MSE Pregnancy Club 24

Gillyx

If it's just for daytime naps one mattress should be enough I think. They only recommend a sleep mattress if you'l be using it for over night sleeps. I bought one anyway, for all it cost and my LO sleeps like a dream in his carry cot.

Forgot to mention earlier too, we're using MAM bottles here, and they are bloody fabulous. My only regret is not buying them from the get go and I'd recommend to anyone. They're anti colic, and apparently very good if you're breast feeding and giving a bottle. The teats are silky soft and they can be self sterilised in the microwave, eliminating the need for a bulky steriliser. They really are great

alizee

I'm also planning to breastfeed but I got a load of stuff on offer with the amazon black Friday deals so I have got bottles, steriliser, pump, etc. my friend has also given me a load of teats she didn't get around using so I ended up with quite a lot of equipment!

Charli82

Well nothing has happened as yet so unless little one decides to make an appearance overnight then I am off to be induced in the morning. A bit scared but also excited to meet baby and pleased that the end is finally in site.
Thank you for all the supportive posts everyone, there are times when this thread has kept me sane!
I may be able to update you all from the hospital but depends how things progress and how long it all takes.
Hopefully I will be able to share baby news with you all soon.
Hugs and luck to everyone

Xxx

lisa26_2

silly_moo wrote: »

And last thing - why does everyone want to leave the hospital ASAP? I always thought it's better to stay longer in case there's something wrong with the LO. Surely they won't be able to check much in a few hrs? Admittedly, I've never been admitted to a hospital so don't know what it's like.

I always said I didn't think I'd be in any rush to leave hospital and it turned out I was right! DD was born on thurs afternoon and we didn't leave until Mon evening. We're very lucky though, our hospital has mostly single rooms and a few twin rooms. I was in a twin room but had it to myself until 11pm on the last night. It was almost as good as being private. With baby being so tiny and having problems getting feeding sorted I was very grateful to be there with lots of very nice staff on the end of the bell to help me gain confidence with it all before coming home.

dizziblonde wrote: »

I bought a bottle/pump/steriliser/cool bag set - even though I planned to breastfeed... glad I did really since events overtook us and she came out too early to be able to latch well (she still can't even though she'd be 37 weeks gestation next Tuesday)... meant I could at least come home fully set up to pump and feed.

Make sure the steriliser fits your microwave easily though - Avent ones don't fit the smaller new-style microwaves well at all (have to take the glass plate out of ours) - and in the end we gave up and went trekking everywhere for the old fashioned bucket and Milton system which suits us much more since I'm constantly hoiking breast pump parts out of it. To be honest - I think I'll probably crack and go over to formula feeding sooner rather than later - but I know I at least tried to get some breast milk into her however I could (but this is an internal battle of conscience/guilt/fear of being judged by some very nasty militant breastfeeding people that I'm still working through in my mind and many many tears have been shed over this)

Hi Dizzi, I didn't realise you were also expressing. I am still struggling to get DD to latch on but haven't resorted to bottles yet. tonight for the first time she has breastfed for 10mins at one feed and 20 mins at the next feed so hopefully we may be getting somewhere, she still took huge cup feeds of EBM afterwards both times though.

We also bought a microwave steriliser but ended up changing to a coldwater one for exactly the same reasons as you. plus, microwaving for 7 mins every 3 hours and having to wait for it to finish in the middle of the night was a nightmare....our microwave beeps every minute until you open it once its finished so I couldn't just set it going and leave it!

little_miss_moneysaver_3

Just catching up quickly, been a busy day on here.

Good luck Charli for tomorrow. Hope it's not too long before mummy cuddles. Looking forward to hearing your good news :-)

We've got our 20 weeks scan (at 20+5) at 08:30 in the morning. I'm really nervous all of a sudden, but excited at seeing our little man again :-)

I wasn't knocking hospital stays at all so I hope I didn't come across as anti hospital. And most of friends that have needed to stay in post baby have had nothing but praise for the care they received. I guess a lot of it is I work in the hospital so I don't wanna be spending too much time there during maternity leave and I'm in love with the idea of my home birth and being the boss for me I'd rather just go straight into family life than going along with hospital rules and policy and sharing the experience with the world.

