Late December - Early January Thread 2!

[Bella1985]

Hi! We're on to our 2nd thread for babies due at the end of December/Early January. 3rd trimester is in sight...!

Correct for me. What a lot of boys there are. I was looking forward to my bed lastnight but DD had other ideas. She was wide awake & proceeded to want to suckle the entire night adding in poos & mucus cough ups every now & again. After no sleep apart from almost 1 hour. (Apparently I fell asleep whilst DH was walking her around), I finally managed some sleep when she went off at 8am & DH sorted out DS. Got 2 hours which has seen me through the day. The constant feeding (think she was comfort sucking) has left me raw today but my milk has now come in so she's very satisfied & fast asleep on me. Every time I try her in the bed she wakes. Iv tried warming her bed but she just doesn't like flat on her back. DS had severe reflux & I can't remember what we did with him in the early days but he did eventually settle in his Moses basket. I really need some sleep.

So exciting that all the babies are here. Had a meltdown at 4am & couldn't cope but felt much better during the day. I even coped with DS & DD for several hours on my own whilst DH slept. Not sure I'm anywhere near ready to cope with more than a couple of hours & with DH out the house but hey ho.

Hi all joining very late here.

I am 41
Expecting baby number 3
Already have an 18yr old son and a 9yr old son plus a 3yr old stepson.
Expecting another boy [smile

Hi Vaunz. When are you due?

Emz, the tiredness is something else, isn't it.... At least we can sleep in different positions now!

Today is day 3 post birth and i still haven't managed to do a poo. Blargh. Hoping this hiatus doesn't last much longer.

Welcome Vaunz. Another gorgeous boy to add to your family.

Funnily enough Serial, I was thinking the same thing. I haven't managed to eat much since the birth, I haven't had much appetite but hoping to just get it done. Iv been so thirsty which is unlike me. My milk has come in, at least that's satisfying her now. Just need to buy more bras now!

Welcome vaunz. When are you due?

Ladies, you need dried apricots. Twas what got me, ahem, moving again where the hospital lactulose failed.

Can't believe how many boys we've ended up with! So cool!

Lying in bed laughing listening to DH change DS in the nursery downstairs. From the commentary, he appears to have projectile pooed off his change table and over the side of his wardrobe. DH appears to have maintained his sense of humour about it

DH back to work on Monday. Sad he can't be at home for longer - we've got into a good routine. My parents are here for another week then I'm on my own. I might looking at getting a babysitter or doula type to come a couple of mornings a week just to give me a break during the week.

Managed to get some good sleep last night - it's amazing what difference a night makes!

Found some apricots languishing above the microwave! Thanks for the reminder.

I need to eat my second breakfast and have a shower, but DS is sleeping on me and smells divine. What a quandary.

Hi vaunz!

I'm with you emz on the sleep front! Friday night was amazing, DS didn't cluster feed so I got 2.5hrs and another 2hrs sleep between 1am-8am but last night was brutal - he wouldn't sleep unless he was on my chest! Had visitors this morning too so haven't had a chance to catch up on sleep. He went to sleep in my sisters arms and she put him down, they left 5mins ago and he's crying again now...

Glad to hear you had some sleep stealth - I'm dreading doing the whole thing without DH, we still have 2 weeks together but can't imagine coping all day every day with so little sleep and no DH to split the work.

I had a bad tear and lots of stitches so I was prescribed lactulose and fybogel. They seem to work. (Tmi alert) I have opened my bowels daily since birth and it doesn't hurt.
Sleep deprivation is also getting to me. Breastfeeding is taking so long at the moment and DS seems to want extra long suckle time in the middle of the night. have been surviving today on 2x2h broken sleep last night

I think I probably just need to eat more. It takes a while to filter through the system. I'll also get some dried apricots to help. Oh the projectile poos. I'm a bit worried about poo... We had a lot of meconium poos, then my milk came in lastnight & there's not been any poo since then. She's feeding a lot. It's been every hour since 8pm. I'm sore & shattered. 1 hours sleep so far tonight. Hoping for another couple of hours. She loves sleeping on my chest, you are right Bella, it is brutal!

It took me a couple of days before having bowel movement too. And the need to go happened during the 2hr slot the hospital throws husbands out and DS was screaming his head off non-stop so I was shuffling to the loo wheeling DS in his hospital crib/trolley with me as I didn't know how long I would be and couldn't bear the thought of leaving him screaming alone by the bed. A nurse spotted me and came to ask what I was doing...I came clean, she laughed her head off and took DS from me to go "pooh in peace"...she headed off to the office area with DS and told me upon my return that this was one of the "funny ones" for them in a while... Hope things improve for you soon.

I managed to express 60ml last night so DH stayed up and gave DS the feednat te start of his cluster feeding stage. It bought me an extra hour sleep so got 3hrs straight last night woop! Hope to do this a couple nights a week for my sanity, DH is struggling now though having done a 'night shift' I think we must be programmed to deal with the sleepless nights better than men!

