Hello babies! - IAB's weekly threads. D days and newborns :)

[Sunshine12]

Thanks girls. Unfortunately I cant get another one before Monday as midwife only works in the surgery on a monday and tuesday.

Admiral, yes thats the same thing. Hope you and bubs are well.

Ive not heard from McSmyth yet. Hope she and baby are ok. x

 

[bumpycat]

Sunshine - sorry to hear still no sweep for you. Sometimes it can go really fast, though, from nothing to established labour in less than a day. You're not quite a full week overdue yet, there is still every reason to believe little mini sunshine will come on his or her own in the next few days. Sending lots of labour dust your way!!

My milk is coming in really properly today - ouch my boobs are huge! Gabe loves it, though, he worked hard last night (virtually continuous feeding for 6 hours) to make it happen, and he's feeding brilliantly. I've had amazingly good support from the local midwives for breastfeeding, and we're at the point where it mostly does not hurt. That whole baby-to-boob rather than boob-to-baby thing was a revelation when we finally caught on - the night before I was silently screaming every time he fed, and now it is fine. I also learned not be afraid to break a sub-optimal latch to try again - that was key. Hope all is well with everyone!!

 

[Sunshine12]

Sunshine - sorry to hear still no sweep for you. Sometimes it can go really fast, though, from nothing to established labour in less than a day. You're not quite a full week overdue yet, there is still every reason to believe little mini sunshine will come on his or her own in the next few days. Sending lots of labour dust your way!!

My milk is coming in really properly today - ouch my boobs are huge! Gabe loves it, though, he worked hard last night (virtually continuous feeding for 6 hours) to make it happen, and he's feeding brilliantly. I've had amazingly good support from the local midwives for breastfeeding, and we're at the point where it mostly does not hurt. That whole baby-to-boob rather than boob-to-baby thing was a revelation when we finally caught on - the night before I was silently screaming every time he fed, and now it is fine. I also learned not be afraid to break a sub-optimal latch to try again - that was key. Hope all is well with everyone!!

Thats brill that he is feeding well now. What do you mean about baby to boob? Do you mean that you manoevre baby to your breast rather than trying to move your boob about to the right place?? Im clueless!

 

[bumpycat]

Thats brill that he is feeding well now. What do you mean about baby to boob? Do you mean that you manoevre baby to your breast rather than trying to move your boob about to the right place?? Im clueless!

Yes, that's it exactly. I'm using what's called the cross-cradle hold, where I hold Gabe across my body with my (say) right hand at the base of his head for a feed from the left boob. This video shows it in good detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9YroD7JgbQ. The baby's head is under the breast, controlled by the mom's hand from the back. She uses the other hand to make the breast an easier shape, and when baby opens very wide, she turns the head onto the breast. It's sort of an arc motion, and when you get it right there's a satisfying little "foomp" sound of the seal forming, the baby looks briefly surprised, then starts a sort of combination chewing/sucking motion. Because the hard part of the baby's mouth is working on the body of the breast and the nipple is just compressed against the soft roof of the mouth like the cut end of an icing bag, it's not at all painful.

The cross cradle hold is the most likely hold that the midwife at the hospital will show you - it's supposed to be the easiest. I'm not very good at copying motions from seeing other people do them, so I asked my midwife to help by guiding my hands so I could learn the motions, and that's what got us on the right track. I would definitely recommend asking for that kind of demonstration, rather than you just holding the breast and the midwife handling the baby. We still take up to half a dozen tries to get it right (without pain), but I have been lucky that Gabe is a so-called "barracuda baby". He will suck hard on anything that is offered and will never refuse the breast just because he's been popped off.

I know you've been having some ambivalence about breastfeeding towards the end of pregnancy - I was starting to wonder about it myself with all the stories about pain! Give it a week's trial maybe? We're only on day 4 and it's gone from hell to, not heaven, but certainly one of the nicest things we do. It does mean being awake almost all night right now, but I am told that gets better too!

ps. Get a pair of Medela breast shells - they're supposed to be for catching leaks for expressed milk, but they're amazing for keeping your bra off your nipples when they are sore and having anything touching them is agony. I used them like that for a couple of days and went bare at night. Don't know if I'll leak enough to make them worth using for the primary purpose, but they absolutely saved my life those two days.

