IS THERE A SEPT 2005 CLUB YET?

[pooka]

Hi all fellow September mums. If I'm duplicating another thread please tell me. If not, would love to hear how everyone is getting on.
Tom is a week old today. All well - though has a slightly infected cord stump so am going to GP today.
I'm still madly hormonal, could burst into tears whenever I think about the impact all this has on my lovely dd (2y2m).

new native sling

Franch - I bought a NEw NAtive Sling because it is non-fussy and easy to use and because I thought DH would be more likely to wear it. He is - he's wearing Alice now

I've read mixed reports on being able to breastfeed with it. At the moment she is quite deeply set inside and is nowhere near my breast. I could put a folded blanket underneath her to raise her though. I believe it is suggested you buy a size smaller than recommended if you want to be able to feed using this sling. It is non-adjustable. I mainly wanted it to be able to get on with day to day life hands free!

Great to finally join you all here. Birth story is here if you're interested!
Nell is fantastic - still can't get used to having a daughter - we all find ourselves saying 'good boy' and talking about 'him' as she looks so like the boys at this age! Still on a high, but milk coming in, so expect to feel hormonal by tomorrow. Hope everyone is enjoying their babies as much. Had a fantastic meal with rare steak and champagne, followed by chocolate brownies which had been giving me horrific heartburn - I love not being pregnant ! (and our beautiful daughter!!)

Beatie & Franch - check out the MamaKangaroo website.

It gives info on all types of slings. It also says how to make slings, if you are that way inclined. I like the idea of the one called "stretchy wrap" (for which you can use a piece of material - and don't actually have to buy a sling). I like the fact that it wraps around both shoulders (I have a problem with back ache and am concerned that a sling over one shoulder might hurt my back).

For baby wrap see: here and here

WELCOME andif. I know what you mean about not being pregnant! I didn't want to say anything on the antenatal thread - but it is GREAT. Hope all is going well with Nell

Hi all not had time to read and catch up on all your news. Need sleep. David is beautiful and I am sure I will get this feeding thing cracked this time round. Breast feeding consultant has lent me an industrial breast pump to help encourage supply etc and has told me to give 1oz formula every 2-3 hrs till I can express enough to use that instead as she is not certain that we will be able to get him to latch on. Has given me loads of hints and tips though so fingers crossed.

I agree with not being pregnant! It's fab! DH brought me a brie baguette on the postnatal ward and it was the best thing ever have not stopped eating blue stilton since!

Nice to see you here andif, still can't get over her weight.Great that you managed with no tears, my stitches are pulling a bit and I have an infection there now, so on antibiotics. Fingers crossed it will ease things a bit tho.

Good luck with bf Mummyhill. I'm also hopeful that this time around will be better for me. Luckily Grace is latching well (unlike with ds), so I am hoping that the problems I had with ds will not be repeated.

KiwiKate - thanks for the sling website. They make it look so easy.

How's everyone doing? We're on day 5 now and feeding is going well. I've invested in some breast shells because I'm one of those lucky/unlucky people who has an abundant supply of milk. It soaks through everything as breastpads do zero to contain the milk. The shells actually collect the milk and I can freeze the milk to use at a later date.

Obviously I cannot leave the house with my plastic inserts in place!

Alice has her days and nights muddled so I've not had much sleep since she was born. Physically I am pretty well healed. My body and back still ache but my stitches aren't irritating me at all this time round.

We're so enjoying our second little girl. I could gush all night about it

Just to say hello to all the sept mums & babies - my due date today! - really hope to be joining you all on here soon..... best wishes xxx

Anyone else have a baby that does not want to sleep unless being held? any tips on how to deal with this?

Beatie - DH tried to tie a baby wrap yesterday and ended up in knots! I guess it is like doing a cloth nappy - once you get the hang of it, then you don't even have to think about how you do it.

Awww that's sweet that your DH had a go. We were at a local town food festival recently and saw a dad carrying his newborn in a wrap around sling. DH was fascinated by it and I think he'd gladly wear one too.

