Hellobee Boards

Just reading through this gave me a reminder. I really want to ask if my hospital has a peanut ball thing. I was never offered one with my other 2.

I also breastfed my first 2 kids. It's hard to give help in that area because every person and baby are different and have different stories. Ds1 could not Latch as a newborn so I exclusively pumped for his first 3 months. Then at 3 months old he magically latched and we had a successful breastfeeding relationship until I was 15 week pregnant with DS2. I now know that he has a tounge tie that needs to be revised and that was probably the cause for issues 3 years ago.

I will say I loved the My Breast Friend nursing pillow way more than the Boppy pillow.

@agold: Just remember for every bottle feeding you still should pump to replace that feeding!

@agold: @T.H.O.U.: and @shootingstar are a wealth of information here. I also breastfed my son for 18 months, and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. One thing to keep in mind is that the breast is never actually "empty." There's still always more milk in there, but it will be more of a drip/trickle than a bigger gush. I will say that it sucks to have a sleeping baby while you're getting more and more full....only to pump b/c it's so uncomfortable and then have baby wake and want to eat. Unfortunately, babies don't come with a readout on their foreheads that say a) how long they plan to nap and b) how much breastmilk they just took in.

Another thing to keep in mind is that their stomachs really are tiny at birth and colostrum is supposed to be enough. Listen to your gut. You may not need to use formula even if the drs are pushing it. And if baby does need formula, try to give it with a liquid syringe rather than a bottle/nipple right away. Better to wait about 3w or so before introducing a bottle b/c it could affect latch for breastfeeding.

I adore all of the videos made by this company. It has since ceased to exist, but Nancy Holtzman is a breastfeeding/baby sleep guru. It's 100% worth watching these -- especially the ones about milk storage, returning to work, correcting baby sleep (sleep at night, awake during the day, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn_srdYhLZBQJ7FL5_bNpHw

Is anyone else having crazy hormone rages?! Cause OMG I feel like a crazy woman. Randomly crying, getting irritated at the smallest things. It is terrible.

@OldpuebloJenn : Thanks for the link. I need to start that this week

@pregnantbee: Thanks for all that info!

@MRSWHIT1: I think that I am having hormone issues. But I also think its just a little anxiety. I came home on friday after work, and my husband was napping on the couch. For the last few months, I would have curled up next to him and taken a nap, too. But that particular day I had a near melt down because i felt there was just too much to do and we had no time for nap! Took me an hour to calm down. Gees. I'm crazy and I felt bad.

@Silva: I ask my husband the same thing re: being crazy. And I'm so sorry about your preschool funding drama. I have never ever heard of state reimbursement for preschool. I don't think CA does it. And so sorry about your tailspin!!! I've had (umm... routinely have..) the same worries! And yes, is it too much to want a nice pair of jeans? Sometimes, sadly, yes. But why?!?!

@Pirouette: Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry you are having new insurance issues!! I'm not switching jobs, but i am starting a new insurance on July 1st!! I've been putting off registering for the hospital and asking about breast pump reimbursement because of that. Can you explain a tad about what extra costs you are going to have to incur because of switching? Is it because the new insurance is just going to generally cost you more? Or is it some problem inherent in the switching of insurance itself?

Regarding the weekend, here are some notable things for me:
(1) I had my baby shower and it was great!
(2) I switched my bra from a 34B to a 34D. And I feel fantastic!
(3) (This is gross) Is it possible my water has broken and I'm slowly leaking amniotic fluid , or is it more likely that I'm just slowly peeing myself all day?

@agold: Pee is possible. But I'd prob call your dr if it really is all day.

@pregnantbee: Thanks. I might do that. Feels so silly of a think to ask about, though. I'll see today what happens. And I do have an appointment on Thursday.

@agold: it's the job switch, really, that's the issue. Currently, I'm on an HSA plan, and have satisfied my deductible and almost my out of pocket max. I change jobs 7/1 and figured i'd just pick a plan with a low deductible to take effect 8/1 (and cobra for a month in between). but it turns out all of the plans have low deductibles but high out of pocket maximums, so i'd end up with a large hospital bill. ok, fine, so i'll cobra until 9/1 and start the new insurance while on mat leave...

so here's the kicker. i'm not covered by FMLA at the new job, so i have to pay the employer portion of the premiums while on (100% unpaid) leave. so basically cobra. but i also have to pay the employer portion of all benefits (long term disability, life insurance, etc), all of the benefits the employer covers 100% usually. then there's the fact that since it's not technically cobra (i'm still technically an employee), i can't pay the premiums out of my HSA and have to come out of pocket. we're talking thousands of dollars while i'm not receiving a paycheck for several months.

