January 2014 Thread 17 - and the final babies will be here any day now!

[Frizz1986]

Thought i would start up the last thread before we move over to postnatal thread.

Congratulations angel hope the birth wasn't too awful. I had my emcs a week ago and I can honestly say I'm pretty much back to normal so hopefully be the same for you

Dh chose to just take the week paternity as I'm ok so first day on my own today. Typical that its the night baby won't sleep and is feeding pretty much every hour. Mil is visiting again this morning but plan to nap and have lazy day after that

Congratulations angel!!

Dd has been up since 4am zzzzz. Not only am I exhausted but we've had several huge tantrums already because she's a toddler overtired.

Making very good use of my moby wrap now. I don't think I was tying it tight enough before so I felt like I had to support him whilst I moved about. Now I'm better at it I'm happy doing everything except leaning right forward in it. Although mainly I just potter about until he's asleep then sit down.

Yay Angel huge congratulations! Bet you are so relieved your gorgeous boy is finally here! Fab name too!

Felix yay for poos and farts! Lol! Henry has gone at the same time for the past three days, so come 3pm I start getting nervous until he produces one!

Poor Henry's mucous has got worse again the last couple of days.... He managed some of the night in his bed bless him but been up with him since 3am.... Yawn! Every time he reclines at all his nose blocks. He will only sleep on me daytime anyway, but it meant he couldn't go in his car seat yesterday so we couldn't go and meet the NCT girls and can't go anywhere toady either.maws planning on getting him a new baby carriers as the sling we have sucks....May have to leave Henry with DH at the weekend and go shopping for one by myself if the mucous doesn't improve....

Dreamt last night mucous was streaming out of his nose and I was so happy because it finally cleared! Got his 6 week GP check tomorrow, but am sure there won't be anything they can do and it will be a waiting game.... Saline drops perhaps made a tiny difference. Gonna try steaming the bathroom and then a warm bath.... We shall see....

Sympathies go out to all with lack of sleep and unsettled babies....

Also, Henry stays in whichever room I am in. The only routine we have at six weeks is I take him upstairs at the same time each night and follow the same pattern, including Ewan the dream sheep playing once he has finished his feed!

Congratulations Angel! Lovely name.

DH is back to work tomorrow. Dreading it, think I'm just going to have to accept the house will be a bit if a mess, will need to remember to eat, DH has been reminding me them making me food.

Harley's nails are getting long, went to cut them but it made me nervous, baby fingers and scissors don't mix, so just filed them. What do you guys do, any ideas?

band I just filed them too although his finger looks a bit sore so may have filed that too... Doesn't seem to bother him bit will have to be more careful going forward. Their nails do peel off apparently but I can't seem to do it

Congratulations angel! Love the name, and I hope you are doing well too

Another one here with a baby that will only sleep when held. Persephone is a month old now and I've never managed to get her in her crib. Co-sleeping terrifies me (and means I'll never see much of DH again probably :( ) but it is the only thing that works atm. Sympathy to all those in a similar position!

Another velcro baby here- Hugh is a very sleep resistant baby but definitely will only sleep on me. My motto is currently co-sleep or no sleep but I'm trying very hard not to fret about getting him self-settling/in own cot - all seems as far away as teaching him to drive

I have just left Henry's claws nails and they so far all seem to have peeled themselves.....

Well after reducing the amount I was expressing I braved it and haven't expressed for 36 hours now.... So either my boobs will take the hint and stop producing finally and all will be well, OR my boobs will explode! Should know which way things will go by tonight or tomorrow morning. Feeling oddly emotional about my milk finally drying up, despite Henry thriving on formula now I have made the switch and hating having to try and express with one hand while holding a crying Henry in the other! My nipples seem to finally be healing too! Had forgotten what normal nipples look like!

Scary to see what my boobs will look like without any milk. I have always had full boobs, but they are already looking saggy and deflated.... If we decide to have another baby at some point then I suspect they will end up like spaniels ears!

I said to DH that I would be talking to the GP about contraception tomorrow and I was scared to do it again after my second degree tear! He said he would be scared too! I was referring to having sex. He on the other hand thought I meant giving birth!

At least the bum grapes have finally shrunk back down, but my bowel movements are only just starting to get back to normal....! (Tmi?) I really must write all of this down somewhere so if we do have another baby I will have some idea of what's normal.... Like having no sensation of needing to pee for a week after birth, meaning I properly wet myself several times when I squatted down to pick something up off the floor! Oh the glamour!

Will just keep filing then, just thought there may have been a magic solution that I hadn't heard of. You ladies are a fountain of knowledge.

Sultana so bowel movements do go back to normal...good to know. Can't even imagine having sex anytime soon.

