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

:)

bellygazing - it was at the odeon:
www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/newbies/

if you feel good then i think go dancing!! mind you i do find being on my feet for ages like if i go for a long walk or if im wearing heels...which i've prob done all of twice... then my episiotomy stitches atill feel pretty sore so don't push yourself too hard

Vita, how lovely to hear you're so happy and doing so well. I find it hard-going sometimes with 3DCs so hats off you with 4! 10lb 14oz - wow, Daniel was 11lb yesterday at 7wo!

Took Daniel into Liverpool today to meet DH for lunch. Left the DTs with their grandma. It was so nice to be without them . It makes you realise what hard work it is but when I am actually with them all I enjoy it, haven;t got time to think about it really!

MrsZac, been thinking about your posts about Nieve's crying - do you think she could be over-tired and over-stimulated? What does she do when she wakes in the morning? Is she content for 30-45 mins and then start crying? If she is settled for a bit it might be worth trying to put her down for a sleep (in a very dark room if poss) at the first sign of whinginess even if it is only 30mins after waking for the day, see if you can just catch her sleepiness before she gets overtired?

How long do growth spurts last? [help!] Joel is a feeding machine at the moment, and has also decided he's not interested in sleeping in the daytime anymore. I just want a little break...please?

hello all, sorry haven't been on much. massive sympathies to all those with bfing prolems. do try to see a counsellor if you can.

we're doing well, j is very happy at the moment - he lies on the floor or in his bouncy chair kicking his legs and giggling for ages. he has learnt how to make a happy noise and it seems to amuse him for ages! we still have endless cluster-feeding evening but i'm hoping it will ease sometime around 3 months - can but hope. now we're out of the hell that is the early days (he's 10.5 weeks) i'm trying not to wish time away, as it's lovely having a snuggly baby and i'm beginning to realise how fast it will go.

it does get easier, promise!

hi people, little question about poo!
J has not done a poo for more than 36 hours. I know bfed babies can go for days without pooing but this is a sudden change from his normal 6-8ish poos per day. He's been feeding loads and had plenty of wet nappies and farting a fair bit too. Should I be worried?

Glad things are going well woodlands, the giggling sounds gorgeous!

Marzi, Daniel has just recently gone from pooing every nappy to pooing once a day or so, so I wouldn't worry at all, but be prepared for a poonami when it does come

For the sleep thing, I really think you need to 'catch' them when they are getting sleepy (about 1-2hrs after they last woke - Daniel needs to go back down within about 45mins of getting up in the morn). Get him into a dark room, maybe feed him to sleep (or not if he doesn't need it) and then put him down in his cot. All 3 of my kids have responded to this technique. If Daniel is left in the daylight all day he gets overtired cos he doesn't nap well at all. If I get him into his room as soon as he starts yawning/whinging he will go to sleep (sometimes cries for 10 mins first tho but that's OK - wouldn't leave him much longer than that tho, would prob feed him then to see if that sent him off) HTH

marzipan we were just discussing illnesses/symptoms etc at my postnatal group today. If everything else is normal and he seems well, I would give it a bit longer. if it goes on for another couple of days, or you notice anything else unusual like not feeding properly, no wet nappies or he seems unwell, then I would seek advice from HV or GP.

Quiet on here today...

Apologies, am crap virtual friend in terms of posts...been reading as we go though. It seems every issue I have pops up on here sooner or later anyway & it's good to see the developments of those a few weeks ahead of us.

marzi we had a poo transition last weekend...5-6 per day to nothing at all for 48 hrs then returned to 2-3 per day. It coincided with a growth spurt, feeding frenzy & a fair bit of crying & straining...we gave him some cooled boiled water & that seemed to unblock him & make him happier.

pample going back a few weeks here but my dad hasn't acknowledged A being born either even though he definitely knows he's here. I don't want a relationship with him (long story..) though my sister gets on with him but I did phone him & let him know I was pregnant. Since then, I haven't heard a peep which is galling when I know how much he contributes to my sister's kids. I guess there's nothing like having kids to make you focus on your own relationship with your parents & it can be upsetting at times to realise that there's a difference in expectations. Don't underestimate how much mental energy you might have been using up obsessing about your dad's behaviour...if you are feeling on the verge of pnd anyway, I can thoroughly recommend a bit of counselling...i have a very sad & complex family history & I finally went for a few sessions a few years ago & found it worked wonders for me.

