March 2005 babies - we are very quiet

[popsycal]

So how is it going for everyone? Most of us have had our babies so how was the first few weeks?

[Cristina7]

I had no idea there was a postnatal section.

Sylvia is very sleepy. This is my worry at the moment. In fact not the sleepiness, the not feeding. I tried doing demand feeding but she just sleeps and sleeps and feeds a little and then sleeps some more. I'm getting quite depressed about it. She has gained 200 g (7 oz) in the week since she's been home (she's 3 weeks now, was 2 weeks in SCBU), so all fine, but I don't know how long this will continue as she seems to be feeding less now, not more.

[Leogaela]

Cristina, if she is has gained 200g in the past week I don't think there is anything to worry about! Maybe your milk is just very rich. My doctor said that 150g per week would be normal! Niklas gained 700g in 2 weeks though and now has a huge double chin and big chipmunk cheeks! He looks very cute! He had a few days where he couldn't stop eating but now isn't feeding much either. Also seems to be sleeping a lot.... and farts like I have never heard before!!!!!

Today was fantastic, both me & dh were really tired, and dh has a really bad cold. Niklas let us sleep in until 10 this morning before he really wanted to get up and play!

[charlie95]

i'm here. dd fine. feeding well and regularly. well shes actually a little starver! obviously hates being undressed, bathed and bottom wiped....seems to like warmth and wrapped up in blanket. good as gold. been home week. dd now 11 days old. ds not keen though.
HV coming tues for first time so weight should be interesting. 7lb 3 born.

[3mummy]

Hi ladies, been off the net for a while, got 3 kids now!!!

Have a question if anyone can help I would be most grateful........ I am breastfeeding and have been using calendula oil on my nipples after each day feed (my MW gave it to me) and Lansinoh (sp?) after each night feed, to prevent sore nipples. However I have one very sore one and wondered if you knew of anything that would help it get better? I dread feeding on that side as it is terribly painful , and up until this point I was thoroughly enjoying feeding DD3 myself.

[3mummy]

Thanks Kama, I know what you mean about yelping in pain! I have to send the other two DDs out of the room when I'm going to feed on the sore one as I don't want them to think it's painful!

I have run out of oil now so I won't be using that now, guess it's just a matter of gritting my teeth and waiting then .

Thanks again though, .

[Leogaela]

3mummy - if one nipple gets sore I give it a break and feed on the other one for 2 feeds if possible or just for less time on the sore one. Also i always rub milk into the nipple after feeding, showering etc. and that seems to work wonders.

We are trying to get dh to give Niklas a bottle of expressed milk once a day now so he gets used to being fed by him and is not so dependant on me. I think we didn't warm the milk up enough this evening , he guzzled the milk quite happily, burped and then started screaming, took me ages to settle him again.

He also seems to have the most unbelievable farts! Loud and smelly! Is that normal???

[Pidge]

Just found this thread - hooray for all the March babies!

3Mummy - I'm in the same boat - terribly sore on one side. In fact to begin with I was bleeding and Iris was vomiting up blood stained milk - she looked like something out of a horror movie. I can only bear to feed for about 5 minutes on that side before I just have to take her off. I went to the breastfeeding clinic and they suggested expressing on that side after feeding to stimulate the supply since I'm only managing very short feeds. Though I confess I only manage expressing once a day. They also said the latch looked fine and I am larger on that side, so making it much harder, if not impossible to get enough boob into the baby's mouth to avoid her chewing on the nipple. I had the same problem with dd1 and it took quite a few weeks to resolve, so in the meantime I'm trying to grin and bear it. But it is miserable when you get to dread feeds isn't it?

After every feed I'm rubbing breastmilk into the skin, and then also using lansinoh. Also I'm wearing Avent breast shells (the ventilated ones), which means you can air dry without having to walk around topless. Plus any leaking milk is caught in the shells. The midwife suggested these, and they're great. I find I heal much better that way, than if I'm cooped up in a bra and breastpads.

Last night was our first attempt to get Iris out of our bed and into the moses basket. It took an hour to get her to sleep, which is actually not bad going for the first night. And then she slept from 10pm till gone 2am, then woke at 5am and 8am. What's more, dp kindly got up with dd1 at 7.30am letting me sleep in with Iris. So am feeling fairly with it this morning.

Don't know about anyone else, but I find it very hard to get time to log on. Iris is still sleeping a lot, but dd1 is off from her childminder this week and she doesn't take kindly to me browsing mumsnet!

