December 2011: Scratching, squeezing, hatching and latching...

[LittleMissHumbuggery]

...and those of us left are doing a fair bit of bitching:o

I wonder if we could get a [pompoms] going on? Do we have the energy for a campaign?

Right, come on! We're a third of the way through the month and Nickelbabe needs new recruits for her advent thread. Get squeezing:o

Well after him rejecting the breast and still crying at half 2 this morning (he started crying at 8.30pm and carried on right through unless on the breast) I phoned the 24hr MW and spoke to the MW who had seen me earlier in the day she said that he may have had too much and that the smell of my milk which has come in could be unsettling him so I had to give him to DH to try settle and leave him which actually worked for about an hour!!! Am sorry to say after he woke again at 6am and the hysterical crying and rejection of breast started again we tried to give him cooled boiled water on a medicine spoon which the MW advised and then gave him some formula it calmed him down within a minute and he's now sleeping. Have made apologies to SIL and spending the day trying to work out what to do next, I'm going to have to look at combined feeding this uncertainty of how much he's getting from sole BF is not for me.

figgy sounds like you are having a tough Christmas, do you have a chance to hibernate soon? The thing that stood out to me from your post is that you are feeding when he cries...crying is a 'late' feeding cue and so is rooting, you might find getting a good latch easier if you keep an eye out for the earlier cues. These are, smacking lips, opening and closing mouth, sucking on anything they can reach. Many mothers find that latching when they aren't very very hungry is easier. With feeding frequency, lots of feeding (as tiring as it is!) is a sign that things are going really well, so well done! At the moment, the constant feeding is establishing your supply, it doesn't last long and you can look at getting into a routine if that is what you want when your supply is settled and you are more recovered. Also, a newborn baby's stomach is the size of a malteaser, it doesn't take much to fill it, but it does mean they need to nurse frequently. The reason FF infants tend to go longer between feeds is that the curds in cow's milk take much longer to digest, hence why FF babies are more prone to constipation.

Had a nightmare night last night and, although I am sorry to hear others are having nightmares too, I have to say it is so reassuring. Freya was really unsettled yesterday, short feeds and not enough sleep. I fed her all evening, then went to bed at 9pm, DH gives a bottle but not normally till 10/10.30 but she wanted it straight away and wolfed it down. Then needed feeding again by 11ish . At 2am after feeding for 3 hours she still would not go settle and was still rooting. I sucuumbed to the formula, lots of tears and handing her over to dh in the spare room. feel better this morning but her hunger seems crazy. when i fed her this morning I felt a lot fuller and could see her actually getting milk. going to try and maker sure at least 2 hours between feeds today and decent feeds that she is awake for. tell me it gets easer! she is 2 weeks now

Forgot to stick this growth spurt info in earlier, it sounds like a lot of our babies are having growth spurts!

Hi all, I am having similar problems but I have to say (and I really hope this doesn't sound patronising) the fact that it is DC2 and I've been through it all before means I'm much more chilled out about it than I was with DS. With DS I would constantly question whether I had enough milk, what I was doing wrong etc. But this time I know that its just the difficult newborn stage and is totally normal. It doesn't help with the sleep deprivation but knowing that it is normal and it WILL get better means that it is much easier to deal with.

My problem is that DD cluster feeds from 10pm to 2am then seems really uncomfortable and windy and grizzles in her sleep, wakes around 4 for another feed, settles around 6 and then sleeps quite well the rest of the day. I can cope with it while DH at home as I can lie in and catch up on sleep but as it otherwise gives me 2/3 hours sleep only I really don't know how I'm going to cope when he's back at work.

Can't remember who was talking about winding bfed babies. I seem to have particularly windy babies! Have been told countless times by MW/HV that they don't need winding but as soon as I pick DD up she gives out 2 or 3 massive burps! And if they don't come out I need to spend some time winding otherwise DD is very uncomfortable, so I would take that with a pinch of salt!

I'm having problems feeding lying down as DD can't seem to cope with the flow, gurgles a lot and the milk comes out of her nose! Then I need to sit upright to wind her anyway so it doesn't seem an option for us.

DS still has a few blisters so we are waiting until tomorrow to reunite the family as they should all have scabbed over by then.

msb as ever is right on the bf. I've found it a million times easier now my nipples have healed, and just looking forward to when the breaks between feeds are a bit longer. It's not the painful chore that it was in the first week/10 days.
He's always latched well, but sometimes gets a bit...overexcited?... and in his enthusiasm to reach the boob sort of bounces his head off it repeatedly whilst still rooting- best entertainment of the night !

