August Due Date Crew (Thread 9)

[DesertSnow]

Thread 9! I wonder if this will be the one most babies are born in - can't wait to hear all the happy announcements 😁

I'm really sorry if I've missed anyone, I've done my best. Do give me a shout if I've missed you or have your info wrong (apologies if so!), and I'll make a note.

Delivered! 👶

June 20th - @Miraclesdohappen88 💙

Due Dates 💥

July

26th - @MidnightSunshine12 💛
27th - @Spiralout 💙
29th - @DesertSnow 💖, @Mulner88 💖, @Porcupette 💛, @Loudmouth1 💛, @overwork 💛
31st - @BusyBushBaby 💖, @jjeanii 💖

August

1st - @CityKity 💛, @SnowL2021 💛
2nd - @sprollie11 💛, @ChloeN 💛
3rd - @PumpkinEverything 💙, @Chl0o 💙, @LS88 💛
4th - @BMK 💖, @Alpacabag22 💖, @Amme18 💛, @DomesticElf 💙
5th - @LBF2020 💛, @Desperatelyboredhousewife 💛, @BoodifulGoose 💖
6th - @buttercupbee 💛, @somuchtolearnabout 💛, @Rowanandremy 💙, @TattyTil 💛
7th - @marleyandme 💛
8th - @RGxo13 💙, @JT2021 💙, @Wineismybestfriend 💛
10th - @VickiGo 💙, @Sjw30 💛, @AlexM7 💛
11th - @tax19 💛, @nadsc 💛, @Rose05 💛, @sally16 💙
13th - @newmummie 💙, @Fizzmatizz 💛
14th - @Babykingincoming 💛
15th - @Gizzyanne 💛
16th - @Recoba 💛
17th - @Narwhal88 💖, @jollydollyirl 💛, @cococat88 💛
18th - @sommeliermama 💖, @EsmeSusanOgg 💛
19th - @Firsttimemomma1 💛, @P1pk 💛, @Marmaladebear 💖, @Stuwe 💛, @MartaEly 💛
20th - @BB1993 💖
21st - @BCxx 💖, @Justdancinginthedark 💛, @honeymirabella 💖, @allgoodthings84 💖
23rd - @MinnieFirstTimeMum 💙, @Owlgirl14 💖
24th - @Daisy155 💛
25th - @unluckyinlife 💛
26th - @MummaYoung2023 💛, @Wife2b 💛, @HRSC 💖
27th - @ropo34 💛
28th - @Shinea 💛
31st - @chickpea1982 💖

September

1st - @froglou 💛

Has anyone started getting the random ‘how are you feeling?’ texts from people you haven’t heard from in months? This was one of the most annoying things for me last time! Especially as I was having a section and they always wanted to ask my due date again and it just felt like they were trying to work out the exact day. My husband got one from his uncle earlier asking the due date and I told him to just be vague in his reply and not say!

I try so hard to stay in touch with pregnant friends but avoid sending them anything like that towards the end that just looks like you’re trying to find out if they’re in labour yet or if there’s any info you can get before anyone else 🙈

What does everyone think of the badger notes app?
Last time i had the maternity notes book with my information in it but this time badger notes...i don't know if i like it to be honest. It has been handy for appointments but is not that easy to see test result info I've found.

@RGxo13 thanks for the luck! After all the nerves yesterday, today I’ve felt totally normal, no period like cramps or anything, so I still think it might be a while yet. I’m glad you’re feeling better about your growth scan. I also definitely agree with @DesertSnow that it’s a really good thing that they are often overly cautious as sometimes these growth scans do pick up issues that need follow up. As you can see for a lot of us it’s just been a routine check up.

@BCxx yes! People are definitely coming out of the woodwork all of a sudden. I’m anxious enough as it is without having to update people that there is no news yet. I’m a really private person so honestly if I had it my way we would be in a lockdown bubble just me, DH and baby for at least a month before having any visitors, but both my mum and MIL are chomping at the bit to come over.

@Paintandpots I don’t have any other experience but I find it almost totally useless. I once had a different midwife and noticed that my blood test results / blood pressure were uploaded to the app, whereas my usual midwife doesn’t seem to upload anything. I love my usual midwife so I’m not too fussed, and to be fair the fundal height chart is always up to date, but it would be useful to have a record of things like my blood pressure, babies heart rate, babies position etc. Even better if they could upload the measurements taking during the ultrasounds so that everything could be in one place.

Hi all just back with baby girl today and will catch up when I can, had a great c section and home after one night so grateful and happy to be home with my family, hope you all are doing well and get all you want from your births it really is mind blowing I'm still taking everything all in xx

@CityKity I hate it 🙈 between that and I’ve got family wanting to come over and just wanting to comment on me, the bump, whether I’m high or low etc 🤦🏻‍♀️ It feels like such a personal thing but you become this walking talking point in the last month it seems!

