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

:)

don't feel bad about leaving her to cry, sometimes it's unavoidable and 3-4 minutes isn't long at all, I've left J longer than that when I've been eating/showering/hoping he'll fall asleep. I don't like it but I'm sure it won't do him any harm, and anyway, we can only do our best :)

Pample sorry you are having a bad time. Babis cry, it is what they do, they don't necessarily need aything, sometimes it is just exhaustion or over stimulation. Tbh, if she settles after 3-4mins i probably would leave her to settle herself. This is very easy to say/do when you are on number two and it is inevitable that one of them is crying at pretty much any moment! DD needs feeding as well as DS, so if i am making DD's breakfast/lunch and F starts crying then he has to carry on crying til i have finished, just how it is unfortunatly (poor second child )

If it is any consolation they are both driving me round the bend this afternoon, the telly is on the blink, dh will be home late and i feel like shutting myself in the bathroom

It will pass

I was just thinking of you Caz and thought I'd pop onto the thread to see if you were about. I'll be lighting a candle for Belle as well. Glad to hear that your DH has a few more answers about his health too. Take care and know that we're all thinking of you

Hi to everyone else as well. Not been logging on as much recently as a certain young lady and her big sister are keeping me busy . Hope that you're all well and adjusting ok to the new normal.

Went out for my first night out over the weekend and had a great time - I didn't realise how much I needed a bit of time out of the house without my DDs. I did have to express 10oz of milk off my boobs when I got in though - they were like boulders!

Hi girls, everyone ok?

Just a quickie post from me I think cos I'm supposed to cooking dh's tea and I haven't even looked in the freezer yet!! Can't do anything right now anyway cos C is having his tea first :) he's already emptied my left side, working hard on emptying my right side now

pample S does sound like she likes her food - agree with everyone who's said speak to a bf supporter person Little Angels is where my bf support worker is, they came to see me at home and hospital and everything - not sure if it's just this area or whether there are similar organisations elsewhere - hope they can help you, even if they're not in your area I bet they would still offer advice over the phone.

Marzi I agree with you on the nipple shields!! I would have quit bf after 4wks if I hadn't learned about them. My friend is a mw and doesn't advocate them at all as she believes baby's weight gain willslow down due to slower milk flow?? I disagree totally (although C's weight gain is rather sluggish...)

weehector hope your little man is better today :) - did you make it to Rhymetime?

Right it's taken me half an hour to write this post and I really need to go cook something...

Oh and I never did find a recipe yesterday, anyone got a good birthday cake one? I'm practising for dd's 6th birthday in March

Much love xxx

Cherry use the all in one recipe for sponge, really easy and very good cake but March? nutter

Thanks for agreeing to light candles for Belle. It really does mean a lot! :)

Another update on DH - a letters come today. It is confirmed there is tissue inflammation and damage in his spinal cord. Consultant still concerned that there may be something else going on, so now he is going to be admitted for more detailed blood tests and a lumbar puncture. I'm fearing bad news again. :(

Cherry - practising already for March?! I don't have any suggestions, I'm useless when it comes to baking but I need to learn because I want to make DH a cake for his 30th birthday! (also March!)

pample - sorry to hear your having a rough time. I hope things settle down for you and S soon. xxx

Caz I'll be lighting a candle on Friday too. I mentioned it to my Mum and she said that although she won't be able to light a candle she say a prayer at 7 instead.

cherrypie - are you facebook - check out the one my husband did for dd2 6th birthday!

He is very talanted my husband.

cazandbelle - can I recommend Hugh F-W.. love his cakes and they never go wrong. His top tip for a Victoria Sponge is weigh the eggs in their shells and this is how much butter, sugar and flour you need. Also his beetroot and chocolate brownies are yummy too!

Caz fingers crossed that the test doesn't show up anything further.

Cherry my amazing baking friend (she runs a cake company) gave me a brilliant tip for making sponge cakes. To ensure you always use the right quantities, just decide how many eggs you're going to use, weigh them (in the shell) and then use exactly the same weight of butter, sugar and flour. It's brilliant, because it means you always have the right proportions, regardless of what size your eggs are.