Good night all, hope everyone sleeps well xx

little_miss_moneysaver_3

Gillyx wrote: »

Forgot to mention earlier too, we're using MAM bottles here, and they are bloody fabulous. My only regret is not buying them from the get go and I'd recommend to anyone. They're anti colic, and apparently very good if you're breast feeding and giving a bottle. The teats are silky soft and they can be self sterilised in the microwave, eliminating the need for a bulky steriliser. They really are great

These are 1/3 in Argos saw them earlier whilst browsing online. Think three bottles for £9.99. Not sure if they're cheaper anywhere else. Think other MAM bits had money off too if anyone was thinking of buying anything.

emsbet

Good luck tomorrow with the induction Charli

Also good luck at your scan tomorrow LMM

xx

dizziblonde

lisa26 wrote: »

Hi Dizzi, I didn't realise you were also expressing. I am still struggling to get DD to latch on but haven't resorted to bottles yet. tonight for the first time she has breastfed for 10mins at one feed and 20 mins at the next feed so hopefully we may be getting somewhere, she still took huge cup feeds of EBM afterwards both times though.

We also bought a microwave steriliser but ended up changing to a coldwater one for exactly the same reasons as you. plus, microwaving for 7 mins every 3 hours and having to wait for it to finish in the middle of the night was a nightmare....our microwave beeps every minute until you open it once its finished so I couldn't just set it going and leave it!

I was very selfish on that front - if I'd carried on trying to get her to latch (with no support whatsoever it was never going to work out) - they'd have kept me in that hellhole hospital at least a week, probably a fortnight longer... and we needed to get home and out of that place - which is why I switched to the bottles.

I feel dreadful I put my own sanity above what was best for her - but we BOTH needed to get home by that point, I was just becoming a shambolic wreck in that ward, they'd destroyed any confidence I had in what I was doing as a mother - and apparently most women switch to bottle feeding just so they can prove what the baby's eating and get the hell outta there.

Haven't even tried re-latching her in a few days - just seems no point as she gets frustrated, I get upset and frustrated and then it ends up with me in a sobbing heap on the sofa... it's like the last part of how I planned everything to crumble completely - the birth went to hell, her early weeks went to hell and the feeding is almost at hell.

little_miss_moneysaver_3

Dizzi I think at the end of the day you have to do what you feel is right when it comes to it. At least Erin is still getting your milk whether directly or by bottle. It must be heartbreaking to plan for all those months and it all seemed to have gone wrong. Sounds like it was the most unsupportive environment for a new mum. You're not selfish at all, Erin needs a sane mother so if bottle feeding her means you get to have her at home and really start finding your feet as a mum with more supportive people helping you then you got to do what is best for you and your family. At this moment she's home and she's feeding, that's the most important thing, she is feeding and getting stronger. When is Erin getting reviewed about her jaundice? Hope it's improving and you dont need to go back to the hospital. Big hugs xxxx

Thanks Emsbet can't drop off to sleep though!

*Redhead*

Congratulations Ladies on your new arrivals. A flurry of babies since i last signed on. Hope you're all well.

And Emsbet. Congrats on Team Blue.

On the bottles front, we've been using expressed milk in MAM and Nuby bottles, and they've both been great. Nuby are squeezy bottles so you can give LO a helping hand, and the MAM ones were fab for a weekend away - No steriliser needed.
Someone gave us 2 Blue Tommee Tippee Bottles, and the teat just keeps collapsing and squirting milk everywhere.
Also got a Suavenix bottle from Boots as a pressie, and it looks great and feeds good too. Pricey though.

Pramwise - We have a Mylo, and i absolutely love it. So easy to fold up, and goes down pretty flat too when folded. The car seat adaptor goes on and off dead easy, as does the car seat. We had a second hand one, but sold that to a friend and bought a new one as i want to keep it for future babies. Little man loves his carrycot, and we use that for daytime naps in the house, so i'd definitely recommend one.

And hospital wise. I'm one for coming home ASAP after birth. First baby - 12 hour discharge time and 2nd Baby - Just under 6 hours. Its just lovely to be in your own space, with your own bed and cups of tea on the go constantly.
And definitely take entertainment, OH and I were playing scrabble on the ipad while waiting for Propess to work :rotfl:

Little man is teething early, so sleepless nights last 2 nights, hence catching up on here.

Hope your induction goes well Charli.

xxxx