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

:)

cazandbelle has prompted me to stop just reading on the iPhone and get involved again.

cazandbelle, your angelbelle is already being your star, I think of you so often when times with Benjamin get tough and appreciate every moment. I like to think that every baby from the August thread has an extra angel looking after them and that angel is Belle.

Everything here is going well, we never managed bf but I refuse to get upset about it and we've tackled colic (now on presciption colief). Ben is now 6 weeks and I thank whoever invented swadding blankets as he loves his kiddoptamus blankies.

Anyway, I've lurked from the start of the thread and gained so many tips and advice. Please welcome me back, I don't bring virtual cakes (allergic to eggs), but I bring some lovely savouries and sandwiches x

CazandBelle thanks for the list, it's really helpful. I replied before reading your post so didn't realise you hadn't started work yet, I hope that all goes well. I'll pop a post-it on the fridge to light a candle for Belle next Friday :)

lizzie you got any quiche?

cherrypie I'm not doing so well on the laundry/housework front either. Bearing in mind we've just moved in, the house is a tip but Sam needs cuddling a lot (which is also why I don't post on here much) and when he is asleep I need to give DD time [sigh] not enough hours in the day.

weehector baby poo is horrendous isn't it? Our bath mat is completely stained and whenever I hop in the bath with DD I have a double-take thinking it's fresh!

I went to the GP on Thursday about Sam who's been crying/screaming so much with this bloody reflux. All they said was that he's probably feeding too much so to try and stop him eating so much Bearing in mind he has silent reflux so only projectiles once a day-ish and is putting on about an ounce a week...how on earth can he be drinking too much if he's barely gaining?? And with bfing if I pop him on for 2 mins at a time as he suggested then take him off for half an hour before feeding again he'll only get the foremilk which will make the reflux worse...and then he suggested giving him Calpol for the pain but analgesics are known to cause stomach pain in some cases, ARGH! I need to find the HV around here and get him weighed, the scales at the GPs didn't work - in fact, I might register at a different GP's too while I'm at it.

Hi cazandbelle, good to hear from you. Glad that your DH has got some sort of diagnosis and really hope it heals up and goes back to normal soon. Will be thinking of you and Belle on Friday and will try to light a candle.

Welcome back lizzie, glad to hear you and Ben are doing well :) My friend made me a yummy ginger cake which didn't have eggs in it but i'd never have guessed.

Chulita :( about Sam's reflux. Sometimes I get the feeling that there are some doctors who don't take babies' problems that seriously (unless life threatening). Really hope things improve for you soon. Don't feel bad about not doing the housework, I've hardly done a thing and we don't have reflux or colic to contend with.

We just had the most hideous night. I think it's a growth spurt, but he just fed and fed and fed and didn't go to sleep until DH took him out in the car at 4am. If we have many more nights like that I think I'm gonna end up giving him some formula :( My pore nipples have been tugged about too much and I need some sleep. Please tell me growth spurts don't last long and that he'll go back to being a (reasonably) sensible baby?

Caz it is lovely to see you. You are doing amazingly

Hey Lizzie

Chulita there was a lady at our BF group yesterday who's baby had reflux and our BF supporter was going to speak to her mentor about ways to help with the feeding/reflux. Could you perhaps see a BF counsellor? Ours is from The Breastfeeding Network.

Marzi we had a week of F feeding every 2hrs day and night, and every feed i thought i would get some cartons of formula just to give myself (and my poor boobs) a break, but just try to get through each feed at a time, and sleep when you can (easier said than done i know) F has been much better this week, only waking 1-2 times a night and last night went 6 whole hours! Remember that as they get bigger they can take enough to last them longer and it is your milk that is making him grow But if you really need a break, then get a couple of individual cartons of formula just to help through the next couple of days. There is nothing wrong with FF if that is what you want/need, but if you don't want to, remember that it is only short lived

marzi it is just short lived and he's feeding this much to up your supply so formula could slow that process down (but I totally understand the feeling!) I'm sort of dreading Sam's 12wk spurt, it lasted 10 with DD and was constant feeding...
alice I've dropped dairy from my diet as of Friday which is awful cos I love cheese but it's supposed to help in some cases. I've not found the bf support group here yet but it is something I'm looking for

cazandbelle i too m glad you are OK and as LizzieA put it I too like to think belle is watching over all her little playmates and

when they are all old ladies she will be able to show them round heaven.

will you link to your blog when you are ready?

