December 2010 - Merry Christmas new babies!

[Chooster]

Hi, I couldn't see a post-natal thread but as we grow in numbers we'll need a place to chat!

All good here... Jude is now 5 days old and such a wonderful good baby. Mind you he must think he's been born in the Arctic as it was -16 outside this morning in Edinburgh. Brrrrrrr - Its not always this cold Jude .

How's everyone else getting on?

Sounds like a day in my house maxpower! Ds who is 6 still pushes us and does that laughing thing as well sometimes and it drives me even more mad. Have you tried making her bed times earlier. That's what I did.with ds2 when he was waking too early. I thought that at least if he was getting up early he wouldnt be too shattered. Oddly enough when I put him to bed earlier he started to get up later! I think because he was nicely rested and more relaxed so slept longer. He may be unique though but worth a try perhaps?

My little Jude has hardly slept today however... very wide awake in my arms now. The only time he slept well was on his tummy in my bed but I had to wake him after an hour for the school run ..... I felt awful doing that to him.

Hi to everyone!

Hi again everyone.
SOunds like there've been some tough days on the thread :(
I have yet to face handling both DC on my own thankfully as I can't do things like pick DS up or walk while holding Evelyn. We're drafting in MIL and BIL to help. Idea is BIL will be 'on call' in case of emergency then MIL will come straight over after dropping her DD off at school. Not sure what will happen about evenings yet though.

Midwives came and weighed Evelyn for her final check today. MW's jaw dropped and she asked what I'm putting in my milk! Pudding has gained 12oz in 6 days! So she's now 11 days old and weighs 10lb 10oz. Have long since given up trying to put her in newborn clothes :( she is firmly in 0-3 and frankly will outgrow some of them soon at this rate. It's kind of sad having such a big baby!

Hi everyone, not been on for ages. Hope you and LOs are all doing well. Is there a stats thread or similar anywhere so I can catch up on all the births? We're good here, Caitlin is just adorable, has the most beautiful smile and big huge eyes. We were warned we would have resentment problems with ds2 but it's been quite the opposite. Both boys dote on their little sister, sometimes a bit too much! She is a grunter at night which causes problems for dp. I can sleep through her odd noises, but he can't, so I'm, kept awake all night by his tossing and turning (which he can't do gently )and his constant huffing and puffing over her noises. She only wakes once during the night at somewhere between 1 & 3. She'll be awake for about an hour (during which time dp is asleep) before going back down. She can now wind herself during the day but unfortunately not at night, hence the hour of being awake, ah well that will come in time.

I am nowhere near pre-preg size. I've lost 2 stone since having DD - over a stone was just from the birth though but still have another 2 1/2 stone to go to get to pre-preg weight and another 1/2 after that to get to where I'd like to be, I bought a couple of pairs of jeans from New Look, were only a tenner but don't look cheap and fit really well, although still a little tight round my very floppy belly. Top wise, I've gone from a 34C/36B pre preg to a 40D currently!!! I hate nursing bras and the total lack of support that they have, I'mnot looking forward to the saggy mess when dd finishes bf.

MrsSL Food has always been an issue with both boys, but we are really getting there with ds1, ds2 (5) is mostly due to stubbornness. We have a time limit of once ds1, who is quite a slow eater, has finished, then dinner is over and this has been working quite well. We've also brought in a new rule this week as he has been exceptionally bad after coming back from his dads where he has 3 strikes and he's out. If he has to be told off about anything at te table he gets a warning, and on the 3rd he gets down and cannot continue or join in any conversation. HTH

I'm another dog poo hater, there's a field over by us that has lots of football pitches, we often take the boys over to play football or ride their bikes but have now stopped as one of them would always come home with poo on them. A lot of dog owners here are very irresponsible, giving the responsible ones a bad name. I had a ruck in a park with a man a couple of weeks ago as his dog was tearing about chasing the zip wire and knocked both boys flying. despite it being a childrens play area and signs all over saying dogs must be kept on leads he seemed to think I was BU for asking him to put the dog on lead and he thought it was a suitable place to let the dog run about. And then went into another part of the park and one man came up to us to warn us of the dog poo on the slide.

JUst reading through and saw OWOs post from last week. Your HV is right, BF babies don't always poo every day. DS1 pooed every 5 days, so Ruby sounds normal poo-wise to me. Hope you are getting on better now with BF,I found it harder 2nd time round.

I'm just adding some pics of DD on my profile

hiya, only just found this thread! DS was born 12th dec. still struggling with trying to get him to sleep and get him to burp, he's so windy and its awful when he cries and i can't do anything to help :( everyone keeps saying by 6 weeks everything will be settled but thats only a few days away now so i think they were lying. hows everyone else coping?

