have to happen soon. I was dead good with DS and did it every morning without fail but there just aren't enough hours in the day when you've got two little 'uns.

Cbear, hope your scar is OK?

Oh christ, I have just realised that DS was supposed to go to the dentist yesterday for a check up. Clearly my memory is shot to shit so perhaps the mini pill is not such a good idea after all...

Hi everyone. Nice to see all on the other side! Thanks for all your lovely congratulations on the antenatal forum. I thought I'd take this opportunity to write up my birth story. Jakob is five days old now and I've finally had a chance to write it out, so here goes - sorry if it's long, I just want a memory of it.

Tuesday 4th October
I see Joyce (midwife) in the morning and my blood pressure has gone up again. When I saw Dr Dimitri at St Michael?s the week before, he said to go in if blood pressure went above 140/90, so Joyce calls the hospital and they say to go in. Nick drives me in and we see consultant. They want to take me in and monitor my bp over the next few hours and then probably try inducing me in the morning. So I go back onto ward 74. They remember me from last time which is nice. Initially I?m in the same room as I was in before, but late evening they move me to my own room. On the way in we got four euromillion tickets as the fund is 85 million. You never know. We also get a scratchcard and win £5 on that ? nice.
Wednesday 5th October
I get woken early and midwife inserts a pessary. It doesn?t hurt that much, not nearly as much as the stretch and sweep did the week before! I?m hoping this will work ? they say if it does then something will happen within the next 24 hours. I?m fed up with being pregnant and overdue and it is really boring being back in hospital. Nick comes in during the day, but the nights are a pain and I can?t sleep very well. When Nick comes in we go for a walk up to the cafe in the hope walking will help. Nothing happens though and end up getting caught in the rain without a jacket or umbrella.
Thursday 6th October
Didn?t sleep very well last night. Claire (lovely midwife who has really looked after me) puts me on the monitor and everything is fine. Then Dr Dimitri comes in and checks my cervix. He says it is still quite long, so still not quite ready. He then squirts in some prostaglandin gel. I have to lie on my side for half an hour to make sure it doesn?t leak out. Nick comes in at about 11 and again we go for a walk down to a different cafe. I get a gorgeous hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows ? naughty. My tummy feels slightly achey, but that?s it. We go back to the hospital. Nick goes down to a lunchtime meeting, but then I text him at 1.44 telling him to hurry back as I think I?ve just started getting contractions. Ooer. Oddly the contractions seem to be coming quite often already ? is this right?
At 2.00 I tell the midwife who decides to check my urine.
2.30 Urine has protein in it (this is the first time I?ve had protein in my urine). As the contractions are stronger, the midwife gives me painkillers.
3.30 Contractions very strong and often, I can barely stand them and Nick goes to see the midwife.
3.40 Midwife checks my cervix and it is 2cm dilated. She calls the delivery suite but they can?t take me yet. They will call back when they are ready.
4.00 Midwife checks baby?s heartbeat and it is very variable. I need to go down.
4.05 I get taken to the delivery suite. I?m crying on the way down because of the pain.
4.45 They break my membranes for me as baby?s heartbeat low. They call the registrar. I?m taking gas and air.
5.00 Dr Dimitri comes in ? I?m now fully dilated already!! I?m in so much pain I ask for an epidural but it is too late. They canulate me in case I will need a c-section. I get told to try pushing. Nick is encouraging. I wanted to be either standing or leaning on Nick to give birth, but I?m now flat on my back with my legs up in stirrups. They have put monitor on baby?s head to keep an eye on heartbeat as it keeps dropping. I get cramp in my legs which doesn?t help! I?m trying to push but the pain is so bad from the contractions. I try to use the gas and air, but am finding it hard to breathe because of straining. I vaguely remember feeling something pour out down below ? have I wet myself ? I don?t know. They decide to do a ventouse.
5.30 Ventouse cap on baby?s head. I push and they pull.
5.32 Baby born ? it?s a boy! This may sound wrong, but I was secretly hoping for a girl (we didn?t know the sex). However, as soon as I see him, I?m happy. Nick cuts the cord. I don?t get to hold him as his heartbeat is low. Suddenly the crash team come in and he?s taken over to the other side of the room. They insert a tube down his nose. I don?t know what?s going on and am scared something is wrong. Eventually another man comes in and tells me what they are doing. And suddenly he?s ok. They weigh him and tell us he is 7lb 1oz (although we later find out the midwife got the conversion wrong and he was actually 7lb 2oz ? we only find out after we?ve told everyone already ? oh well). Then he is brought over to me for a first cuddle. Wow. We take pictures of each other with him. Oh my god he is gorgeous, he?s got such long arms and fingers ? he?ll be a pianist for sure. What a feeling when I see him in Nick?s arms. I try breastfeeding, but he?s not interested to start with. I have stitches down below whilst cuddling him.
After
Twenty minutes later and he?s breastfeeding. He takes to it really well. What a good boy. My bp is still high and I can?t produce much wee so they keep me downstairs for a few hours. Eventually Nick leaves and it?s just me a baby Jakob! I send Nick a picture of baby Jakob saying ?night night daddy. I love you? and Nick replies saying he loves us both x.
I?ve got nothing to compare my labour with and I?m sure many people will say I?m lucky because it was so short for a first labour (3hours 45 minutes), but I think there are advantages and disadvantages to this. I went from zero to hero in no time. There was no slow build up to ease me into it and the pain was beyond anything I could ever imagine. Was my pain worse than other people?s ? I?ve no idea, but I know that for me it was bad.

