*March & April 2021*

[doggylover]

Hope everyone is doing good, im 28 weeks now! Really on the final stretch now, I'm not organised at all, well I have clothes for baby but that's it!

I think we decided to buy a full sized cot and attach it to the bed? Anyone else do that before? I know I want baby to sleep in my room for at least a year and ill be breastfeeding so hopefully I'll get better sleep if I don't need to get up to feed her everytime. Seems like a big cot will be so huge for a newborn though.

@MrsKatie so sorry to hear how exhausted you are right now, I have trouble getting back to sleep in the night too, I try to fight the urge to go toilet in the night hoping I can get back to sleep haha
Is there something you can take at night to help you drift off? Would chamomile tea help?

Yes restrictions are bad here too, schools closed, I'm not too upset about that for now but I hope by March things can be a bit more normal.

I haven’t side carred a cot myself but I know lots of people do and say the basic IKEA one is good for that.

How we doing mamas! I’m not on here much. Busy busy busy.

Can’t believe there’s 8 weeks left!! I’m both ready and not haha.

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only 8 weeks?! Crazy!! Love the personalised bits, won’t be long until she is here to use them!

 

[Nixnax]

When do you ladies pack your hospital bags. I've read several lists of what you should take and it sounds like I'll be packing to move in to the hospital! Are there things you have packed in the past and not used? I'm just wondering if its all needed.

Got my 25wk MW appt next Thursday

 

[MrsKatie]

Omg @KylasBaby i cannot believe how close you are!

i am 3rd tri on the 23rd which already feels so crazy. The time is just disappearing so fast.

@Nixnax I pack mine around 36-37 weeks. Let me consult my past lists and I’ll post my necessities!

 

[doggylover]

When do you ladies pack your hospital bags. I've read several lists of what you should take and it sounds like I'll be packing to move in to the hospital! Are there things you have packed in the past and not used? I'm just wondering if its all needed.

Got my 25wk MW appt next Thursday

With all mine it was about 37/38 weeks. Some of the lists out there are INSANE. You really don’t need much at all. I find since you are stuck in a bed most of the time your PJs get worn mostly while you are in. I only get dressed to leave. I have always had to stay in two nights, so this is roughly what I take:

Nightie (for labour or afterwards) or PJs x2
5 pairs black pants
Breastfeeding vest top x2
Leggings for coming home
Top for coming home
Flip flops for moving about and shower
Maternity pads
Charger and phone
Snacks (I like dried fruit to get things moving )
iPad and headphones
Brush, toothbrush, toothpaste
Lip balm
Hair bobble
Shower stuff and towel
Pillow (the hospital pillows make me hot and sweaty!)

for baby:
3 x newborn sets (vest and sleep suit)
3 x up to 1 month/up to 10lbs sets
Hat
Nappies
Wipes
Cardigan for going home
2-3 muslins
Large Muslin for a blanket

 

[doggylover]

Oh and a few plastic bags to pack any dirty clothes in, yours or babies!

I think depending on what type of labour you’d like you may need some special bits eg bikini top for birthing pool, or hypobirthing bits and bobs.

And of course your notes.

 

[MrsKatie]

Yep @doggylover covered everything!
I never brought towels or a pillow but might bring a pillow this time.

 

[sunnydee]

Thats a great list @doggylover I think there are alot of overcomplicated lists out there!
2 things I would add, I absolutely needed during labour was a water bottle and a cold face cloth!

 

[Nixnax]

Perfect thank you @doggylover. Some of the lists I've seen include the whole house minus the kitchen sink. I want to start buying bits and pieces that I need for the bag. That's very useful, thank you

 

[doggylover]

I’m glad it was useful!

@MrsKatie i suppose it depends what your hospital provides as well in terms of towels etc. I think generally hospitals in the US provide more than we get here (which is a first nappy and that’s it!)

@sunnydee oh water bottle is a great idea. I take an insulated one filled with ice we get jugs of water given to us and refilled, but the wards are so bloody warm it’s not always nice to drink so I take my own ice!

 

[MrsKatie]

Oh yes the hospital here is like a nice hotel room haha, I’m fully excited for my stay!

 

[doggylover]

Oh yes the hospital here is like a nice hotel room haha, I’m fully excited for my stay!

