MSE Pregnancy Club 28

skintchick

lilmissreading wrote: »

Always alone there's a good thread on this and it was relatively recently. I remembeer feebie queenie from 12-24 thread was posting on it. Something to consider if you haven't is that mat leave is calculated weeks 17-25 so many people suspend to maximise that.

Skint chick - not preachy. Interesting read. I thought babies took to a bottle easier the earlier it was introduced?

Bit of an urban myth, that one. Some babies will take bottles easily, some will always refuse, and many fall in the middle.

The refusers usually prefer being close to mum to feed, so they refuse because it's not mum rather than anything else.

You can also use a cup to feed babies, and some will do that but not a bottle.

The main thing is that introducing one before six weeks may well affect your longer-term breastfeeding relationship and/or milk supply, whereas waiting till six weeks won't. And they are still v v tiny at six weeks so it's not like you're missing the boat on introducing bottles if that's what you want to do.

The basic crux of breastfeeding is that what is removed from the breasts is the amount the breasts think they should make, especially after six weeks once the supply settles down, so you have to make sure you remove the amount the baby needs, or your supply will drop (say if you introduce some formula, you will still need to express those feeds or your supply will be compromised, or if you use some previously expressed milk from your freezer stash, you still need to express at some point in the same day to keep your supply up, and as you remove less expressing than a baby can, it is harder to keep up your supply if you use lots of bottles, although it can be done, it is much harder work than feeding directly).

skintchick

Lemon_Tree wrote: »

credit crunch I'm not worried so much about baby being too big to be delivered more that I'm not convinced i can stretch that far - i don't think i could get a 10cm gap between my legs they'd have to be in different postcodes lol

You'll stretch! Just don;t think about it too much It's 10cms inside you and think how much your uterus and tummy have stretched so far. our bodies are awesome and capable of birthing.

monty-doggy

skintchick wrote: »

This is a useful leaflet about expressing and storage. http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/BFNExpressing_and_Storing.pdf

I'm going to put my peer supporter hat on now:

Something to bear in mind about expressing is that we do not recommend it before baby is six weeks old. This is for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it interferes with the natural supply and demand which is so important in establishing your supply. During the first six weeks especially you are laying down receptors in your breasts, and missing any feeds, or reducing skin to skin contact which you get during feeds, will affect this process.

Some women do not experience a problem, but many will, and you won;t know which you are until it's too late.

The same applies to nipple confusion. Many babies get confused by the very different actions required to milk the breast versus using a bottle. With bottles, the milk just pours out into their mouth, and the teat is only just inside their mouth.

With breastfeeding, the nipple is down the back of the baby's throat and the tongue is used to milk the breast (this is the action that's so good for jaw development and subsequently speech) and the milk only comes when they work for it.

This difference can create problems for babies, including bottle preference (because some babies don;t want to work for their milk!) and confusion over which technique to use.

Additionally, expressing is hard work, even with a very good double pump, and lots of women find they can;t get very much out with a pump.

Baby is much more efficient than expressing, and what you can pump is no reflection of your supply/yield, and there are women for whom expressing simply doesn;t work despite their having plenty of milk.

Can I ask why you don;t want to feed in public? Lots of mums feel shy at first, but gradually work up to feeding out and about and soon realise pretty much no-one can tell, and no-one can see anything (because there is a baby's head in the way!).

It can be daunting at first, but a little practice at home in front of the mirror, and perhaps using a cover if you want to, can help make it an easy experience.

Please feel free to ask me questions, or if you'd like to talk to a trained peer supporter you can call the National Breastfeeding Helpline on 0300 100 0212and talk through how you feel about it and maybe come up with a plan of action.

You may also find you feel differently once baby has arrived.

Of course, expressing is something lots of women like to do after the first six weeks, and it's not a bad thing, just ideally to be avoided in the early weeks unless you have a premature baby.

Hope that helps a bit and isn't too preachy

Thank you!

