Beach Bump Graduates!

[Hann12]

Morning all! Sorry wasn't on last night, I was in bed by 8pm although barely slept until 12.30 as Annabelle kept waking up but it was nice to relax! Had 6 hours straight of sleep which is better so that's okay. My throats less sore this morning so hopefully things are on the up! Having my hair done today which I find very tiresome but have to do it before the baby comes and as MIl is here I might as well get it done today.
I have to say as well that MIL wasn't overly annoying yesterday, but will see what happens today lol! Although I'll barely see her from 12 as I'll have a nap then get my hair done then go to Nct.

Julie -
Interestingly I read yesterday that your cervix can indeed dilate then undillate, I was reading a hypnobirthing book which explained it but basically it said that if you are relaxed and comfortable and in a place where you feel you can give birth if you are almost ready then your cervix can start to dilate but if something happens and you suddenly become unconfortable in your surroundings then it can undillate. Apparently some people can be 5cm at home then get to the hospital and be in unfamiliar surroundings and undilate to less. I'm guessing as you are moving your body could be thinking that you aren't in a situation where you want to give birth so it's stopping you. It's quite clever really!

Caz - how was the massage? Hope you have a lovely day today!

Simmy - I agree with the DVDs etc for today if its too much taking Leo out. I find it easier going out even when I'm feeling bad and tired though as it wears them out and makes then sleep longer and the day goes faster. Guess its a bit different though as I'm used to looking after Annabelle on my own most of the time so I've just got used to feeling rubbish and doing it lol!

Mel - so glad Lucas its doing so well! It's great that he basically didn't lose weight. I was thinking about FF the other day now that I'm coming to the point of feeding again, I'm not planning to FF but wondered a few things - hope you don't mind me asking. Why would a baby lose weight at birth if they are on formula? I can see with a BF baby that they might while they wait for milk to come in buy if you give formula which is the full fat stuff from the beginning then why would they lose? Is it just that they are getting used to it and building up their appetite? And what happens to you when your milk comes in and you don't use it? I remember being really engorged and uncomfortable and just getting Annabelle to feed loads to ease the pressure but if you can't do that do you just have to be uncomfortable until it just disappears? Sorry if these are really stupid questions but I'm just intrigued.

Julie - I've discovered a bit more about being a lactation consultant and waiting for someone else to come back to me but it looks like out of the 8 subjects you have to have I only have 2 of them so would have to study 6 but I found a course that combines 4 of the 6 so I'm waiting for them to say if I could do that or if I have to do them separately. I think I also get the clinical hours by doing my bf councillor course as you have to do 2 years on the phone lines afterwards which counts as it.

Georgie - hope you are okay! Hope Jnslept for longer this morning too. Can't believe Matilda is 6 weeks old already!!

 

[caz_hills]

Morning girls -

Han glad you rested last night. And that mil is being ok. Fingers crossed it continues.

Simmy - let us know how you get on today. I hope Leo is a good boy.

Julie - nearly 38 weeks! I hope you decide about the antibiotics.

Mel - hope Lucas was a good boy last night.

Hi Georgie hope j and m are being good!

So off to my parents today. Ajay was up twice in the night - I got up, Neel said 'good job' thanks! But he is asleep still so he must have been exhausted. Can't wait to see my parents-the older I get the more I miss them x

 

[Hann12]

Lol Caz - at least he acknowledged you got up I guess! Greg got up a couple of times and used the loo while I cared to Annabelle - think he was tired too. Oh and mil just woke up and told me she feels great as she had 12 hours sleep!! No joke! I had half that lol. I don't know how she does it when all she does at home is sleep. She's got Annabelle now anyway

 

[mummySS]

Hann I don't know how your mil gets away with it lol! No wonder she gets so tired looking after annabelle as all she does it seems is sleep! That's great that you found out more about being a lactation consultant, I think it'll be really interesting.

Re your questions to Mel, my view of the issue when the milk comes in is that sometimes when u have a c section it actually doesn't come in in huge force - that's what happened to me anyway, took ages for milk to arrive (like a week) and Leo came out so hungry which is why I had to supplement with formula. However if you are not feeding from the start I suppose your supply never gets the demand and therefore dwindles before it properly comes in? That's just a theory anyway I'd be interested to know if it has any merit whatsoever!

