Hmmm, What are some things you almost forgot/forgot to get?

I'm just trying to make sure I've got everything I'll need. With DS I forgot to buy ANY baby blankets till I was 38 weeks :wall: lol ..

I won't list stuff that I have, just tell me what you found handy, or forgot to get, etc .. For anything really, labour or newborn ... I'm so nervous lol ..

Oooh & I'm VBAC'ing do you think its worth buying urine alkinisers? Like ural or whatever it is? Or is it really not that bad? Everyone who I've spoken to thats had a vaginal birth tell me " You have no idea how much it hurts you wouldn't want to do it if you'd had one already" grrrrr ... making me nervous lol

Thanx guys :)

I had to get dh to go and by lanisol cream for my nipples as they were so tender with breastfeeding and it's a god send.

As for a vbac, the Ural could be a good idea but I think it will sting a bit anyway and FWIW I would still prefer a vbac to a c sect you heal much faster!

One of my friends once said "all you need for a baby is a boob, and somewhere for it to sleep. The rest is just detail"

Relax, and enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy. With another child already you will probably have everything you need already for the baby.

For you, have some panadol in the house incase you are sore after the birth. Ural I was given in the hospital but I only needed it for a day and only with one of my births. I have never recovered from a caesarean but recovering from my first vaginal birth was a little owchy when sitting so panadol was my friend. Other than that just the usual big knickers and comfy pads for your lochia, breastpads for your boobs, and lots of meals in the freezer to allow you to spend your babymoon with your family and not in the kitchen.

ural is awesome
i didnt have enough maternity pads coz i bought ultrathins and they sucked i liked the stayfree maternity pads they are like surfboards but they are very nice on sore bits and then when the bleeding lightened i used their supers do i didnt use thin pads even with my first AF
wondersuits are good and fleece blankets for winter not sure wat else i cant remember

Ok stupid question but why the ural. Having had three vaginal births my vagina has always been fine almost straight away. Perhaps a little swollen but otherwise fine.

The thing I did differently this time is started using breastpads immediately rather than waiting until my milk came in. I'm so glad I did because my nipples didn't get sore at all.

Spring x

Ural is great if you have a graze from the birth as it stops the urine stinging you. I only found it necessary with my first birth (large 2nd degree tear and grazing) but not at all with my subsequent births with which I sustained only small tears.

Is there heavier bleeding after a vaginal birth? I could just use regular pads afterwards with my son .. I already have lansinoh :) Leftover from my son, but still in date till the end of the year :)

I was thinking of freezing some meals. What sorts of cooked foods freeze good? Or are they all pretty much the same? :)

I asked about the ural because on of my friends who had a vaginal birth said she couldn't pee unless she was in the shower with her bf holding her up .. Guess she has a low pain threshold? lol .. She didn't tear or anything ..

Everyone I know (not on bellybelly) just telling me how painful it is .. making me nervous.

I would suggest freezing chilli, soups and casseroles. The sort of home cooking that takes hours but always makes you feel heaps better.

I'm sorry you are worried about the birth. As I said I have never recovered from a CS so cannot directly compare, but all I ever needed after my vaginal births was panadol and my sister needed morphine after her CS so I guess that says a fair bit about the recovery!

For the birth itself it really is not that bad. The more relaxed you are, the easier it is, and any pain you might feel is not pain like a cut or broken leg. It is pain you can work with and dance with.

As for the bleeding post birth, I believe it is similar regardless of the mode of delivery so if pads were ok for you before they will probably be ok again. I used thick pads for their cushioning effect though for the first few days which made sitting down a little more comfortable.

Berocca for the first couple of days, to beat the baby blues.

Pasta bakes / shepards pie / casseroles freeze well.

I'm sure I'll be able to do it, like give birth, Everyones just telling me horror stories, nothing helpful. Or they scoff when I tell them I want a natural birth. I dilated fully with my son so I'm not worried about not progressing or the pain of labour. Everyone just keeps telling me about "the burning" .. Making out its the worst thing in the world .. And a few say 'I hope you go natural' but I can tell that they aren't saying it because its how I'd rather give birth, just because the want me to experience the pain ..

Looks like im going to do a BIG grocery shop tomoz and go on a cooking spreee lol ..

I second the thicker pads for their "cushioning" :) ( I liked the poise incontinece pad the best for the first two/three days- soooo soft and then the libra goodnights for after that) for I also loved the flushable toilet wipes - much gentler than toilet paper and I also used them to clean my nether regions/stitches in the shower and could then just flush it away (cos it got pretty gross:redface:) I bought ural and never used it - and I had a tear and stitches.

For bubs - whatever swaddles/wraps you liked last time - I know I def had some favourites I have stored carefully away for next time. I would take a dummy too ( a few styles) - but that's just me:D

And as for a vaginal birth hurting - yeah it does - but I'd do it again tomorrow - so how bad can it be :lol:

the burning only lasts a few seconds, you'll be absolutely fine!

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I had to get dh to go and by lanisol cream for my nipples as they were so tender with breastfeeding and it's a god send.

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Me too! But nobody told me about this wonderful product until day 3 of b/f with me crying and bleeding painful nipples. I wish I had've known about it to prep myself before hand!!

Corelly x

m2A - it's no worse than doing a huge poo, and your body is pretty good at that ;) You'll be fine ;) I never used Ural, I didn't need to wee until the next morning and the midwives advised the shower as the best place, they were right!

Move as much as you can, your body is built for this, and you're a great mum who'll do what's best for her bub - good luck!

I know it has been said before, but Ural. I had to use it of and on for upto a week. I had two minor tears, one on my perinum and one on my labia, and OMG it stung to go toilet (especially if I didnt drink enough water).