What a story Alice! Congratulations on baby Jakob :)

I went to the doctors and go my c-scar checked. I ditched my granny pants and went back to my normal pants, for every day I prefer the short-style ones with the wide waistband (because I'm sure you all wanted to know that!). The waistband has been sitting over the scar and it hasn't been getting to breathe, she said it's an infection on the surface, probably fungal. DD and I had thrush which we were treated for last week and she said another cause could be if I've maybe leaked a little bit of milk without realising and it's gotten in there, she said it would only take a matter of hours for it to take hold. I have cream to put on to clear it up. There was good news too, she said it's healed really nicely, is very neat looking, and that I must be a fast healer because it looks older than four weeks. That was good to know :)

Arrrrrrrgggghhhhhh just typed up my labour story and it dissapeared!

Ssmile - thanks for the hugs - much appreciated! She did sleep ... but for about one hour... :( She caught up in the day when I had a friend and her mum over, and I thought I'd best leave her catch up on sleep... shame I couldn't! But, must find a way of incorporating naps into the day. I'm getting into the pumping routine, so hopefully I'll be able to build in a nap! Just hoping she sleeps a bit better tonight. She doesn't seem to like the Moses Basket at all. We may move the cot into our room as she seems to like that better (I use it when I'm upstairs and need to put her down to do stuff. She lies under the mobile and just seems really happy there!)

Feral - thanks for the tip about bottles. We're using the Tommee Tippee ones - never thought about whether it's those or not. I've started the Infacol again, and she's been burping better, so hopefully she'll be less windy in a day or two???

100 years - very impressed with your going out and hair cut. Not sure I could quite manage it yet!

CBear - sorry to hear about your C Section scar. Hope it clears up quickly.

Thanks for all your posts re the bleeding thing. Mine seems to be getting less again, so hopefully it was a short thing.

Was nice to have friend over today - it does buck the routine of the day, but it's nice to have adult chat!! Got no visitors for tomorrow so going to have a quiet day, might ask my dad round so he can sit with her whilst I get a nap in!

As stressful as it all is, she's just starting to smile at me... makes it all SO worth it!!

Sorry... Alice... what a story! Congrats again for baby Jakob!

