March 2016 babies! The (hopefully) graduation thread!

[hayleycookie]

We reached 999 posts without making a new thread - woops!

Park your bums and continue the newborn chitter, and due date whinges

Oh no maybe I'm so sorry to hear that have you been given any painkillers other than paracetamol? Could you ask to go in to be assessed and given some codeine (at least)? Unfortunately it is within the realms of normal to have such a long latent labour phase, but that doesn't make it OK is there any way you can go in to discuss anything they can do to get things moving or give you some stronger painkillers so you can get some sleep? And feeling resentful is a normal reaction in this situation- its really horrible but you're under a lot of strain physically and emotionally. With my long labour and failure to progress with DD I remember begging the obstetrician to give me a C-section and she flat out refused and I cried my eyes out. It's very very tough. I'm in awe that you've been doing this for four days on little sleep. I don't have much useful advice for you except to say if you really can't cope, get your DH to be assertive on your behalf and demand more support from the midwives. and hope things improve/you get some relief soon.

No sign of baby here, ugh. Anyone gone into labour overnight?

Maybe it sounds hellish. I'm not too sure of your situation - are you off work? Got dc to look after in the day? Do the contractions stop in the day / can you catch up on sleep then? I've had another night of contractions every 20 minutes, but they stopped an hour ago :( Mine aren't really that painful but they do wake me up. I'm getting twitchy about lack of sleep, we need REM sleep or our cognitive function and emotional balance become screwed, you can start to get paranoid and hallucinate.

If you call up the midwife and cry loudly at them, explain that you are getting scared and resenting the baby due to lack of sleep (basically kick up a fuss, be the squeaky wheel), that you haven't slept in four days (or only 4 hours or whatever). Maybe they will agree to give some pethidine or diamorphine which would let you sleep. Ask under what circumstances they would give this. They are only bad for the baby if you are likely to deliver in the next few hours, which sounds unlikely. I wouldn't normally advocate deliberately being a PITA but I work in the NHS and often it is effective, unfortunately.

maybe I've already said this on your other thread but I second what pannacot and indom have said - don't be afraid to be a PITA/demanding - if you can't cope, you can't cope. Don't let them fob you off. Your birth partner needs to step up here. With DD I had a long latent phase, got sent home twice, had unsympathetic midwives etc and me and DP just accepted it. Looking back I wish we'd been more assertive but really at this point you need your birth partner to be assertive on your behalf because emotionally and physically its too much for you to try to fight your corner.

Big to you maybe second getting your DP involved. Mine had to ring the hospital for me last time because I couldn't talk through the contractions and I know if I'd have rung they would have tried to convince me to stay at home longer but he was insistent.
Nothing happening here. A heroic performance DP this morning managing to do his duty whilst having to listening to his mother singing and chatting to DS through the baby monitor

Little Yusef was born yesterday 13.3 after a second sweep weighing 9 pounds after a gruelling but short labour !

Haha bump !! If sweep doesn't do anything for me today then I will be getting DP to step up tonight haha.

Congrats Sher! Yay more babies! God I need mine out now. No idea what I'm going to do all day today. Might tackle the oven which needs a clean as has burnt cheese on the bottom and tidy up the front room which is a mess but needs to be clean on the off chance I go into labour as it's supposed to be my hippy home birth cave!

Maybe I'm no help with advice having all this to look forward to but just wanted to say thinking of you perhaps follow the others and be a PITA until they give in?

Congrats Sher!! He's a beaut! Is it just me or are boys leading ahead over girls? We need more babies just heading off for BP check and undoubtedly another session with the MWs fingers so will see what I can do

sher congrats! What a beautiful baby!

Yay, congratulations sher, what a cutie!

Congratulations sher!

maybe I agree with all the others - rock up to the hospital and simply refuse to leave. It's what I had to do although different circumstances - they tried to send me away as I was only 2cm dilated when I was examined but I was in such awful pain that I refused to leave. I literally could not get off the examination bed they had put me on. DH had to get quite forceful with them and eventually they found me a room.

Congratulations Sher gorgeous baby!!

