ok so who wants to get pregnant in 2011? (closed group)

[babyhopes2323]

lovely pics sarah, sorry you had such a scare xx


we use pacis but i try to let her go without it until she actually needs it. she has come to the point where she knows how to reach for her paci and use it, she is teething now so i can imagine how it must feel for her, but will try my best to wean her off it as i dont want her to becme one of those 6 yr olds with a paci.. yuck !

 

[sarahincanada]

thanks ladies! huggles I hope you are right and some sort of instinct will kick in. and like you say perhaps I will not need some of the techniques

today I went for lunch and he was kicking so hard I had to stop talking, thats the first time that happened!

 

[sarahincanada]

Did anyone have Braxton Hicks?
Im assuming I am having BHicks as my uterus goes all tight, then is back to normal. It started yesterday. But i dont feel it in my back, or around my cervix or anything, nothing like period cramps or what I thought a proper contraction is like. Its just my bump going tight then back to normal. Its sore and I like to rub it when its tight.

 

[NDH]

Sara hated being swaddled but I didnt know about the 5Ss (just general swadding for sleeping she couldn't stand). DH and i watched a happiest baby on the block clip on you tube and dh said "is it too late for this to work?" lol

apparently i ha lots of bhs but i never felt hem. my mom could see them lol.

 

[sherylb]

Yeah Sarah that's braxton hicks. You will continue to have those tightenings the rest of your pregnancy. It's nothing to be concerned about.

 

[Huggles]

my bump also used to go hard like that. Think it actually lasted a couple of hours once. But usually it was just for short periods.
As long as they stay irregular i wouldn't worry too much.

 

[MummyCat]

gorgeous pics Sarah!

Yeah those BH can get mighty annoying but it's all working to get your uterus toned up and ready to push out your baby boy!

Right... dummies... We gave Lottie one, she only started it at 3 months old, but we needed it to help settle her. She never got attached to a blanket/teddy etc.. just the dummy. We would only let her have it for nap/bedtime or when ill. If she ever had it in her mouth and started to say something, Mike and I would always say, we can't hear you, take your dummy out and she would take it out and start again. Lottie's speech is more advanced than most of her friends... so I don't think that dummies mean bad speech, I think you can have one and control it's use so that it doesn't lead to bad speech.

With regards to stopping the dummy, before her 3rd birthday (she was only having the dummy at night) we chatted and decided it was time to give up the dummies. She had two or 3 nights where she struggled to settle to sleep, but we just stayed with her a bit more and that was it. It wasn't a problem at all to get rid of. She never cried for one or needed one after that.

So that was our experience, Lizzie gets a dummy for nap and bedtime.

 

[flyingduster]

yeah, if you'd rather not use one then don't! If you end up struggling a lot you can always go buy one and give it a go. But unless you ARE struggling, seeing you do want to avoid them, then just don't use one. A pacifier is a replacement for suckling on your breast, so be prepared for hours and hours of sitting there with a boob in his mouth, but those little sleepy 'butterfly' suckles [for hours and hours] is the best way to get your milk supply well established so it's a good investment!!!

And yes, the instinct DOES kick in after birth! I had all sorts of ideas as well, I swear I was never going to bed-share; he was going to sleep in the bassinet and later transition to the cot in his own room. I was going to go back to work and all that too!!! But wow, the hormones and instinct just blew me away! I didn't want to put him down alone, and he didn't want to *be* put down alone... so we didn't.

I had no idea the depth that love and attachment could get to before. I love my pets, I adore my family and am in love with my husband. But none of that compares to the love for my precious baby boy... It's quite astounding! You will fall head over heels for your wee boy too. You'll be confused and worried what to do at times of course, but in general you will have the strong instinct to hold him to you forever and ever, and you can't go far wrong from there!



As for swaddling, I didn't swaddle Caleb cos he hated his arms being held down, and we bed-shared! He also sleeps a lot in my arms or the carrier which is what the swaddle is trying to mimic... A swaddle does seem to help most babies sleep in a bed alone though, so by all means try one if you are having trouble! (or just do as nature intended and put him in your moby wrap and hold him as much as you possibly can )

 

[MummyCat]

I need a like button!

^^^^LIKE^^^^

 

[sarahincanada]

thanks everyone!
yay 31 weeks today
a friends wife gave birth at 38 weeks, makes me so impatient

now Im getting confused about the pacifier thing, as Ive seen a couple of place people mention it reduces SIDS....I assume this is when they go to sleep but they dont keep it in their mouth the whole time do they???'