[popsycal]

pidge - on the sore boob have you tried hand expressing a tiny bt just to sften the nipple area then when you offer the breast, kind of gently squeeze the nipple area into a more pointed shape so it is easier to fit into her mouth?? May work....

[madrose]

hello, glad to have found this thread. hoping someone might be able to help, until recently I've been feeding my nearly 4 wk dd fine, but since yesterday, by late afternoon, its as if I don't have enough milk for her. she has both breasts but then is rooting and demanding just an hour later. I'm not sure if she is hungry or just bored. My breasts are sore, as she gets so angry towards the end of the feed, that she tears herself away from my nipple. I don't want to stop feeding, but both breasts are sore now, and I wince when its time to feed.

[ZoeC]

Ooh hadn't realised there was a postnatal one we 'graduate' too

All ok here - dd2 is spending more time in bed with us than I'd intended, but it does at least mean I can sleep. Will make efforts to get her to sleep in her moses basket sometime - I'll be reading your progress Pidge! During the day she'll sleep anywhere, you can move her and all sorts but at night, it's a different story.

She's feeding loads and has almost regained her birth weight (9oz in a week - birth weight 9lb 5.5oz) so that's good but she's also one of the most sicky babies I've seen so every day I feel like I'm swimming in the stuff at times! Got her on infacol now as I think it's wind that's causing it so hopefully that'll help and I don't have to move on to gaviscon. And I'm becoming a pro at eating one handed !

Nice to catch up with all the other March mummies!

[Pidge]

popsycal - I've tried pretty much everything! And the good thing is that it is very slowly getting better. Sometimes I get almost pain free feeding for 5 minutes now. And I've noticed that when she's really hungry and there's been a good gap between feeds she latches on really well - so I think part of the problem is that she comfort sucks, messes about and that hurts me.

madrose - I've heard they often have a growth spurt at around 4 weeks, so that could explain the desire to feed. With my elder dd I remember at one point spending 2 days being realy careful to rest all the time, going to bed with her cuddled up to me lots, as I've read that can help stimulate the milk supply.

ZoeC - project moses basket is on its second night and is proving quite successful. Last night she slept from 10.30pm to 3.30am, and then again till 6.20am.The problem is getting her to sleep in the evening in the first place. She nods off fine but wakes screaming after 5-110 mins. The whole put to bed process takes over an hour.

Still I guess thats not unusual - I remember the same thing with dd1 in the evenings.

[Leogaela]

Pidge - it sounds as if Iris is sleeping really well once you get her off to sleep! Niklas fed at around 10.30 last night, then 2.30 then 4.30 when he was wide awake and wouldn't go back to sleep, then eventually fell asleep on and off in our bed until about 6.30 - 7. I know he can go longer without feeds so will try to settle him down again when he wakes up for the first feed rather than feeding him. He also sometimes takes a really long, long time to settle to sleep. It seemed to work well this evening though, not sure what I did right!

Madrose, is she gaining weight? i had a similar problem with Niklas, but found out he is gaining loads of weight. it seems that he was not really hungry but grumpy because he was getting too tired and then wanted ot comfort suck. Seem to have solved it by giving him a dummy (i was very anti-dummies before, but believe me its a relief!).

[bonym]

Touch wood - Grace is now sleeping really well at night - last few nights has only woken once for a feed. Not sure if any one thing is the cause but I reckon it's a combination of:

1. Having cranial osteopathy
   
2. Putting her on her side to sleep. I know she ought to be on her back but the osteopath sad that her head was slightly misshapen at the back and she would probably be more comfortable on her side. As long as her underneath arm is pulled forward it seems to me there is no way she could roll to her front and she certainly seems much more comfortable like this.
   
3. She sleeps in an Amby hammock which is fab (also the design mkakes it almost impossible for her to roll over). We bought it after reading a thread on mumsnet & haven't been disappointed!
   
   Of course, the tranquillity may not last but we're enjoying it while it does!
   
   Pidge & 3mummy - I have also had very sore boobs - I thnik one of the problems is that Grace was sometimes sucking long after the milk had finished (up to nearly an hour for some feeds) & because I was paranoid about her not getting sufficient I was letting her. Today I've decided (after reading various bits of info) to take her off after 1/2hr and check if there's any milk left before letting her continue on that side (if she still wants more at that stage). My midwife also recommended good old Vaseline - I had been using Kamillosan but mw said it tasted awful for baby !
   
   Sorry - long post!

