Due August 2021 - Welcome to the World!

[PurplePansy05]

Welcome to the chattiest birth club on MN! Newcomers always welcome 💐

14 gorgeous new babies have joined us already, welcome to the world 💖💙🥳

@Smurf123 - Welcome to the world, baby Sophia 💖
@wimbler - Welcome to the world, baby boy 💙
@Jessicapebbles - Welcome to the world, baby Ebony💖
@Inmypjsagain - Welcome to the world, baby boy💙
@PurplePansy05 - Welcome to the world, baby Leo Alexander 💙
@WinterBabyof89 - Welcome to the world, baby Rosie 💖
@Winecoffeeteamum - Welcome to the world, baby Emily 💖
@Ready2020 - Welcome to the world, baby Rowan 💖
@Magik01 - Welcome to the world, baby Isaac 💙
@Hoares3 - Welcome to the world, baby Ellis 💙
@Daffodil21 - Welcome to the world, baby Elliot James 💙
@sarah13xx - Welcome to the world, baby Freddie 💙
@Biscuitcat - Welcome to the world, baby Rowan 💙
@Whatshouldbemyusername - Welcome to the world, baby Arya-Nyah 💖

Counting down until we welcome 20+ new arrivals:

@MrsB2019x - Induction w/c 9 August, Girl 💖
@Dia12 - EDD 8 August, Girl 💖
@Aaaaa1519 - EDD 13 August, Girl 💖
@Angelesque - C-section 16 August, surprise 💛
@lucyrp - EDD 16 August, surprise 💛
@livingwithbees - EDD 16 August, surprise 💛
@BertieBotts - EDD 16 August, Boy 💙
@WolfMother - EDD 17 August, Boy 💙
@Caz1226 - EDD 17 August, Boy 💙
@Millymay13 - C-section 17 August, surprise 💛
@RandomCatGenerator - C-section 19 August, surprise 💛
@Smallbean27 - EDD 19 August, surprise 💛
@Sheisfee - EDD 19 August, Girl 💖
@Alittlexmasmagic - EDD 22 August, surprise 💛
@LottSE20 - EDD 22 August, surprise 💛 @notinthestarsigns - EDD 23 August (but likely to be brought forward induction/C-section), surprise 💛
@Fran919 - EDD 25 August, surprise💛
@Ava50x - EDD 25 August, Boy 💙
@ame88 - EDD 28 August, Girl 💖
@HopefulB - EDD 29 August, surprise 💛

It's officially THE month! Watch this space! xx

@biscuitcat this is my first baby and I really hope it does get easier. I just woke up from my nap and realised that I'm still in this loop of feeding and crying and nappies and it makes me a little depressed tbh. But it will get better. It must!

I'm glad you all said that about nappies. I think I was changing a bit too much! @PurplePansy05 we use the Aldi ones and he's only leaked a couple of times, which is probably when we've missed it.

Does anyone else's squeak when they poo?! Thankfully he did it while the midwife was here and she said it's ok but it's kind of cute 😂

@PurplePansy05 my advice re leaky nappies would be to go up a size, and keep trying different brands- which you seem to be doing. If you compare size 1 and size 2, they are almost the same- 2-5kg vs 3-6kg which is a tiny difference, but it somehow made a difference with mine in terms of leakage.

@lucyrp keeping my fingers crossed for you, hoping things get moving soon and baby comes on its own without intervention needed... I'm still here, pregnant as ever and beyond fed up!

@BertieBotts what a gorgeous little boy you have! I love that sleepsuit:)

@Ava50x I have my first and only sweep tomorrow so will see how that goes😅 when's your due date ??

@BertieBotts aw happy (belated!) birthday to Leo 🎂 shame it’s raining! Hope it clears so you can go out 😊

@Ava50x we might try that then, I didn’t realise there was such a small difference sizes!

Does anyone have any expert burping tips? Poor boy is crying and you can tell it’s that I’ve got wind cry. We’ve tried sitting him up, having him on our chest, tiger in a tree, bicycle legs, legs up and down… I feel I’ve tried all the normal winding positions, am I missing any? Is this the type of thing infacol would help with?