I've started a stats thread here

tried to track down as many births as I could from the other threads but am bound to have missed a few so please add yourself if I have missed you.

1lumpor2 I will add you to the stats now :)
Sorry to hear about the wind, my baby is windy too and I find it hard to burp him.

Bob now weighs 9lb 3oz! Almost a pound in a week!

1lumpor2 I sympathise with the winding, Bea is windy too, but starting to get the hang of burping her, we seem most successful with the folding back and forth action [imagine row row row your boat action]. She's getting quicker to wind now. I think it can last from 3 weeks to 3 months once their digestive system can cope much better. Bea has odd nights were she's really colicky and the next night she can be fine. I have cut out caffine, was soooo looking forwards to the latte's again :) and I've also reduced the amount of milk I drink. I normally have a pint with my breakfast and usually a pot of bio youghurt with fruit and nuts. It's certainly making a difference for me, anyway. Don't know if it's a fluke or not.

Just been down to register Bea. It's official now, I am quite chuffed and she was a little angel as well.

I've started to sing nursery rhymes at Bea, had to look up some of them to get the right words. Never thought I'd forget how incy wincy spider ends! :) but that is now her favourite and she loves watching me sing it. She's also liking if your happy and you know it. DH was laughing at me last night when he came home from work as I really can't sing well. But he was impressed when it calmed her down for a nappy change. Still don't think he'll start singing just yet, but I think there will come a time when he can't calm her and has to resort to singing.

DF that is great weight gain, you must be really happy with that. HV should be here any moment to do Bea's next weigh in, can't weight to see how much she's put on.

yeah, ive cut out chocolate :( which seems to be helping. and sometimes gripe water gets up the burps. DS weighs 12lb, what a bruiser!

Well, had nightmare day yesterday . DD normally cluster feeds of an evening which is fine as DH is home to help with DS. However, she did it from 10am-9pm - every hour!! Poor old DS wanted me to play and when I couldn't, he would play up. Then I would shout at him, he would cry - nightmare!
Is there a secret to entertaining a toddler whilst your newborn is clamped to your chest?? I have a moby but not yet worked out how to feed DD in it yet.

Re: 'Relations' DH has offered to get the snip which is what we had agreed prior to DD's arrival. We don't want anymore but Idon't want to rule it out permanently - does that make sense? I only ever wanted 2 which I have and feel very lucky for this. I think I just feel a little sad knowing I will never have a newborn again . Anyone else feel like this?
With DS I couldn't wait for him to develop onto the next stage and grow, but with DD it somehow feels different.

welcome and congratulations 1lumpor2 I'd second kellestar 's suggestion about 'rocking' your DS to help with wind. I find gently jiggling Matthew up and down often generates a burp quite quickly.

well done for sorting out the stats thread DF and well done Bob for a fab weight gain.

woke up in a foul mood this morning, I think I was still upset about DD's tantrum last night. But today's been ok with her so far, so fingers crossed.

in case any of you are interested and have missed the adverts, Asda are doing another of their baby events at the mo.

congrats on registering Bea kellestar

my sympathies CJ I was having a 'mare with DD yesterday. I can totally understand your sadness at the finality of completing your family. DH and I have thought about having a 3rd DC (if we're lucky) at some point - if DD's horrendous behaviour doesn't put me off - so we're not quite there yet

argh so tired :( William is feeding 24/7 suddenly, up all night, DD been v sweet today and gone for nap but W has been on boob ever since, can't feed lying down as he chomps, I take him off and he screams, won't sleep other than in sling. I need some sleeeep! :(

WLL am right there with you!

WLL big hugs xxx i hope this episode doesn't last too long - growth spurt maybe??! hang on in there!

HV clinic today - DD three and half weeks old and weight at 9lbs 6 1/2 oz and 56.5cm long ! she was busy showing off her new sounds and smile to the HV...little flirt...whilst i mostly get the grimbly face replete with bottom lip. oh well!

feel i have to comment on the weather again. absolutely glorious here today - blue sky and sun! really enjoyed our walk to the shop to buy the paper. shame it was bloody freezing overnight.

final thing - completely non-baby related...if you like your curry grab a copy of Madhur Jaffrey's new book 'Curry Easy' - fab recipes that taste amazing without too much fuss or bother

hugs WLL I hope William lets up so you can get some sleep tonight. Well done to your DD for being so good for you.

thanks chooster tried your suggestion of moving DD's bedtime earlier last night - it worked ok this monring (she slept until her alarm went - halleluja) We'll keep it up and see how we get on. She told me she was tired when she got in from school. Normally she denies being tired no matter what.

went to the supermarket today and as we got to the till, Matthew started screaming his head off he was making such a racket they sent a member of staff to help me pack, probably desperate for us to leave!

