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1002 replies

Takenoprisoners · 23/04/2008 16:48

Following Ms Dynamo's wonderful news of her pregnancy and all the rest of us who are coming out of the woodwork ...a new, morale-boosting thread for those of us in our 40s currently going through pregnancy.

Come on, sign up: we are 40+ and FABULOUSLY PREGNANT!!!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
hedgepig · 06/06/2008 09:25

tillergirl what's a maternal serum test?

Jeanjeannie
don't worry about you boobs I was a 36J before I got pregnant - Jordan eat your heart out! so heavens only knows what I will be when I start BFing. I know what you mean about younger people who actually look older, genrally they are in the local paper being sent down for some deadful crime!

TummyTrouble · 06/06/2008 09:40

Hi lovely ladies, I have just found this thread and you all sound fantastic and I'd love to join your happy band!

I'm a tiny bit pg. I had a D and C on the 29/02/2008 after my baby girl died at 16 weeks gestation. She had Edwards Syndrome. After two periods, I appear to have a +ive HPT - so we'll see.

Just out of interest, for those TTC, I tried for 6 years with my last pg and what appeared to clinch it for me was a visit to a fertility specialist. This also happened with my ds 8 years ago. When you give up and ask the experts, the pressure seems to go and ... how's your father!

mrsboogie · 06/06/2008 11:02

congrats and welcome tummytrouble

xx

Kaz1967 · 06/06/2008 13:50

johnworf milk supply dropping at this stage is fairly normal, you are stressed and do not have the stimulation of your baby actually sucking. But take heart even if you are just producing a dribble until she is able to get onto the breast it can be increased.

Some Mums find it very easy to eat and drink well with a baby in NICU. Your mind is so focused on them you forget yourself. Make sure you are eating 3 meals a day PLUS some healthy and non healthy snacks in-between. Also make sure you are drinking NICU's are hot places take a bottle of water in with you with a sport type cap and sip throughout the day, refill it as needed. When you have a meal have a drink, have a drink when you express and have drinks in-between when you have a snack too aim to be drinking about 3 litres a day. If you do not put food and water in at a time when your body is under stress it will not have the ingredients to make milk.

Have you your own pump or is it one rented from the hospital or NCT? the ones rented or borrowed are a lot more effective than any you can buy for this sort of long term expressing. If you have not been offered one of their pumps or given numbers for the NCT ones please ask this alone may help.

The other thing your breasts need is stimulation. Are you still expressing 8 times a day? If so fantastic if not try and increase back up to that. There is another very sad fact which proves god was a bloke one of the best times to express is between midnight and 2am it is when your hormones are at their highest and it is often a really important time to kick start your body into producing more. It is a balance though between doing that and getting over tired if you find you are getting too tired then have a night or 2 off a week just to replenish yourself. You will not get any more milk at that specific time bit in the morning and through the day you will gradually increase things. It is also a great time to ring up and ask how Katherine is because it is relatively quiet and you will not have to wait long. Have you been shown how to double pump? If not ask the hospital it can be really helpful both in saving time and increasing milk supply.

Do you express milk looking at a picture of Katherine? I know many Mums who found this helpful anther trick can be borrowing a sheet that has been over her and sniffing it, your sense of smell will be incredibly acute at this time and it will smell of her and this can often trigger the hormonal response for your milk production and let down reflex. Other things that can help are Milk Ejection Stimulation.

Keep asking when she will be strong enough for Kangaroo care (skin to skin) that will help your milk supply, at about 32 weeks she will be ready for a lick at the breast too which again will help

There are also some natural supplements you can take to try to help increase it Fenugreek, blessed thistle, and alfalfa are the ones I know talk to the staff at the hospital or your Midwife about their benifits.

Have you stopped bleeding of is your discharge still as heavy if it is still heavy see your midwife asap very very occasionally a small piece of placenta is left inside this can mean your uterus does not contract properly so you continue to bleed it also effects you milk production.

If none of that works there are also 2 drugs your GP can prescribe metoclopramide or domperidone if he is funny about it because it means prescribing off licence and for their side effects then talk to the staff in the hospital they should be able to provide leaflets which you can give to your GP to explain why.

www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/21295_6091.asp
www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/maintainsupply-pump.html
You can down load this PDF it has some good tips www.milkmemos.com/pdfs/Supply_Tips.pdf
Fenugreek0
Fenugreek1

Going to replete my self but as long as you are producing a dribble of milk when Katherine comes to suckle your milk supply WILL increase.