DS has started vomiting after feeds, around 30mins after being put down to sleep (despite burping and farting at the end of his feed), it is so annoying as he doesn't settle back to sleep and wants more milk but that starts the process again...anything I can do to help him with this?!

Milk came in last night for us, too, and it was a raving party. DS wanted to feed all night long, but my big, swollen boobs were hard for him to latch onto, and I was too sleepy to make a good go of it in the dark. We eventually got there, and he's now asleep on my chest after another feed.

His current pattern is to fuss, fuss, fuss, feed, poo, then fall asleep. So I have to wake him up for a nappy change, then we circle round to the fussing stage all over again. Until he relaxes enough at the breast to do another poo, that is....

Bella, when he vomits is it just milk that comes up or is it lumpy acidic sicky smelling stuff? DS had bad reflux & would constantly feed - sick - feed - sick etc until he's kept down enough. It was exhausting & made him quite distressed. We tried medication but ended up on anti-reflux formula. Apparently the lumpy acidic stuff is partially digested milk ehich means it's reflux & they can't keep milk down. If it's milk that's coming up it should settle down. Not that I'm an expert. DD isn't sicky at all but is feeding a lot. I got so upset at 5am as I thought DH (who was trying to help) eas saying I wasn't doing a good enough job. The sleepless nights are hard. As she's fed constantly through the night, she's now sleeping. Need to encourage her to realise it's daytime.

emz It's mostly just milk. I'm hoping it will settle. Am due a health visitor meeting this week so will ask her about it too. Thanks!

serial that pattern sounds very similar to ours...! It's exhausting!

Gosh the feeding is hard work isn't it? I feel relatively lucky that DS has good nights (only wakes once) - his fussy period is in the late afternoon/ early evening. Mind you, after 6 hours of cluster feeding I am almost catatonic and falling into bed - I feel like I've run a marathon!

Am now thinking I might have problems with oversupply. I just expressed off one boob this morning (after he'd fed on the other) and got 200ml of milk, which seems a lot for one breast?! Plus DS just absolutely GUZZLES when he's on the boob, -and makes lots of loud slurpy noises - am wondering if he's taking in too much milk initially and then lots of air as he breathes to catch up? He seems to be awfully windy and does so many wees and poos it's unreal. I am going to see the health visitor today so will ask.

It's a minefield!

200ml?! I struggled to get 60ml yesterday stealth

200ml is amazing. I pumped between feeds this morning and got 60mls. The max I got was 110mls when I pumped instead of feeding when I took DD to swimming.
serial we are similar on the poo front. At least once every breastfeed. DS is quite a sleepy feeder so I sometimes use a nappy change to wake him but it's not unusual for him to poo in the middle of a feed and then again at the end.
How long are your breastfeeding taking at the moment? I've been told that I should keep DS on one breast for to least 20mins before switching so he gets to the hind milk but I find that he would have bobbed off at least twice before the 20min mark.

bella and lucy baby stealth will often do multiple poos per feed

I know my supply has gone crazy! Good problem to have long term but poor little DS is so windy I worry about him now whilst his digestive system isn't well formed.

Goodness me. My boobs are leaking with my limited supply, yours must be a nightmare!

DS does poo mid feed, and again at the end, and during his nap. It doesn't seem to bother him much, apart from the wind which he makes faces at, but once it is out he'll quite happily go back to sleep with a dirty nappy as he's so sleepy from having lots of milk. Waking him up to change him is a pain as he then automatically wants to feed again and the cycle repeats itself!

Just had a big sick, I'm not sure if its mucus or reflux now, it was lumpier than previously and smelled more sicky so I really need this health visitor to call in/arrange her visit so I can get a second opinion on this! Hoping for a nice HV too, I've been fairly lucky on the midwife front so hope to get on with HV too. Heard so many negative stories about them!

I went to the baby clinic today and they were completely unconcerned about the wind & possetting. So I don't know. DS weighed in at 4.4kg which they were very happy with - not bad for 3 weeks old considering he was 3.6kg at birth.

bella weirdly I've had no leaking and very little engorgement or pain. I don't know where all this milk is coming from!

So nice to be able to talk about stuff on here. I was starting to worry about DDs lack of poo. She fed the entire night lastnight. She was on & off which meant I got 55mins sleep between 1-2. I was beside myself by 5am & DH woke (he claims he was awake most of the night ). He tried to help but I'd had enough. We discussed formula & dummys, then he took her at 6am & left me to sleep for 2hrs. We then went shopping as I urgently needed bras. Slightly stressful experience with 2 children & heavy rain but we survived. Got home feeling pretty crap. Then realised its day 4 & my hormones had hit. Had a sleep (in laws popped in to keep DH company) & a bath. Felt much better. Then a friend popped some food in (we haven't had to cook in nearly a week!!!) and gave me lots of BF advice & encouragement. Really helped me. Then DD finally did a massive poo. She has also just done another 1. Not sure if she had a temporary blockage or just wasn't getting enough from me as we got to grips with feeding but looks like we are out the other side! I managed to sleep from 12-2 already & about to try to put her down again. Feeling much more positive. I'm pretty encouraged & painfully full. As quickly as shes draining 1 boob it's filling up. 1 has got some hard lumps which I'm massaging to try & help. Seeing MW tomorrow for day 5 check. Also think DD has a touch of jaundice. Glad to hear you guys are getting on well too. I darent pump as it'll make my supply increase more & that'll make it worse. Will just have to encourage DD to feed & massage the lumpy bits. It'll settle in the next few days. Have to keep reminding myself that i did give birth only 4 days ago & I need to cut myself some slack.