Congratulations Sher, he's gorgeous!

Sorry to hear your having a crappy time Maybe, hopefully if you/your DH kicks up a bit of a fuss the MWs will be more helpful.

10 days overdue now here, I think I may be destined to be pregnant forever!

Errrr is it wrong I'm a little disappointed I'm not up to four on the sweeping? No offer from this mornings very efficient midwife...

Good for you me refusing to be sent home - with DD I got sent home from same hospital (RBH) when 4cm! Basically as they had no room. Looking back I can't believe we didn't just refuse.

maybe I hope you're getting on ok and have got hold of some stronger pain killers.

Got my sweep in a couple of hours, DP is taking the afternoon off to come with me. Really really hoping it gets things moving!

doc sorry to hear there's still been no action! I'm 40+6 and totally fed up, not sure how I'm going to feel if still pregnant in four days time!

vroc how overdue are you now?

Congratulations Sher!!

Sorry you're still here Doc. I'm only 4 days overdue so I can only imagine how you're feeling!! Have you got an induction date or are you going to be monitored until baby Doc makes an appearance on their own time?

Had my second sweep this morning at 40+4. Midwife said baby is definitely lower, sweep was easier, and am now 3cm dilated, but I still got the same Bishop score as last week! 6 out of 12! She booked me in for induction next Tuesday (22nd) so at least if nothing else there is only a week til baby 2 is here. Think I'll stop trying to get things moving and just chill....or try to at least! How are my fellow overduers?

Marmite only 41 weeks or 40 + 7 as they now seem to have swapped me to.. So not complaining too much.. But having had induction threatened twice last week and three sweeps last week I thought she'd be here now.. Good luck for this afternoon! And fingers crossed things get moving for you too hayley

My induction is booked for Friday so I too am just going to sit back and enjoy the sunshine for a few days, I might also request a sweep at my last BP check on wed just to ensure I've covered all my options!

I haven't got an induction date yet! I had an appointment to discuss it tomorrow but they managed to book me in at the wrong hospital! Supposed to be someone ringing me today to arrange a new appointment but nothing yet. I imagine they'll want me to go in on Wednesday (they usually go for T+12) but I'm going to see if I can hold out till Friday (42 weeks).

Hi all, trying to catch up on 3 days of news here! Firstly congrats sher and wooden - two more absolutely gorgeous bundles to add to our collection, well done!

maybe I read your other thread also - that sounds fucking awful, both mentally and physically exhausting wish I had something more helpful to say, but just hope it means your body as done so much prep that the baby will just slip out when the time comes.

me sorry you've had such a tough time, but hope you can relax now as you deserve to enjoy your baby, sounds like you've definitely made the right decision for your family, and a happy, fed baby is the most important thing!

sorry to everyone else going overdue. I'm really dreading that happening, can you imagine being at work at 40+10?? Or will it help as I will have distractions? (give me positives please people!)

Nothing happening here but wouldn't really expect it to be as only 38+4. Tomorrow marks the day I would have been in my job 9 months and so qualify for maternity leave, so quite happy to (hopefully) make it past that. My union has just negotiated an increase in maternity leave from 2 weeks paid to 6 weeks, but there's been no formal word from the University as to when they comes into effect. Argh I hope so much it comes in before this baby as it would make such a difference to get an extra month's pay we hadn't budgeted for.

indom glad your baby stayed put when he was supposed to, sounds like you are closer than me though, considering we are due at the same time. You realise when it happens I will be quite annoyed with you for leaving me alone in the 'work until the bitter end' club though?

To all others with cramps, twinges, mucus plugs going etc good luck!!! Hope for more baby news by the end of the day!

Congrats sher. Hope you and baby are doing ok.
Maybe- I really feel bad for you :(. I hate how midwives fob women off who are less than 4cm and not in "active labour" it's a fucking joke. Excuse my language. I nearly screamed at their or faces when I was on labour ward and they wouldn't give me even gas and air because I was not in active labour. I was in excruciating pain that I couldn't even breathe or talk Through and I wasn't taken seriously until I screamed "I can feel her head do something now" then they realised I was fully dilated.

