Hi girls, just wanted to drop in and introduce myself and my new addition. Nicholas arrived in a hurry 3 days before his due date. My whole labour was 2 hours 45 mins, and we only arrived at the hospital about 40 mins before he was born. My Ob missed it as he had taken St Pat's day off, but I had a lovely midwife who managed to catch Nicholas (only just as I think he practically flew out in two pushes, and I was standing up!!). As he arrived so quickly, he was a bit bruised and still has two black eyes and broken capillaries in each eye, but they should be gone soon. I stayed in hospital for 4 days, until my milk had come in and I was comfortable with breastfeeding.

Since being home, b/f has had its challenges, and my nipples are still really sore. Yesterday I was dreading every time he woke up as I knew he would want to have a feed, but we managed to get through it. He definately feeds better during the day as at night he fusses around and finds it hard to attach. I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I have large breasts (E cup at the moment) and fairly flat nipples, so when he first attaches, even if it is correct, it takes him a few sucks to really pull the nipple back into his mouth. I haven't contacted a lactation consultant, but I think I will next week. The child health nurse is coming this afternoon, so I will get her to see how he is attaching too. Luckily, I haven't had mastitis which I had 3 times with my daughter, and Nicholas feeds really well once he is on so I haven't been too engorged at all.

I have enjoyed reading all the posts in here so far, and it is really reassuring to know everyone else is going through the same things and that they are normal. It has been 6 1/2 years since my daughter Jasmyn was born and while I am a lot more relaxed with Nicholas and know what to expect, I have forgotten a lot of the little things.