[Pidge]

Blimey boneym - I am in such agony feeding I am only managing 5 minutes feeding on one side and maybe 10 on the other! I was very worried about whether Iris was getting enough milk, but at least at the two week mark she had gained weight, and dp reckons she looks fatter now! I'll get her weighed again in a week's time. I think my problems stem from me being much larger on one side, so Iris can't get enough in her mouth to avoid me getting sore. The other side is sort of ok. Though Iris has also developed a power suck which is pretty lethal. Every so often I get really down about the feeds, but I guess generally we're headed in the right direction.

Sleep last night was hopeless. I got Iris down at 9pm and then dp woke her up at 10pm when he came to bed and she woke every 1-2 hours after that until I took her into bed with us at 6am and she conked out next to me for 3 hours.

Hope all you other sleep deprived mums are surving out there. Must dash - dp has bathed Iris and now I'm being called to put dd1 to bed rather than slacking off on the internet!

[popsycal]

hi folks one handed typing so bear with me

we are doing well
after a wobbly day on saturday where i panicked bout harry not having been weighed since he was born and being a general rubbish mummy i feel much more in control. trying tro judt o with the flow rather thasn stressing
getting harry weighed on friday he has grown but isnt as chubby but i have stopped worrying as he is weeing and pooing lots

he wioll rarely sleep in the moses basket day or night so night s spent either unsettled for houtrs on ed before i give in afeed hm lying down in bed and he sleeps well. i hate it and get paranoid nightr time oplan is to bring big cot in our room - he has sio little room in moses basket
datime plan s to suss out the two slings which i have so he can sleep and feed and i can get on with stuff

ds1 is great with him = adores him!!!!

feeling good
and boobs are fne too

hope yu all get some more sleep soon
and for boobs - tions of lansinoh and euthrt lansinoh or tommee tippee breast padds = absorbe milk so boobs can dry out

[ZoeC]

Hi all,

Pidge - ouch! sorry to hear it's so painful for you. I get a really nasty pain on the right side when she starts to feed, but it fades and I've read let down can be painful so figure it's that. Think she's 'chewing' on me a bit though as I am getting something like a tooth mark on one side of each nipple. Using lansinoh which is helping but I think I may need to look into latch/position. I'm going to see how I go then may try a bf counsellor if it gets worse.

Last night I got her to sleep in the moses basket between feeds, but the night before I didn't so I think it'll be hit and miss for a bit. She was weighed today though and has gained nearly 1lb in 8 days so that's reassuring.

Finding that she has to be on her side to sleep in the moses basket - I've put a rolled up blanket in front of her to prevent her rolling over onto her tummy. She settles for longer that way (although she'd still prefer to be in bed with me, but I get fed up of her being sick on the bed all the time).

Good luck with the weighing on Friday popsy, but glad you're more relaxed anyway. He sounds like he's doing really well.

Dd1 has been having some spells of bad behaviour - she's lovely with dd2 but sometimes hits me (my fault i guess ). Bit upsetting as she didn't do this before, but I'm hoping we can ride it out and it will pass - I was half expecting some sort of reaction, and she only does it now and again not all the time. Anyone else getting any sort of backlash?

[Girly]

Hi everyone, I too did not realise there was a post natal thread!

Things are not so great here, I have thrush and it is agony and to top it all dd1 is unwell and keeps being sick and ds is going through the terrible 2's so not much fun in the girly house this week.

Am off to the gp this afternoon to get this thrush sorted out so hopefully this will sort out the painful b/f

We are also having the same sleep problems here too, dd wants to be in with us and permantly attached to my sore boobs, am expressing for today to give them a break from the constant comfort sucking as feed takes about 40-60mins which is NO fun with thrush. Have lost count the number of times I have been in tears

Anyway enough of my moaning, its nice to see all the march buddies back here!

[popsycal]

oh girly thaat sounds awful
hope the medication kicks in quickly and you and millie feel better soon xxxxxxx

[Leogaela]

Bonym - what is Cranial osteopathy????

Pidge - how are you doing today? How is the feeding going? less painful yet? Did you have a better night last night. Do you put Iris to sleep in the same place during the day? Is she in her own room now? I have found that Niklas settles better and for longer in his own room, but I started off by putting him to sleep there during the day. he actually falls asleep in his own bed sometimes.