Kaz1967 · 06/06/2008 14:04

babycakes I am thinking of you all xx

tummytrouble congratulations and welcome

hedgepig · 06/06/2008 18:33

Kaz1967 that is a fantastic post on milk supply. How is your move coming along?

jeanjeannie · 06/06/2008 20:15

WOW...kaz1967 that was a fab cut-out-and-keep guide to milk supply!!!!Where were you 18 mnths ago when I was in SCBU with dd1...

hedgepig 36J BEFORE pregnancy... That's a porn'tastic' size....and more to come!! PMSL at old- looking, dodgy women being 'sent down'....hahaha sounds like an area near me!.... all very jeremy Kyle!

Welcome to our happy, bouncy little thread tummytrouble...and well done on being a little bit pregnant

tillergirl good luck for june 17...scans and tests are all sooooo stressfull aren't they?!

Johnworf hope today was a good day..hugs over to Manchester

Registered DD2 today - one week after her arrival. Decided on a middle name - so she's Verity May. I told my Mum - as it's her middle name...and it's run in our family for literally generations....she was all over-come. Bless them - my folks are in in their late 70s & 80s and are seeing grand-daughter for the first time this weekend. Have to say - that's the only time I wish i were a little younger..so that they could've had grandchildren a bit earlier. Never mind....better late than never

It's the weekend tomorrow....hurray!! x

FloriaTosca · 06/06/2008 22:25

babycakes ((((hugs)))) Thinking of you today...I hope it was beautiful.

johnworf Thinking of you too...love the blog...and hope all is continuing well especially for Katherine but also your relationship with your dh, your mood and your milk supply.

babycakes26 · 07/06/2008 12:57

Hey thanks everyone for your lovely messages and thoughts - it means so much to us. Yesterday went as well as can be expected - the sun was shining and the crematorium we used is a very peaceful place out in beautiful countryside - it was all rather lovely and so emotional. A few close friends and family joined us - everyone brought a big bright sunflower for Zac which was lovely. We both felt drained by the end of the day but much more at peace if that makes sense? Thinking happy thoughts of Zac today...

Keeping up with the blog Johnworf you are doing so well and baby Katherine is lucky to have you as her mummmy

Congrats tummytrouble what lovely news - you will love this thread everyone is so fabulous!

JeanJeanie hope you are feeling OK and little Verity is continuing to bloom.

MsDynamo How you doing honey? If you fancy an offline chat let me know - here for you.

Hedgepig Big hugs over to you - hope bump is growing and not causing you too much trouble!

Kaz1967 and Floriatosca hope you are both feeling well - big hugs back to you too x

Anyway off out for lunch with my wonderful DH then a bit of retail therapy at the garden centre!!! Good news of the day - I weighed myself today and I have lost a stone!!! All my pre-pregnancy clothes now a little loose - Despite all the upset I have been gorging myself on my fave Ben & Jerry's - how does that happen??????

Bye for now xx

hotmama · 07/06/2008 13:27

Been lurking but I am now officially pregnant!

I am 41 and have 2 dd's (aged 3 & 2) I had a CVS on Thursday (at my request - had them with my dd's as well) all O.K and as I am now 12 weeks - I am officially pregnant!

I'll now read your posts to catch up etc.

Hope all is well and looking forward to "getting to now you"

(Long story why I can't do emoticons)

hotmama · 07/06/2008 13:29

Know you even!

mrsboogie · 07/06/2008 13:33

welcome and congrats hotmama - its great to get past the 12 week mark - you can breathe a little bit easier and you haven't yet got to the stage of fretting over whether or not the LO is moving about enough!

mrsboogie · 07/06/2008 13:51

advice request:

Dear all - so far this pg I have been studiously avoiding even thinking about purchasing anything baby related for fear of tempting fate. I have not bought one single thing nor even looked at a buggy. At 25 weeks I think I can bring myself to start looking (if not purchasing just yet). This is where you guys come in - it is 20 yrs since I wheeled a buggy - I don't even know where to begin but as a committed internet shopper I will soon catch up if someone is kind enough to point me in the right direction.

Anyone care to enlighten me as to what are the best buys?

