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Granville
505 posts
40 months
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Well stretch and sweep done and my cervix was evidently soft and open enough to allow them in and babies head is sat there waiting. But my word just how uncomfortable and painful is that proceedure  Had a slight show already and quite a few contractions (or tightenings as they like to call them) so fingers crossed we carry on in the right direction. Failing that, we're booked in for 3pm Sunday on to Maternity ward for full on induction.
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C.A.R.
1,276 posts
57 months
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Bit the bullet in the end and splashed out on some expensive wall stickers. Apparently they're removable, but I've already told the Mrs that we're now not allowed to move out of this rented flat for at least 2 years to get our moneys' worth!!  
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missdiane
13,942 posts
118 months
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I adore them! Where did you get them? Saw similar ones in kiddicare on a wall, but didn't see them to buy Good news Granville, wishing you luck for the next few days  Congrats to the new arrival Xx
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GhiaX
156 posts
15 months
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Never be quiet around babies, do not turn the tv down to less volume than you usually have it. Do not stop people ringing you afer 6pm like some of my friends have done. Never used black out curtains, just regular curtains with standard liners and mine have never had a problem sleeping.
I can put clothes and toys away in their rooms when they are asleep now and it does not wake them. Thunder storms do not wake them once they are away with the fairies, which is excellent as I do not end up with kids trying to share the bed!
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Stuart
11,296 posts
120 months
PH Director Bloke
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Yep, that's good advice, although we've fitted blackout curtains to our daughter's room without it impacting at all on her ability to sleep without them.
I think we're lucky though, ours is an inveterate sleeper. I had to wake her for nursery this morning at 8am, and at the weekend if we leave her she'll normally sleep until 8:30 or so without any problems. I'm an early riser, so I've usually been up for over an hour at least before she wakes!
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missdiane
13,942 posts
118 months
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Granville, how are you today? not that I'm getting excited at all 
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Granville
505 posts
40 months
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Nothing happening I'm afraid. Had lots of tightening yesterday and got very uncomfortable but it all tailed off at around 3am this morning  Just given the house a good clean hoping the movement may spur him on and get the contractions going but he's clearly happy lounging about in there.
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Granville
505 posts
40 months
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Well little update.
After 33hrs of labour little Noah turned up by Emergency C Section at 7.55am Sunday morning weighing in at just shy of 10lb
I came home yesterday, sore and tired but very happy. He had gone back to back with me and got stuck preventing me from dilating past 4cm after 33hrs, an epidural and further induction to speed things along. Noah had started to get tired (as were I) and distressed so we were wisked off after a night of constant monitoring and checking. The surgery was a blur though as I lost 1.9lt of blood and started to crash so I now have a multitude of pills and injections to take for a week.
He is totally scrummy though, I'll post a picture when I'm a little more sorted.
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C.A.R.
1,276 posts
57 months
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Congratulations!! Mrs C.A.R. is down in Triage today for the fourth time in about as many weeks, every time she phones up with a problem they insist that she goes in. Still waiting for them to tell her what it is but one of the nurses said 'it could be contractions' which has really scared her and was probably not a good thing to say! I'm stuck 20 miles away at work My boss was very amicable about the situation but after the last 3 times being 'false alarms' and nothing to worry about plus with other colleagues going on holiday it's getting a bit difficult to be excused.
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McAndy
4,937 posts
46 months
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Congrats Granville!
Can anybody offer advice on NCT verses NHS antenatel courses? We're thinking about booking an NCT course but two things are holding us back: - The cost for information that may be given at NHS anyway;
- The only NCT in our delivery time frame is based ~45 minutes away and we're hoping to meet families from the area, thus the object is rather defeated unless they travel too!
Any advice/experiences greatly appreciated!
