August Due Date Crew (Thread 8)

[DesertSnow]

Thread 8! Apologies if I have anyone's info wrong - just give me a shout if so and I'll make a note.

Newcomers welcome!

July
26th @MidnightSunshine12 💛
29th @DesertSnow 💖, @Mulner88 💖, @Porcupette 💛, @Loudmouth1 💛, @overwork 💛
31st @AnnieApple123 💛, @BusyBushBaby 💖, @jjeanii 💖

August
1st @CityKity 💛, @SnowL2021 💛
2nd @sprollie11 💛, @ChloeN 💛
3rd @PumpkinEverything 💙, @Chl0o 💙, @Miraclesdohappen88 💛, @LS88 💛
4th @BMK 💖, @Alpacabag22 💛, @Amme18 💛, @UsernameNotPresent 💙, @Spiralout 💙
5th @LBF2020 💛, @Desperatelyboredhousewife 💛, @BoodifulGoose 💖
6th @buttercupbee 💛, @somuchtolearnabout 💛, @Rowanandremy 💙, @TattyTil 💛
7th @marleyandme 💛
8th @RGxo13 💙, @JT2021 💙
10th @VickiGo 💙, @Sjw30 💛, @AlexM7 💛
11th @tax19 💛, @nadsc 💛, @Rose05 💛, @sally16 💙
13th @newmummie 💙
14th @Babykingincoming 💛
15th @Gizzyanne 💛
16th @Recoba 💛
17th @Narwhal88 💖, @jollydollyirl 💛@cococat88 💛
18th @sommeliermama 💖, @EsmeSusanOgg 💛
19th @Firsttimemomma1 💛, @P1pk 💛, @allgoodthings84 💛, @Marmaladebear 💖, @Stuwe 💛, @MartaEly 💛
21st @BCxx 💖, @Justdancinginthedark 💛, @honeymirabella 💖
23rd @MinnieFirstTimeMum 💙
25th @unluckyinlife 💛
26th @MummaYoung2023 💛, @Wife2b 💛
27th @ropo34 💛
28th @Shinea 💛

September
1st @froglou 💛

@LS888 at this time of year unless I’m losing weight for a holiday, the fact I’m pregnant just gives me an excuse to eat all these things but then as the weather has started to be nice the last week or so I’ve totally noticed it when wearing some dresses or more summery clothes when I just feel like nothing is at all flattering 🙄

@overwork this time round I’ve had quite a lot of people refer to the fact I’m pregnant without me saying I am, I didn’t ever have that last time and always think no matter how obvious it is I’d never risk saying anything about someone who looks pregnant just in case they’re not but luckily for them I am, I must just be so big it’s that obvious now 🙈 I’ve got a few social things on next month and I’m kind of dreading having to go to those and get all the comments. People you haven’t seen in a few months ALWAYS feel the need to say something about your bump, whether it’s big or small but it does get really draining when you already feel a bit shit about yourself and all the small talk is just about the size of you 🙄😂

I get UTIs really easily when not pregnant and was so careful about drinking loads of water last time round to make sure I didn’t get one pregnant. I’m now finding that my bladder can’t cope for even more than half an hour when out somewhere or walking lots if I’ve had much at all to drink. I’m then cutting back just to make my life easier but this weekend it’s been really hot and I felt a UTI coming on on Friday but managed to get it under control with excessive amounts of water, now feel the same thing happening again 🙄 having to sit in a bath downing water waiting for it to make me feel better! They are the worst and really the last thing I’m needing just now 🤦🏻‍♀️

@BCxx you sound the same as me! I really struggle with utis so I drink absolutely loads but I’m constantly weeing now! I just can’t risk not drinking water because I can’t bare a uti 🤣

@ChloeN it’s such a risky game to play 😂 when I’m not doing much and I can go to the toilet whenever I want I drink more but we’ve been out doing stuff this weekend and I find myself not drinking before we leave the house in fear of having to waddle to the nearest toilet feeling like I’m not sure if I’m going to pee myself or not (I haven’t up til now so should probably stop worrying)! I hate myself when I end up in this situation though and just always have to hope I’ve caught it in time 🙈 being a girl is no fun! 😩

@MinnieFirstTimeMum I think that's quite a fair comeback to be honest!
My partners mum is far too respectful to make a comment, my own Mum however, patients, friends...

