October 2019 cycle Buddies

[Pigeon84]

Hi all

There was already a thread for people cycling in October that i wanted to join but canny find it anywhere.

Im about to do my 6th (jeez) cycle of ICSI.
I already have a 4 year old DS from cycle number 4 and we decided we would try for a sibling.

Im currently just about to ovulate (getting the flashy smiley face on OPK) then i will start stimming on my next period at the start of October.

I had an awful cycle last November (my 5th) where i only got 2 mature eggs and non fertilised. This was because the wrong dose of drugs were given at the start of stimming.
So, with this slightly in the back of my mind, im still optimistic for a better cycle this time

Thanks @fool11 we had that name at the top of our list for a while, I was just a bit unsure as I have an acquaintance who has a daughter with that name but she's like 13 years old and I only see the person at work on occasion.

Hope it goes well with the independent midwife and they can get the tongue tie sorted, fingers crossed that gets things back on course for you. If not try not to be hard on yourself you have given it everything you can, like you say you want to be able to have time for your daughter as well and sometimes something has to give. Anyway it may end up not being a problem if the midwife can help sort it xx

Oh by the way, one been getting bad night sweats as well! Wake up saturated and then cold sometimes, hope that settles soon x

@fool11 @41trying how are you both?

Can't believe Erin is a month old today!
Gradually getting used to her habits but still find I'm a bit low in mood and tearful at times. Usually worse on the days where I've had less sleep!

@fool11 how is the feeding now?

Hi @LucyLucyT, glad to hear you are both doing well. I also can’t believe that he will be 1m tomorrow..last 4w are a blur. Heis very sweet, started to recognise his sister, smiles when she talks to him and gives him kisses, very cute. Still struggling with feeding...dint know if it’s me, latching etc.he just falls asleep after 4-6 min of eating..I spend more time trying to wake him up then him eating. Struggling with 20min on one breast like midwifes want..and got mastitis and Ben taking antibiotics which r not helping..not sure what else I can do...
My hormones t all over the place, I cried yesterday watching the tinker bell with my 5y old 😂.

Hope you are well @41trying.

Also he slept last night for 5h...I didn’t wake him up..do you know at what age we can stop waking them up for a feed?

Hi @Fool11 and @LucylucyT. Glad you are both doing OK. Sounds like breastfeeding is a little struggle right now. I am going to try and see how it goes, 24 weeks already time is going quickly for now. Returning off furlough next week, seems like forever to be fair.
Try to to beat yourself up about feeding, if you feel the need to bottle feed I would just do it. Keep in touch and hope it gets a little better

Wow 24 weeks already! That's gone so quickly, hope you've been keeping well so far. These last few months will go in no time.

@fool11 Sorry to hear the feeding is still difficult and you e had mastitis. I have been getting some stinging pain in the right side between feeds, was wondering if it was thrush but no obvious sign of it other than the pain. I think it might be getting slightly better so will see how I go.

Erin has had a few nights where she has gone just over 4 hours. I think it's around 6 weeks they start to go longer but I wouldn't worry too much as you are feeding regularly in the day. How is his weight doing now?

I also still get tearful at times, yesterday I was crying in the morning but today has been a bit better again, up and down!

Glad to hear yuh are well @41trying. Are you back at work?

How is the little one @LucyLucyT? I think he is going through a growth spurt, last few days were pretty chaotic. He was weighted last Saturday and gained weight which is good, I think he was 3.9kg..def got bigger as his 1m outfits are too small now and 0-3m which were too big they fit nicely now. But BF is still a struggle as he keeps falling asleep after few minutes..just can’t keep going like this as have no time for my daughter which is not fair on her. Thinking about replacing first morning feed and also evening 7-8pm feed with formula so my husband can fed him, just worried my boobs will stop producing milk..will see. Have my 6w review next week .

Hey @fool11 she is doing okay thanks. Think it's common between 4-6 weeks they have a growth spurt, Erin just had a few very unsettled days, wanting to feed all the time and hardly sleeping but she seems to have come out of it now.
We gave her a bottle of expressed milk for the first time today, she gulped it down a bit quick and I'll need to get more for her next time as I had to top her up from the breast afterwards, still I'm pleased she worked out the bottle okay, I bought the Lansinoh one as it's meant to be good for combi feeding. Just going to do it a few days a week so that in the future I can go back to an exercise class and my partner can feed her.

