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

I apprecuatr u guys saying it will get better but its really making me not enjoy him. I feel like I can't rubble him and hold him like I want to and the mastitis is painfull too. I just fe like I want it all over. AND I know how this will sound but I want my body back. That's so so selfish ISBN it but I can't help it, I want to feel normal again and I want to love my baby and not have to think about mysf nd my pain. We have come out today but my boob is so painfull I just want to go back hone and express or do something to relieve it. Its horrid and I just want it over with. I'm in my phone again so sorry for ny mistakes. I am amazed at you guys who are in pain but carrying on, good on you. I feel like I have let him down but its too much for me. Bad person that I am!

Haven't posted in a while as I haven't much to say, but viksam please don't beat yourself up over stopping bfeeding. It is your choice and I strongly believe a happy mummy makes for a happy baby. I felt awful stopping too and I only did 12 days, but I am comfortable with my decision now (it takes a while to get over the guilt) and it most certainly doesn't make us bad people!

Only thing I'll say is beware of going cold turkey, cos it's a bitch. I had to (and did with ds1 after 17 weeks too) as I just needed to stop, there and then, but you're supposed to reduce gradually so your boobs get used to making less and less milk. It also reduces the risk of mastitis. I do have to say though that if you do want to go cold turkey the pain lasts less than a week and then it's done.

Do whatever feels right for you and your family and nobody who is anybody worth knowing will judge you for that x

PS forgot to change my name back - will be MyLifeIsChaotic again next time I post :)

PPS congratulations grumpy and munchkin

Hey ladies, Rileigh's now 11lbs 4oz so shes steadily gaining. Also the health nurse said she's very aware and alert for 4 weeks, i am so proud lol.

Soz ladies i dont know anything about breastfeeding but i hope you can feel better about doing it and the pain eases.

My poor sis has been taken into hospital with a suspected appendicitis, still waiting to see whats happening so i didnt sleep well, going for a snooze. Be back later x

viksam I agree about cutting back slowly, especially if you already have mastitis!!

If you can't face b/fing, just express and cut down amount you express until you stop. Mastitis can be hell, and if you are already feeling down/not really enjoying LO it would be awful.

You could always mix the milk you express with formula initially so your LO gets used to the difference in taste/thickness slowly. That's what I did when I weaned DS (admittedly older) because he flat refused formula, but I was unwilling to b/f any longer.

gracie I have thrush, trying to shift it but unsuccessfully so far. Sam's face when I give him the Nystatin is so funny, bless him, he hates it!!

viksam you've not let anyone down. You've given him 2 weeks which is brilliant. Every day you've given him is great and if you need to stop so you can make the most of loving him there's nothing wrong with that!

stac hope your sister's ok!

stac hope your sis is ok, keep us informed.
was seeking some advice, today Lyndon has been sick quite a bit which isnt the norm, not huge amount of times but when he does oh boy there is loads of it, b4 bed last night he was sick all over himself i picked him up and it was like a horror film out his nose and mouth so much it was in his eyes ears all over me and the floor, where his sick has touched me ive come up in a rash and sick is thick like custard, hes been a misery all day, in past hour hes cheered up as hes had the runs and it was full of air bubbles, so think what ever it was has passed, doc thinks being sick like that is normal???!!! could it be his milk do you think or just a nasty that has passed?

Afternoon everyone.

Haven't had much time to post for the last week! Was my first proper week on my own, as when DH went back to work last week my mum was here every day. Typically one of the cats decided to jump out of the upstairs window , so have had to manage 2 trips to the vets with all 3 kids and the cat in tow, which was challenging to say the least!

Well Thomas has now decided that he does not want to sleep in his pram during the day, or anywhere else for that matter - he just wants to be held and cuddled all the time. And if he isn't he screams his head off until he is picked up! So am finding this pretty hard, as I feel like I am neglecting my older 2 (who are only 4 and 3). Very hard to juggle all 3 kids with just me at the moment. Is anyone else with older ones finding this?

viksam I agree that BF is really hard work. DD never really took to it, and in the end it was making us both really miserable - so I gave up wth her. I think u have to do what is right for you.

Ladies, I have discovered the most amazing website (probably better for those of us with iPhones or androids, but blackberry app coming soon!) called myfitnesspal.com.

It's like a food and exercise diary, but it takes into account your height, weight, sex, age, lifestyle etc... And tells you not only how many calories you should be consuming (you set targets like 'i want to lose 1lb a week') but whether you are getting your RDA of essential vitamins, minerals, protein etc...

Since Elle was born I've lost 39lb (admittedly I had a 10lb baby and a lot of fluid retention which accounts for a lot of that) but it's not bad for two weeks with no exercise due to crappy hip!

You can also make friends with people for accountability (my sister and I are doing it together) so if anyone fancies joining in, you can search me - my name is katiejo42.