I'm funny about being seen in public, I hate my body being seen and I'm very private. I had a nasty experience and was abused when I was younger and even now I cry when I have a smear. I'm dreading giving birth I don't want anyone near or looking at me.
My thought on expressing was if I need to nip out and leave baby home with oh. Haha I was actually thinking the next sale on Boxing Day!! I want to buy my baby lots of nice clothes!

MrsC....tobe

skintchick wrote: »

You'll stretch! Just don;t think about it too much It's 10cms inside you and think how much your uterus and tummy have stretched so far. our bodies are awesome and capable of birthing.

The thought of it all has me scared s**tless!!!

Whattodonow

hi all

had my 28 wk growth scan yest, and been told i have placenta praevia. Got another scan at 34 weeks and im hoping it has moved by then because now i am terrified. I have been spoiled by a pretty easy pregnancy so far so this has come as a shock.

regarding whooping cough vaccine my Mw seemed to be trying to put me off yest. She said its only been used since oct 2012 so there are no long term studies. First babies to have it are only 1.5 now. Im wondering whether to avoid it. More reading needed i think...

SewIt_2

WTDN - I believe (but could be massively wrong) that most (something like 97%) of placentas move up, so fingers crossed yours will do. wow - 28 weeks already, time is moving on!

Lilmiss - yeah for being on mat leave! Sounds like you have lots of lovely things to keep you occupied. enjoy! :j

MrsC - I share your scared S***less feeling, but am just blocking it out for now!

Skint - thanks for the info on boob v bottle, I never really understood why it was such a big deal to switch, but I get it now. Hope all the signs you are getting mean baby is well on the way! Keep us posted.

Monty - maybe you could practice covering up with a shawl or large scarf so you feel more confident that it won't slip off when baby comes and its for real?

Lemon - hope baby turns soon, sounds like good advice from skint.

AFM - another routine MW app today and I'll be 26 weeks tomorrow. :j bump getting bigger every day and lots of kicks. Can now see my tummy move with big kicks!

Commonwealth Games fever is in full swing here in Glasgow. The city is buzzing and we're off to our first event tomorrow. Exciting times!

Sorry to anyone that I've missed xx

Whattodonow

Aw, so exciting isn't it Sewit

SewIt_2

Sure is WTDN. Was this time last year that our first ivf failed and we thought life was awful. Fast forward a year to now and things are very different! We are all so lucky

time2deal

We are very lucky. This time last year I was still waiting for my 6 month all clear, and still hasn't had a proper period. Was starting my pre-ivf health kick, while also being told t be realistic and look at surrogacy options.

I think the clinics underestimated my stubbornness!

But we are so so lucky. I remember that whenever I feel sorry for myself - this is all worth it.

skintchick

monty-doggy wrote: »

Thank you!

I'm funny about being seen in public, I hate my body being seen and I'm very private. I had a nasty experience and was abused when I was younger and even now I cry when I have a smear. I'm dreading giving birth I don't want anyone near or looking at me.
My thought on expressing was if I need to nip out and leave baby home with oh. Haha I was actually thinking the next sale on Boxing Day!! I want to buy my baby lots of nice clothes!

You may find you feel like that when baby arrives, or you may not, but you sound like you're preparing for it early, which is brilliant. There are plenty of covers available that you can use, or you can use a scarf or blanket, to totally cover up while feeding, so it's worth having a look a look at what is out there and thinking about what might suit you.

Equally, you may never want to feed in public and that is also fine. Lots of shops have dedicated baby feeding rooms - why not find out where those are now, while you're pregnant, so you have a list and are prepared for when you have baby? John Lewis is usually good for a nice room, and if you are prepared to say where you are then maybe someone on here will know of others local to you.

You can shop online in the sales, earlier than the shops open, and without all the elbowing, so maybe that's an option for Boxing Day? If you're not feeding direct, and it's early days , you will still fill up and need to express anyway, otherwise you will leak and you also risk blocked ducts, engorgement and even mastitis, which is a nasty infection in the breasts.

The fact you're thinking ahead is great, because it enables you to come up with a plan that will suit you. If I can help any more please just ask