Due April/May 2016

Well I had my blooddy show on Thursday morning with some back cramps that came and went. In the evening my hubby had to rub my lower back as it was rather painful. The next morning I had another bloody show and some more lower back ache. I went to visit my horse in the morning and did some odds and ends and my lower back still started cramping but no braxton hicks or any type of tummy contractions.

At 2pm I had a totally unbearable lower back cramp that I said to my hubby we need to go to the hospital to have it checked out as something was wrong and had more cramps each lasting for +- 1 minute maybe every 5-10 minutes or so (was not timing). I squated, leaned over birth ball, on all fours, my breathing tecniques etc but nothing releaved the pain. I was not sure if it was labour as I still had no tummy contractions just pains in my lower back. Well went to the hospital at 3:30 pm were I found out I was 5cm already and then had 4x contractions in 10 min. An hour later I was at 8cm and at 9pm on Friday Rosalie was born. I never had any other contractions anywhere besides totally unbearable lower back cramps I had a epi from 8cm to 9cm and then it was switched off so I could feel the contractions for the pushing stage. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done! Then I had to deliver the very problematic placenta which took 30 minutes and was stuck and just before I was sent to theater to have it removed it separated. Oh my word, it was just as painful as the birth.

She weighs 2.8kg (gynae said she would be 3.6??) and perfect!

@ Licious, congrats on your little boy! I am also using the Telament drops as she had bad winds as well. I use a few drops before every feed and also exclusively breastfeeding.

@ Ninies, I hope you feel your old self soon and the baby blues go away, thinking of you

@ CDLK, congrats aww so perfect!

@ Maj, any news?

Hi Ladies,

@Maj - I am so happy to hear you have finally packed your bag and that you are sort of ready...I was getting worried for your sake...
How nice it must be to have your mom there? I wish my mom could come and stay with me for a while.
My MIL, who is staying with us, left about a week ago to go visit her daughter in Jeffreys bay, and after that she will be going to Cape Town to visit her son. She is only due back in January!!! So I am all alone during the day with baby and that also contributed to the baby blues, but I must say I adjusted quickly and it is getting better every day.

The boys are well. Baby is actually such a sweet little boy. He wakes twice at night and goes back to sleep right after his feed.
Big brother acted up a bit, but I can see every day is getting better. I sure think little girls will handle this type of situation better - simply because of the mother instinct.

As for the breast feeding - It did not go too bad but my nipples got extremely sore and it seems that he did not stop drinking on me. So I decided let me pack this breast feeding thing away and focus on getting my baby blues out of the way. I instantly felt better when that pressure was off me. I still have some milk and I tried to get him to BF again but of course he does not want to now.
So now I have a brand new Spectra double electric breast pump for sale if anyone is interested. I bought it from Takealot earlier this year for R 2 199, and looking to sell it for R 1 500. I only used it for a handful of times. It worked wonders. It comes with all the attachments for double pumping and a bag. If anyone is interested please send me a message.

@CDLK - Congratulations on the birth of Miecke. She is so beautiful and I love the picture of her and her brother. You son seems about the same age as my son. He is turning 5 in November.

I must say this c-section was not as painful as the first one for me. But yes it suddenly is a different ball game with a toddler and a new born. I am just so happy my eldest gets to go to school in the day.

@Sonsbaby - Yes the wedge pillow definitely helps alot for the spitting and reflux. If your son has a serious reflux problem you could always try Nestargel. It is made by Nestle - small tin that you get from Dischem. You boil it and add it to the milk. It has no nuritional values but it simply makes the milk heavier when it gets to their tummy so that they spit less. I used that with my first born. The doctor actually prescribed Nexiam for babies but I did not want to give such a small baby such strong medicine, so I opted for the more natural option.

Hi there ladies

Sorry I haven't been on in a while!

How is everyone doing? I need to catch up on all the stories but saw Sonsbaby also had her baba - congrats he is beautiful!