From what we've all experienced over the past month figgy it sounds like you're doing well and that what's happening with you and LO is entirely normal. But definitely try to palm off a few of the visitors if you can- our circumstances are a bit different to most, but having two weeks of just me, DP, & LO has been lovely, and has helped with bf. I really hope things settle soon.

We're just off to see if we can get the pump at half price in Tesco's- try to replace the last little bit of formula he has with expressed milk.

Amazing isn't it- in years past I'd be trying to cope with a massive hangover and frantically trying to pretend to DP's parents that I wasn't 'unwell', and this year I'm sitting here with one boob out waiting for his majesty to have his dungarees put on, and heading out to buy a breast pump!

He he he! Oh sorry - Ho ho ho! I seem to spend a lot of time waiting with one boob out! Bf-ing is hard work. The last weeks of pregnancy were spent wanting my body back. But now I realise that ain't gonna happen.
But it's all worth it. And it will get easier, I know.
Alistair is much calmer today. We're chillin'. Eating quality St, after eights and toblerone.

We're about to make a mountain of gammon and turkey sandwiches. Lazy festives chez humbuggery:o

Took a pic of one of my ninjas using my bump and hips as a snooze spot earlier. Not sure I can upload it from the phone but I'll try:)

Gah- our Tesco superstore didn't even sell breast pumps full stop!

Glad all is chillin' at casa Oi, and is food-mountain-tastic at chez lmh . We did duck for Xmas dinner and have steak/beef wellington for dinner tonight, with grazing on biccies continuing, nom.

One daft thing I've found, and don't know if anyone else has (or has tips to improve it) but the sides of my wrists are hurting like I don't know what. From the middle thumb joint down about two inches below my wrist, to the point where I find it hard to pick up LO.
I think it's because I'm holding sprog so much with my wrists bent- anyone else ?!

We are making turkey curry for Dinner

All if you bf what you eat the baby eats so if you have allargies in your family and the baby is fussy then you may have to look at your diet and see if anything you are eat is upsetting the baby.

I have given in to the evil infocol as Hope has triped wind and is up most of the night crying. I feel bad as i know its taking up room in her tummy that should be filled with breastmilk but if it works that i guess i have too use it.

BF babies do get trapped wind and colic as both of mine have and i have bf both! They also have hiccups, cry to feed and then latch wrong and make sucking noise and get air in! It gets better when they can hold their head up and sit up.

BF gets easier the longer you do it but there are bumps along the way from baby getting teeth and biteing, twiddleing the other nipple, 5 month old get distracted and its hard to get them to feed, feeding strikes and the classic "Mummy i want boob" in the loudest voice in the supermarket but it gets better

Currently i'm having trouble with let down as i'm leaking loads and the flow is too fast and Hope is choking at the start of a feed!

chincilla one of my friends had that and she ended up wearing splints on her wrists. Think it turned out to be some kind of post-birth carpal tunnel syndrome. She found it painful to lift her baby.

air I had forgotten the distracted bfeeding stage! DS went from happily feeding anywhere and everywhere to me needing to feed him in private in a darkened room as otherwise he got too distracted.

aethel not sure if you're around, but DS now has just 5 cpox blisters left filled with a cloudy fluid. It will be the 9th day since the rash started tomorrow - do you think he's no longer infectious even if these blisters haven't scabbed over by the morning? Desperate to get back to normal but don't want to ruin all our hard work by infecting DD on the last day of being infectious!

evening ladies. had a lovely day with parents and brother today. they came bearing presents and lunch! we have perservered with making freya hold out for 2 hours between feeds today, after too many short, snack feeds yesterday and although she has cried a bit more i think the feeds have been more effective and i feel i have had some time not feeding her too. having parents here to cuddle her helped too. also ds has been better as more attention - though he is currently misbehaving upstairs with dh about going to bed!

Hiya girls. mmm, what happens with infectivity is that it drops with time as the body fights off the virus. So general advice is that you're catching in the 48 hours before the rash, are crazy infectious for the first 2-3 days, and should be safe by day 7 post-rash even if a few vesicles are left. BUT technically any blister fluid left could have a few rogue virus particles in it still, so you may feel its simpler to wait a day more to be totally certain. What you could do as a compromise is let him see and be around baby but make sure he's got clothing covering the last few blisters and no big squichy kisses for the first few days. Either way by now by day 9 post rash, the risk Is pretty minimal: but you'll have to decide what's best for you. If you are breastfeeding then baby will be further protected by your antibodies as you are immune if I remember?

