September babies!

[Bekki]

Hes soooooo gorgeous and hes all mine! I'm on such a high right now, don't know how long it'll last though.

I didn't have to be induced, I didn't even have to wait till my due date a healthy baby and no stitches! I'm ecstatic! The relief of it all being over is wonderful. Now I'm going to concentrate on remembering every last detail of his face before this stage passes away too.

Come on Cha and Ailsa!

Oh no Bekki, keep us posted on the little man, give him lots of hugs and kisses.
Don't feel bad about hating the others, now we've all admitted it, it can't mean we're all bad mummys just real ones.
((())))

Would you believe it, I took Alex into my gps on Saturday morning and she took one look at him and said that he was fine. She was however very concerned about me. She said that I didn't look very well and that I needed to be checked over. I told her that I felt fine but as I left the surgery I started feeling dizzy. This morning I was back there as I have mastitis. I've now got some scary looking antibiotics and an awful head ache but thanks to my gp I realised that something was wrong before it got too nasty. Alex has got some eye drops and is now back to his old self. I think it might have been the amount of tea I had been drinking lately which had caused him to be a bit grumpy.

Those Mothercare nursing bras are crap aren't they. I was told to measure myself when I was 38 weeks as that would be the size that I would be after pregnancy. Wrong! 5 weeks on I'm still waiting for my nursing bras to fit, I blame them for giving me mastitis. Although the sleeping bras are quite good.

Our house is in complete chaos at the moment so I don't know how you are coping with 3 children Emma, probably alot better than us I imagine. You wouldn't believe how hectic it is in the mornings as I try to get ds1 to playgroup.

Everything is becoming a little bit more normal now though. I don't find the need to stare lovingly at my baby for hours at a time. My dh has decided to join us back in our bed after 5 weeks of sleeping on the sofa. "Theres no point in us both losing sleep" he says with no hint of sympathy or guilt at being such an idiot. I can now look at my ds1 without trying to figure out what relative I can ship him off to. So everythings going back to relative normality.

Hope everone else is o.k we are a bit quiet here, I'm sure that there were more babies due than this in September.

I do go on a bit don't I?

Ohhh Bekki I do believe you about how hectic it is in the mornings. When DH went back to work I was up 3....yes 3 hours before school started and was still running about like a madwoman when it was time to leave the house. I've got it abit more sussed now but so far DS3 hasn't been screaming for a bottle at 8:45am so we've been lucky, I'm dreading it whan that happens.

I hope you're feeling better, your GP sounds excellent to see that you're unwell without you realising. I'm glad your DS2 is feeling better too.

I couldnt even imagine getting anywhere in the morning too early, Megan doesnt start nursery til 1pm thank god!

Bekki, your DH sounds like mine - I turned over in bed last night and he had EAR PLUGS in ggggggggrrrrrrrr - he said the same thing "no use us both being up"!!

Glad to hear Alex is doing much better and hope your mastitis clears up quickly.

Update from me - still breastfeeding although give the odd bottle of ebm or sometimes formula.

Im finding the uncertainty about feeding times a bit of a pain - when can I expect him to go longer between feeds and feed at predictable times?

What are your little ones doing at night time now? Harvey is still up at least 2 or 3 times in the middle of the night.

Upside is he is now smiling - bless its soo cute
PPH - where are you? been very quiet - how is miles doing?

becca
xxx

Hello mums, I finally get the chance to get back on here, don't know for how long though as dd2 is stirring in front of me.
Well midwife came and weighed the little one last Saturday and she's put on 90g so I must be doing something right, so we're discharged now and have seen the health visitor and all seems well.
This morning was the first morning that I had to get everyone up and ready for out together at 9am and what a kertuffle that was My dm has gone home, dh back to work so better get used to it now, just wish dd1 did afternoons, not mornings at pre-school
Hope Alex is a bit better Bekki and your mastitis too, those mothercare bras should come with a warning.
Smiling Beccaroll.....oh I can't wait for the first real one

Beccaroll- Alex is smiling too isn't it just the most adorable thing ever?! We are trying to get a photo of his cute little smile but the camera seems to scare him.

I wish I could get Alex to take a bottle. Ds1 is supposed to be going to a birthday party at the cinema on Saturday which I have to accompany him to as hes only three. But if Alex is still refusing the bottle then he will be experiencing his first cinema trip. I wonder if I'll have to pay for him.