Think my bleeding is dying down which is good, wearing a pad all the time is not fun.

sultana I'm surprised at how saggy my boobs became during pregnancy too. That and my saggy tummy where I'm sure I've split some muscles around my belly button giving me a very strange double belly look :( Henry is worth it though ask me that again next time I'm on holiday wanting to wear a bikini!

I've just noticed that some of the bottles we've been using are for 1 month plus so the milk comes out quicker. Henry is happy with them but should I stop using them?

Oh angel, beautiful name. Congratulations.

I cut nails when they're asleep or watching tv in DS1s case (post bath is easier).

I have had the worst night (sorry, this is going to be quite me me me but I need to vent).
The whole family is sick. I've caught it now too. Even Cal sounds quite snuffly. After spending the whole day tending to DS1 and DP I ended up being kept up by Cal who seems to be constipated yet gassy. Refusing to feed, refusing to sleep. In the end DP Sat up rocking him and watching through Supernatural.

What do I do? He's yelling in pain whenever he feeds and not sleeping. He has managed to get enough milk I think as both boobs are now empty, but he seemed in so much discomfort.
I've broken out the moby and he is finally asleep, albeit on me. I'm hoping he'll have a good long sleep and then be ready to have a good feed.

Congratulations angel

I was aiming to go to a breastfeeding cafe this morning, but as I'm still in pjs in bed and it started 30mins ago don't think I'll be going this week!

Managed to get Olivia to sleep most of the night in her crib last night which was great.

I really need to do something with Olivia's nails claws as she managed to scratch my nipple while trying to get her to latch on last night. The pain was excruciating!

Oh no enormouse
Could it be the start of thrush or a reflux issue as i think i read that both of those cause bubs to be uncomfortable feeding.

Wrt nails, we dont cut and they seem to peel. We were told not to cut as the risk of going too far is very high although it does mean she has scratched her face a few times as we dont use mitts unless outside as the midwife said its nice for them to be able to play with their hands.

Aurelia went 4hrs last night before a feed and managed to feed and settle her this morning too.
Am hoping that my belly rubbing last night has got rid of a build up of gas so she might feel a bit better.
Have managed to have breakfast, put washing on, empty dishwasher and hem dhs trousers and she is still asleep! Hoping to get a nap this afternoon as dh goes out on a tues eve so am home alone and its a very long day. The past few tues have been awful as i havent napped as she has been grizzly and then i am so exhausted by the time he gets home at 11:30pm as i have had no one to help me all day. Dont know how you ladies cope with dps away from home.

I csnt remember who said what.

Henry is also still mucousy. It wasn't fun last night as we were both up from four.

cutting nails - i had more luck with nail scissors than filing. His fingers are too fidly.

bum grapes - i have one which will not leave!

sex - we've had sex a few times. First time was ok. It didn't hurt, i just didn't enjoy myself. The other two times we've taken it slower and it was brilliant.

breast feeding - sultana, don't worry. Your boobs might not get the message for a week or so, that's normal. It's also ok to grieve for the whole not bf thing. Honestly, it's totally fine.

Henry is 5 weeks tomorrow. He's been sleeping happily in his cot because (preparing for flaming) he sleeps on his belly. We have a sensor monitor mat thing which goes off of he stops moving for 15-20 seconds. It hasn't gone off. He's really happy on his belly, but obv its not something I'll be telling the hv about! He still comes into our bed when he wakes up in the middle of the night.

frizz I don't think that's it. He's woken from a long nap, had a big feed happily and is looking pretty bright now. Maybe he was just having a bad night?

His big brother otoh is worse. Pale, snuffly and miserable.

frying sex? I remember that. We're going to try for a romantic valentines day (no sex though). Maybe with the dine in for two offer from m and s. It'll be nice if we can get the boys to sleep first.

A tip for the naily babies...try biting the nails down after their bath, apparently if you nibble gently it's much easier to manage than using scissors.

Little Lucy has been great these past few days...unsettled for sure in the evenings but I am relaxed about having her down with us in the kitchen whilst we eat and then the hair dryer tends to send her to sleep by 9.30pm if all else has failed. Last night she went from ten pm to four am then through to seven when her brothers got up, which is v manageable. The fact that I had to get up and tend to the other two in the middle of the night with bad dreams and needing wees is beside the point...

My problem is keeping her awake enough in the day...it's nearly impossible from about ten am through to about four pm...she just wakes for milk and a nappy change. Had a low moment yesterday when I had to bf in the waiting room of the vets.

Had lots of sniffles here too, but tipping her Moses basket up a little, saline solution and baby olbas oil dripped on a muslin near her head when she is sleeping is doing the trick more or less.