Like William, Bob has been waking more often in the night. Hope it's just a growth spurt!

I managed to meet up with the NCT people today which was lovely. All the babies are so different. A couple have loads of hair, one so much it's crazy! Bob has a few strands but I recon it will be months until he has a full head of hair.

All of us are breastfeeding and successfuly as far as I can tell. We went for a walk around a local park after lunch which was strange, six women with their buggies all marching through the park

CJMommy that's some cluster feed!

Hope you've caught up on some sleep Wholelottalove

Re: "relations" I'm terrified of falling pregnant again. My periods started up again this week - great

I've lost loads of weight. I'm half a stone lighter than before I got pregnant. It's a combo of not drinking and breastfeeding, I think.

I'm still in my own personal hell with mastitis. Antibiotics have reduced the inflammation a bit but I can't seem to shift the blocked duct and I've had a rough few days what with long baths and showers, massaging boobs, dangle feeding and cabbage leaves and at the moment I've got raw potato slices in my bra - it's so glamorous :(
Any tips or old wives' tales gratefully received...

DuelingFanjo Glad breastfeeding is going well and you got out and about.

Our Hannah has hair at the back but it's scrappy on top. We could comb it over like a balding old man would

Anyone cut their little one's fingernails yet? I tried but cut Hannah's thumb instead. Bad mummy.

Thanks for the stats thread DF.

Stenogirl try biting her nails instead, much easier.

I got my contraception sorted for the short term. I'm on the mini-pill until I make up my mind what to do long term. Only thing is I have to take 2 tablets because of my weight . DP keeps reassuring me that I don't look fat, I hope I don't.

Anyone have a Close baby carrier? If so how are you getting on with it? I'd read how fab they were and was really looking forward to using it but I'm really struggling, so currently have £40 worth of material sat on top of the guinea pig hutch.

I thought I would try to post up my birth story,at long last, if you are interested in home birth and want to know the pitfalls, lol. It is quite long, sorry.

As some of you might remember, baby was due 12 December and I had a long wait, I felt like I wasted the whole festive season just waiting around and having people on call for no good reason, spoiling theirs, too! However, cervix was not favourable and baby and me fit so I declined induction.

On 31st, DH who was fed up with it all declared his intention to go out for Hogmanay and make up for it all by having a blow out good time. I had finally managed to have a sweep the day before followed by reflexology, and was feeling a bit niggly, so I told him not to make any definite plans. Just as well. At around 6pm I could not eat my dinner, went to the bathroom and found I was leaking waters- hurray!

By 7 I was having mild contractions and they were quite manageable and irregular till about 10, we got our stuff ready but DP was faffing about getting the pool ready, he found leak in the pool and had to repair it. Instead of relaxing I found myself getting irritated with him and more anxious and I couldn't settle. At around 10 contractions were closer and more regular so we called our Doula. Shortly after she arrived, about 11, the contractions really kicked off and I was desperate for the pool and G&A, we called the midwife but she took an hour to arrive and when she did was really annoying. By this time I was desperate and getting out of control, I could not talk to anyone and refused to cooperate with the midwife. The Doula reckoned I must have been about 7 cm at that stage. At last I could get into the pool, have G&A and try to get in my "zone" but after only about 1/2 hour the G&A ran out then suddenly the pool collapsed. I had to get out and manage the contractions with no pain relief. DP could't be with me cos he was cleaning up a flood. The annoying midwife could not find another &G&A ( although it turns out there was one) and called the hospital for another. After another long wait the second midwife turned up with G&A, I guess this was around 1.30 am. After about an hour that G&A ran out as well. I am sure I was in transition at that point, I was making a lot of noise and feeling totally out of control ( ok I was screaming, vomiting, pooing and crying). I kicked the midwife when she performed an examination and would not talk to her. In fact I behaved like a toddler having a screaming tantrum - not proud of myself! Thank god for having the doula - she was my rock that I literally clung to.

I had been pushing for about 1/2 hour when her head was born at around 3am, despite the midwives telling me not to push ( they didn't say why). I could feel her head sitting there when they suddenly asked me to turn over (I was on all 4s). As soon as they said that, I knew why and panicked , but at least I did as they asked as I knew the reason. Her shoulders were stuck but fortunately as soon as I turned over and wrapped my ankles round my ears she shot out. They immediately cut the cord and whisked her off. Apparently the cord was round her neck and she was very flat. After some resus she quickly came round but they would not let me hold her or try to feed her- in fact they really didn't talk to me or ask me much and were dismissive to my doula when she asked if I could. They called an ambulance so baby could be checked at hospital and then added me to it as well as despite 2 shots of syntometrin I had a retained placenta. After the slowest, bumpiest ride ever (but with the nicest crew), I got into the hospital and the placenta came out with some manipulation.I got off lightly with only a small tear needing no stitches. Baby was pronounced fine and finally I got to properly hold her and feed her. She was thoroughly checked out and after some brilliant tea and toast and a rest we got home later that day.