All going well/ish here though I have moments of being a moon man. I missed A's 6 week check at the docs yesterday (I was convinced it was today - much grovelling required) & ended up going to Glasgow yesterday wearing my crocs with my tight jeans/maxmara mac french maman combo (I took A to car, came back inside to slip on a pair of French Sole pumps & just forgot to change).

I hesitate to say that we're slowly finding a natural routine that seems to work for us (that's that buffered now) but bf is going well despite still using the nipple shields (a gained 13oz this week but is still only 9lb6oz at 6 wks, interesting that the shields are linked to poor weight gain) but he's just not interested in my boobs without it.

We're sleeping well too at night, from 12.30ish through to a quick feed at 5.30 then a bigger feed at 8.30am ish then back to sleep. This weekend we're dismantling the cot & rebuilding it in our room in an attempt to get him sleeping by himself (most mornings I wake with a limpet so not v safe) but who knows if it'll work.

Would love to tell you all about his smiles but I need to feed...gotta go but will try & finish later x

good to hear things are going well in hectorland though sorry about your dad :(
Sounds like we have a similar poo story to yours - he's just done one nearly 48 hours after the last. I'll be happy if he goes to 2-3 per day now. Interesting that the poo strike coincided with a growth spurt isn't it? Not what you'd expect.

morning all haven't posted in ages so busy.

Hope everyone is keeping well.
Tilly is almost ten weeks now, has slept through 7-5 twice now but mostly does 7-3 then has a feed.

Feeding in a routine now, she has bf in the morning then usually a bottle at 11am bf in the avo then a bottle at 630/7.

We're going to spain on tuesday cannot wait. It's still mid to high 20's there. Best thing though it's all inclusive so I won't have to shop or cook wonder if I can get that at home??

I was just about to have a go at writing something but Sam's just woken up so it'll have to wait...

Glad you've got a routine girlsya I'm very

morning all, we didn't have the best night - he went to sleep at 1am as usual, but woke for a feed at 3.20 and I didn't get him back to sleep until 4.20. He was quite windy and seemed very hungry - ended up giving both sides twice! Then he woke again at 6.30 and not back to sleep until 7.10. Then up at 9.30 with a huge poo explosion that went all over his sleeping bag! we only get poo every 3-4 days so that's normal for us. he can be a bit unhappy for a few hours before a poo so that's probably why we had a bad night.

We definitely don't have a daytime routine yet! DS has also stopped sleeping in the daytime unless he's in a sling/moving pram/on my chest - means when he does sleep I can't get anything else done!

The last few days though I have started to space feeds out to 2.5-3 hours during the day. After a growth spurt at 6 weeks I think he just got into the habit of little snacky feeds at least every hour. Now I'm insisting on both sides per feed and he's getting nearer to 3 hours between them.

I have my first night out without him tonight I'll feed him at 7pm before I go then shouldn't be required again til 3am...

Hello ladies

Marzi F is back to feeding every 2hrs again (did last weekend too) so It is sooooo draining! But the good news is we are now getting more evenings colic free than ones with colic - yay!

Bellygazing i was thinking of getting the Kari me sling for use around the house as DH is not going to be about much in the next few weeks due to work. F now weighs 11lb4oz though, would that be too heavy do you think? We have a babybjorn type carrier but he is so long in the body it doesn't give him the best neck/head support.

F still has given me a smile grumpy bugger but he smiled at the cat the other day gee thanks

I am hoping (fingers very tightly crossed) to be able to take my horse out later. I spent £80 on new riding boots yesterday so i am desperate to try them out and forget about being mum for 30mins.

Oh, and weehector i did at your outfit

Alice It's supposed to be good up until something like 13kg so def worth getting I reckon. It = instant sleep for E, just wish I could wear it in bed!

MoonUnit first night out sounds fun - I was hoping to do this this weekend but due to issues related to a melted breast pump I haven't got enough EBF stored up for her voracious evening appetite.

at all you ladies with babies virtually sleeping through the night. Although at least once E goes down (anytime between 10.30pm and 12.30am) she sleeps for a good 3-4 hours and is very easily resetted during night feeds.

And (hope I'm not jinxing myself) last night when I put her down at 11pm quite awake, fully expecting to be required 10 mins later, she actually self-settled and fell asleep

Hi everyone, I only seem to get my laptop out at weekends so most of the time I check on my iphone and can't really post!

