Hello ladies!!

Gosh, where do I start? LOL. I guess I will give you guys my birth story! I'll try and keep it short and sweet

Last Monday, February 6th I woke up with mild cramps and what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. (Beth, like you I was getting them a lot so I thought nothing of them). I got up and walked about to try and shake them off. That didn't work so I ran a warm bath and soaked in it for 20 mins. That usually does the trick but that didn't work either.....as I'm laying in the tub it finally dawned on me - I could actually be in early labor!

We called my Dr. who told me to come into her office so she could check me out. I was 'ow'ing' and grimacing a lot in the car on the way there so my poor husband was worried and trying to stay calm for the both of us LOL

We get to the Doctor's office and my cervix is closed, but my blood pressure is high (what a shocker LOL). So she tells me to get to the hospital, she wants to deliver that day. At that point, both hubby and I gulped in unison as it dawned on us that we were going to meet our daughter that day! (The hospital also confirmed I was in early labor - lots of frequent contractions but mild ones)

Long story short, Gabby was delivered at 5:17pm weighing 6lbs 3oz and 18.5 inches long. I'll never forget hearing her cry for the first time, my heart stopped

I had believed the C Section procedure would be a breeze and the recovery would be brutal, but for me the opposite was true. I actually had a panic attack on the operating table. I felt claustrophobic and the feeling of paralysis as the spinal took hold was a feeling I absolutely hated. I kept my eyes clamped shut the entire time which was not how I had envisioned the birth of my daughter going down.

My husband was trying to soothe me but I told him I needed quiet and to try and block it out. Then my Dr told us that there was a problem with the fibroids - they were in the way and my Dr. couldn't sew me up. She had no option but to remove them (which made me very happy!) So she removed two baseball sized fibroids - one on the right and another on the left. Hubby saw them sitting in a jar and said they were huge. So glad those are out.

Anyway, my scar is healing nicely and I have been mostly taking midol - the pain isn't bad at all. Healing has been pretty good for me.

Breastfeeding initially started out well, but it's been challenging as of late. Either Gabby can't latch on right or I don't produce enough. So I have been supplementing with formula and pumping more than breast feeding. Her pediatrician tells me to free feed her on demand. It is hard to tell how much she takes in when she is on the boob. But when she's on the bottle, she eats between 1oz and 2oz each feeding. Is that ok ladies? She is eating every 23 hours at the moment or whenever she is hungry.

Another issue has been hiccups. She has kept us up the past two nights crying, as when we try to lay her down she gets the hiccups and starts to wail I spoke to my pediatrician about that too and she says I need to burp her more effectively and more often during feeding. The new method of burping has worked today - hopefully she will sleep more tonight! We didn't get to sleep until 6am this morning as we were up all night with her.

She is honestly the light of our lives! And it's so funny because her wardrobe right is now quite literally bigger than mine! Everyone keeps buying her the cutest little outfits!

I'll take some more pictures this week girls!

Beth! Many congrats on your beautiful little Charlie He is so precious! Like you I am terrified of SIDS! I keep checking to make sure Gabriella is still breathing. How are you feeling following the C Section? I love that our children's birthdays are only a day apart

Rebekah - first, happy belated 11 year anniversary! When I read the story about the man trying to break into your home I got goosebumps What a horrible thing to happen. However, I loved your paintgun idea - that is genius! Congrats on the mortgage approval! I love the picture of Amelia you posted - her smile will break hearts when she is older

Steph, I can't believe Katelyn is 10 months old - she is so gorgeous!

CaroleB - how are you feeling?

JuneBug - I am so sorry about your MIL. That must be so difficult considering your FIL passed not too long ago.

Anna, I LOVE the pics of Jo. What an absolute cutie!!

Hello Chris and Angela and everyone else!! Hope you are all doing well! I will update more but in the meantime, keep your fingers and toes crossed we are able to get some sleep tonight LOL

Jules thank you so much for sharing your birth story!

whew, I am beat today! I am still working on getting back into jogging and ramped up my workout today. It's kicking my butt around the block!

meanwhile, I wanted to share a few recent pics of Ethan. Those on my facebook have seen these so I apologize for the duplicates. My little guy is growing up so fast and will be a year old in two weeks! I can't believe it!

hugs and love from all of us!

Angela, Ethan is gorgeous! He is certainly going to break lots of hearts when he grows up..love those dimples!

Morning Ladies

I have missed so much in the past days Phew.

Jules your little girl is so beautiful beyond belief, all that gorgeous dark hair. You and DH must be so happy to have here with you finally. I am so happy that things went well for you in the end and even better that they removed those crazy fibroids so they can't give you anymore pain. Enjoy being a Mummy, I am looking forward to reading your updates

Woohoo NMG what a cutie your little boy is and again I am so happy that all has worked out for you. You have had a difficult last tri with all the sickness you had and the worry on the heart side of things. Now it is your time to enjoy being a Mum and lap up every moment

Angela OMG I can't believe how grown up Ethan is already and how adorable. You are so blessed. Impressed with the running I am not able to exercise as much as I would like now and the bump just gets in the way and I get breathless so easily which sucks. Just some gentle walking and the odd swim is my limit.