Oh ladies I'm going to moan so please turn away now if you don't want to listen.
I'm EXHAUSTED, dh has been working from home almost every other day and only gets home to sleep if lucky. Meanwhile dd2 is being perfect, eats, sleeps no problems at all thank God.
It's simply that dd1 has soooo much energy and is quickly tiring of watching telly constantly, my eyes are hanging out of my head I NEED sleep.
Dd2 is going every 2-3 hrs but I have started expressing a little at the end of every feed so as to build up enough for one night feed st least. I know it's a little early for expressing (2 wks) also but I'm very close to handing dh a bottle of formula at nighttime.
All I can think is it's only 2pm and dh won't be back till tomorrow and I have to get through this day and get dd1 to pre-school tomorrow.
Aaargh there's no clean clothes, the house is a tip, the carpet crunches under foot and oh forgot to mention my mil is coming to stay next week (not a good thing, picture the queen of sheba on your couch for a week).
Sorry I just needed a moan

Angel, I do understand, even though I am bottle feeding Max is going every 2.5 hours. Little sod. He started off so well, every 4 but now - Constant. I can't starve him. In fact as I speak I am letting him have his first wailing session. He has been fed, cuddled, taken for walk, changed, burped and still won't bloody sleep. He doesn't cry though, just wriggles alot. I am worried that I am feeding him too much as when HV weighed him at 11 days he had gone from 6.4 at birth to 7.1. Extremely big weight gain for a newborn. DH is going back to work tomorrow and as he is working on the house this weekend no housework has been done. My scar is still fucking weeping like the maddonna statue is supposed to at Easter & Xmas. I have a headache and no bloody energy. The pristine nursery looks like a bombs hit it and the laundry basket is overflowing. Welcome to my world.

Angel, I do understand, even though I am bottle feeding Max is going every 2.5 hours. Little sod. He started off so well, every 4 but now - Constant. I can't starve him. In fact as I speak I am letting him have his first wailing session. He has been fed, cuddled, taken for walk, changed, burped and still won't bloody sleep. He doesn't cry though, just wriggles alot. I am worried that I am feeding him too much as when HV weighed him at 11 days he had gone from 6.4 at birth to 7.1. Extremely big weight gain for a newborn. DH is going back to work tomorrow and as he is working on the house this weekend no housework has been done. My scar is still fucking weeping like the maddonna statue is supposed to at Easter & Xmas. I have a headache and no bloody energy. The pristine nursery looks like a bombs hit it and the laundry basket is overflowing. Welcome to my world.

Oh wiltshire I know I jave a dd1 (stroppy 4yr old going on 14) to contend with but how is your scar poor thing.
I think I look like the waking dead, actually got the chance yesterday to grab a few hours extra sleep but was so tired I couldn't sleep, can you believe that ????

Wiltshire - how much do you give him???? It does sounds like a lot.... not all signs of movement/cry/wiggle is a sign of hunger though.

Tricky isn't it

I make up 4oz bottles but sometimes he only drinks 2.5 sometimes the whole lot. He lies awake for alot of the time. But when he shrieks I think it must be for food as his little mouth goes all funny and he sticks his tongue out. Soon as he gets the bottle he sucks like a madman. I have tried a dummy but it seems that Max has worked it out that there is no milk in in (even at 2wks 3 days). I have tried boiled water which makes him sick so I guessed there was nothing for it but to let him cry until at least 3 hours have passed. What do you reckon pu?

Angel, I do soooooo know how you feel. It really will get better, eventually. I thought I was going to go mad. Keep going. You'll get there. xxxxx

wiltshire - what teats are you using? Sometimes babies gat tired sucking at teats which make the milk flow too slow. Might need a fater one so that he gets all the milk he wants without fighting for it. Maws resolve teats (or types similar) are good because the baby dictates the flow.

Its taken 6 weeks of little sleep and a bout of mastitis but the novelty of my baby has worn a little thin. Alex won't take a bottle at all, it dosen't sound that big a deal but to put it in perspective I cannot leave my babys side for a moment as he still feeds every hour and a half to two hours. If I could have a minute away from baby and ds1 I might start to feel a little better but theres no chance. The help I was offered after the birth (which wasn't needed and so was refused) has gone to. This infection has really taken it out of me and I'm trying to find relatives to help but I think that they assume that I should be fine on my own now. I felt so confident in my abilities as a mum until last week and now the tiredness is taking its toll and I'm worried about ds1. He told me yesterday that he hated me because I couldn't/wouldn't play with him. I'm sure that this will get better once baby starts to sleep for a little longer but it seems a long way off.

Sorry I didn't intend to moan but Angelmothers post made me realise how much I am pretending to be cope. People are amazed about how clean our house is but they don't realise that I've ran around like mad trying to get it that way before they come. Ds1 has missed about 4 days of playgroup this term due to my laziness (its a 45 min walk each way).

Other moans (because no one else wants to know)-
Alexs newborn smell and downy hair has gone.
I'm still leaking everywhere! I feel more like a cow than a human every day.
My boobs hurt.
My bed sheet is covered in milk stains.
I'm fed up of wearing bras to bed.
People keep on asking me when I'm starting my courses and my driving lessons again, hes 6 weeks old leave me alone!
I want to get drunk but I can't - I'm breastfeeding.
Why do people think that you need less help with your second? There is no logic to that one.
I'm still fat.
I can't stop moaning even though I have a very beautiful and healthy baby.
I can't stop talking about myself and my baby, I'm soooo boring.

