The Pregnancy Chat Thread!

Ms2011

Ah DL, I'm super excited for you getting to meet your baby girl in less than 2 weeks:-)
If there is anything you do or don't want the hospital staff to do during or after the birth like the bottle thing make sure you put it in your birth plan & that the staff are aware of the plan.
Best of luck, enjoy every minute of it x

fitzcoff

dublinlady wrote: »

Thanks for the advise ladies - I really must get organised!!
Wpdd3 had her baby on sat - posted in the jan/feb thread!!! All well I think

Tigress it's a section as baby is breech and vaginal birth to risky

I'm ok with it but there's a few bits that are really crap - like having to go to the recovery room afterwards without the baby - and hubbie has baby in ward - I still don't understand how she will wait for me to be breast fed and I have a fear they will give her a bottle. Poor hubbie won't know what to do for best! I just hope I'm only in the recovery room an hr or so and not the 5 hrs like done of the horror stories I'm of course being told!
I do t mind the surgery now or even the pain after as I just want my baby safely and will do anything that's needed to hold her in my arms. I do worry about having the catheter in etc for the full day and still wonder on the practicalities of looking after her properly myself! But from posters here I've been reassured holles st will do lots too help so I just have to have faith in that!

Spent the day washing her little vests and sleep suits and just can't believe it's only 13 days away!!! I'm so happy - it'll be a crap 24 hrs but hopefully a happy ever after!!!

Is it wrong to be thinking about my next pregnancy already......;)

After my first I had him in recovery with me but he just slept for the first few hours, when I went to BF later that night, he wouldn't take to the breast. The midwife recommended giving him a bottle for the first 2/3 feeds as he was full of mucus as it was a section. His first few feeds were a bottle but after that he latched on for the next 8 months

On my second section I got babs in the recovery room and he latched on and took to the breast straight away.

I was in CUMH and the staff were great,they were on hand to lift baby out of the cot, change nappies, lift him out when he just wanted to snuggle. Plus if you are in a ward with others, they'll lift baby if you need.

IvyTheTerrible

Think I have just had my show...eeeeep! (due Feb 19th!)

Moonbeam

No you are not but remember you can go live your life and she is stuck tired with a huge bump.
She must be on or going on maternity leave in the next few days so why not encourage her to go out with her friends?

How Strange

dublinlady its possible at this stage of your pregnancy to express colostrum so it might be worth considering. You could freeze it and bring it to the hospital. A newborn baby only needs 7ml up to four times per 24 hours for the first 48 hours. A newborn isn't hungry and doesn't need food for about 4 days as they have a store.

Your husband or a midwife could cup or finger feed.

Also if you don't want her to have a bottle of formula put it on your birth plan.

caprilicious

dublinlady wrote: »

Wpdd3 had her baby on sat - posted in the jan/feb thread!!! All well I think

Thanks for the update & congrats Wmpd33!

I can understand that it is upsetting not getting to go down with baby straight away. I didn't have a section last time, but one thing I did notice was the day of labour after flew by in the blink of an eye, so hopefully you wont notice the time pass til you're back in the ward with baby in your arms

How strange, that is excellent advice about expressing colostrum pre-labour, I didn't realise this was possible?

Ivy so excited for you, any contractions or signs of movement? such a god sign having the show though!! fingers crossed for you all will progress soon!

How Strange

caprilicious, apparently so. I only found this out recently. Our bodies are prepared (breasts included) to give birth and nurture our babies from about 36 weeks.

If a hospital wouldn't allow a mother to bring in expressed colostrum but would insist on feeding formula I'd be contacting Siobhan Hourigan the HSE Breastfeeding Coordinator.

IvyTheTerrible

caprilicious wrote: »

Ivy so excited for you, any contractions or signs of movement? such a god sign having the show though!! fingers crossed for you all will progress soon!

Thanks!

Well I had my 9 month gyny appointment today (I'm 38+4 today). The gyny did the internal and gave a surprised "Well miss, you are 2cm DILATED!! and his head is engaged!". I got the shock of my life (in a good way) cos I have had no contractions, no braxton hicks, I don't feel pain anywhere! So basically the baby will more than likely arrive before the end of the weekend! He's going to be a smallish baby too, estimated weight is 2.8kg.

Funny story: The gyny did the swabs for the strep b test, and then when I went to the receptionist, I had to fill out a form for the lab doing the test. There is a section which I thought the lab had to fill out, but actually I had to. So the receptionist was going through the questions, one of them was "Date of the start of pregnancy" and she read it and said "Oh but you don't need to fill that out" and I said "But, yes, it's 22 May 2011" and she was all confused "but, 22nd of may, but sure you're not pregnant are you?". I told her yes, due very soon, and she had to stand up to look, she didn't think I looked pregnant! I know I had my coat on already but still!