So my darling little Miecke was born on 21 April. When I got to hospital my blood pressure was sky high and her heart rate very high so they pushed me in first for c section. Was so worried but all went well. She was born perfect with apgar of 10/10 and weighing 3.48kg. She is perfect in every way. Had alot of pain with this c section, much more than with my son but at least I am starting to feel better now. Still trying to take it easy but that is a bit impossible with a toddler and newborn! My son adores her and he loves his sister so much. Warms my heart to see that. Breastfeeding is going well at least. BF my son until he was 1 but I think with her I will probably only breastfeed until about 6 months or so, we will see how it goes.

Sonsbaby, my little girl struggles with cramps and winds as well. Try burping after every feed and keep upright like Maj said, get a wedge or put him on pillow so he is elevated. I got Colic Calm from Dischem, all natural products and works for cramps and gas and reflux - works like a charm so far. Been using it once a day for past 3 days and it works very well. She is much better. It is just very expensive.

Who else is still expecting?

@sonsbaby, congratulations! He is beautiful!
I suffered with my first 1 quite a bit with difficulty with burps and then a lot of spit up.
I used a mix of telament, gripe water and boiled water, but
I need to find the quantities though.
Also get a wedge, so that he is not flat. Maybe also try some diff positions to try and get the wind out. Hang in there, it's frustrating, but it def gets better!!
About the pills, I wasn't prescribed any with my daughter. how is your milk supply?

@ninies, how's the boys?
What happened with the breastfeeding?
Thanks for the ackermans tip. I did get a pink hat there.

@licious, make a whatsapp group, def keeps the questions aside for a bit. I suggest you send an update every couple of days. How's things going by the way?

Jaybee how's the progress after the mucus plug? Started the natural induction methods?

AFM, had a "bloody show" today. No plug though. Don't no how closer that puts me to anything though....
My mum is here so am waaaay more relaxed. Finally packed all the baby clothes into her draw, and setup the cot and changing table.

Hallo ladies,

Hope you are all well.

@ Sonsbaby - Congrats on the birth of Connor Craig. That is such beautiful names. He is adorable.
I am sorry that the nurses disappointed you. I must say, I got taken very good care of by the nursing staff at Wilgers hospital. So good, that I missed them when I got home.

I am also using telament drops for Luke, but to be honest I dont know if they are working. I must say, he winds easily. He has been having some really nasty cramps...his whole body goes in a spasm type of move. I have given him some Bennets Colic mixture last night and it worked like a bomb. It is not just for colic but also for stomach cramps. But the leaflet says only to give it to baby's from one month old.

Dont worry to much about him spitting up some milk, all babies do. sometimes the milk lies on top of a wind and when the wind comes out so does the milk.

My dr also prescribed pills for milk. I am still taking them although I stopped with breastfeeding. I am glad he did give me the pills as it is actually an anti-depressant that helped alot with the baby blues I got. I will slowly wean myself off the pills soon.

@Maj - hope you dont have to wait too long to hold your little girl. I got plain cotton beanies from Ackermans, I cant remember if the had pink and grey, but I got blue ones for Luke.

Does anyone know how many more babies we are expecting in this group?

Congratulations Sonsbaby! He is so adorable! I'm sorry things did not turn out the way you were hoping With babies, you just along for the ride - they decide what's going to happen
Well done on keeping him safe and wishing you all of the best for the next stage of life

I don't know where you live, but there's a pharmacy in Durbanville on Plein street - Medi-Plein pharmacy - that sells "the remedy" - it's this white medicine which was the only thing that helped with my daughter's colic and reflux. Perhaps you can go to a pharmacy and ask if they have anything for colic - something the pharmacist mixes up.

I did not use the telement drops and gripe water did not work. Also, right after you feed, keep him upright for as long as you can (after the winds etc) before you put him down. Because the milk just comes back up if you put them down too fast after a feed.

What are the pills for? To get more milk? I think you can try jungle juice for that? I never had any issues with supply lol! My daughter drank and drank till 2.5 years and there was always so much milk!

Oops forgot to post a pic!