Due December 2023 Part 5

[Nclktnntt]

Starting Due December 2023 Part 5

@Undercoverunicorn Huge congratulations on your baby boy!
So glad to here you are all safe and well!

I hope you'll be out of hospital and relaxing at home in no time.

@Undercoverunicorn congratulations! I hope you both get to go home very soon. Amazing news xx

Those who are hoping to breastfeed: what have/are you purchasing for bottle feeding? And do you have any plans for when you might bottle feed? We’ve got some MAM bottles, some Tommy tippee ones and a Tommy tippee steriliser but have no clue why or what else we may need?

@smldnlove i feel the same and I’m finding feeding a bit overwhelming!

My ‘ideal world’ plan is to breastfeed, and in a few weeks look to express so DH can pick up some feeds. I’ve not bought an expensive pump or anything yet as I figured I can order that later.

I have bought:
nipple cream
nipple shields (my midwife said don’t rely on these but can be good if you’re really sore)
a breastfeeding cover thing that goes around your neck, a bit like an apron but the top
is structured so I can look down and see baby
Muslins
tommy tippee steriliser (just a £20 microwave one for now, may upgrade as and when we get more bottle reliant)
The mam anti colic bottles (Argos had a good deal on recently for a set)
A haakaa from Amazon which was cheap enough and had good reviews.
Some ready made formula for the hospital just in case
colostrum harvesting kit (not strictly needed but I have gestational diabetes so it’s recommended I try!)

I think that’s it? It’s loads having typed it out!!

Thanks everyone 😊 had my growth scan yesterday and everything looked okay 😊🤞 I'll add the measurements here as I think you may find them interesting. Baby already estimated at 6lbs and very long legs (definitely not from me)

Huge congratulations to you @Undercoverunicorn on the arrival of your little boy! Good to hear you're both doing okay and fingers crossed you're recovery will be quick and you'll be able to take your son home v.soon 🤗

Finally getting our car seat and travel bundle delivered today - it's going to feel very real when the parcel arrives! 32w + 5 days today for me, started to feel some cramp-like pains since getting up this morning but they're fairly high up in my ribs and around my back - at first I thought it might be gas pain but not so sure - anyone else experienced anything similar?

@smldnlove I breastfed my first, and plan to do the same again this time. I did have a pump and steriliser, some bottles and breast milk freezer bags. I didn't express on a regular basis as it was as time consuming as breastfeeding was and didn't free up any time for me, but we did try to introduce bottle feeding early enough (some friends babies would not take a bottle so they tried cup feeding). Having a frozen stash made it easier to go out without the wee one, including a night away for training.
Nipple cream was an absolute god send as mine cracked and were sore for the first few weeks, but got better over time. I didn't bother with a breastfeeding cover, and became very open about feeding in public.

Just back from my growth scan, baby is following a nice line staying around the 50th percentile. Estimated to be 5lbs 5oz at 34+6. induction at 40 weeks due to blood pressure but I’m hoping not to get that far🤞🏼

soooooo… I feel really sick and I’ve got diarrhea. Apparently this could be an early pregnancy symptom?? I’m 37 weeks on fruday but my first came 2.5 weejs early and I’ve been having lots of period type pains and cramps. Lots of thick discharge too. I know it’s a bit early but I’ve been feeling shit for 10 days with the period pains etc. I’d love to get this baby out sooner rather than later!

@Londonscallingme definitely could be a sign of things starting off! My friend had a baby over the weekend and had horrible D&V for 2/3 days before going into labour

@smldnlove My list is pretty much the same as Mushroo's. I plan on giving breastfeeding a go, but I'm not sure how I'll feel about it so I plan on bringing the readymade formula packs to hospital (the ones with the teats attached) just in case. Ideally I'd like to combi-feed with formula, so as soon as my milk comes in I want to start giving one bottle a day, probably last thing at night. I've spoken to others who have introduced a bottle early on and it worked better for them than people who wait the 6 weeks as recommended by the NHS. People have said last bottle at night is a good one as it gives you a bit of a headstart on your sleep if your OH does the feed!

@Mushroo @Thamantha @Charlielechat Thanks so much for your responses! Will get some nipple cream, breastfeeding freezer bags, a breastfeeding cover and the formula for the hospital. Does any one recommend any formula or what they got to take to the hospital with them?

@smldnlove My plan is similar to charlielechat - I plan just a bottle at night. I’m hoping it will help develop a good sleeping pattern and will also be good to have the baby used to breast and bottle. My son never had a bottle and I tried introducing it later but never worked.

I just have 2 MAM bottles and a microwave steriliser. I’ll get powdered milk later. I don’t think it matters the brand as there’re such tight regulations that they’re all pretty similar.
When I was in hospital last time I took the pre-made milk bottles you can buy. It’s more expensive but it’s easier if you need to use it.