I am very grateful for the professional help of the midwives in the circumstances, but as much as I know birth is a lottery, I can't help being disappointed my baby did not get her gentle birth , and that my last birth experience could not have been better managed.

However, we are moving on and I will try to catch up with chat as soon as Madam allows.

Frankenfanny wow that is a birth story! I think I'd of kicked the midwife too, I bet your DH felt a bit stressed with the bloody pool! Glad it all had a happy ending though

I'm reading but struggle to find the time to post. I'm still breast feeding the girls are 11 weeks today but only weigh 8lb and 9lb 7 they are growing really well though, it's just that they were so tiny. I'm trying to get into a routine, but it's not entirely working

Thanks for posting your birth story Ff and lols at kicking the mw. I remember with DD1 hating my mw and when she told me to push I was thinking 'I'm not doing anything you tell me to do!'

Been following the thread but only feeling slightly human again today and able to type after LO finally slept in her cot all night last night. She'll be 3 weeks on Friday and I've been co-sleeping but finding I just can't relax with her next to me. Also when I feed her lying down next to me I think we both just fall asleep so she was waking every half hour or so :( Last night I had to actually sit up to feed because she was in the cot and she slept for 3-4 hours between feeds.

Does anyone know if there's a penalty for not registering your LO within the 42 day time period? The first appointment we could get is at 44 days!

Wow frankenfanny - what an amazing story - can't belive your pool collapsed! What a nightmare - and in the midst of all the pool / gas and air drama you were trying to deal with labour! well done .

max - pleased the earlier night worked - any more joy today? It can be so tempting to make their bed times later if they get up early but it can have the opposite effect.

Cheryl - I've got the close baby carrier and love it! I've got the moby too but find the close carrier much easier and quicker to put on, although I use the moby if DS is going to be in the carrier for a long while - i.e over an hour... For those that haven't seen it its a pre-put together material wrap so the cross at your back is sewn together and you put it over your head like a jumper. Really really easy and I'd recommend it for people who dont have much time. I pop mine on under my jacket for the school run and then put DS in it to do the last walk to the school gates. When you first start using it make sure the material is all even through the rings and not twisted, and make sure you've got enough material released to get the baby in an out easily. The pop it in making sure the cross if halfway down your back. Hold the baby up against you over the material thats on the outside, then feed the leg through the inside piece... Sorry probably not explaining it well. But if the outside piece is left should to right hip, feed the babies left leg through the bottom piece and the right leg through the outside bit so there is a cross of material under the LO's bum. The support the baby and stretch the material out across the babies back. I've made this sound like a exercise from the krypton factor but it really only takes a few seconds once you've got the nag of it. If it digs in to the tops of your shoulders then spread the material out a bit more so its not just a thin band....

Anyway, I've got 20 mins before the school run and Jude is sleeping so I'm going to have a cup of tea and read my book!

Yikes I was typing too fast! Sorry for the typos! Also meant to say when you are tightening it, pull the material out in front of you and the rings will tighten.

What a story frankenfanny! Which was more annoying of the pool collapse or the G&A running out? Both sound incredibly frustrating.

Stenogirl Totally sympathise with the mastitis. Fortunately I only have it in the left one but it's agony. I can't believe I'm supposed to continue feeding with it! I'm not, just expressing to keep the milk going. Happily the other boob seems to be keeping up with demand all on its own!

I also have a slight infection in my c-section scar - boo! On the same side as the mastitis, so basically my whole left side is in pain. I only really feel vaguely human straight after a shower :(

DH has been unemployed since the middle of Nov but was supposed to start a new job on 10th Jan. It keeps being delayed though, which, although lovely and helpful for me to have him around, is a bit worrying. I'm going to miss him when he eventually does start though because he'll be working away in London for most of the week.

I love our moby. I've only used the pram once and I hated Hetty being so far away from me . We can't seem to get it positioned right on DH though, which he's very sad about. He was really looking forward to some baby wearing. It just doesn't seem to work as well without the boob-shelf.

Hello everyone

I am whinging on the BF forum. I cross-post the thread in case anyone else is having similar dramas at 6 weeks.

:(

FF that is some story, well done for coping, you star.

I will post my HB story at some point, I am still too shattered to do stuff like that though. Tom is feeding all the time and won't sleep and I am crucified by exhaustion and wishing away his newborn baby days.

:( for myself