Grab a seat, a double chocolate brownie and lets roll the wagon as we wait for more babies to arrive

[GYo]

New thread!

Hi Sorky! Have replied on fb
10.30 sounds good to me, as does meeting at York Minster. I know where it is, but as have only really walked past not sure if there is more than one entrance?

hi

meet up sounds great shame york is 2 far from me
will have to let me know how it goes

LG&T great to hear from you funny enough my 2 year old is in the friday ad at the moment as well......

I am going to york meet up from Maidstone so quiet a trip but can not wait for southern meet up as I am too impatient, also need a weekend away!!!! I will have P&T with me and both children.. Was going to ask can someone meet me at hotel and show me the way as I have never been to York!!! Rude I know!!

We are off to GP again today. HV requested I go as DS not only has green poo but is going about 6 times a day when he usually goes once every two days.... She thinks he is ill!! I have also got to cancel his jabs so he is going to be at least 11 weeks before he has his first jabs now... I am a bit worried about that, or is that fine??

Bad night here as well was up every hour

Wow, this has been busy today. Shhh, whisper please, DD is asleep in her cot and DS asleep in the car while DH reads paper (they've just been to feed the ducks) - I'm grabbing 5 mins on MN when I should be getting veg chopped for dinner

LB - you are doing so amazingly with DS and his reflux. By 11 weeks I had to give him top-ups of formula to get his weight to start increasing (at that stage he was 9lbs 2oz - only 2lbs 2oz above his birth weight), so I think you're brilliant. Have to say that I feel that where i went wrong was trying to get him into a routine and feeding 3 hourly, whereas he needed more than that. Sounds like you just had a bad day where he only took foremilk and Sorky has had some good advice for you. Some tips I can offer (whether useful or not) and you've probably heard them all already:

Raise his cot to 45 degree angle (raise whole cot, not just mattress) - we used yellow pages and our fireproof box.
Do you have a wedge cushion from when you were pregnant? We used ours to raise his change mat as well, so he wasn't flat to change.
When winding, only rub, don't pat as this can aggravate the reflux, although I found that walking round jigging him slightly helped wind come up without too much sick.
Put a muslin down across the mattress under where his head will lie so if he's sick you don't have to change whole sheet.
Raise bouncer to highest elevation for him to sit in (if it's adjustable).
Always have a bib round his neck - useful for catching some sick.

All babies are different, but DS was really refluxy and he grew out of it by 8 months (you have to watch for the lovely orange stains when he's on solids!) and he was a real porker by then, so don't worry about these early weight problems. He does still have a dairy and egg intolerance, but these aren't necessarily linked to the reflux.

Sorky - thanks for your tips on the feeding, DD has been feeding really regularly and we've had a couple of green poos here and there, so your advice really helps.

LB - I know dummies are a bit of a personal choice, but we have found that quite often, DD will look like she wants to feed and then fusses on and off - if it's been a while since she woke and is yawning, a dummy can send her off within 10 mins, even if she fights it to start with - she then gets some sleep (not necessarily really long) and then feeds well once she's woken.

I really don't have all the answers, but hope that some of these tips are useful to you, as I get so many really useful tips on MN.

Okay, now my turn for questions - any of you bfing (Sorky, you seem really knowledgeable), DD is getting really upset every evening - she wants to feed pretty much all evening and not settling until about 10.30/11pm. I feel like my boobs are really empty at that time of day and am contemplating giving her a bottle in the evening to satisfy her (but currently waiting until she's been weighed tomorrow so I know how she's doing with just bf) - is this normal? Is it something that we will both adapt to eventually and she won't scream every night (she's 7 weeks now)? DH back at work full time this week, which means I'm on my own 4 out of 7 nights with both DC - fear I may reach the end of my tether! But, I really don't want to give her any formula and at the moment am struggling to know when to express, as she feeds so regularly - any tips?

