AUGUST 2010 - welcome to post-natal :o)

[CherryPie3]

I know I'm not around a great deal lately but we don't yet have a PN thread - so here we are.

Love to all xxx

:)

Morning everyone!

Well after yesterday's terrible morning and D taking an hour to get him down to sleep after his bottle last night, he's been very good today Community midwife is coming to pay her last visit this morning, then (if the rain stays off!) we're going out for a walk with my friend and her 3 month old.

D def a lot more settled now he's in the bigger cot and the daktarin cream is really helping with his nappy rash. Still coating on his tongue, though, and it still hurts a bit to feed him so haven't knocked thrush on the head yet. Ho hum. Still, not a bad day with him so far so can't complain!!

MoonUnit - I'm a crap night time parent too lol I can cope with a 5 min nappy change, a 15-20 minute feed and 10 mins to get him back to sleep again but if i'm up for more than half an hour or 40 mins in the middle of the night i get so grumpy!!!

DS's thrush nappy rash seems finally to be clearing! We've had thrush for almost 5 weeks now so it's about bloody time.

Am so envious of everyone's night-time feeding schedules! About all that is predictable about Elodie is that she will feed somewhere around 2am-3am and then again at 5am to 6am - but then that seems to have been pushed back to closer to 7am the past couple of nights (maybe the influence of a bottle of expressed breastmilk?) But we seem to have mammoth feeding sessions which can go anywhere from 8pm to 11pm or from 10pm to closer to 1am - not every night and not necessarily as long as that but it definitely seems to be her hungry time.

She is only a month today so maybe it's just a question of time. I am keen to introduce a nightly bath at the same time each night (we do it a 2/3 times a week at the mo) but quite often at what seems like a sensible time to bathe her, say 8pm-ish, she is either asleep or hungry. It seems counterproductive to wake her up to give her a bath. But quite often if I wait until she wakes up, it is more like 10pm which seems late for a bath. Any suggestions?

Also, Alice, you said a few days ago that you thought you were getting your period - I think mine has made an appearance too, which is unbelievably frustrating. The lochia had tailed off and I hadn't needed a pad for a few days then it seemed to come back at 4 weeks - but like yours it was fresh red blood and accompanied by period tummy pains. So unfair.

bellygazing - DS is only 3 weeks and he has a bit of a routine, never too early to give it a try! he sometimes wants to feed for hours but its mostly just for comfort i think because he likes to be warm and near to me but if i feed him til he's full and sleepy and then pass him over to his dad he's just as content to lie on his chest even though he's not getting fed so maybe you could try passing Elodie to someone else in the evening to give you a bit of a break? it might not work but worth a try!!

Anyone out there who is going through/has been through thrush: Dara's mouth seems like it's really annoying him, he still feeds fine and the coating on his tongue doesn't seem quite as bad but i really get the impression his mouth is hurting him. Anyone else think this? Any suggestions? Im also starting to wonder if there's any chance a 3 week old could be teething? The ridges in his mouth are rock hard and you can really see the teeth in his gums!!

I've got my period back too :(

I do wake DS for his bath - if he's sleeping around 7pm, I wake him up for a quick feed, dp runs his bath, bath at 7.30pm followed by some nappy free time, then feed again at 8pm. Then hopefully bed around 9.

i would love a better evening/night routine. ds sinmply will not sleep before 1/2am. we then get up about 9/10am. the crazy thing yesterday was that he barely slept all day, so had hopes of getting him to bed aat 7/8, but no. he only had about 8 hours sleep in total! then he eventually went to sleep at 1.30am, but woke at 3.30 and was up till 4.15, and then again at 6.30. luckily we weren't going out this morning.

evenings are still cluster-feeding central for us. he's already been feeding for nearly an hour, and this will probably go on, on and off, for the next 6-8 hours. it's tiring! and he's getting really quite fat! on the plus side, i am back in pre-pregnancy jeans today...

oh, he's just come off, and is asleep. might try to keep him up for a bit in the hopes i can put him down earlier.

woodlands not of the cluster feeds though, they sound horrendous but of the jeans...I'm in mine but I bulge out the top in the most horrific way and they're my pre-preg 'fat day' jeans, not my normal ones, I'm a looooooong way off them!
We have no routine at all, ever. Last night Sam was awake all afternoon and all evening til about half 9, today he was asleep at half 6 - who knows when he'll wake up for change/pjs/feed...he certainly likes to keep me guessing.

ime number of hours awake in the day bears no relation to night sleep at this age. bedtime routine never seemed to help either till about 6m. i bath daniel every night at about 6.30 then he feeds off and on all eve and doesn't seem to settle till around midnight then feeds twice between then and 8am. it just takes time, they'll get there!

moonunit i am terrible night time parent too, i dont know how i coped with the twins, i def couldn't do that again now! but with other kidsv to look after in day now i can't cope with being exhausted. which is why daniel is still in bed with me! i'm not against leaving babies to cry but only for 10mins and then only if it is a tired cry (a forceful whinge rather than full-on screaming!)