@Inmypjsagain one a midwife in the hosp showed us was to have them on your leg upright, lean them forward while patting their back, then lean them backwards and forwards a couple of time and pat their back again while leaning forward

@Ava50x I know, sizes 1 and 2 are pretty confusing! I'm guessing different nappy shape/lenght? This will be my next try if Mamia size 1 doesn't help. Still looking dry so far 🙌

@Inmypjsagain I was given the same advice as @Daffodil21 but tbh I don't burp/wind him, DH does it and it's their boys' time 🤣 He's a pro. Maybe he just taps him a bit stronger than I do, I'm always too gentle at this. Btw our changing routine is the same as yours. I thought this wasn't enough because he's had nappy rash but I'm glad I asked as it clearly was totally fine if not too often!

Happy Rainbow Baby Day to all of us rainbow mummies on here 🌈❤ xxx

@Daffodil21 he burped! Thank you so much! Will add that to the repertoire, thank you 🙏🏼 still wonder if I should buy some infacol, just in case? Heart breaking when the cry is clearly because they’re not comfortable!

@PurplePansy05 my husband is so much better at winding that me too, must be to with force or size of hands 😂 good to know re: changing. So hard to tell what’s “normal” or what we should be doing x

Infacol is supposed to help but I've never found t to do anything!

Newborns are just hard to wind I think. My baby seems to enjoy it though.

Hi
I think I’m starting to lose tiny bits of my mucus plug but it has a greenish tint- did anyone else have this?
I’ve read online this could be the baby’s poo and could be in distress? It’s only very tiny and very light greenish/ clear?

With leaky nappies I find it best to go up a size. We used pampers exclusively with my daughter but ds was getting quite red from them so we switched to eco by naty. I’m impressed with them but they are quite expensive sadly. Should really look into reusable ones but until we are back in our own house and not at my parents I can’t be bothered. We do use cheeky wipes which are SO much better at cleaning newborn poo than disposable wipes. Even the worst poos I only need one or two wipes.

With wake windows, we aim for 2 hours max but he still can’t really stretch that long. By 1.5 hrs he’s looking tired so we try and get him to sleep to avoid the dreaded overtiredness. That makes them so much harder to settle. We are actually trying to follow a very strict routine (Gina Ford. I know, I know, she’s very controversial) but from experience with DD we know how important a solid routine is. She thrives on it after a year of being a terrible sleeper and quite frankly, I can’t go through that again.

I actually need to try block feeding. I am struggling with oversupply again like I did with DD. Feeding is tough - I have a very painful letdown and ds chokes and splutters several times a feed. I know he’s not latching well either as there’s lots of smacking sounds when he feeds. It’s giving him terrible colic too. Going to the drop in breastfeeding clinic tomorrow that’s near me to see if they’ve got any tips

@Caz1226 I think I lost my music plug but it was a red ish colour, but I was having a c section so I don’t know what that meant for Labour. I’ve heard that a mucus plug that is greeny or brown could be meconium so I would say better safe than sorry and call your maternity helpline and see what they say. Maybe someone who’s had this before might be able to answer x

@BertieBotts yeah he wobbles around a lot so is hard to burp, glad Alexander seems to enjoy it!

@wimbler I would love to get into a routine, feel like he’s too little atm though, have you been in a routine since the start? Any tips how you make baby sleep? We try to send him off to sleep, quiet, dark, no stimulation but he is just wide awake. He was awake for 2 hour windows from day 1 so I wonder if that’s just his own rhythm if you know what I mean? Ah I’ve just ordered some cheeky wipes, arriving on Tuesday, glad to hear they’re good but I do worry about washing the pooey ones!

@Inmypjsagain glad it worked! @PurplePansy05 my husband mostly does it too. He's so much better at it than me as well. I do make sure I do it sometimes though as I can't not do it when he goes back to work next week! I just said to my husband that some of you on here (not said specifically MN 😂 I go with a vague 'the group chat'!) said your partners are better at winding and his response was 'that's because men are more practiced at burping in general' 😂

@Inmypjsagain we started when he was 2 weeks old but honestly we only stick to it about half the time as ds loooooves to sleep during the day. It’s really hard to keep him awake. But when we do manage to stick to it, it works really well. One of the key bits of advice is to try and start your day at the same time everyday (7-7.30am). Also we use the play mat and bouncy chair to stimulate him and then try and wind down around 20 mins before “nap time”