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SL
792 posts
93 months
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Congratulations Granville Hope you are feeling better soon! McAndy said: Can anybody offer advice on NCT verses NHS antenatel courses? We're thinking about booking an NCT course but two things are holding us back: I didn't do the NHS ones (by the time they'd told me about them, they were fully booked  ) so I can only speak for the NCT ones. With hindsight, I didn't find the NCT classes helpful. They basically told us childbirth was amazing, there was no need for painkillers, we'd be able to 'breathe our babies out' and that breastfeeding was easy. Anything out of the ordinary such as c-sections was glossed over as everyone was obviously going to have a marvelous time giving birth. They are also very pro-breastfeeding which is all well and good, but I do think they should give you all the facts/information about formula so you can make your own informed decision - our teacher actually left the formula information in our packs however she did say she was meant to remove it as she wasn't really meant to give it out. Having said that, for me the fee was worth it. I have made three strong friends who I see most weeks - we don't live in the same town so we meet in different places each week. The nearly new sales are also brilliant - although you don't need to be a member, it does help if you want the more expensive items as you get in half an hour before the general riff raff I've bought quite a lot of clothes, toys and books from the nearly new sales and I'd estimate I've saved over £250.
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bint
4,234 posts
93 months
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Congratulations Granville!!! Looking forward to pics of Noah - at at weeks Michael is now the same size as him!
Re NCT classes etc, I never did any, didn't feel I needed them, and to be honest since then everyone I've spoken to said the most useful but is meeting people.
If you're in an area where you don't know many people you can meet up with during the day to chat/share stories, it sounds good. I've joined a local group for breast feeding mums, but I have a good selection of neighbours and friends who work/retired/don't work that I can meet for coffee.
Re breastfeeding, I had decided from the start to do it, but I don't remember having any balanced information on options. Even now, 7 weeks in and I'm still wondering if it's for me!
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PugwasHDJ80
5,195 posts
90 months
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SL said: With hindsight, I didn't find the NCT classes helpful. They basically told us childbirth was amazing, there was no need for painkillers, we'd be able to 'breathe our babies out' and that breastfeeding was easy. Anything out of the ordinary such as c-sections was glossed over as everyone was obviously going to have a marvelous time giving birth. They are also very pro-breastfeeding which is all well and good, but I do think they should give you all the facts/information about formula so you can make your own informed decision - our teacher actually left the formula information in our packs however she did say she was meant to remove it as she wasn't really meant to give it out. Must be a little bit based on the teacher then as we've just had out last NCT class now and our experience could not have been more different. They were incredibly supportive but very honest- it IS going to hurt, you ARE going to have to work your arse off, and it isn't that fun. They discussed all the pain relief options in detail, and all the ways you could possibly get through labour without pain relief. They covered c-sections in detail, both elective and emergency (and without any slant). As for breastfeeding, yes they were pro breastfeeding, but nowhere near as much as bottle feeding, and to be honestbottle feeding doesn't need "supporting". You can find the benefits of bottlefeeding on the back of a formula packet, but you aren't going to find the benefits of breastfeeding on the back of a boob! Lets be honest, there's no reason why you would decide to bottlefeed FROM BIRTH (ie day one) is because you're not makin a rational decision to put baby first. the massive benefits of breastfeeding for the first couple of months (and to a lesser extent beyond), massively outweigh the perceived negatives (and this is addressed to those people that think its "icky", breasts are for "sex" only, etc etc- for those who have massive time/physiological constraints then its a different matter!)
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BlackVanDyke
8,043 posts
80 months
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McAndy said: Congrats Granville!
Can anybody offer advice on NCT verses NHS antenatel courses? We're thinking about booking an NCT course but two things are holding us back: - The cost for information that may be given at NHS anyway;
- The only NCT in our delivery time frame is based ~45 minutes away and we're hoping to meet families from the area, thus the object is rather defeated unless they travel too!