SO, I'm probably looking at staying on my current insurance now until after mat leave. the benefits coordinator has assured me that even though my return to work isn't a "qualifying event" (so i wouldn't ordinarily be able to elect coverage at that point), failure to pay my cobra premiums will constitute a qualifying event, so if i stop paying cobra upon my return to work, i become eligible for their insurance. Sounds kinda crazy, but it is better than paying cobra for an entire year! and of course their plan year is 9/1, so it's not like this is just a decision for a few months, the decisions are in effect until september 2017! so frustrating.

BTW, i believe it is pretty rare to be leaking amniotic fluid so slowly like that, but it's certainly possible. I would guess that it's pee though, because that's very common! also, yay for your shower!!! did you get lots of the things on your list?

@AprilFool: How would I know the difference between water and other bodily fluids that can leak out of there?

@AprilFool: Ha! Gosh I feel like a true idiot here. I'm not having any pain or any other issues other than what I think is a little leaking of something throughout the day. Maybe its pee! I feel so gross to even be mentioning this.

@agold: Pregnancy is pretty gross so don't worry about it Gross question..... have you smelt it? Pee and amniotic fluid smell different. Does it happen when you stand up? Is it constant? A lot or a little?

@MrsBeluga: My friend asked me yesterday if I have been having to go to the bathroom alot. I was like, "no, not at all." Then later I was thinking... "that's probably because I'm peeing my pants all day long." But then I just had a morbid thought this morning about leaking amniotic fluid or whatever. I haven't even googled it yet to know if that's something I should be worried about. Baby is kicking around just fine.

@AprilFool: Thanks for making be even grosser! I just went and smelled it and it smells.. umm.. normal? And no, not constant. And I can't even tell when its happening. Its like like at the end of the day, things are just a little wet and that didn't seem right. Its not like when I sneeze and cross my legs and hope pee doesn't come out but it does anyways. I'm not feeling anything. Just noticing it later in the day. I have a doctors appointment on Thursday and I'll probably call my doctor later today to ask about this.

@agold: Also discharge is supposed to ramp up in the 3rd trimester, so should be normal, but calling your doc wont hurt either.

@AprilFool: I'm hoping that is what it is.

@MrsBeluga: what?! That's insane!! How can that be legal? What if you had a situation that needed monitoring, like high BP or something?

@pregnantbee: I'm exhausted and confused about life in general right now... The insurance situation isn't helping that! But all is well that ends well, and i'm confident it will work out in the end thanks!

@OldpuebloJenn: yes! It's been a truly crazy year. I am currently in negotiations, and dh got his promotion, but is also still in negotiations on salary. So neither of us actually knows our salary at the moment, lol. Not at all stressful when you're about to have a baby but I expect both of our situations to be resolved very soon!

sorry guys, I had family visiting and am super behind!

@pwnstar: it's so easy for me to read your struggles about your work performance and knee-jerk want to tell you that it doesn't matter as much as you think it does, you're doing great, and to cool it and do your best working from home. but, I just accepted yet another insane freelance job that will have me working 75 hours a week again until July 4 weekend and I still have fucking nothing done to prepare for this baby. so, I will just tell you that you sound incredibly competent and well-respected at your job and it's nice that the partner you spoke with is so understanding

@pwnstar: @T.H.O.U.: @everyone else who recommended pumps! I ordered the Freestyle, thank you for your thoughts. it's nice to have nice things that just work.
@Silva: @agold: I got The Birth Partner and my husband and I both started reading it--I like it so far! @Silva, totally agree that it's not biased regarding natural birth vs epidural hospital birth, which I really appreciate.

@agold: @T.H.O.U.: @shootingstar: @pregnantbee: going through all this breastfeeding information when I have some time, but glad it's here--thanks

@LCTBQE: I'm glad you like the book! I found it to be really straight forward. I lent my copy to a friend....thinking I should try to get it back and brush up again

I had elevated BP at my appointment today and just got my labs back indicating elevated protein in my urine as well. I had both of those things happen at 38 weeks with my first baby, but I'm only 33 and a bit now, so I'm not sure what the next steps will be. The midwife I saw this afternoon told me she would call in the morning with advice based on the results...Has anyone else here dealt with early, (mild) signs of preeclampsia before?