IVF pregnancies - Spring 2024 (thread 2)

[thislittlebird]

New thread! Do tag everyone I've missed, I'm off out to see the new Hunger Games so can add more later but need to dash! @CazzyM1983 @KG1244 @countrypunk @Misty84 @ASGIRC @TheBirdintheCave @Summerishere83

@TheBirdintheCave Wishing you well. I hope your labour starts soon as it’s what you want xx

Thanks @KG1244 @ASGIRC @PollywithaP @CollsR

@ASGIRC the worst bit so far is that she’s got a bit of jaundice and we have to feed every two hours through the night! Oh that and my sister trying to (badly) explain what jaundice is to me like I’ve lived in a cave for 40 years 🙄

I have to say, so far she’s a very chilled baby. Doesn’t freak out a lot, cries a bit because of constipation/wind but not a lot, she’s the baby I needed right now lol. She also loves the Love to Dream swaddle bags, she’s such an arms in the air/flailing around kinda gal.

Eliza is looking likely to be her name at the moment, hopefully we’ll chose before family descend next week.

@TheBirdintheCave I hope it all got going for you and baby has landed, that all sounds very frustrating

Still in labour 😂 Managed to get a decent night's sleep though so hopefully I'll have better luck with it all progressing today 🤷🏻‍♀️ Son was 36 hours start to finish but I think I'll top that with this one 🙄

@thislittlebird my little one was jaundiced too. I just had to feed, feed, feed. Levels peaked on day 4 (228) then came down a lot on day 5 (142). Then she started putting on weight, about 55g a day!
Are you breast feeding or formula or both? I think some formulas cause a lot of wind/constipation and you need to try a few before finding one that works for you. I’m glad she likes the swaddle bags, they saved my sanity and got me some sleep when my other DC was born!

@TheBirdintheCave hopefully you'll be under 36, fingers crossed!

@PollywithaP Currently only formula, we've fed her tons and now she's sat in the carry cot in the window getting some sun. She was 136 in hospital but I think it had gone up yesterday when they checked. They're coming again today to check her levels again, but I think she looks a bit better already to me.

We switched her formula yesterday at 7am and then the community midwife told us not to do that, which was annoying. Now we've switched back but she seems ok. I have no idea what's going on with my boobs tbh. The help has been lacking, I hand expressed some colostrum and syringe fed a little bit of it for a couple of days which I think might have helped her with the constipation, she seems better now and is pooing regularly. She wouldn't keep the nipple in her mouth in hospital, I am hoping to express but I don't know what my boobs should be like. They started leaking last night so I wore pads, but they also got very, very hard and lumpy. I have no idea if that's normal or a problem? I'm going to ask the midwife when she arrives.

The swaddle bags are so useful! I bought two second hand on vented, newborn and small size, she seems very content in them. She seems content generally too, I expect it'll change soon enough lol.

The ONS baby names list is out now for 2022, in case anyone is nosey/remains baby name-less!

@thislittlebird Already over now 😂 We're in hospital again now to see if the contractions have dilated me at all 🙏🏻🤞🏻

I saw the stats! Our names are still safely under 50 entries 💪🏻

What did you choose for your little one? :D

@TheBirdintheCave oh no, hang in there!

I remember you had a front runner name? Can’t remember what. Current favourite for us is probably Eliza, but haven’t made a decision yet. I wanted to see her before choosing and she definitely doesn’t look like some of the names in on the list.

@thislittlebird Marcella and Conrad are our names.

Hospital won't check to see how dilated I am. I don't know why as the lady in the bed next to me got a check and her contractions are every 20 minutes 😂 Also not allowed to request a c-section (as an alternative to induction next week) been told it's basically induction or nothing.

@TheBirdintheCave oh yeah I remember now, very nice choices.

Not allowed? Erm..that seems kinda ridiculous, on what basis are they saying that?

Marcella Jane Rose finally made her appearance at 7pm last night after 47 hours of labour. The midwife had been trying to convince us to leave as she didn't think I was that far along as I was totally fine in between contractions 🙄 We went for a short walk and boom transition began.

Basically a repeat of the situation with our son. Irregular far apart contractions which I cope with well then a very quick transition and (mercifully this time) a very quick birth!

Sucks to have been not believed a second time around despite us telling her exactly how things had happened with our son.

Still can't believe she wouldn't even examine me. She offered me another sweep but that was it.

@TheBirdintheCave Congratulations 👍

Congrats @TheBirdintheCave, lovely to hear you got the girl you’d been hoping for!

Lovely name too. I think we’re 99% settled on the name Eliza Primrose over here.

@TheBirdintheCave congrats!!!! Ugh so annoying when the people who are supposed to be helping you think they know better... It happens a lot, particularly with labour. As if there are no exceptions to the rules!
but Im glad shes arrives safely!!!

@thislittlebird How is your milk situation and your boobs? They do get hard, but thats not really a good thing, and can lead to mastitis. Basically, if they are hard, it means they are full. And need to be emptied. If they arent there can be complications.
Did your health visitor help you with that?