I think your plan sounds sensible, I really hope it works for you so things ease up a bit.

She still gets quite uncomfortable with wind, I hate seeing it but don't think they're us much that I can do.

We weighed her at home today (fairly confident about the accuracy of the scales) and she was 4.2kg so gaining weight nicely and following 25th centile perfectly which is good.

HV coming next week but we don't have check up until 8 weeks as they like to combine it with the immunisations.

6 weeks tomorrow so I can drive again and no more blood thinning injections, woohoo!

Glad to hear she is well. He is taking bottle as well as we were doing top ups , I think he prefers it as free flow, doesn’t have to work hard like during bf, we use Phillips Avent natural as that’s what o used for my first and didn’t want to buy lots of different bottles, so many different brands..we used for my first also dr browns as she was sucking so fast when using Phillips one, could finish bottle within a minute..she was like a little piranha.
How are you feeling? Recovered from your C section?
I went to a supermarket few days ago, first time in 6m, felt weird, didn’t even know which key was for a main door as haven’t been anywhere for so long..it was so nice to be able to buy what I want myself ..been eating so many chocolates which is not great just feel I need some quick energy to keep going..

Forgot to ask, do you use electric pump? which brand? I’m struggling with expressing, milk just doesn’t want to come out..once I managed to get nearly 50ml from one boob but been trying and although I know there is a milk just struggling to get it out with a breast pump.

And how long Dob you BF for? And do you offer both or just one breast per feed?

I feel like I am making a reasonable recovery from the c-section, as far as I can tell from the outside anyway and I don't get much in the way of pain. I still have some oedema on my abdomen where I have loose skin, wish it would go, I think it is, but very slowly, it's horrible!

I inherited older models of both a manual and electric Avent pump. I used the manual one yesterday but will give the electric one a go today.

I expressed twice yesterday and found the earlier session was much more productive so will try doing it more in the morning today. I only got about 65ml in total, think I need to get nearer to 100 for her though as she drank it so quickly... Might need to pace her a bit as well!

I feed her quite a lot of times each day when I looked at it, usually about 14 times 🙈 and the length varies but usually 15-20 mins. If when she finishes she's sleeping i don't offer the other side but if she's still quite active I'll offer both. She spits up quite a lot of milk in between feeds which is a shame, but she doesn't seem bothered by it at least.

I think electric ones are easier, I inherited mine from my sister, so not sure if it’s not as efficient coz not the latest technology but I think it’s my boobs..my sister had lots of milk, could feed few babies..
IBF my daughter 18times a day, on demand, as mw told me, it was a nightmare, she had a reflux, was spitting milk, lots of gas etc..few years later my mums friend who is a midwife told me that she was spitting and gassy etc coz I fed her too often, she said that her stomach didn’t have time to process the milk and I was topping it up all the time..not sure if it was the case but to be fair when I stopped bf and gave only bottle every 3h she was fine..
This time I’m offering both boobs during the feeds, so he eats about 8x a day, still sometimes spits the milk but mainly because he keeps falling asleep and doesn’t swallow the milk properly, I think. He usually doses off after 4-6min, so o have to keep waking him up, have to strip him to his nappy or change his nappy just to get him up and eat , first two weeks I didn’t wake him up and that’s why he wasnt gaining any weight, 4-6min feeding wasnt enough for him, I’m trying to push it to at least 15-20 min on one breast and another 5-10 on second, which he can do when not sleepy..that’s why it’s taking forever to feed him, I spend more time waking him up than he spends feeding..

I think 65ml with manual pump is brilliant, well done to you..I usually get about 20ml - leftover, after the feed, which I kept for the top ups, sometimes there is not enough so have to top up with the formula, which he actually doesn’t mind, I think because it’s heavier it makes him really sleepy in the evening , around 7pm and usually then he wakes up at 11.30pm/midnight for a feed, so I get few hours of sleep too.

Hi @LucyLucyT, how are you and the little one doing?

