July 2010: The end is nigh... To antenatal we say goodbye!

[stac14]

We're all nearly at the end so here is our last antenatal thread

spirael Dylan does that nipple clamping whilst pulling back, it really hurts! He does it when he has wind or he's really tired.

He was quite good again last night, sleeping from 10ish til 3ish then had a quick feed and slept til about 5:45 when he decided he wanted to be wide awake til nearly 7. This seems to be his pattern of sleeping most nights now so even though its not a full nights sleep at least Im getting a good 4 hours in a row and its pretty constant.

Im going to see my friend (in Ashford stac!) today, she has a ds who is about 15 months old and Dylan is making her broody for another!

Spirael - Iris went through the exact same thing at 4.5 weeks. It lasted from the Thursday until the Tuesday. it wasn't as intense every day but it was pretty constant. I felt like a zombie and it was really hard but it did get easier. Apparently the LOs go through growth spurts around 4 weeks and 6 weeks. Iris went through her 6 week growth spurt at the weekend but it only lasted 2 days this time and wasn't as manic as the 4 week one! She still cluster feeds every night from about 6pm until 11pm. But then she sleeps until 4.30am :). The health visitor said yesterday that if she's feeding so much in the evening I don't need to worry anymore about making sure she feeds during the night so we are going to try to let her sleep through the night - might get 6 consecutive hours of sleep - woohoo! :)

We're also trying to get Iris into more of a routine this week. We've bought The Baby Whisperer book. Thought about the Gina Ford one...but the Baby Whisperer was recommended by a friend who has her LO in a brilliant routine at 10 weeks. I know lots of people think the LOs are too young to get into a routine but my friend started at 6 weeks and her LO is a very happy and contented little baby and mum and dad are getting some sleep too! :)

Oh, just wanted to share this with anyone struggling to get their baby to nap during the day. We bought the Fisherprice Rainforest Swing at the weekend. OMG, it's so, so good! Iris will happily snooze in it for an hour during the day...which gives me a chance to get some housework done!

Every day seems to be getting easier and Iris started smiling last week so all of the hard work is definitely worth it! :)

BeckyG - me and Gemma are meeting up on Friday morning - we're going to the launch of a new baby book reading scheme at a local library. Let me know if you fancy it. If not, maybe I could join you and Stac when you meet up :)

violet i'm free on friday morning and that sounds great to me! Can you let me know the details?
Stac do you fancy coming along too or you want to arrange something else?

As far as routine- we have kind of got one already, its very loose at the moment but I am a creature of habit so it helps me :)
violet i watched some of the baby whisperer programme when i was pregnant- her advice seemed logical- let us know how you go with it.

DH woohoo! you got some sleep! long may it continue :)

stac i'm doing well now! infection all seems to be cleared up so wounds eventually starting to heal- still open but getting smaller! You said you had similar with your DS- can you remember how long it took to get back to normal?

Had a lovely walk int he park today with pram and the dog by myself! loved it!

violet and becky I cant make it this friday as ds is still off school till monday but next week would be fab, what library is it?

becky I'm not totally certain but I think it was about 6-8weeks but that was completely healed. Is it still sore?

I applaud all you ladies bf and doing cluster feeds, I dont know how you do it. I am shattered and I am only getting up a couple of times for a bottle.

Well I got a docs appointment for Rileigh on Thursday the hv is going to speak to her first before I go in so she is aware of whats going on as its a different doctor than last time. It took ages to get through but managed it. Hows everyone else? Is that everyone had thier babies? xxx

oh crikey 14 hour cluster feeds, what a joy to look forward to... our record so far is 6 hours! james does the whole pulling away thing, i thought it was when he had had enough but hadn't figured out that opening his mouth would release the suction. it hurts, whatever!

had a fairly rough night last night - he slept 11pm to 2am, then was wide awake and feeding until 5am, and then woke again at 6.30 and I only got dozing bits of sleep after that. I'd like a better night tonight please! DH had an exam today so I was trying to make sure he didn't wake up. at 7am I asked him to take James for an hour or so to let me get more sleep (it didn't work as he needed more feeding) and he seemed surprised to hear i'd had a bad night!

Hi everyone
Sorry to leave it so late to post my birth story, its amazing how time flies with a newborn!! Have been keeping up with everyones progress through slightly bleary eyes!