The_Conductor

Best of good luck Ivy.
Just under 6 and half pounds- is a nice size baby, not too big, not too little.
Really looking forward to hearing your news.

Best wishes,

Shane

Storminateacup

Well guys I'm back posting in this forum!!

javagal

Congrats Storm!!

Tigeress

Best of luck Ivy!!! Can't wait to hear your news xx

Congrats WMPDD3! Hope you & baby are doing well x

caprilicious

Omg Ivy at this rate you could have a babe in your arms by the time I log on again tomorrow, so exciting!!!
My little girl was born roughly the same weight (6lbs 7ozs)

Congrats storminateacup! When are you due?

How strange it is great to know, just a pity I didn't have any colostrum at all during pregnancy last time & seem to be the same this time.
Hopefully my bewbs will wake up soon and get working, it'd be great to be better prepared this time!

dublinlady

How Strange wrote: »

dublinlady its possible at this stage of your pregnancy to express colostrum so it might be worth considering. You could freeze it and bring it to the hospital. A newborn baby only needs 7ml up to four times per 24 hours for the first 48 hours. A newborn isn't hungry and doesn't need food for about 4 days as they have a store.

Your husband or a midwife could cup or finger feed.

Also if you don't want her to have a bottle of formula put it on your birth plan.

Ok I'm completely intrigued!!! How would this work - what do I store it in and do I take it out of freezer morning of section and just let it thaw during morning and can give it at room temp that day? Sorry I'm a novice to breast feeding also - but I do really want to do it exclusively for 3 months or so!

Birth plan... I ripped it up when heard was having section!! What else can input in there if section it is! I had said no drugs... Haha I won't be saying anything like that now.....!
I'm so worried about my baby being shocked when she's 'born' as shell have had no notice or warning thru contractions! I just want to cuddle and reassure her but I guess my hubby will have to do that now! Wonder what the average length if time to be in the recovery room is?
Thanks for the advise and support ladies - ye are so great to have!!

Redmal

I've been dying to post in this forum for so long!! Felt a bit sick this evening and period is a bit late so I thought on the off chance to do a test. I'm preggo!!!! Been trying for 2 years!! I'm posting here because I don't want to tell anyone I know yet in case I jinx it and I have to tell someone! It's only early days I know but I'm so happy!!!!!!!

IvyTheTerrible

Well I'm still here! No movement (yet!). Definitely feeling him moving lower down but still no pain or contractions!

dublinlady

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Well I'm still here! No movement (yet!). Definitely feeling him moving lower down but still no pain or contractions!

It has to be soon ivy!!! So so exciting!!!! Rest as much as you can in meanwhile!!!! X

Ms2011

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Well I'm still here! No movement (yet!). Definitely feeling him moving lower down but still no pain or contractions!

My midwife said it can be a day or two after a show that labour actually starts, but rest assured you're on your way

Betsie_xr3i

Had a scan in the hospital yesterday, 13 + 5 weeks, all well thank god, baby would not lie still for a good picture though kept jumping around, was funny to watch

IvyTheTerrible

Daily update, still here! Feeling he's gone down even more but no sign of contractions or broken waters!

caprilicious

Redmal wrote: »

I've been dying to post in this forum for so long!! Felt a bit sick this evening and period is a bit late so I thought on the off chance to do a test. I'm preggo!!!! Been trying for 2 years!! I'm posting here because I don't want to tell anyone I know yet in case I jinx it and I have to tell someone! It's only early days I know but I'm so happy!!!!!!!

Aw congratulations Redmal, such brill news!

Ivy, hope you're little baba is going to make an appearance for you very soon & won't keep you waiting much longer

IvyTheTerrible

Still here this morning, think he prefers to stay inside in the warm and not brave the wintery weather!

And now I am dosed with a cold. Ah well, I got through 9 months without a sniffle, just my luck to get one just when he's about to arrive.

Has anyone else lost their mucous plug and been dilated, and then not have the baby for a few days?

dublinlady

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Still here this morning, think he prefers to stay inside in the warm and not brave the wintery weather!

And now I am dosed with a cold. Ah well, I got through 9 months without a sniffle, just my luck to get one just when he's about to arrive.

Has anyone else lost their mucous plug and been dilated, and then not have the baby for a few days?

Hope you feeling ok hun, try and rest as much as ya can!! Hopefully it won't be long now!!
9 days left for me now - anxiety kicking in..., don't know whether to rest now - calm before the storm - or be productive and busy to take me mind off it!!!

How Strange

dublinlady, seeing as a newborn only needs about 7ml colostrum at a time you could hand express a few ml and freeze it in the breast milk storage bags. You can get the storage bags in mothercare. If your section is planned express a little every day for a week (if you can!) and express just before going for the section. If you had 6 x 7ml that would be plenty for 36-48 hours in case you're still recovering.

You could bring the frozen supply in a cooler box or bag with one of those ice pack things to keep it cool. It should warm up very quickly once its at room temperature.

