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

:)

Hello again everyone! Congrats to the new mums and sympathies to vix Sounds like you've been having quite a rough time of it!!

I'm more or less handling things ok - DH was able to get a few more days off work which has been great and my mum, MIL and my aunt have all been cooking our dinners for us every night which has been brilliant!! Breastfeeding is pretty well established now, DS has no more jaundice, is steadily putting on weight, sleeps for about 3-4 hours at a time during the night and is all round perfect and wonderful and lovely and gorgeous and guuusssshhh!!!

I've been on antiobiotics since a couple of days after the birth, tho, since I felt a bit fluey, my discharge was still pretty heavy and my womb felt quite tender and inflamed. Still on the tablets now, but they do seem to be finally having some effect. Only issue for me now is my episiotomy stitches

I finally summoned up the courage (yes, 10 days later!) to get out a mirror and investigate them today. There doesn't seem to be much to see, which is (I hope?) a good thing, because it implies the stitches are healing up ok. I've been washing the area with warm water and tea tree oil a few times a day, keep it very dry and putting savlon on after my shower in the morning. But I'm still in a lot of pain - I was trying to stop taking painkillers but I find that when I cut down on the paracetamol the pain really sneaks up on me and then I feel terrible, really drained etc.

Is anyone else having similar issues? My MW is coming out on Saturday so I can ask her to have a look (tho I'd really rather not!) but just wondering if anyone thinks this sounds weird - lots of pain 10 days after birth but stitches appear to be healing up fine?? Strange!!

Do you have anything stronger than paracetamol? Think I was still taking voltarol as well at 10 days after the birth.

i've got some cocodamol but i feel a bit out of it when i take them and MW warned me they can cause constipation (sorry, tmi!) so i haven't wanted to take them. might ask her when she's out on sat about the possibility of getting something a bit stronger like voltarol or something along those lines to take when it's really sore...

have to say, i'm very nervous about the prospect of sex again! it's only been 10 days so not planning on doing it any time too soon or anything but the pain down there makes it seem like i'll never want to do that again!! but it seems like a couple of ladies have been able to get back on the horse (so to speak!) again so i guess it might be possible...eventually!!

Littlemiss - my stitches seemed to feel worse at day 10 too. I went back to the hospital as my midwife was pants. They said some of my stitches had tightened and others had loosened and in another 7 days I would feel right as rain. She encouraged me to wear skirts and stay away from trousers and carry on cleaning it and it would get there. Was a bit worried but after 5 or so days I was fine. It will get easier! Just carry on doing what you're doing and if you're worried get midwife to have a look. Nothing she hasn't seen before!

Another one suffering from sleep deprivation here i think the hardest thing for me is not knowing when you will next get a full night's sleep. It would be so much easier to cope if you knew you would be getting a good 10hrs uninterrupted sometime in the next week iyswim?

Vix i have had a few bloody 'floods' and nearly always when i am rushing about. Easing off now (3wks)

Going to the BF group to see the BF counsellor today. F is still guzzling his milk and is really suffering with a windy tummy, so going to see if she can offer any advice. Really unsettled last night. He has gone from a really chilled contented little person to a right grump with colicky symptoms

alice let me know if you ave and tips. i too am tired .. school run is finishing me off... lord knows how i'll cope when dh is away

I am off to baby massage this morning

(sorry Alice I meant advice with guzzling muilk - am trying to feed at the same time)

Hi All, thanks for all of the advice re routines, I am also following Neenz's 'if it cries feed it' mantra, Neenz with all your fab advice you will soon be mumsnet's answer to Gina Ford etc!!! I have pretty much decided to hold off until six weeks to try and introduce a routine so only two weeks to go!

As a first time Mum I'm afraid my relationship with you all is a bit one sided; I am all take take take on the advice but hope to develop some tips to share as I get more experienced at this motherhood malarky :)

So here is my latest problem(s) Nina has been sleeping well at night (max two feeds) but two nights ago that all stopped and she only slept two hours between 23:00 and 7:00 last night, she seems to have got some mucus at the back of her throat and everytime I put her down it disrupts her breathing and wakes her up (this is even after she had spent 25+ mins upright asleep in my arms) any suggestions on

what this could be/solution, up until now it has only happened twice previously so I'm wondering if that rules out silent reflux?

Within a day or so of this starting she has become really fussy at the breast, won't nap in the day without being taken in the car, and previously she was awake and fussing between 6pm and 11pm but for the last two nights has slept at least three hours of that-do you think someone swapped my baby when I wasn't looking?!?

