July 2016 Babies Club

dori_dormer

Dowhatyoulove, my sister was furious at my mum who told her sisters and friends even though my sister told her she'd tell them when she wanted to. It was her news after all! My mum flatly denied telling anyone, but when my sister got random texts from aunts she couldn't hide it anymore. But that's my mum for you!

Some people just have no respect for others privacy and business. I mean we know they are excited for us, but if you specifically say keep it quiet for now, they should!

I think my mum is more careful now since we had the second miscarriage, as she knows how fragile it all is.

Glad your OH is so excited!

dowhatyoulove

Dori, anyone I said to at Christmas, I told them that me and OH wanted to keep the whole thing on the down low for a while.. Just very annoying!

I do love that OH is excited, keeps asking when he can start chatting to my belly!

dori_dormer

My belly is definitly starting to show! My oh likes to kiss it and give it a rub lol! So now my two year old is rubbing my belly and trying to kiss it in public! He also lifts up his own top and rubs his belly!

It's all very cute I still think it's weird though! I haven't really gotten excited yet this pregnancy, hopefully when I can feel baby move and the nausea goes away The excitement will kick in!

Ciarrai76

dori_dormer wrote: »

My belly is definitly starting to show! My oh likes to kiss it and give it a rub lol! So now my two year old is rubbing my belly and trying to kiss it in public! He also lifts up his own top and rubs his belly!

It's all very cute I still think it's weird though! I haven't really gotten excited yet this pregnancy, hopefully when I can feel baby move and the nausea goes away The excitement will kick in!

I'm not really showing a lot, I can still fit into my normal clothes, although if I do wear anything a bit fitting you can tell I've a belly! I feel a bit paranoid about wearing anything fitting, eventhough I shouldn't as I'm almost 14 weeks, but I think its because I don't look pregnant, and paranoid that people will think I've got fat...I'm very vain hahaha!

I do have more of a bump at night though!

My mother found it hard not to tell people, she's very excited, as is my dad of course, but she kept telling people who don't live here or far away. I didn't mind too much. Since I said they can tell people, I'm getting lots of messages of congratulations!

I'm a little bit like you Dori, not overly excited yet. Not that I'm not happy, I think its more that I'm still really trying to take it all in. I actually forget I'm pregnant half the time! Like you I think it will sink in more when I am showing properly and feeling movement! I am still in shock about it all. I keep daydreaming about it and what it will be like when we have a baby! We won't know what hit us! Our lie ins will be a thing of the past...I think that's going to be the toughest part, we've been together over 12 years, so very used to it being just us!

dori_dormer

Pro tip lol: alternate lie ins on your days off! Now a lie in may only be til 8am, but it really helps if you know your not the one getting up and changing the first nappy, giving the first bottle etc.

I think I'm gonna try breastfeeding again this time. Hope I'll have more confidence 2 nd time round.

I actually get a little worried when my boy sleeps past 7.30 lol! Although he was a horrendous sleeper until 18mths old. Awake every 2 hrs. We were losing our minds! Funny how your brain selectively removes those memories lol!

Ciarrai76

dori_dormer wrote: »

Pro tip lol: alternate lie ins on your days off! Now a lie in may only be til 8am, but it really helps if you know your not the one getting up and changing the first nappy, giving the first bottle etc.

I think I'm gonna try breastfeeding again this time. Hope I'll have more confidence 2 nd time round.

I actually get a little worried when my boy sleeps past 7.30 lol! Although he was a horrendous sleeper until 18mths old. Awake every 2 hrs. We were losing our minds! Funny how your brain selectively removes those memories lol!

thanks for the tip!

I am hoping to breastfeed, although bit nervous about it too and the fact it means its me getting up all the time! Even my mom, who breastfed all 3 of us, said maybe don't bother! She was sort of joking, but not at the same time!

Obviously I'll see how it goes, my sister couldn't get my nephew to breastfeed, so I know it doesn't always go to plan! But I would like to try, and I know there's lots of benefits to it. My friend who breastfed lost loads of weight from it and was thinner than before she got pregnant! so I like that idea!

So many things to think about and plan. Can't believe in less than 6 months we'll have a baby! I don't know when or where to start with buying cots etc. I don't want to do it too early, but we do need to get ourselves sorted. So much decluttering to do in the house, spare rooms are a mess and even without a baby coming, that is doing my head in, so I am glad we have no choice but to sort it all out and clear out cupboards in the room we are planning to put the baby in. I usually store my seasonal clothes in there, so I'll need to get a new wardrobe for the other spare room! lol Ah the joys! :rolleyes:

spottybananas

Even though it's you doing all the night waking with bf you don't have to go all the way to the kitchen to make up a bottle (you're supposed to do them as needed now rather than in batches). And if you cosleep (which I only did when he was bigger as I find feeding lying down too tough when he was really little) you barely even have to wake up, just latch baby on and snooze again I know you've mentioned you're in Tralee, there's a great bf meet up group in St. Brendans Pastoral Centre and Cuidiu counsellor in Banna. Join the Extended Breastfeeding in Ireland page on fb too.