Hi @fool11 we're doing okay thanks. Still up and down with sleep and her reflux/poo symptoms!
Had GP review yesterday along with her immunisations. Her weight is not quite keeping up so got to have her weighed again in a couple of weeks with the health visitor. I suspect it is the reflux as she brings up quite a bit of milk each day.

She is mostly sleeping for about 5 hours for her first sleep at night, then takes a while to get her back down after that but then she usually goes for another 2 hours if I'm lucky. Sometimes I can't get her back down and so I take her downstairs so my partner can sleep.
She still won't sleep much at all in the day, I read they are meant to get about 14 hrs sleep at this age, I'm lucky if she has 9! I'm not sure what else to do, trying all the tricks but nothing works consistently. I often just have to put her down straight after a feed as that's when she falls asleep but then that's not good for the reflux. Round and round in circles!
How are things your end?

I know how you feel ..it’s not easy. My first had a reflux and she wasn’t a sleeper, would only sleep 30min..I fed her for 30, hold her up for 20-30 so milk stayEd in and she would sleep 30 min and then whole cycle started again..it was crazy.she was very small, at 3m she was still in newborn size but she was only 2.5kg when born and had jaundice too. She didn’t sleep for 3h at night till she was almost two years..it was awful.
He is completely different baby, and I’m not doing on demand feed, kind of every 3h I bf and I’m going to Do a bottle , formula in the evening soon, currently just mixing some breast milk and formula but want to stop expressing. He only sleeps 30min during the day, and only 2-3 naps, so not much, then goes down around 8/8.30 and wakes up around midnight for a feed, then usually 3h later for another feed. But he takes almost an hour to eat so by the time I finish one feed it’s almost time to go another one, I’m exhausted from constant feeding. He had jabs on Monday and temperature plus has a cold he got from his Sister so it’s a mad house. Had to hold him up pretty much all night as he couldn’t breathe, I haven’t slept for 3d, shattered, sorry, dint mean to moan,but it is hard. And have mastitis again.
Had him weighted today and he is 5kg.
Can you have a scan to confirm reflux? We had that with my daughter. They could also give her some medication? I used to put a couple off towels under her mattress so her head was slightly higher to keep the milk in which helped a bit. And when she started solids the reflux stopped. Or could u top up with formula? We had to do that from w2 as he wasn’t gaining any weight, did only 30ml during the day and it helped. We stopped after few weeks.

Oh goodness @fool11 sounds like you've had a very tough few days, I'm sorry to hear that and hope things are getting easier now. You are doing such a good job, remember that!

I think with the reflux the GP will want to establish if the weight is definitely an issue first. She's only had one weight so far where she's not really kept up. Health visitor is coming on 28th so we'll see how she is then. I've been trying to give an extra feed or two in the day as realised it might also be because she is generally sleeping more at night now so has had less feeds overall.

Like you say it's a constant job with them, I feed her, sometimes she comfort feeds so can be up to 45 mins, sit her up for 20 mins, then she often has a dirty nappy, so change her, then if she's in a happy mood will do some play time as such, then she gets hungry again, sleep doesn't seem a factor she's all that bothered by, but by the end of the day she is so grizzly, obviously overtired.
We went for a walk this evening, she normally falls asleep fairly quickly in the pram but even that is less reliable now, took about 30-45 minutes for her to sleep, 15 mins later we got home, she immediately woke up...argh!

He only sleeps 30min.m, would sleep on us much longer, if we held him but can’t hold him all day..took forever to fall asleep this evening. I get so jealous when I read some posts that baby slept for 3h during the day or from 9pm till 5am at night!😀. Wondering what I’m doing wrong..he is happy with his little power naps. Still has a cold so struggling to breath. But he is so cute, so sweet now as smiles when he sees us etc, very cute. We attached his cot to our brd, we removed one side bar panel so have so much more space and don’t have to worry having him in ouR bed. We don’t have snuzpod etc as no space for another thing.
He’s been eating since before mid Niight was just going to put him down and woke up screaming wanting more! It doesn’t stop..wondering if I’m gonna get any sleep tonight.

@fool11 us your little one over his cold now? How are you getting on?
Erin still doesn't sleep in the day, except in the sling, she won't even go off in the pram on a walk at the moment! She's not upset, just awake and wanted to look at things hehe.

@41trying how are you? How much longer now?