Caz enjoy tonight at your parents - are you gonna give the big bed a go?

AFM Leo slept well, bit of coughing and then woke up at 6.30 but e was happy to chat til 7.30, HOWEVER Paul left for Prague at 4.30am and I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep which was very annoying! So I feel pretty knackered today, will def grab a nap when Leo sleeps. Hann I know what you mean about not being used to it - I have not had a day alone with Leo since I started back at work in July! So I'm really not used to it. I would be fine if I wasn't pregnant I guess. Anyway Leo is being a superstar today, such a good boy and being so giggly and cuddly. I guess he's appreciating an unadulterated dose of mummy!

 

[Hann12]

Amazingly shes actually been okay so far today - hopefully it stays that way!!
Annabelles so far not gone down for her nap though which is bad news as means that if she doesn't sleep I might not get out for my hair appointment as she'll be grouchy for the afternoon. I'm watching her one the camera and she was lying down but shes now got back up again. Not good at all! Not crying as yet though....

Simmy - I find when I have help that its hard work the next day that I'm on my own with Annabelle so I can't imagine how tired you must feel if you haven't done it since July!
Thanks for the thoughts on FF - I'm just thinking about stuff like that for no reason really except that people say that FF is the 'easy' option but I don't really see that it is so just thinking about the differences and how it affects mums/babies.

 

[mummySS]

All good knowledge to have if you're becoming a councillor or lactation consultant - its really useful to know how FF works too! Hope annabelle sleeps and you get to your appt.

So far so good today. I feel tired but have had lots of fun with Leo. The only nightmare has been getting his eye drops in - he kicks and screams and clamps his eyelids shut! Does anyone have any tips?

 

[Hann12]

Not really, I shamefully had to pin her down to put them in, even then it's questionable how much actually went in. The GP said to do it upside down but that didn't work for me either. Easier with 2 people but even then still hard. Glad you are having a nice day though

 

[melissasbump]

Julie, oh my lordy, never heard about dilating then undialating! Hann has an interesting theroy though! Hope the lady stays put a little longer for you so you can get what you need done. Oh and lol at me making it seem easy with 2, i certainly wouldnt go that far, i think the difference is that Alan is so hands on with both of them its like having 2 of me to do everything, and i know im very lucky to have him!

Simmy, you do go to bed late lol! Hope today is going well for you, i know how you feel, i found it so daunting to spend a day one on one with H (much as i love him) when i was pregnant due to the feeling rubbish and exaustion.

Hann, glad the MIL isnt being so much of a pain yet, give it time! Hope you made it to your hair appointment too.
In answer to your questions, re the dropping weight thing, i think both FF and BF are expected to drop a bit of weight, to be honest i have no idea why, think maybe the babies body retains fluid then loses it once born.
As for the milk supply. I think Simmy is right in saying it takes a bit longer for milk to come in, especially if you have a "cold" section ie one that your body hasnt gone into labour for. I had no sign for 3 days then what happened is that i got sore boobs (like really sore) and slight leakage. They say not to touch them or anything and wear your bras really tight to stop movement and after a few days they get better, today actually mine feel a bit better.
My decision to FF was based on many things (it probably comes across really selfish to most) partly due to me and Alan being able to share equally both the children, partly for Harrison as i didnt want in any way for him to feel pushed out, which i imagine is easier if i had a baby on me for significant periods of the day. and yes a selfish part of me too, im not committed enough to do it. Im aware of certain benefits obviously and can see why others want to do it, but H is one of the least sicky children i know and certainly thrived on formula.