Ciarrai76

spottybananas wrote: »

Even though it's you doing all the night waking with bf you don't have to go all the way to the kitchen to make up a bottle (you're supposed to do them as needed now rather than in batches). And if you cosleep (which I only did when he was bigger as I find feeding lying down too tough when he was really little) you barely even have to wake up, just latch baby on and snooze again I know you've mentioned you're in Tralee, there's a great bf meet up group in St. Brendans Pastoral Centre and Cuidiu counsellor in Banna. Join the Extended Breastfeeding in Ireland page on fb too.

ah thanks for the info, that's good to know! are you based in Kerry?
I don't know if I'll be able to manage a co-sleeper cot in our room, I don't think it would fit. We have a really badly designed bedroom, with no way to move stuff around. I must check it out though before ruling it out.

dori_dormer

We got a co sleeper when my boy was about 6 months cos he was always in the bed anyway and we only had a double. Found the Moses basket a pain in the face as I had to sit up to be able to lift my son up and over the sides. Also it was feb and bloody freezing! July will be easier

You can also do hacks to smaller more manageable cots to make them co sleepers. Also there was a cool cot(likely expensive) that I saw that was like a semi circle that attached to the bed and then you added parts to make it bigger as baby got bigger. Looked handy!

One thing I'm definitly doing this time round is booking a la le he league consultant to visit me straight after baby is born. I followed the hospital 'lactation consultant' - read midwife who likes breastfeeding, didn't find out that they have zero qualifications til much later! She told me to pump and top up with formula which is actually the wrong thing to do when supply is just comign in so I was setting myself up for failure straight away. Phn was helpful but told me same things as hospital. Only when I was still struggling at 5 weeks did I get a real consultant finally and they told me he had a tongue tie and had tight muscles in his face from possibly being a bit smushed in the womb( he was turned head down for about 6 weeks at the end) saw a cranial osteopath who fixed him right up, but it was too late for my sanity and we switched to bottles full time.

So basically this time I'm going to be fully prepared with a cranial osteopath appointment and lactation appointment all lined up!

Also going to do cloth nappies from birth. I'm already enjoying buying the teeny nappies!

olaola

12 weeks today! My belly pops out at night after dinner, but until then, it's normal enough. Was unusually exhausted last night & this morning. Like epic jet lag & my dreams were MENTAL!

On the breastfeeding... I think changing your mindset from 'I'm going to try' to 'I'm GOING to breastfeed' is important.
It IS hard, and you will get very little postnatal support, unless you're lucky. Think about Scandinavian women, up to 99% of them breastfeed. What's so different about their boobs? Physically we can ALL do it. Support here is just woejus. A friend of mine only had one working boob & she still fed for a year.

My combined care is looked after a midwife in my local practice, and she's also a lactation consultant, which was such a help. Her tip was to read up as much as you can before hand. Also, there's a local breastfeeding group which will be hosted by your PHN, you can go before you have the baby to meet everyone. I made some great friends there & we're still all really close. It's a fabulous resource.

Great info here:
http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/, Dr Jack Newman, this fella is the GOD of breastfeeding. Loads of tips & videos here. He will also reply to queries if you mail him. His factsheet will be the one they hand to you in antenatal BF classes.
http://kellymom.com/ Loads of good info here too.
For co-sleeping:
http://cosleeping.nd.edu/safe-co-sleeping-guidelines/ - Prof James McKenna would be considered a world expert on it. Excellent advice here.

What really hit it home to me was finding out about the breastmilk bank in Fermanagh - it can literally mean the difference between life & death for preemies.

Also, I was back into my jeans in a week and I am 8kg lighter than I was before the pregnancy.

dori_dormer

Thanks olaola!

I think I'll stick with 'try' for the moment, as I was so determined last time and failing really contributed to my pnd. I had everyone telling me 'I told you so' and it was heartbreaking. I dint find the phn breast feeding meeting very good as the phn was the same one giving me bad info. None of them noticed the tongue tie except the professional. And there were about 30 women at the meeting so was hard to meet the same people every week.

I think I'm much more informed this time round so really hoping it works out. But I won't practically kill myself trying To make it work like last time. I'd rather not be so stressed in the first few weeks of my babies life, as I think the babies really pick up on it!

Ciarrai76

Does Anyone know if H&M in Cork do maternity wear? Going to be in cork in a couple of weeks and trying to plan where to go for jeans etc. Same with topshop cork?

dowhatyoulove

Haven't had a baby before but I would love to breastfeed. Living abroad, most people here do it and there seems to be a good support network.

