December 2009: for the sake of Auld Lang Sine

[LaDiDaDi]

Just thought that I would get this started before the ante-natal thread gets filled up, not that I've had much time to post since I had DS but others might be able to multi-task better than I can!

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[GoldenSnitch]

Thank you LaDiDaDi.

Marking my place for later.

[Milliemuffin]

Hi girls, hope you're all ok and babies are doing well.

I've been reading about reflux/colic/silent reflux but they all mention 'arching of the back'. Jasmine doesn't arch just seems to be in so much pain with trapped wind on and off throughout the day. About 3 or 4 times a day she'll do a really explosive poo and then she's fine til the next feed (which is about 15mins every 1-2 hrs). She groans so much and seems so uncomfortable but she doesn't arch her back. Anyone else had this?

[PenguinPoo]

Hi I wonder if I could join you girls? I lurked for the whole of the ante-natal thread as I'd joined 3 others previously and when the pg's ended in m/c I just couldn't bring myself to join another thread just to leave. But all's well that ends well and I now have a 4 week old ds born 25/11/09 who is just adorable! So I am taking the bull by the horns and joining you post natally.
I'll be looking for lots of advice as I'm a first time Mum

[BexJ78]

Hi all

Just saying hello so i know where to find you all later. All going well here; Anna sleeping and feeing well, few issues trying to get her to sleep; some nights good and some nights not so good! other than that, it's going pretty well. DH is back at work on Monday though, which will be the real test...I think everything will probably be a bit chaotic for a few days!
Penguin, i am a first timer too, so hope we can help each other!

[AmazingBouncingFerret]

hey there, marking my place.
Glad you joined us penguin, congratulations on your little arrival.

[Claire236]

Milliemuffin - having similar problems with ds2. He's particularly bad at night. I'm currently typing while he screams & stretches then he'll suddenly fall asleep although that might not be for another hour. He seems hungry but if I feed him more I've found from experience that he'll be violently sick bringing up what looks like a weeks worth of milk. All in all he's not a very happy baby which it's hard not to take personally when you're sleep deprived particularly as ds1 was a very placid baby.

[madmissy]

marking my place!

brodie seems to be a tad constipated he is still going but it seems to be hurting him

[legscrossed]

marking my place.
claire236 n milliemuffin, same probs here. Always nights worse, feedinfg frenzies one feed blends into another.
The only way I can get dd satisfied enough to vaguely have the beginnings of a nights kip is to back up my midnight bf with 2 oz of formula.
That gets us thru to 2 3 ish when bf again gets us on to 6 8 ish.
this was the advice of my hv who is like surrogate mum (ace) n it was a revelation. previous to that was feeding from 12 thru to 3 gone then hourly after that! dd bit of a crappy feeder, sleeps comfort suckles etc.
The other advice I took from her was use a dummy. Hate these things, we're very anti but hv explained that for deep wind dummy n suckling stimulate saliva n peristalsis of gut to push wind/pooh thru.

[sparklycheerymummy]

ds had a dummy at a day old in hospital.... he was constantly sucking his hands so it was obvious he was a sucker!!!! He likes to have his face covered..... obviously with breathing space...... sends him straight off...... likes my hand covering his face too. Anything is worth a try!!!! wind without arching back is probably still wind/ colic/ silent reflux or whatever..... my dd had t terribly so i consider myself a bit of a pro..... no change in formula or bottle helped but having a warm bath with her then handing he straight to dp who had aa toasty warm towel ready and a nice warm bottle did..... we didnt even used to bother with a nappy till after the feed so as not to aggravate her. the warm bath, towel, bottle (or breast) just means they release some wind and take a good feed...... though the towel may end up covered in poo...... we got this advice in the middle of the night from a community midwife when we were ready to give up !!!!!! At moment ds is managing to breast fed with infacol on alternate feeds and lots of swaddling!!!!!

[sparklycheerymummy]

just managed to bake buns with dd while ds is sleeping!!!! Brownie point here and happy mummy who feels bad that dd is getting less of my time than normal!!!