Here's info from the HPA (public health advice unit):
hpa

And here's some info from Kellymom (a breastfeeding site) explaining how breastfeeding protects baby from chickenpox by your antibodies getting into the milk:
[[http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/vaccine-protection.html kellymom
Info]]

My headache is gone:o

Sorry, have had a witch of a mini-migraine since Saturday evening, but the buzzing has stopped:)

If you're about msB there are enquiring minds wondering about your new pointy sticks on the Christmas pressie thread:)

I feel more hideously cumbersome and whale like than ever before in my life. Due date not here yet and two previous twelve day shoot overs are not making me a happy camper. Might go for a waddle tomorrow see if I can distract my hips and the kids:)

aethel thank you so much for your advice, SO helpful. Hopefully the 5 remaining blisters will be crusted in the morning but if not I think we will relax the quarantine anyway and, as you said, make sure they are covered and keep his saliva away from her! I'm hoping he'll be too distracted with presents and mummy being around again to make too much of a big deal about her. Yay! So excited and relieved to be getting back to normal, can't quite believe it!

LMH sorry you're still having migraines and sympathies for the whale-like feeling. I have to admit I am really appreciating not having a bump any more!

Sorry to read everyone is having a rough time of it, unmumsnetty hugs to all (when needed at 4am)!

We've decided to stop breast feeding from source, we're having a hard time latching/pain isn't fun so I'm going to express & bottle feed (feeling v.upset over it all), although DS is sleeping in his moses basket for most of the day so swings & roundabouts here!

LMH, waving pom-poms in your direction. Hope it helps the hips!

Arghhh! I was wondering about how msb's LO stayed latched all night... Nowt LO seems determined to show me. We're lying down now, and he's been feeding for about an hour. Before that we were sat up for 20 mins. There's still milk coming out, and if the latch breaks he gets upset and roots. Arghhh!
I want to sleep!!

Oi i' m right there with you except mainly sitting up. Keep nearly nodding off and actually dud for a few seconds. Really scares will drop her. Agh.

ARCH although it wasn't my choice to feed away 'from source', I found expressing without any proper latching from Hawwa was just what I needed and within 3 days my nipples were all healed (after having turned bloody with blisters) so breastfeeding from the breast was so much easier.

re prolapse trying to work on my pelvic floor which is awful and it all feels wrong, it was fine for the first 2 weeks but for the last week and a half its just gotten really bad, and intimacy with DH is now very uncomfy (sorry for TMI).

I'm feeling very sorry for DD1 as her new bedtime seems to be about midnight as Hawwa's crying keeps waking her up :(

Morning!

Hugs to everyone who is finding it tough, you are all doing piles better than I was with DD1! It will get easier quickly, it just seems like you will be doing all of this forever at the time.

Off to the PIL today, also planning on reclaiming our living room from underneath the huge quantity of toys! I am making bubble and squeak for breakfast when Miri finishes her milk.

I wrote a massive post last night which I lost :(
Hope all feeling a bit brighter now it's daylight. I find things all a lot harder in the middle of the night.

Minimopsy still keeps falling asleep while feeding, it's driving me mad. I think she's getting enough but it takes ages to feed which means less time to sleep in between. Last night she also wouldn't settle at all and either cried or had to be on me. I was so tired and so scared I'd fall asleep. She'll happily go down in the cot in between feeds during the day ( or more happily, at least!) but more or less not at all at night. V hard as am so knackered. I presume I'm not alone though and it's normal?

...and why is it that he chooses his longest sleep session from 6:30 / 7:00? He can sleep till 11. But this is when I want to bath/dress/change him?
Aw! But then he gives me the most gorgeous smile, and so all is forgiven, he can do whatever he wants!

I want to sleep for more than one or two hrs in a row almost more than i've wanted anything ever!!!!

oi Miri does that too! Although it works quite well for us as it means I am free to help DP with the big ones at bed time...can you look on it as having plenty of time to eat dinner!?!

mopsy DD does exactly the same thing. In the day I can feed, wind and put her down in less than an hour. At night it takes at least 2 hours and a lot of grizzling. She just seems so full of wind at night and uncomfortable.

oi did you mean 6 - 11am? If so DD is the same there as well! Its actually nice while DH has been off as I can catch up on sleep while he looks after DS but am dreading him going back to work as I'll have to get up at 7am to deal with DS and might only have had 2/3 hrs sleep by then!