Any advice/experiences greatly appreciated! Disclaimer: not a parent, but grew up in and around lots of NCT stuff because my mum and cousin have both been NCT counsellors - my cousin is now some sort of regional convenor/co-ordinator type thing. Spent my teenage years being the tea-and-biscuits sorter-outer for antenatal classes and went with on a few home visits to struggling mums too - got to hold lots of babies. My mum got involved because my sister was born extremely premature (27 weeks, in 1987, had a horrific prognosis - she was the first baby born that age to survive in our local neonatal intensive care unit) and had lots of help from them, and then started helping out in return. Counsellors are volunteers and they're also individuals - the diversity in what you might get is very, very, very big. They do have a set of topics to cover and are provided with some information to give you. Unless you are exceptionally lucky with your midwife you will get vastly more, and better quality, info from the NCT than the NHS. They also probably have nicer breast pumps to lend than your midwife, should you need one. 45 minutes away means it probably won't be a very good way to meet families/make new friends (although there must be other expectant couples where you live, some of them might go to the NCT, you'll find each other gradually just like newly being a member of any group, it's the same with disability or homeschooling or motorsport enthusiasm)... but access to support and information is probably a stronger reason for doing it than to find your parenting peers anyway.
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McAndy
4,937 posts
46 months
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Thanks SL, BvD, very useful and I shall pass the information onto The Whiff! Our reservation on the NCT expires today so at least we can make a bit more of an informed decision now!
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Stuart
11,296 posts
120 months
PH Director Bloke
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We did NCT, although in our case it was because our local GP pays for that rather than NHS antenatal. No idea why, presumably they get a good enough deal for it to be worthwhile.
My thoughts:
Good:
- You'll get to meet lots of parents in the same boat. My wife has made really good friends through it and has a great support network for coffee/playtime/babysitting. Probably actually alone a reason for doing it.
- They are very pro mum and pro choice. That's quite good because when you're in hospital it pays to be assertive over some things. Not all, but some.
- They show you what will happen. For me that was really useful. They give you some insight into stuff afterwards as well, particularly around breast feeding if that's something you want to persevere with.
Bad:
- It is a bit lavender and storks. When we compared notes with our group afterwards I don't think anyone actually managed the birth ball and water birth dreamlike scenario they tend to imply you can have if you're just assertive about your birth plan. The reality is that you should describe the birth you would like, but be prepared to be very flexible and to throw that away in a heartbeat if it doesn't work out. Neither of our kids were able to be born without a fair amount of intervention. Second time around, we were a bit more sanguine about that.
- We felt a bit under equipped for the immediate post natal period without a few books and manuals on what to do. NCT spends a lot of time concentrating on ante-natal, but doesn't do much post natal beyond espousing the breast is best mantra. So don't think that NCT will teach you everything you need to know.
On balance we would do it again, if nothing else but to use it as an introduction agency for other parents...
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McAndy
4,937 posts
46 months
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Excellent. Thanks Stuart! Nicely balanced and informative . I suspect we'll go for it. The Whiff has asked if there are any plans for courses in our home town or if many couples from our town have signed up to the one further away, so hopefully there'll be some positive responses from one of those.
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Matt172
11,068 posts
113 months
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We've got our first NCT class on Monday so I'll let you know what we think Di asked the midwife about the NHS ones and was told they were pretty much the same, so as we'd already booked up we didn't bother with the NHS one.
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Stuart
11,296 posts
120 months
PH Director Bloke
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Matt172 said: We've got our first NCT class on Monday so I'll let you know what we think Di asked the midwife about the NHS ones and was told they were pretty much the same, so as we'd already booked up we didn't bother with the NHS one. You'll get more attention with NCT - my sister in law had standard NHS and got two hours, in the middle of the day. NCT gives you the luxury of evening classes and place more emphasis on Dad being there too. Some people have also described NCT as a middle class Mum's introduction agency too. To a certain extent that was the case, but in our case (given that nobody was paying) I think that had more to do with the demographic catchment area of our GP surgery.
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missdiane
13,942 posts
118 months
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That's not the first time someone has said that NCT don't teach you what to do once baby is home, they offered me a class for a post natal session too but it was another £180 I think so I declined, mums have been working out what to do for centuries, so I think I can do it
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