 

[Sunshine12]

Thanks so much bumpy. This will come in very useful. x

 

[Serenity_Now]

I had the same demonstration and 85% of the time, I BF in cross-cradle. However, we're getting the hang of feeding while laying down, too. My LO is a champion latcher now, once I was shown how to get him to latch properly (by my HV a couple days out of the hospital). He's been increasing my supply again, but I'm no where near the engorgement that I had at the beginning. Those super full, almost painful feeling will subside when the milk lets down, and then you will wonder if you're making enough as LO picks up more frequent feeds to adjust the supply, but trust me, you will make enough. I pump when he doesn't drain me completely so that I have a supply for night feedings if I want someone else up with him or if we're out and it's not convenient for me to BF in public (I have a nursing apron, but I still feel a little awkward about BFIP).

 

[Iamblessed]

hey gals! I am so sorry I have not been posting but I am so exhausted ...LO doesn't sleep much there fore making for a very tired mommy! Trying to catch up here has anyone else had their babies! I am hoping to be able to post baby and birth story but my birth story would scare anyone! Anyway I hope everyone is doing well. My Lo has already gained some weight and heighth and and her head also. Its crazy but she is doing really well. Love and to all! Will post everything soon!

 

[Sunshine12]

IAB, Apart from me, oddori and Vixx I think everyone has had their babies now. Just waiting on an update from McSmyth who went into labour saturday. x

 

[Iamblessed]

I was being induced on the 5th and everything started well. I was starting to dialate right away and got to a 5 myself with a little help of cytotec. My platelets are always low in pregnancy but when they drew my blood in the early start of the induction they were 123 then when they did it again they dropped to 109 and i was told if I got to 100 they would not be able to give me an epidural. I got my epidural and all my dialation halted. They started pitocin at this point and started real slow. as time went on they continued to up my pitocin . Doc came in to rupture my waters and when she did she couldn't do it and mind you this was before the epidural. She said the bag was to thick and she couldn't get it ruptured and in the mean time it cut my cervix up to the point I started bleeding pretty bad. so she stopped trying to rupture the bag and then started to try and manually dialate me by stretching me out as I only got to a 6 myself. Baby was still high and found out she was anterior . She had only turned the other way about a few days before induction. She also was trying to manually turn the baby to a posterior position. She finally got me to an 8 and wanted me to start pushing as the baby still wasn't decending into my pelvis!They tried many different positions to help her come down ...they used the bar ,they had me lay down in several different positions and nothing.They continued to up my pitocin. I finally got to a point that i started to feel contractions and still while doc was try to manually do everything the contractions i started to feel were finally doing something and was bringing her down. My doc finally got my water broke and the bleeding continued. They finally got me to a 10 but they called it a stretchy 10 and told me my uterus was worn out.The baby finally descended and came out posterior and i got to watch her come out in the mirror! was the most amazing experience and amazing to watch! Made all the pain and suffering well worth it! She is the sweetest and most amazing baby! Glad for my last it was a wonderful experience! sorry so long but this is my experience and crazy birth story!From start to finish it was 13 hours!!!She bf's like a champ and has already gained weight and 1/2 in for length and her head has already grew 1 in. She and I are doing well but I am still very sore as I tore from pushing too hard and my back is sore and I am very very tired as she doesn't sleep well yet. But all in all we are doing well! to all you ladies and good luck to everyone for a smooth and easy delivery that is left!!

 

[NotNic]

Hey everyone! Bumpy I would love to try the cradle hold but Finlay goes loopy when you try to man handle his head and has been known to clamp his mouth shut very hard on my nipple making me bleed. He also seems to shake his head side to side when it's wide open, making it much harder to time properly. Our mw told us to try rugby ball hold, but I found that to be a palaver and he would fall asleep because he was too warm. Nipple shields are saving my life right now. Also in hindsight, with my delicate skin I should have been using the cream to prep my nipples for a few wks before. I'm glad that we decided on bf'ing for the short term, supplementing with formula Expressing is such a hassle and I felt mean giving him just bottles.

Sunshine I went in to labour 8hrs before my induction so it can happen!

 

[Oddori]

Well I went for my sweep yesterday @ 14:00. Bloody uncomfortable! Midwife said my cervix was soft, 1cm thick, 1cm dilated & stretchy. So going the right way I guess.. Had a bloody show after it which she said was promising. Got an appt for another sweep next Monday, if I don't go into labour, & then booked for induction next Tuesday.. Hopefully won't need either appt though. Fingers crossed anyway. Oh & she said that he's turned back to back! Boo

IAB - thanks for sharing your story. Hope you heal quickly!

