Hello fellow May mums. Let's follow on from our lovely ante-natal threads, here's the first of the post-natal ones. Join us as we work out how to handle nappies, feeding, colic, crying and all things newborn, or just to celebrate the joys of a new baby!
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tostaky ·
25/05/2012 09:59
Hello all!! Such a relief to have this big baby out! I just can't believe he had any space in my belly 
Quick birth story - I was super anxious about my waters being broken , lying to hosp about it in order to delay an elcs... So I went in hospital 36hours after my water broke to say they had just broken, then DP took me for dinner in a really nice garden pub, and we finish that lovely evening by a nice walk around the block. I had some contractions but I came to term with the fact that I was more likely now to have an elcs than my planned vbac.
I tried to sleep and relax, never really believing I was in active labour even though they were coming every 3 minutes and lasted longer and longer. I kept being woken up by my cx. At 4 o'clock I started panicking a bit... What if baby really wanted to come out today...? (with DS2 I had 6 days of early labour so I just couldn't be sure that 2 days of cx was enough for this baby). As my cx were stronger and longer I decided to wake up DP at 5am. He had a shower then I called my doula and we all set off to the hospital around 6.30am.
At hospital I was relieved to learn I was 6cm. Must have been the fact I relaxed about things and that i had a good evening and night that did the trick. I had gas & air and I started to ask (not very convincingly!) about other pain relief available as I could remember from DS2 what was ahead of me....
Then it is all a big blur, me screaming of pain, losing the rest of my wAters, begging for whatever drugs they could give me (i didnt have anything in the end). When baby's head was crowning I asked for an episiotomy (DS2 was 4.2kg and I pushed for 2hrs) and this baby looked quite big too... The consultant came in and said "low threshold" for episiotomy which meant it was ok. I probably pushed for 5 very burning minutes and baby was out!!!
So yes, I am a big wimp, my throat hurt from screaming so much 
and I have an episiotomy. But I feel so much better now!!!
Baby seems to be very calm but he seems to have terrible reflux already, projectile vomiting all his feed 
and wriggling in discomfort, tummy gurgling after every feed... Apart from that he is perfect
tostaky ·
25/05/2012 10:06
Congratulations sircharles - glad things well went!! And I agree a doula is a great support!! We wished we had one for DS1 birth!
Sesthebrave and lucky - good luck with the waiting. Those last weeks are awful aren't they? Hopefully before you know it, you'll have your babies!! Keep us posted
Bluecrane - I waited until I couldn't speak through the contractions before going in hospital. Apparently it is a good indicator 
. Don't be too dishearten, your body need all that pre-labour work! Baby is on its way!!
Littlerayofsunshine - I know the waiting is awful... Relax, baby is bound to make an appearance any time now! Let us know xx
alwaysanauntie ·
26/05/2012 13:06
Ok am going to try and write up birth story as it's nearly been 2 weeks (can't believe how quickly that's passed!). Currently sitting in the shade in the garden having just taken dog for hour long walk in local park with Cora who is now lying in her moses basket and hopefully going to give mummy a bit of time on the laptop! Here goes (might be definitely is a long one, get yourself a pot of 
and a pack of 
or skip it for when you have more time :o)...
Saturday 12th May:
DM had been staying for a couple of days to help us decorate our bedroom and left about 7.30pm, so I decided to have a nice hot bath (she can be a bit tiring, being 8 1/2 months pregnant does not pass as an acceptable excuse with my mum 
). After I got out around 8.30 I decided to chill out on our bed for a while to cool down and started getting mild period type cramps. I thought 
braxton hicks are getting a bit stronger, hopefully means I shouldn't go too far over my dates (DC1 for me, having panicked about her being premature I was now starting to panic about going over and having to be induced with my relaxed homebirth going out the window). Anyway, realised the contractions were fairly regular, roughly every 15 mins, whereas all my BHs had been very irregular, so went and told DH to lay off the wine for the rest of the night just in case. Took a coupe of paracetamol (pains still very mild), had a bit of dinner and went to bed. Slept as well as I had the previous few nights (was fed up of stoopidly sore hips and trying to roll over every few hours to get comfortable) and the contractions weren't bothering me so thought things could be a while off.