I thought Alice was a baby who needed to be held to sleep but she has done really well the last two nights and slept some 3-4 hourly stints in her crib. I have no advice I'm afraid.

David seems to need to be held durring the night for sleeping, we ended up co sleeping lastnight so that DH and DD could get some rest. A bad tempered, sleepy mummy is nothing new around here but if you add a bad tempered toddler and husband it would not be good.

Therefore as I am still trying to get him to latch on even though he is being bottle fed at the moment I am doing all the feeding and losing all the sleep. DH is taking all responsibility for DD all I have to do is give her cuddles and cook the occassional meal for us all.

Hello

We found Rachel would only sleep when being held - but in the last few nights has been happy to sleep in crib.
LadyLazarus - hope the antibiotics are doing the job and its not painfull.

Take care Helenx

hi everyone, yes the antibiotics are helping lots, and i think my stitches have mostly dissolved / fallen out now so it feels much better down there!

did our first trip to a shopping centre today, only for a couple of hours, but it went quite well, baby elise slept all the way round feels good to do 'normal' things again!

Sounds great being able to get out and about with baby - I'm still below par as the c-section has not settled as well as I'd hoped! but I hope to be back to myself soon!!!!!

I have sadly thrown in the towel on the breastfeeding - milk still hasn't come in a week since birth - Rachel starving and all of us exhusted - had a 5 hour sleep between feeds last night! but guilty not to be feeding myself.

Redhelen - call the nct bf help line. Talk it through with a bf counsellor. If you want to stop they will respect your choice but if you would like to keep bf then they will be able to help. best wishes xxx

Hello all Sept mums...
Taking my first venture back onto MN after Conrad Milan's birth last monday - can't believe it's been a week (the time has flashed by) also can't believe it's only been a week (memories of the long wait for labour to start and even the labour itself are totally overshadowed by the love and awe I feel towards my baby boy)

I've not yet caught up with how you're all doing but it's lovely to have found you again... have just posted my best wishes to all the Sept due-ers on the ante-natal thread and now have to get myself some sleep

night night all
Cabe
xx

We had another great night with Alice! She cluster fed hourly all evening up to 11:30pm - slept until 3:40am (again - weird) and is still sleeping from that feed.

But, if I learnt anything from dd1 it is that phases never last at this stage - not the bad ones and not the good ones.

I'm on my own today. DH had to go back to work. He works in an Independent School that doesn't have a policy for paternity leave. They will make him feel lucky for having had 4 days off last week. Some new fathers at the school only take 2 days!!

I have to focus on half term - I will have him home with us for another week in just four weeks time. I'm going to take it easy today. I have no plans - just to get us all dressed before the midwife comes this afternoon! Alice will be weighed and have her PKU test

Alice (born at 7lb 12oz) doesn't look any bigger than my dd1 who was 6lb 5oz at birth. I'm worried that the scales were wrong and the midwife will think she's lost more than 10% of her body weight. Silly irrational new mummy thoughts.

good morning all, well, i bragged last week that mia had slept for 7-8 hours at night, sadly, it's a thing of the past. i got 3 hours last night and have been up 3 times with her. feeling absolutely knackered but still totally smitten and can't stop looking at her.
i need some advice about dd1 though, she's 6 and she trys to help but when mia is awake she doesn't really bother her but when she's asleep she has to mess and make as much noise as poss to wake her, if that fails she blows raspberrys on her face until she's screaming.i'm really trying to keep calm and explain nicely why she can't do it but then she stomps upstairs in a mood saying mummy doesn't love her now. what can i do? any advice anyone?
redhelen, don't beat yourself up abbout the bf, at least you tried. i never and am wishing now that i di, i have this over whelming need to put her to my breast but it's too late now

Bubbles and Redhelen - I've heard of women establishing bf even if they did not feed for a couple of months after the birth - so if you are really keen, phone your local La Leche League and they will be able to help advise you. It is obviously difficult after so long, but it can be done sometimes. With ds, I had problems with bf and ended up bf & topping up. The top ups helped him sleep properly. He never latched well and so didn't get enough from the breast. So I would put him to the breast and let him feed until he got too fussy, and then I would give him a bottle to top up. I fed like this for 7 months until he refused the breast completely.

