October 2013: Newborn snuggles and waddles to the finish line

[FeministInTraining]

Stats sheet here

New arrivals here

Key:
SC - still cooking (pre EDD)
SFW - still f*ing waiting (post EDD)
OWT - on way to theatre (CS)
IP - induction in progress
SWIL - somewhere in labour
LIT - lost in transition

roxvox - re sleeping in bednest, we had same problem. MW said to put DH's unclean/used t-shirt in with DS as a sheet or blanket. Would give DS comfort and help adjust. Also to put him in bednest during the day and near you/active people so he starts to get used to being in there regularly.

Note - don't use your clothes as they smell of milk and will bring his hunger urges.

Hope this helps - worked for us, mercifully!

FFS I've been trying to post for a few days but they have all been lost one way or another.

Congrats to the new mums.

Thanks for the support on Sunday night when baby wouldn't sleep. roxvox He still doesn't sleep in his bednest at night but will during the day. At night he just wants to feed constantly or be held. chickie last night DH found me sleeping with the baby in bed next to me. I get uncontrollably sleepy during these night feeds/holds and I'm absolutely terrified of him getting hurt because I've fallen asleep in a dangerous position.

clapham I've been thinking of you all day, due date buddy. Sorry it's been scary with the increased BP. I hope you and baby are well and that you get to have him safely and soon.

kiwee I've pretty much tried everything

I'm feeding now - he's woken me up to tell me he's hungry, then spent 10 minutes fighting with me refusing to get on the boob. Sigh. There are only so many times I can latch and unlatch him before he becomes completely hysterical.

Snap MrsHN, he just keeps pushing himself off, or his current favourite thing of putting his hand in his mouth instead. I have given up and changed him, which made him really mad, but seems to have focused his m

Snap MrsHN, he just keeps pushing himself off, or his current favourite thing of putting his hand in his mouth instead. I have given up and changed him, which made him really mad, but seems to have focused his mInd on latching on. Though he often poos after feeding, so think I might be changing him and then trying to settle him again soon

Sorry for the tired/feeding double post!

Hey, just finished a feed so going to sleep rather than post lots.... But I have been reading and promise to catch up...

Flyer - none of mind have ever, ever fed for more than 10/15 mins and have always only fed from one side (DD used to feed for 6 mins!). They are/were efficient feeders and I have fast let down (often so fast they choke, come off to catch breath, then go back on). Sounds like Alex is feeding really well. The fact that feeds are short bodes very well, provided she's gaining fine and wearing lots. Re pooing, A is over a week now isn't she? What HV's don't seem to tell you is that once bf is well established, bf babies can go DAYS without pooing! Valentina hadn't pooed since Sunday for instance. You'll know if she's not well. Sounds like bf is actually going perfectly and you will be one of the lucky ones with short feeds! Another thing they don't tell you is about growth spurts. These hit for a couple of days fairly frequently. To boost your supply Si that the baby can grow lots, you may have a couple of days where A feeds LOADS, or rather sucks loads until your milk catches up. This is NORMAL... Even if she roots again shortly after the last feed, it's really doesn't mean she's not getting enough etc etc, I promise!! It's just her "putting in her order" got a few days of big growing. See Kellymom website on this.

To those whose babies won't go in the cot.... They are still tiny - far, far too young to get into "bad habits" (no experts, even the extreme ones, recommend any kind of sleep training before 3/4 months). We survived by safe co sleeping for a few weeks, until they're a bit more used to not being inside you! We had a mesh bed guard from mothercare. DH on far side, me sort of in the middle, then baby far from the edge (although no edge really as a result of bed guard!) on "my side". I lay on my side with bra open and my arm crooked over the top of DD. bed covers behind me with DH (no where near DD) and pillows on my side removed or right out of the way. DD swaddled for warmth. Eventually I'd put DD in cot once in a deep sleep. You can tell deep sleep by picking up an arm... If it flops down its deep sleep. I used to feel like I'd had a nearly full nights sleep this way! It nobly lasted a couple of months. The cot was fine once she was about 3 months old, although I fed her to sleep until I weaned her of bf, at which point she was fine falling asleep by herself. I don't believe in bad habits!!

Thanks so much for sharing ana

Thanks for advice whistling will try dh s tshirt

Thanks for safe co sleeping advice legally a bit hesitant as ds sometimes comes in bed and if we say no to him then he sees M sleeping there he'll feel terrible. Will keep trying with cot for now

Thanks so much all, don't feel so alone now xx

Hi kiwee how are you getting on?

Thanks whistling. I have tried my t-shirt in the cot, but not DH's, and I haven't tried putting her in it by day yet as we live in a town house style place and the cot is up in our bedroom on the third floor, but the 'day' part of the house is on level 1.

legally I have heard the same about newborns not being able to 'learn' yet, hence my resilience to try anything major with her. I am trying to put her down more during the day when she is awake, so that she is used to not being held, but it only ever lasts a maximum of 20 minutes before she's crying to be picked up again. Part of the issue is that I seem to be incapable of making her milk drunk in the evenings. During the day I can, but not when it's bed time (she never seems truly satisfied with how full she is at bed time).

chickien I am getting sleep, with her lying on my tummy. During the day yesterday we had a lovely nap with her lying next to me (co-sleeping standard position) and I thought we had turned a corner (because she wasn't sleeping on me, but rather next to me), but come bed time and she's refusing to sleep anywhere but on me again! How about you, are you able to get any sleep?