Materinity Pads, Undies, Breast Pads. I underestimated how much I would need (should of listened to DF from what his ex experianced with DSD).

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Me too! But nobody told me about this wonderful product until day 3 of b/f with me crying and bleeding painful nipples. I wish I had've known about it to prep myself before hand!!

Corelly x

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Same! My hospital gives out samples of them but only AFTER I had blood blisters .. And all my other wraps are blue lol .. So I bought all new ones hehe ...

You are all making me feel much better .. obviously people I know are just bunging it on a bit, with the pain .. Ahhh, thank god for belly belly to soothe my 'late night up alone sudden thoughts of pain' .. lol

Yeah I underestimated with the breastpads. I packed 6 for the hospital. I ended up going through a box of 60 haha

Make sure you have an abundant supply of nappies and wipes and puke cloths waiting at home for bubs. They poop a lot more than you think they do, and plenty of goo comes out the other end too, so puke cloths rock. Best puke cloths are the flat towelling nappies - I got my mother to make us dedicated puke cloths, which were just towelling hemmed into smallish rectangles, small tea-towel size. I had a dribble-burper.

As to the pee thing - you're just being scared by other people. I've had 'grazes' with both, and yes, it stings like crazy. But it is only for 2 or 3 days tops. Think papercut and lemon juice level of sting, just on your girly bits.

I just got a baby care pack in the mail yesterday in a mammoth box, it had almost everything you need (and a few things you don't) in it except nappies. 2 kinds of baby bath, baby shampoo, baby lotion, sorbolene, baby cotton buds, three different kinds of wipes, baby powder, hooded towel, polar fleece blanket, breast pads, a few onesies and a 4pack of socks :) Mostly a Johnsons baby starter pack and the gift giver had topped it up with stuff from Best&Less and BigW, so they'd put together a practical pack without spending too much.

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Yeah I underestimated with the breastpads. I packed 6 for the hospital. I ended up going through a box of 60 haha

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I was given two boxes of 40.
I ended up using ... 2. Breast pads, not boxes.
The baby eventually got mobile and found them (my partner was using the boxes as speaker stands), decided they were fun to empty and unwrap, and that was the end of them.

I didn't buy any this time but as above, I just got a box in the mail so we'll see ... I went through them with DD#1, never leaked with #2.

I've never needed breastpads either. I've never leaked.
I've only ever used maternity pads for about 24 hours, then normal pads for about 3 days after that until the bleeding stopped.
You've been given some great suggestions already. It reminds me that I need to buy some lanisol cream.

dont be scare........just go with it as much as you can and trust that your body knows what to do......when its the stinging which doesnt last long you know your at the very end.

i 37 wks with no 5

oh and i like the incontinence undies (like adult pull ups) instead of pads. they are more comfy and no mess on sheets.

spew cloths, spew cloths and more spew cloths. I had the idea that i was going to use terry flats as nappies and had like 24 of them and within the first few days we used all of them as spew cloths lol. DD was a bi chucker but they r so good to have even for just the little spit ups.
ural was good. i only had a tiny graze but it was still good for the first few days.
and dont listen to people tellin ya it is gonna hurt lots. i had people freakin me out and i honestly think i had like 30min of pain i coudlnt handle b4 i got a epi. i only ended up having a epi cause i got stuck at 5cm for ages. everytime i tell people that they say i am just tryin to make out it wasnt bad to sound good.

Why does everyone only ever tell the horror stories :( There are lots of beautiful inspirational women on BB with brilliant birth stories, I know every birth is different but try not to be freaked out by the horror stories hun! FWIW, I had a natural vaginal birth with my DS and LOVED it! Really, I would do it 100 times over but not have 100 babies if that makes sense hahaha - The most amazing, empowering thing I have ever done and omg I can not wait to give birth again! I had a very nasty graze inside and out to my labia from DS being born with his fist clenched on his face, it took 7 weeks to heal and for 3 of those weeks Ural was my Best Friend!! I used to have to pee leaning right forward holding toilet paper in my cupped hand putting pressure on my hoo haa and even then there was much wincing - THAT was worse than birth but bearable and I'd still do it all over again! Oh and Lucas Paw Paw Ointment helped too!!

My baby necessities in the early days were my Baby Hammock, DS slept soooo well from day dot in there! Lansinoh of course, soft cloth breast pads, a great breastfeeding pillow, lots of wraps & facewashers and I loved my big fat Libra Maternity Pads, even when my bleeding slowed, while I was still healing that graze, they made it oh so soft and comfy to sit!! Prob other things but nothing else is really jumping out at me, just the basics for the beginning really!

Oh and Lavender Oil for the Birthing Suite! It was like a relaxation spa in our room! We were ALL soooo chillaxed! Also I believe what helped me extensively in labour was my TENS machine, I had horrendous back labour and that thing killed it!

You're going to be amazing babe! Your body knows exactly what it is doing, it was made for this! As you know already being a Mama, all baby REALLY needs to begin with is YOU!

Google freezer meals as well hun, there are so many delicious meals than can be frozen and there are websites dedicated to it :)

Good luck!!

Lanisol, Breast Pads & Maternity Pads. stat. :)

Make sure you have all the little things for around the house...dishwashing powder, toiler paper, sink cloths, laundry powder...

Fess and saline solution for their eyes...

Extra socks - you will always lose some no matter how hard you try not too - they are tiny things!! lol

And if you do end up with another c/s, don't forget to get some extra gauze pads to put between your scar and your knickers ;)

All the best for a successful VBAC!! :)