January 2013 - New year arrivals welcomed into the world.

[PricklyPickleInAPearTree]

As a few of us have popped early I thought I'd start us a post-natal thread.

[PixelCarrier]

Popped on here from the antenatal thread just to see how you were all doing. Love reading the birth stories, but also a little terrified...

[preggofabulous]

It's true what they say tho about forgetting quite quickly about the pain etc. Today, after only five days, I caught myself thinking 'I miss being pregnant, and I want to give birth again!' X

[mrsbugsywugsy]

preggo that sounds quite traumatic, hope you are ok now. No one's labour seems to follow the textbook pattern, does it?

[Pascha]

Hi all thought I'd finally wander over here to say hello as I wallow in the bath putting off the dreaded moment where I get the mirror out for a furtle around the stitches area before the MW calls by tomorrow and threatens to do it for me. I'm floating with the aid of boulder boobs and I reckon I've got about 20 minutes before my attention is required

Preggo you birth story sounds a bit horrific, glad you're starting to feel better about it.

The worst part of mine was the virtual fisting by a doc to get te last clot out followed by a night in the postnatal ward where DH ended ended up on the floor with a pillow. The birth itself was painless and fast thank goodness. I'm glad we got the pool up and running in time.

[Lora1982]

Wow preggo. Ur stories similar to mine. Il write my birth story whn im not so completely wrecked. It seems that when waters break first things move quite quickly. Well they did for us anyway, i was like you thinking id be sent on my way after the check but my god did it not go how i expected. Il catch up properly.... After a snooze.

[preggofabulous]

We do all seem to be deviating from the norm!

pascha I refuse to look at my stitches, so you're a lot braver than me! And the internals are horrendous. Feels like they all have knives for fingers.

[Pascha]

Wasn't scary to look at after all. Much neater than I expected and not red or even very swollen (a bit, but not badly). doesn't look th same shape as before, more knobbly I think .

I thoroughly recommend remapping your geographical features, so to speak, for infotainment purposes

[Hormonalhell]

Just thought id ask u ladies who've already popped Just had 3 sepArate episodes of trickles (not quite gushes but enough to soak 2 maternity pads) I've been to loo about 20 mins ago so surely it's not wee although it does smell like urine. Not going to hosp yet as pains stopped. Just don't know what to think anymore

[Pascha]

Ring the labour ward, they will want to check it out. If it is your waters going they will want your baby born within a day or two at the most.

[Lora1982]

Right... My story!!:

40+2 i went asda with my boyfriend about 2pm and i was dying walking round just general uncomfy fatiness anyway we got back at 3 and my mum turned up to do some tidying and cleaning :-D about 4 i was in the kitchen my DP had put dinner in the oven andmum was sorting clothes i thought to myself eee i dont remember needing the loo so i quietly went upstairs to sort myself out. Twas quite obvioudly waters as i was soaked and everytime i moved more came out, loads, i went through 5 pads in all. anyway i knew what my mum was like so i told just my bf that we'd need to call the hospital... I didnt tell mum until she was safely 8 miles away and couldnt come back :-D

So we got to the hospital and i was under the impression it would still be days i had no pain. They kept us waiting for agggges they were worried because of extra waters at a late scan and the lack of any further scans after 32. After 10pm i was hooked up and could see contractions coming every 2 mins but no real pain. By this time i was so bored and just wanted to go home.. Pravtically had to beg. Anyway got home and thats when the pain started... Sods law... Went in the bath but it wasnt helping. Ended back up the hospital for 1am where it all went so quick... But very painfully. I was told i couldnt have a waterbirth cos of excess waters after id switched hospitals to make sure i coulld aswell!!! The contractions were pretty much every minute butonly 30 seconds or so... But horrifically painful. Te whole wy round my pelvis. I knew id need epidural cos i felt this in pain at just 3cm.

At about 4am she checked again and i was 6cm so the beautiful epidural man came and sorted me out. Didnt realise you could top it up yourself etc i thought it was just a one off injection that wore off. Anyway...

Contractions startef to slow down after that. I could still feel the odd bit of pressure but it wasnt showing up on the screen. At 7 i was fully dilated but no contractions so i was put on syntocin to start them again his heatbeat was below 70 after theyd poked around so they all started flapping and worrying. At 10 she said we should start pushing i could feel pressure but no urge to push. She asked nicely if we could get it all over with by 12 for her dinner break :-D

Well i stupidlt said id push with no epidural top up so i coud feel better when to push.. I ony knew i had to push cos i felt a contraction not cos i felt the urge to. After an hr pushing she said the next few pushes determind wether a dr had to come in or not. I was going mental i felt on another planet like i was detached and fainty it was absolutely horrible. Well he finally made an appearance at half 11 i was in shock id managed to get him out! He left behind a 2nd degree tear inside my fanjeeto and a part of the perinium was hanging off!!! It took at least an hour of stitching which was sooo painfull. I suppose it was like serious reconstruction down there. I lost a lot of blood and spent three days in cos they thought id need a transfusion. Those two days Dexter conned me into thinking he was a sleeper who never cried... Which has now ALL changed since we got home. Phewww thats a looong story!!

