MSE Pregnancy Club 28

skintbuthappy81

Becky- my little one is ff and someone should send him the memo about sleeping better at night, I bf him for the first few days but after the birth I literally had no energy left and had a breakdown in the hospital. I found that he slept the same when bf and ff but this is early days so who knows and I guess every baby is different.

To be fair he is a really good baby but always hungry and only seems to want to sleep on us not in his crib which is a pain. Going to be a nightmare with hubby back in work next week, hoping it will get easier.

euronorris

BF is very rewarding, but can be very demanding. There have been times where I've wished I could just pass her over to DH, but I can't.

As for sleep, it's been very hit and miss. We had some bad nights during days 7-10 when she was having a growth spurt. Then we had a couple good nights, with blocks of 5 hours (amazing). But the hot weather unsettled her massively and led to almost constant feeding as she was thirsty. Having a similar day today. Hoping I can finally get her down soon! Doesn't help that MIL woke her up on purpose when she visited this afternoon! Grrr!

jtr2803

I'm really hoping to Breastfeed, I've been reading the womanly art of breastfeeding and also met the two local LLL leaders so I know I have somewhere to go if i need some help.

I know lots of ladies who bf and they say the first six weeks area the hardest for getting settled but then bfing comes into its own in many ways with not having to worry about bottles, heating them, sterilising etc.

Once your supply is relatively established you could always look to express and ask oh to use that? Rather than formula. I am really hoping to exclusively breast milk feed for the first four months, even if some comes from a bottle.

Hubby's decided he is taking three weeks off with me and is super supportive so that will be a big help, otherwise I'm just going to take it a day at a time!

ThinkPink

I still haven't decided whether I'm going to breastfeed or bottle feed yet. A few years ago I always said I would at least try to breastfeed, but since then I've had a few friends breastfeed and have struggled but have been put under so much pressure to continue its really put me off as I think that they are struggling enough with things(both the fact it isn't as successful as they hoped and also with adjusting to being a mum and hormones) that then being made to feel like an even bigger failure if they switch to bottle s really unfair and has put me off. Who knows though, apart from two self sterilizing bottles I haven't totally given up with the idea of breastfeeding.

I hope everyone is doing ok in the heat, luckily it's slightly cooler today, but night times are still far too hot.

euronorris

In my area I had to go to a main hospital to give birth, due to induction, but was able to transfer to my local one after birth. I'm glad I did as the local hospital (mlu) was much, much quieter, and there was always a midwife available to help with breastfeeding if you were struggling (or anything else for that matter).

Whilst I was there, there was a lady opposite me who was struggling to get her son to latch on, and they were so helpful. But when she expressed a desire to switch to formula and was getting upset, they were also very supportive of that and reassured her that the best thing is that baby was fed and they were both happy.

So, do you have a similar place near you? If so, might be worth asking people locally about their experiences.

Jtr - I'm already able to express a bottle a day, which DH now gives her. We use the medela calma bottle, which mimics the breast and means she has to work at it to get the milk. We did try a tomee tippee one, but it came out too fast and she hated it. That said, I've read others online who would only take to the tomee tippee ones, so each child is different.

The midwives advice was to wait until she was a month old, but I produce a lot of milk and am very uncomfortable in the morning (even after she's fed). This allows me to be more comfortable. But....I suspect midwife's advice is a generic one and probably best followed if you haven't yet got a good supply going.

psychopathbabble

Euro this is what I am hoping to do if I can... BF then express so DH can do some feeds. Obviously I know it depends very much on circumstance at the time, whether I can produce enough etc. Are you using the swing pump too? That's what I've been looking at!

flutterbyuk25

Afternoon all

Nothing to report here, baby feels lower and I've had some vague period pain in mornings but then it's tailed off in day. Reckon I'll defo be at least a week overdue (I'm 39+4 now). Bouncing on my ball religiously.

Felt a bit down yesterday, hormonal probably plus crap weather and being stuck indoors all day as OH had my car, then I forgot he had cricket in the evening too so was all alone then. Feeling much brighter today, sun is shining again. OH came home at lunchtime and took me out for lunch, we only got a Morrisons salad and went and sat by the lake in the sunshine (he must have realized that I felt down yday bless him and he feels guilty for taking my car as his is in for repair).

Hopefully we will go out tonight for meal or cinema, trying to get as much us time as possible before baby. This weekend will be busy as it's his daughter's 7th birthday, we have her party on Sat, then it's her birthday on Sunday so we will do something in the evening as her mother is doing something in day for her. I've made birthday cupcakes (and licked the bowls ).

flutterbyuk25

ps I'm hoping to BF too, HV told me last week to start prepping nipples now by putting on nipple cream twice daily before birth so I've started today.

euronorris

Yeah, I've got the medela swing pump. It's great! Works really well

Beckyy

It's really helpful to hear how others do/plan to feed. In an ideal world I'd like to exclusively BF and express once established so OH can help and feel included in it. The money saving side of it would be a bonus too as I can't believe how much formula seems to cost, although it's money well spent if that's what baby needs and it works it's just a lot more than BF. I'd also be nicer not having to carry/have all the paraphernalia associated with formula.

Some of baby's movement are so hard and strong now, I'm guessing it will probably get quite uncomfortable soon once he's even bigger and his bones are more developed. It's amazing though!