Right round two will do this one brief!
Sat 2am Contractions start
Sat 9pm go to hospital 1-2 cm dilated get sent home with paracetamol!
Sat 11.30pm go back to hospital still 2 cm get a bed in the ward
Sun contractions all day still 2cm!
Monday induction day! Contractions getting more and more painful and regular but still only 2cm called my DP and DMum to come and be with me finally get some gas and air after crying out in pain. Get a bed on the labour ward in the early evening and was given an epidural and put on a drip to get baby moving.
After an hour baby was in a bit of distress so 3 samples of blood taken from babies head and talk of an emergency c section. Doctors came to have a look and was finally reaching 3cm so they decided to leave me on a drip to see how I progressed.
After a few more hours passed and me only reaching 4cm they told me I was to have an emergency C section and I was rushed to theater.
Finally at 2.52am Tuesday morning my wonderful baby boy boy was born weighing in at 9lb 8oz!
so after 4 days I finally had an end result and what a perfect one he is!

sebs We found infacol made vomitting worse - but dd1 loved gripe water (the boots own version is apple flavour and seemed better than the traditional type). I also swear by the Mam Anti-colic bottles as the air comes out the bottom. dtds have them at night and hardly burp compared to after breast feeding. I know it's heart breaking to stop bfing (I was devastated at even giving 1 bottle of formula - hormones raging in an usually calm, logical woman!) but so many babies are formula fed, including me, and I'm fine, as are all the others. Don't be so hard on yourself, your body is amazing to have carried and delivered a wonderful baby. x

Alice congratulations xx

Jojo hope you're recovering well after c section and congrats again!!

Princess - thank you so much ... The pumping is going ok so going with that for now. Will keep trying BF - apparently the bigger they get the easier. 100years mentioned her LO getting more sicky after infacol. And someone else mentioned Mam bottles - will look into those. My LO will be able to have Gripe water after Friday as she'll be 4 weeks so we'll get some this weekend and we'll try the Boots one Thanks for tips.

Better night as we co slept - found a way to do that safely. She finally slept for couple of hours around feeds. So today will aim to keep her awake more and use basket or cot for sleeps and not her vibrating chair do she learns lying down means sleep!! She loves her play mat gym so that'll hopefully wear her out if she kicks under there for a few goes!!
Thanks for all your advice guys, love this thread for that and for being able to share!

Alice congrats. I totally understand what you are saying I had quick labours too, and after transition they get very intense and overwhelming. That compared to an hour before birth and mum had no idea I was so close, I tend to go into myself during labour.

The big advantage with a quick one is I really don't think you are quite as exhausted iykwim?

Just catching up with all news. Loved reading the birth stories and catching up with all your news. Can't remember who said what but just wanted to give my input on a few things. I am 4 weeks post csection and my bleeding stops for a while and then starts all over again - sometimes red and other times brown. I had an infection in the past that caused bleeding for 2 months so will get this checked at six week check with doc if still going.
Contraception - I have had a coil six weeks after last baby and csection but didn't have a good experience - infection and could not sit down as they left the metal wires too long ! Had the depro injections for several years and was okay but then I think they started making me very moody and pmt ish - stopped it when I realised that it's actually the drug they use to chemically castrate men e.g. Rapists etc - they don't tell you that at the gps do they !!! Had mini pill after 1st child but such a short window to remember to take it that I kept forgetting. Have recently used a cap which was interesting to say the least - wasn't easy removing it. The snip is definitely on the cards for us.
Best bottles I have found are dr browns - mega pricey but all friends rave about them and I have used them for express feeds really well. Also if you are bottle feeding check out colief at chemist - it breaks down the lactose in milk that can cause colic or wind issues in newborns - worked a treat for ds1 but not easy to use if bf as needs to be pre-mixed inmilk. Also expensive but worth it.
I went to hairdressers with lo last week and wondered why everyone was so amazed - he slept the whole time and was very calm probably because the hairdryers were White noise. I am starting to see everything as a game now rather than getting stressed out and it's getting much easier to cope this way. Tomorrow will be challenging though as I have double school runs and have to be at ds1 school before 9am to input into educational psychology assessment for ds1. Will need to take lo with me too. Then meeting friends for coffee followed by other friend coming over in afternoon. Have arranged a cleaner in the morning too and then have school pick ups followed by tea for dcs and have to get ds1 to beavers for 5.30 them collect an hour later - all on 3/4 hours sleep a night - ladies I think we are amazing - we need to give ourselves a huge pat on the back and stop looking at what we don't do and realisechow much we do achieve !

Aah, the white noise of a hairdryer; 'tis magic. I have an MP3 of white noise that plays on repeat for DS all night as we have a very squeaky house and it's great. I put it on for DD in the morning so that DS doesn't wake her up and it means that I get an extra hour to get dressed and give DS breakfast.

