Due November 2022 Thread 4

[NotAdultingToday]

1st -
2nd - @KDerbs @Kathno4
3rd - @Dontbeaneejit @SareBear87
4th - @Elle1709

5th - @readytoglowx
6th - @Bramblecrumble21
7th - @starflake
8th - @LittleJumpingBean
9th -@circe22 @TFMinx
10th - @ALittleBitofVitriol
11th -
12th-
13th-
14th- @Grgs @roobearbaby
15th - @KatieP8
16th -
17th -
18th - @NotAdultingToday @cocobeau @FishyBaby @bubbano2 @WandaVon @Ccatalina @Beanniebaby22
19th - @tb4122 @StrongUsernameHere @OtiMama

20th - @JanuaryBirthdays
21st -@GeorgieEm

22nd -@arianasky @smiles39
23rd -
24th - @CurlyNo2
25th - @sarahj878 @jordini
26th -
27th -
28th - @greenerfingers
29th - @teddy2806
30th - @rickandmorts

Hopefully thats everyone? I will go back through the old thread later to check 😊

I'm praying for the same. My first labour started in the morning but I was able to keep going till evening time when things went insane and he was born just before sunrise. It was perfect. No one knew and I announced it after in peace and calm.

@tb4122 it's even the thought of the needle that sends me over the edge 🤢 I've had CBT for it, so this is me in a better place than I was!

Hang in there ladies! Those last few days and weeks of pregnancy are tough going.

Sorry I haven’t been on much, feeling like I’m going insane from lack of sleep 😅 went into labour Sat night, had him the Sun afternoon. 2 nights on the postnatal ward, couldn’t sleep a wink between him wanting to cluster feed, noise from other patients and all the checks staff have to do.

Finally got discharged home yesterday afternoon, was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, but little one had other plans…. Screamed and screamed all night, inconsolable, wouldn’t feed at all, nappies were bone dry, I was in a state feeling awful that he was really hungry and getting dehydrated, worried he maybe had an infection brewing and that was why he was getting so unsettled.

Midwife called at the house this morning and I was so glad to see her. She validated all my concerns, said he has lost more than 11% of his birth weight and looks like an infection round his umbilical. So we were sent back to hospital, still here now.

My poor little man 😩

To top it all off we have 2 dogs and I was worried about how they would react to the baby. Had me on edge watching them out of the corner of my eye all evening worrying they might get too close to him and accidentally hurt him. Think they were just curious but can never trust animals really can you.

I just need a decent sleep 😭

Wow, lovely to hear from so many of you who are still waiting and also those who already have their beautiful babies. I hope you are all coping as well as can be in these last few weeks.

I totally get trying to protect your mental health during this limbo period. I think you need to do what’s right for you at this time.

For those who have had elective c-sections, how do you mentally prepare yourself for it?

My anxiety is through the roof at the thought of the surgery (I have really bad health anxiety following a previous traumatic birth) so would like to try and mentally prepare myself, whether that’s a hypnobirthing type approach or something else. I ideally need something to keep me calm and my anxiety in check in the days leading up the delivery and in theatre.

I attended a birth trauma session today ran by my perinatal mental health team and we done some guided meditation which helped me relax but doubt I could have this playing in theatre… all the surgeons would be asleep!

Oh @Beanniebaby22 I’m sorry to hear your little one is showing signs of an infection, as much as you probably don’t want to be there, the hospital is the best possible place for you at the moment.

Before my son, my labrador was my baby. He was the gentlest dog I’d ever know, but the moment I brought my baby home, it was like I didn’t trust my dog. It broke my heart. They’re turned into the best of friends, but I never left them alone together in 6 years. He was curious to know what this little creature was that was now in his house but it always had me on edge.

Oh @Beanniebaby22 you poor thing! So sorry you're going through this, it must be so stressful for you all.
I'm still in hospital as DD is refusing to latch so I've made the decision to express and use bottled breast milk to feed her rather than driving myself into a state of depression as I did with DS when he did the same thing and thinking I'd failed him. Hopefully it will mean we can finally go home tomorrow. I'm so fed up with sweating my tits off because the mattress and pillows are plastic and the ward is hotter than the sun.

@CurlyNo2 thats it exactly, my dogs were my babies and they knew it. So now they don’t understand when I shout at them for doing things that I used to allow, like jumping up next to me on the sofa or following me round the house. The instinct to protect your child is so strong!

@TFMinx DS has had awful problems latching as-well hence why the poor soul has lost so much weight and ended up dehydrated. I felt terrible that I couldn’t give him enough and knowing that he’s been hungry and getting more and more frustrated these last few days just breaks my heart 😢 I’ve started giving him formula today to sort the dehydration and help him regain some of that weight and then also plan to keep expressing breast milk when I can.

@CurlyNo2 you can wear headphones if you want to listen to something relaxing and I’m sure the surgeons won’t mind if you play music or some meditation out loud as they won’t be actively listening to it. I’m having a c section this time and had one when I had my son, having an anaesthetist you trust helps and in my experience they were awesome at relaxing me. I asked for a tour of the operating theatre some weeks before which helped me and on the day everyone in the room introduced themselves so it didn’t seem as overwhelming - they had names rather than just being a large number of people in the room if that makes sense. I was really nervous and they topped me up on drugs to keep me calm throughout, my advice would be to take it step by step, try not to overthink everything and remember that it is entirely natural to be nervous and the theatre staff will be well used to dealing with patient nerves.