No routine here either. We tend to bath F around 8.30pm simply because it helps with the colic and he generally is asleep around 10pm but the rest of the time - who knows!

I had to buy myself jeans last week as no chance of even doing mine up yet. Had to get a size 14short feel like a weeble atm, there is no shape iyswim?

Saw the nurse today because of F's eye (bit gunky, not clearing up) and was talking to her about the colic. She suggested trying him with a bottle of ebm to see if he gulps down air then. He seemed less full of gas, but still had colic this evening. Going to carry on with one bottle a day though, mostly so he is happy to take a bottle when i am unable to feed him (like on sunday when i am hoping to take my horse out!)

I'm finding the same neenz re amount they sleep during the day bearing no relation to how much they sleep at night. I wish it would tonight though as he's hardly slept at all today! Our last few nights have been good though, only waking for one feed (long may it last).
Here's to a good night for everyone tonight x

Bellygazing my DS is exactly the same age as your LO and he has no set timings through the night either. Some nights he wants feeding ever 3 hours, some nights every 4 hours, one night he went 6 hours, I was awake listening for him, as I was worried about him not feeding for so long. Stupid really, I should have enjoyed the extra time in bed.

I have also started my period yesterday, DS a month old, so no rest for the wicked

My DS still suffering with colic, but the last 2 afternoons/evenings have been better since I have been feeding him in a more upright position. He seems to wind much easier now, which in turn lowers his tummy ache , which makes me a happier mum, cos I hate that sorrowful crying he does when he's in pain

Hope everyone is well and has a good day.
take care
xx

I had 9 months off my period last time, I'm really hoping the same goes this time, S doesn't feed as much as DD did though, at least he doesn't seem to...who knows!

dogwalker do you do tummy massage? it helps S with his reflux.

Speaking of which, I gave him Gaviscon 2 days ago and he's not pooed since :( It seems he can either have reflux but be able to poo or not have reflux but be blocked. It's not pleasant listening to him trying to squeeze it out bless him. He's asleep now so hoping he'll wake up with a huge dirty nappy!

I soooo want one of each how gorgeous are they? Shame DD's going to be potty trained soon...can I get away with the flowery one on Sam?

Ha ha after talking about D's routine we seem to have cocked it up last night lol

Gave him a bath about 8, then a feed about 8:15. He needed changed about 9:25 and then I fed him again and he went to sleep. I went to sleep at half 10 and told DH to give D his formula bottle when he woke up, which I was expecting to be about 11. He decided not to wake up til 2, tho, so I just b/f him again but he was v restless during the night and now he will only sleep on my chest this morning, all attempts at getting him into the cot for a sleep have failed miserably

So now I'm exhausted from last night, I have a pile of washing to do, huge funding application to work on and all I want to do is crawl into bed for an hour or two but if I did then D would wake up and scream the place down!! Oh well, win some, lose some! Going to try him in the baby bjorn again this afternoon and - if its successful - go for a stroll down the street with him in it, really hope it works, can't be bothered always having to take the buggy just for short walks...

Hi girls

Sorry I've been absent - we've had a load of visitors and I've just had no time to post. Been reading the thread nightly though to stay up-to-date

chulita those nappies are gorgeous! very tempted myself....

Feel a bit blue today. Not really sure why. I'm getting fed-up being so fat though (I also feel like a weeble alice)

Managed to go out on Sunday morning for my 1st run since falling pregnant - it felt so good to be out in the early sunshine ON MY OWN!! Didn't go far - just twice round the park. But I felt amazing after - felt good to feel those muscles ache!

But I've stuffed myself with cake and chocolate ever since, so not doing well on the healthy eating front.

Hey ho. Also have a velcro baby. Might have to just get up off my fat bum, pop him in he sling and get on with some jobs.

have a good day all!

I'm with both of you on the weeble front :( 5ft2 and I'm just squeezing into 12s but so flabby it's unreal. once we've moved I'm going to try and exercise, trouble bfing makes me soooo hungry!

Hmm, I was a size 14 before... some of my pre-pregnancy stuff fits (the more forgiving items) but I have a whole suitcase of clothes I put away which I haven't even looked at cos I know they will be traumatic. My tummy still looks like a rippling sea with volcanic stretchmarks erupting all over it.

Glad to hear that I'm not alone in the complete randomness of my schedule - I suspect mums with older children are just a lot more disciplined because they have to be. That said, we had a really good night last night with DD sleeping from after her 10pm feed until nearly 2am, then until 5.30am. Although like you, thedogwalker I couldn't quite believe that she was sleeping so woke sporadically in between those times - typical!

F is 7 weeks old now and we have a kind of routine, though we've only introduced a bath every night in the last couple of weeks - before that she was going in with one of us at daft o'clock in the evening, but now we bath her on her own using the bath support thingy usually between 6-7pm. She is ff so I give her part of her bottle before she goes in then the rest when she's changed and smelling lovely again - I must admit I fall in love with her again every night when she's changed for bed, and then again in the morning when she gives me some gorgeous smiles on waking up.

