SouthSea's All American Baby thread

[duchesse]

New thread for well-wishers to leave messages! And for Southsea to leave links to photos of the Pebble (hint hint) [you don't have to Southsea)

Good to see you coming out of the blues. I was awful - just bursting into tears whenever the MW's said anything nice to me

For my sleepy little jaundiced premmie versus large bazookas with not much milk, i was advised to try a number of things:

• Use the rugby hold (less chance you feel like you are suffocating them) . This worked brilliantly for me on one side and not the other, so i always fed her lying the same way IYSWIM?
• Tickling toes (didn't really keep her awake)
• stroking from behind the ear, down the neck (this worked fairly well to stimulate the muscles used for sucking). Also if you can see this muscle really 'drawing' rather than just a mouth movement, you can be fairly confident they are actually getting some milk
• laying cold flannels on her forehead during a feed. Now i know this sounds a bit precious, but this was the best help i could give her
• stripping them off to keep them awake & sucking (this didn't really work for us, but can for some)

All the VERY, VERY best for going (not quite) home. Enjoy your beer and being with your new family. Stay strong. You have been amazing.

warbles

'she ain't heavy, she's my sister'

brilliant brilliant news.Huge congratulations and welcome to the world baby Thomas who does,as mentioned look pretty solid for a little 4lb er! Read your first thread so it is just amazing to be able to share your happy ending x x

Seaside - hope you are enjoying your first night at "home" now. I am so impressed at how well you are doing.

weird confrssion - I woke up in the middle of the night dreaming of you and the things written here about lactation consultants and nipple shields!!!!!

Anyway the upshot of my dream was that actually I wanted to say that mumsnut and crispythecrisp have just given excellent advice.

It reminded me of what the lactation consultant that I went to said to me.
She adviced stopping the nipple shields as soon as possible (they had been my lifesavers!!!!), but until I did there were things I could do to help.

Firstly before putting the baby to the breast hand express a little to get the flow going, (I always finished by pulling at the nipple as it seemed to help, another wierd thing of me!). When there is a bit of milk coming out, put some on the end of the nipple shield (like mumsnuts excellent advice using syringe but only at the beginning).

The lactations consultant also said that weaning the baby off the nipple shield is important as the nipple shields reduce the amount of stimulation your boobs are getting, so less stimulation to produce more milk. Also harder to get letdown, hense hand-expressing (or pump expressing) first is good to ensure instant reward for the baby making first few sucking efforts.

To wean off the nipple shieild my lactation consultant suggested cutting a bit of the tip of the nipple shield and then the next day a little more.... etc, you get the picture (interestingly I read a website advocating this for weaning older children off of dummies, any way I digress!)

If possible also have a day in bed with Thomas. Have lots of rest and skin to skin contact. This really makes a huge difference in terms of milk production and interesting Thomas in nussling for milk...... Also helps you catch up on some much needed rest after all the to-ing and fro-ing to the hospital over the last few days.

Congrats again on Thomas getting out of hospital.

Anyway, I think it is time that Jacksmania came and gagged me now, as I am talking too much.....

Hooray!!!!!!

Congrats!! He's a lovely little thing :)

I think I had one too many of your lovely last night jacksmania

Hope you manage a quiet day in bed as galwaygirl suggests and that today is a good one. Just remember that every day iis one day closer to making it home

I'm so glad to hear that he's been discharged! I hope that everything is fandabbydozey from here on in, and that you'll be back in Blighty in no time!

Well done, Southsea, so pleased for you!

You've had some great breastfeeding advice from the ladies here, yay!

So glad to hear you'll both be leaving the hospital. I felt weird leaving after just 8 days so I imagine it will feel super strange for you especially with an extra external person in tow. As for your eventual return to the UK.. it's a culture shock. You're so used to the amazing care and all the attention you get (even just for being British, never mind the high risk pregnancy stuff!) and suddenly you're just one of millions again and medical people appear largely indifferent by comparison and often critical of certain aspects of care you may have had. Takes a while to adjust. BUT - it is always good to be home

Now.. HAVE FUN SHOPPING!!

And I hope the breastfeeding gets more sorted - it can be a fight in the beginning but as others have said, the time saved later not to mention the benefits are worth it so many times over. I've been breastfeeding for over four and a half years (with just a short break during my second pregnancy for reasons you can guess at!!) and it is the most amazing thing once it all works out. It sounds like you're making a fantastic effort so there is every chance you will be successful, and if you're not, at least you know you tried your best.

Hope the hospital bill for Thomas wasn't too traumatic, Southsea.

