u/Confident-Click3863

I’m due to have my first baby soon and I’m trying to figure out how we’re going to manage nights in the early days.
I’ve heard people recommend doing shifts with your partner — e.g. one person takes the first half of the night and does the feeds, changing, settling etc. while the other sleeps in another room, then you swap. It sounds like a great way for both parents to get a solid 3–4+ hours of uninterrupted sleep.

But I’m confused about how/if this actually works if you’re exclusively breastfeeding?

I recently learned that you can’t necessarily just have your partner give them expressed breast milk in a bottle because you still need to breastfeed/pump regularly to maintain your supply. I’ve also heard that in the very early days it’s particularly important for the baby to actually feed at the breast rather than relying on expressed milk.
So how do breastfeeding parents actually make the shift system work?

I’m just trying to understand how we can both get as much sleep as realistically possible without compromising breastfeeding.

Hi everyone,

Just wondering what other people’s experiences were with high blood pressure in pregnancy?

I’m currently 29 weeks and have been admitted to the NMH twice so far with high blood pressure, despite starting on a fairly hefty dose of labetalol after my first admission.

I’m seeing a lot of people mention they were induced at 37 weeks because of high blood pressure, so I’m wondering if that’s generally the norm, or if some people with high blood pressure made it to 39–40 weeks?

I’d love to hear what happened in your case. Thanks!

Is anyone else finding the waiting times for antenatal appointments absolutely ridiculous?

I’ve attended both the NMH and Wexford publicly and they’ve both been the same. Every single appointment seems to involve sitting around for at least two hours before being seen, even when it’s just a routine check.

On top of that, I was booked to see the consultant twice because I have hypertension and didn’t actually get to see her either time.

I completely understand that maternity services are under pressure, and the midwives have always been lovely, but spending hours waiting at almost every appointment is exhausting, especially when you’re pregnant.

Just wondering—has anyone gone semi-private or private? Were the waiting times any better, or is it pretty much the same regardless?

My baby is due in October and it’s got me wondering about cars.

At the moment I’ve a really small car, and I’ve noticed that loads of parents in Ireland seem to end up driving big SUVs/Jeeps once kids come along. Is there an actual practical reason for it — like space, safety, buggies, car seats, all the baby stuff etc — or is a normal/smaller car perfectly manageable?

Just trying to figure out if I should realistically be planning to change cars at some stage or if people manage fine without going massive.

Bit random but wanted to share this - if you’re struggling with constipation in pregnancy then I’d recommend trying the Novomins fibre gummies (in a turquoise green bottle). They also have added calcium, vitamin D and B12 which are all recommended in pregnancy. You can buy them online or I got mine in my local pharmacy.

Fixed me right up - highly recommend!