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?

Ouch MrsS, I had thrush with DS2 and its very sore as you'll well know. Have you been given daktarin? I remember dreading each feed as I knew I'd have that awful stabbing pain, but when it goes the relief to feed normally is immense!

Great news about Bob!!!! Hopefully you'll get into a nice routine at home and bf will progress, sounds like he's doing well feeding from you periodically, am sure he'll adapt with the right guidance if you need it. Not long now!!!!!

Colic no better, went to GP to get it confirmed in case I'd misdiagnosed it, but he said it was colic. Nothing can be sure to help and often he said that things like infacol are just a prop to make parents feel they are doing something and if it helps it can just be down to timing, i.e it would have got better anyway. Not sure what causes it DF, there are no certain answers on it. But one thing for sure is I can hear and feel the air bubbles in his tummy. I think his latch is good, he feeds well and he's gaining good weight - over 10lbs now. Just need to ride the storm and hope it goes at the 12wk mark

Lavita -I know I've been thinking a lot about c&g - It puts all our woes into perspective doesn't it

lavita ikwym about being a fountain. It squirts out at times but generally leaks almost all the time. I've gone through 2 packs of breast pads and it's not two weeks. Has anyone tried lilypadz or the like.

Went to MW again for Bea's obs and had my stitches checked out, my lochia odour has changed and they took a swab and referred me to GP just came back they didn't even look at me just prescribed antibiotics that are known to give me a nasty case of thrush. Felt a bit frustrated as I would prefer to avoid them. Going to get advice from MW tomorrow. Gah!

DF sorry I got Bob's name mixed up, very excited for you, my SIL found msintaining the routine set by the nicu helpful, she also continued to express for the first night feed so her DH could do it while she went to bed early. Hope it all goes well for you.

It's an absoloute joy having showers after not being able to reach my feet for months. A bit weird without a bump.

I think colic may have arrived in our household. Bea is full of the farts and gurgly tummy and is screaming for the first time and all the jiggling in the world isn't settling her. Awww it must be awful not to be able to sort out something so uncomfortable. We keep burping her and she keeps belching just not sure where the air is coming from.

her last feed was at 8pm and she was due at 10pm for her next one and is too wound up to latch. DH is trying a warm shower with her. She is winded well during and after her feeds, but I think she's gulping air down at other times and it sets her tummy off. We do have an abundance of milk at home and I had a pint with my lunch, it may have set her off.

Hi all,

DD had major tantrums yesterday - largely down to her being tired I think, but nonetheless, it reduced me to tears (as does everything at the moment!). I think I overdid it a bit on Weds - we were out shopping for about 3 hours - as my pelvic floor has been killing me if I stand up ever since. Good news is it's not my stitches hurting and the mw said she was very happy with how they were healing.

I'm braving my first day alone with DD and DS as DH had to go back to work today. I'm missing him loads but all's going well so far. HV has been and checked Matthew's hearing which was all good.

Anyone else ridiculously teary all the time? I'll cry at anything right now, but I don't feel sad about anything.

lavita thanks for the reminder about C&G - yesterday must have been so hard for her and her family. I remember reading her news and it put the fear of god into me about my LO. It is such a tragedy and I can only hope that the new year brings them some peace and happiness.

DuellingF This is the light I bought www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/sp+Auto-Fade-Light+A3077

maxpower gotta love the hormones!
I had a teary few days in the second week. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I just feel incredibly tired now. I hope your first day alone with the little ones went well.

DD had her BCG injection yesterday and she didn't even cry, just squirmed a bit. I was impressed as I had the boob out in case she bawled!!

Wishing you all a healthy and happy new year.

I wonder if any of our Dec/Jan babies will arrive tonight?

Hello everyone. kelle hope Bea has settled for you now.

I've been quite teary on and off this week, mainly about William's feeding although it is finally starting to turn a corner and he is latching a good 50% of the time now. His latch is pretty poor and I'm trying to get him to open his mouth wider so if anyone has any good ideas please let me know.

Also terrified with reducing the pumping my mastitis could come back, especially as William is not always draining the breast thoroughly and I don't know when to express after a feed.

max I am dreading first day on own with DD and DS, especially as still trying to sort the feeding issues. Poor DD, I feel like I am really neglecting her at times. She has watched so much peppa pig in the past two weeks. She is a bit more tantrummy than normal, some days are better than others.

Lavita I have been thinking of Cheese and her little girl too.

thanks stenogirl about the hormones!

WLL I've survived my first day with DD and DS - DD has been very good all day, with a little help from cbeebies but we even found time for her and I to make some cookies together this afternoon. However, as I'm bottle feeding, feeding times can be anticipated, are generally shorter and aren't at all stessful whereas breastfeeding can be so much harder work. FWIW I think you're doing really well sticking with it.

DF really pleased for you that you have Bob home.

Happy New Year everyone!

Are we still waiting on any December babies? We should do an updated stats list with names and weights.