[Tillyscoutsmum]

Just marking place .... will prob be back to moan chat at stupid 'o' clock in the morning when ds is awake

[biscuitsmustbedunkedintea]

Marking my place.

Lucy seems to be progressing well (other than I have yet to get her name to trip off my tongue - keep going to call her something else?!). Bf okish although she really fusses over my right boob and doesn't seem to feed off it as well. The other one no problems. Might head over to the feeding thread to see if anyone has any advice. My MW from all my ante-natal appointments came today to do the heel prick. She was a little concerned as Lucy's poo's are still doing what DH calls "pesto poo's". She should be doing brown/yellow ones by now. Mind you we had nearly 24hrs of her doing no wee's at all on Day one. Hoping by Monday (next check) she'll be ok. Apparently green poo's are a sign of underfeeding so naturally I'm blaming myself.

[GoldenSnitch]

First heartbreak moment tonight

DH is out having a beer with his mates so it's the first night I've been home alone with the two children.

Catherine is awake and DS stirred and started crying. I took her up with me and laid her on the end of the bed while I saw to DS and he turned his back on me!

He didn't want me there to comfort him

Feeling rotten now and like I'm losing my bond with DS. Need to make sure I'm giving Catherine to DH whenever she's not feeding I think so i can spend more time with DS. Going to have trouble when DH goes back to work otherwise.

[biscuitsmustbedunkedintea]

Snitch I feel like this! Was in tears last night as I kept saying to DH that DD1 was my world and that she always made me laugh with what she says and does, and since DD2 has been born, I've not done that. Like you I feel like I'm losing that bond. Even started being silly and saying why did we have another child when DD1 was so perfect? Stupid I know. Deep down I know that it's just because DD2 is dependant on me at the moment for feeding and I can give her what her Dad can't, so need to be near her all the time. Am just waiting till I can go a few hours without feeding and am promising myself I'll spend some one-to-one time with DD1. Sat and spoke to DD1 tonight and said in a few weeks it'll be better and that I'll be able to spend more time with her and I apologised for being snappy with her too, and that it was because mummy was tired. Think she understands, and we've encouraged DD1 to play with DD2 on her playgym tonight. Almost made it "her" thing with her sister, so she doesn't feel alienated.

Am also home alone with my 2 girls tonight as Dh is down the pub wetting the babies head . He's resigning from his job tomorrow and he's a little nervous about it as it'll be a massive shock to the company. He's been there 16 years!

[AmazingBouncingFerret]

Well Lizzys eyes seem to be clearing up and my box set of the Trueblood books that I got for Christmas have done their job of keeping moses basket elivated enough for her to sleep reasonably well at night.
She seems to eat less at night than she does in the day, not sure whether its because of her blocked nose being worse at night or not?
Going to brave taking her out today, just to the garden centre.

[Claire236]

biscuits - hv asked me if ds was doing green poos as they're a sign of colic apparently. It's such a relief to hear you say you wonder why you had another child as I've thought the same thing in my lowest moments when I feel like ds1 is being neglected & I'm generally feeling overwhelmed.

hv agreed that it sounds like ds2 has colic. He also seems to have an awful lot of phlegm still from when he had a cold 2 weeks ago. The combination is not good.

sparkly - ds2 is very definitely a sucker & he has a dummy quite a lot in spite of me & dh both hating them. We've been using Colief which worked wonders when ds1 had colic. Going to try the bath/warm towel combo & see if that helps. Being covered in poo would make a change from sick.

[LaDiDaDi]

I'm feeling bad about neglecting DD to though so far we've been lucky at bedtimes so that DS hasn't needed feeding at Dd's bedtime so we've been able to stick to the usual routine of me doing her bedtime stories. Horrible moment in bed this morning though when DS was lying next to me and dd stumbled when she was climbing into the bed and squashed him a bit. Cue lots of shouting from us, screaming from dd and crying from ds. DD's behaviour is generally no worse than usual though being at home with her more has highlighted to me the concerns I have about her attention and listening skills.