Rebekka congrats on the mortgage decision that is fab, you are on on your way to a family home free of annoying inconsiderate people YAY. Such an exciting time.

AFM not much going on here apart from still missing our little dog and running out of hope of getting her back now Don't understand why people can be so cruel. On the positive side I have now entered the 3rd Tri and have 89 days till my EDD and appointment with the Dr and midwife tomorrow morning so I am sure she will let me see her in 4D again The Dr seems to take extra care of me and gives me the scan every time now as she dealt with me when I MC so I think she is giving me a little extra TLC. I will share the pics tomorrow if this happens.

Take care all and hope to catch up with you all later

Thanks to Svet.... she reminded me to come and post as I'd unsubscribe by mistake

Will have to go back and catch up...a lot by the looks of it

Congrats to Beth and Jules on your new babies

XxX

OMG Angela Ethan is so so so cute!!! RE: texture aversion, have you tried MumMums? They melt in the mouth so they may help him get used to more solid food? If I think of any other suggestions I'll come back and write them!

Carole so sorry to hear about your dog

Ughhhh Z up at 4:30AM with teething pain and I was unable to settle her back to sleep. I'm exhausted and now on antibiotics for a sinusitus. I feel crappy

Had my OB apt yesterday, I still have 5+ blood in my urine on dipstick which is way more than they just see in pregnancy-related hematuria Being referred to a urologist. I did have a normal kidney ultrasound a few weeks back, to rule out stones and tumours... My BP is low as usual 110/50 (explains why I feel so faint on the subway), and bump is measuring at 27 weeks which is fine for petite me. I'm glad baby is doing great. I have a BPP March 5th...

Hugs everyone!

Morning Ladies

Junebug sorry to hear that your test results were not what you were expecting and really hoping that your appointment goes well and nothing too alarming. Being pregnant is enough to cope with without added medical hassles. Hang in there, I will be praying for you that all goes well

Was just thinking about Skye as haven't seen anything from her in a while, if you are lurking Skye I would love to hear how you and Shirin are doing

AFM just back from the Dr and midwife and all is well Zara is measuring ahead at 29w3days and is already 1.4kgs or 3.1 pounds for those in UK. Supposedly still have just under 13 weeks to go until EDD so looking like she is gonna be very big indeed. To be expected when I am a 6ft tall lady and her Dad is 6ft2 and a huge rugby player, labour could be very interesting

I have attached the latest pics, again she was moving so much and kept her hands in front of her face so it was difficult to grab a good shot.

Ahhhhh just lost post....will rewrite it later. It was almost done and huge!!

2-3 ounces is good. She'll be there for awhile. Usually it IS hard to tell how much is coming out of the boob. If you feed her from breast first then let her have the bottle, you'll continue to produce more breast milk.

With the hiccuping and screaming when she's on her back, it sounds like she has acid reflux as Amelia has had since she was brought home. Everytime their on their back they start to scream, the babies need their head lifted up a little to sleep. We used the boppy to prop Amelia up during the day while we watch her and used the boppy again to place her head on while changing her so she wasn't lying flat. The best burping position for Amelia (still is) is with her sitting up in a sitting position. Once the pediatrician put her on Axid, she got better. Try that before you stop bf'ing solely. Amelia didn't take to my breast either. We made it to 3 months and I pumped a little while longer so she'll have some breast milk with cereal.

Hope that helps a bit.

HI Ladies - quick selfish question.....
Does anyone know if Keflex (antibiotic - a strong dose, 500mg) passes into breastmilk? I think it is affecting our little Poppy - he is very very cranky with tons of gas and many poopy diapers, with curd-like spitup. Temp is fine and this just started when I had to go on the pills to treat the infection in my c-section incision. I read a few posts in other places that say it can affect baby's tummy and give some diarrhea and gas but was wondering if anyone here experienced it. I have to take it 4x a day until next Tuesday! I can't handle 5 more days of this, it is breaking my heart!

My mom told me he is like this because I had the newborn pictures done this morning - and it was too much on him with all the posing and moving around. So is it my fault or the antibiotics? I understand about cluster feedings and growth spurts and that some babies get cranky sometimes, but he is just obviously not himself. I am calling the ped tomorrow, naturally, but wanted to see if anyone had to take it here and got a reaction passed through the milk.

thanks and I will respond to everything when Poppy settles down, my brain is addled by this. The only time he is soothed is when we hold him constantly so we are taking turns.

b