@MinnieFirstTimeMum i wanted to last time and did attempt it but got almost nothing out then heard too much about it possibly causing early contractions/labour and I didn’t want to risk it (breech baby among other issues so had a csection booked). I then didn’t really try much afterwards, tried to pump when my milk came in and got nowhere so just gave up with the whole thing. I’m more prepared this time and although I might just wait til baby is out, I might do it a few days before my scheduled section. This was the best video I found recommended on here last time, the nhs ones on YouTube were quite helpful too. I’m now going to hand express in hospital hopefully then formula feed alongside expressing (bought an electric pump) when my milk comes in

Amazing thank you @BCxx I was thinking a few days before my elected c-section too. Although I still don't understand how you get it in the syringe 😂

@LS888 I have no idea! I’ve had enough of making and dismantling furniture, never mind the trips to the skip 😂 I always love decorating in theory but once I’m in it I hate it! Good luck with everything, we’re also hoping to get some down time before baby arrives but it’s anyone’s guess if we do 😂

@MinnieFirstTimeMum I harvested colostrum for dd and plan to do the same this time around. My midwife’s recommendation was that you can start harvesting from 34 weeks. I didn’t get a great deal at once so just used a little medicine cap to collect it and then used a syringe to gather it and stored it in the freezer. I did start harvesting from 34 weeks and didn't have dd until I was 38+6 so it didn’t start off labour for me but do remember reading about it and going with what my midwife recommended because I’d gotten very confused.

@CityKity I have bits already from DS, however what I’ve done is make the baby wishlist on Amazon ( you get 15% off alot of things!) so I know what I’ve got left to get. I’m reluctant to buy everything just for space! Try not to worry about space though in general, my friends had their little girl in a 1 bed flat, didn’t actually end up moving until she was over 1! And had a dog too - managed absolutely fine ☺️ it’s more once they start accumulating toys that things get cluttered!

I breastfed for 7 months last time but never did the colostrum harvesting but thinking I might do this time - already started leaking a little.

Did anyone have raspberry leaf tea last time/plan to this time? I had it last time and had a really good labour (who knows if it helped or not!) but can’t remember where you start them from??

Thank you@Rowanandremy that is helpful to know 😊 x

I have a midwife appointment on Friday evening so might ask about colostrum harvesting. I wanted to have a go but don’t know how early it starts being made. Would you know if it had started?

I would also like to try breastfeeding but will just see what works for us. One of our NCT classes is about feeding so hopefully some questions will be answered then 🤞🏻

@BCxx do you plan on pumping without breastfeeding? I have no intention of breastfeeding, but I would happily give pumping a go.
However I was told that wouldn't work if wasn't I also breastfeeding as milk wouldn't come in, so had decided not to try - I'd love to know if it can work!

@overwork thats basically what I’d hoped to do last time and all the midwife/health visitor could say was that I’d want to breastfeed when baby was born but I knew I didn’t want to and sure enough, I didn’t. I’ve read threads on here before of people who express regularly to get their milk supply up (just the same as when a baby would feed) and then can just do a mix of formula/breast milk or even mainly breast milk for a while. I don’t think I’ll do it long term and itl be a lot of work on top of formula, bottles etc, I’ll have all the pump parts to clean but I only plan to aim to do it for 6 weeks or so if I can, itl obviously depend if it goes well or not! I just want to be able to give some of the goodness without actually breastfeeding directly. People who’s babies are in NICU do it and manage to get their milk to come in so I think it’s doable but hard