P.S. No I don't work for them, I'm just very evangelical about anything that helps me lose weight!!

passthe thank you so much for your post it made me feel much better. So how did u go about things? Devon has taken to a bottle no problem...so far. I have expressed once today and only BF very early this morning, i managed to express about 2oz which i was quite inpressed with, it did take me an hour though! So going forward, im not going to put him back to the breast at all, do u guys think I'll be ok just expressing? will my milk dry up by just doing that?
Also, Devon has had a full 3oz today at 5 and appears hungry again now at 7, do u still feed on demand or what?? Oh god Im so sorry to ask so many questions, i feel in the dark. Its approaching the time that giant cluster feed would have started, do they do that when bottle fed too? Why dont i know the answers!!!!!

sounds good gracie! when i get an iphone i'l have a look!
memphis i really dont know what that sounds like. very unusual that you came out in a rash from it.would you normally have sensitive skin? hopefully it was just a little bug that passed.maybe give him cooled boiled water to make sure he doesnt get dehydrated?
stac thats a great weight gain in riliegh! hope your sister is ok. appendisitis very painful

have posted couple more pics if any1 wants a look x

Gorgeous baba kk :)

viksam I would assume feed LO if required? But I am no expert on bottle feeding...

memphis I have never heard of coming in a rush from baby vomiting milk... Did GP say it's ok? Maybe he had acid coming up... At lest he is better now!

I'm pretty sure you are still supposed to feed on demand at this age viksam. Maybe just for tonight you could try making up several smaller bottles (or buy cartons!) so that you don't end up wasting loads if LO decides not to do the routine cluster feed?

I think expressing as often as you would feed and cutting back slowly will be fine (that's what I did with DS) but rather than cut back a feed every day (I found that quite painful) I cut back half a feed (so expressed just enough to make me comfortable, not full amount at one feed, then dropped it the next day) which seemed to work well. I too had mastitis at the time, and I really couldn't have cut back any quicker than one feed every 2-3 days or I would have been in agony!

Speaking of which, it might be worth expressing all your feeds until your antibiotics are done. I know it's not fun, but may be less painful over all. Up to you, but if I was going through it again, that's what I would do. Sorry it's not working out for you I know how painful mastitis can be.

vik please dont feel guilty for giving it up. you've made the decisions for all the right reasons for you so you need to just remember those reasons if you ever get doen about it. cant give any advise on how to go about it though as im bottle feeding. i tend to feed evry 4 hours. if she's looking for it before that i hold her off with the dummy and she seems quite content with that. she takes a better feed then.
was meant to ask earlier- its nearly 4 weeks now since i gave birth andstill bleeding. now i know it can take 6 weeks for it to go but for the last week or so its been very very light.then today really red blood, redder than period, starts coming and fairly heavy. like a heavy period. is this normal? it could hardly be my period already could it?

apparantly if you overdo it kk you can cause the bleeding to become heavier again, not sure if it could be your period. Did you google it?

viks I would assume you will continue to feed on demand but as kk says your looking for about 4 hours if poss, if I were you I would start by making up 3oz bottles for Devon if he finishes you up it an ounce until you find what he is taking. Riliegh is currently on 5oz bottles and I think we may be going up shortly

memphis Rileigh has reflux which causes her to vomit a lot at a time, did you speak to gp or hv? he may have a bug if it has only been over a couple of days. kk is right about cooled boiled water. hope he is ok

mlic hows your wine?

gracie hows ds? Is he getting used to the lo?

My sis is getting home tomorrow she is still in a lot of pain but has to go back on monday for a scan and maybe a laprascoy(sp) they have said they think it could be her ovaries which it could be as I have polycystic ovary syndrome and it runs in families. Anyway hoping she is on the mend soon. Left Rileigh tonight for the first time with dp and I felt fine, she is going to her grans tomorrow so it was a nice way of showing me I can leave her without stressing yay, night out for me next week lmao

hi to everyone I didnt mention I am on my way to sort bottles then into bed xxx

stac thanks for asking - DS does seem a lot better on the whole. We do still have outbursts every now and then where he wants to hide and wants the baby to 'go home'.

It's so hard because I thought we'd talked about the baby coming loads, but there were basic facts that we didn't mention eg he had no idea until she was 6 days old that we were her mummy and daddy too. Became apparrent when he asked DH when her mummy and daddy were comng to collect her

mlic I share your pain - Sam sleeps an hour at a time at night and during the day DD's up so I can't nap. He'll do 4 hours between feeds in the day though so annoying! DD hasn't really settled yet, Sam may as well not exist, she completely ignores him! Even if he's screaming his head off she doesn't react at all. I'm trying to get her more involved by wiping his bum/helping bath him but he's just an inconvenience for her, lol.

fairy if you overdo like stac said it can make the bleeding worse.

Goood morning everyone!

Havent posted in a while, Dylan still not great at night, I think that good night he did have was a fluke :(

He was awake every couple of hours last night, one of the times though he didnt even want feeding I think he had wind cos he was grunting and straining so laid him on me and he drifted back off. Annoying cos if that hadnt happened he would have gone about 4 hours in a row.

Hes also taken to fighting to stay awake when hes so tired. Hes laying on me right now bobbing around but keeps yawning and he looks tired. Tried putting him on the boob but he keeps squirming and coming off making milk go everywhere so think hes just doing it for comfort.

Also isnt it nice how Im on here trying to get him to sleep after a really hard night and DP is still sleeping in bed after not having to get up once in the night til 7am when I had to ask him to change Dylan's nappy.