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 💛

@Rowanandremy this is reassuring that other people are crazy enough to think it’s a good idea too! 😅 What will you do in the hospital? Are you going to formula feed too or exclusively pump? I can’t decide whether I should take formula to the hospital since I might get hardly anything out then start the pumping when baby is 3/4 days old

I was going to take formula too

@BCxx I thought people would think I was crazy for wanting to pump but not breastfeed so I’ve not mentioned it to many people, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one 😂 we’re going to take formula to the hospital, I’m not sure how soon the milk will come in because with dd I never had any leakage and wasn’t attempting to pump. I’m thinking this time I’ll try pumping maybe when he’s a day or two old and see how it goes.

@MinnieFirstTimeMum Thank you for thinking of me 💙 I'm just trying to take each day as it comes, but been struggling to get much sleep because of the worry around it all. We have our scan with FMU tomorrow so hopefully we'll have some clarity after that.

On colostrum - I had been planning to try and harvest some from 36/37 weeks. Now not sure what will happen as baby may be here before that. It sounds hard to do though! @LS888 I googled this last night - apparently your body starts making colostrum between 12-18 weeks. I had no idea it was already there!

@Amme18 I did a class at the weekend and the midwife recommended raspberry leaf tea from 34 weeks.

@CityKity Glad all is ok with baby after the reduced movements. Exercise-wise I'm walking every other day, and on the days I'm not walking I'm doing some aerobics DVDs (but at a gentler level than I would ordinarily). But the hip pain is making it challenging and I'm going to have to reduce the length of my walks I think. Wish I could swim but there's nowhere easy for me to get to, and it would be pricey.

I'm definitely feeling concerned about how much there is still to do, especially if baby is going to make an appearance early. If she does though, I expect she won't be coming home straight away so there should still be time - though I obviously wouldn't want to spend that time buying stuff, would rather be at hospital with her. Think we have most of the big things sorted - something we're really lacking is books/toys (we were kind of hoping we might be gifted some by family/friends but none have been forthcoming yet so we might have to hit some charity shops). I feel like everywhere I look it says 'oh newborns don't really need that much'... followed by a long list of things you 'need' 🙄

So.. anyone else with a sliding shower door struggling to get into the actual shower yet?

Because it's it my first world problem.. and I can't suck in enough for the bump not to scrape 🫠🤦🏼‍♀️

@DesertSnow Maybe just ask family and friends if they have anything suitable for newborn stage like black and white board books etc? Save money and time hopefully if they can give you some things?

@Rowanandremy and @BCxx about the whole pumping thing, i get the feeling certain pumps work better with certain mothers but i don't know if that is true?

@sally16 our shower is quite wide otherwise its have the same problem 😆. But i am struggling to get in and out of the car driver seat. 🙃 .

I've been told that my iron level is a little low and given iron tablets to take after my last midwife appointment. Been told this could be why I'm feeling a bit run down....or it could just be the usually pregnancy tiredness.

Really feeling the tiredness kicking in now so I'm limited to taking little one out to once a day. I think i need to start having naps with him again just to get me through it all.

How is everyone else doing with their energy levels?
Has anyone else gone to get the Bounty mother to be freebie bag from tescos yet?

@Rowanandremy I think for me I woke up on day 3 and it had definitely came in but I had kind of decided I wasn’t going to try pumping at that point after getting nowhere with the colostrum syringes. Then two days after keeping my bra on 24/7 it leaked down my pyjamas when he cried one night so I then thought it wasn’t too late and I’d buy a pump. A tiny drop came out though and I tried another few times then threw the towel in. I just want to be more prepared this time and know what I’m doing a bit more. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it to anyone in real life and if anyone asks il probably just say bottle feeding to save any opinions

@Paintandpots i got the bounty and Emma’s diary freebies last time and the one that comes with the pampers nappies was the best one but I haven’t even tried asking if they have any this time yet. I think it’s probably nice weather/dehydration too causing the problem but I’ve been completely wiped out for about the last week

@sally16 haha not yet but I do love a sit down shower that goes on for ages and I think my days of them are over now, I’ve really struggled to get back up the last few times with nothing to hold onto 🙈

@DesertSnow good luck for today, hopefully all good news 🤞🏻

This is very true about the newborn lists 😂 I did find last time people bought us sooo many little rattles or comforters and he just wasn’t interested in the slightest. When he was a few months old he liked a rattle a bit more but it was more when he got to the stage of being able to shake little bells etc. Maybe some babies like all that stuff but this time I haven’t bought anything like that, they really don’t need it at the start. We ended up with a house full of big soft toys too, which you really can’t do much with other than put them on a shelf. Now he’s a toddler he likes them but I literally still have boxes rammed full of them 🙈

Luckily we have accumulated a lot of books. I’ve seen people who have baby showers (I know not many on here are a huge fan) and just ask everyone to bring a book instead of a big present which is quite nice. Lots of ours came from the charity shop a while ago and quite a few of his favourites have ended up getting pages ripped out so I’m glad I didn’t spend loads on some of them. The ‘That’s not my’ board books were his favourite when he was under a year, I got a lot of them in aldi (and a dream to read before bed because they’re over quickly) 😂

@DesertSnow I hope you get some answers today and are able to get some sleep afterwards.

Anyone else having a ridiculous problem keeping their t-shirt clean? I've never had a gut before and it seems to catch everything, even just washing my hands I get it covered in splashes of water!

@DesertSnow thinking of you today, I hope you get some clarity.

On the exercise front I am still walking the dogs twice a day only for 2km a time and then a little 20 minute YouTube pregnancy workout. I gave up the running at about 25 weeks and even then it was definitely more of a run/walk event anyway 😂

My midwife gave me a mothers & others guide last week which is supposed to be about feeding but it only really covered BF and formula not much at all about pumping, which is strange as it seems fairly popular.