Sebs, I am a huge believer in co-sleeping (I am getting loads of sleep because of it ) but it is hard to relax about the safety aspect of it when they're so little. I have one of these and I swear by it as DD is close enough for me to cuddle but not on my soft mattress or anywhere that I can squish her. She does still end up in bed, in my arms for a few hours most nights though, just coz it's nice

Congrats Alice andJojo, good to read some more birth stories.

Alice, although, overall, my labour with DD was 8 hours, the second stage was horribly quick and she didn't give me enough time to prepare for transition so I was in full-blown screaming, swearing, DH's-finger-crushing agony! In comparison to my labour with DS three years ago (laid back, chilled, G&A, no raised voices) it was infinitely more painful and much much scarier, so I really sympathise.

Sebs re Mam bottles, I'm just buying teats from Amazon and Mam's new bottles are self sterilising which is a new one on me but sounds attractively like something that will cut down time and paraphernalia!

Ooh i like the sound of self steralising. Were going away 2 c family next week, staying in a travelodge but want 2 take a bottle and couple of cartons of formula just incase. Would the mam bottle b suitable 4 that do u think?

Does anyone know any good websites 4 looking up (in simple sleepy reader fromat) pros and cons of each methpd of contraception?

Feral - the sleep mattress thing looks very good. She actually slept in her Moses Basket last night! Think we got about 4 to 4.5 hours sleep last night, so an improvement... just hoping the trend continues! And yes, I saw those Mam bottles - read up on the reviews, some really swear by them, some say that the holes in the bottom make them leak if you warm the bottles in a container of warm water which is what we do. Princess did you find that?? Minky the Dr Brown ones also looked good... I'm not sure which to go for now!

Minky - I don't get this lochia/bleeding ... after the C Section I was expecting loads, and it was quite light for the first couple of weeks. Then sort of stopped, and now this week has started again and is very red. Not sure what to do, whether to look into it or if it's just par for the course? I remember my discharging Midwife saying that it will be red, then brown and then yellow... but that it may go to red again too so I was thinking this is normal. But the Wound is hurting a bit again - think I've been overdoing it a bit on the lifting front, and now I'm not taking pain killers you feel it more.
I agree - we do all deserve a pat on the back... or a cuddle from LOs which will do me!!

Jimmi - no, sorry don't know any comparison sites for contraception. My midwife suggested a certain Mini pill that doesn't rely on you having to take at the exact same time. Cant remember the name though!! She wrote it in my discharge notes, but the community midwives took those when I was discharged!! Will look up on internet. But as I'm still bleeding we're not DTD yet... so no hurry!!!

Jimmi - yes, think Mam bottles would be good but you'd need access to a microwave!

Hey everyone just a quick question before little one wakes up it looks like his skin is peeling off my mum said she thinks this is because he was overdue does this sound right? Have got midwives tomorrow so will ask her but am panicking a bit as dont want it to be anything serious!
As for sleeping and bottles LO is doing very well he sleeps unless he is hungry and the most he is awake is for about 2 hours where he just wants to be nosey lol. We are currently using a mixture of advent and tommy tippie bottles which he seems to like so fingers crossed things stay this way!

Hope everyone is enjoying lots of cuddles with there LO's

No time to catch up fully but saw jojo's question. Yep sounds like it could be re the overdue thing. LO had it herself and was 8 days over, she was scaly for a while. Used olive oil or Vaseline (boots own) on her skin till it cleared. Took a couple of weeks though. My friend who is a neonatal practitioner said it was coz she was late. Hopefully it'll just be the same for ur LO and nothing else. Obviously it's hard to say it defo is when ur posting on Internet.

jojo my Lo born at 39wks had all over peeling skin MW said normal, bath made more come of, just used bit of baby oil,bit went in few days just in time for milk spots to start :) they nearly gone now but face feels like sandpaper, Lo 7wks tom.

Just to add my LO also had lots of flaky skin and mid wife said was because she was late - staying in amniotic fluid for so long. We used olive oil and lately e45 and it's getting much better