She goes down at about 7.30pm, then I give her a small feed at 10.30pm whilst she is asleep and she goes through till 3am. Our day then starts at about 6.30am, which makes for a really long day - I'm flagging by the time DH gets home so I have a little nap when he gets in otherwise I'd be in bed by 7.30pm myself!

She's still not great at taking a full feed in one sitting, but "this too shall pass", and we'll just have to put up with it until she's a bit bigger and the wind isn't such a problem.

I fully expect her to have breached the 11lb mark tomorrow when she gets weighed, she seems massive now, and I think we'll only get a couple more weeks out of her moses basket. I don't want to put her in her own room, but there's no room for the cot in our room - any suggestions for an interim solution?

My parents are having her this afternoon for a few hours while I pop into town for some retail therapy. All my pre-preg clothes fit, they're just not uber practical for my new mummy role, so I'm going to brave Primark for some stuff that I don't mind getting covered in sick/poop/wee (Felicity's, not mine...) Also need something for meal out with DH on Saturday night to celebrate our first wedding anniversary - our first night out since F was born

I can't believe how much she has grown, she's making different noises now, like she is trying to say something, when before it was crying, snorting/grunting or nothing.

Got my first pay packet at SMP this week - boo! On the plus side, we've actually been paid some Tax Credits which I wasn't expecting - £88 a month, better than nothing I supppose. Seems all a bit arse about face that when I'm back at work next year and actually earning money, we'll get more tax credits because I wasn't earning it this year, but when you could actually do with it in the year you're not earning, you don't get it

Sorry about the mahooosive post, but I don't get much chance to post these days (I do read everything though!)

Ok, 2 issues: cradle cap and constipation what do I do? S is constipated after 2 doses of gaviscon and he's really upset by it :(

sorry chulita, I have no experience of those. I've heard of prune juice being recommended for constipated babies but I'd be a bit unsure about giving it to such a little one. You know the bravado nursing bra you recommended ages ago? Is it comfy to sleep in? I'm not sure that my nursing bras fit quite right and they're not comfy enough to sleep in, but I'm getting fed up with having to carry my boobs when I get out of bed!

of Felicity's smiles dibby! Can't wait til J starts smiling at me (he does do some kind of smiles but I don't think they're 'real' ones yet)

marzipan - i have a bravado bra and i sleep in it all the time. seems like its designed by nasa - great cleavage, easy to undo, never any embarrassing leaks and comfy to sleep in. love it!!!

dibbydab DS is 3 weeks old, nearly 10lbs and has been sleeping in his cot for last few nights we've moved it into our room and have practically no space at all now but i feel like he's far too young to sleep in his own room. so i feel your dilemma!! could you or DH take turns at sleeping in the nursery for a while, if there's space in there for a mattress? or co-sleeping could be an option?

bellygazing my stretch marks are epic too - i look like i have tiger stripes in bright purpley pink! it's like raspberry ripple - does not help that i am milk white and they are very bright had some when i was a teenager tho and they did fade after a couple of months and now you can barely see them at all cos they're silvery white...

managed to get DS into sling and go for a walk today! only went round the block and he was wanting out by the time i got back but hopefully will build him up to staying in it for longer times. he went down in his cot for an hour or so earlier so i got a shower, got washing on and got some work done. now, predictably, he's wide awake and i was really hoping to catch up on half an hour's sleep before DH gets home. ho hum. babies!!

anyway, sorry for massive post - but for ladies out their who are FF or like me are mixing b/f with a nightly formula bottle...have any of you found that stage one milk just isn't cutting it? DS will drain a 120ml bottle of stage 1 and within 5 mins he's wanting fed again!! a couple of nights this week i tried stage 2 milk as an experiment and he drank it all, seemed satisfied after and went to sleep within half an hour. does 3 weeks seem to young for stage 2 milk??

Is stage 2 milk "hungry baby" milk? As I understand it, it doesn't have any extra calories it's just got something in it that makes in harder to digest, making them feel fuller for longer. 3 weeks is a big growth spurt, so your ds may just be genuinely ravenous at the moment and need the extra calories/nutrition? I know my ds had a couple of days on frantic, constant feeding at three weeks, but it passed (though we've hit another growth spurt at 6 weeks!).

I didn't get any stretchmarks all through pregnancy, was very pleased with myself. Then they suddenly appeared a couple of days before my due date I now have the lovely contrasting snow white skin and angry purple lines all round my belly button.

MoonUnit - Yes, hungry baby milk! It could just be a bit of a growth spurt, so I'll try him on the normal formula again tonight but it just seems a bit crazy to me that he can drink such a big bottle of it so quickly and then straight away be hungry for a feed again right afterwards And I was like you - no stretch marks during pregnancy until literally last 2 or 3 weeks and then I got loads!!