May 2010: Final call for May babies - please exit the waiting lounge & head for the arrivals desk!

[cupcakefairy]

New thread to welcome some more new babies! Let's have a flurry this weekend please!

Hi everyone

Congratulations Yorky and Cupcake

One hand typing so will be short. Grace fed at 9pm, we went to bed at 9:30 and she slept till 3am and then again till 6am. DH then got up and let me lie in till 8am. Feel like a new woman, even managed some ironing.

DD1 been a nightmare, she's screaming for her dummy constantly which she did only have for bed. We're trying to be strict with her but it's tiring and feeling like giving in to her. She also refuses to play with me when I try to give her some time.

hello all!
congratulations to all the new mummies, some lovely names.
has anyone heard from homebirthmummy yet? hope all went well for her.

have had a quick skim read, so excuse the lack of personals.

regarding breastfeeding- i was told not to beat yourself up about it, just give it a try. with my son at first i used to say the end of the day...this carried on for the first 4 months...i finished breastfeeding him at nearly 3 years old(...and fell pregnant the next month!) i trained as a breastfeeding support worker as i found that there was lack of support in our area. i was told to express to increase supply, and have some stored in the freezer for when i need it, and if you are expressing try pump on one side baby on the other, as that way you get more milk as baby has already stimulated let down reflex. i also know mums who mix feeds to make life easier for them. i think you have to do what suits you, because stressing is not good!

ok sleeping- florence doesnt seem to have any pattern yet after going 4 hours at a time for a week, she likes to keep me on my toes and then start wanting every hour/ half hour/2 hours etc, but i dont think the reflux helps. however i did buy a new baby monitor yesterday so she will be sleeping in the cot for the first time tonight as come friday she is 4 weeks(where has that time gone!!!) so will see how it goes.

other than that has anyone establised routine? and wat do you do to entertain your baby? seems like i should be entertaining her now she is much more alert? i feel a bit lost to be honest, like her dad should want to be here and see all this, but he doesnt give a shit...although just to confuse me he texts to see how i am at least once a week. im sure it wil get easier once im back in a routine.
take care all
xx

sk all three of mine look like dh - don't know why I bother!

hollyoaks sorry re hassles with bug sis - much the same here but she's a wee bit better today so hope things will improve with all the jealous siblings

Molls rooting again - I've done some tidying and washing etc (kudos re ironing) and I'm shattered so off to bed to do a feed and maybe even a nap for Mummy! Am I meant to be this tired?

mollycuddles sk Samuel looks like DH too. Has my nose and eyebrows, but everything else is DH. Gorgeous tho!! Mollcuddles, I am knackered too, but seem to not be able to sleep. Even after Sam goes to sleep at night (eventually) I lie awake listening to him then have to check he is ok when I hear nothing. I do settle after the 2nd check though! Crazy mummy!

itshappened Fab info on feeding/expressing. Think I might start next week and bank some breastmilk in the freezer for later. no routine here but he will only be 3 weeks on thurs and I was in hosp and then on my back with spinal headache for almost 1st 2 weeks. I am slightly concerned that we are boring Sam at alert time, but we now have a bouncy chair with some stuff for him to look at, so hopefully that will do it for a while.

hollyoakes V impressed at the ironing!! I'm lucky to make it into a daily bath at the mo.

sweetkitty I agree that Jacob is gorgeous too from his facebook pics!

raquelwelsch Congrats on baby George. You sound very euphoric. Well done!

HV been today and bit of drama. Good news is Samuel has put on 8 oz. Yay. All that feeding had a purpose.