[preggofabulous]

Blimey Lora that does sound awful. I think you and I were very unlucky. Next time (!) Il be demanding an epidural as soon as I walk thru the door. Particularly if its as quick as this one!

On a brighter note, I had stitches for a third degree tear, and I've found they're not too bad. Well, compared to what I expected.

[Birdies]

lora that does sound bad but glad you're home now.

Does anyone else feed baby really regularly? I'm up every hour or so feeding in the night and struggle to settle DD until about 2 or 3am. And even then it's just for 2 or 3 hours. She's feeding a lot which is is obviously a good thing (she was pretty small) but I'm struggling to keep up!

[preggofabulous]

Sorry, I have the opposite problem. He's not interested in food, too busy looking around watching everything.

[AppleCrumples]

Found you! Look at us all with babies, hope everyone and their bubs are doing ok. Sorry to read some hard birth stories. Personally am glad its all over definitely no more babies for us!

Ivy seems quite settled and sleeps reasonably well so.not too nackered but that might chabge when dh goes back to work and i.have to do the school runs again!

Anyone having sibling probs? Dd1 seemed ok but is now acting up big time. She won't go.to bed at night and has startedto make a fuss when dh drops her off at school. Think its bacause fir the last 4 years shr has been the baby and the only girl. Don't really know what to do with her!

[MarasmeAbsolu]

Hey Birdies - I feed every three hours round the clock, mostly.
DD is however only interested in sleeping. She feeds quite well, but my milk supply isn t enough at night and she gets quite irrate. I need to start pumping to build up supply as well as a stash, but cannot face it (the noise alone used to send me in a spin).

Apple, sorry to hear about your DD. DD1 has been coping well, but she is a daddy's girl, and since daddy has very limited interest in newborns, she has a lot of attention. She gives DD2 a lot of cuddles, kisses etc... and is still happy to go to nursery.

Otherwise, on the PIL front, my DH confronted his Ps over them pissing on our fire / announcing the birth to all and sundry. His mother is now "very upset" at my being so "secretive". I find it very difficult that they treat DH as a child and me too by extension. DH is very accommodating and is always letting them have their ways at the expense of whatever he would have preferred. For DD1, both sets of parents decided to descend on us for several days when she was just born, staying over etc. I found it so depressing, annoying (think PIL staring while you try to BF) that this time I asked for no visitors for the first 3 weeks (I would rather go and visit people for a few hours, rather than visitors coming to stay over in our building site).

My Ps booked their plane as planned. However PILs have decided to not follow our request and will instead turn up this week.
I am just really not looking forward to it :( and need to snap out of it and put on a smiley face (mardy face is more like a default though!!).

Bernie - had a section too. How are you recovering?

[MamaMary]

Hi all!

To answer your question, Mrsbugsywugsy, I was 37 + 1 when I gave birth. DD2 is still pretty tiny at 5lbs 4 but regained her birth weight after only 5 days which is very encouraging. However she sleeps all day and is up feeding all night: also won't settle well at night. Any ideas how this can be reversed?

OK, here goes my birth story. Sorry for the length.

Background: DD1 was also induced at 37 weeks on the syntocinon drip and I had agonising pain with no spaces between my contractions. Basically one constant contraction: horrendous. Gas and air did not touch the pain, but an epidural was amazing relief: after it was put in they examined me and I was 7cm. Progressed pretty quickly but couldn't feel to push: DD1 came out with the help of a vacuum suction. 6 hours in total.

For DD2 I really would have loved to go into labour naturally, but when I learned I was yet again to be induced at 37 weeks, I was determined to ask for an epidural upfront.

I was given a pessary at 6am on Friday morning. At midday, I was examined and was 3cm. I waited around and experienced regular period-like pains. At 6pm, a delivery room became available and I went to get my waters broken (was still 3cm) and was put straight on the drip. I was lying on the bed with a drip on my left arm, a blood pressure monitor on my right arm, a pulse detector on my right hand, and two baby monitor belts round my belly. No chance to move, which frightened me. I informed the midwives that I would like an epidural. They said okay, let us know when the pain starts and we'll get the anesthetist. So far, so okay.

For the next two hours I got mild contractions which barely showed up on the screen. The drip was turned up at regular intervals. At 8pm the contractions all of a sudden became really strong. After a couple of agonising ones, I asked for the epidural. The midwife said okay: why don't you have some gas and air in the meantime while we organise it. I grabbed the gas and air mouthpiece and started to use it during each contraction. To my surprise, unlike with DD1, it actually worked to relieve the pain. The main difference was that, while the pain was intense during each contraction, there was at least a brief space between them to recover. I kept using the gas&air, with DH coaching me through each contraction (he could see the pattern coming up on the monitor). I asked when I would next be examined as I suspected things were progressing, and I was told it would not be until 9.20pm.