NotNic - thanks for the tip will start prepping with lansinoh cream now.

 

[Sunshine12]

That sounds promising Oddori! Notnic - I might start putting cream on now too just incase I decide to go ahead with BF. IAB - thanks for sharing your story with us hun. Hope you ok. x

 

[Serenity_Now]

Hey everyone! Bumpy I would love to try the cradle hold but Finlay goes loopy when you try to man handle his head and has been known to clamp his mouth shut very hard on my nipple making me bleed. He also seems to shake his head side to side when it's wide open, making it much harder to time properly. Our mw told us to try rugby ball hold, but I found that to be a palaver and he would fall asleep because he was too warm. Nipple shields are saving my life right now. Also in hindsight, with my delicate skin I should have been using the cream to prep my nipples for a few wks before. I'm glad that we decided on bf'ing for the short term, supplementing with formula Expressing is such a hassle and I felt mean giving him just bottles.

Sunshine I went in to labour 8hrs before my induction so it can happen!

The best thing my lactation consultant showed me was how to push his head toward my nipple really quickly. It almost looks like you're smushing their face against you really fast, but it doesn't bother them and helps get a really good latch. The side-to-side movement is the rooting reflex. When the mouth is open really wide, you shove his head to your nipple really fast and then loosen your grip. It worked amazingly well for us.

Will your HV schedule a lactation visit for you? It's definitely worth asking, especially if you're having any problems with the latch. Also, stripping them down to diapers and stroking their neck and blowing in their face helps keep them awake while feeding.

Also, leave some milk on your nipples - rub that into the skin and let it dry before you put the girls back. The milk heals them naturally!

IAB - Thank you for your labor story. It sounds like it was a rough one, but I'm glad that the two of you came through okay!

 

[NotNic]

I gave the cradle hold another go today and it seems like we might have turned the corner. He latched on much better without really hurting me. it probably still needs tweaking but it felt like I was almost there. I think the trick with Finlay is not letting him get too worked up. He is quite difficult to convince to latch on when he's pushing himself away from you! I was invited to go to a breast feeding clinic today, but I couldn't make it but um going to try to go to next week's. I need to practice with a nursing bra and sone appropriate tops.

 

[bumpycat]

I gave the cradle hold another go today and it seems like we might have turned the corner. He latched on much better without really hurting me. it probably still needs tweaking but it felt like I was almost there. I think the trick with Finlay is not letting him get too worked up. He is quite difficult to convince to latch on when he's pushing himself away from you! I was invited to go to a breast feeding clinic today, but I couldn't make it but um going to try to go to next week's. I need to practice with a nursing bra and sone appropriate tops.

That's great! Gabriel and I have been struggling all day with latching because my breasts are so engorged. Finally managed to get them both drained in the last couple of feeds, which feels SO much better. For nursing tops I highly recommend getting some longline nursing vests with the clip straps, and then you can just push your normal top up over the boob and have excellent coverage both top and bottom. Much cheaper than buying real nursing tops and for me, my boobs were already up to J (for "JAYSUS!!" according to my OH) by the end of pregnancy and I couldn't find any nursing tops that fit well and looked decent.

I'm totally multi-tasking right now. Typing this post, Gabe asleep frog-legged on my chest, and watching "A Fish Called Wanda" all at the same time.

 

[Sunshine12]

Im getting really worried about McSmyth now.

 

[admiral765]

Me too hun and akerie! Have you sent her a pm? Xx

 

[NotNic]

I haven't seen akerie around in ages. Mcsmyth might have ended up staying over. The first few days are tricky to get online. All the visitors and feeds take up so much time. Fingers crossed they're all okay.

Admiral - thanks for that tip. I'll look when I'm in town on Thursday. I could probably do with being measured too. Mine only went from a 30F to a 32F my whole pregnancy and they're only bigger now the milks in. Thanks xx

 

[Sunshine12]

Its OK McSmyth is fine!! Just facebooked me! She will no doubt be around at some point to post her news!

I havent heard from Akery for ages either.

 

[Iamblessed]

this is my little beauty!!!