Bad news is that Samuel has a wee skin infection. I feel terrible! It started with a blister on the back of his knee that midwife said was just a rub mark. It hasn;t really healed. Cord stump was bit leaky one day, then crusted over, but that fell off and now looking quite raw. He has spot on his chin, I thought was from feeding and prob is a bit, but also one on his cheek that we thought he had scratched himself as did have a wee scrap too. Turns out it's Staph infection and we had to take him straight to docs. Have 2 antibiotics to rub on to areas and another to injest and they took swab of belly button. Trying really hard to not feel like it is my fault. We had pointed out knee to midwife and other stuff only showed on Saturday. I would have taken him to the docs yesterday, but we knew HV was coming today and thought they were explainable by other things. I did ask if it was because we hadn't kept him clean enough, but HV did say it prob came from his stump.

Poor wee tyke. He already had antibiotics in hosp for the Group B strep.

Oh! One more thing!

Remember my saga (I seem to have a few of those. Sorry I'm such a drama queen) about my job interview and I interviewed a week before my due date? Well i found out last night that I got one of the jobs!

I'm really chuffed. Not going back to work for quite a while, but go back to new position that I have been wanting to do for almost a year and a half.

I know there was a few doing exams etc right at the end, so fingers crossed for your results too!

Really glad i did it before I had baby as would not have been able now. They interviewed last week in the end. All the physical stuff aside, my brain it total jello!!

S xx

Congratulations Sassles on your new job! It makes all the grief you went through to get you interview sorted worthwhile, I bet . I've found out that the person transferred in to do my job whilst I'm on ML is being made redundant in November (as the role he was in originally is being got rid of) and my boss is being 'retained' until Dec of next year. My job is allegedly safe but if my boss' job is going then I'm not sure what this means for me in terms of promotion prospects and having a manager....

itshappenedagain there is absolutely no routine in this house . I've made a resolution that we will get out and do something each morning, so today I went to a new playgroup that I hadn't been to before and tomorrow morning is the monthly breastfeeding social/cafe thing that I will try. DD1 is vaguely back in to her routine but there is nothing very regular as far as DD2 is concerned - she just has to fit in with whatever else is going on. DD1 seems to be happier since I have been paying her more attention - she's only just started getting undivided attention from me again after being pretty much ignored for a couple of weeks...

sk I remember always being told with DD1 that she looked just like DH - the only thing she got from me was blue eyes. At least it means that he has no reason to ever doubt whether he's really her father ...

congratulations sassles! thats fab news about the job. its your karma after all you have been through recently...and yes im glad i did the exam before the baby...only a couple of weeks till i find out, but im not sure i passed heres hoping though!

Aren?t our babies sleeping well at night in the main! I am very impressed Sweetkitty and Hollyoaks with your one waking. Alex wakes twice and I thought that was good, he tends to go at 10pm (but went 730pm last night) and wakes 2 and 5 am ish. I live in hope as my friends DS did this until 5 weeks and then at 8 weeks he just decided to sleep through! In all serious my DD never slept between night feeds so its lovely to know and see it is (or can be) ?normal?.

We seem to have feed marathons in the morning, today 7am ? 1230 with only a total of an hours ?break? and then calmer/sleeping afternoons. Am sure he fights sleep though , he has had 2 hours this afternoon and I managed an hour (DD at nursery today).

Hollyoaks a dummy was only for my DD?s lunch nap but she has started to ask for it a lot and shes 2.4 (I know thats bad but now is not the time for me to deal with it!) I have tended to let her have it for the morning feed if DH is busy and we put cbeebies on, unfortunately I think she now thinks its a treat.
SK sounds like Jacob has really settled down for you

happenedagain I don?t really know what to do with Alex at alert time either, at the moment he demands to feed whenever awake, it sounds awful but when he wakes and DD is around, I tend to think ?oh no not again?, bless him. I think they are a bit little to do a lot when awake. He has a play mat which I have put him on but again he seemed too little and a bit lost, so instead I wear him a sling or just carry him around with me.

Sassles well done on the job!! Especially getting it pregnant!