@airmaxJ so glad it all sounds so positive 🎉 enjoy the newborn baby cuddles

@Paintandpots I don't find it very useful as they don't upload any blood test results to it and other things are uploaded a bit sporadically!

@airmaxJ congratulations! Hope you are both doing well and great to be home already!

@DesertSnow so the strep b test came back positive which is not ideal as I’ll have to have antibiotics during labour now. I guess my OB will tell me more when I see her in a couple of weeks. Just hope that nothing can pass to the baby in the meantime!!

What are badger notes?? 🦡 !

@Paintandpots I have badger notes for the first time this time and I’m not loving it. Obviously their short staffed etc permanently and it’s not their fault but I feel like it’s become just an easy excuse to say ‘look on badger notes’ for any query you have. There’s about 100 leaflets on it but when you ask a question you just want an actual person to help, not to have to go looking it up on an app. I feel like I could do that on Google! Compared to years ago I think we must get way less appointments and now this app is another easy route out of some more things that you need an actual person to do 🙄

They’re *

@HRSC I also tested positive for strep b a few weeks ago. I think as long as you go to hospital as soon as your waters go they will put you in antibiotics which should be at least 4 hours before delivery and that will have time to pass to baby too. If it’s not 4 hours then you may need some additional monitoring once baby is here. Should still be able to have water birth if you want them (it will just be a cannula in your hand which you need to keep out of water). My hospital didn’t even ring me with the results so I didn’t know that I had it, assumed everything was ok as they hadn’t rang. Then my midwife told me a few weeks later 🙄

@Paintandpots I also have the badger notes app and feel like there is a lot of copying and pasting. Same thing pretty much written at every appointment since week 28ish. Sometimes takes a few weeks for them to update with results etc. the growth chart is always up to date though. I have no experience of paper notes though.

Has anyone bought any of the snacks/products that are supposed to help with your milk production? I keep seeing them mentioned but it’s mainly on American people’s YouTube channels, is it more of an American thing? Are there any good things to take?

@Amme18 exactly! It’s a minefield of emotions, I think on one hand it’s easier at this age because they are able to understand better but then on the other hand they remember a time before the baby arrived and that can be hard. Dd is so far doing well being a big sister, little hiccups and she’s needing to be told that we love her a lot more (we have always said it to her frequently throughout the day) but I think that’s normal. She’s very gentle with him and talks to him when he’s grizzly.

@DesertSnow he’s doing well, had a bath and his hair is all fluffy 🥰he’s charmed everyone he’s met so far and we have some more willing victims coming later after the football 😂 Personally I think when you get to 36/37 weeks pregnant you’re entitled to being moody 😂 but it was definitely a sign for me this time that I was imminent. That and I got really bad back pain.

@airmaxJ congratulations on your baby girl! So glad it all went well and that you are home 😁

I’ve come to the realisation that pumping isn’t for me, I’m glad I’ve tried it because I always would have wondered but its not something that I can carry on with. I’m ok with it, I thought I’d be upset because I’d sort of built it up to be something I really wanted to do but I just feel relieved? If that’s the right word for it.

@airmaxJ congratulations! Great to hear that everything went well and you have your baby girl home so quickly 💗

@BCxx my mum just said to eat sufficent healthy food, fruit and veg, whole grain food and also said to drink bit more milk as well after pregnanacy and to help with breast feeding production.
I did ask a midwife or two and they said the stuff they sell online to help with milk production like lactation cookies is just an advertising gimick. Their just snacks really and have not been proven to improve milk production in any medical studies I was told.

I would say drink lots of water (milk too as it seemed to give me more energy and calories when i was nursing toddler as a baby).

@Rowanandremy are you going to bfeed any? Only because (unfortunately)our milk is SO important for the baby - it lines their gut which is the foundation of their immune system for their health for their entire life. I see the difference between my older boy that I bf for 4-5 months versus the younger one who couldn't feed well and I gave up. I still feel bad about it as the younger one catches things the older one doesn't and when they both get sth the older one breezes through and the younger one doesn't etc. I don't like bf or expressing myself (*who ever does!??) but every day you do it is a huge plus for the baby. I actually really dislike both as-apaet from inconvenience-I really want to go back having wine and smoking and when bf it's not really possible to smoke or drink,except occasionally.. real pain to me. I just think when we did so much to make sure the babies are ok when within us,that we should continue when they are out as much as possible. But obviously that's my personal view; but not everyone knows about how important physically the colostrum and b milk are re immunity of the baby person!! I feel like I’m imposing however have to say it as I spent so so long looking into this twice previously and was stunned at how this was the case.