Starting to struggle here. Had a breakdown today. Suddenly feel like the whole world is collapsing down around me. Theirs no time for nothing. No time to even pop out to get a pint of milk, wash up, put washing away. I don't feel like I am coping. I am terrified my baby is not taking enough milk. At 8:30am she took 3oz. At 11 I tried to wake her as we had a hospital appointment and didn't want her to wait till after. She wouldn't take any. She had hiccups for 45 minutes- screaming the place down and at 12pm she took 2oz but she threw a bit up- enough to soak her onesie. So we missed the hospital appointment! Going to try and feed at 2:30 ish. She is 5 pounds 5 ounces now so I worked out she should be having 13.5 ounces in 24 hours but I'm terrified she's loosing weight. I have no idea when to feed her, when to up it, when she's had enough, when she's hungry or just crying for something else. I have no idea what I'm doing and I feel like I'm glued to the flat. I can't go anywhere etc and it's all too much.
Oh has suggested I go back to work and he stays at home with the baby. And tbh I think it's possibly the best thing to do. These four walls are becoming too much and the anxiety of everything she is doing (eg is she eating enough) is too much.
Oh has to leave for work tomorrow at 4:30am so I am stuck with the night feeds tonight, so scared :(. Is it reasonable to feed her and then hand her back to oh to settle her?
I was coping but I just can't do it anymore. I see how tired my oh is from working and trying to help me and sometimes he gets barely four hours sleep and I'm so scared.
I was doing ok but it's all coming out today

Congratulations sher!!! Beautiful baby .

Time I wouldn't get too hung up on how many oz she's drinking - remember that if you were bf you would be blissfully unaware of all this. The mine thing is that she is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and generally seems content. I know its probably a bit scary now because she's still so tiny, but its still early days and you will become more confident as you go. She probably won't take the same amount at every feed or from one day to the next. Don't worry if she brings some of the milk back up - thats normal and it always looks like loads more than it actually is.

If babies are crying it usually means they're either hungry or tired, so its always worth trying these 2 things first. Also, has anyone told you about babies' early hunger cues? If you can recognise them then you can get a bottle ready before they get to the crying stage and its a lot less stressful!

Thank you,
Yes she has plenty of dirty and wet nappies. Generally five wet and maybe 3/4 dirty in 24 hours. She is very alert when awake and also content so I don't believe it's reflux as she has no trouble being settled/lying on her back.
She only bought up some when she burped earlier which I know is normal but she dribbled it all down my arm and it looked like so much.
She's had 10oz roughly since midnight. I know I should try not to count but I just can't help it. It's hard to read her hunger cues as she never wakes for feeds, I have to generally wake her if she sleeps for 3 hours.
She's just so tiny I don't want her loosing weight as she was so dinky to start with.
How do you know when baby is full?

Congrats Sher, what a beautiful baby.

Maybe I think you've had shocking treatment so far. How can you be expected to deliver when you're so exhausted. Really agree with everyone else and hope you can get them to see sense and help you.

Sorry to all you others still overdue. I really don't envy you. It will happen soon!

Time try not to panic. Babies being sick occasionally is quite normal. We've had a few instances of milk coming back up and it does look like loads but probably isn't. Jacob will only ever take what he wants and if he's finished he just pushes the bottle out and sits there with his little bottom lip pushed out. He doesn't take the same amount each time- anything between 1-4oz. I tend to change his nappy before a feed too as this wakes him up a bit more.
It's crazy how quickly the day goes when you have a baby. In the first few weeks it's tough to do anything other than look after them.

Thank you.
Baby just projectile vomited all over me
She soaked my top to.
She seems fine. I'm so worried though

Rhu- how often do you feed him? My dd needs waking so hard to know what 2 do

Time try not waking her to feed. When she is hungry she will definitely let you know about it and then she will probably take a bigger feed if she goes longer between them. It might be worth trying to feed her on demand for a day or so and watch out for her hunger cues so you get an idea of how often she wants a feed.