I think the main thing is to put it in your birth plan and make sure the medical staff facilitate it and don't just ignore it and feed formula.

Then as soon as you're awake latch your little girl on or at least start skin to skin contact. While you're recovering your husband could do skin to skin/kangaroo care with her where he puts her inside his jumper and finger or cup feed the colostrum to her.

lonestargirl

@Dublinlady, have they told you if you will be having a general or spinal for your CS? Mine was planned too and I had a spinal, once me + baby were wheeled into recovery they put him straight on my chest and the lactation consultant dropped around a few mins later to help him latch. It's a bit or a weird sensation in your legs but you yourself don't feel groggy or anything.

dublinlady

lonestargirl wrote: »

@Dublinlady, have they told you if you will be having a general or spinal for your CS? Mine was planned too and I had a spinal, once me + baby were wheeled into recovery they put him straight on my chest and the lactation consultant dropped around a few mins later to help him latch. It's a bit or a weird sensation in your legs but you yourself don't feel groggy or anything.

It's a spinal thank god!! But in holles st you can't have your baby in the recovery room as there's other ppl there having various surgeries and it may not be appropriate for them to be around a baby - I.e it may be insensitive - which I completely understand. So unfort that's the part where we will be separated and I'll be missing out! Good to know I won't feel groggy tho cos I was wondering would I be a but out of it - I want to have my wits about me when I'm reunited with the baba as I can't wait to take in every moment!!!


How strange - thanks for that - I wouldn't have had a notion about quantities etc! Mind you I've tried hand expressing briefly and barely managed a ml!! It basically just comes out enough for me to see it but no more!! Sorry - t.m.i!!
After talking to a couple of ppl they said I'd hopefully be out of recovery after an hr or so and could just feed the baby then - she will have to go hungry til then but apparently she shouldn't be too bad for the first hr or two? I think I'll do what you say tho and put it in my birth plan and also have my husband crystal clear she is not to get a bottle! God I sound cruel.... I just really want her to take well to the breast and don't want any confusion for her!

My hormones playing absolute havoc at the mo - threw 2 complete wobblers today - pretty much full on psychotic episodes!! Spent a good hr or so of the day crying in a rage.... My poor husband... I hate admitting afterwards I'm being unreasonable... But today I really had to!!

Hope everyone else doing ok and feeling well?

Keep looking on here every 5 mins to see if ya have any news ivy!!

While I have felt its dragged so much... Now I'm here I can't believe it's nearly over - or just beginning!!!

Cap, neyite, ms2011 - how those bumps coming along?!

caprilicious

Ivy how are you doing now? what a rotten time to get a flu hopefully baby will be in your arms very soon!

Ah Dublinlady you poor thing, the hormones have me driven demented too! I'm so weepy at the most ridiculous of things that wouldn't otherwise cost me a though!
At least you have a lovely understanding husband. Mine gives me space when I'm going into wobbler mode :D

My bump is only MASSIVE these days! or that's how feel's, mad to think it'll get bigger still, there just doesn't seem to any more room to stretch!

How Strange

dublinlady babies aren't hungry for 3-4 days after birth as they have a reserve from their time in the womb. Coincidentally this is around the time your milk comes in which shows how fantastic nature is! Colostrum isn't given to satisfy a hunger but is the most amazing transfer of antibodies from mother to baby which give the baby a huge advantage at the start of its life. That's why it's often called liquid gold.

The medical staff in hospitals sadly don't let nature take its course and the mother is put under huge pressure to give the baby a bottle of up to 25ml of formula soon after birth. If you think a baby can only hold 7ml in their tiny tummies then 25ml seems like a huge quantity. Giving the bottle is purely a box ticking exercise by them so if you want to breastfeed it's important to make it clear especially as you're having a section. I'd put in the birth plan that you don't consent to formula being given even if you're in post c-section recovery and your husband is caring for your daughter.

My friend had twins by c-section and successfully latched both on after being in recovery for 24 hours so it's very normal and achievable.

IvyTheTerrible

Still here! I still have my cold but I feel better today than yesterday. To be honest, now I would prefer if he stays in for a few more days until I feel better! Can't imagine how I will do my breathing techniques with a blocked nose!

Ms2011

Hope you feel better soon Ivy, your little one is certainly keeping you on your toes & keeping you waiting. It'll be so worth it though :-)

Not long now DL, how exciting!!!!!
On the mood swing thing mine are getting worse by the day, I am so snappy. I hear the words coming out of my mouth & the rational part of my brain is telling me what I'm saying is out of order but I can't stop. I don't envy my OH for the next 7 weeks!!

Bump is coming along fine, I think I'm huge but then I see other women at my antenatal classes & the are so much bigger so maybe I'm not that big after all, plus everyone keeps telling me I'm 'neat' so maybe it's all in my mind :-D