Sex...oh my goodness I am impressed! You have motivated me to have a shot for valentines...although as it will be our first time it will not be great. I was going to wait for my six week check but since I had no stitches I guess there is no need for that.

Congrats to angel too...are all the babies here now? I hope recovery is going well angel and you don't despair too much when the milk comes in, it is not pleasant. Get some cabbages in!

very of those that can put their baby down for some sexytime

Omg.....
Sex.... Wow not even close to that yet and it's been 7 weeks. I still feel a little sore sometimes and am still bleeding as well so I don't think we will attempt it any time soon.
Also how are you guys getting them to sleep long stretches. Aurelia seems no where near sleeping for longer than 3hrs or so. She feeds at about 7/8ish and has her bath and then she wakes by 10:30, then is awake by 2am and then is awake by 5am and that's a good night.
Should I be keeping her awake more in the day? I just kind of let her determine it all but want to get into a routine but don't know how.

Arghhh I wrote a long post but lost it!

Sultana I stopped expressing completely around a week ago and milk had dried up by the weekend. I was a bit sad too but bottle feeding is working so well for us and I feel like my own person again rather than a milk machine! Also enjoying going to bed with no bra on and not worrying about leaking everywhere haha.

We had a bit of sexy action last night but not properly. Ive been ready for it for a few weeks but it's not happening until I sort out contraception!!! Have the 6 week check (2 weeks late..) on Monday so it will be all systems go after then

Enormouse we are getting the M&S deal too. Just hoping we can time it to be ready when she's asleep as she loves waking up and crying as soon as we sit down to eat.

Frizz, Sylvie only sleeps 3 hours at a time too. She will come up to bed with us at 11, wake at 1 for a feed, then again at 4 and 6ish.

Pressed send too soon! Not sure if they are still a bit small to try and get in to a routine. There's no chance I can keep her awake during the day. Once she's asleep properly it's really hard to wake her up and keep her awake. I'm just going with the flow at the moment..

I keep start/stopping bleeding.

annoyingly I've started bleeding again. I think my body is telling me not to have sex for a bit.

I feel I might be being a bit ambitious... I had planned for us to go to a valentines meal in a pub/ restaurant at the end of the road. Figured we can always come home if its awful

I've got a really bad tummy today and first time of having to work out logistics of loo breaks with screaming baby... Who just puked up all over me...

Ooh MrsV I'm jealous of your valentines dinner!!

For the ladies who are bottle feeding (or anyone else who can help!) - the past few days, Sylvie doesn't seem to be feeding as much in the day compared to at night. She used to feed around every three hours but recently in the day she will drink about an ounce then fall asleep, then wake up a bit later and do the same. It's taking ages for her to drink the usual 5oz and I don't know why! Also when she is feeding, she keeps fussing and crying and it's really difficult to get her to stay on the bottle. She will have a few sucks, then scream a bit then go back on the bottle and suck very enthusiastically then scream again I'm not sure if it's because she's still having tummy problems but it's quite odd. When it gets to the evening/night, she seems to drink the whole bottle pretty easily without fussing or falling asleep. Does anyone have any ideas why this is? Is it normal?!

Sex?! I'm impressed! Last thing on my mind! but I know it's on DH's mind poor man. Still bleeding so have to wait. Too tired tho and would rather choose sleep.

I'm going to go for the implant soon I think. This little one was a bit of a surprise so I think I'm very fertile and fall pregnant easily (which I know is a blessing). Just had 90 mins sleep so feeling a bit more positive. Making good use of my sister whilst she's here!

Nails - I bite them off as was told this was safer.

Very jealous of those getting stretches of sleep! My grumpy girl is still nocturnal I think! And she's so noisy when sleeping half the time I still wake up! Lucky she's so cute and squishy!

Thanks ladies for the support.

I am mega impressed with all the sex! I am dreading it to be honest although am sure it will be fine. Am thinking of a non chemical contraceptive this time as am fed up with hormones all over the place! Anyone any experience with a diaphragm?

Felix, Henry does the weird fussing/pulling away and squeaking at me thing too sometimes but I haven't worked out what it means.... Could she be getting frustrated that milk not coming out fast enough?

Can't remember who asked about how to get babies to sleep longer at night. I have stuck to a bedtime routine, but am just lucky that at the moment Henry is choosing to sleep for a 6 hour stretch! If he didn't want to he wouldn't and I very much doubt I have had much influence. However, it has only been the last week he has done this. Prior to that he was sleeping on my chest every night! It wasn't until I woke up one night just as he slid off me onto the bed (omg!!! Scared the life out of me) that I decided I would try him in his bed again and he surprised me by sleeping thru! I think it's a case of giving them time....