I hope everyone has an amazing 2011, what were your high points of 2010?

Mine were getting engaged in Hawaii in March and on my 30th birthday in April finding out I was pregnant. Lows were actually being pregnant, I hated it but then the high of actually having my girls here safe

We should update the stats thread with the new arrivals, who was doing the updates?

Bea still seems colicky after her evening feeds before she settles down for the long night time sleep. Just trying lots of different techniques to help her. Finally her obs are done and we can settle into life without spending 2 hours at the MW's for the obs.

The best thing this year is Bea by far, everything else pales into insignificance.

I am teary over the most daft of things. A really nice congrats card from an old friend. Even cried at Sound of Music last night, quite a few times.

It's so hard to resist stroking her cheek when she sleeps, it's so soft and fuzzy. And the way she watches me when she drifts to sleep in my arms. I could watch her forever.

Hi Kelle - Sorry Bea seems colicy still. Jude is pretty bad here, its now extending to the mornings as well and he just doesn't settle well. I hate hearing the air gurgling around him, poor wee guy. I've tried infacol, dentinox and now going to try gripe water. I've also got an appt with an osteopath on tuesday who specialises in babies. You never know, it may help. She says she often sees babies who are unsettled when the second stage of labour is fast. Mine was 10 mins, so quite fast. She also descibed his symptoms well, i.e tense body, flailing arms and legs, always figeting, and obviously the crying. Like you kelle, jude often exhausts himself and does a good 5 hour or so sleep from 10pm ish... Its suh a shame as he was such a relaxed baby until week 3. Things that help Jude are being in the sling, dummy (when he takes it) and a warm bath...

Hopefully 2011 will be a great year for us all! Jude is here and that is the best thing possible . My other two boys are happy and healthy (although we had a quick trip to minor injuries today with Ds1 ). DH has a job - horraaayyy!!! So all good. I find out if I'm redundant or not on the 10th Jan, and I'm hoping I manage to keep my role. If so then it will be a lovely start to the year.

How is Bob DF - was thinking about you bringing him home yesterday.

Lavita, I was also thinking of you - are the girls quite similar? They are ID are they? Two sets of twins I know (same gender) are so different in temperament and size! One boy has size 11 feet when the other size 8! Big height difference too.

I've been teary too, I think its getting better though but get all emotional at small things...

Ooops, meant to day they aren't ID are they?

Evening. I just had a bath . Midwife came today and showed me where I was going wrong with the breastfeeding. Bob hasn't had a bottle of expressed milk since 5am. He does sleep a lot though which is weird as I thought he would be awake every 2 hours. I think it's because of the hospital routine of 4 hourly feeds, maybe it will change now he's more on the breast. Nights are a different matter, he seems a lot more active then.

DH's mum and dad were here today and stayed ages which was ok really, I even managed to take his mum to Sainsbury quickly and leave the baby with DH. I was quite happy to get the baby back though, it's strange having other people take him off you and hold him for ages. My mum hasn't seen him yet as she has a really bad cold and she's scared he will get it.

It's weird because Bob is now 11 days old but we've only had full care of him for 2. The night we spent at the neonatal unit was awful as there's an air vent in their family room which makes a racket all night. I was so relieved to get out of there.

I've been thinking of C&G too.

hello all - hope its not too late to crash this thread!

my beautiful girl is seven days old today, born at 00:15 on christmas morning after a long labour. ended up with ventouse and episiotomy...not ideal as she was pretty much 'at the door' but due to her head getting stuck and her umbilical cord being across her body she was being pulled back at every push...sigh!

anyway, she's a dream during the day but tends to get quite wound up at night - wakeful and demanding of attention. i'm finding the tiredness is really getting to me and have been quite ratty and very, very emotional. its my first baby so every moment is a completely new experience and its utterly overwhelming. i just look into these tiny eyes and am amazed...then i start crying!

Just wondered, how often are your babies feeding? Bob only seems to want to feed every 4-5 hours and it just doesn't seem to be often enough.

Hi all, Caleb is doing well, now 10 days old, he doesn't yet have a feeding routine, he'll go up to 3hrs, but sometimes only an hour, luckily we are now getting a couple of 3hr stretches at night which helps, but only when hes in bed with us, so I'm trying to get him into a longer sleeping routine before we get him fully in his moses basket, although he's spending a couple of sessions per night in his basket. Where does everyone elses baby settle?
dd is being tricky at times, quite demanding and a bit stroppy, but shes still getting over a cold which doesn't help. Will be easier when shes back at school on wednesday, and I'm trying to give her time for just her too.
I just want to sit and cuddle caleb lots though - i love nuzzling his soft head!

wanted to share this with you all;

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
For children grow up we've learned to our sorrow.
Quiet down cobwebs, dust, go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies won't keep

DF - am feeding mine every three hours. after doing things 'on demand' for the first few days she's pretty much settled into this routine now, although she can want to feed more in the evenings. you can wake baby to feed if you think it needs to be more frequent. have you spoken to your MW about it?

littleB - my bab will settle in her moses basket after 7pm feed but wants to be in bed with DH and i after her 10pm feed. last night we managed to get her to sleep in the moses basket after she fed again at 3am, but some nights only bed with us will do. tbh they are so young i really don't think it matters. i read all these books about sleep and developing 'good' sleeping habits - and started to panic a bit - but figured its about making everyone happy and comfortable. and i love the poem btw

Hey LittleB Bob seems to like his moses basket more than his crib but spends a lot of time in our arms or in our bed.

