[sad]..I've been on cloud 9 until today....i feel like i've slipped to cloud 3 or 4......[sad]

[LadyTophamHatt]

bugger!

Oh why, what's wrong? Is the expressing a problem? If it is, do remember all that fabulous colostrum he'll have had.

oh why, lth? has an HV been vile?

I don't know really.
I'm still expressing but there really aren't enough hours in the day atm (surprise surprise!!) I've tried latching him on but it's not working mainly because he's just sooooo hungry all the time, he's 9 days old and drinking 6x 4 ounces of formula + 2 or 3 bottles of EBM.
I plug myself into the pump as often as i can but it seems to be getting less rather than more....

DH went back to work today (hoo-rah!!), my 1st school run with all 4, it was all going sooooo well until 10 mintues before we were due to leave DS3 says he feels sick and then throws up, luckily I ran to get the bowl so at least I didn't have to clean it up but still....

I feel like i've been pulled in all directions today.

Sympathy LTH. It is hormones and getting used to having 4.

lth just succumb
i feel for you i really do but it will get better.....how old is ds3

LTH I only have 3 but I find that the school run in the morning is always awful and very stressful. I would love to have a helper just for that part of the day, I really would.

So sympathies - don't know what else to say really.

ds3 is 3

i found that gap a bit hard tbh as ds3 had been my baby and was a bit wilful
please feel free to cat me as i have 4 boys and know about it x

i think my milk is drying up because i can't do it often enough. i tried again to latch him on but didn't work again.

still in ds3 and I still in pjs now, i'm plugged in to the pump and have to leave for school in 40 minutes.

i need another 6 hours in the day....

(btw i knew it was going to be like this to start with, i'm just sounding off)

Hi LTH,

Sorry to hear you are having a bad day. Are there any practical things you can do in the short term to give you a bit more time?

e.g. enlist a friend (IIRC you dont have family nearby) or even pay somebody to do the school run for you for a few weeks. Even if it's only one way - it would make a huge difference to you, both ways would be the ultimate.

Is your DS3 in nursery or still at home? If not, perhaps you could enrol him in nursery a few mornings a week - not that this is a "quick win".

You are doing such a good job with DS4's feeding, it would seem a shame to let it go now but keep in mind that you are only human and that there are only 24 hours in a day.

Tomorrow is another day

Message withdrawn

ds3 goes to nursery one morning a week until april, that all the space the had. he's still settling in so i /dh has to stay atm.

ds4 gets every bit of ebm i can produce which is about6-8 ounces per day. collected over the whole day.

better go and get dressed.....

Agree with Pruni here. I think I posted this on your expressing thread - but I expressed, due to unwillingness/inability to latch, for 7 weeks (until my milk dried up).

Even with dd being my only child the time it took got me down - dd had to be fed every 3 hours due to size (and you must be feeding about that due to him being hungry) and with expressing for 30-40 mins, a feed that took an hour, washing and sterilising I found it soul destroying to be honest.

And I didn't have to do a school run with 3 others (or anything else that having 3 others entails).

What you've done so far with the expressing is fantastic - well done.

You are doing great LTH. Think about the possibility of a school run helper. Not sure how you would arrange it but it would mean you could stay in your PJ's in the morning. Doesn't have to be everyday and not forever, might be a good investment in your mental wellbeing

HTH

Well done for doing what you are doing. Are you having rnough fluids ?
Ds1 was in special care when he was born and trying to breast feed and express every four hours was really hard and tiring.
I hope things get easier for you.
The school run is a nightmare at the best of times.

Meant to say 6 to 8 oz is excellent for EBM,well done you.

lth I had to express for ds,it's a logistical nightmare ,you are doing so well if you're manging a school run and 3 other children aswell!!
A school run assistant ,what a fab business idea.Hiring out people to take your dc's to school.I can smell my first million

hoo-rah!! got them to school in time and i even got a 40 second shower, hair brush and teeth clean too.

just 10,000,000,000 other things to do now

I expressed for 3m - the most miserable time of my life. Then he latched on!

Sometimes i think that if i had just caved in and given formula, he might not have been quite so healthy, but our relationship would have been better and I might have had at least one happy memory of his early babyhood.

But just in case, have you tried the nipple shield things? Also, my 'lactation consultant' (this was in the US) produced something called a periodontal syringe - like a medical syringe but it finishes in a short, curved, plastic tube (meant for cleaning gum crevices, i think). This I was able to fill with EBM, slide into the corner of DS's mouth while he was latched on but not sucking, and give him a squirt of milk as encouragement. It was this that did the trick - he soon got the message that nipple = milk and started to suck properly.

Just be sure to do the squirting at slightly irregular intervals or he'll just learn to take it for granted and wait for it. Good luck!

I had trouble with latching on (ds, not me!) and used those plastic nipple things and they saved me! You have probably tried them, but just wanted to say well done too.