I doubt there's many mums that haven't looked into breastfeeding themselves, and and the best choice for any mum is theirs alone, based on their personal circumstances

@airmaxJ congratulations!! Hope all is well 🥰🥰♥️

@DesertSnow completely! I was ignored during my first birth so determined not to have the same treatment in the second but it's already happening 😭 there's evidence that women with brown skin get ignored and suffer more during labour... The stats on mortality are actually very bad. It didn't even occur to me that that could be a reason but then by coincidence the campaign account pregnantthenscrewed was writing about it earlier this week and the penny dropped - I get treated so differently by medical professionals compared to my friends. Going to try to be positive but it's hard when the first conversation about birth preferences the midwife tries to overrule me (on no medical grounds just on what she thinks I should want!)

@Rowanandremy omg completely understand, definitely do whatever works for you. There's so much pressure to do things a certain way but you know best about what will work best for you and your family! Agree with @overwork - we know our own specific circumstances and can make our own best informed choice.

@airmaxJ congratulations on your baby girl 💕

For those wanting to colostrum harvest and struggling still. I have found this this method so much more useful than the round massaging of the breast (the downward strokes).

I wasn't getting much of anything the other way, but I have since managed to fill a couple of syringes. Probably takes about 20-30 mins per syringe though.

@Rowanandremy completely understand the expressing issue.

I was thinking about it but to be honest I just think it is too much pressure and fed is best.

I have managed to harvest colostrum, but to be honest as soon as little one makes his arrival I won't be expressing or BF. It will be straight to formula.

However you are going to feed baby needs to be what works for you and your family.

My step son was never BF (he was lactose intolerant) and he is very rarely poorly, and when he is he gets over it so quickly (quicker than myself). So I am unsure how much fact there is in regards to the immunity argument of BF.

Had I not been leaking colostrum I probably wouldn't have done that either.

@BMK I completely understand and appreciate your perspective but I won’t be breastfeeding - that is something that I can’t do from a mental and emotional sense. I was a sickly child and I want the best for my children so I’ve harvested colostrum with both of them, with dd it was less success than I’d like but I did it and she got what I had. With ds I got more and he will have that starting tomorrow now his vomiting seems to be mostly over. I really tried with expressing, I did even though I found it to be incredibly painful both before, during and after and it also kickstarted my post natal contractions that had only just eased off - there is only so much I can cope with and that was a step too far for me. I’m ok with this decision where I thought I would beat myself up for it so it’s a relief for me really.

@Marmaladebear Thank you for the understanding, I was finding it a long and painful process where I was away from my family (more for my comfort) and it’s not fair to them when the results were negligible. I’m sure there was probably something else I could have done to make things easier or not painful but none of the ways I tried made a difference.

@MinnieFirstTimeMum congrats on the colostrum harvesting! That sounds like a really great amount to be getting 😀 I had a better time of it this time round as it was ‘keener’ but to be honest I’d have still done it even if I’d got the rather poor amount I got for dd - just because I felt strongly enough about it back then and I wanted to do the same for ds. Not that he’s been able to have it yet with his vomiting but hopefully tomorrow. I’m glad I tried expressing, once I’ve got something in my head I’m quite bullheaded about at least attempting it 😂 but I’m not going to beat myself up for it not working out as I’d have liked. I tried and it didn’t work and that’s ok, as you say fed is best and my son certainly isn’t starving himself now he can finish a bottle without sicking up.

@airmaxJ congratulations on your baby girl 💖

Does anyone know if your baby is measuring differently on an ultrasound is it accurate? my baby's due date is the 13th august, this is going by my last period & my 12 week scan, however from 20 weeks onwards baby always measured bigger. For example the last few scans baby's actual ultrasound age was the 7th august, then the 8th and then the 1st. My last scan he was measuring a full 13 days early. Does my due date change or does this mean nothing & that he's just measuring a little bigger? I should of asked the doctor!

@newmummie they won't change your due date again after your 12 week scan. For one thing, if they kept changing the dates, you / your doctors would never know if baby was measuring large or small.

@overwork that makes sense! thank you x

@Rowanandremy you will be glad you gave it a go 😊 and great that you managed to get some colostrum! I found the last time that I went round in circles beating myself up after totally failing at it then only actually felt fine about it once my milk had fully dried up. I think it must be something to do with the hormones. My little boy has been ill literally once per year which is way less than anyone I know’s kids so he must have got some immunity from somewhere 😅 Mentally I’m not up for directly breastfeeding either, it’s just not for me at all and I would very quickly get myself into all sorts of states over it. I don’t even think I could do it infront of my husband without feeling really uncomfortable, let alone visitors or out places! I take my hat off to everyone who can comfortably sit in public breastfeeding and no one even notices anyway but I just couldn’t. If expressing doesn’t work again I’ll go to formula and I’ve got some packed for the hospital in case the colostrum harvesting hasn’t gone to plan!