I watched the happiest baby dvd and it was great. He swaddles the baby....he said some act like they dont like it.....but as soon as he puts them on their side and lightly jiggles them (like the motion they had in the womb) they stopped crying! some didnt, so then he does a loud SHHHHH sound in their ear, or recommends playing white noise or womb noise and that usually works for most. He feels the first 3 months of a babies life should be considered the 4th trimester, as they are not ready for a lot of the outside world yet and these techniques remind them of the womb. Sucking was another technique, either on the breast or with a pacifier.

Someone asked something like 'oh will the baby feel like Im giving too much attention with these techniques and lead to a dependance problem', and he says no, as if you think about it you have already drastically cut down the time.....he was in the womb all tight with movement and noises 24 hours a day, and now out in the world he has very little, so you are just slowly adapting him to the world. I think he said to stop swaddling after 3 months.

I did like the overall message, as its true...the babies come out and are expected to get used to this whole different life right away! So definitely something I may try if we need.

 

[Huggles]

yip, that swaddling and then putting them on their sides and slight jiggling is the technique i was talking about earlier. I just couldn't quite figure out how to get him on his tummy/side on my arm like that. Didn't work so well for us though. But we did do swaddling for a couple of weeks, i think until i switched to tummy sleeping.

But yeah, first 3 months are very much considered 4th trimester. You need to help them transition slowly from life in the womb to life in the big wide scary world.

A lot of people say the first 3 months are the hardest, and everything gets better by 4 months. I found the fourth month the hardest, everything seemed to get a whole lot worse, but then everything settled at 5 months.

 

[flyingduster]

yup, IMO you can't spoil a baby; early independence is a totally western world thing! We have this obsession to make our kids as independent as quickly as possible; sleeping alone (for as long as possible), feeding themselves, sitting/crawling/walking alone ASAP, socialising, milestones etc. We are supposedly causing a dependence problem if we let them sleep on us and carry them a lot, but it's been shown that with a stable attachment, kids will naturally branch out to independence on their own; we don't need to force them into it early!


A pacifier can help fight SIDS because they keep suckling it and often keeps them in a lighter state of sleep which in turn helps prevent them going into the deep sleep where they can go too far... But if you're going to get a breathing monitor you will be fine.

 

[sarahincanada]

hi everyone!

32 weeks

hey what did you all take to the hospital? I have a nightgown/robe set, pads, facecloths, diapers, music, camera
Clothes for bub: Onsies, hat & mitts
Will take my own blankets too
will get some large black undies
what else??

for fun why dont you all guess my due date plus weight/length and i will compile and we will see who wins. Some info that may or may not mean anything: Official DD 40 weeks is Oct 7, my ticker is 2 days ahead going by date from FS. He was measuring 1 week ahead @ 19 weeks. I am 5'10 and hubby 6'.

 

[Huggles]

you'll need feeding bras and breast pads, and maternity pads.
Maybe some face cream? Sometimes the aircon/heating in a hospital can make your skin dry out.
A book maybe, for when bubs is sleeping and you don't have visitors and don't know what else to do. Although i don't think i actually read any of my magazines i took.

A notepad & pen for in case you want to jot down things to remember. Some nurses ask you to write down what time you bf, which side etc. But you also might want to make notes on the birth and things for your own memories.

I think a onesie will be too cold for a newborn. You'll need a full babygrow.
https://www.cambridgebaby.co.uk/catalog/images/SheepBabygrow264.jpg

remember that bubs has been inside you at a constant temp of 37C. Even if it's warm where you are when bubs is born, newborns get very cold very quickly - they take at least a few days, sometimes a few weeks to be able to regulate their own body temp properly.

depending how self-conscious you are about morning-breathe, maybe take a packet of peppermints for when the dr/nurse arrives early in the morning and you haven't had a chance to brush your teeth yet.

Birth guesses:
Birth date = 27 September
Weight = 3.7kg
Lenght = 53cm

 

[NDH]

October 8, 7:18pm. 8lb12oz, 52cm long

Happy 32 weeks!

 

[sarahincanada]

lol they do inches and pounds here, I will convert!!

huggles those are some good points, and i do have some of those I will pack too. when you say maternity pads I have overnight pads, are they good enough?

I think my mum gets here 27th sept so hope he doesnt come then as she may miss it....I told her to come early and she chose 10 days early, as she wants to spend as much time with him as possible. but I thought she should come earlier!

