Minsters Sidecar Bumping Along - ttc graduates thread 5

[larrythelizard]

As I'm avoiding doing any of the useful stuff I should be doing I thought I'd just pop another sidecar up x

@DKDK123 they didn't seem fussed at all tbh! Maybe they're a bit more laid back around here with them 🤷🏼‍♀️ well that's it, after 18 months the first time round I don't think I'll be magically lucky now 😂

@paintfairy I am breastfeeding, that's annoying! I just want to know what's the pcos and what's not!

@bez91 oh no :( hope it doesn't make you too unwell x

@Minster2012 my doctor didn't even mention the driving thing to me at the postnatal check, I was waiting to be "signed off" or something 😂 it's to do with insurance or emergency stops or something, but I drove at 4 weeks and was fine! Overly cautious here I think, the general consensus in other countries seems to be after 3 weeks and only if you're not in pain anymore/ not taking pain meds.

@paintfairy I didn't realise it was a new test! I knew about the other test that does come with risks, so I can see why people would choose the NIPT! It puts mums to be in very difficult situations doesnt it, especially if something isn't picked up until the 20 week scan!

@feliznavidad2 okay that makes sense! Thankyou! I completely understand your reasoning for doing the test, you automatically presume you get reassurance from your first scan but when you don't I can imagine it being a little worrying and with your DS to think about too!! It's not too much st all don't worry, it makes complete sense, you have to think about him too!

@DKDK123 it's good they offered you the NIPT test after the NT measurements! And definitely, your baby was so deserved and lovely that it wouldn't have made a difference! So username on IG is my username on here but the other way around😂you'll probably find me through minsters!

@bez91 that makes sense but like you say, you've coped and she's doing well so that's all that matters! We spoke about it earlier me and OH and decided we're happy to not have the test done either! Ohhh sorry for the positive test!! What a blag!! Hopefully DD manages to dodge it!

@Minster2012 more faulty😂 how do you feel after the lovely scan??

Managed to work out a few IG names so if you get a following request with a rainbow pic it's from me

@bez91 aaarrrgghhh. Frustrating on the covid front.
@Minster2012 @DKDK123 yeah the driving thing would kill me. It was bad enough when I broke my arm and I think I was driving after 4. @Sunbird24 I'm not sure you always get a choice? 🤔🤣 But yeah it would be less than ideal!
@Justanothercyster natures contraception! That's ideally what should happen. But it doesn't always and catches people out. Your body knows you can only feed 1 baby.

@paintfairy that’s true! I’ll take any kind of birth that results in a live (and preferably undamaged) baby, but with a family history of 10lb-ers I am somewhat wary of doing it the traditional way… 🥴

@paintfairy very clever indeed! I'll bear it in mind.

@DKDK123 mine is no secret, sugarplumnatty :)

Glad the scan went well @minster2012!!!

I have a very greedy girl atm, Alice is on 7 oz bottles every 3 hours 🤣 but she's sleeping 11 hrs overnight so deffo can't complain. DH back to work tomorrow, and my mum and brother tested positive for covid so no visiting them for me this week 😢

Same here @Minster2012 I'm waiting until the nuchal measuring then will get some sort of NIPT if necessary. Btw the C section thing isn't a blanket ban on driving before 6 weeks, my insurance didn't say anything about it one way or the other but I waited until I felt I could do an a emergency stop and also twist about (it was the twisting that was worse) comfortably, I think it was 4 or 5 weeks.

😂😂😂 I think he did too good a job of listening to TTC chat @bez91...dye stealer! Hope you're not feeling too bad today.

I think they use BMI as an excuse when baby and angles are awkward @feliznavidad2 - sounds stressful. At least some reassurance was eventually offered!

Your DS is gorgeous @DKDK123 😍

I think they added me too @paintfairy - it's quite obvious who I am on insta!