Things are going well here, we moved to this new area 2 weeks ago and it is more rural than where we were (in Leicester) but, thanks to SureStart, there are so many more facilities! I have so many activities planned for next week, including a breastfeeding support group, an ;early days sensory play session' and a 0-6 month stay and play session. I'm hoping this will really help me to meet some other mums, although when I visited on Thursday I did note how young they all seemed compared to me

Alex is doing well, had him weighed on Thursday and he is 10lb 5 at 4 weeks, which isn't bad as I am exclusively breastfeeding him and have a very low iron count still. Everyone warned me he may not put enough weight on but actually he is totally average as I understand it so that's great :) He's a ravenous little monster, he feeds every 1.5 - 2 hours all day and then tends to feed 3 times in the night. He fed 5 times last night but that may have been my fault because I let him sleep in bed with me and I think he just thought 'as its so easy, don't mind if I do!' and helped himself to some extra snacks!

He grunts a lot and it is very loud (esp in the early hours of the morning) and has started crying woefully at the breast towards the end of his feeds. I am going to discuss this at the bF group next week, hoping they can shed some light on it because until now his feeds have been silent, calm and very happy!

I went out today for the first time without him, to Sainsbury's! For a whole 2 hours. sounds terrible but it was blissful just to have some time to myself. I expressed some milk for DH before I left and it was needed apparently, but he's been asleep since then for the past hour or so. He'll wake up soon I'm sure!

Anyway, sorry for mammoth post but like I say its hard to update on a more regular basis so when I do I have a lot to say. Hugs to everyone! x

alice we have the kari-me and it's great. just debating actually - we're going out for dinner with a group of people in central london, which involves a change of tube trains etc. should we take pram or sling? chances of him being happy to lie in pram while we eat are slim so think we might take sling.

woodlands, sling all the way. We hardly ever use the buggy for either of ours, mainly cos they piss me right off in shops. I've been known to carry DD on the back and DS on the front, about 19kg of baby...didn't last long! I love carrying though, you don't get stuck waiting for lifts etc :)

vix I'm glad you've got lots of stuff to do. We just moved on Thursday and I don't know anyone yet, left a lovely bf group and a sure start right across the road :( nothing like that here as far as I know...

Aww that's a shame about the lack of stuff to do chulita :(

Since my last post I feel I'm coming down with a cold, my dad has one and visited on Thursday. Now hoping Alex doesn't catch it :( hopefully the antibodies in my milk will do their work efficiently!

Evening all! Hopefully that cold will stay away Chulita - can't imagine being poorly and sleep deprived and having the little'un to look after at the mo!

Bit of a banner day for us today - discharged from our amazing midwife team today. It's been a bit of a long road with the Tongue tie, thrush and general bf issues and I've been so grateful for their support.

So far, our HVs have been shit. Got Eli weighed at a clinic this week and the HV was really alarmist about his weight gain. He'd gained since the last time, but not at the same rate, she was concerned, wanted me to start giving him three bottles of EBM a day, blah blah blah... Really unsupportive and made me so anxious. He hadn't lost any weight - anyway, turned out she'd plotted the point wrong in his red book. Eli's still on the 50th centile line! Grrrr. So between the clinic and my crap GP, I'm gutted to say goodbye to the MWs. Hey ho! At least the feeding's getting better. A week ago, I think I would have felt really alone and lost, so I guess that's progress!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend despite the rain!

chulita, hope you find stuff to do soon. i think having a baby is the best way to make friends in a new place!

we did take the sling and was very glad we did - the tube was down so had to take a different route. the restaurant was packed and don't know where we'd have put it, plus j got passed round the table all night anyway! he loved it, was very chilled out even though the restaurant was very hot and noisy. the other good thing was dh could zip up his coat around J and he was all cosy and out of the pissing rain.

then he slept for 6 hours ztraight! i feel so refreshed!

off out with dh's family for big sunday lunch today.

I don't want to go to bed even though I'm shattered, last night has traumatised me. Sam's totally gorgeous but the reflux makes him cry in pain day and night unless I'm holding him with my finger in his mouth. At 10 weeks it's just getting worse and now with the move DD is up all the time crying cos she's disorientated and her eczema's flared up so she all red/scaly/itchy and her eyes are all swollen which doesn't help her sleep. I'm totally at the end of my tether and there's no hope in sight of any let-up...
Sorry for the whinge, I just want to climb into my linen chest and close the lid.

chulita sounds completely shit so no wonder the linen chest is calling. In an ideal world, I'd take the babies for a couple of hours to let you have a bath, some food & a nap. I'm so sorry I don't have any advice but am sending positive thoughts. Hang in there...big hugs...this to shall pass, etc

Chulita hugs from me too. That does sound rough. I hope tonight is easier. You deserve a break.