Ooh just in case you haven't seen Tesco are running a baby and toddler event where there is 20% off clothes and money off nappies/toiletries etc

Have a good day all :)

Could she just have picked up a bit of a cold? A little bit of snot can cause quite a bit of discomfort for them. The calpol plug in room vaporiser thingies work very well and i think they an be used from birth. Also propping up the head end of the cot/moses basket means their head is higher than their chest and can ease the breathing a bit. Only ideas though

cazzy will let you know if i get anything useful.

Thanks Alice, I'm going to pop her to the doctors and will pick up one of the calpol plug ins when we venture out later!

I have been muchly rubbish not posting I'm afraid....
Sorry to hear you had such a tough time vix....
My news is my section scar still hasn't healed properly so I've another bloody midwife's appointment scheduled for next week... and as they won't give you a time I'm likely to be hanging around the house all day. Again. Drives me potty. I know it's for my own good, but still.... So any advice on how to encourage the scar to sort itself out?!
News item number two is the state of my nipples. Whilst the horrendous blistered I acquired in the first couple of days are now healed (yay!) I have lovely cracks around the circumference of both nipples. In fact one looks like I've lost a massive chunk of flesh. Nice. Managed to cut my painkillers down to ibuprofen and paracetemol each twice a day but can't get it down further than that... and using Lansinoh but it's so bloody expensive. Does anyone know if something similar is available on prescription?
Off to change of feed my little monster before the health visitor arrives....

pample - apparently some GPs will give you Lansinoh on prescription, or so my MW told me anyway. I'm going to phone up and chance my arm next week - it's a tenner a tube after all!

Sorry to hear about the cracks and blisters :-/ And the scar too...sounds rough but hopefully you'll be on the mend soon!

sparkle101 - phew, good to know there might be light at the end of the tunnel with the stitches! i feel like i'm coping ok with the broken sleep, breastfeeding, the antibiotics and the SPD twinges but feeling like you've been kicked between the legs is just the last straw!!

anyone else finding that the days just go past so quickly and you never seem to really get anything done? like it's kind of a victory to have a shower, put on a load of washing and go for a walk round the park...and that's all you manage to get done all day!! haven't cooked any meals or done much housework at all since DS arrived but I know I'm going to have to try and get round to doing stuff again maybe next week and i have no idea how i'm ever going to get organised again!!

Babyducky, well done with the birth! Sounds like you did great, it's always best to stay at home for as long as poss I think but it's a difficult one to call! You got there perfect timing.

Moonunit, lots of people do give ff and still bf too but it can mess up your supply, especially if you do it early on. I expressed 6oz for DH to give on Saturday night but Daniel still wouldn't go back to sleep even after all that! So you might find your LO doesn't settle without you anyway. Try to carry on with the expressing but give the FF a try - you can always stop if it's not working out. The danger is every time your LO is unsettled you give FF so your supply dwindles, so as long as you don't give more than one feed a day you might be alright. It doesn't last for long, by 7wo the DTs were going 11-7 with just one night feed.

Vix, I had quite a few clots too, for a few weeks. It is prob OK but the MW said if I was worried just to save one to show them [yuk]. For the night cluster feeding have you tried lying down to feed him? You should get more rest then.

Marzi, sounds like you are doing great not doing everything wrong at all. Whatever works at this stage . I am getting a little worried at how much D likes sleeping in my bed but I can't be arsed with being awake in the night so I am ignoring it atm!

Littlemiss, I had quite a lot of stitches and sex was painful till about 3mth after the birth IIRC. Just go slow and use lubricant (and wait a couple more months yet!)

Anna, I was also going to suggest propping the moses basket up. For napping in the day do you have a bouncy chair like this one? When D is unsettled I just bounce him in that and he often goes to sleep, it shuts him up at least! Have you tried a dummy?

Pample, hope you can get some lansinoh on prescription. You should be able to! It should be given free to all nursing mums

I am taking D to watch Manchester City tomorrow . He will be 4wks 6days old. I am usually a regular at City but was going to have half a season off but I couldn't resist taking him in the Baby Bjorn!

Pample, I think mother care do thier own brand of Lanolin cream (so same as Lansinoh) which is a bit cheaper, not much though!

Little miss, if I manage a shower AND washing AND a trip to the park I've done more then I usually manage!

neenz oh breastfeeding guru, your support and encouragement is needed over here

Morning

Just a quick one to report back from BF group yesterday. The Breastfeeding Network website is apparently where i should look for tips wrt bf and colic. Ended up getting some infacol on the way home and it has really helped, much more setted night with less grunting and squeaking whilst asleep too, which makes me think that was due to gassiness. He really hates it though, pulls horrendous faces and tries to spit it out, hopefully won't need it for very long.