@LS888 i think it’s usually recommended after week 36 or 37 as it can ‘ripen’ the cervix and cause contractions so to reduce the risk of preterm birth you’re encouraged to wait til then. Probably helps with labour though when it comes! Some hospitals will give you the syringes away but I just ordered some 1ml syringes on Amazon last time as mine don’t give them out. I think they say to do it three times per day and for the first few days or even week you really won’t get enough to even fill one tiny syringe but some people end up getting loads. My plan was to have 10 syringes filled and you can freeze them and take them in when you go into hospital in a freezer bag. My hospital will freeze them for you and bring them out to defrost quickly when needed. In an ideal world I’d of had them all ready for his first feed but I just gave up after I didn’t get much out within a few days of trying! Doing it after a shower helps though

@MinnieFirstTimeMum 😂 that’s my plan I think.. at least then you could go in early if it instantly brings on labour but I think it’s quite unlikely. If a decent amount is coming out you can catch it in a little cup or spoon and then stringe it up or I just syringed up each drop as it came out after I’d had a shower or in the bath. It was soul destroying after 15 minutes when I’d barely even got one full drop or when you went to syringe it up and ended up syringing it back out 😭😂

@BCxx - thanks, that's really helpful. It's pumping or nothing so far as I'm concerned so would like to give it a go and would be thrilled if I managed 6 weeks!

@overwork you can exclusively pump - my friend did it when she couldn't breastfeed her son. She recommended renting hospital grade pumps as you get a lot more milk out compared to store bought pumps

I was looking at renting as wanted to see whether it worked first before I purchased. I guess you just rent one when baby arrives? As I won't know arrival in advance

Thank you @BCxx glad to know I am Mog alone in wanting to do this. However I look forward to actually attempting to gather it as it does not sound as easy as it seems 😂😂

@DesertSnow thinking of you and hoping you are doing okay x

I’m on baby 2 and I columstrum harvested for baby 1 from 36 week. Got 3 syringes, had an unplanned C section and used them as milk didn’t come in til day 4.

Breastfeeding worked well for us no issues, so just wanted to add a reassuring story to anyone who’s heard you can’t BF after a C section

@overwork yeah she rented it once the baby was already born. I have no idea how it all works because I didn't do it myself but she did it quite quickly when baby was a few weeks old

@MinnieFirstTimeMum I harvested colostrum with my first, plan to harvest colostrum with my second (though first is still breastfeeding, so not entirely sure how that's going to work). With my first I got maybe four or five syringes - I would have a shower, settle down in bed, and watch an old nice film (Sound of Music, etc), and just syringe off the drops as they came out, but it was pretty slow going I think this time I would probably do a bit more breast massage before trying to express. If you have a local breastfeeding support group (like La Leche League) they'll often run prenatal meetings which go over the basics of expressing and also how to get started breastfeeding.

@Overwork @BCxx I’m also hoping to pump but not breastfeed, I’m not planning on pumping indefinitely but 6 weeks isn’t a bad goal - I’d be chuffed if I got that far! I also know someone who pumped and didn’t breastfeed, I was kindly given all of the kit I’d need to start so don’t need to buy anything.before that though we’d looked into renting.

@MinnieFirstTimeMum I won’t say that harvesting colostrum was something I found easy but it wasn’t hopelessly frustrating - mostly because I went in not expecting to get a lot. I found it best to have a warm shower (even a brief one helped) and have the medicine cap ready after the shower so I could gently massage the colostrum out. It could be a bit fiddly but I think the more you do the more adept you become at it. I never had a leak or any drops appear without any pressure. Warmth definitely encouraged the flow for me and seems to be the case this time too though I’m not harvesting yet as I’m only just 30 weeks.

I rented the Medela hospital grade pump when my son was 1 week old (my husband wanted to do some feeds). Think it arrived within 1 day

Yeah I think you can do this or the medela is a hospital grade one I think? I’ve bought the Elvie but might buy the medela too. They seem to sell well on eBay after if it’s a total disaster