How are people finding out re breastfeeding cafes? I would like to go but google didn?t show any around here.

itshappened again no routine yet here but quite keen to get one in another month or so, just so I can arrange what time to be driving/get to places etc. At the moment I can have fed for a solid good hour, get in the car to go out but DS scream for more food so I daren?t set off! I am laughing at myself as pregnant I said that I would be a bit stricter second time around but I cant bear to hear hm cry so I just feed him, and cancel plans. Am giving him until 8 weeks old and then I want a pattern

Pamelat - glad you're feeling more positive now

Sassles - Congrats on job, chuffed for you Sorry samuel has a skin infection

its happened - no routine here yet, slowly trying to bath at night and put him i cot after his feed but he wont settle, trying to persevere and see what happens. Sorry your not getting the support from LO's dad

oh my god somebody help! Lillia has been very unsettled since Thursday but today she has cried nonstop most of day and continued crying since 4 pm. Ive fed her changed her, winded her. She just wont settle at all. Even a long walk at this time of night....I just dont know what to do.

mustbemad sorry to hear you're having a hard time with Lillia. When Alice is upset in the evenings the only thing that settles her is letting her suck on my little finger but other than that I don't really have anything else practical to offer...just didn't want your post going unanswered...

carikube - thankyou and congratulations enjoyed your birth story. i finally have her asleep in my arms after feeding on boob again and again. omg what a hideous day, im off to bed carefully i need to sleep incase she crys all night.

Cupcake- Congratulations! Lovely story
The last bit is simliar to my labour with Lucy. Given a spinal and taken theatre for vontouse. Lucy came out "Stargazing" as the MW said.

SK- glad you and Jacob both like the Moby sling. I was put off by all that complicated wrapping and tying but i guess its just getting the hang of it. My babasling came today.Had a little go with it todayand seems ok but will take Lucy out in it tomorow for a proper test run.
Lucy is looking more and more like DH. Suppose its only fair as DD1 is a mini me!!

Yorky- Congratulations Glad you got your homebirth

Sassles- Know what you mean about reading your notes. It wasnt till being pregnant with Lucy that i found out that DD1 was back to back!
Hope Samuels infection clears soon.
Well done you on the job!!

Hollyoaks- Sorry DD is being trying.

Mustbemad- Sorry to hear Lillia is unsettled today. A drive in the car used to get DD1 off everytime. Glad shes asleep now... fingers crossed it lasts.

Well I survived my first day alone yesterday. We even managed a trip to Next for DD1's new sandals.
Today we managed toddler group too.
Off to register Lucy's birth tomorrow so she can be official

Off to bed now...DH is playing with his new toy ipad so will leave him to it

Looking forward to hearing from Homebirthmummy

Hi mustbemad - had a day like that on Saturday - think Molls was just super hungry - my supply has upped as a result of the constant feeding and we've had a few good days. I would also go with little finger as pacifier and white noise - I got an iPhone app for 59p but having the Hoover switched on apparently works too. Hope you manage to sleep

Morning, Grace was weighed yesterday and has put on 5oz and gone to 6lb9oz, nearly back to birthweight. Unfortunately we also got signed off by our lovely community mw who has looked after me all the way through both of my pg's. As this is probably our last lo it was quite sad saying goodbye and ends those very early few days when you have that outside support coming in.

Itshappenedagain - no routine here yet, thought we had established a difference between night and day by keeping her in her chair during the day and moses basket at night, changing her clothes for a babygro and bf lying down at night, but after two fairly successful nights we had the night from hell and didn't really sleep until 4am when Grace came in with us.

Sassles - that Samuel has a skin infection, but don't blame yourself, your not a hcp, though you wouldn't be a mother if you didn't feel guilty and/or worried most of the time. Congratulations on the job though , well done.

Pamelat - we rely heavily on cbeebies here too. I wouldn't mind dd1 having the dummy that much if she didn't dribble with it so much. She literally soaks through tops in an hour. We're able to get it off her most days but its the constant asking for it back all day that's hard.