After about 20 minutes the pain was getting worse and the spaces between contractions minimal. I asked again for that epidural, but I was asked to lie on my left side as DD2's heart rate was dipping slightly during contractions. Then I could hear the midwives (there were two in attendance) discuss something between them and they asked to examine me. Somehow, I managed to get onto my back and I was examined. It was about 8.20pm. I was 9cm.

The rest of it was a bit of a blur. There was a staff shift change, but the new midwife who came on was the same lovely one who had given me my gel that morning so at least I knew her. I was in a lot of pain, and relying heavily on the G & A. It's brilliant stuff.

Next thing I knew, a doctor was in the room. She was being very bossy. She told me the baby's heart rate was dangerously low and the baby needed to GET OUT NOW. She had forceps at the ready. This was pretty scary but I was very out of it on gas and air. I remember being asked 'Do you feel like pushing?' and I replied 'I want more pain relief' (!!) The doctor said, 'It's far too late for that' and told the midwives to take the G & A mouthpiece away from me so I could concentrate on pushing.

The pain was shocking, but I managed to push about 4 or 5 times. Somehow, I pushed the baby out. Thankfully, the forceps were not needed. I am SO grateful for that.

It was so wonderful to hear the bossy doctor say, 'Well done, a lovely normal delivery'. I was still in a bit of pain down below from pushing so was still using the gas and air even after DD2 came out. I asked if there were any stitches and was told no. (With DD1 I had had an episiotomy.) DD2 was born healthy and hungry. During the skin-to-skin time she cried as was hungry. I got her onto the breast within half an hour of birth and she latched on immediately.

Time of labour: 2 hours 40 minutes. However I was only in pain for 40 minutes.

A much better experience this time round.

[Lora1982]

Wow you have done well to do that with no epidural well done!

On the feeding front im feeding pretty much every hour 9pm til 4-5am its exhausting. During the day he can go 3-4 hrs without a feed so theres my nap time. Today though i found since the milks come in properly he has puked a lot back up if hes not winded well will this mean i have to feed him again sooner or persevere winding? The only reason i didnt wind so much is cos the MW said not all bf babies need winding so i didnt worry.

[MamaMary]

lora same here, DD2 is feeding frequently at night and wants to sleep all day! In my experience bf babies need winded so I'd do that every time they come off the breast. It's a good sign if your DS is bringing up mik as he must be getting a good amount from you.

[mrsbugsywugsy]

Well done mama!

Dd is the same, she would rather sleep all day and be awake all night. I don't have a cure for this - if I did I'd be a rich woman As we don't have any other children, at least I can just sleep when she does.

[Pascha]

DS slept last night in approx half hour bursts in between 2 hour activity breaks for colic and the grumps . At least DH was there to let me get some kip between 2 and 4am.

He is currently getting his night from about 5am to midday so I'm trying to wake him for feeds every 2 hours but its hard, he's just not that hungry in the morning having tanked up on me all night. I just need to shift his body clock back by about 6 hours or so to match mine

Today we are venturing out to the local childrens farm for DS1 as we got a year family pass for christmas for us. Its the first proper outing for Daniel (not including yesterday's trip to the registrar) so I hope its not too complicated.

[preggofabulous]

Just packed away my maternity clothes....made me feel kind of sad that that part is over :(

And still waiting for pram to arrive so we can venture out. Ugh. Feel like a hermit x

[mrsbugsywugsy]

preggo I am still wearing mine!

[AppleCrumples]

Hi all

mrsbugsy I'm still in mine too! Won't miss them when they go!

Ivy is kindly sleeping ok at night so don't feel too nackered, it helps that dh is dealing with other dcs in the morning so Ivy and I lie in bed catching up on any lost sleep. This won't last when dh is back at work will have to drag self out of bed for school run.

How is everyone feeling? I was doing ok then I got a pain in abdomen this morning. It was like afterpain but continuous. Dh has sent me to bed with paracetomol and thinking I should call mw? Worried it's an infection, typical it should happen on sat so no dr. This doesn't sound good does it?

[BuntyCollocks]

Cameron has a stinking cold :( stuffed with mucus, coughing, streaming nose, the works. We had her tongue tie cut on Wednesday and feeding and latching were going much better until this kicked in that night. She seems to be getting better, but not hopeful for a large weight gain on Monday as her appetite has been shot.

Sigh. It was meant to be easier this time.

[preggofabulous]

apple I felt awful for a few days up until yesterday. Felt sick all the time, stomach cramps, and general ickiness. I also was worried about infection, but when I mentioned it to the midwife she said I probably just had a bug :( I'd still call Dr or NHS direct tho.

I think I've been quite lucky. Baby only feeds every few hours so between 12 and six he only gets me up once and settles back down quite quickly. I'm combined feeding and had to change the type of teat to a faster flow and its made it so much easier. He eats more because he's not using as much energy to suck, so hopefully his next weigh in will be better than it has so far. Took a while to get him feeding properly and was starting to get concerned.