Kaz1967 · 07/06/2008 16:38

hedgepig Move is going slowly nasty feeling this little one will arrive before I move

babycakes26 the sunflower sounds beautiful, it was that long ago I lost my little on I did not get a funeral but recently I found her name in the memorial book at the hospital it was funny even after 14 years it was so helpful to see the name meant she was not a figment of my imagination and was real. Make sure you keep all those little mementos safe I lost my photo when my handbag was stolen and miss seeing her even now.

hotmama congratulations and welcome

mrsboogie I have only started buying things in the last 4 weeks and I am 34 weeks

This I think is the buggy I am going for because of the reviews it has and the price possibly not the most stylish but for me money is tight and it is functional.

heron22 · 07/06/2008 17:51

CONGRATS Hotmama! it must be such a relief to have the CVS all done! for me, it will be another 5-6 weeks before i get it done.

Mrsboogie, enjoy shopping . i love shopping for baby!

FloriaTosca · 07/06/2008 23:27

MrsBoogie; We got the quinny zapp because it is small and light and the maxi cosi car seat fits on the frame, perfect for going round shops and short trips (and long haul travel..we took it to South Africa last month)...ds is 8 months now and we still haven't used it as a buggy, just as a car seat carrier ..we live in the country so have to drive quite a bit and the only thing we dont use it for is walking the dog, which is when we use a bebe confort adventure ( a 4X4 of a pram) that was given to us... or my hug a bub wrap sling...which I have to say has been the best buy ever as ds didnt like me out of sight and was ultra contented in it when tiny and we are still using it now.

Congratulations Hotmama. I hope you have a smooth and happy 28 weeks.

johnworf · 08/06/2008 00:01

Hi girls!

Just a quicky to update you all.

Katherine now weighs in at a fighting weight of 1lb 6oz. Went down to 600gms but now she's on mummies milk there's no stopping her

She's on 2.5ml of milk and hour but that's being increased by 0.5 mls each 12 hours and she had her first big shit today! all green and black (nothing to do with the chocolate company I don't think). Nurse saw to it - phew!

She's up and down on the ventilator until they manage to wean her down and onto the CPAP machine but no one seems worried about it. Her skin is now kerotinising so it's not all shrivelled and dry.

My milk is about 60mls per express so I'm taking fenugreek tablets and looking at her photo and sniffing her baby hat...sounds a bit pervy but actually my let down is coming along nicely and the freezer is busting with milk

I'll post some more pics soon on my profile. She's so lovely Eyes still fused but hopefully (I can see her rolling them when I tell her about my day) she will open them soon.

Each 'good' day is a boon to me...still stressed to the max but at least I know that St Mary's is doing a bloody splendid job

Speak soon lovelies...and hugs to your bumps

johnworf · 08/06/2008 00:08

kaz1967 my MW is amazed that my uterus is so tucked back into my pelvic bone it's almost back to normal. Prolly down to expressing.

I'm still losing a little blood but the loss is fine and she took my bloods (at my request) on friday for my FBC. After my blood loss of 3 pints I thought it prudent.

I've been a bad so and so for not setting my alarm for 3am for peak progesterone expressing. I do stay up until 1am to do the last express but I really do need that block of sleep until 6am....I'm shattered.

I ring each night before I go to sleep to make sure she is ok and now I'm on first name terms with the nurses assigned to her, I feel reassured. They all think she's a little belter - but hey! I'm biased.

I should really not take heart from this next sentence but in her room there is a 10lb baby who had it's cord wrapped around it's neck and inhaled it's meconium and is much more poorly than Katherine....as her nurse said, in this case, size really isn't the issue

Kaz1967 · 08/06/2008 11:46

johnworf
It is really normal for Mums who deliver as under 26-27 weeks to find there uterus shrinks down really quickly because it has not really been stretched.

A 1am expression should be enough to get that higher hormone level. Try doing 2 in the day a little closer together just so you get in 8 a day sleep IS as important if you are tired and a little anaemic then it is going to take your body some time to catch up. Are you still taking iron or a multi vit with iron in it? May be worth it just to give you a boost, make sure you are eating iron rich foods as well red meat and/or pulses as well as green leafy veg. If you are at the hospital for long periods (many many Mums are I know I would be if it was me) ask if there is somewhere you can have a nap for an hour, if you are at home have a nap there.

There is no way you will ever stop being stressed and jumping when ever the phone rings and you are at home, but you can make it a little easier on your self by cutting out things that are not absolutely needed. Do not try to kill yourself keeping up with house work either, do what you absolutely need to you honestly do not die of excess dust and not vacuming.

I used to work mainly nights and loved it when Mums rang I actually got quite paranoid when one set of parents did not stay late as they did with other people nor did they ring in the night and had to ask if I had done something wrong. Their answer was they totally trusted me knew if anything went on I would ring them and felt they could go home and switch off when I was looking after their girls

You are right about the difference in preterm babies even the extreem premmies like Katherine and the sick term babies. We all dreaded having sick termers in because they were usually far sicker than the premmies

johnworf · 08/06/2008 16:23

kaz1967 thanks once again for your great advice.