Mustbemad - hope you got some sleep, I know how you feel after night from hell

Pigley - well done on surviving alone, we are attempting mil's today and then breastfeeding cafe tomorrow

Question - for those of you with lo's born with the cord around the neck, did you have high bp before labour? DD1 had the cord around her neck twice and I had three weeks of unexplained high bp, just wondering.

Morning!

Alice didn't wake until 5.30am today so although I'm still generally tired, I'm not nearly as wiped out as I could be. DH also commented yesterday on how she is turning in to a baby rather than a newborn iyswim as her head no longer has that elongated newborn shape and she's definitely getting bigger.

Re slings I bought the SaBe one that someone here recommended and I love it especially compared to what I had before (I had a Baby Bjorn type one with DD1). I also managed to go o ut yesterday using the double buggy and it wasn't as hard as I expected getting it in and out of the car. We're off to the breastfeeding cafe this morning which I've never been to before.

DD1 has taken to hitting DD2 over the head; I@m trying not to stop her touching DD2 altogether as I want them to get used to each other but so far this morning she's used a coaster and a plastic sweet tub to clonk on her head. Apart from saying no all the time, anyone got any ideas on how to get the word 'gently' in to her head?

Hi everyone

pamelat yes I have only ever been told that expressing increases your supply but that the amount you express is not indicative of how much milk you are giving the baby as the baby is more efficient at getting the milk out.
I sometimes go to our breastfeeding group at the doctors clinic.

Molly I agree, I dont think you can spoil babies either. I do worry if the baby will form a preference for things like sleeping with Mum/being carried instead of a pram/needing boob to get them to sleep etc. Not that any of that is "wrong" but it might not suit everyones lifestyles. I am carrying DD2 most of the time when we are out instead of her being in a pram and I love it so much but I am concerned that she will not like being in the pram when I need to put her in it!

SK sorry to hear about the situation with your DP's job. I hope he finds out soon and I hope its good news.
DD2 also has bad acne but in saying that today she has woken up a bit clearer. THe HV said it will come and go and then settle down. She has similar feeding patterns to your DS, almost cluster feeds after waking up in the morning then goes down for a nap in the pram or car seat or bed depending on what we are doing and that is her til lunchtime.

Sassles dont feel bad for your wee ones skin infection, I am sure it was nothing that you have done. I wonder if probiotics go through to breastmilk, worth a shot anyway - try and have a banana and natural probiotic yoghurt everyday to give him a wee boost as well.
Brilliant news about your job, well done

Is anyone taking vitamins still? I bought the pregnacare ones for breastfeeding yesterday but at £15 for a small box I am not sure if they are worth it?

My weight is really starting to get me down, I have put on another pound! Anyone got any tips on how to reach for healthier things instead of quick fix biscuits/cakes?! I must get out with the pram more but this drab weather is making me use the car constantly.

DD2 was weighed yesterday and is now 10lbs so thats her putting on about 7oz a week which I am happy about, that was her signed off by the HV so that means no more waiting in on her to visit once a week hooray! We dont have our 6wk check at the Doctors for another 3 weeks though.

mustbemad hope your wee one had a settled night, how old is she now>? Could it be a growth spurt?

Hi all. Unsettled night with Molls - another growth spurt day. I remember dd1 having these every 3 days or so at this stage so it probably is normal but it's not easy. Was very grumpy yesterday evening at the prospect of a disturbed night but coped ok with it when it came. Last night our blardy smoke alarm started beeping due to low battery at 2am and it took ages for dh to find a spare and stop it chirruping. So he's exhausted too this am. I was feeding Molls anyway so although it was annoying it didn't really effect me.