Excellent attitude @kaylsd, I'm trying to be mindful of what I'm eating but feel mega nauseous about 20 hours out of 24 so it's really what I fancy at the time of eating. Gone of sweet stuff which is annoying as DH currently making his way solo through all the Xmas chocs!

You've also have the woeful postnatal C-Section care then @Justanothercyster? I wasn't even discharged with a leaflet! Once your scar is healed scar massage is very beneficial, there's a lady on insta who I followed and learned from, if you want to know more I'll find who she is.

Hahahaha @Minster2012 yes TSD hands in own mouth... although babies don't know they're their own person until like 9 months or something daft do they so I guess in his eyes it's the same difference...? 🤔

@paintfairy I'm a vote for bright baby knits! Here's TSD in his Christmas jumper knit by yours truly which he LOVES 😂

@Justanothercyster yes I was told in the hospital post C section that I shouldn't get pregnant for a year afterwards because of the tide of scar rupture. Think it might affect your chances of a successful VBAC too but I'm less bothered about that, think I might actually be too posh to push now 😂🤔🧐 I had the implant put in last week and it's still bloody sore, think I'm a bit of a wuss!

Ahhhh @Sunbird24 i drove again after 4 weeks and it was fine! Probably could have gone a bit earlier but thought it best to wait until I was sure

So TSD fucked me off royally last night. First night of two arms out did not go well 😂🙈 ended up reswaddling him at 2am with much swearing. H woke up, "can I help?" My reasonable reply was "cut his fucking arms off" 😂😂😂 midnight rage is real! Then he was sick in my hair this morning. Arsehole.

@DKDK123 our other friend said she got signed off to drive about 3 weeks in or maybe 2 so I'm hopeful that can happen, plus I have an automatic so driving is easier 😬 @Sunbird24 my partner will be no use for driving me after any initial paternity leave he takes as well but I'm fortunate to have family close. Last time he took one day off as paternity (the Monday, X was born on the Friday) as he was just so easy & of course I didn't have to recover. Our friend yesterday was saying the same that he's going back on Tuesday to save a week as their baby is also snoozy & she's got her family close so they want to save another week for when they actually need it more

@Justanothercyster I think that's quite reassuring as different ppl recover differently, I guess also when a scar won't hurt from a seat belt, like @larrythelizard says hopefully it's a bit less rigid than that, was that on your company car?

@Vil10 & @kaylsd I don't think you guys need to worry about further testing, just get yourselves to the 12 week scan & they gave me an indication there saying the nuchal measurement was normal so that made my wait for the other results better.

@Sunbird24 rrrrr yeah 10lbs wouldn't fill me with joy getting that out 😂

@Kirky658 that's brilliant (Alice that is not the covid!) long may it continue 🤞🏻

When I had my knee surgeries & couldn't drive for months it was the WORST thing possible (I didn't have an auto then & also DH was in a more corporate job so he couldn't help much, like @paintfairy says it's so inconvenient I honestly wouldn't ski again for the fact I hurt myself & couldn't drive. It was horrendously life crippling & that was before children

What is "the tide of scar rupture" @Kate105 im having horrific images here in my mind 😂😂omg look at his gorgeous jumper he loves it! I would say that's a perfectly reasonable retort for that situation. That's why we never did swaddling, well that and the heatwave we thought it would might you know frazzle him to a crisp 😂

To the breastfeeding gang (@Kirky658 and @Justanothercyster I think you both were?) just curious on how quickly your milk supply increased? Because of my blood loss and general anaesthetic my milk took longer to come in so I've had to combination feed and have been mostly pumping any breast milk he gets to check how much he's getting. I seem to be only expressing 15-20ml from each breast on the pump a week in. Seems too little 🙁 I don't trust him on the breast as he doesn't seem to suck much and just falls asleep. Perhaps because he's become used to the bottles.