Thats it I feel better, I should have done that a while ago.

Mears whats that about the teats are they any good for breastfed babys? Would they fit in the normal Maws wide necked bottles. Sorry to butt in but I have begun to wonder if the newborn Maws teats were to slow for him which is why he might be refusing the bottle. Sorry about grammer, spelling, punctuation - I'm very tired.

Bekki - please believe me your baby will survive for 4 hours at least without you. I assisted a friend of mine (Jasper) by removing baby and not bringing him back for at least 4 hours where he survived on nothing. Just needed a bit of nursing through grizzly periods. Soon realsied no milk was a-coming. Have you got someone close who is confident with babies? You could leave expressed milk with them. If a baby is truly hungry they will take it. And have a drink - it will do no harm

I am sure Maws has wide necked teats too. If not, Tommy Tippee are good too.

Thanks Mears but I think I would feel a little guilty leaving someone with a baby with no way to comfort him.

I'll just try different teats, and as you said if hes hungry enough...

My relatives (bottle-feeders) are now trying to get me to stop breast-feeding altogether and I can't moan about it to them because they say that its all my fault, "if you just bottle fed from the beginning then you wouldn't be having these problems". I think they would be slightly horrified if they knew that I was planning to breast feed until he is a year old. Strange how they think of it as dirty and somehow unnatural.

Bekki - moan away
Well done for stickingto your guns!
As a postnatal doula (i.e. I help mums who have a 1 to 6 weeks old baby), I OFTEN come across your scenario but at some point mums needs/must leave for some sort of appointment and I totally agree with Mears, baby will either not be hungry OR I will cup feed it (a bit) just enough for baby to happy to wait until the breast comes back.
You could do that and leave for 2 hours if you feelm 4 is too long at first !

Wiltshire I know too little about teats to answer your question but if he is putting a LOT of weight on then he must eat a hell of a lot too ! I am not a world expert on bottles but I would have thought a bottle every 2 hours is quite a lot... considering how much heavier it is to digest than breast milk. You shouldn't let him cry either if you can avoid it. I read that you took him out in pram, do you walk around in the house with him in your arms ? This will (usually) sooth him. Babies crave for our attention and body contact he may feel that he gets loads of that when feeds so he wants to be fed all the time. I often recommend to mums to use a sling in the house as well as outside.
Just some thoughts.... hope this helps

Hi Bekki, In the first six weeks when I was having a "I just want to be alone" moment I would send ds and dh out with the front pack and let them walk while I went for a swim or had a lie in. Because they were out I didn't feel bad about not being with ds (not sure why, maybe because I wasn't leaving him, he was leaving me?)Because dh was walking ds would sleep for the hour he was out and about and therefore not be hungry. The times I did leave them together in the house was a disaster - ds just screamed and screamed. Funnily enough now I can more easily leave him (at 7.5 months) I don't want to, though I wouldn't mind dh reinstating the Sunday morning walks so I can have a lie in!

Well I've managed to drop dd1 to pre-school in the hope I'd be able to get dd2 to sleep and grab an hour myself, no luck, the little poppet has decided she's wide awake and is back thinking I'm a human dummy. I've just fed her and she spit most of it back up so now we're trying a dummy.
I must have seen every hour on the clock last night and a t 3am woke and I couldn't move, done my neck in again f**k.
I too can't believe people, they all congratulate you when you sucessfully breastfeed at first then after a week or so the questions start, how long are you going to do it for ???
I dread her not taking a bottle but am expressing small amounts in the hope that in a few days I might get a four hour stretch uninteruppted.
Oh here we go again, human dummy.
Did I mention I've got piles too
We all need a collective moan

Bekki and Angel sorry to hear your feeling a bit crap - Im not too bad at the moment but can SO relate to some of your moans - imparticularly the leeky boobs, milk stains etc, I dont know why but this reallllllllllllly pisses me off!

Harvey takes a bottle really well so I can escape every now and then - it is worth perservering with the bottles for the sheer relief that you can have a little rest from human dummyness! I think the variflow teats helped us - they can control the flow which is what they do at the breast, also he takes EBM much better than formula and likes to have it quite warm - could you try any of these things?

I suppose its not that bad. Ds1 is on half term for two weeks so thats one major thing that I don't have to worry about for a while. HV's been round, Alex is now 10lb 9oz! Is he catching up with Harvey yet? Hes now just under the middle line on the chart thingy.

Dummies are a great invention Angelmother I can't believe that you have waited so long to use one. If Alex has no problem with a dummy why won't he use a bottle?