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?

CJmummy you can see this is like a mobu, im mega excited to have my new one arrive, this green one I can then gift for DP's usage or when im walking the dog :)

and this is who i bought my one from today and is the cheapest ive seen them

moby wrap

Hey all tried to get to my local BF support group but was 45 minutes late as Bea had a big pee which managed to escape her nappy and soaked her and me, quick wash and change of clothes made us late. Planning on trying for next week now. Went to a small local cafe to do a feed as she was squalling by then. I wear layers vest that pulls under my nursing bra, a t-shirt and a droopy cardi and was rather discrete even though Bea wanted to watch everyone around her. I also take a muslin or two as she has a habit of quaffing and making a mess of my clothes. Bought some cheap stretchy vests in next for £1.50 each in a variety of colours, saves flaunting the flab :)

OWO hugs to you about your group making you feel bad. I have decided that if group doesn't go well I am going to try a private lactation consultant, as I also feel a bit insecure about my latch.

I am going to look uo the moby sling in a bit. I am getting on wellnwith the car seat and buggy, and getting out the house, well as long as it's not before 12!

Wecome to those that have recently joined.

GGG I can't make my mind up between itti bitti tutto's or sized SIO or Bum Genius or tots bits. May end up with a mixed stash. Can I ask how many you have? Just as a guide, shops have recommended 15-20 to start... Sounds like a lot...

been interesting to read about the breastfeeding groups - so sorry to hear some have been negative. i thought the whole point of them was to offer support?! i would go with the advice of the HV and midwife, personally. i have been given a leaflet by my HV about a group local to me. not sure about going along just yet with DD just two weeks old, but it is something i might brave in a week or so.

DD really unsettled this evening. she's cluster-fed for the first time since being born and is resisting being put down at all. i suppose the only saving grace is that its this side of midnight...not sure what i'm going to do if it continues into the small hours. my nerves are feeling totally shot by her crying, and it breaks my heart when i can't seem to stop it . no sign of pain/legs up/colic...she just seems to be fighting sleep like a trooper and my goodness she's got a pair of lungs on her! just feeling very fragile and emotional right now...

:) I remember with DD1 and DD2 struggling to be out of the house by 12 now I have to be at school by 8.50 every day and manage, somehow... (with a lot of help to feed and clothe everyone from the husband) :)

rudbekia big (((hugs))) my DD2 was a lot like that most evenings and it was soul destroying at the time hope she calms down soon for you x

WSS thank you! i know it wont last, at least. she's generally a very 'good' baby and gives me very little trouble at all. thank goodness for my DH who is doing his best to calm her down and free me up from 'duty' for a few hours.

Thanks OWO They look fab - off to buy one!!

Brought one!!!

OWO they do look fab, tho I will pop to the nearest baby store to try it. My boobs were the problem with the babasling.

Sent DH to bed early as he has hardly any sleep recently. Bea and I watched Dirty Dancing and made some banana muffins. she's now asleepon my lap and plan to head to bed soon.

Hi everyone! THought I would let you know that my DD finally decided to arrive on Thursday! She is named Evelyn Elaine Rose and weighed in at 9lb 14oz!

She's totally worth the wait and the hard work though! Delivery suite was packed when we arrived on Thursday, they kept me waiting in the foyer having intense contractions every two minutes for over half an hour. Then they put me in triage on a monitor. Finally got to the pool room about 3ish, took a further half hour before a midwife managed to get to us. They were actually talking about closing the unit and turning away any new patients because they were so swamped!

Labour was much quicker than it was with DS, but much MUCH harder. Pushing at the end was intense and uncontrollable, but she got a bit wedged. It seems that she had her arm up alongside her head and this was stopping her from getting all the way down. MW encorouged me to change position and we guess this made her move her arm, as she came down very quickly after this. She was born in the water, and I was the first person to touch her, picked her out the water and sat there cuddling until the placenta came out a few minutes later then they cut the cord. Felt incredibly weak and shaky after so it took me ages to get out the pool.

So I had about 4hrs established labour as I was 4cm at3pm and she was born at 7.09. She's gorgeous but so shockingly big! She has the most enormous cheeks I've ever seen on a baby. Can tell she had her arm up by her head as she had a ridge running down the side of her head and has a bruise on her hand where it got squished. Had a shallow 2nd degree tear which the MWs said will heal fine without stitches, so in that sense I'm a lot more comfortable than I was after having DS. Unfortunately getting her out has damaged the ligaments in my pelvis, so I'm on crutches at the moment and in a bit of pain with that.

Feeding is ok in that I can get her latched on, but it is very painful, so hoping to see someone soon as my poor nips are already struggling. Milk came in yesterday, which seems REALLY early!

Anyway, DD crying hope you are all well :)

Congratulations Queenofdreams lovely name

I've got one twin asleep and other wide awake and I'M STARVING!!!!

Welcome to everyone new

owo sorry to hear that the group was less than helpful. I used nipple shields for a while with dd and then stopped once the latch was okay and my nipples had recovered. I'd go with hv advice on this one as they actually have medical training.

rudbekia sometimes babies just cry and there's nothing you can do to help. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong or that you've failed. It can be quite hard to keep sight of that when you're exhausted though

qod congrats, what an impressive weight as well. I posted in the first page or so of this thread about sore nipples in the first few days and got lots of helpful comments from others on here so it might be worth looking back at that.

Hello to everyone else, hope it is all going okay. I've broken out the washable nappies today so wish me luck!