You definitely need to cut yourself some slack emz - I can't believe you're doing so much 4 days post birth! DS is 2 weeks old today and I'Ve only just left the house for the 2nd time (to go get some milk from corner shop) and the 1st time was a trip back to hospital to have catheter removed so technically that didn't count!

It's a rollercoaster, this feeding business. We caved last night and gave DS 75ml of formula at 3am. He'd been cluster feeding since 8pm and showed no signs of slowing down, I was absolutely nackered and DH had stayed up the whole time and finally fully realised how hard the nights are. DS then slept for 4 hours so I'm glad we did it. He's been bf fine today so nipple confusion hasn't got to him after 1 feed.

Health Visitor came earlier and sort of disapproved of the formula feed, and she also told me he's fussing at the breast not cluster feeding so I need to be more firm and take him off the breast if he's fed for 40mins and put him down, and remove myself from the room so that he learns to settle himself to sleep. This is contradicting the antenatal class advice of feed on demand and don't let it get to the crying stage, take all cues from the baby etc... it's very frustrating! We're going to give it a try to see if we can slowly get him into a pattern of feeding for shorter periods of time rather than be attached to me for 6hours+ at night. My boobs are huge today and quite hard & lumpy so I think I have plenty of milk so he doesn't need to be increasing supply so much!

He's had 2 weeks so hoping now he'll start to settle a bit more... fingers crossed!

emz! Cut yourself some slack! You're 4 days post birth! Also, ONLINE SHOPPING was made for this. Don't be dragging yourself round the shops bra shopping. I ordered a load of different styles from amazon (the bravado nursing bras are great) and H&M and then just returned the ones I didn't like or didn't fit. Easy!

bella that sounds brutal. Personally and in my extremely limited experience there is a difference between a baby who fusses when you put them down and one that screams the house down - I wouldn't be leaving the latter at 2 weeks old for all the tea in China. Just go with your instinct - formula is not going to do any harm at all, and if you're really worried about the impact on your supply you can always express.

AFM, I got my very first real smile from DS this morning. It melted my heart. Am just so in love with him!

Well second time round you have the first one to keep entertained. I get to about 5pm & I'm pretty tired. I won't be able to do as much once I'm on my own when DH goes back to work so making the most of the help. We do have a lot of support from family & friends as well. DS starts back at nursery tomorrow which will be amazing as I might actually be able to nap during the day & put my feet up. The feeding is hard, it took ages to get to grips with the first time. It's been much easier this time but it's still difficult. Health professionals all give different advice. I had one breastfeeding midwife tell me to strip them off to make them cry as it's easier to get them latched on. You will get there just follow your own instincts. I switched from exclusive BF to exclusive formula for DS when he was 4 months as the reflux just got too much & we had been referred to hospital for "failure to thrive". He'd been losing ounces & only ever put on a few ounces. After a week in formula he was so content & satisfied, he wasn't in pain from the acid & he put on 1.5lbs!!! The HV asked me what was different, I explained we had switched & she smiled "you did well BF'ing for so long given the circumstances". I was distraught, I'd carried on as she kept telling me too!

It is hard to slow down with older DC to look after as well. I've been reading lots of stories and letting my 3yo use my phone to watch Netflix while I snooze next to her. Dh goes back to work next week and I think I'll be ok apart from evenings - he always seems to work late and I hate it. (Outside of his control, unfortunately)

I'm not going to stress about it though; I'm not above serving toast and cereal for dinner, or beans and frozen chips.... Last night I got a Chinese takeaway.

Oh gosh I can't imagine what it must be like with older children to look after too. Can't see me having a 2nd child at this rate...!

MIL has come to clean the house today and although I'm really grateful for her work (she offered, I would never have asked her to come clean!) I just can't sit down and let her do all of it...I've just cleaned the bathroom and now I'm feeling light headed and my tummy hurts - DH is quite happy to let his mother do all the cleaning...I feel so guilty watching her run around sorting our mess.

I tried leaving DS a little last night as HV advised and decided pretty quickly that her advice was rubbish. He's 2weeks old and just wants to feel safe and close to his mummy! I'm not going to deny him that! He fussed between 11pm and 3am but actually slept after feeding at 3am and after his 6am feed so I'm quite happy with that!