Pample, sorry you're having a tough time with the feeding. It's so hard to give advice when we can't see your LO. Do you have someone who can take her out in the pram for a couple of hours each day for you to get some rest? If she stops crying in the pram (is she the same in the car?) then it may not be hunger all the time. If you can distract her that would be great. Remember just cos your boobs feel empty they are not - you will keep making more and more milk. She's obviously gaining weight well. What was your birth like? Was it forceps or ventouse? My DS was forceps and was very unsettled in the early weeks - I took him to an osteopath and it helped loads. Does the Dr Karp method work at all? Can you go to bed with her and just lie down and feed her? Are you getting plenty of food and fluids? If you are anxious that may be unsettling her so try to relax. If I were you I would just go to bed with her (she is your #1 right?).

As for leaving her to cry - I leave Daniel to cry for 10 mins every night to get him to settle, sometimes for 3 x 10mins! Until he falls asleep . After 10 mins I go back in and cuddle or feed him for 10 mins before leaving him to cry again. It may just be a case of leaving her to self-settle - don't feel bad about leaving her for 10-20mins if you think she is tired (put her in a very dark room if poss).

ElusiveMoose - he he same tip

Alice when shall we met up?

I have a baby that is asleep before 12am. I know that's not exactly news on the grand scale of things but its a major victory in Hectorland. Poo status is currently good (sorry) but we still have evening screaming fits that last up to 5 hrs (that always go to Defcom 5 minutes before dinner is ready). Anyone else have a baby that's recently starting screaming in the evening? He's still good through the night though.

Fill me up, Buttercup. I say we mix up a jug of gin bambles.

Sponge cake is simples, ladies..good tip though, will try although my fav cake book is Rachel Allen's Bake. Oh and I had a sexy dream about H F-W. Just a dream though Kevin McCloud is still my future husband.

we had a better night last night, I had about 5 hours sleep (not in one go though).
Could do with some helpful tips for night feeds though...

He woke at 1.15am wanting a feed so I latched him on. He fed for 3-4 mins then fell asleep. Stroking his lip and burping him had no effect. So I changed his nappy (he woke up and screamed all the way through - usually he's fine with nappy changes). Latched him back on, he fed for about 1 min then fell asleep, lips clamped shut. So I put him down in his cot. Cue waking up, rooting, opening mouth and demanding food. So I latch him back on, he falls asleep. This went on for some time, I undressed him, dressed him again and switched sides several times. Every time I put him down in his cot he'd wake up wanting more food. Eventually he got enough milk down him and he went to sleep about 2.40am. This is fairly typical night behaviour and very frustrating. He's too sleepy to feed but too hungry to sleep. What's a tired mummy to do?

Impressed with the baking plans, I can't imagine having time to make a cake at the mo!

Good morning ladies, hope everyone is well.

CazandBelle I have my candle ready for Friday.

My LO has been sleeping about 4 - 5 hours through the night and last night he went just over 6 hours. His last feed, which we give him at 10pm is always from the bottle. I use exressed milk gathered from the day and then my DH feeds him this milk from the bottle. My DH loves this as it is his special time with T. Plus I know exactly how much he is getting. Last night he drank 5 fl oz and he slept from 1015pm until 0430 am. I was astonshed but happy.

My boobs are always really hard when LO hasn't fed for a few hours, but he likes to cluster feed every evening from about 6pm until 9 pm, my boobs are then always limp, but he is still getting milk from them, I was assured by my BF counsellor that my boobs will still produce milk as long as the LO keeps sucking. So for those of you who think you don't have enough milk, I think you probably will have. But it's just our nature as Mums to worry. Hope that didn't sound patronising, not meant to be, just wanted to share my experiences.

Sorry to hear so many are having sleeping problems, hope things improve soon.

Alice Thanks for the sloe gin, perfect.

Sorry for the long post, don't get on here often, as my LO likes to be awake during the day and when he goes to sleep at night, I go too.

Take care xx

Am having a broadband nightmare. Third attempt at this post...

After the miraculous 7 hour sleep, we had a six hour stretch on Sunday night - and that without having a cluster feeding sesh first. Yay!

However, LO now appears to have a cold with a nasty blocked nose which meant she was v fractious and wouldn't go down until 2am last night - and then only until 4.30am. The rest of the morning is a bit of a haze so not sure exactly how long she slept/fed after that. Anyway, I ended up feeding her on-off all the way to 2am because the nose was clearly troubling her and bf seemed to soothe her. But obv not terribly practical, so if anyone has any tips for clearing a nose or better ideas for dealing with it which involve me getting slightly more than 2 hours sleep, I'm all ears.