Poppy is growing - we are about to start swimming next week. she still hasn't laughed yet - come on poppy!

:) Yes I'm sure Belle is looking down on you all....

Thank you Alice - I don't feel like I'm doing amazingly though. Just some days are better than others.

cazzy - this is my blog. cazandbelle.blogspot.com/

Hope Poppy laughs for you soon :)

CazandBelle I live in Germany so I will light my candle at 8pm to match the UK time. What a wonderful idea.

I don't get much time to come on here. Gripe water is helping with the colic but its not gone, so some days are better than others. It is hard when he cries all the time. Some people have suggested that I leave him to cry, but no way, he is only 7 weeks and the he is in pain and his crying is pityful, I just couldn't leave him, but that does mean he... oh he's off again gotta go.

Hope veryone is well, ta ta for now

CazandBelle every time I read your posts I end up crying. Saying a prayer for you and your angel.

Things going well here for the most part, have joined a couple of mums groups and am hoping to make some RL friends. Last night started off as a bit of a marathon with constant feeding from late evening until 12.30am - then she slept through until 4.45am, then again until 8.45am - when I had to wake her up to feed because we needed to go out... The more I try to introduce the routine the more she tries to resist.

I think we're going to pay for all this feeding tonight because she's spent a lot of time during the day napping - think of me with E perpetually attached to the boob tonight...

But she has really started smiling now, which is just gorgeous

Hey ladies, I'm just popping on to say that Alex has fed every 2 hours day and night since birth and I just assumed it was normal! I am looking forward to him feeding less frequently, especially at night. Currently he's waking me up every hour for a feed so its even worse than usual but during the day he goes 1.5 to 2 hours. I didn't realise that was excessive to be honest. No wonder he is doing so well with his weight :)

Hi ladies - just a quick hello as we hsve visitors who are handily preparing dinner for us as I type!

\just a quick hello to Caz and to say we will light a candle in memory of Belle and all the other little ones who are temporarily out of sight.

Welcome back Lizzie!

Still have no idea what J weighs. So far I am resisting and going on instinct which is that he is doing well.

Cazzy - enjoy the swimming. After a shaky start J loves it and it is my fsvourite thing that we do together. He also sleeps for England after it (after a damn good feed).

I love my rl ante-natal group (now post-natal of course) so thoroughly recommend joining some groups to those of you without them. We've shared the load of finding, researching and joining keep fit, swimming, baby massage classes, and weaning workshops etc and encouraging each other.

caz have set a phone reminder to light a candle for Belle. Not a cheeky request at all..the least we can all do & actually I think it's quite nice to have something tangible we can all do collectively to remember our first little girl. I'll be thinking of Belle..and her star..and how hard it must be for you..and thinking about everyone else that's got a lot in their plate with weight/feeding/sleeping/pnd issues just now.

After a fab few days, we're back to a bit of a nightmare here. A has screamed all the time he's awake since 8pm on Friday so we've been confined to the house - i look like Waynetta Slob & im expecting Kim & Aggie any minute (the house is worse because I selfishly tried to get a life outside of it this week & have neglected everything but the dishwasher & nappy runs). I think it's the aftermath of ShiteFest..he's been farting constantly & drawing his wee legs up so I guess he's just got a wee sore tummy. I've just been giving him cooled boiled water, infacol & giving him a bath to try & ease it. We'll see what today brings. Makes me realise what a good baby he is normally. However, the big news is that due to the crying/feeding combo..he actually took my boob without the nipple shield for two feeds in a row!! I've been trying to ease him off them every day for 7 weeks & had just about written off any hope. Yeeha!

Well done Hector! Perhaps it is because he is bigger and stronger now? I am sure the reason i have been able to feed F but couldn't with DD was because he was much bigger and stronger and could cope wih my huge boobs.

I'm not sure giving the water is a good idea though (obviously if you have been recommended it that is different) If he was constipated it may be a good idea, but if it is the runs then i think you are better off just feeding him. I also found Gripe water really worked on F much better than infacol, maybe worth a try. I hope i don't sound patronising (so difficult to get the tone right with text isn't it?) it is simply what i would do. I am going to stop digging now and just say i hope it is just a little blip and that he is fine again

F slept nearly all day yesterday and i was really worried he would be awake all night but was ok. Think he is knackered from his growth spurt last week.