Speaking of C sections... having been in the hospital for 5 days after having baby I realised how much harder it seems to be for ladies who've had a C section in recovery. Some of those woman were screaming and moaning all day in pain post section in the ward, they sounded like they were in labour again. I was just on paracetamol and slightly uncomfortable with having had an episiotomy, although I was still tied to the bed for the first 12 hours really due to having a catheter in from the general anaesthetic for the placenta removal. It's put me off ever electing to have a C section hearing those women suffer though 😅 hopefully it's not that bad for all?

Looooool @Minster2012 that should have been "risk of scar rupture " 😂😂😂 if they'd phrased it like that in the hospital I definitely would have taken it more seriously!

@2020mission i was pleasantly surprised by how easy my recovery was! Just need to keep on top of painkillers for the first few days. On the BF front I'm no expert by any means but I believe that what you can pump is not representative of what baby can get direct. Babies are much more efficient at getting milk than any pump. So don't worry too much about what you can express. Also I found expressing really hard for the first 6 weeks or so but it's got much more straightforward since.

Also would like to clarify that TSD was sick in my hair this morning, not my H, although he can be an arsehole too

Jumping on, thanks @larrythelizard!

Glad the scan went well @Minster2012, I can’t believe you’re halfway there already - or over really if you’re having a scheduled section before 40 weeks?

I toyed with the idea of NIPT for both DD and this pregnancy but in the end waited for my 12 week screening before making a decision. As low risk decided not to go ahead but would have if inconclusive or higher risk.

R.e. Driving post section - I waited a full 12 weeks and enjoyed being chauffeured 😂 but I was going off the advice from when I had my fibroid removed and the scar is a good 3-4 inches bigger than a c section scar from that.

I was also advised 12 months plus best before future pregnancies following c section @Justanothercyster, was never an issue for us as had been using condoms anyway due to hormonal contraception making me feel like shite but perhaps when things settle you could do BBT with condoms when close to ovulation? My periods came back after around 4 months when EBF DD and as far as I know I don’t have PCOS. I’ve known others go closer to 7-8 months but that definitely doesn’t mean you are not currently fertile so would still take whatever precautions you can if trying to avoid pregnancy.

@Sunbird24 10lb?! Erm, no thanks. Mine needs to be smaller than that. Surely us older folks don't stretch well?!
@Kate105 ahhh I like the jumper! I was thinking of the plain old fashioned one colour type. Patterns hadn't even entered my head! But it's much easier if you know what the sex is, and the possibilities are then endless. My mum will knit anything as long as she has a pattern.
@Kirky658 11 hours?! That's amazing!
@larrythelizard I'm still struggling with my arm scar, never mind something as big as a C section. I think I've got crap skin. I keep wondering if I should go somewhere with it (private physio?) before it's too late? I do try to massage it myself, but maybe not effectively, as I just rub anyhow. Plus I can only do it one handed obviously and with my left hand. I'll take a photo of it...... I wish I'd started using the silicone tape much sooner. No idea if that makes any difference but it stops it getting dry and itching and I wear it most of the time now. If I don't have it on, I have to keep topped up with moisturiser or silicone gel. I literally cannot imagine a c section scar on me. Nightmare.
@Minster2012 the no driving killed me! My truck is auto but the normal car isn't. I do wonder how practical a baby is in a truck. But I love my truck! 🤣
@2020mission I have no idea but I have read before that sometimes it can take a while to come in? Just keep doing it i suppose? And if expressing you can monitor amount. Agree its hard to do that when feeding directly. If the baby is starving then its not getting enough? 🤷‍♀️🤣
You aren't selling c sections either...... 🤭

@Haiyaa I think I'm tempted to wait to see what the standard tests come back with. Then like you say- if they look worrying or they can't do it, like @feliznavidad2 I'll book a NIPT test. Seems sensible. I don't really have a spare £400. 🤔

My boobs hurt today. They haven't by for a while! Odd.....