Re slings and prams I used the sling in newborn days with dd1 but when she was more interested in what was going on she loved her pram so I wouldn't worry. Sleeping in cot as opposed to with Mummy might be a more difficult habit to break though. Dd1 still comes in at about 5 now. She's really excited about the school fête on Friday because I've agreed/been nagged into going and bringing Molls so she can show her off to all her friends. I'm supposed to be sorting through some books for the nearly new stall. Dd1 wants to give away all the ones she's finished with but a lot of them will be needed for Molls in a few years. We're book mad here but it can be expensive - I'm hoping to pick up a few bargains myself at the stall. There will also be a chocolate fountain with strawberry and marshmallow kebabs - I reckon that will be particularly good breast feeding food.

Re weight - I usually lose weight with breast feeding and so far, so good. I find yoghurts or crackers with cheese a good snack when ravenous. Also I drink loads of water as sometimes my body mistakes thirst for hunger.

I have been discharged by mw too but helth visitor is planning to come back in a few more weeks. I had PND with ds so she's wanting to keep an eye. I am quite anxious and bluesy at times but was like that with dd1 until 6 to 8 weeks and didn't end up depressed so fingers crossed. In many ways I have it easy at the moment as dh here all the time (still not actively looking for work but pretty well at the moment) and he's doing the cooking and the school runs and the other kids are older and at school/fairly self sufficient but I am worried about the future with dh's health and my work especially with the big public sector cuts pending. I have a meeting I really should go to next Wednesday and I will get paid for my time but just want to be a Mummy right now and if Molls had a feeding frenzy day it would be a nightmare being there.

Anyway, enough moaning. Better get up and showered as my parents coming out soon to see Molls and really want to take her out for a walk today as in danger of going stair crazy.

hello all, bad night woke 1am and fed every 20 mins or so until gone 5am, very tired (me) but alex not had nap yet. fed from 740am - 1130am too. worried no milk so gave 60ml formula to test if he ungry, gulped it down but within mins was sick all over me (!) poor mite, was this because he wasnt really hungry or because he didnt expect formula? he breast fed immediately after and hasnt been sick, am just very very tired.

hello all!

pamelat im with you on the bad night! i wouldnt worry about him throwing up the formula, probably gulped it down too fast.

i had a bad night too, florence screemed from about 830 last night untill this morning. no amount of shushing or pacing could console her and then she wanted to feed all night but screemed again when she fell asleep and boob came out of her mouth...think it was more for confort...inbetween that she kept throwing up what feed she had taken...all in all the worst night so far.

this morning wasnt much better as DS was really wingy and winey, he has a cold after having his injections and was also woken in the night a few times, so not a happy bunch this morning...however all is ok after we are dressed and ready and Ds is at nursery till 3 so i have a bit of time to catch up on housework and make tea...florence is watching me from the sofa with the occasional cry for a cuddle.

anyway ladies sorry for the rant and post all about me...but knowing im not the only one sometimes makes things seem much better.

Thanks for all the well wishes on my job news. Really chuffed.

Had good night finally last night. Fed at 1am, 3.30, 6.30 then 9. Every 3 hours is much better than it has been. He also fed for 30 mins then fell back asleep and that really made a difference. Felt I had good sleep in between each feed.

mustbemad Samuel had 8 hours like that. Very tiring. I had to get DH to take him to another room to give me a break. Very difficult to keep sane when no end in sight. Don't know how I'll cope if it happens when DH is back at work and I can't wake him. Think the good news is that it doesn't last and prob wee growth spurt. Sam went v unsettled and not wanting anything, next day crying unless constantly feeding, then feeding every 2 hours, now feeding every 3-3 1/2 hours. Seems like a wee pattern.

pigelychez Crazy what they don't tell you eh? Well done on the first day alone and getting out and about too! V impressed.

mollycuddles LOL to the white noise iphone app. There is one for everything! 59p seems v reasonable esp if you need it when out and about!

hollyoakes Sam's cord was round him, but not sure at which stage it happened. He was swinging about in there up till the birth. My blood pressure was textbook the whole pregnancy, but was soaring during labour when the cord thing happened, so may be linked?

carikube Sounds like a lovely snooze. Glad you got a bit of catch up sleep. This is my first so no advice on the "gently" issue i'm afraid.

brightred good idea on the probiotic, but unfortunately hate yogurt. Will give it a try tho! I lost loads of weight initially, but pretty sure i've put on a ton sitting eating biscuits. I discovered Oreos too scared to weigh again!

pamelat Poor u. That was a marathon session. Latest I've been up with no sleep feeding is till 3 and thought I was going to lose my mind at that stage. Not sure about the formula.

