May 2017 #14 'A baby each day in the month of May?...'

[RasperryInAMelon]

Thread 14... I'll post the other page links below too!

That's a shame, it would be ace to hang out in it all day! But yes I suppose hygiene considerations are a higher priority!

Evening ladies

Do any of you have any recommendations for a good video baby monitor? Ideally one that has 2 cameras with WiFi.

Have realised that we probably need to upgrade our old video baby monitor.

Lamp - he's so gorgeous - and alert!
Vicki - Yours is so squishy!
All these wonderful boys! x

In terms of video monitor, ours isn't wifi, it's a Motorola one, and it's awful. I can't work out what version it is or anything, but the nursery rhymes are really tinny, the picture quality is rubbish and it doesn't angle down very well which means you have to have it halfway across the room to be high enough to be out of reach but low enough to see the bottom of the cot!
I wanted a wifi one that he could log onto whilst he was away, but DH let the online horror stories scare him...
and I'm pretty sure we'll just buy another camera for ours too instead of changing as you can set it up for 2 cameras on the one screen - although you can't buy the cameras separately... ffs...

Hello everyone,

Surrogate baby boy Mark II was born on the 5th weighing in at a massive 9.3!

They are home already with a feed of glorious colostrum inside him to keep him going and I should be discharged today. Feel like I've been hit by a train! Lots of peppermint water needed as very uncomfortable wind going on.

Congrats to all who've had their babies and good luck to those yet to arrive.

Oh btw his name isn't Mark! He's actually unnamed as things stand.

Well done South! 9lb3 is a bloomin good weight, you obviously grow them well!

Congratulations @SouthPole!

Thank you everyone for your kind words. Giraffe is a girl. And a smasher she is too!

Well done everyone with their new arrivals. Your photos are lovely. I really need to raise my game on that front!

Besides which, I could really use everyones advice..

My poor little lambkin hasn't been able to have any of my milk, as the boobs/nipples weren't working in the hospital. This is due to my having an emergency C-Section (after having 36 hours of labour, getting to 10cms dilated with no pain relief, incidentally). Things sadly didn't 'kick in'. But I woke up this morning to my boobs being HUGE with massive painful lumps inside them. Too sore to touch. Anyone got any ideas how I can get these things to actually start producing or ways to ease the pain until I can get a breast pump or something? They attempted to get them working in the hospital (read 'squeezed the ever living hell out of my shy nipples to no effect'). Think if I wait, they're going to turn into rocks and fall off!

As for everything else, I had the MW round and she suspected my C-Section scar had become infected - which was a fair assessment, as I have a swelling thats bright red, hot, massive and looks like a baby on top of where the baby was! Cue 6 hours in a hospital getting stabbed/jabbed/swabbed/assessed by MW and Surgeons yesterday with hubby and little Giraffe in tow. Currently dosed up to the eyeballs on antibiotics, having to stab myself in the stomach twice a day with needles, awaiting confirmation as to whether I'm going to be brought in to stay for intensive IV drugs or worse still - re-opening my wound, draining the haematoma which has formed and become infected, de-briding and re-closing. To say I'm hacked off and tired, is an understatement. In fact, Mr Sanity and I are almost hallucinating with tiredness/sickness. Yesterday, I thought I'd reached my limit and dissolved into floods of self-pitying tears.

Despite all this (and it's only day 5 today), Giraffe makes me smile and is keeping me 'together'. The power of love, hey?

Sorry for the whinge, but if anyone has any ideas on the boob front, I'd be eternally grateful.

x

Best for breasts would be if baby could suckle, but not sure you want to bf and/or if safe with drugs you have?
If not, try shower.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/detailed-information/drugs-in-breastmilk/ can help with the drugs question

Sounds like you've had a really tough few days sanity. Glad your little girl is doing ok and keeping you going. Do you want to have a go at breastfeeding? If so, it might be best to get some specialist support to see if they can get the baby to latch. You can pay for someone to come round or see if there are clinics locally. They tend to be much more clued up than midwives etc. If you just want to ease the pain then frozen cabbage leaves are good, as is massaging under a hot shower. Take care of yourselves, don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

@Savagehk - sadly, my nipples are shy, so are not protruding enough for Giraffe to latch onto. Subsequently, I think expressing might be my only option. Thank you for the link, its very useful. It appears that the drugs I’m on are okay-ish for breastfeeding. Well, two of them are, one of them potentially not. Thankfully, I only have to take that one for another two days. As for the shower, because of my scar issues, I’ve got a massive dressing on it which I’m not allowed to get wet. It really is a pain in the bum! All I want to do is stand in the shower for hours on end.