I'm taking Spa Tone (iron supplement) on the advice of my MW. Seems to be doing the trick but will wait and see what my FBC is doing on Tuesday.

Still knackered though!

Couple more pics on my profile from today of my tiny toes.

hedgepig · 08/06/2008 22:23

evening - although I expect you are all sensibly tucked up in bed by now. Except JohnW is waiting for the 1amexpress (((Big Hug))). JohnW what you need is a Wallace and Gromit type invention that latches onto you in the night and do the expressing for you so you can get a good night sleep.
I have had a lovely day today went to the park with my DS and a friend her DD and they had a good old splash in paddling pool and a climb on the climbing frames. The sun was shining it was so lovely.
babaycakes the sunflowers sound lovely I'm glad the day went as well as it could.
Mrs boogie - stuff to buy is so difficult. Last time I borrowed a mases basket (baby will only be in it about 6 weeks) bought my cot from a friend, the buggy is the hardest thing - you need to look at you life style. 3 wheelers are brill if you walk a lot and are better over rough ground but if you like shopping they are too big and get stuck in shops. If you have to use public transport you need something you can lift and fold with 1 hand cos the baby will be in the other! Does thst make sense.

hedgepig · 08/06/2008 22:25

I apologize for repeating lovely so much in the previous post must be the sun

johnworf · 09/06/2008 09:45

hehe@hedgepig. What a wonderful idea...a Heath Robinson breast feeding contraption! Just need to get DH into the shed now and invent something.

babycakes I thought of you on Friday afternoon and was wondering how you and your family were coping. I think you're one very brave lady You've obviously found your inner strength.

What a touching thought with the sunflower...I'm welling up just thinking about it

I'm sending you my biggest (((hugs)))

The pram shop rang me on Friday to ask about what frame I wanted for the pram I've ordered. Tbh I'd forgotten all about it - not that I'll be needing it for a very long time! Anyway, I've ordered the Silver Cross Sleepover Deluxe on the Classic chassis. I do a fair bit of walking (esp with dog) and my last pram was one of the silver cross coach built contraptions. Call me old fashioned...just call me old

pwcbird · 09/06/2008 09:56

morning ladies. There´s so much to read up on and I´m only skimming due to still being Costa-ing. One thing that comes through on this thread is that it´s so positive and everyone is just so darn fabulous. It really helps to read it

babycakes I missed knowing about the funeral so send you and DH lots of hugs.

johnworf I felt a touch guilty about saying your DH was a nincompooop last time - as jeanjeannie says they just go into their own space when they´re stressed and they compartmentalise and shut the emotional things off. It´s how they cope and it´s so hard for us as we need them to be the oak trees that shelter us from the storm just at the same time as they shut down. That´s why men get ulcers and all that. I send enormous hugs to Manchester and am thinking of you a lot.

Saying hello to all of you. Everything fine here - 15 weeks yesterday and tummy starting to feel bigger and harder and sometimes when I turn over at night I can feel it. Feeling tired though and just keeping positive that everything´s ok. I just want to stop worrying but can´t seem to, though I worried throughout DS´s pregnancy. Normal I suppose.

kisses to you all.

Oh and mrsboogie I got the M&P Pliko Pramette for DS 2 yrs ago and found it great. Started as a 'pramette' so facing you when newborn then you can change it to a pushchair for later. Umbrella fold and light to fit in a car but just about small enough that you can get on public transport and sturdy enough for walking about with.

mrsboogie · 09/06/2008 12:14

morning all

jw - those pics - oh my gosh, still so tiny but she looks so much more babylike already (if you know what I mean)Hope today is a good day for you all.

thanks all for the advice re buggies etc - hedgepig - thanks also. I hadn't really even thought about the lifestyle appropriate buggy. We cant drive to work so I imagine needing something that can take a lot of use but is small enough to go on public transport occasionally and into shops a lot.

I have just been for my second sugar in the wee test with my erratic mw. She said I am clear which is good but the thing is -I hadn't had time to eat since yesterday. I mentioned this and she looked puzzled and said it shouldn't make any difference. Does anyone know if this is true? Surely I would have had to have eaten for sugar to be present?

Mentioned again that the LO only moved after I ate all last week but that once or twice I could feel him moving all day. She simply repeated the same mantra about ringing the hospital if he didn't move ten times in one day. Not very helpful.

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