Ok, I'm trying to prepare myself for when this baby is born armed with information about what I want and don't want to happen but at the end of the day the people at the hospital are professionals and I don't want to go in there all guns blazing and be made to feel like an idiot.
BUT there are a few things that the hospital did with Tyler that I think is completely wrong and contributed to a few of our/my problems.

Firstly I'll explain that in Cyprus when you give birth you have to stay in the hospital for 3 nights whethers its straight forward or complicated. While your in the hospital the baby is cared for by the nurses and pediatrician (pretty much!)

Tyler was born and taken away to be cleaned, I guess injected, dressed and put into a cot (I don't know if they fed him straight away... they didn't bring him to me for 2 hours afterwards so I guess they probably did!)
so, my questions are..

1) how long after birth should a baby need feeding (they did pop him on me to feed but only to try and make my womb contract enough to help placenta out... it was about 30 seconds)
2) when your breast feeding if you can't latch the baby on do you just keep trying until they do (I guess so...?) what would you do if you just could not get the baby to feed and it was crying? over here they ended up giving him formula and making me try again later... ?I don't think this is right and it makes me so angry because Im sure if they'd have helped me I could have done it...
3) how long should you wait until the meconium comes out... like if baby hasn't poohed in 24 hours is that dangerous or is it ok to just wait? They put a thermometer up tylers bum to stimulate him to pooh.. but this isn't recommended on most sites i've looked at as it can damage them and stop them from bein able to pooh themselves which is what the first 3 months of Tylers life were like (him not being able to pooh unless we helped him )

ok I think that's it for now

thanks ladies x

Oh dear, I don't think i'd be able to cope in Cyprus - it sounds awful 'Made' to stay in hospital even though every things ok, baby looked after by the nurses etc..that sounds like my worst nightmare!!

My experience in the UK was totally different.
In answer to your questions though...
1) how long after birth should a baby need feeding (they did pop him on me to feed but only to try and make my womb contract enough to help placenta out... it was about 30 seconds) Baby was place straight on me after birth whilst the cord was cut, they took him to weigh him and clean him up etc then given back to me where we had uninterrupted skin to skin contact and thats where I 1st tried the breast feeding..Oliver suckled on and off for about an hour (when daddy took him so I had my stitches done).
But I did all the cares ie; nappy, dressed, feeding etc

2) when your breast feeding if you can't latch the baby on do you just keep trying until they do (I guess so...?) what would you do if you just could not get the baby to feed and it was crying? over here they ended up giving him formula and making me try again later... ?I don't think this is right and it makes me so angry because Im sure if they'd have helped me I could have done it... The 1st thing that comes from boobies is colostrum (which appears to be very little at all, but its high in everything they need for them 1st few days) then the milk will come in on day 3 or 4. Babies are born with the natural refex of sucking so the more they are put to the boob the more they will stimulate the colostrum/milk. For the 1st 24hrs Oliver was on and off the boob A LOT and he did wimper at times but he was sucking well and getting what he needed

3) how long should you wait until the meconium comes out... like if baby hasn't poohed in 24 hours is that dangerous or is it ok to just wait? They put a thermometer up tylers bum to stimulate him to pooh.. but this isn't recommended on most sites i've looked at as it can damage them and stop them from bein able to pooh themselves which is what the first 3 months of Tylers life were like (him not being able to pooh unless we helped him )
Aww, bless him. Oliver didn't poo every day, the MW asked me when he was about 3days old if he'd poo'd everyday and I said no..he'd gone about 2 days without a poo, but she said thats fine if they are still wee'ing. I think he was still a bit jaundice at the time and that had an effect on his bowel movements, but she just recommended popping him on the boob where poss and plenty of day light (Vitamin D i think) As it was the middle of winter I just sat with him in front of the window, but it seemed to do the trick and he pooped on late on the 2nd day
When he was a few weeks old he did have a bit of trouble passing wind/poop's so we just did the massage thing and bringing the knees up to his chest etc. Someone did mention a bit of vasaline on a cotton bud and gently rub around the bum area just to stimulate the area..not actually insert.
I think Oliver passed his maconium poo shortly after my milk came in on day 3 so by day 4-5 his poo's were changing from black to a very dark green.


Just remember hun, this is your baby and your his mummy - don't let them tell you how to do it

umm this is just as i understand it/my experience:

1) i fed elijah within about 10 minutes of him being born, i bf and when i was holding him he was 'rooting' (this means he was turning his mouth towards me/turning his head searching with his mouth for a nipple). he was then ok for an hour or so and then started making a noise (not really crying but he was very quiet/blue etc at the time due to the fast birth) so i latched him on again.

after the first couple of times i had to start waking him every 2 hours as he was extremely sleepy - they recommended for me not to let him go longer than 2 hours for at least a few weeks as they can get dehydrated/blood sugar can get low/your milk needs to be stimulated. as i say this is just my experience - signs of those things happening are low milk supply (if you manage until your milk comes in you will know if your supply becomes low i promise), your baby might seem shaky/shivery and their cry might be very quiet and raspy...all of these happened with elijah but within a few days he was fine.

2) for me it took weeks to get the latch right, and the only thing you can do it try and try again - at first you only produce colustrum (clear fluid very high in energy and nutrients for your baby) so don't worry that they don't feed much. i was told half a teaspoon of this is enough to keep them going for 12 hours + in normal circumstances. once your milk comes in, around day 4 usually, you will probably spray your baby in the face/ear/hair several times, but your baby will be learning quickly with you and will be very pleased that there is lots of milk! its a good idea to get a feeding pillow (widgey type thing) or i used my 5 foot pregnancy pillow to prop my arm up/lower back - get this in advance if you can as it will become your best friend!!! it's totally normal not to get latched on on the first try or first few tries...it will take quite a while til you can literally do it in your sleep, and your baby will learn really quickly too.