DS is feeding well, feeds for about an hour at a time though he settles afterwards and isn't a whingy baby at all. Regained his birthweight when he was weighed yesterday so I'm feeling more confident about the bf though going to buy a new pump this week as I need him to be able to take ebm from a bottle too. Oh and he's got oral thrush and is on horrid nystatin though so far I seem to have escaped getting it in my breasts.

I think the green poos get explained by all sorts of things by different people. I reckonthat they're so common they are almost normal iyswim (not doubting that your ds has colic btw Claire).

[GoldenSnitch]

Have been making a real effort with DS today and I feel like we're doing OK. I made sure I got out of bed to put him back when Catherine's crying woke him during the night and invited him into our bed first thing and read him a story while I was feeding Catherine (he even chose 'There's a House Inside My Mummy' as the book he wanted to read!) then brought them both downstairs and managed to play with DS for a couple of hours while she slept.

He's still more interested in Daddy - but then he always is - but I feel like I've spent some time with him at least.

He's such a sweetheart and I love spending time with him - I as beginning to really miss him. Am hoping Catherine sleeps during story time tonight so I can get back to reading the bedtime story. Not going to manage bathtime as I still can't lift him due to the section but I can definitely read a story

Midwife has weighed Catherine again today and she is now 6lbs 11oz - only another 4ozs to go before she's regained her birth weight. Still not discharged as she needs to have regained those last ounces before they can do that but it's looking good at least.

Can't believe she's 2 weeks old today!!

Happy new year to everyone too. It's going to be a quiet one for us tonight - not even sure I will bother waiting for midnight before I go to bed - but it's a special one as our family is now complete and we can start 2010 with everyone here

[madmissy]

Well dd's are continuing to play up but at least they occupy each other lol! they are monkeys!
Desperate for jan to start and dd1 to get in routine of school etc as thats when the real test for me begins!

ds is tad constipated i think goes every day (yet to go today though!) but when he does hes often straining its still smelly and runny and yellow so at least its not hard etc

he is on aptamil milk which he keeps down etc no sick or wind probs

i did however 'try' breastfeeding day 5 when milk came in for 2 days and could feel depression rapidly sinking in was complete mess so i think that it perhaps mucked him up slightly?

anyhow its new years eve!

my cousin had a baby girl early this morn glad that there are no other babys due in family lol stop the broodiness sinking in

[sparklycheerymummy]

HAPPY NEW YEAR LADIES......Toby asleep in his moses basket and i am having a sneaky glass of wine. He also took a bottle of ebm form daddy earlier so if i need a break i can have one..... perfick!!!!

[Claire236]

Happy New Year everyone. I saw the new year in with the help of several vodkas as dh was on night duty.

dh back at work Monday having been off since ds2 was born on 28 Nov & ds1 back at school Weds. Dreading the nights as ds2 is a nightmare & dh won't be able to be up all night when he's got work the next day but looking forward to establishing some sort of daytime routine. Until June when I go back to work of course.

[Milliemuffin]

Anyone got any tips for red sore baby girlie bits? Been putting sudocrem on for nearly 3 days but it still looks red and sore. It's not dry. DS never had nappy rash so I don't know if it's that or not. It's mostly on her fleshy bits and a little further out onto her bum. Any suggestions?

[Moosy]

I just put this on the antenatal thread and I'll put it here too, I've set up a FB group so we can find each other more easily on there, it's here.

Millie, is it just red patches or is it in spots? IME standard nappy rash looks a bit like sunburn and should get better with sudocrem or just normal nappy cream (zinc and castor oil based cream). If it's spots then it might be fungal and would need something from your GP.

[Claire236]

Milliemuffin - I've got some Bepanthen which I found really good for ds1 when he had a sore bum. Have had to have something on prescription in the past though as Moosy said.

Milliemuffin - Just sent a request to join the FB group

[madmissy]

i second that bepanthen was great for when my dd's got sore bits