We just try to encourage him to fall asleep on his own and not via feeding or cuddling. We put him in his Moses basket when he is fairly drowsy and either rock him or pat his tummy and stroke his nose. It doesn’t always work though! We swaddle for naps and use white noise too. His morning nap he will nearly always drift off on his own, usuay because the hoover is on then and it’s a magic sleep inducing machine 😂. ds was highly dependent on us to fall asleep. We would spend hours rocking and bouncing her and had to go down the route of controlled crying at 11 months so keen to avoid that again! Also want to try and avoid the dreaded 4 month sleep regression as that almost broke me.

I will say though I think a lot of it is luck of the draw and you either have a chilled baby or a more needy one exacerbated by colic etc but I do believe there are good habits that can be gently implemented early on.
Sarah ockwell smith has a great book too called the gentle sleep book which I’d recommend

I think sometimes when it's dark and quiet that makes them wake up as it's a bit safer and more familiar for them! When everything is happening during the day the overstimulation can actually make them sleep to avoid it.

Oh my goodness @biscuitcat and @Ready2020 solidarity. It was actually really reassuring to see your messages to know I am not alone. I hope you are both doing ok.

Any experienced ladies, tell us when it gets better!

Can I ask about nail care - anyone cut the babies’ nails yet?

Just gave DS 4oz of expressed breast milk. He started screaming and crying when it ran out. Crying the loudest he has so far, so DH goes to make a formula to top him up so he's satisfied. When he gets back I passed the baby to DH and he instantly stopped crying 🙄 I think DH was feeling pretty pleased with himself but thankfully he had the sense not to say anything. I've gone upstairs to pump again (in-laws are here) - don't know why I bother when it doesn't even satisfy him!

@Daffodil21 😂 yes that is so true!!!

@wimbler thank you- that’s helpful. Think it’s something that will take time, if we put him in his bed when he’s awake to try and sleep he just lays there with eyes wide open. Move him to the sleep nest, same thing. He’s not crying or anything. As Bertie says we keep it dark and quiet, but then I worry he wont get used to normal household noises… We’re using white noise but don’t swaddle- the screaming and fidgeting when we swaddled! He seems to hate it, maybe we should persevere but he was so vocal! Wish hoovering had the same effect here 😂

We actually think he could be a bit constipated, not sure how to help with that… any tips?!

@RandomCatGenerator yes, I was petrified! We bought a random grooming kit (lectin?) from amazon that came with nail files, scissors and nail clippers- the scissors were quite good and I’ve cut them weekly. Only do it when he’s sleeping though, he would fidget too much awake. Tommee tippee also do a grooming kit but I’ve not tried it as a comparison. The thought is scarier than doing it!

@Daffodil21 baby seems to prefer formula to breast milk and husband to me, it’s annoying when we’re doing all the hard work!!! It can see pretty thankless but hoping it’s all worth it ❤️

@RandomCatGenerator sounds gross but I just bite their fingernails when they’re this small. They’re so thin and no danger of biting their finger. I do it when he’s feeding

Yep, I bite a corner and gently peel off. The baby nail clippers are good when they are a bit bigger. We tried to use them the other day and it just made the nails sharper.

I can't remember when it changes from this - I'd say a couple of weeks in maybe it feels a bit more like you've got a groove? Personally I will not be trying a routine for a while yet as for me I think the stress of trying to make something worse far outweighs the uncertainty of not knowing what is happening when. I'm OK to go hour by hour at the minute. I think it just depends on your personality and what you find stressful vs easy. I meant to say earlier though about changing interval, and I think it applies to sleep/feeding/routines as well - the word "should" ought to be banned in parenting as there really is no one right way and you have to go really really rogue to get it wrong. There are a lot of people who will tell you you must do this or that but really if you don't know why you're doing something or it's just "because I think I should" or the reason doesn't make sense then usually it does no harm to stop. By the same token if a routine/sleep idea/etc sounds helpful then give it a try. There are so many different ways to do things and very few of them are actually wrong.

@Daffodil21 I feel the same about breast milk - he likes sucking on my breasts but expressed and directly given breast milk don’t seem to satisfy him at all.