Sunday 13th May:
After I got up I was trying to monitor how regularly contractions were coming, but seemed a bit all over the place (between 10 and 40 mins) posted on the late may thread a few times :o and carried on with food shopping and making sauces for lasagnes to put in freezer ready for D Day. Took a couple more paracetamol as contractions were slightly more painful, but still irregular and stopped for lunch around 12.30. My neighbour's granddaughter is expecting her first in August so went and had a chat with them after lunch, said I'd had a few twinges so may have baby in the next few days, but just as we were saying bye I felt a pop and gush (was a bit 
but not much liquid, wasn't like Niagra falls or anything :)) and figured my waters had broken so waddled back inside and told DH!
I carried on with making the sauces and used the contraction timer I downloaded onto my smart phone, and after about 1/2 an hour realised they were coming every 1.5-2 mins lasting 45-60 seconds. Thought I'd better phone the hospital to book in as their advice was "when your contractions eventually build up to be 5 mins apart, call us and we'll asses how you're doing", I seemed to have skipped the gradual build up bit and the midwife at the unit sounded pretty sceptical when we went through all the 'are you actually in labour' questions. Anyway she got the community midwife on call to phone me at 2pm, and after going over all the details again she said she'd come and visit at 3 once she'd seen another lady. I was still cooking at this point, but having to stop and breath through contractions as they were getting more intense, timings stayed pretty much the same. By the time she arrived I'd had to give up on cooking as there wasn't enough time between each contraction to do anything useful (some were back to back so 2-3mins long :() and I was having to kneel on living room floor swaying to get through them. Plus I found out my tens I'd bought on ebay had the wrong electrodes so still had no pain relief, was not happy about that and felt very silly for not having checked before .
Went upstairs with MW who spent an hour going through paperwork, measuring BP, pulse and noting when I had "tightenings" (I thought to myself - they're NOT tightenings, they're bloody contractions, in my mind there's a big difference!) and eventually asked if I wanted her to examine me. I was so pleased that she offered as I was desperate for some idea of how much more pain I had to come and to get her to give me the diamorphine I'd got a prescription for from the GP! After a bit of prodding and poking (wasn't terrible but not great when you're having a contraction) she said, we'll I'm not going anywhere else tonight, your 9 cms and will have a baby in 4 hrs! I was sooo happy in one way but that meant no pain relief until the 2nd midwife could get to the house, far too late for diamorphine as it would more than likely affect the baby. Did have a nice shower to clean up as mucous plug and more waters meant I looked a bit of a state :o.
5pm 2nd midwife arrived, who spent ages (so it felt) setting up the resus kit on the landing, eventully got the g&a only to say "oh, there's no mouthpiece in the bag" my heart sank, but fortunately MW1 had a spare with her (happy me again) to hear a few seconds later MW2: "where are the tubes, I can't find them in the bag" MW1: they should have been on the trolley in a separate bag" MW2: "oh, maybe I didn't pick the up but I didn't see anything left on trolley" again, I was nearly going to start crying as pain was really getting quite intense and I didn't know how much longer I could last and had really wanted to avoid transfer to hospital. Eventually it turned out they were there all along and I merrily started sucking away on the G&A when I had contractions, definitely help me loads, though I did notice as the contractions tailed off it was making me feel very light headed, still better than nothing :o!
Got to about 6pm and although I was fine and baby was doing well (did have a panic when they thought her heart rate had dropped off to 65bpm, but realised that was actually me, and she was fine) so was made to sit on the loo as the position and gravity help get things moving, the second contraction I had sitting there I thought the baby was going to end up in the pan so headed back to the bed (I laboured on my knees they whole way through with a big bean bag to rest my arms/head on), had to try and push a bit/wait a bit to get baby down further (to be honest she would have been born earlier but I was afraid of pushing too hard in case she came flying out and I had a terrible tear!). Eventually when they could see her crowning (MW1: she's got a lovely head of hair!") it only took a couple of pushes to get her out at 7.17pm , but I did nearly squash her after she was born (I didn't realise she was out, thought it was just the head so when MW1 told me to lean back I was leaning forward to try and get a better position for delivery ) after being shouted at a bit louder and once I'd heard the baby screaming I got the picture and had her passed between my legs to hold. Managed to turn round so I could sit down with her on my tummy for skin to skin and to try latching on. I also chose to have a physiological 3rd stage, but couldn't get DD latched on so I think that delayed things, DH cut the cord after it had stopped pulsing, and after 45 mins they took her off to have checks/weight etc done and I eventually got placenta out while sitting on the loo (again ).