We had one bad night Wed night - Niklas had such bad wind that it woke him up around 12.30 and he didn't settle again until around 4 am. I think it may have been something to do with the prawn thai curry I ate at lunchtime!
His worst sleep habit is to wake up around 5am absolutely wide awake, won't go back to sleep again and i usually end up bringing him into our bed where he grunts and wriggles and cries for about an hour before dropping back off to sleep. I hope this doesn't go on forever!!!!

Girly - it sounds terrible! Hope things get better for you fast!

[bonym]

Hi everyone - sorry to hear so many of you having problems with feeding . Luckily, my boobs have been much less sore the last couple of days - the Vaseline really seems to do the trick - wish I'd known about it before as I'm finding it much better (and much cheaper!) than the dedicated nipple creams. Also though, I think Grace has now got the hang of latching on properly which is making a big difference. I had a wonderful midwife spend a lot of time with me showing me exactly how to get her latched on and things have got gradually better since then. Can also second Pidge's breast shells recommendation - the fact that nothing is touching the nipples really makes a difference. My only concern is that I have had a lump in my armpit for the last few days - I know it's probably nothing to worry about and just a blocked duct or something, but it doesn't seem to be shifting. I guess if it's still there next week I will see the GP but am dreading the possibility of having to have tests etc. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it disappears soon!
Grace is very sleepy today - only had about an hour of wakefullness so far today - hope this doesn't mean that she's going to be awake all night!
Hope everyone is ok today and that soreness/sleepness nights are abating

[bonym]

Leogaela - cranial osteopathy involves very slight and gentle movements (in fact you can hardly see or feel them) of the bones in the skull and the pelvis (which is connected apparently). The theory is that if the bones are even slightly misaligned it can cause discomfort in various parts of the body. It's highly recommended for babies and the sooner they have it done the better. I had some myself early in pregnancy when I was suffering with terrible daily headaches - after only one session the headaches ceased and I haven't had a single one since. I just found this web page which gives more info.

[Harrizeb]

Dear Ladies, many congratulations on your little ones. Please forgive me for gate crashing, I just wanted to share a bit of information about BFing. I'm a first time mum, and fed my DS for 6mths, but the first few weeks were agony, i have scars! Reading all your thoughts and tips have given me loads of ideas to try again for (if) next time, but one of the things that I used that did work and gave my worst side a bit of a break was nipple shields. You put them over your nipples and the baby sucks on that so giving your blisters time to heal before being chewed again. They don't work for everyone cause some babies get confused by the different action required, but my DS was fine until he had to alternate between bottle (1 feed a day for daddy time), nipple shield and no nipple shield.

Sorry for the long post, hope you don't mind me sharing a bit, you've all certainly given me plenty of ideas to use next time. Lots of love and good luck.

[Leogaela]

Bonym - thanks for info about cranial osteopathy. It sounds intersting. I will check out the website.
About the lump in your armpit - don't worry about it, definitely get it checked out but it is very unlikely to be something that needs treating or even tests. A good doctor or breast specialist will be able to tell by feeling it what it is or at least with an ultrasound. I've had a lot of breast lumps and that has been my experience anyway.

[Pidge]

typng one handed as Iris is sleeping in the other arm!!

anyone else finding it hard to settle the baby in the evening? I feed Iris to sleep, wind her, put her down - she seems fast asleep and then 5-15 minutes later she wakes up screaming and we have to start over again.

Otherwise doing pretty well. One side feeding is completely fine, the other still very sore, but I grit my teeth and curse through those feeds. Amazing to think I fed dd1 for 2 years - you'd imagine this feeding thing would be a doddle for an old timer!

Had a brilliant day out yesterday - dp's mum got us tickets to the Turner / Whistler / Monet at Tate Britain and we took both girls, also managed tea and scone in the cafe, boat trip to Tate Modern and lunch in the cafe there ... a proper family outing.

girly - how awful - you have my sympathy, at least I'm pain free on one side - I too have cried through feeds on the other. Expressing sounds a good plan. And the thrush medication shoud take effect fast.

leogaela - am rubbish at getting Iris to sleep in her moses basket in the day - mostly because dd1 is off from her childminder this week so we are out and about all the time so Iris snoozes in the sling or pushchair. But she doesn't do badly at night once I can get her to sleep and stay that way for 20mins she'll generally do 3-5 hours. Like niklas she comes into our bed ca 5 am - I'm too tired then to do anything else - I used to do the same with dd1 and she managed to sleep 12 hours in her cot without waking from 5 months - so can't be too bad!!!!

boneym - breasts do get very lumpy when feeding - but definitely get checked - all fingers crossed here.