Glask - yay for weight gain.
Ses - never mind your Mum, are you getting excited?!
Sorry - forgotten everything else I've read.
LB - just seen we cross-posted. Really hope you go okay at GP. My DD poos really regularly (several times a day) - was going to ask if this was normal for bf baby, I think it is more the colour and consistency of poo that is of concern, going by what my HV has said (having said that, with DD's operation and funny insides, guess she isn't your standard baby!). Thinking of you lots and just want to reassure you that it does get better with a reflux baby, but make sure you get the support from the health professionals you need - when I look back now on the photos of DS, he was so scrawny and had such a dipped fontanelle, I wish I'd fought them harder for support and answers. Having said that, you sound like you're doing brilliantly with feeding him!

SST thank you so much for your kind words, I will let you know how it goes..

SST Dd2 feeds in the same way and don't worry it's completely normal

Your milk will be at it's lowest in the late afternoon and it's quite important to not rush about too much during this time. I find that cluster feeding starts at about 5or6pm and carries on almost constantly one side then the other until about 8pm. Then she's away for the night (well until 2am feed)

The poo's are also frequent here sometimes 5-6 a day if she's been feeding well. She has been known to go a day or 2 with nothing but lots of wee, again perfectly normal in a BF baby.

If you wanted to introduce a bottle of formula I'd do it at the very last feed (about 10-11pm) and then express all the milk at that feed to store. Dh could feed baby f you wanted.
One formula feed (if BF is going well) won't have too much impact on supply. I wouldn't recommend topping up after each feed because your supply will dwindle as it won't be able to adjust to babies changing needs.

Good luck at the doc's LB, you are doing fantastically well

Right we have swimming lessons, then haircuts, so I'll check back late on tonight

Back from MW and head is spinning and don't really know what to think or where I'm at...

I told her that I'd been wondering about the position of the baby and that I'd been getting quite a bit of groin pain down the inside of the tops of my thighs and she had a feel around. She wants me to have a presentation scan as she thinks the baby may be oblique/breech. The soonest they can fit me in is Thursday morning at 11am but she's going to try and persuade them to squeeze me in before that so I'm waiting for her to phone me.

She says she could be wrong and it could be head down but it also still feels quite mobile. The heart rate was quite up and down as it was moving around whilst she was prodding. She said if it's transverse they may keep me in and monitor and decide to do CS and if it's breech they may decide to try and move it.

Am now home sitting on my gym ball in the hope that will help. I was quite happy waiting for labour pains (although hopefully not prolonged!) in about 10 days but now my head is trying to get round the fact that I might have to have a CS by the end of the week! Then again I may not!!!

AAARRRRRGGGHGHH!!

Oh, you've all gone now!!

Funny to hear of all these 2yo DC being advertised! Never noticed that section of the Friday-Ad before!

LB - hope all goes well with the GP

LG&T - good to hear from you

Diege - maybe mum's have to be one extreme or the other!

Hi SES! I wouldn't get too worried just yet. If baby was transverse this would have been easy to diagnose, but breach babies ARE difficult to diagnose for sure. The fact that baby is moving round lots doesn't really mean much re: that it isn;t head down, just that it hasn't engaged yet which is totally normal. The heart rate thing you mention is also a very good sign of a really healthy baby, so don't worry about that.
Hoping you can get some reassurance soon. Sounds like you have a wriggler there - and remember a lot of babies don;t actually engage until labour commences xx

Thanks Diege. It's just really thrown me for some reason. I guess in the last few weeks you gear yourself up for labour and I'd been hoping to stay in hospital as short a time as poss. Now that could all be out the window... Didn't think I'd mind this much...

Also I don't quite get... the baby is fairly active but always tends to rest back in the same position for at least 80% of the time and has been this way for about 12 weeks. The (same)MW and the consultant have felt the baby's position within that time previously and both said head was down and engaged!! Why has this changed??!!

Sorry, I know this isn't exactly a disaster, just going through the motions of getting my head round it all...

Hi Ses- hope you arent too worried and thay can sort your scan asap. Echo what Diege said about heart rates. When I had the trolley incident, they put me on a monitor and the heartrate went up and down all the time depending on baby's movements. I then went on to have no heartrate issues at all during labour.

going to catch up now!

Thanks GYo. My head is slowly getting used to the idea that we have no idea and to keep as open a mind as possible...

I suppose I just didn't realise quite how my subconscious had planned out how everything was going to go...