After all that I had my stitches done (think about 10 - 2nd degree tear as DD had her hand up by her cheek in a "no photos!" kind of action) and eventually got baby latched on whilst lying down so stayed there for 1 1/2 hours just looking at her. We eventually got her dressed and I had a shower to clean up around 11pm, don't think I slept much that night as the adrenaline and very welcome relief of local anaesthetic for stitches meant I felt really well, plus every little squeek and whinge had me jumping up to see if she was ok (did have her in the bed most of the night) but she also slept for 5 hours so all was good :o. As an after thought, while I was in labour DH was a star - hoovered and dusted house before the MW came, mowed lawn, finished making lasagnes, brough food and drinks for MWs and me, and although he checked in regularly he didn't stay in the room until it came to the last hour (I figured what was the point of him sitting and looking at me for 6 hours!) I did get one back rub from the midwife which was quite nice (and better than DH could do!) but otherwise he busied himself with jobs around the house - a huge benefit of homebirth as far as we're both concerned, much better for him and I was comfortable in my own surroundings and he could easily find everything I wanted.
Today: Cora is 11 days old this evening and doing well (was just over birth weight on day 10 which I was rather proud of as I'm BF and we struggled with latching on in the first few days). She's still feeding and sleeping well (usually 4 hours min at night, sometimes 7hrs, long may it continue!), and my stitches are starting to feel better (sensation that something's going to fall out is VERY weird, Dsis had the same though and MW had checked and said all looks ok, so I guess it's normal). This week we've even managed a trip to the garden centre (on our own), a day at Ikea and a day in town with Dm so feeling quite good :). DH is very proud of her too, his big hairy arms look massive next to her little tiny body, makes my heart melt! Well done if you stuck with me this far, sorry it's such an epic! Hope everyone else is as lucky as me xx
Wrigglebum ·
29/05/2012 13:11
Congratulations to all, I can never remember when I last posted so who I've said well done too!
All seems to be going well here four weeks on. This week is my first without anyone around to help out and we're doing pretty well. DS is being as well behaved as a 2.10 year old can be and Adam is still calm. He still feeds a lot but I tend to sit on the floor to feed so I can still play cars/trains/read stories. I've even managed to sort out simple dinners and do some washing so feeling pretty positive.
Adam has had a bit of a cold so he was awake a bit more at night and throwing up a bit of mucous but it seems to be clearing. He likes the sling so I pop him in there at playgroups or if we go to the park and he has a nice nap in it.
Is anyone else a bit of a fountain?! I seem to have pretty powerful let down and I was squirting milk about two feet in the shower the other day! Adam seems to cope pretty well but he does come off when it starts spraying so if there's no muslin to hand we get soaked . It's much worse on my right side for some reason.
Another question- how has everyone done for stretch marks? I only got one very small one with DS but this time I have four about an inch long just below my tummy button and very dark. They are fading a bit already so I'm not worried. Also have a light linea nigra on my stomach noticeable since the birth. I think I had that last time too and it went but I can't remember when.
tostaky ·
29/05/2012 18:06
Yay! Well done russki and sircharles!!! Hope you are enjoying the weather too
Dummies - I used one with Ds1, I don't think I would have been able to cope without one with his constant sucking!!!
DS2 was never interested in dummies but he does suck on the ears of a soft toys.
I have tried both so far with DS3 but he is no fool! Maybe he is a bit too young too. Although my nipples would clearly appreciate a break from constant feeding!
Stretch marks - never had any with first two pregnancy, have got one small one below belly button. Not too worried though.
Jaundice - anybody else has a baby with jaundice? He had the heel prick test done on sat and was Below the line. But despite him feeding very well and getting a bit of direct sunlight every day, he is still quite yellow and sleeps a lot.... Like he is awake for 2-3 hours a day max... The midwife is coming tomorrow so we will point it out to her.
cupcakefairy ·
30/05/2012 08:28
Hi ladies..v quiet in here, you'd think we all have newborns to be dealing with
Congrats russki..not sure that's the latest version of the list though as a few are missed off the end.. when I'm on laptop I can sort it but phone is rubbish at cut & paste..
