Help! Mucus plug just gone, pain down there - is it time?!

[Noodles81]

Hi guys,

I was due yesterday and had a sweep yesterday. Woke up this morning from pains in my lower back which then transferred to pain in the front, they were coming every half hr.

Just went to the loo now and my mucus plug has gone - it was flegm like and browny/redy in colour. The pains have also come back they happen every so often maybe half an hr.

Does this mean labour is imminent? What shall i do? Friend said now is the time to have sex to get it all going - isn't it dangerous to have sex if the plug has gone?

I'm so nervous!!!!

All I can add is that ds loved to be held upright-ish after feeding, like on my chest or over daddy's shoulder. His wind came up just with very gentle rubbing and he could snooze quite happily during the process. When he was about 4 weeks old he started to need more patting to get the burps out. My nct chum says you should still try to wind himmifmyoumthink he needs it, the thing about breasted babies not needing winded is misleading. Keep going , and yes most babies prefer mum or dads chest to a Moses basket any day!!

Thank you all. It has now been 3hrs since his last feed and he is asleep still. Shall i wake him for a feed now or leave him to sleep?

Im so nervous about where this going to go if i wake him...

Let him sleep, he will wake soon enough I say. Basically, at this stage they suck, snooze and then want more boob. Trust your instinct, remember babies have not read books about routines. Do you feel that he is basically ok, has fed and gone to sleep happily? If so, try and settle yourself near him and rest too.

They say not to let him go more than 3 hrs without a feed though...

What do you feel would be best?

Even newborns often have one time in 24hrs where they sleep for a little longer than at other times of day (3, maybe 4, occasionally even 5hrs). But, it ratther depends what's happened the rest of today. A typical newborn will feed 8-12+ times per 24hrs. So if he's fed often during the day and everything is going well from both your and the MW's perspectives then it could be fine for him to sleep. If he's only fed every 3hrs or less and you're worried about his intake then you could think about offering the breast the next time he seems to be stirring or is in lighter sleep, for example eyes moving around or twitching, turning his head a little. The poo colour also comes into play if it's already yellow, then his milk intake is likely good, if it's not quite there yet then he may be just getting off to a little bit of a slower start as you both get the hang of feeding. The reason for considering waking him is that if a newborn's not getting as much milk as they might then they can get quite sleepy (especially if they have a little jaundice), as they try to conserve energy. If they do this too much, then obviously they then drink less milk etc.

I'm off to bed now. Night Noodles x

Pesto, your advice, links and general knowledge is awesome! Are you a BF counsellor?

Congrats on baby Leo. My dd, now 2 had colic and it was so awful so I sympathise lots. I fed her constantly, she also would. Ru the second you put her down, it does get easier. Re sore boobs, check attachment constantly esp when u are tired as that's when any can slip off. I got cracked nipples with dd and ds and couldn't believe how sore it was- no one mentions that when they talk about bf!!!
Wish you well over the next few weeks and if he is asleep let him sleep, I would only wake him during the day for feeds and this will help to establish s day and night routine. He was a good weight when born and as long as he is putting on weight no need to worry!
Good luck and try to enjoy your new baby

Congratulations, try not to worry so much. The best advise I can give you which I gave to my own dd when dgs was born is trust your own instincts you are Leo's mummy and you really do know what's best for him.

My dd took this advise to heart and says it really helped. You DO know what's best for your son.

You are doing so well!

I haven't read all tge replies but here are my top tips for what you've mentioned.

Nappies/see - put a little cotton wool in his nappy, because they might only www a little and nappies just suck it up, you can tell from tge colour if the cotton wool if he did one. If you are really concerned you can weight his nappies. Don't get hung up on how much but just to reassure you he has gone.

Babies falling asleep feeding - yes they do. On the boob has been both of mines favourite places to sleep! Their tummies are small and IMO they have to build up tge muscles to keep sucking out tgat milk. So they can feed rest feed rest, which is why you also get tge starting to feed again when you try and take him off. Have you tried feeding lying down? Can be done on your side or on your back.