Had been hoping for a water birth but ended up having my waters broken to induce me after going 2 weeks over, and getting an epidural. However, still had a good birth and was delighted to avoid forceps/ ventouse and just have a small tear. Had 8 hours of "proper" labour but was contracting for 2 days before that but could not get into established labour and was not dilating, so was exhausted before I had even begun!! All the best laid plans eh?

Loving being a new mummy, having dh at home has been bliss and we are going to miss him next week when he goes back but will have family to help.

Am feeding her myself and am a bit sore but struggling on, she has been very good and fed and slept well until yesterday when she started to get a bit grizzly.... midwife said that is normal as she is starting to be more alert and will get more stimulated etc.

Am off for an early night soon, finding that 8pm feels like bedtime now!! Just need to dip my bits and pieces in a lavender bath and I am set!!

Really helpful to read what you are all up to, helps me to know what we have in store as most of you are a few weeks ahead. Have we all popped now?

Morning all, thanks for the advice. :)

Mindy had another hungry day yesterday, but my parents were over, so on hand to provide distraction to give me slightly longer breaks, as well as make sure I was fed and watered. We even managed to get out of the house and walk up to the local supermarket, so I could restock the house with food!

Keeping my fingers crossed, but today seems to be quieter. Mindy fed at about 6:30am, then was fine to be left in the cot, awake but happily gazing around the nursery, for a couple of hours so I could do some chores - Yay! She just fed again, but it was only a five minute snack, and she's now fallen asleep on my knee. :)

So hopefully the last few days were just another growth spurt! She really is shooting up, I had her in 3-6 month clothes yesterday and while they were a little baggy on width, the length was about right. She's not got that much length left in the moses basket either, which is why I'm starting to try and get her used to being in the cot.

At this rate, she's going to be towering over me before she's 1 year old.

No smiles here yet :( but I think Mindy is almost there. There are hints at it, from time to time - a different expression to her "I have wind" face! So fingers crossed in the next few days she'll give me a big smile. :) I'm sure that'll help make the epic cluster feeds all worth it!

wow spireal thats amazing!3-6 month clothes! ellie doesnt have much left in her basket yet either!
mlic NO NO NO! you'll ruin your hair! seriously even go to the hairdressers just once and get your natural colour in it even in a semi permanent and it'l leave it lovely and shiny and you wont have the roots to contend with. if you do it yourself you'l end up with probably yellow hair that you'l have to go to the hairdressers to get fixed anyway and you'l have serious roots.
dont really have the time to reply anymore as have to drive to dublin now to pick up dp from the hospital. but wanted to know of anybodies remedies for colic. ellie is really bad with it now and my heart is breaking for her. but on the upside i'l be a skinny minnie very soon walking the roads with her! walked an hour and a half yesterday eve but not powerwalking just a bit brisk. really want something to help her.TIA

wow spirael what a big girl! although james has put on a pound and 5oz in 2 weeks, and is now 9lb 7oz, he's still not quite into 0-3 month clothes proper - the up to 1 month stuff fits best, but i don't have much of it!

terrible night for cluster feeding last night - he fed from 10.30pm-4.45am. then he woke up again at 7.30 and have only been able to doze since then. had a bad night the night before as well so am feeling a bit sorry for myself now! he is feeding again now but as soon as he falls asleep i will be straight back into bed. i think we are both going to get our nights and days mixed up bt right now i just need sleep!

Sorry about your crappy night tsc hope you are feeling better and have had a good drink and rest today.

kk if your baby really has colic, as opposed to terrible wind (can be equally heartbreaking!) colief is usually the only thing that helps (according to my previous HV). It is expensive (£10 per tiny bottle that must be kept inthe fridge at all times and thrown out after three weeks ) but 100% worth it when it works. DS needed it for about 4 months, then suddenly got better. Once we found that colief worked GP was happy to prescribe it but they don't prescribe it until you have bought it and proven that it is necessary. My GP said this was because 'every new mum thinks their baby has colic'. I think it's because the NHS is too tight to pay for it.

Either way you can get it over the counter in boots and hopefully will only need to buy it once.