Morning girls :)

Hi Caz so lovely to hear from you - I admire you so much and think of you all the time. Like weehector I have set a reminder to light a candle for little Belle :)

Chulita Thats rubbish about Sama reflux, and what kind of doctor tells you to feed your baby less? I don't get that, especially when weight gain is little. Hope you locate you breastfeeding group soon hun, I'm sure they would be more help. Dunno if this will help but our group is run by Bosom Buddies?

Marzi As others have said it is only temporary that babies feed for hours at a time, and I feel your pain with the sore nipples! My tip is to apply lansinoh after every feed and use nipple shields. It took 8weeks for me but my nipples eventually got better and they were ripped to shreds! In fact we stopped the using the shields about2wks ago and there is no pain at all anymore - Corey is 14weeks now, I never believed it was possible and I had vowed to use the shields for as long as I was bf C, because I was scared that it would happen all over again.
A piece of advice that my bf group gave me was as babies get bigger, so do their mouths and they find it easier to latch on and also get more efficient at feeding. Sounds obvious but I hadn't thought of it that way until she said it. Hope it gets easier for you soon chick xx :)

Lizzie Welcome back, I only recently came back too [bliush]

erm....whoops! I only pressed enter and it posted without me finishing writing

continued...

Lzzie Corey adores being swaddled, I didn't bother with a special blanket, I used pram sized flanelette blankets to start with and have now moved onto a bigger blanket that I got from babygap. Corey willnot sleep unless swaddled, and even that sometimes doesn't work!

Alice Corey too slept all day yesterday and as a result was up in the night, only once though so I guess I can't complain too much.

Gonna go browse the recipe section as I wanna bake something different...

TTFN xxx

Happy Sunday all! Nice to 'meet' you too, CherryPie

I have inlaws coming over in a mo so just wanted to shout from the rooftops (or possibly just whisper very, very quietly so as not to scare her off) - Elodie slept for seven hours last night. Seven hours! And she's only seven weeks old. She had a good old feeding sesh before eventually falling asleep on her daddy at 11.30pm but then slept through until 6.30am. I, of course, woke at 4ish when she made a few gentle murmurings and 5.15am when she did a poo and then immediately fell asleep. But still, it was pretty brill.

To sleeping babes and lovely cuddles.

Bellygazing, fab news on 7hrs!

Daniel did 8hrs on wed thurs and fri night, but last night woke for a feed at 5.30am. I am not complaining though.

For babies feeding every 2hrs - are they getting a full feed each time? If the baby pulls off the breast, give him a chance to have a burp then put him back on the same breast. When he starts being uninterested in that breast, try the other. Keep burping and feeding until you just can't get any more milk down (and they might be sick at this point too). There is nothing wrong with a baby that feeds every 2hrs but this might be a way to stretch them out a bit more .

Just checking in...
Crazy few days, flight to Inverness went well though and S was a star and even did one 5 hour night sleep.
Back to feeding every hour (or less) now though and I'm exhausted and upset again...
Think the Drs on Monday :*(
Caz have got a candle and a note to myself all prepared for Belle.

Alice no worries, all advice & guidance most welcome :) I'm only giving A 20ml of water or so after 36hrs of no poos & I can tell he's constipated...I've only needed to do it twice but it seems to work for the wee soul in terms of making him happier & loosening his bowels a few hours later.

Hugs to pample & chulita today..reflux & a house move & a round trip to Inversnecky by air both sound like an ordeal tbh. Hope you're both being kind to yourselves in other ways where possible.

So tomorrow's Monday - hopefully the first full week of our new weekly routine if we can make it out the house to Rhymetime tomorrow (baby massage on wed, bf/1st yr group & baby yoga on Thursdays..a mum & baby group still tbc). It's been a thought (inside I'm shy) & a feat of logistics to put us out there and meet new people & do new things but I'm feeling more capable & happier for doing it..unlike antenatal classes, I think there's a few people I could get along with. Bit relieved really..I thought it'd be clichy & i'd feel marginalised & scamper back to being home alone but everyone has been welcoming. I guess the earlier I do it the easier it will be.