3) for the first week we were asked to write down all poos/wees or at least what time the nappy was changed and if it was pooey, what colour the pooh was and if it was wet...i know this sounds a bit crazy but it was the only way i could remember at the time. first poop should happen like you say within 24 hours, if not i would be seeking advice as i think it can signify that something might not be working quite right in the bowl/digestive system etc...i don't know if it is dangerous, perhaps just unusual? i am not keen on the thermometer idea!!! elijah passed most of his meconium within the 20 hours we were in hospital.

sorry i wrote so much but i hope it was helpful!!!

They don't actually need feeding for a while but they are more likely to latch themself on in the first hour (at least that's what I told). I was lucky because Jamie latched straight on. However, I know you're supposed to put your nipple by their nose. I would guess if they don't latch on keep trying. I don't know about number three. Can't you just refuse treatment and discharge yourself like you would here?

Id hate to have a baby in cyprus! Over here they encourage 'rooming in'. They keep the baby with you at all times if possible and do skin to skin straight after birth as procedure.

I think Caitlin was born and laid on my chest for a few min. Then she was taken to be rubbed over, vit k injection etc and handed back cpl mins later. She lay on my chest then and kinda found my nipple herself if I remember right. Im pretty sure she had her 1st feed then too, only a quick one but. She then got held by Stuart/my mum while I was stitched. They left after about an hr and a nurse cleaned me up (while Caitlin lay in crib beside my bed), nurse then dressed her and then went back on my chest and we were left alone for 45 min or so and she had a good feed then - though prob got bugger all but it didnt matter.

Caitlin then never left my side the whole time we were in hospital. Even to shower/wee/get meals we had to walk and wheel the wee crib about with us. The 2nd morning I cried for formula and they wouldnt give it to me. Caitlin had screamed and fed nearly the whole night and I was exhausted but the MWs said this was normal and would bring my milk in and refused. They were so pro BF here there is no way they would have given formula in first 48 hrs if you'd shown an interest in BF. I cant believe they encourage it in Cyprus even if you are trying your hardest to BF.

As for the meconium im pretty sure Caitlin went the next day, though prob within 24hrs. I wouldnt want a dr sticking anything up her bum unless it was medically necessary.

Does everyone in Cyprus just accept these things? Why so they keep you in so long? Are they never busy. Its interesting hearing how dif things are elsewhere in Europe. Im still jealous you dont have to go overdue but! Oh and the scans, I want more scans!

yeah the after birth bit is the worst bit about being in Cyprus, my Nan told me it was like that having babies in the 50's that the nurses did everything while you were there.
with the feeding they said to me after the 2 or 3 hours di dI want to try and bf and I said yes so I went to the nursery where Tyler was they put him in my arms and like grabbed at my nipples to get them in his mouth. I think he did actualyl latch on eventually but they said after 5 minutes to stop. Now surely that is wrong too won't he just stop when he is full? after those 5 minutes they said to use the other beast for 5 minutes (I think this is also wrong isn't it.. you should only feed from one fully first - I usppose if your milk hasn't come in maybe that's ok) but then after all that they then also offer a 2oz bottle of formula (which you don't even get to choose the brand of either it's the pediatrician that is assigned to you that chooses!) and they write down how much of the formula the baby takes. They told me they did this so they could see when my milk was coming in and how much the baby was taking!

one time (it might have been actually that only time that he latched on properly) Tyler started getting sleepy and falling asleep on me so if I had the choice I would have just popped him into his crib and left him to sleep. Well the nurses woke him gave him a bottle and fed him too much so he sicked it all back up... the only time he got a good feed from me and they made him puke it out! GRRRRR

I'm not sure if I can discharge myself, but this time I am NOT staying more than1 night unless I absolutely need to and I'm going to speak to my dr first and say if tehy won't let me leave then I'll have the baby somewhere else.

Snoopy I think they keep you in so long because they are so worried about something happening and it ruining the reputation of th doctor... they aer solely responsible for your care and so if my Dr messed up and something terrible happened I doubt he would be working in Cyprus ever again!

hmm 2 things come to mind...first is that perhaps they need to make sure they drink more due to the heat?! not sure, also i used to have to wake elijah during a feed over and over as he would fall asleep as soon as he latched on normally, but you persevere with that and they do start managing longer...

also, i can't remember about the one side/two side thing, it is a good idea to stimulate both sides but i know that in the first few weeks elijah could only manage one side per feed so i had to remember which i fed from last and use the other one for the next feed (i used to write it down but apparently you can get reminder bracelets!)

The old guidelines used to be to feed for 10/15 mins from each side (according to my Mum and Nan). Don't know how they managed that as I'm lucky if Jamie feeds for 10 minutes! The guidelines now are to feed from one side though as otherwise they don't get the hindmilk which is more filling. I was told that was the same even at the start when your milk was coming in as they were eating little and often so would feed plenty from both sides

ahhh well mari they also give the babies "tea" which is fennel and some other herbs, it's basically the same ingredients that go in gripe water as I checked with our pharmacist once. They give them 1 to 2 oz of it INSTEAD of a feed and say to do that twice a day. no thank you.

They don't actualyl ask if you want them to do this though they just do it.

tbh I think I'm going to tell them to keep their hands off my baby (in nicer terms) and get my Cypriot friend to translate into greek so they can't say they didn't understand what I was TELLING them.