Limerick Bump thread :-)

Hey girls, not sure it counts as a Limerick bump at this stage, but I gave birth there last Tuesday and have a little Limerick baby The hospital is ridiculous, couldn't sleep at all the whole week (I had a section so kept in a bit longer despite the bed shortage!) Between the heat, noise and constant interruptions, I think I went a bit mad from it all! They had a linen shortage too, had just a sheet and my own bath towel as a blanket the first night! The midwives are absolutely lovely up on the wards and they're really all doing their level best, but that whole cutbacks and early retirement in Feb thing is pretty evident once you're in there if you know what I mean. I genuinely feel really sorry for and have huge respect for them all with the stress of their jobs. And they're still all lovely.

My top tips for surviving the public wards: bring your own light blanket, even though its probably way too hot for it, to have it just in case is no harm, i went to bed roasting and woke up shivering. Also, pillow cases. The pillows are there weird plastic covered things, and with that linen shortage you'd be lucky to get one even if you have more than one pillow. actually, just bring your own pillow. I sent boyfriend on a super sneaky pillow robbing mission but you might not find too many, and those back rest head board things are uncomfortable! Get someone to bring you in ice packs, even if you don't have apparent need of them, they're just lovely respite from the fricken sticky heat! I got a few reusable ones in the pharmacy that i kept sending home in rotation also, self heating pads (i found cura-heat 12hour heat pads in mcCabes in the crescent pretty cheap) after my section I got this thing they called shoulder tip pain (something to do with the spinal block, i don't rightly remember what it is exactly, bloody sore though!) and the heat was good for sorting that out without having to bother the poor midwives. If you like your tea not stone-cold, bring a travel mug that keeps things a bit warmer for longer, you'd have so many distractions inside there I rarely got to drink my tea while it was still hot! Lucozade energy tablets are handy (be wide of fizzy drinks for the first day or two after the birth!) if you're having trouble sleeping like I did, just to keep you ticking over. Earplugs! Seriously, I couldn't get over the silence when I got home finally! This was more for trying to sleep during the day when there was OH in with me to mind baby than for night time though, personally I didn't get much use out of them, but it was nice to have the option. Bring stuff for the shower, you'll feel so much better for it! And bring stuff to shower-substitute just in case you run into any complications that leave you not able...I was a bit too stiff and sore to stand too long and couldn't catch my breath standing upright for a few days, as well as a pretty hard core looking pressure bandage (not common at all) that i couldn't get wet, so wasn't able for the shower really, I had a bit of a not so straight forward delivery though so this wouldn't apply to everyone, but to be prepare for the just in case: dry shampoo and a facecloth spongebath for the win! Be prepared for any eventuality ladies, nothing like being festival fresh when you're trying to feel human in fairness! bleugh! No idea what the pain relief rigmarole is for a straightforward natural birth, but for section there was some pretty spacey moments from all the morphine etc, so a notebook would have been handy just to keep note of feeds and things doctors said to you and all that, baby brain doesn't go away straight away either! Oh ya, and theres this one catering beeatch (an older blondie yoke) who has no concept of privacy and will just pull back your curtain without any warning regardless of who else is in the room or checking if you're decent or what, play wide and if you hear the trolley rattling around (usually between 7.30-8am yes, she'll wake you up, 11, 1, 4 i think?) Often Id find I wasn't able to eat on her schedule, be that from having to tend to baby, or deal with doctors coming round or whatever, she was the only one who got thick about not being finished when she came round for the tray, the rest of them were sound about leaving it a while, but she was just a pain in the unmentionables, so a lunchbox to stash bits when she was on duty would have been handy too! bah I'm actually tormented just thinking about her now! yes, things a ridiculous hospital bag list, I found the ones i found online in the various due in...threads I only used half of, my advice is just plan for the first night/next day, and have someone bring things to you as you need them instead of trying to bring everything at once. If I think of anything else I'll post again later, still a bit spacey to be honest! Oh ya, and if you spray deoderant on the ward you're a gowl, go to the bathroom for that like!

Best of luck to ye all

Hey Pushkii, ya caught you stalking me a few times alright Getting there now on recovery alright thanks.
No I didn't notice them being too strict on anything to be honest, they left visitors off for an extra hour or so til they left of their own accord, I suppose its less work for them if you have someone in to help you longer! The thing about the loads of stuff is more for yourself really, if you're in bad form after delivery a lot of clutter is last thing you need! Alright I was pretty lucky that i had a big enough space next to a window that I had my eye on for a day or two and moved over to once the lady in there went home, the beds over the other side of the ward (on the same side as the bathroom) had considerably less space, you'd be stuck for room if you had too much with you, and like i said i had a lot of stuff i never even used too so play it by ear on that one!

Rachineire is super organised to be fair, scarily so. More than I am and I already have the baby!

I didn't do any of the antenatal classes at all so can't really help on that one!

Thanks littlemissteach and Rachineire for those tips, will have a look in those places when we go up. Hopefully might pick up few bits and pieces, or least get some ideas so I'm not so lost!

hey ladies,ye were asking about the 3d scans, i had one done in mdu just off o Cornell street, couldn't recommend them any higher, they were fantastic there, not one bit rushed or anything, and the amount of pics we got and the dvd too was amazing experience, 195euro worth every bit of it

Thanks sitting pretty, I had appointment with my GP yesterday and he put my mind at ease about it all. he is well used to me arriving in like a headless chicken, all worried about something!