h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm finally able to write in my Journal.

Yesterday my long-suffering husband finally managed to tear himself away from his work and set up this computer for me to use. It took several reminders, but it was a big job since the various components were scattered around the house.

Anyway, it was just in time.

I had a scan today, which was lovely on two counts: I got to look at the baby for a nice long time, and I found out that she's a girl so I can talk about her properly.

I now have a son and a daughter.
 
 
 

Many many many congratulations. Babies and children are the most wonderful things in the world - I am sure your daughter will bring you endless fun and happiness - and a few sleepless nights, but who's counting?

Thank-you very much.

I'm already in training for the sleepless nights.

I was just wondering if you had thought about how you were going to feed your baby. I'm hoping to write a page on breastfeeding so I'd appreciate your views.

Glad the scan went well and I hope you are not worrying about things too much.

I'm definitely going to breastfeed. I'm far too lazy to worry about all the sterilising, heating, mixing etc. that goes with bottlefeeding, quite apart from all the health considerations.

I breastfed for the first five months and it was hard work. I don't regret it one bit though. All the breastfed babies I know seem so much more content. They also seem to settle into better sleeping paterns and quicker too. Also, while breastfeeding, your body produces extra chemicals to help you sleep.

Be warned though, it's terribly tiring. I could hardly keep my eyes open and I was stunned by the increase in my energy levels when I stopped. I don't regret doing it though.

My mother breastfed all of us, my elder sister breastfed all three of hers and my younger sister is currently breastfeeding her four month old son. I've certainly got lots of experience at hand if I need it.

I expressed milk for Alexander and I found that quite hard work.

I had to do that for my daughter Mollie. I fed my son Alex, but because Mollie was so sick and I was so stressed, I just didn't produce much milk. Curiously I got really emotionally upset once whilst trying, and that triggered a 'let down' reflex. Which is really weird. When I fed my son Alex the hormones released made me feel really soporific and tranquill. Isn't nature clever.

I didn't really like expressing my milk and it was always so difficult. In fact I found breastfeeding was hard work all round but I'm so glad I did it. Callum seemed to develop a lot quicker than bottlefed babies of the same age. He was so alert and ready for action.

The best thing about it though was not having to faff about warming bottles up and all the hassle of bottle feeding, particularly if we were out somewhere. It's so much easier to settle the baby and you don't get so panicy when they start to cry in public. I don't know about anyone else but particularly in the first few months I felt that everyone was judging my abilities as a mother so it made me more relaxed knowing I could quieten Callum within seconds rather than minutes.

It's much fairer on the babies if they don't have to wait too long. You can't exactly explain to them why they're waiting. I have a friend who bottlefeeds, and when he was little, if she started warming the milk when he began to cry he was often hysterical by the time he got fed. Then of course he was too wound up to settle properly.

Another thing I didn't like about expressing was the fact that I was always worried in case the milk wasn't rich enough. You can't tell if you're getting the right mix of fore- and hind-milk, and the baby can't adjust the mix by sucking more or less.

That was probably mostly new mother's paranoia though.

Themost important bit for newborns is I believe is the colostrum, your son Alex would have benefited greatly from that. It sounds as if you know your stuff on this subject Bernadette. I knew nothing about babies until I had one. I don't think I had really even held many, at least since I was a child, you know neighbourhood babies... I said to Jim, we went to lark in the park in hemel on sunday. That's fun if you have any visiting children, or for when Charlotte gets old enough to stick etc Ever been?

I had loads of experience with babies before having Callum. My sister is a lot older than me and here brood are well established in teenagerdom at the moment! But it still wasn't enough preparation for my own. For instance, I had the most bizarre experience the first night in the hospital. Callum wouldn't stop crying and I didn't know what was wrong. I paniked totally. I'd fed him, burped him, cuddled him etc. I felt a complete fool when the midwife asked me when I'd last changed his nappy!!How on earth could I have forgotten something so basic?! The incident gives me lots of laughs now but I felt like a complete failure at the time!

And nothing can really prepare you for that first night at home either!

I didn't have the benefit of having known someone who had breastfed either so I spent the first two weeks worrying about that. Still, it's all worth it in the end. I reckon it takes everyone a good six months to get used to the whole thing of being a mum (or dad).

I gave up breast feeding at 5 months which was quite enough for me and I was suprised not to get any problems from Callum when he was waiting for his bottle/ cup. I guess by then he'd figured out that I wasn't trying to starve him and it would get there eventually. Breastfed babies always seem so much calmer, even when breastfeeding stops.

One thing my midwife said to me is that it is well worth at least trying breastfeeding as you can't change your mind a few months down the line but to remember that it didn't suit everyone and ultimately your baby wouldn't care as long as it was fed and got plenty of cuddles.

Don't most people go through the forgetting the nappy stage? I've heard several similar stories from friends.

I think by five months babies are beginning to be old enough to have some idea of continuity, so they can at least understand that something can be on it's way.

Most people I know who found breastfeeding really difficult gave up long before five months. Some of them didn't even stick to bottlefeeding for long, but weaned their babies at six weeks or so.

Feeding can be quite painful. My friend is currently going through agonies trying to get used to feeding her firstborn. I feed my son until he was sixand a half months old. He then cut teeth and i couldn't stop him from biting me. I know babies with teeth can feed happily, but he used to bite me really hard. So that's when I thought ok, solid foods...

I'd been told lots about painful nipples and all that but no one warned me that my whole breast would hurt when Callum was due a feed. The one time I was late for a feed (me and Stu were at a wedding and had left Callum and expressed milk with grandparents) my breasts hurt and by the time I got to Callum I was squirting milk all over the place. Not fun.

And for me the problem wasn't the teeth themselves but the teething. Callum went for three months chewing on anything that went near his mouth until teeth finally popped through at 8 months. Not pleasant having a kid knawing at sensitive bits of your body

Mind you, despite it all I'm still really glad I breastfed. Callum really went off it all quite quickly once he started on solids. His love of solid food took us all by suprise as he got the idea really quickly and it obviously tasted better than boring old milk!

I used to 'leak' milk as soon as Alex cried I looked as though someone had thrown a bucket of water over me! I had to go out wearing a shawl and 3 t shirts so no one could see!

Did you find breast pads were a way to waste money? Made no difference if I was wearing them or not I always ended up with wet patches. I have to say though, it wasn't so bad after around four months.

I remember around day 6 the midwife coming to check me over and asking if my milk had come in and all that. She took one look at my t- shirt and saw her answer! I spent the first three or four weeks completely drenched I was changing my t-shirt every hour or so.

Another thing that would set me off was the shower. All of a sudden I'd be gushing. It really freaked my partner out the first time he saw it. He had assumed the milk would just come out in drips but it was squirting everywhere!

Putting on a seat belt used to set me off. Glad not alone in this..!

Bernadette get Jim going on a closed thread gizmo! I dread to think of the comments if the 'spamhead' boys find this thread!!

ER, who exactly are you talking about?