Also anybody else with pets noticed a change in their behaviour? I have three dogs and the one (he has always been like my shadow in comparison to the other two anyway). Has become soooo clingy. If I am not in the room with him he is whining, even if my husband is with him. He is on me 24/7 and randomly started licking my belly a couple of nights ago.

@DesertSnow Thinking of you today and hoping that everything goes well and you get all the answers you need.

@Paintandpots from what my sister has said (the one who gave me all her pumping things) that’s right about some being better for some mothers, I guess it’s quite difficult to have universal equipment for everyone when bodies are different sizes/shapes and my sister did say that some of the suction strength is different. To me it kind of seems like a minefield!

@BCxx I honestly have no idea when to expect the milk coming in, it seems to be different for everyone and I completely get what you mean about being prepared. That sounds like such a frustrating situation for you, I hope it works out how you want this time around. I was quite lucky last time, emotionally and mentally in that I was adamant I didn’t want to breastfeed and I hadn’t actually thought of pumping - I was super anxious at the thought of breast milk leakages and in the end I was so worried about something that didn’t end up happening at all. This time around I feel like I’m more open about it all and far, far more relaxed 😂

@MinnieFirstTimeMum we've got a cat who started demanding a fuss being made over her the second I woke up, then she eased off that and now she wakes me up every single morning between 2.30/4.30 by jumping on my head and demanding attention. She’s also randomly licked my belly and wants to lay either on it (not happening) or pressed right against it. It’s kind of sweet but I could do without the disrupted sleep!

@Rowanandremy yeah that was what put me off last time and after the section I was just so focused on hobbling about, keeping the baby alive and was constantly so worried if anyone came round that I was bleeding so much I was going to leak right through my clothes so the thought of also leaking milk was just a no go 😂 Planning to take it easier on the visitors this time and stay in my pyjamas/bed more to recover

@MinnieFirstTimeMum my older lab is obsessed with me right now! Sits and barks at me until I let him come cuddle into the bump to feel kicks with his head 😂 he was the same with last pregnancy too!

@DesertSnow good luck today! Hopefully you get some good news ❤️

@Rowanandremy @sally16 animals are so funny aren't they. Amazing how they can pick up on things x

@Rowanandremy that's nice your cat is being loving! Mines started to attack me when I was pregnant was DS 🤣 would hide on top of doors to jump on me! Was a vicious little creature by the time I had DS!
He thankfully never took a dislike to DS but wouldn't always go out for a wander if he started crying 😅

@MinnieFirstTimeMum it's cute until it's been 30 mins and your trying to push a fat lab off 😂
We lost our 15 yo lab when DS was 9 months and he used to sleep outside his bedroom and always close by 🥺 I think 12 yo lab has decided he is taking over this time! Pup lab doesn't care! He just wants DS to wrestle 🤣

@BCxx oh i am not looking forward to the bleeding! I bled for 10 weeks and it was quite heavy so I was constantly worried about leaking. I feel like there was so much anxiety with dd and that time, add in people and it was a lot. We were only saying a few days ago that we want to take it easier this time too, I think that’s the benefit of having had one before is that not only do we know what to expect (mostly!) but that it’s ok to prioritise ourselves, bond as a family and heal up a bit before anything else.

@MinnieFirstTimeMum definitely! It was quite funny how clingy our cat became because generally she’s pretty chilled and never really followed me around and the morning fuss she wanted was not like her at all.

@sally16 oh no! That sounds so upsetting, I’m not sure what I’d have done if our cat was like that. I was kind of prepared for her being stand offish so it was a pleasant surprise that she was loving and clingy. I’m not sure what she will be like when baby is born, she’s been around two other babies and has been good but it wasn’t long visits so who knows how she’ll cope living with a baby 24/7 😂

@sally16 we have a lab too and he is becoming very cuddly. Not sure if he knows! He was also very protective when my husband went a way for a week. Kept barking and tried to be the dominant one over me and he is never like that!! Funny he must sense the hormones.

My lab has never been very cuddly and unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be changing but he is very clingy in so far as whining if I am not around and being extra barky when the doorbell goes and it’s just me at home.

@overwork defo with you with the dirty tshirts. I've found myself dropping food too, no idea bring pregnant increased your chances of being clumsy!!!

The discussion on colostrum harvesting and breastfeeding has been so interesting! Thank you all, it's so appreciated reading what others experiences have been. This is my first so I would like to try colostrum harvesting and breastfeeding.

@Rowanandremy totally and I think the first time you don’t know how life is going to change and if these visitors are going to become regulars but after 2 years it’s clear even some of the close family ones hardly visit my son so I’m not putting myself through hell to let them all pass my baby round like a bag of potatoes all afternoon this time 🙈 the bleeding lasted a while for me too, it tailed off after 2 weeks and I thought result! 🎉 then it came back and felt like it lasted forever then by the time that stopped I got my first period again 😂 the joys!

@P1pk I have also really appreciated the discussion on colostrum harvesting and breastfeeding/pumping. I really wish I’d joined here when we had dd as there was so much I was uncertain and anxious about.

@BCxx Oh absolutely! The first wave of visitors can be so lovely but overwhelming and then it’s like they all disappear again. We have definitely chosen to limit how much we are willing to give in those first few weeks. I needed stitches with dd and was very uncomfortable for a long time afterwards and I don’t think I allowed myself the time to really heal up, I was constantly wanting to be back up on my feet and doing things - this time I know better 😂 oh god I’d forgotten but i had that with the bleeding too, I bled for 10 weeks and it finally stopped… for a week and then I had a period, I was honestly so done 😂