@ThomasinaLivesHere Thank you! Is that something like this the pre made stuff?

https://www.boots.com/aptamil-1-first-milk-starter-pack-ready-to-feed-6x70ml-10175040

@smldnlove yes those are the exact ones we had. Some come with the bottle tops and some don’t so you have to watch out when buying in shops.

Those are the ones I'm going to buy too! They look handy!

We've got the kendamil ready made bottles as I liked the reviews of the formula. I didn't realise some might not come with teats attached/come completely in a ready made state so I need to check that. Can you use just teats from other plastic bottles or do you need to buy special ones, and if so I guess we'd need to sterilise them and bring them into hospital too? So complicated!

I'm also completely failing at colostrum harvesting so far. It's all going well!

Congratulations @Undercoverunicorn hope you and baby are doing well

Is anyone else really struggling with insomnia at the moment? I can't get a good nights sleep, just waking up constantly. Sometimes it's heart burn that hits me hard in the night, but that's not the reason every time.

If anyone has any good tips to combat it I would love to hear them! Last night I had a lavender bath before bed, ate the banana my midwife recommended, read my book, calming music - fell asleep straight away, wide awake again after an hour 😩

@stardust25609 might be worth checking with you midwife on that one as some (if not all trusts) say you need the ones with the teets, I don't know if the lids come seperat Ely I've not seen them. We brought a box yesterday with the teets.

Oh @Flowersandfloral I'm so sorry to hear your dealing with that, one of my clients had really bad insomnia in her 3rd trimester and she said it was horrible - I've no tips for you sadly and I hope someone can give you some because lack of sleep is the worst, esp when all they tell you do now is rest, Thankfully I've never had trouble sleeping and really hope it stays that way, I am not good on no sleep, my brain stops functioning completely! I do normally wake 4-6 times a night just now but it's to turn over or go to the toilet. I've had a couple nights where it's taken an hour to go back to sleep, and that's been bad enough for me! The main trick is to avoid your phone or put the light into night mode, blue light wakes your body up, I play killer sudoku on the times I struggle to go back to sleep because it send me to sleep having to use my brain to work things out 😂

Thankfully I most of the time I go back to sleep - my husband on the other hand doesn't, so if I wake him on a trip to the toilet at around the 4am mark, that's it, he's awake for the rest of the day 🙈

@Flowersandfloral
Insomnia is the worst. I’m not getting to sleep until about 2/3am. Finally get comfy and need the toilet. I’ve moved to another bedroom so I don’t keep my partner up and I can fidget. I’m just flooded with thoughts and feelings, so write lots of lists that I don’t have the energy to do the next day because I’m so bloody tired!

I’m hoping to breastfeed too for the first while atleast and then move into combi-feeding. The health visitor is coming out to me the first week of December to go over these things apparently so be interested to see what she says because I’ve found plenty of information on formula and breastfeeding but conflicting advice on combi feeding.

I’ve bought mam bottles, nuk bottles, microwave steriliser, nipple cream, breast pads and silver nipple shields. Friends recommended the Nuk but did warn in our area they’re less readily available and will have to be ordered online for next size/additional teeth etc whereas all the local chemists and big supermarkets do mam so I’d be never be stuck if I needed an additional part. I’ve also bought a few of the ready made Aptamil bottles for my hospital bag, pretty sure as @ThomasinaLivesHere said they’re all very similar ingredient wise as the regulations are so strict but I seen Aptamil on offer so thought I’d give it a go. The thing I’m conscious of is are we expected to take bottles into the hospital with us? Because sterilised bottles only last 48 hours (so my instructions tells me) and I don’t know when I’ll be going into labour lol am I expecting to resterilise every few days? It’s all these questions that make me feel like I haven’t a clue sometimes!

@GingerJanee if you’ve got the ready made aptamil that come with the teats in the box too you can just feed straight from the bottle that it comes in. The teats are individually packaged and sterile, you just have to throw the bottle away after 2 hours

if not, I know my hospital has a steriliser on the post natal ward that everyone can use so it might be worth checking with your midwife when you next see them!

Is anyone using Aptamil? If so, are you taking the formula and making bottles or premade ready to drink?

@GlitterDragon @Nclktnntt thanks both!

Sorry to hear you're suffering as well @GlitterDragon, it's so miserable isn't it. I'm still working until next Friday but I'm now so stupid and not with it that it really upsets me. I'm usually so on top of everything!

Felt a bit more off than normal this morning and took my BP and it's wayyy high, so got to go see midwife again this afternoon. Trying hard to relax but it's not easy!