Ours are absolutely not in my hospital the maternity ward is huge, and broken in to bays of 6 beds, with just the blue paper curtains in between (like you see in Grey's Anatomy in the ER), and there are 2 bathrooms for the 6 beds. With my son the baby next to me cried all night so even when my son was asleep I wasn’t So it can be very noisy and generally not very relaxing! That said with my third there was just me and one other girl in the bay of 6. And I got a load of eaves dropping amusement as she’d been told it was a girl and bought everything pink, and the baby came out a boy she was on the phone all day advising whoever was on the other end to go and buy xyz in blue

 

[MrsKatie]

Omg @doggylover that’s crazy!!! We definitely always get private recovery rooms here, nice big bathroom in each room and towels, shampoo etc. It really is nice. That’s crazy they cram you together like that. Are all hospitals like that where you live? You’re in the UK, right?

 

[doggylover]

Omg @doggylover that’s crazy!!! We definitely always get private recovery rooms here, nice big bathroom in each room and towels, shampoo etc. It really is nice. That’s crazy they cram you together like that. Are all hospitals like that where you live? You’re in the UK, right?

Yes I’m in the UK, in Northern Ireland. Yeah that’s how our hospitals are. But then we don’t get a massive bill at the end so swings and roundabouts I suppose they do have a few private rooms as well, so if you are very unwell, or you have twins or something like that you will be given a private room. You can also pay to have one if you like. My sister had a lovely room when she had her son, as he wasn’t ill enough for Nicu but needed a bit of xtra help, they stayed for 10 days, and her room was really nice. But mostly for big standard births (and in fact, everything!) you will be on a ward with others.

 

[sunnydee]

Yeah the public ward is the same here although I was wondering whether they have spaced out the beds a bit better now with covid? Wow US maternity hospital sounds like a hotel!

I've started listening to birth story podcasts, starting to feel so close now! I was half thinking of possibly having a home birth but only because I'm afraid of how fast 3rd baby will come!

 

[doggylover]

Yeah the public ward is the same here although I was wondering whether they have spaced out the beds a bit better now with covid? Wow US maternity hospital sounds like a hotel!

I've started listening to birth story podcasts, starting to feel so close now! I was half thinking of possibly having a home birth but only because I'm afraid of how fast 3rd baby will come!

funny I was wondering how they space things in the wards with covid. Because I’m not convinced that those blue curtains would do any good, nor that I’m 2m away from the next mother, the wee cubicles are so tight! Ours are set up 3 on one side three on the other so I wonder do they leave the middle one free? I’m assuming masks if you’re moving to the bathroom etc.

 

[Nixnax]

Yeah the UK wards are something to be desired, but then like @doggylover said, its free so we can't complain.

We are considering going to our local birthing centre instead. Its only a 5 min drive from our home. They have double beds, your own room and will be much more comfy for my other half. They only problem with them is that you can't have an epidural there and if anything goes wrong, its a 30 min ambulance trip to to the main hospital. Going to discuss this option with my midwife on Thursday.

Ugh I've joined the insomnia club. The last 5 nights have been horrible. Barely slept last night

 

[doggylover]

Yeah the UK wards are something to be desired, but then like @doggylover said, its free so we can't complain.

We are considering going to our local birthing centre instead. Its only a 5 min drive from our home. They have double beds, your own room and will be much more comfy for my other half. They only problem with them is that you can't have an epidural there and if anything goes wrong, its a 30 min ambulance trip to to the main hospital. Going to discuss this option with my midwife on Thursday.

Ugh I've joined the insomnia club. The last 5 nights have been horrible. Barely slept last night

We don’t have these magical places in Northern Ireland, we just have hospitals and some have midwife led units attached, but it’s still in the hospital if that makes sense. I can see why being so far from a hospital would be so worrying

 

[MrsKatie]

@Nixnax I had a birth center birth with my first and I cannot recommend it enough. It did help me, though, that it was literally a 2-minute walk from the hospital, so a transfer would have been like 30 seconds in the car. HOWEVER. Remember that if you NEED to transfer, usually it's well before there's a true emergency (which is quite rare, all things told) and if things look urgent, you'd transfer in an ambulance, which would be well-equipped with medical supplies. I would go with the birth center for sure.

 

[Wishing_]

Hey! I know I don't belong in this group, but I was wondering if you ladies can help me relax. Even tho google says is normal I don't know anyone who's leaked. I'm 22 weeks and I noticed some dry crust on both nipples. Clear liquid comes with when I gently squeeze. I'm praying the leaking doesn't get too bad before my baby is born.

 

[MrsKatie]

@Wishing_ yep 100% normal! I know ladies in real life who have leaked from like 11 weeks!!