Antibiotic creme fine, but have oral stuff and impossible. Have a syringe and to give 4mls 3 times a day! That is tons! It takes on bitter lemon and Sam not enjoying. Spits it back out. Don't blame him poor thing. Tried putting tiny amount in cheek so can't spit it out, but he works up syliva and then spits it out. He then dry heaves. Not nice at all. No idea how to get him to swallow it. Have to do it on empty tum or hour after feeding. Ha! If I get an hour! Don't think it is suitable for newborns at all. Any advice?

Cross post itshappened That sounds like a truley terriblenight. Well done for getting through it. Hope it means she will be lovely and tired tonight and may settle?

Hollyoaks- Glad Grace is putting on weight nicely.

Carikube- Not really sure what to suggest. DD is older is so has picked up "gently" really well. Does she has a dolly that you could model gently on?

BRB- Sorry your feeling down about your weight. Ive actually found myself eating better since DH has returned to work. Hes terrible for buying naughties!

Pamlet,mollycuddles and happenedagain- Sorry you had a bad night. We had a bad one too... Well not too bad but Lucy was awake between 2 and 5.30. Not unsettled but just wide awake and wanting to be held. [yawn]

Sassles- Maybe ask if theres an alternative you could have for Sam if your struggling to get it down him?

Went to register Lucy's birth today so shes now official

Congrats to cupcake, booboo, ali, mogg and Yorky, and anyone else I've missed! We're filling up nicely now!

Quick update - stiches feeling much much better now. ML - was it you who said they would feel better after 10 days or so? Everythings turned into a bit of a blur.

Darcey is two weeks old today! I can't believe how quickly that's gone. She was back to birth weight on Monday, and the community midwife signed us over to HV. She's exclusively BF, so I was so proud of her regaining all that weight so quickly, although if she carries on like this she's going to be huge!! Her newborn size clothes still seem quite big on though, so we'll see how that goes.

Itshappened - your night sounds awful. I thought we had a bad one last night too, but we were let off lightly in comparison. She fed constantly from 11 til 3.30am, when she finally fell asleep with DH swaying her from side to side. Wouldn't settle in her bed until then - everytime I put her down she woke up wanting feeding again. She's sleeping like a good un today to make up for it though

Pigley - it's our first day on our own today. Although it's just me and Darcey so I think it's more manageable than having a toddler to entertain as well

Yorky - glad you got the home birth you wanted. Great name too!

Quick Q - TMI ALERT - my bleeding has slowed down a lot in the last couple of days and is starting to turn browner, but it's starting to smell a bit pongy down there, like a metallic, rusty smell. Is that normal, or should I get it checked out?

We also had a bad night! DS fed at 11:30, 2:45 and again at 4:45 - each feed took nearly an hour and he really wasn't for going back to sleep! Very tired today as DD woke up at 7, just as DS was drifting back off to sleep for two hours!!

Has anyone had any experiences of grunting newborns? DS grunts (as if he is clearing his throat) and strains a lot in his sleep - almost as though he is filling his nappy but there isn't anyhting there. Does't seem upset but i'm worried he will hurt himself!

DD being a little bit of a nightmare at the moment - doing the complete opposite of what i tell her to do or tell her not to do! If DS has a blanket on him she takes it off or throws (literally) one on him if he hasn't got one on. She makes as much noise as possible when he sleeps!

We've put our house up for sale this week (who else was it selling theirs?) and rganised DS Christening! Been busy!