So last night H screamed for over 2 hours with his teeth, bless him, he eventually went back to sleep, Lucas decide he wanted two feeds quite close together lol so we were a bit zombifed this morning.
H seemed ok for swimming so we took him (1st time out for Lucas) then we went Tesco shopping) ong, it was so stressful, H was tired and started to play up halfway round, i was in pain as id overdone it and could barely walk or push the trolley.
Now sitting down with a cuppa and its all quite funny now am thinking the way forward is def online shopping.
Got to make a cottage pie for Alans dad coming for lunch tomorrow and he only eats plain food, and gonna try a slow pulled pork recipe as well to have for tea (like your one Hann i think)

 

[Hann12]

I think it sounds like you are doing amazingly Mel!
Thanks for answering my questions, so I guess you just don't get as much milk in as someone who has BF for 4 days so its not as painful - I was just intrigued as if I didn't release the milk it would be unbelievable! I actually think it would all spurt out lol!
I never think there's a right or wrong way to feed your child so I wouldn't say your lazy or selfish. In some ways formula is easier from the perspective of others being able to feed the baby and share the nights but the downsides are also the fact that you have to sterilise etc and bottle warm in the middle of the night which I frankly couldn't be bothered with lol! BF is really tough certainly for the first few weeks but then it is really easy and fast. The annoying side is that you have to do it all especially if your baby never takes a bottle like Annabelle. Writing this has reminded me of gregs catch phrase 'just pop her on the boob' everytime Annabelle cried - I'm not exaggerating either. It was very annoying!! The good thing was that I was the only one that could feed her though so I could just escape and have time with her and no one could complain etc. Annabelles been on formula for quite a while now and she'll let Greg give her it but she does cry sometimes when he tries to do it, she won't let anyone else give it to her now though so I do tend to do it pretty much all the time, only twice a day though. It's funny but she's got more and more possessive about being with me as the year has gone on, she's terrible with being left and worse at night if anyone tries to go in to her even Greg. She screams and screams until I go in, hence why I'm even more tired as its all down to me. It's going to be a real shock for me if when the baby is born she rejects me in favour for Greg but I've heard that does frequently happen. I'll be really sad! Although I guess I'll have my hands full still lol!

Oh and sympathies with having to find bland recipes for the FIL, I find feeding mine so tiresome!

At the hairdressers, not heard from MIL so just got to hope Annabelle is behaving and not giving her too much grief!

 

[Blue_bear]

Just read and caught up but it's colic o'clock here so will reply properly later!

 

[caz_hills]

Hi all,

Han - after my c section my milk took a while to come in. But it did eventually but Ajay lost loads of weight. I only bf for two weeks and really hope I can do it ext time.

Mel I don't think it's selfish at all. I'd have gone mad if I hadn't have shared the night feeds with Neel - I think people who bf are incredible - doing that night after night would beat me (well it did!).

Han - glad mil is being ok and hope Annabelle is ok tonight. Did mil cope ok whilst you were at the hair dressers?

Simmy - so glad you and Leo had a good day. Are you tired or ok tonight?

Georgie - urgh iforgot about colic.... Poor you

We've had a lovely day. Went for a nice lunch and Ajay was a good boy. We then did some food shopping this afternoon and Ajay has loved being with my parents and has been so well behaved I feel really proud. I didn't try the bed in the end as he didn't want to sleep as he wated to play so he was upset anyway x

 

[Blue_bear]

Didn't get back on last night lol.

Mel, I understand exactly what your saying about ff/bf. I had enough jealousy issues with Josh, there's no way he would have dealt with me being stuck to the sofa for hours etc. I have massive respect for those that stick with bf. I was a wimp with the pain in my nipples.

Hann, my milk came in day 3 as norm. Probably more so because I let her latch at birth. I had intended to try expressing but there's no way I'd have time to do it regularly enough. It took quite a long time for it to dry up though, probably nearly two weeks before I stopped getting completely soaked and then literally up to the last few days to stop leaking minimally. I used cabbage leaves to help the engorgment but it was only really bad for a day or so.
I wouldn't count on it pushing A towards Greg, having Tilly has made Josh more clingy to me! It is improving every day though.

Simmy, is Leo feeling better now?

Caz, sounds like you've had a lovely couple of days. It's nice Ajay is enjoying your parents too.

Julie, how funny about undulating! I had no idea that could happen! Hope all the house stuff is going smoothly.