Re stretch marks you're all so lucky to only have one or two!! I have a literal road map running from under my belly button, all red :( they're mostly from ds1 but a couple of new ones this time.. never mind, they do fade to a silvery white once tummy has gone back down.
wriggle yes to being a fountain!! I was the same with ds1 and its so annoying when they come off the boob & it sprays everywhere! I have to fold up a muslin inside my sleep bra at night so I don't wake up soaked if memory serves me it does calm down after a while.
Must get round to writing out my birth story but tostaky been meaning to say that you're not a wuss for screaming..I screamed like a banshee during this labour ..I mooed my way through my first labour but thus one definitely warranted screaming I was v v glad for my last minute thought to stick cough sweets in my hospital bag cos my throat was killing the next morning
How are all our pregnant ladies doing? Last couple of days of May..come on babies!! Thinking of you all x
MrsHoarder ·
30/05/2012 08:28
Didn't join the ante-natal thread and wouldn't have been on the May one anyway: am I welcome here?
DS was born 15/05/12 after a 3 day induction and with forceps, episiotomy and lots of stitches. He's doing very well generally (was a big baby) and breastfeeding is going well (except for the first 10 seconds after latching where I have to grit my teeth).
He does get very grumpy late afternoon/evening though, and we have real trouble getting him to go to sleep. Although I realise we shouldn't complain too much, because once he is asleep we generally only get 1-2 wakings a night (of which I usually stay awake after the second (after 5am), need to work on that "sleep when he sleeps" thing.
Tougher now DH has gone back to work, and have been getting him to nap in his moses basket more (rather than in my arms) as I need the time to use the loo etc. Also have had to occasionally leave the room he is in for the first time without leaving DH there.
Managed to get dressed in comfy clothes every day too: the main incentive for this is that when we hit crying time its best if I'm ready to leave the house already when I can take no more of crying in a confined space. Sadly can only currently slowly wander a few hundred meters before I need to put my feet up again, but we're making progress there.
As for stretchmarks, my belly below the bellybutton is about 50% stretchmark now its nearly flat again. They aren't fading yet either.
Newtothisstuff ·
30/05/2012 09:16
Ah found you
So many exciting baby stories
Jessikah is 15 days old today and gorgeous, she's has been so good (compared to DD1 who practically cried until she was 3) last night was a bit challenging as she's decided she doesn't want to sleep in her basket, she's been find up to now just waking every 3-4 hours for feeding, she's putting weight on so quickly as well, 7.5oz on in 4 days so she weighs 6lb10oz now I've got a feeling she's going to be a chubber haha
Littlesarah... LOL at your mil and the presents that did make me chuckle, my exmil was the same, she brought a box of dummies from a car boot sale for dd1 once I almost threw up on the spot haha
All my family live up north and they are all coming down this weekend to meet her so it's going to be busy busy and stressful
I hope they don't want me to run around after them all either, I feel absolutely fine from my section but I want to stay feeling fine and not push it !!
I'm still managing to express my milk I'm very proud of myself, just used formula for dd1 so this is a massive thing for me, she hasn't had formula since she was 2 days old now, my electric pump is a god send, although I do wish it wasn't as noisy I'm sure the neighbours must wonder what the hell I'm doing at 3am lol
How is everyone's little ones settling at night ?? Dd1 was a shocking sleeper although it was my fault as I held her all the time and let her sleep in my bed, I'm quite conscious of trying not to let dd2 fall into the same pattern but I figure she's only 2 weeks old it can't matter that much yet (can it???)
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Wrigglebum ·
30/05/2012 13:48
We had a projectile poo too- shot about two feet off the changing table, missed my iPhone by a cm and landed all over my handbag . Quite a few wee fountains too! Certainly a lot of gas here too- Adam seems to be jet propelled, I swear he's going to take off one of these days. Still, better out than in as they say , DS didn't trump or burp as much but got terrible colic. Adam just looks pained for a minute, grunts and lets rip!
Cupcake- I was a fountain last too and it did calm down but I did spray a bit right up to nine months when I stopped.
Well done for expressing newtothisstuff, I find expressing so awful I'm in awe of anyone who can. I hope things work out for you Heidihole- remember even if he just gets colostrum there's so much good stuff in there.
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