Hello, Holly has got little socks on for the first time and is trying out her sock ons which a friend bought and they are fab :)

QoD congratulations, love the name.

QoD - congrats, what a huge baby! well done and a lovely name. my milk came in within 24hrs which seemed mad at the time but according to my MW it does happen.

last night was crappy again. DD awake on and off from about 1.30am to 4am...she alternated between sleeping for about an hour (if that) and crying for up to 20mins at a time, then drifting in and out of sleep. she just really fights it at night and often seems wide awake. am feeling utterly shattered today, really hoping for a quiter night tonight...

93pjb thanks for the reassurance. i don't think it would be quite so bad if it was during the day - the night seems to make everything seem louder and more distressing. i know we'll get there in the end, i know its ok, she's ok...i suppose two weeks of broken nights are beginning to take their toll! (and yes, i also know there are lots more to come!!!)

DD two weeks old today - time is flying already!

Congrats QoD - very happy for you & absolutely gorgeous name! Evelyn was a favourite of ours too :)

kellesta We do have about 25 reusables but several different types, which actually works quite. As well as the Itti Bittis, we've got some small terry squares, some Green Baby shaped & some Imse Vimse shaped. The Green Baby ones (farm & paw print ones) are particularly good.

congratulations QOD

took DD and DS out on my own for a few hours today. a nice man in the cafe we stopped at told me I had 2 lovely children [glowing with pride emoticon]

Congratulations QoD great weight and I like the name :)

rudbekia hang on in there, it does get easier honestly. I can't remember if you are BF, but if you are you could bring her into bed with you and learn to feed lying down. There's a good link on how to do it on kellymom here: www.mother-2-mother.com/tut-layingdown.htm

In fact, Kellymom is a brilliant resource for BF info, found it invaluable with DD and have gone back to it again this time. The forums are v helpful too.

I am sore! Really sore. Was thinking latch had improved slightly on one side and am trying to be very careful, but now having a lot of burning pain between feeds which makes me suspect I may have thrush. Not surprising really given I've had antibiotics for mastitis and both nipples are cracked - perfect conditions for breeding thrush. Feeding on left side is very painful. Not sure how long I can put up with it for, but BF is really important to me so going to hang in until William's tongue tie appointment on Tuesday. I may have to express though as latching is too sore on the left. :(

WLL i am BF - very, very lucky as no probs in this area...have tried the feeding lying down thing but was a bit all over the place so thanks for the link - have to be careful with DD, if she 'overfeeds' she just spews it all up again! she's kinda in a 3 to 4hr 'routine', any less than 3hrs and she and i end up wearing undigested milk...hmmm! that combined with leaky boobs has meant two changes of top half today. i swear my washing machine is going to give up at this rate!
try and hang in there - get some probiotics to help with the thrush. i've read its easily treated. i think you are very brave to keep going with all the stuff you've had to contend with x

good luck WLL you've done brilliantly to last this long

rudbekia my symapthies on the sleeplessness - my DH is on nights this weekend so it means I have no sleep all night with Matthew then have DD to entertain all day - roll on Tuesday.....

Bob is knackered. We've had a really busy day with lots of visitors and visiting. Firstly DH's dad rang really early to say he was coming over! I've only met him a few times since DH and I ot married but he's so super chuffed that he has a grandchild that I think he's determined to be involved. So he was here for a few hours, then my sister and a friend of DH's. This evening we went to visit some friends who have been so lovely and supportive throughout the ivf, pregnancy and birth.

So now he's flaked out after huge feeds (many in a row) and I am hoping he'll stay asleep for at least another hour or two!

We're planning a quieter day tomorrow.

yesterday a man in the doctor's surgery gave me 20p saying 'some silver for the baby'

Huge sympathy WLL - that sounds horrible, so well done for sticking with it!

This might sound terrible but I've given up on the idea of maintaining a dry upper half for now as I'm just way too leaky & can't be contained by even the enormous washable pads! I have resigned myself to spending most of the day with a soggy top.

We went almost 4 hours between two of our feeds today!

QOD Congratulations on the birth of Evelyn; it was also one of my favorite names! Caitlin was born the same way - hand and arm up by her head which made the pushing part the hardest work i have ever done in my life! Thankfully, labour was short (6 hrs)and all went to plan, thanks to a wonderful midwife! Milk came in early too and she's feeding really well at the moment which I am grateful for.

We have Bambino Mio reusables - bought them when we had DS and used them until he was nearly 2. Haven't started them with Caitlin yet but will do soon. I found them good although not great for night time - tended to leak with DS at night and far too much faff to change when my eyes would barely open at 3am .

Rudbekia DS (3) cluster fed throughout the night for the first 4 weeks and as he was my first, I was not expecting it. It was soul destroying and I just thought that i didn't have enough milk so supplemented with formula. It wasn't until I discovered Mumsnet and Kellymom that I realised it was completely normal! So with Caitlin, I just accept that is the way it is and keep her with me for the duration. She seems to have her feeding frenzy 7pm-midnight at the moment. I'm lucky in that DH is wonderful and will cook tea, sort DS etc but I have just bought a Moby sling for when DH is at work and I have to deal with a feeding frenzy and demanding toddler at the same time!!

DH and kids currently asleep so taking this opportunity to chill out. My mom and her friend are here for dinner today and DH back at work tomorrow.

Does anyone else's washing machine seem to be on permanently since their new DC arrived?? Mine is crying out for a rest.