Congratulations to all the births and sorry to hear of some of the tough times others are going through; hope things get better very soon x

@Beanniebaby22 I’m lucky that at the moment I'm producing enough whilst expressing to satisfy her at each feed, as soon as that no longer happens then we'll move to formula. DS was formula fed from just a few weeks and I have no regrets; if I hadn't, I'd have driven myself into a very deep depression. Take heed first time mums, breastfeeding is not the be all and end all ❤️

Just been told that they're going to weigh DD today on day 3 as she was a reluctant feeder to begin with. If she's lost (in their view) too much weight then we have to stay in! I say in their view because it's usually day 5 they weigh and they don't have an average percentage loss for day 3. Please send chunky baby vibes!

@TFMinx best of luck! Hopefully you get to go home :)

41+1 today, had my sweep yesterday and nothing has happened. Got another one booked tomorrow...I'm not getting my hopes up :(

Thank you @sarahj878 thats really helpful.

How are people getting on with their colostrum harvesting? Mine is none existent, I just can’t get anything. I am deffo doing something wrong 😩

Massive positive vibes to you @TFMinx How are you doing?

Let’s hope things start moving today for you @Jordmam - fingers crossed!

Its my due date next Thursday which means I have 1 week until my c-section. I have real mixed emotions today, like this weekend will be my last with just my son. I’m such a hormonal wreck today!

@CurlyNo2 well it's the infamous day 3 for me today, but so far I'm feeling good! 🤞 that keeps going!

@CurlyNo2 I don't think you're doing anything wrong, I have a friend on our local infant feeding team and she said many people can't express anything antenatally. I have managed to express a bit and it's much much easier after a shower or a Bath but still takes a bit of patience to get any drops flowing.

@CurlyNo2 I can’t get any colostrum either. I got a tiny, tiny drop after around 20 mins but that is it. I have given up collecting anymore. Honestly, I hate nipples and the sensation of expressing makes me feel rather ill.

I'm not bothering with harvesting anything and with my first I got absolutely nothing till after he was born.. like a few days. I formula fed at first. This time I get colostrum if I hand express but I think that's more to do with me having breastfed 2 years and my body now being used to it. I'd still get drops way after stopping breastfeeding.

@TFMinx if it makes your life any easier and you can be bothered, you can try nipple shields. My LO refused to latch and I couldn't express to save my life neither did I want to formula feed so I was gifted some from a friend and it made such a difference. Also made sure my supple gradually increased till I could cut formula as little one was not regulating supply directly. If you're not bothered then just disregard this entirely :)

I'm not bothering harvesting colostrum beforehand. Last time I had no problems doing it after my son was born, so fingers crossed.

Had a scan yesterday and growth fine but fluid has dropped below the safer levels. I had checks and another sweep today, nothing happening so far and I'm now waiting for a call from labour ward to be induced. They are hoping they can get things going with just a break of the waters but we shall see. We've all had a cold and my husband still isn't very well so plan is that my mum will come with me from the beginning and my husband join me once things are established. He seems worried about giving anything to the baby and that they wouldnt let him in. fingers crossed he will be feeling a bit better in the coming hours!

I collected a minute amount of colostrum after my first was born and then struggled to breast feed so he was formula fed straight away.

This time around I wanted to try again at breastfeeding. As I’m having an ELCS I know that milk can come in late etc (not that I know much about BF) so I wanted to try and be prepared as much as I can beforehand as I know it’s going to be a bit stressful once baby is here. I think I’ll give it one more attempt.

@greenerfingers thank you, any advice is appreciated I've been told that I have a good supply thankfully. I might try nipple shields if she becomes more interested in breast. It would be great if she did as it's easier to go places, but if not then that's fine too

If you have the energy after your c-section just keep pumping every 2/3 hours @CurlyNo2. Your milk should come in even if it's after 3/4 days. And hopefully after that it should be smooth sailing (providing baby agrees 😅). My milk came in and dried up after I gave birth at day 2 due to a few issues, I had to pump like crazy and it came in again at day 6/7 but very very slowly with lots of pumping. Eventually I became a milking cow but took a lot of effort. I was willing to give it a go as it was my first and I just couldn't bare the idea of bottles, going down middle of the night etc. This time round I hope it's much easier as I do not have the energy I had last time and a toddler to deal with on top.

That's great about the supply @TFMinx and yes it's hard to get them to wake up a bit and go for the breast when they've had a few bottles or if they're jaundiced etc. My son really took a lot of work to get him used to it as he found the formula bottles easier and no work. Eventually the issue became he refused to leave the breast 😅.

I haven't been on here in a few days, so congrats to all those who've had their babies!

I gave birth on the 14th to a baby boy 💙

Congratulations @Bubblegum20 we're now birth buddies

I was honestly so naive about how difficult breast feeding can be! Thankfully DS is now a lot more settled and happy since being FF the last 2 days.

My milk has finally came in (Day 4) and had a go at pumping, was pleased with the amount I produced, so hopefully I can get back to doing a bit of BF along with FF.

At the end of the day as long as he is thriving and being nourished I don’t care what way he gets the milk. Never want to experience a dehydrated and hungry baby again, it was just awful.

DM took the dogs to her house last night to give us a break and DP did all the night feeds to let me sleep.So We’re a much happier mummy and baby today!