Hey,

I'm not getting as much time to get on here, not surprisingly. Your bf advice is just what I need! I'm trying the tricks. It must be having some success because all of a sudden I'm producing pints of milk! Well, ok about 3 - 4 oz per pump. But even the rubbish lefty side is producing a little more. The right side is squirting it out, I'm amazed and very very happy.

We saw the paediatrician today in the local practice. She said they'd heard all about us. Everyone is amazed with our story . Anyhoo, she was so reassuring. All the questions I had and worries she told me was normal or suggested it was the right thing to do. For example, the feeding schedule is out the window. It's still every three hours but now it's a mixture of breast, expressed milk or formula, or a combination of any of these. She said to just do what was manageable and not slog my guts out trying to do the same regime as was used in the ICU. Thomas has out on a couple of oz since Tuesday so is gaining weight so whatever I'm doing it has worked to some extent. She also reassured me about the quantity of food he having. He can't feed on demand yet but if he has a little one time and more another that's ok.

He's started to be sick after feeds and it really worried me, especially when we found a wet patch around his head this morning in his crib. We had to change the sheets as it was so wet. I'm worried he'll choke in the night? I've bought some gas drops so hope that will help. It's not nice to see him spluttering away with milky snot flying out his teeny tiny nose! Poor sausage. And that's another thing. He's a baby that likes to be held, so when he's in his seat (I dont know what you call them) during the day he's moaning and groaning, but if you pick him up he's content. With him being so young and little I feel like he needs the contact, but am I making a rod for my own back here??

No further news on the passport. The birth certificate hasn't arrived yet. However DP did challenge one of his bills and got a whopping $600 odd of the original cost! And rightly so. He spent most of the consultation waiting and when he saw the doctor the doctor spent half the consult talking about England. It only took 10 minutes in all and they wanted over $780 for it. So well done DP!

I got a bill through today for the anaesthetist which must be for the epidural - it was $2700. Can't wait to see what the surgery cost with two doctors, the anaesthetist and several nurses in attendance!

Thank you wonderful ladies for your great advice. It's hard work but I'm loving little Thomas more and more every day xxx

You can't spoil a baby and if he wants holding, why not while he's still light enough?! Cuddles are what make it all worthwhile, after all. Glad the feeding is going better. You're doing a great job!

Buy a sling and hold him close.

The rod will be the one that holds your family together :)

He needs contact!!!!!! He doesn't even realize he's a separate person from you yet, the best thing in the world is to be near you.
I held JB all the time and he was a term baby. He was the calmest, happiest baby in the world. He's three now :o, so a bit different, but still a cuddler.

I'm glad you've got more milk and that you have a paed who is telling you just to do what works. Wonderful!
Am at work so just stealing a few seconds.Gotta go ♡♡♡♡♡♡

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This is supposed to be a bunch of hearts!! I guess MN doesn't speak Mac. Oops.

Nah you're not making a rod for your back...my DS (also a Thomas!) was exactly the same..he's now 7 years old and is still very cuddly!

My DD (now 5) was also a premmie and she was sick a lot when she was tiny and also was very mucusy and i also worried that she would choke..we had a monitor for her that would sound an alarm if she didn't move for 20 seconds which helped me sleep a little better.

Keep up the good work!

skin to skin contact is supposed to help stimulate the milk-producing hormones too.

My PFB was born pre 30 weeks & was in hospital for 8-and was only just over 6lb when he came out!

I used to spend hours & hours cuddling.

Well, of course when he was in hospital there wasn´t anything else to do.

And when he came home-nothing else was as important!

Hold that baby!

Dump the seat. You and he both need the contact. He needs the warmth and you need him close to keep your milk production coming along.

Some of the spluttering is due to still learning to suck and swallow at the same time, and breathe. Newborns are messy, drippy little things at the best of times.

Well done for the weight gain. A few ounces is huge

He's putting on weight! Well done!

Don't feel guilty about holding him all the time. As long as you put him down for naps so YOU get some free time, it won't hurt him at this stage to spend every waking second in your arms. It's later on that you need to step back a little and let him find out that the world around him consists of more than cuddles and boobs.

Hooray! Weight gain! 2oz is what my full-term girls grew per week from the start. I know that's not representative, that most babies grow way faster, but just to say they are perfectly healthy.

I second the sling + holding recommendations. You cannot spoil a baby with love and human contact. What you will teach him is that his needs are met when he cries and that other people are nice on the whole.

Congratulations Southsea!

I totally third the sling recommendation...he is so little he needs to be held a lot. Don't worry about making a rod for your own back, DD was the same (I held her and we co-slept) and she is now a very independent 2 year old! They don't want to be held forever so enjoy it! Hasn't all this time in America convinced you how much better it is there than here? (can you tell I am a little biased :) )