AFM, were all good, thank yo ladies! The colic hits about 3ish and generally lasts til 7/8 when she has a bottle and falls asleep for the night. Makes dinner time for Josh a bit difficult but im coping, simple dinners all round at the mo!
Taking M for her hip scan this morning, the HV 6 week check this afternoon.
In terms of feeding, she has anywhere between 2 and 4 obs between 2 and 4 hours lol. I'm feeding on demand and some days she musts wants to graze and others she's happy draining a bottle. She we went from 7.30 til 2am without a bottle last night and generally does that long stint early on. I need to learn to go to bed then! I went at 10 last night so got 4 hours, then 3 hours before Josh got up at 5.30..... Sigh. 7 hours sleep though is not bad compared to some nights lol.

 

[Hann12]

Thanks for the replies on FF, it's so interesting. I had my Nct BF session last night, out if a group of 6 people 3 gave up within 3 weeks, one at 2.5 months and one at 6 months, then me a lot longer. I know now how lucky I was with Annabelle as I didn't have any if the struggles they had. Really hope that's the case this time!

Georgie - that's a pretty good sleep! I'm lucky if I get 5 hours now - last night was the most I've had in weeks (11-12.30 then 1-6).

I feel okay this morning which is nice as have a busy day - ballet (taking mil then she goes home), then home for nap, then a play date at mine with 2 friends and babies. Gregs out tonight and I have no food annoyingly! Tomorrow is the first day of gregs week long holiday and I am so happy! Just love having him around so that will be great. It marks the last of my help though as after that I have 4.5 weeks of just me and Annabelle before my parents come to stay for the due date.

Caz - sounds like you had a lovely time with your parents. Are you still there today? Hope you have a lovely day with Ajay!

Simmy - did you survive yesterday?

Mel - hope you are okay

 

[melissasbump]

Hi all.

Georgie, sounds like you are doing a fab job and 7 hours sleep isnt too shabby at all!

Caz, glad you have had a lovely few days with Ajay

Hann, yay for Greg being off, hope you have a lovely time together as a family, hope the weather improves next week for you! You did fantasic with BF Annabelle, i have so much respect for you and im sure you will do just a great job this time. I agree with Georgie, i would have thought BF the baby would make Annabelle want you more. Is she still going to start swimming with Greg? I reckon that would be lovely for them both.

AFM, Not too bad a night here. H seems much better inn himself thankfully, Lucas still doing well, he seems to be quite nocturnal though and has his most awake time around midnight, he also seems to save all his poos for night time too lol.
I was able to sleep on my side last night thought which was complete luxuary, my c section recovery, whilst it was good last time, seems even better this time, im amazed! Ive had not a lot of bleeding at all, the pain seems to have subsided quicker too, hope it continues.
Busy day here today, FIL over for lunch, at My parents are also bringing my grandad over to see Lucas then my parents coming back later and will be staying the night.
Ive made shepherds pie for FIL, Doing slow roasted pulled pork for parents later and got cupcakes in the oven now! Phew!

Simmy, hope you survived yesterday!

 

[Blue_bear]

Mel, please take it easy!!! I remember feeling pretty rough at day 4/5, please be careful xxxx

 

[mummySS]

Jeez Mel I agree with Georgie take it easy honey xx

Will post properly later xx

 

[Hann12]

argghh rubbish day here - sorry to moan - got up and took annabelle to ballet which was nice as she was doing really well but then right at the end she tripped over and landed on her face, her tooth went into her lip (thankfully not all the way through) but its marked the outside and a big cut on the inside - and you can imagine the gushes of blood. She was really brave in fairness and only cried for a minute then carried on but now her lip is fat and swollen. I then dropped MIL at the station where she made a big scene saying how much she loved me and annabelle and crying etc. Then we got home and Annabelle was exhausted so I put her down for a nap but she was coughing so much that she didn't sleep so I gave up. Just been to the shops as I had no dinner for me (gregs out). Totally fed up of the awful weather and it being a mission just to get annabelle wrapped up to get out. Got friends over this afternoon at 3.30pm which will be nice although feeling very unsociable as I'm fed up and tired but it will be nice to see them once they arrive.
Sorry for the moan just having one of those days where I'm just tired and fed up!!