Thank you for the links there Olaola, I'm definitely going to look them up and try and prepare a bit!

Stepped on the scales today - feeling a little down by the slight (very slight) weight gain I've had but as I'm nearly at 3 months, I expect that I'll begin to gain at some point!

FURET

Hope it's OK for me to join in - my wife isn't much of a typist, but she does read this thread. We're first time parents and just started week 11 on Saturday. We went for a scan yesterday. The baby was "asleep", until the doctor asked my wife to turn her body over and back to wake the baby up - cue water dancing :-)

We are going for the down syndrome test next week. We'll be glad to have it and the first trimester behind us. Has anyone else done this test yet?

dori_dormer

FURET wrote: »

Hope it's OK for me to join in - my wife isn't much of a typist, but she does read this thread. We're first time parents and just started week 11 on Saturday. We went for a scan yesterday. The baby was "asleep", until the doctor asked my wife to turn her body over and back to wake the baby up - cue water dancing :-)

We are going for the down syndrome test next week. We'll be glad to have it and the first trimester behind us. Has anyone else done this test yet?

I'm due to do this test next fri. They take loads of measurements of the baby and then give you a percentage likelihood of things like Down syndrome.

I feel it's a bit unnecessary somewhere like ireland, where there's no abortion allowed. But it might help you prepare a bit if the likelihood was high.

When I lived in Israel they did genetic testing as standard and thankfully I did not have a marker for downs. Also in Israel they would have aborted at the first sign of an abnormality. There are a very small amount of people with disabilities there. So much so in nearly 2 yes there I saw only 1 person with downs, and their parents were very old. Was weird

Ciarrai76

FURET wrote: »

Hope it's OK for me to join in - my wife isn't much of a typist, but she does read this thread. We're first time parents and just started week 11 on Saturday. We went for a scan yesterday. The baby was "asleep", until the doctor asked my wife to turn her body over and back to wake the baby up - cue water dancing :-)

We are going for the down syndrome test next week. We'll be glad to have it and the first trimester behind us. Has anyone else done this test yet?

welcome to you and your wife and congrats!

I don't think I'll go for that test, apart from I'm not sure its even available in my hospital through the public system, I don't personally want to do it. Hope it goes well for you though.

dori_dormer

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

welcome to you and your wife and congrats!

I don't think I'll go for that test, apart from I'm not sure its even available in my hospital through the public system, I don't personally want to do it. Hope it goes well for you though.

If you went for a scan at around the 12 week mark, they would have been checking for these things as standard during the scan. They may just not have told you unless somethign came up.

I know if you are older / at risk they can also take amniotic fluid but it's a bit invasive.

Ciarrai76

dori_dormer wrote: »

If you went for a scan at around the 12 week mark, they would have been checking for these things as standard during the scan. They may just not have told you unless somethign came up.

I know if you are older / at risk they can also take amniotic fluid but it's a bit invasive.

My scan should have been at 12 weeks, but due to work I had to postpone. Thankfully having it on Wednesday, so will be 14 weeks. I am 39, so bit worried about it as it is! I am trying not to think of it, I can't change it if it was to be the case, but trying to think positive that all will be fine. I remember when a friend of mine was pregnant about 7 years ago, she went for a private scan to check for downs. Thankfully she was perfect.

I am willing away the days until its Wednesday! My letter states I need to take a urine sample with me to the hospital. Can you get those little urine tubs in a chemist, cos I don't have one I can use!?

dori_dormer

I think you can yes! Or what I used to do as I always had to pee before gettign in the car, and then I'd have no pee left in the hospital, was steal a few from the hospital to have a supply.


Yeah I don't know why we are really having the test. It's highly unlikely I'd be able to abort my baby, especially after having 2 miscarriages. Maybe just for peace of mind? Although I'm only 31. I find it very strange that other countries are almost 'pro ' abortion. Being raised in ireland and every life is precious, and no options mindset I think has made me quite anti abortion. But not in life threatening situations, or where the baby would never live etc and I'm all for choice but I found the thought of aborting because of downs etc very uncomfortable. Especially since forgein friends of mine are quite comfortable with the idea. But then again they would probably use the word practical.... It's a weird one...