And if it does not work out, don't beat yourself up. You are great mums, and we all just do our best.

Beatie - sorry that you are having problems with dd1. I have a moses basket on a stand, so if dd is sleeping, ds can't reach her. Perhaps you can put your dd2 out of dd1's reach (obviously the temptation to mess with her is too great - if you can remove the temptation it will mean she can't mess with dd2 and you don't have to nag her about it). Then when dd2 is sleeping, perhaps you can do something that dd1 enjoys - even simple things like reading with her (if you are not too knackered!). The only other thing you can do is keep telling her how great she is and how much you love her and how much dd2 loves her. We also have told everyone not to fuss over our baby when our toddler is around - so in a way the baby has sort-of slotted in without too much disruption to our toddler. I also try and get DH (or any visitor we might have) to hold baby as much as possible when our toddler is around. I reserve "me time" with baby for feeding time and when toddler is not around. Of course feeding takes up a lot of time and toddler does have some adjusting to do. We have bought him an interactive toy (from the baby) that keeps him pretty busy much of the time that I am feeding. Also, he gets a bit more tv than usual, but I tell him that is because he is such a good boy.

Regarding not sleeping in her moses basket, I've found that if I put a cushion under her (so that she has a very soft surface to sleep on), Grace will do a couple of hours in her cot. This is a huge improvement on 8 minutes (which was her previous max).

Pretty dire night here - Tom has stinking cold and is incredibly windy (hopefully hasn't got the vomiting bug I had at the weekend though he DOES seem incredibly, unprecedentedly sicky after every feed). It's heartbreaking when he's trying to feed and is all snuffly. So am feeling rather jaded this morning, which is also dh's first day back at work. But - so far have topped tailed and fed Tom, got dd up and breakfasted. Got self dressed and washed. Just dd to get dressed, before Tom has another feed. And then we can do something (local as have no pushchair yet).
Have decided that before I go to bed each night, will get the house straightish, pack nappy bag and get clothes ready for following day, as it seems organisation is the key.
Sorry about the feeding RH, but don't beat yourself up about it.
No advice about your dd, Bubbles. I think it just goes to show that regardless of the age difference, new babies inevitably disrupt older "babies".

Morning!

I know what you mean about the scales being wrong beatie Conrad was 8lb6oz when weighed in the hospital yet he looked very wee compared to Luke my sister's Ds1 8lb5oz at birth and her dd1 Gigi who was 8lb10oz...
My suspicions were pretty much verified when my MW weighed him at 7lb10oz the day after his birth... this 'over 10%' loss sent her into panics and she 'strongly advised' me to top up after his feeds or she'd have no alternative but admitt us back into hospital! How to put a poor pair of boobies under pressure...!!!

Conrad's feeding very very well now and the 'girls' seem to be responding to his demands... madly exceeding his demands sometimes! I feel so lucky as I see by the thread that it's not something that can be taken for granted {{hugs}} to those experiencing difficulties

Little one just rousing so will have to go x

KiwiKate - I think it is bubbles who is having trouble with dd1. My dd1 - almost 3 - has been pretty good so far. Her overwhelming 'helpfulness' can be a bit frustrating for me and I have had to put Alice out of DD1's reach for fear she might cover her head in a blanket or try again to put a metal hairclip into her hair I have Alice sleeping in her lie-flat pushchair, in the kitchen.

I'm also sorry to those who have had breast feeding problems. It seems so unfair that it is easy to some people and that the boobs are unobliging for others. I hope you can get the help/support you need/want or else feel happy with how you are feeding your baby.

yes, Beatie - It was Bubbles who was having troubles with dd1.

Sorry about Tom's cold Pooka. Grace also has one. Not too bad in the day, but night time is a nightmare. Everytime I put her down she clogs up and can't breathe, so someone has to stay up with her all night to ensure that she is not in a lying down position. GGGGGGRRRRRRRR. At least she gets some sleep this way. Hope Tom gets better soon.