Just remember all your baby needs is you. He will cry. This is tge only way he can tell you he needs something.

Just go with it, feed and sleep when you both can.

Noodles, you've had excellent advice. I hope you aren't too overwhelmed. Breastfeeding advice and support is shockingly poor whilst the pressure to breastfeed shockingly large. How you are supposed to achieve the latter without the former is anyone's guess.

IMO if people just had the right information it would be much much easier.

I meant to post last night that whilst all this is going on you're hormones are also taking a nose dive so don't feel terrible if you feel overwhelmed. Your body is also recovering from a very long labour and is tired. You'll generally feel worse and tearful as you head for days 5/6/7 so plan for those and have someone at hand to look after you and take the baby away. From then on you stablise and things get better.

I didn't know about day 6 with my first and I remember leaving him to cry and putting his moses basket outside my room whilst I got into bed in tears with the duvet over my head and absolutely refused to feed him/touch him or even look at him for about 8 hours. My DH had to give him formula. It got better after that.

The point is though, that I knew it was coming with no. 2 and planned for it. We spent day 4 in bed all day together and then day 5 and sailed through it.

hth

Congratulations Noodles -I'm so pleased to hear that little Leo arrived safely!

Lots of great advice here on breastfeeding problems - I've forgotten more than I remember so I can't be much help here but the feeling of being overwhelmed - oh I DEFINITELY remember that. I remember the morning after we brought dd home (having fed her a gazillion times that night) just sobbing to dh 'I.....can't.......do ... this ' . She's nearly 9yrs now so I obviously did! In a few weeks when you are feeling up to it you can meet with some other new mums -ignore the 'oh Jemima is sleeping though the night' mother and you'll find the rest are as shocked, leaky and sleep deprived as you

How are things this morning Noodles ?

I'm saving this thread because I'll be asking all the same questions I know it!!

Hope your getting on ok?
remember trust your instincts you know whats best for leo nothing you fo is the wrong thing you will soon learn what suites him best xx

Hope you are feeling all right, though the day 5-7 is the weepy time (all normal). Nobody has mentioned White noise yet- so I will. Wombs are noisy. Some small babies are comforted by noisy hoovers, hairdryers,extractor fans, washing machines,or downloaded White noise from iTunes - you can get water, rainstorms or even womb sounds. Dr Harvey Karp has a good technique called the Five S for calming crying small babies - swaddling, shushing, holding them sideways, sounds and patting. I can't link on phone but it's on the Internet. He also has a great DVD called happiest baby on the block which amazon sell and it has White noise womb sounds for crying babies. But Leo is still very tiny and crying for food is quite normal at his age. Just keep cuddling and feeding and resting with snacks and drinks if you can. Good luck for today.

Hi all!
Had a sudden thought about this thread of mine and realised i never replied or came back for an update.
Leo will be 6 months on the 15th of this month - hasn't it flown past?!
He's doing really well, he rolls over, can sit up for a while before flopping over and has recently started with the ba ba ba ba sounds! He sleeps well. 2 hours awake 1 hour nap throughout the day and does 7.30-7.30 at night. This only happened at like 4 months - not one of those mums who bragged that their baby did that from week 2 or anything! I also owe a lot of the peaceful sleepy nights to the amber ankle i got him when the teething kicked in. I was dosing him up every night before that, it's been a godsend and i would recommend it to everyone.

I started weaning him this week (going with BLW) he did gag on a banana but i'll just have to persevere! Let's hope this tooth comes out soon as he is getting very grouchy and well annoying!

Finally a big thank you to all of you for your support at that time. Makes me a bit emotional reading it back actually, and so nice to have other people to reassure me and keep me going.
Hope you are all well yourselves!
Lots of love from me and Leo.
x