Cerocco

Hi ladies I could be wrong but when I went in for my 12 week scan the midwife said that to test for downs is a blood test between 12-14 weeks. It's €500 and is sent to America for analysis, it lets you know up to 99% if the baby has any genetic defects. After that it's an amnio where they take a sample of the amniotic fluid later in the pregnancy. At the 20 week scan they do all the measurements for any congenital defects. Again just going on what the midwife told me in Holles st

spottybananas

Great post olaola

Ciarrai I'm not based in Kerry but I'm from Tralee, and a friend was telling me about the great group there in St Brendans.

rainbow kirby

Cerocco wrote: »

Hi ladies I could be wrong but when I went in for my 12 week scan the midwife said that to test for downs is a blood test between 12-14 weeks. It's €500 and is sent to America for analysis, it lets you know up to 99% if the baby has any genetic defects. After that it's an amnio where they take a sample of the amniotic fluid later in the pregnancy. At the 20 week scan they do all the measurements for any congenital defects. Again just going on what the midwife told me in Holles st

That's probably the Harmony test or similar. There's also the nuchal translucency measurement at the 12 week scan combined with blood tests to produce a risk number.

Flutterby80

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

My scan should have been at 12 weeks, but due to work I had to postpone. Thankfully having it on Wednesday, so will be 14 weeks. I am 39, so bit worried about it as it is! I am trying not to think of it, I can't change it if it was to be the case, but trying to think positive that all will be fine. I remember when a friend of mine was pregnant about 7 years ago, she went for a private scan to check for downs. Thankfully she was perfect.

I am willing away the days until its Wednesday! My letter states I need to take a urine sample with me to the hospital. Can you get those little urine tubs in a chemist, cos I don't have one I can use!?

Hi I went for my 12 week scan last Wednesday and brought a sample in a tub that I bought in the chemist but the midwife asked me to give another sample while I was there as she wasn't convinced the tub was sterile.
I'm 35 and this is my first baby so I've been a bit worried about the risk of Downes too but she seemed to be having a really good look at everything during the scan and said everything seems fine. I'm hoping that she was checking for abnormalities or would it be too soon to tell??

dori_dormer

I think the nunchal scan has to be done between 12-14 weeks otherwise it's not accurate anymore. That's what I'm having on Friday.

Decided last night to not take my evening tablet as I felt fine. Couldn't go to sleep til after 1am was all jittery and restless. Hubby got sick of me and slept in the other room! Woke at half 4 with a vivid nightmare. Up At 7.30 absolutely wrecked and began vomiting. Feel like crap now even though I've taken my mornign tablet. Think I'll continue with 2 a day for the next while.
Really thought the sickness would be easing off now at nearly 14 weeks.

olaola

I've just rung this morning to book my Nuchal Translucency test. Have the leaflet here...
It's done between 11-13+6 weeks & they also take a blood test. That combined with your age and a few other factors, they will come up with a statistical result. It's not definitive, but it can help you decide if you wish to go forward with any other testing. CVS & Amniocentesis comes with a 1% risk of miscarriage, so it's a tough decision.

I'm not sure of the Harmony or Panorama tests are more accurate than the NTS. TBH it's shocking how little information there is about antenatal testing available here in Ireland. I'm finding it hard to find out things.

olaola

dowhatyoulove wrote: »

Haven't had a baby before but I would love to breastfeed. Living abroad, most people here do it and there seems to be a good support network.

Thank you for the links there Olaola, I'm definitely going to look them up and try and prepare a bit!

Hope it helps! Depending on what country you're in, you'll probably get great support... you'll be able to help all of us with all that you learn

DSN

The harmony test is 99.99% accurate as they examine babys / placenta bloods which is going around in mothers blood so its non invasive - just a blood test from 10 weeks. I was in & out in 1/2 hour got it done at the beacon along with a scan for €450 as am 43 I am very nervous about this pregnancy I want to know what's ahead. It really bugs me the assumption by some is the reason we'd do it is because we automatically thinking 'abort' argh I feel like I have to 'justify' why we doing it. The result takes 10 working days so have another few days to wait.

the_sonandmoon

Im keeping my head well and truly in the sand about all of those tests. I saw the baby move and kick and dance, and the midwife took all the appropriate measurements and said there was nothing of concern. That will do me.

Into the second semester as of yesterday - yahoo! It came with 4 great big spots and a coldsore! I have a few more pelvic niggles last night and today that I have had for ages, but generally Im feeling well and not as tired at my desk as I was pre-Christmas.

dowhatyoulove

My doctor does have the NIFTY test I think but I'm just going to do the NT rest and skip it as I think it's an unjustified cost. They aren't diagnostic tools so if something does come up in the NT scan, I'll go for a diagnostic test.

Olaola, unfortunately I'll be paying for lactation consultant, my friends here all breastfed so I'm hoping for their support.

Counting down hours to my scan now on Thursday, I'm getting so nervous! Can't wait for 12 weeks to be up!

Teeley

Some advice please! I was going to order a few maternity tops from Gap online but not sure what size to order! I'm normally a size 8..do I order size 8 maternity or do I need to go up a size?? Their size guide says that UK 8 is a medium in mat wear but the biggest size is a large..I just can't imagine that I should order the second biggest size?! No prob if that's the case (not asking out of vanity, just practicality!)but I just thought I'd check here first. Thanks.