Exhustion - how to survive?

[tryingtobemarrypoppins2]

Ds2 is now 5 weeks, BF throughout the night. DS1 is 2 and on the go all day.

I am starting to feel ill. Sore throat, aches and pains. How do I eat well with no time, how do you get through this ladies??

sleep when you are tired, do the absolute bare minimum round the house, don't be scared to ask for help, try and meal plan so you eat properly. It's still early days. It will get better, I promise.

Try and get someone to take one of them even for a short space of time to try and get some sleep/have a bath or something similar.

Go to bed really early (eg 7pm) even if you have to get up again two hours later.

make, or ask someone to make for you, a big batch of chilli or bolognaise, then freeze it in microwave or foil containers. Take one out each day and reheat it. Get microwave rice or just cook some pasta. You might get sick of mince, but at least you'll be eating one good meal a day.

For what it's worth, I'm due in 7 weeks and have a 2yr old, I'm dreading it but blocking the hard work side out of my mind as long as I can!

My friend expressed for the 11pm feed which her husband did. This meant she had a good stretch of 5-6 hours sleep before the 2am feed. Hope that's of some help. I have 8 weeks til dc2 due, with a very active ds1 (amost 2yrs) to look after. I can't say I'm too excited at the prospect .

I have no tips but just wanted to say that I remember this feeling too well! DD is now 13 weeks old (DS is nearly 2) and things are massively better now. So I guess, hold on to the thought that this really is a short phase.

I'm with you........I have a 24 month old and a 6 week old. My DH does one of the night feeds with formula and I bf the rest of the time. I really find it helps that I only have to feed once in the night. Also make sure you ask for help.......have you got family nearby who can entertain the toddler for a bit? My lovely mum drives for 2.5 hours each way once a week to help out for a day which makes a huge difference...... Or friends who can cook you some freezer food and help with housework etc? I'm just holding onto the idea (hopefully realistic!!) that it will get easier soon!

Thanks so much everyone. I don't think that it helps that I keep running out of time to eat and drink well. What can you grab for lunch thats quick and full of energy?
I have expressed today but only got 3oz so not sure DH is going to be able to do a night feed

Glad i'm not alone in feeling exhusted! thanks everyone

If you can afford it for a short time, stock up the freezer with M&S microwave frozen dinners. I can't promise you'll eat them still hot, but it can really help in those first few weeks, as well as available fruit. Don't forget cereal too. It doesn't matter whether you eat 3 regular meals or graze at this point, just get it down you.

You can always freeze what you express til you have what you think is 'enough' Also, I meant to say, invest in a slow cooker. You can prepare things for it the evening before or on the morning, and you can just forget about it, and have something nutritious in the evening for tea with minumum effort. If you make a double batch, you can freeze it as well and reheat another day.

Toast, bananas, micro rice pouches, eggs, tinned soup. Would your DH make you up a "packed lunch" or even a plate of sandwiches before leaving for work? Then you have something ready to grab.