We slept!!!

Finally managed to get LO happy in his Moses basket - we put a blanket underneath the mattress at the head end to angle it slightly and tucked one of DH's t-shirts tightly rolled down the side (we put the 'end of the roll' tucked under the mattress so no chance of LO pulling it free and smothering himself.

Halle-fucking-lujah!!

Hi chickie we're all good thanks! C is putting on weight nicely (3.1kg now) and other than a slight wobble last week when she had a day of vomiting after every feed I'm doing well. Will see how we go next week when DH goes back to work....

Hope you survived the night without your DH. I'm in awe of anyone managing to look after a new baby who already has another older child getting in the way 'helping' at the same time...sounds as though you're doing a great job! Hopefully you managed to get some sleep last night xx

Morning all. Still IP. First dose of gel didn't do anything. Now on second, double dose of gel. Delivery unit still busy. Going to be here a while I think... 40+10 now.

sanji you poor thing are you Okay?

bronze yeah, I am fine. Thinking it is inevitable that I will need the drip to get going. Anyone have any positive stories about the drip? I plan to try without epidural this time (they recommend epidural at same time as drip here, which is what I did last time), but if it gets bad will have it again. Would rather stay mobile for a bit first though.

Morning all - thought of another think that hugely helped us settle reflux-y DD in her cot (did it from day one with the twins!)... Bed blocks from John Lewis. They raid the head really quite a lot don't they seem to like it.

I really will properly catch up.... Rather frazzled as DH is away for another ten days (been away since Sat) and DD has a two week half term from pre school. Plus it hadn't stopped raining here... Argh!!!

I feel constantly on the verge of a migraine... Visual weirdness and everything!

Raid the head??!! Raise the head and they do really like it!

Sanjifar good luck. I as yet have no personal experience but a friend 6 wks ago had to have syntocin drip and did just fine with gas and air only so you may well be able to play it by ear.
Legally you are amazing and a fount of all baby knowledge. Hope you can take something for that head. X

Well done re weight gain kiwee! How long did dh have off work? Sometimes it's easier to get into routine when they go back to work. No one to distract you from naps :)

Yay for sleep untitled!

rox good you're getting some sleep. I have to get better at napping during the day. Night not too bad. Feeding now, she's slept swaddled in cot for most of night so progress.

legally I don't know how you do it! I shouldn't even mention dh away for one night when your on own for ten with twins and dd off preschool!! Are you eating?? And drinking lots? Might help headache?

Good luck sanji. Could you try without epidural and see how you get on?

legally thanks for all your advice- really useful and reassuring. Hope your head improves xx

sanji good luck. Gas and air is great- hope you can cope okay xx

clapham how are you doing? Is your phone still in one piece or have you thrown it at your MIL

I'm co-sleeping too- the first night in hospital it didn't bother me nor Madam to sleep separately, but, with every day that passes that little stranger has become so precious to me I don't want her to be on her own. Was it roof or flyer struggling with the bonding? It's completely natural, and then amazing when you do get that woosh of love. I was even feeling paranoia that we'd got the wrong IVF transfer cos her hair is so much fairer than i expected, but as my DM pointed out she's got the Mongolian Blue Spot (an afro-carib trait) so she really is mine!

on the co-sleeping front it's now me + Madam in the double bed, DH has pulled out the sofa bed in DS's room so he can suffer his man-flu in peace and DS has company.
DS is being amazingly understanding- he's ended up in our bed every night bar about 5 in his 6 years, and though he admitted to getting up a couple of times in the night and standing outside my door, he didn't come in. That must have been so hard for him- he's having to grow up (and act all of his 6 years!) very quickly.
He can be the opposite too, but less said about that the better....

We've a tiny blue spot herepink

Reading about your ds melts my heart.

Sorry if soppy. I blame all the oxytocin

MrsH, Thomas sometimes gets really worked up and shakes his head from side to side in frustration when he can't latch too. We squirt in 1ml of expressed milk in one of the syringes we used in the first three days and that calms him enough to get on with it.

We woke up at 3.30 and neither of us could remember if we had done the 2.30 feed. I was convinced DH had been holding Thomas when I woke for the alarm but I am sure he wouldn't have put him back in the Moses basket and gone back to sleep and I also thought there was someone else in the room. We are writing feeds down as we are slowly losing our minds! Target for today: daytime naps. I have only managed a couple so far.

How are you today Clapham?

Hi all, good luck sanji, I am 40 plus 10 too today. Two days to go till they induce. Try and stay as mobile ad you can, am I right in thinking this is your second? If so things shd progress more quickly, esp with gravity on your side. Best of luck, your little one will be with you soon.

Anyone else sfw? Am I the last person on the bus....