Hopefully getting a nursing chair too. I figured that yes they are hideous (but so comfy!) but if i could get one off ebay and then sell it on afterwards, i wouldn't be left with an expensive ugly chair iyswim?

Morning all, welcome to the weekend, a blissful time for many of us as our OH's are home from work and here to help, or hinder depending on your man (mine is firmly in the help camp thank goodness)

Just a quick update from yesterday, nothing medically speaking is causing my LO's mucus, we tried saline drops and they didn't work and the moses basket has always been at an angle, Neenz/Alice when you say tilt it how much do you mean roughly (it currently has three books underneath!)

The breastfeeding consultant come over and Nina has a tongue tie which she believes is contributing to the colicky symptoms and lack of sleep as she is nursing constantly to feel full which means she is having too much milk and therefore taking in too much air. For those if you that have got BF issues and haven't called your local councillor I would urge you to do so straight away, I know they will vary but I am so pleased I called her, rather than suffered in silence. I did ball
my eyes out when they said she had a tongue tie but I think it was relief that there was something wrong not me going mad!

I on the other hand have been bleeding since Sunday and on going to the doctors have discovered my tear has reopened....so am really upset and worried that if it hadn't self healed by Wednesday (next docs appt) then it means another round of stitches and that could mean that things down there have no chance of returning to 'normal service' :(

Have a good day, going to venture out shopping today M&P have 10% off, and I am getting withdrawal symptoms from M&S food, and might treat myself to a new item (or two) of clothing to cheer me up!!

To thank you for all your help I am offering up a full English breakfast to anyone that wants it!!

Anna, don't know if you saw my post just before yours, but F was better last night being on infacol (for the wind) not going to help with the tongue tie but ay help with taking in air (the getting it out again)

Ooh Neenz forgot to say we were season ticket holders at Wolves but gave them up due to the arrival of our LO, but promised ourselves half season tickets too. When I read your post I told my other half about you going to City and we have decided to take Nina and the baby bjorn to our next home game - woopee :D

Thank Alice, we have been using that and it has helped a lot but not been a total cure and now I know that's because of the tongue tie. The breastfeeding lady recommended colief so we are going to try that but it's £10 for a tiny bottle and my GP 'refuses' to prescribe it,blummin NHS it's even a postcode lottery for colic treatments! (but I suppose £10 is a small price to pay for sleep and less bloodcurdling screams!)x

Alice I don't know what sort of nursing chair you were looking to get or if you are near kent but we are selling ours. Its a rockabye glider chair (hope this link works) chair

As I had to give up on BF quite quickly I haven't used it and we've now realised we're not going to use it.

Going to put it on e bay soon but thought I would mention it anyhow.

anna my HV also suggested sterlilised nasal drops which you can get from pharmacy which will encourage baby to sneeze and move the mucus through herself. Not sure if worth a try.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Sparkle thanks but kent is a good 2hrs away (on a good day) there is one we are watching on ebay atm that is in the next town. Definitely a market for them second hand.

Anna i don't know if you know that with colief you have to put it in milk to give it. Was looking up colic on here yesterday and aparently hand expressing onto a spoon is the easiest option

My son has the noisiest guts! I shall rename him Trumpington

morning all, how is everyone today?
We had a really good night last night, he woke for about 4 feeds but didn't cry at all and I brought him into bed with me and dozed while he fed. Are things getting any easier for you vix sleeping and feeding wise? Feeding every hour must be so tiring even if you do it lying in bed.
Antibiotics seem to be working, boob still a bit sore but i don't have to carry it when i get up now and i feel like i'm back in the land of the living.
J had his first bath last night (which he didn't much like) but then this morning we had our first wee fountain while nappy changing and it went all over his head! So he has now had his second bath too which he seemed to enjoy a lot more. Quick question for the more experienced: I know their bath water is meant to be body temperature, but his bath this morning was a bit warmer than that and he seemed very happy in it. Does it matter if the water is warmer?

Both DD and DS like their baths warmer. With DD we used the thermometer and she hated it that cool, but once it was warmer she loved baths. With DS we had the water only slightly cooler than DD has her bath and he loves his baths

Definitely have the bath warmer, DD screamed everytime we bathed her until we made it hotter after about 3 weeks and she loved it! Sam has it warmer than you'd expect too.

weehector how're you doing?

vix I hope things are easing off, they do have mammoth growth spurts and they're absolutely knackering!

Lol at alice and neenz getting the babies used to footie so young :)

7 weeks today and he's still feeding every 2 hours - we had a good couple of nights last week but it's all gone to pot. I'm shattered and DH is working away for the next 2 weeks so it's just going to be me with the children. DD's been waking at night too so between the both of them I'm going to be a wreck...