Hi @LucyLucyT, he is better, still a bit snotty, he wakes up a lot o think because of phlegm in his throat . Took him to gp yesterday so his chest is clear which is good. But def still snotty. He’s been funny yesterday all day and seems hungry, there is a growth spurt at 3m , he is 10w, maybe having it early. Still only sleeps for 30min, holding him as I’m typing so he can sleep for another 30, otherwise he will be grumpy and crying. He discovered his hands so keeps trying to put it all in his mouth .
How is Erin? Did she put on weight?

Haha it's funny Erin is quite similar! She keeps putting her hand in her mouth at the moment and sucking, even if she's just eaten. She generally has a short snooze after a feed or if we are rocking her in our arms but as soon as we attempt to put her in her Moses basket she wakes up again unless it's about 9pm when she generally falls asleep. Thank goodness she sleeps at night well for the most part.

She was weighed yesterday, she is gaining weight but not as quickly as they'd like. She hasn't dropped a full percentile yet but seems to be moving from 25th to 9th. Health visitor is coming again in two weeks and we'll see what's happening, if it looks like she's still dropping percentiles then she may have to see paediatrician. I'm sure it's the reflux, some days she brings up so much! I also wonder if the lack of sleep means she's using more energy, or it could be a food intolerance as she still gets green poo quite often.

It's funny, I'm short and stumpy, but so far she's proving long and slim!

We started a baby development group a couple of weeks ago, it's all socially distanced but it's nice to meet some other mums and babies. Are you getting to anything? I'd like to do swimming but I'm nervous and her runny poo and how it will be contained 🤣

He usually falls asleep around 8.30/9ish, then wakes up around 12-1am for feed, then between 3-4am , around 5.30 Am he starts waking up, well makes really loud grunting noises in his sleep which wakes him up unfortunately.
He is on 25 centile but I had to take 3_6m clothes out for him and they fit! ( but I did tumble dry them all so they shrunk a bit).
Hope she won’t go down on chart.we haven’t seen a HV since he was 2w old . I thought green pop is from the air they swallowed whilst eating or crying.
I had no time to go anywhere or meet anyone, mornings are busy to get my daughter to school, then it’s a feed time, then his nap, feeding again, then school run again, feeding, dinner, homeworks and night routine starts for him and his sister..during his 30min nap I try to eat or shower or put clothes to wash etc..I feel I just don’t have time for anything...( and I’m pretty organised person).

I really hope as time goes on it gets a bit easier for you, that sounds pretty relentless! You are doing a great job by the sounds of things though! It's so much harder at the moment as you can't easily have family around to help with some of the day to day stuff. How is your daughter getting on with him?

Erin has just outgrown up to one month size clothes, but I find it depends which shop they are from, some 0-3 month clothes are a tad small already too now.
I have to say I love sleepsuits, tends to be what I have her in most of the time
Dresses are cute but they are a pain as the ruck up when I'm holding her (which is a lot of the time!).

I'm very gradually picking up exercise again, been for two jogs (well walks with a few sections of jogging) but taking it slow as I think they say to wait until about 3 after C-section. I'm going back to the ante/postnatal Pilates class I was doing prior to lockdown tomorrow night, hopefully it goes okay!

Is he interacting well now?

Feeding again...
It is hard but we just have to get on with it..I’m very lucky my husband helps a lot , he makes dinner, cleans the house etc as I honestly wouldn’t be able to go it all. I really don’t know how can a single parent manage..

Yes clothes really differ, depends on chops. I didn’t buy much as he is wearing my dd clothes (she was in sleep in sleepsuits), so much easier and comfy..luckily we had lots of with animals, stripes, nothing pink so he can wear. Next, JL and marks are bigger, gap, Asda s as ms sainsburys I find quite small. I just bought few fleece sleepsuits. He seems be more comfy and sleeps better when cozy and warm. Girls dresses are cute but pain to deal with when feeding..shd didn’t wear any till she was 3 😬, she loves leggings and T-shirt’s .
He is very responsive now , gives us big smiles when he sees , so cute. Also ‘talks ‘ a lot. My dd absolutely adores him. Wants to help all the time, she is very proud, keeps telling everyone she has a cute baby brother 😄.