Snot sucker!

Oh poor thing, great timing just as your night time sleeping was getting good! My DD had a cold a couple of weeks back and we used saline drops before feeds which helped a little, also you could try taking her in the bathroom when you shower as the steam helps too!

We have our first post natal group meeting today and I'm so excited!!

Well.... my 'extreme' tactics seem to be at least semi working with Scarlett. Pram pushing keeps her asleep 10-12.30ish in the morning and then from 2 - 5ish ignoring the 1-2 minute spells of crying that happen 2-3 times works. Feel bad about the crying and exhausted from the pushing but hey!
Cakey 10oz of milk - crikey!! Most I ever get is 4-5ish. And that's a rarity. Glad you enjoyed your night out though....
Cherry and Marzipan I was using nipple shields for four weeks (basically until S had her tongue tie op which sorted out her latch).... despite these impediments she had bugger all trouble putting on any weight. Anyway def wouldn't still be feeding without them as got to the point where I screamed out in pain with every feed. Apparently if you get the right 'soft' ones then there shouldn't be an issue.
Caz I'm sure they're just trying to discount everything. Fingers crossed your DH will get the all clear very soon though so at least you have that off your shoulders. I'm so pleased you still feel able to come here and chat and I'm sure I speak for everyone in saying that we hope you'll continue to hang around!
thedogwalker I only mention supply issues as they're connected with the tongue-tie S had. Basically her inability to latch properly meant she likely had problems building up my supply.
Anna hope the meeting goes well. We've got a nice once a week schedule amongst my NCT girls which is lovely.

Alice I'll have a good big swig of the gin please. Was looking forward to vino now not pregnant but hardly drank at all because (1) co-sleeping has been the only solution to cluster feeding hell and (2) I fear I'm so tired it'd knock me out. A friend of ours made some lovely sloe gin cocktails when we were there last... will try and get the mix as I seem to remember it was rather straightforward (and delicious!)

Oh and neenz I have just resorted to going to bed with her the last couple of nights. A bit miserable though. She was an emergency section and all rather complicated. What with a tongue tie, and the polyhydramnios likely having stretched her stomach before she was born, we've had a few things to be contending with!
Off to try a breastfeeding helpline now. DH had been doing a late night feed with formula / expressed milk but S has suddenly decided she doesn't want to take a bottle any more. No rest for the wicked!

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions though...

x

Hello all! Internet was down for 2 days didn't know what to do with myself!
Sam had started going to sleep at 7pm, up at 2am for a feed, and then up again at 5am, doze til DD gets up but the last 2 nights he's been up every 2.5-3 hours again. He's 11.5wks so we might have hit the 12 week spurt...who knows!?

bellygazing karvol on a muslin sometimes helps, babies do struggle with colds though and there's not much we can do. Maybe try raising her mattress so she's not lying flat.

I've just asked my friend for her cake recipe, she made DD the fluffiest early birthday cake before we moved [sniff], it was delicious!

I'm feeling really down at the mo, everything seems to be happening and I just feel crushed. I just hope something good happens to cheer me up. Hope everyone's pootling along alright.

pample I hope she settles for you soon, it's never-ending at times isn't it?! It is just a phase though and it will pass. Sorry I've not got any tips but agree with the others, your boobs are never empty and a formula top-up isn't the end of the world, you're still bfing which is a huge accomplishment!

Hello ladies Glad the sloe gin was appreciated, apparently it is calpol for grown ups

Cazzy Are you on FB?

Pample so glad you are having it a bit easier, soon you will look back and wonder how you managed with so little sleep and time to yourself

Chulita is your DH away at the moment? You will settle in soon enough and make some friends. It must be so isolating though

I am a bit down at the moment too. I am finding the days very long but at the same time there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day for everything i need to do. Worried about lots of things that really are not that important. Am i being selfish for keeping the horses, when if we got rid of them we could have a bigger house? Am i being a bad parent to DD for having DS? Am i a bad parent to DS because i sometimes see to DD first? Am i being a drain on DH, seeing as he works very long hours for people he doesn't like and i just spend his money?

Most days i can find rational answers to these, but sometimes it is very hard to wonder if i am a bit of a waste of space sorry, bit rubbish when sleep deprived

Alice - I am ... are you friends with MrsZC

Alice - if you had a bigger house it would mean more cleaning and as an only child I would rather have siblings anyday of the week