@2020mission I BF by expressing and giving bottles for 10 weeks. I think it took about 5 days for my milk to come in, then I expressed about 150ml a time so 4 feeds for Alice at that point. But I had to express 8 times a day till my supply built up which was exhausting!!! I remember the day after birth I hand expressed 0.5ml of colostrum and felt I'd won the lottery 😂

@2020mission let's hope for us c section lot then that we are as "hard as nails" as you and not the ones screaming in pain!

@Kate105 yes I was like wtf that doesn't sound good! Mind you I've been told that's why I need a section, to stop my internal scars from tearing when bearing down...et Yep thanks then I'll take the no tearing option 😬😬and I kinda totally believed your DH may have been sick in your hair 😂

@Haiyaa I can't believe halfway too, or yes over halfway as likely the week before they say. Crazy stuff. I'm so lucky to have had a good first/second trimester so far (worry/fear excluded) and if you can get chauffeured then why not!

@paintfairy I can confirm us older folk don't stretch well. Well, certainly me. But also DH has a truck & its great for babies, so bouncy that they love it & fall asleep...you probs will have seen ppl taking prams on bumpy tracks for the same reason so long as the seat is secured in isofix then it's all good 👍

@Kirky658 I thought 0.5 ml of colostrum that early is amazing?! But I've got no idea really

@minster2012 it was!!!! 😀 When I started expressing I was the talk of the midwives as I expressed sooooo much they had a freezer full 🤣

I didn't think it was that bad @Minster2012 - I was home the Tuesday evening after having DS at lunchtime Monday and off the hardcore meds by about day 3. Also, anecdotally my friends who had ELCS for various reasons all recovered MUCH quicker than I did!

So what you are saying @larrythelizard is that it's all fine 😂

@Kirky658 so you didn't have it in the freezer at home then, that's what I'm envisioning 😂

So, how many pickled onions 🧅on their own are too many? Asking for a friend

@bez91 I'm not sure what the guidelines are but I think after a certain time point they give you blood thinners for 2 weeks with covid. Hope you aren't feeling too rough 😘

@Vil10 I didn't do NIPT with either pregnancy, I may have done if the NHS tests came back high risk but they didn't. You have very few / no? risk factors so in your situation I wouldn't get it done either xx

@Minster2012 you can drive before 6 weeks if you are well enough, apparently the insurance factor is a myth. I had a huge amount of problems with my c section wound and I think I still drove before 6 weeks.

@Kate105 he is sooo cute though!!!

@2020mission pumping is not indicative of supply, if you are topping up with formula each time you need to be pumping though because otherwise your body doesn't get the signal to 'produce' so to speak. If you want to pump exclusively you need to be pumping 8-12 times a day including ideally a 1am and 4am pump as night times signal the milk producing hormones. Your best indication with a breast fed baby under six weeks is weight gain, a poo nappy every day and plenty of wet nappies. Have faith in your body; lots of skin to skin and keep putting baby to boob as often as possible. If they are awake - get them on!
If you are worried about latch etc then you could look for a local private IBCLC lactation consultants for support but it may cost you, if not look for local breastfeeding support via your health visitor or midwives.
Hope this helps - im a childrens nurse but also had a jaundiced baby that didn't ever latch so I exclusively pumped for 6 months - never again! This time it'll be boob or formula 😂

We have finished off the holidays with a trip to soft play and a McDonald's for DD followed by a bath bomb bath. Now let's hope she sleeps! 😂🤞🏼
Really hoping I hear something from the hospital tomorrow in regards to bringing section date forwards, my grandma passed away last night so I am feeling very torn about where I will need to be and when; I think having a date would help. Baby still feeling very much breech. I have washed all my newborn bits today and got the baby beds out so once bags are packed I think we are nearly ready to go!
I did go down a huge slide at soft play which I thought at almost 37 weeks pregnant probably wasn't my best idea 😂

@minster2012 when we were finally allowed home believe me our freezer was full 😂😂😂