@EsmesBees - Yes, the last few days have been horrendous. Love the idea of cabbage leaves. Might get the hubby to go and get me one. He can eat it when the leaves are done with! And thank you for the offer of help. My lord, does it feel like I need it. x

@SanitysSake that sounds rough, sorry to hear what a time you've had. Can you hand express a bit and try breastfeeding again? The engorged boobs sound like they are producing now.

Ah cross posts. I'm also quite flat nippled, I have to shape the nipples to get BabyTea to latch on. Can you get a manual pump today? Expressing a little before feeding can draw the nipple out a bit too creating something better shaped to latch onto.

You can rent a hospital grade pump, delivery is usually next day. Medela and another company do them. There should be pumps and a 'breast feeding specialist' who could get you set up on the antenatal ward so you could try it and see if it's for you. Are you still in hospital? A rough week for you, take care of yourself xxx

@teainbed - I think I may just do that. The nipple thing also sounds promising. Can't walk around with these painful boulders on my chest without doing something about it. When Mr Sanity wakes up, I'll send him off to get one. Something, anything, would be good right now x

http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/revpressureesoftcotterman/

kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/bfhelp-mother/#inverted

kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/bfhelp-mother/#inverted

How wonderful pole I hope you heal quickly and are looked after well and the family are enjoying their new bundle of scruminess.

Oh sanity that sounds crappy, you poor thing!! Would nipple shields help to shape (and protect) nipple to help bf? Was also gonna suggest cold cabbage leaves and trying to express a little.
Let's hope the antibiotics kick in soon and you don't have to be re admitted. Thank goodness for baby giraffe!!

Enjoying all the squishy baby photos, thanks for sharing

Congratulations southpole!

Oh gosh sanity sorry you're having such a rough time of it with recovery and feeding Great advice already. Could you try nipple shields if baby is having trouble latching on? Hope you can get your hands on a pump soon and agree it sounds like you need help from a lactation consultant with everything going on. Glad wee giraffe is helping you get through.

Are you due another midwife appointment today? Even if not perhaps worth phoning and asking if any of the midwives on duty can come out to you today, hopefully with a pump in tow! They might also be able to try get her to latch now your milk is in. You can try call the bf network number to confirm if the other drug is ok, but even if not and you do want to try bf it's probably a good idea to get stimulating your milk production.

(Or mr sanity can try relieve the pressure for you ;) )

Even if you can't have a shower, submerging them in a bowl of warm water should still help. You could also try the LLL helpline.

Congratulations @SouthPole ! I think you're amazing and kind to do this for your friends. Will you see the boy growing up as well? I hope you recover well from the birth. How does it go with the breastfeeding? Will you express so he gets the best of your milk and colostrum?

Sorry to hear you're having such a rough time @SanitysSake. I hope the pump will help you. In one of the bf sessions I've had, they taught us how to address a blocked milk duct and at the same time get the flow going. It was a simple massage of the breast with the knuckles rolling from halfway towards the nipple or alternatively with the flat hand. Haven't looked up a video of it but it made sense to me.

Oh yes, expressed off tons of colostrum for him - old hand at breast feeding!

And then I took the tablets to stop the rest of the milk coming in full, which was a bit of a killer last time.

And yes, my first surrogate baby is our God child so we're in each other's lives forever. They plan on being open about the surrogacy with the children so we'll always be a part of their narrative.

For those struggling with bf I found kellymom a truly fantastic website. I read and read.

I have one inverted nipple so used nipple shields on that. Use
Lansinoh continuously between every feed and immediately after the feed. Use under shields and when pumping.

I bf all three of my own for a year each at least. Middle would still be on the boob if she could!

I found these links really helpful (googling in the middle of the night with firm painful boobs!!). I also found that pressing down with two fingers either side of my nipple for a few seconds, working my way around the whole nipple - pushed the milk back a bit and expressed enough to make my nipple soft enough to fit in the babies mouth....

Hand expressing:
www.laleche.org.uk/hand-expression-of-breastmilk/

Struggling with latch:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=NrNE6YxsIxI

Engorgement:
kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/engorgement/