OMG flying you will laugh, I had a dream last night I was babysitting Caleb, and I breastfed him I remember looking down thinking wow, this works and is amazing. I think we were in England. It wasnt Cieran, it was definitely Caleb

hubby told me last night that he really likes our 2nd choice name, Ethan. But I hate that its #1 in Canada for boys names and he said thats silly why does that matter as its just a nice name. so now Im all confused. I was pretty set on Cieran Michael (my late dads name). Ethan Michael doesnt really go, so I would do Ethan Andrej (FIL's name). So now I dont know whether to do our first born with that and hopefully if we have another boy do Cieran Michael.

When I said I was going to call him Cieran Michael my MIL said 'Cieran Michael Andrej sounds great'....I was annoyed she added my FIL's name as I only wanted 1 middle name as thats what I have. Its tradition in hubbies family to do grandparents, but I wanted to honour people who've past (if it was a girl we were doing Chloe Maria after hubbies grandmother).
Her saying that made me think that they would be upset if I just did Cieran Michael. Perhaps I shouldnt care, but its been niggling me. I love my FIL and dont want him to be upset. Sometimes my MIL and their traditions are quite overpowering and me not having traditions is like a tradition! we dont do grandparents in our family so why cant I follow what we do.

anyway it was more whar hubby was saying about really liking the name Ethan that has me thinking.

 

[Huggles]

I tend to find that I bled less after my births than most people do. I usually stop my pp bleeding within 2 weeks, whereas others bleed heavily for up to 6 weeks or more. But I still used maternity pads for about the first 4 or 5 days, and then switched to overnight pads.
Actually, what the nurses in the hospital did for me straight after the birth was great, and i continued to do that for the first few days as I am paranoid about leaks. They take a linen saver, fold it in thirds (or quarters?) length-ways, so it looks like a giant pad. Put that in your panties first, it literally goes all the way from the front waist elastic to the back waist elastic, so nowhere possible for you to miss the pad. Then put the maternity pad on top of that.
Fantastic for preventing leaks when you're spending a lot of time lying down in bed.


Re the names - you could always have both names as possibilities and then when he's born see which suits him best.

re using fil's name - maybe speak to him one day and just explain how you're choosing the names, that you're honering those that are past, and that you really don't want to upset or offend him but that is the decision you and dh have taken re naming your children.

 

[MummyCat]

Hiya,

Not sure if this might help... it's something I'd looked at on Kelly Mom Brestfeeding Log week 1

I must be honest, overnight pads would have lasted 10 minutes for me. I bled a lot and went through 2 packs of 48 maternity pads (with wings) in the first week.
Get some magic cool (sold here in the likes of Sainsburys and Boots) if you can (cool yourself down spray - very handy in labour). We took cotton wool with us to do the nappies. and a few sets of pyjama's/clothes for me as I bled through a lot of them!

As for guess... I think 10/10/12 - 10:12 pm 7lb12oz 54cm

 

[sarahincanada]

I didnt know there was specific maternity pads, I will look for them and the linen saver/magic cool we dont have here, I will have to try and find similar

I think I will have hubby tell his parents in advance the name, so I dont have to deal with it. his dad is a quiet polish man so its not something I would really talk to him about personally. Im just a bit undecided on which one now that hubby has questioned it.

thanks for the pdf mummy

 

[NDH]

I found disposable maternity pads were really uncomfortable. They were so thick they put pressure on my stitches. But I was a lucky light bleeder too (I used 20 maternity pads during my 4 days in hospital) and then switched to cloth when I got home.

The drawback of sharing names ahead of the birth is people always think they're entitled to have a say. I've never understood that thinking. Sure when I've been told what friends or family are planning to name their belly bub I've had thoughts of what a strange name they've chosen but I would never ever dare to comment! (unless there was an unfortunate nickname that the initials spelled or something just in case the parents hadn't thought of it but if that situation were to arise I'd come up with a tactful way to mention it I'd hope). But when the baby is already born and presented with his or her name it's a lot harder for people to say something bad about it.

I hope you and hubby are able to come to an agreement about the name you use. DH did that to me about the same gestation too with our girls name (which was going to be Moriah) and I was so upset cause I'd spent months thinking of a girl named Moriah. But I'm sure it will be more difficult to change the name if that's what the two of you decide as you KNOW he's a boy and to you he's only been Cieran Michael.