I've just had a breastfeeding person round who has advised me to wake him for feeds so I will. I am pretty sure it's the stupid hospital routine. She says he is still above his birth weight but has lost 30gms since we took him home - not much but not something he can keep doing. She's also suggested I top him up with 20 ml at night. Not sure what to do as we just got him off the bottles.

Happy new year everyone - hope it brings you everything you wish for!

welcome and congratulations rudbekia we were only saying the other day that we didn't have any Christmas day babies on here. Lots of newborns are a bit nocturnal to start with, you'll probably find your DD settles down a bit over the next week. I sympathise with the crying - my DS is 2 weeks old today and today is the first day I haven't cried at something (or nothing)

DF with DD and now with DS I very much went by feeding on demand for quite a long time - don't be too worried if Bob goes longer than you'd expect between feeds. Newborns are very sleepy. Matthew slept for 6 hours in the middle of the day yesterday - but after that he woke for food religiously every 3 hours. IME babies don't let themselves go hungry.

littleb I'm lucky in that DS settles well pretty much anywhere - he sleeps in a crib in our room at night although he is sometimes a little restless after his last night feed and can do with a cuddle to get back to sleep. Sometimes I leave him in bed with me but I try to keep him in his crib as much as possible at night. Re feeding routine, I didn't bother with setting up a routine with DD until she slept through the night.

kelle and chooster sorry your LO's are suffering with colic - must be quite distressing all round.

I've spent 2 nights sewing labels into DD's school uniform - I can't believe my little baby girl is off to big school! I'm anticipating floods of tears (from me!) on Weds!

lavita 2010 was pretty good to me and my family and it's wonderful to have added Matthew to our brood. For this year, I'm hoping DH passes his gateway exams next month and that I hang on to my job while on ML. If we manage that, I'll have no complaints!

Hi everyone,

It's great to have a post natal thread to share experiences and ensure we don't go crazy during these mental weeks!

Regarding the sleeping and eating questions we have no routine here! Still feeding on demand and demand is pretty high, Isabel sleeps well during the day but is bright and alert from about 2am - 6am I'm not sure how to reverse this. She will go down in her moses basket during the day but won't have any of it at night, she also 'talks' in her sleep all the time so co-sleeping doesn't work as any noise she makes I'm wide awake at. Apparently i was the same and i was put into my own room at 3 weeks

Are any of you expressing milk so your DH/DP can do a feed? I'd really like to do this but I'm worried about disturbing BF. any advice gladly received!

hey kittybump my breastfeeding person has advised I express after breastfeeding and give 20mls to bob before we go to bed (just after a breastfeed) as a top-up. I don't know if this is because she just thinks it's a good idea to help us get more sleep or if it's because he's not feeding as often as he should. I am not sure if I want to as we just managed to get him off the bottles!

Bea demand feeds and is 2-3 hours in the evening and from 11pm it's 4-5 hours. We wake her if it's any longer, but generally she wakes us. I am a light sleeper so I hear her tongue poking and usually wake her fully for her feed, she's set the routine herself and it seems reasonable for now.

She feeds for abou 15-25 minutes and only from one breast.

We have a crib by the bedside. She will go down for the first half of the night but sometimes she will settle down with us for the second half, we have a microwaveable hot bot and put it on her patch in the crib so she has a warm spot to go onto and it can help her settle smoothly.

DF my neice was on the same routine as you after a month in nicu and SIL did a top up before bedtime so she'd sleep through.

Rudbeckia great to hear about your christmas arrival.

thanks for the welcome!

KB - its really interesting to read that your DD is wakeful from 2-6am...mine tends also to be most alert and bright during these hours too! last night was the first night she slept from a 3am feed through to 7pm!!! i have been told its because she was born at night.

is anyone/has anyone felt moments of absolute panic? DD is doing really well, saw the MW again today and she is very pleased with her progress etc. one more visit and they will be discharging us...eeek! i know the HV takes over, but the MW's at our local unit have been so caring and such a protective presence that the thought of not having them 'on call' is really quite scary.

DH is a teacher so i've been lucky to have him here this first week as part of his xmas hols, and he's got the coming week off as paternity leave. i'm worried how i'm going to cope when he goes back full-time - he's been just brilliant. its the little things like taking DD out on my own - in the car, out in the buggy, shopping etc. i'm sure i'll be fine, but the thought overwhelms me right now. the fact that i'm still pretty sore doesn't help....