Help! I need sleep, my head's going to explode it's so headachey and I'm faced with another night of 3-4 hours of broken sleep...that's if Sam will ever shut down tonight.

tsc hope you get a better night tonight!

spirael what a huge baby! Well done :)

gracie its definately colic unfortunately. i 'thought' she had colic a couple of weeks ago. there's no doubt about it.ive been in my mums the past 2 nights and i was very bad with colic as a baby and she said its definately it.
so she's been on the dentinox drops the past week and a half so obviously not working so was googling things i could do for her and this thing came up of a pharmacy down the south of ireland has their own remedy. its a combination of water and digestive salts. so rang up today and it'l be with me tomorrow. its 10 euro a bottle to buy over the counter and 20 euro by post. it only lasts 10 days from when its made so it'l mean frequent ordering and expensive but going by what i've read on a few irish forums its absolutely amazing stuff and peoplr would pay 100 euro if they had to for it.takes a few days to build up so fingers crossed. its a 5ml spoonful in her bottle.

Mindy might sound big, but really it's all length. We weighed her earlier and she's just about 10lbs now, which is a little above average according to the charts but smaller than some of the bouncing babies in here. :)

However, she's 60cm long by our measurements, which is around the 100th percentile line. But then she's following that percentile line, as she was 55cm at birth. I think following the line is a good thing..? She's growing 1cm a week!

By the charts, an average 3 month old would be 59cm! So I guess that explains why the 0-3 months clothes are getting a bit short. The 3-6 months are better on length, but wide on the shoulders and body. Oh well, I'm sure it'll all even out in time!

Though I doubt Mindy will complain if she grows up to be tall and skinny.

Morning everyone!
Iris slept from 11.30pm until 5.30am and it's all thanks to her new Infacol drops and Infant Gaviscon :) Grunting was greatly reduced and she didn't seem to be in as much pain during the night. Woohoo! It's been a bit of a challenge getting her to drink down the Gaviscon and the only thing that worked was adding it to some expressed breastmilk in a bottle - not exactly following the instructions, but hey, it seems to be working! I'm off to express my other boob now as Iris has left me all lopsided this morning!

To everyone struggling with cluster feeds I can confirm that it does get better - it did for me anyway - and after a few days of intense feeding the LOs normally calm down and sleep for longer stretches. This is especially true after the 4 week and 6 week growth spurt I think! :)
x

spirael that makes sense, Sam was born at 53cm, don't know what he is now but he comfortably fits lengthwise into 0-3 although they're very baggy around the middle!

Waiting for the 4 week growth spurt, we've not had any cluster feeding yet although Sam does seem to go through phases of wanting to eat more often, we don't ever go longer than 40 mins.

Why wont he sleep on his own? :(
He falls asleep on the boob and wakes when I put him down if not straight away then within 10 mins.

Its hard :(

emsie I started expressing when she was 6 days old in preparation for cluster feeding (can you tell this isn't my first?) Elle is now 2.5 weeks old, and I can regularly express 5 or 6 oz after each feed.

you can start at any time, but to avoid interfering with babies feeding I would start off by only expressing immediately after he/she has fed. You might not get much initially, but at least she will have already eaten so there is no chance of her still being hingryafter the feed.
You can slowly build up what you express off. I always find I can express way more in the mornings so that might be a good time to start.

Hope it goes well for you.

Emsie I started expressing at 6 weeks and I was worried that I'd left it too long and that Iris would refuse the bottle...but she didn't - she took it straight away. She's a wee star! :)

At the start I was hand expressing and it took about 45 mins to get 10mls! I hated it - I had hand cramp and everything! So I bought a manual express thingy from Boots and managed to express 110 mls in 30 mins! :) Best time to express is after the first morning feed I think but I've expressed easily at different times of the day. Good luck xx

aw dh you poor thing, some babies just like to be hugged a lot but the hv told me to put rileigh down before she was completely asleep so that she knew that was her going to bed and unless she was crying i was to leave her lying there and eventually she would go to sleep. Like dylan she does waken when laid down i just rock her basket or give her a dummy.

We do have big girls on here, rileigh was 5wks yesterday and was 11lb 4oz on friday, 3-6months fit her in length but not width. She slept from 11 to 4 so we get roughly 5 hours from her. Also back to docs today who referred rileigh to the peadiatrician at yorkhill. Not because shes worried but more to ensure they have checked everything is fine x