Mel - you sound like you are doing amazingly. Def take it easy though when you can. I learnt yesterday that day 4 and day 10 post partum are the hardest days, I know you've had day 4 but day 10 is approaching - its the first growth spurt - so get ready for a busy day that day!! I'm so happy you are coping so well though, its very inspirational!

I need to get into a better mood now seriously! I hate being in a bad mood!

 

[LittleSpy]

Hann -- I have to agree with you on the laziness of breastfeeding, lol! When it starts going more smoothly, it's so much easier than bottle feeding. Unfortunately, with my supply, I had to do both. But for the month Maisie actually nursed (between 3-4 months), it was so much better to just be able to put her on the boob to satisfy the initial hunger and then top up with a bottle after that. I wish she hadn't had such strong breast aversion because I'm sure I would've kept it up much longer. But exclusively pumping on top of bottle feeding on top of working full time did me in physically and emotionally so I stopped at 5 months. I'm pretty determined to make it at least 12 months this time as long as I can keep her nursing. I know so much more now about breastfeeding in general and about my condition and I really think things are going to go better this time. I'm planning to use an SNS if I need to supplement this time, which I have to assume I will. But I've actually been collecting and freezing my colostrum to use as supplement the first few days hoping to avoid drastic weight loss and dehydration & a sleepy baby with no strength to nurse well.

I do have the concerns Georgie & Mel have, though, about Maisie not tolerating Vi being attached to me constantly. We'll just have to see how it goes and it's something we'll deal with if/when the time comes. Hoping I can perfect nursing in a mei tai, wrap, or ssc really quickly!

 

[Hann12]

I'm hoping to feed in a sling too Julie, would make life a lot easier! I hope you get a better experience this time round. We are here if you need encouragement!

I'm feeling a bit happier now, must have had a second burst of energy so I'm not too tired or fed up now lol.

Oh and Julie - I finally got an email back from the lactation consultants, I could just do probably around 2 years studying then the clinical hours then the exam. I think I only have one exemption which i annoying. How are you going to get the CPR, medical terminology bits? That seems harder. I'm going to do the 2 years breast feeding councillor training first then decide then whether to study to become a lactation consultant. The good news is that in our area in a 20 mile radius there is only one lactation consultant and shes in her 60's so there should be demand if i did it

 

[mummySS]

Hi ladies sorry i haven't posted much today, we were let down by the nanny as she called in sick. So yet another day of no childcare for Leo and me having to skive work! Having said that yesterday wasn't too bad and Leo was an angel bless him. Luckily paul is back now so I had leo in the morning while he worked, and he had Leo in the afternoon while I worked (and of course i still managed my all-important nap while leo was sleeping ) Hope she doesn't call in sick again tomorrow, really need to nail my work! I've agreed to go in next week for almost a full day - they are interviewing for my maternity cover and want me to be involved. I am dreading having to spend a whole day in town, especially as Paul is away in serbia next week so i'll have to deal with Leo alone, so if I don't sleep well i'll be a complete sicky zombie Still i guess it's just one day, and I'd rather make sure they don't hire a complete dufus to cover my work

Hope everyone's ok...

Hann glad you're feeling a bit better - early night for you I hope! Poor annabelle with her accident - hope she's ok! At least the MIL is gone and greg is off from tomorrow, yay. Oh and I can't believe you're 34 weeks already - soooo near the end!

Julie how good and dedicated of you to be freezing your colustrum - very impressive! Have you finished work now or not quite? And how's the house stuff coming along?

Mel, I'm so glad your recovery is going well, I'm totally amazed at how well you're coping and how quickly you've got back into the swing of things! But as i said earlier please dont forget you've had major surgery, do give your body time to heal properly. Like I will be, you are probably so thrilled to not be preggers any more and have your body back to yourself!! Ohhh to be able to lay on my side/back/front etc!

Georgie it sounds like you're coping amazingly well. Feeding on demand is harder so you're doing a great job and seems like tilly is happy (apart from the colic obvs). I really hope that cures itself soon. Are you giving her anything for it?

Caz glad you had a good time at your parents - Ajay sounds like he's been a superstar! Are you back at work tmrw or are you off now til after easter?