Switching formula isnt ideal. Also, it will fix absolutely nothing. Maggie has been constipated since she was about 5 days old. Formula fed. but in my due date group there are loads of breastfed babies that are constipated as well. And the formula fed ones are fine!

There isnt a miracle formula, nor a problem formula. And changing formulas is basically gonna cost you money, and might not have any results. Their constipation is the result of their immature digestive systems, not of what they eat!

I have not changed formulas, here, the only thing Ive done is give her some probiotics for the trapped wind, and now, on the verge of turning 2 months old, she has pooped, on her own, 5 times, in 5 days! Her digestive system is just starting to work better now.

@TheBirdintheCave Congratulation on the birth of your baby girl. Welcome to her xxxx

Terrible you weren’t believed. Lucky you now your own body and stayed close.

@ASGIRC yeah I started expressing a couple of days ago, but no support has been offered really. Other than a few mins in hospital

@thislittlebird with my last DC I was determined to breastfeed but as we were in lockdown I had absolutely no support. I found this website https://kellymom.com/ which helped me so much.
Is there a local breastfeeding support group you could attend? In my area we have ‘family hubs’ where they have parenting classes, the midwives and health visitors, playgroups, social workers etc all in one place. They also do breastfeeding support too which is all free. I am in Berkshire so maybe there is something similar in your area? It’s difficult to get right without practical help, and it’s a shame you aren’t getting any 😕

@TheBirdintheCave congratulations on the birth of your baby girl ❤️ hope you’re both doing well.

Im still finding the change in routine and lack of sleep very difficult. I don’t want to wish the days away but I need longer stretches of sleep!

@PollywithaP thanks, I’ll check it out. I’ve expressed a bit but the pump I’ve got isn’t great and it’s upsetting how little help is offered vs how often they bang on about breastfeeding the baby.

@KG1244 i know you mentioned he was crying at the start, was that a phase? I can handle the lack of routine but do worry about what happens when dh goes back to work.

After saying that @PollywithaP i managed to get her to do it with a nipple shield this morning which was nice. I’m so annoyed by my experience with the midwives and hospital in general tbh. I’d planned for months to use shields because of my skin issues, and every time I said I’d brought them in hospital they dismissed me and said we don’t use those etc. Fast forward a few days and the first time she’s successfully breastfed was with the shields. Honestly I did not have a good time in there and I’m still processing all the shit they said/did.

@thislittlebird I ended up not breastfeeding for more than 2 days, but I always knew it was gonna be with shields.
I took them to the hospital. Fortunately, the nurses there were all for the shields, and when mine wasnt working well, they gave me one of theirs, which was a different brand and Maggie liked more.
And they never said to not use it, just showed me better ways to use them.

However, after 2 days of not having any colostrum, I gave up, as it was not working out, and I was not about to put myself through an ordeal in order to breastfeed.

@thislittlebird Eliza is such a pretty name :)

I tried so hard to breastfeed this time round but I just can't cope with the pain. I've no idea how anyone does it without screaming 🤷🏻‍♀️ Irritatingly my milk is about to come in I think so, once again, I'm left feeling like garbage because I can't feed my baby the way I want 😭

@TheBirdintheCave thanks, we think it suits her!

Yeah it is painful, I don’t believe these people who say it should be entirely without pain. I think the nipple shields have helped us but worried they give her gas. I feel your pain though, I’ve been in bits tonight over it, I really hate how bad the milk coming in makes you feel about this stuff.

@ASGIRC did they give you any reason not to use shields? I’ve been using MAM ones. All I got told was “we don’t use those” and completely steamrolled over every time I tried to explain why. They have worked well for us, but tonight she was gassy and I was worried it was all the fussing during the shield use that did it, taking it off and on and off and on again etc. I managed to hand express some colostrum in hospital, and then at home, not easy tbh but we got a little bit out before it changed.

@thislittlebird they never told me not to use them. In fact they were all for using them, as my nipples are small, and the shield helped my baby latch better.

As for the gas, that's not it.
Babies have gas because they exist. Im my due date group we have hassy babies that are breastfed, formula fed, with shields and without.

And if the shields work better for you, in terms of the pain, just continue using them.

@TheBirdintheCave is the pain with shields or without? Have you tried shields? They're not a miracle, but they did help me reduce the pain, before I have up.
That and nipple cream with lanolin.

@ASGIRC they sound better than my midwives who were dismissive af even when I tried to explain why.

I've been expressing a fair bit the past few days. Bought a wearable Pippeta breast pump which is much better than the Tommee Tippee crap one someone gave to me. The Pippeta hurts much less and is getting a fair bit out, we're mix feeding for now.

I would second giving the shields a go if you haven't @TheBirdintheCave, it might make it a tad less painful at least. I get annoyed every time a midwife says it shouldn't be painful because it really isn't pain free.

So far, the most annoying bit of having the baby is people trying to stay with us and us having to say no, and also people dumping their old crap from the loft on us (clothes, toys). It's getting tiresome.