Fingers crossed I can also find the time tomorrow to finally get the tax credit forms away - it's so complicated because of my mixed employed/benefits/self employed status last year. I really need to do my tax return first but I've never done one & don't really have a clue - I did a chunk of consultancy feb-apr but billed it in may? I've no idea which financial yr it counts for but I suspect I'll find out the answer to this & other riveting tax questions soon :(

Oh and v jealous to those of you with babies sleeping through. Well done though! Fingers crossed I join you in a full night's sleep soon. X

neenz Scarlett is feeding pretty much constantly at the moment... as a result she never gets a 'full' feed as my milk supply never has time to pick up. The only way to break this cycle seems to be to give her one bottle of formula c. every two days. This means she sleeps for 3-4 hours, I express half way through in an attempt to get it not to affect my milk supply, and at 4 hours there\s enough milk to give her a proper feed.... she sleeps again, etc...
We've tried not giving the formula but the whole thing breaks down again and she feeds constantly. Would love to give her the expressed milk but its never enough for a feed and I find if I try and make it up to a feed during the 'good' sleeping periods then my milk supply stll doesnt seem to get up enough for a proper feed and I end up giving her the expressed stuff 'too soon' to make it up.
I know this sort of cluster feeding is typical of growth spurts but Scarlett has done it constantly since 10 days old. The HV refused to believe its a milk supply issue but I can have spent 3 hours constantly feeding S and she'll subsequently take 150-180mls formula so I can't think that it's any other issue given she's also in the 98th centile.
Any advice would be v gratefully received!
Ive tried the feeding forum but to v little avail...
x

Pample: I'm sure Neenz will be on soon with some good advice, in the meantime have you tried ringing the breast feeding consultant from your hospital? I have found my lady really helpful.

Very of those of you with babies sleeping through the night, I thought Nina might be starting to as well but for the past week she has been waking at about four for a feed and then wanted to be up for the day!

Alice :o at your name changes!!!

CazandBelle we haven't met but I have been following the thread for a while and think of you and your angel Belle a lot, we will definately be lighting a candle on Friday.

I think Nina is going through a nine week growth spurt as she fed constantly from 4am until 11 today, she has finally fallen asleep on me but I don't want to put her down in case she wakes immediately although my stomach is screaming out for breakfast!

P.s sorry for not using bold for people's names but dint think you can do that on iPhones!

Hi pample, she sounds like a hungry baby! Are you or your dh able to distract her for a while between feeds to give your milk a chance to build up again or does she just demand food all the time? It awful isn't it when you keep switching sides but both feel empty. Does she have a good latch? Perhaps it could be that if the latch isn't quite right she's not feeding efficiently and not stimulating your breasts enough to build up supply? Hope you're ok :)

Well yesterday I thought the growth spurt might be over but last night was a clusterfeeding nightmare again, and yet he had the cheek to give me lots of smiles this morning! (cheeky monkey knows I can't be cross with him for long :) )
I've been using nipple shields to get through the nights, I don't know how people manage without them! I know they can sometimes cause problems but the way they talked about them at my antenatal bf workshop you'd think they were the work of the devil!

Hello

Hector sorry i thought you meant baby hector had the squits, that is why i said it was perhaps not a great idea to give water instead of milk

Pample How do you feel about giving the one top up of formula? If you and her need it then it really doesn't do any harm. Seriously though, try phoning one of the breastfeeding helplines, you are likely to get much better advice! Alternatively, ask TikTok on the feeding topic, she seems a bit of a guru. Also apparently Fenugreek helps milk supply

We put F in his full size cot last night and he loved it! Had a good old sprawl

anna and Alice have spoken to the HV in charge of breast feeding in our area (as far as I can tell the only person who deals with bf locally?) and she was worse than useless. I just ended up feeling bad...
Alice tried fenugreek and doesn't seem to be doing alot. The formula top up is really getting me down. It doesn't really win me any extra rest in an instantaneous way: I spend the time S is sleeping expressing.... but at least she seems to settle more easily on subsequent feeds.
Marzipan resorted to power walking with pram earlier. worked as long as I was moving :s which is good but I'm so exhausted that it's difficult to do at 3am/ when I'm mega exhausted. Also just left her to cry twice in the last 1hr 15. She cried for 3-4 mins and then settled (she can't have been hungry I don't think as had just given her a big feed). Feel awful for doing it and have convinced myself she'll end up with attachment problems but I didn't even do it as a 'test' I just had jobs I had to do :(