I don't blame you for feeling a bit odd about it all SES. It's hard enough to get your head around the fact that you're having as baby in a week or so, let alone when said baby starts to mess about and 'spoil' what you thought was going to happen!! I have a hunch from what you wrote in the last post that baby isn't breach..could well be that head is engaging and disengaging, which is very common with first babies (I think - I may have that wrong)but does happen with subsequent ones too. Hopefully you'll get your scan through for tomorrow, so that you don't have long to wait at all. Agree, it's not a big thing 'on paper', but must be very disconcerting when you're mentally prepared etc.

That's exactly it

Oh wagoners, thank you for being so understanding

Thanks anyway SES but I'll pass on the brownies...I have just eaten one of dd3's Easter eggs (and disposed of the wrapping in the outside bin this time). Feel very sick and a bit guilty...

I'll make a fresh batch in the morning then! Hmm never done chocolate brownies for breakfast...!

Nah, just stick them in the fridge, I'll have one with my cuppa at work in the morning - the LAST morning I will be in work until January 2010!!!! Yipee!!!

MW has just phoned and there is nothing sooner than Thurs at 11am so lots of scrubbing floors and bounding on my gym ball until then I guess!!
DH has a meeting at 10am about 15 mins from the hospital, but he's hoping it won't last that long and he'll be able to get to the hospital in time. I hope so too as scans make me nervous anyway!

Tomorrow actually I'm off out again in the morning as 3 of us from NCT are going to see the local Baby Cafe and then have lunch. I emailed them all earlier to see if they were interested. One of them emailed back to say they'd been away for the wkend and whilst they were away their home had been broken into!!! Looks like they didn't take much but were looking for car keys to their BMW, which they didn't find. (She said there'd been a few other car incidents nearby).

Diege - that must feel SOOOOO good!

Oh it does SES - not least the last 5.30am start!! (for work anyway...).
Your scan will come around very soon - at least you don't have a massive wait! Baby cafe sounds great - is it a bf-friendly sort of place or does it runs activiters etc as well?

Ses, hope all is well at your scan, Diege's advice sounds very sensible, and IME MW's are often pretty useless at feeling what's going on inside! Oh, and I'll some of those brownies please, especially if they're the special wagon non-queasy sort.

Diege, I remember that feeling, it was great when I went on mat leave in July and went round saying Merry Christmas to everyone (they all hated me anyway so I really didn't care if I pissed them off! )

LB, I hope things are better with DS tonight, how did it go at the Dr? I agree with Star, you're doing fantastically well, (I gave up BFing DD1 at 10 weeks because of reflux)

Sorky, I keep eyeing up the clothes and wishing I had a bump to put in them! Hope your feeding/sleeping DD2 is easier tonight.

Feeling much better today - had an awful day yesterday: headache all day which got so bad at teatime that I burst into tears, cue much concern from DD1 then I was sick for the first time this pg . Got a better night's sleep last night though, but my headache was still here this morning and my back/neck were very stiff, so DH spent half an hour massaging me and the headache vanished so have been feeling really good today, I even ate a proper (half-sized) tea - cottage pie, mmmmm

hi

got dd1s playhouse me and my mum put together

Ses so sorry you are having to go through this Diege's advise sounds very good!! Good luck for thursday its not that far away.. Baby cafe sounds great i wonder if we have one around here??

Well GP has refered me to paediatrician (sp?) as she feels that I really do need a different medication and also further tests to confirm it is reflux!! With regard to the poo she has sent a sample off for tests but she thinks it is linked to the amount he is sick and is due to DS not getting enough food. She has told me to feed as much as poss, which goes against the advise from dr at A&E who said feed less often....

Anyway DS is out for the count now and wont wake up till the early hours. How do you get your babies to wake for a late feed? Do you actually wake them? I was always told never to wake a sleeping baby!!!!

Thanks (again!) guys

Baby cafe is for mums to go and BF. Good for first time public bfing as everyone's in the same boat and also in early days good for advice and experience from others. Just a shame it's only 2hrs once a week!!

LB - you must be really frustrated. I guess at least your GP seems on your side and I hope you get some answers and improvement soon.