October 2005 Babies.....

[nervousmum]

....thought i'd better start a thread as there are currently 4 of us, with several more to follow!

Joey is now 4 days old (where did the time go?!?), and is doing really well. He actually managed to sleep through with just one feed last night, though i must confess i cheated and had him in bed with me (at my MW's recommendation!) as he was so fretful the night before.

Looking forward in the coming days and weeks to welcoming the other members of the Oct 05 antenatal group to this post-natal club, so i won't feel like Billy No-Mates, talking to myself

piccalilli - i'm a new mum too, and not an expert by any means, but your baby sounds very normal, especially for a 3wk old. I think it takes a bit of time for them to get the hang of night and day.

If you're bottle feeding (i am too), it takes the baby longer to digest formula than it does breast milk, so best not to wake between feeds as the little mite is still working on her last feed, and her tummy is only small.

it certainly can't hurt to try and get some kind of night time routine going, but don't fret if it doesn't lead to baby sleeping through the night. we're trying bath,bottle,bed for the late evening feed, but natalie is following the same pattern as your baby at the mo.

don't worry - our babies will sleep eventually (at least thats what i keep telling mysefl)

Thanks Nova, I didn't know that about formula taking longer to digest - gives me ammunition for ignoring Gina F as her routine is for a breast-fed baby. I was expressing all Abigail's feeds but there just aren't enough hours in the day so she's on almost exclusively formula now.

Fastasleep - I had to hand-express colostrum too when I was in the hospital - and I ended up getting most of it over my nightie, the floor, the baby..ooops.

Piggiesmum, it's okay I wanted advice as wasn't sure whether to change her milk or not. Well she seemed fine on the hungrier baby milk but yesterday afternoon and evening had a really painful time having a poo and it was more solid than usual so I've gone back to first milk! Couldn't bear to see her struggle like that and am worried she was having problems digesting the hungrier milk. I was prepared for another night of 2 hourly feeds but she didn't do bad last night and went 4 hours and went back off after every feed so that was good.

Have my first health visitor visit in the morning and hoping I'll get ruby weighed again although I'm sure she's doing ok. She's certainly getting heavier and to look at her now it seems amazing she ever fitted in my tummy. She's 3 weeks today and can't believe how quickly it's passed.

Hope everyone else is well xxx

BBB I was just thinking that about Sophie - how on earth did she ever fit inside me. She's three weeks tomorrow and is probably not much more than 7lb but I still can't believe she came out of my "bits"! She definitely feels heavier so hoping for good news - we've got hv tomorrow too.

Meanwhile I seem to be leaking all over the place - might just have to try some of this expressing lark. My boobs feel as if they're going to burst.

Sympathy to all those feeling poorly - just what you DON'T need with a newborn.

Jockey may ai just complement you on your choice of name although my Sophia get's called 'Soupy' by DS! Also great name choice with 'Abigail' that's my name! How are you going to shorten it? Abby Abbi Abbie Abbey or Abi? Lol I'm an Abi myself..

I get 8 ounces 7 times a day and I pump for 40 minutes, switching from one side as soon as the milk stops then going back and forth... if you guys find you have too much milk at all check out my 'milk donation' post lol... I'm overproducing madly though, last time I got just* enough to feed DS.

(I actually had to tame my wild hair and pointy boobs today for the milk bank lady's visit lol)

Hope you're all doing well, think 'Soupy's moaning, oops!

Ack typing's gone to pot.. not even feeding anyone!

Ooh, I think the same about Evie. I look at her and think how on earth did she fit inside me, without me looking like I had a beech ball stuffed under my jumper? (I had quite a tame bump until the last few weeks when all of sudden it grew!). She's only put on a few oz since birth, so I'm still in awe that she fitted inside.
She's being weighed again on Friday by the HV so will see how she's doing.
Today she's been really niggly, fighting to stay awake and then wanting to feed even more and making herself sick for drinking too much!

Also - I was told not to express unless it's really painful as this stimulates more milk. I'm expressing once a day, freezing what I dont need and keeping a bottle in case I'm going out and I'm not sure where I can feed quietly. I wish I was one of those people who could whip out my boob anywhere, but at the mo, we dont get latched on right away, so sitting in the open air for a few mins with her head bobbing around my nipples isn't very appealing!!

Elf's comment

"Today she's been really niggly, fighting to stay awake and then wanting to feed even more and making herself sick for drinking too much!"

Have we got twins???? Rebecca has been exactly the same today!

my poppet has put on a full pound in seven days! she's beginning to look like henry viii...

tomorrow we go to the hospital to check her feet, and probably get her poor little legs put into plaster casts. i keep looking at her soft little toes and fighting back tears. wish us luck, everyone.

good luck hester, will be thinking of you xxxx

Good luck Hester, hope all goes well. Thinking of you today xxx

Good luck Hester, your in our thoughts x

Good luck Hester.

J&RM - was Rebecca fighting sleep at night as well? I was at my wits end! She had her feed which usually sends her off, but then she was wide awake when DH sneezed. I'd expressed a bottle for today and ended up giving it to her last night, just so I could see what she was getting. In the end, DH wrapped her in a blanket and walked her up and down the street for five mins. Fast asleep when she got back! She slept from 11:30 til 2 for a feed (normal) then up at 5:00 but stayed awake on and off til about 7:00 as I made the stupid mistake of changing her nappy and it woke her up!!

Poor little Ava. At least she wont remember a thing about it and the benefit should her last all her life. It must be terribly upsetting for you and your dp though.

I am currently fretting about dds stuffy nose. And I have mastitis already.

Elf - Becky was awake from 1.30am - 4am last night.... then slept til 7.30am but is still awake again now!

Little monkeys these october babies!

DH has just had a phonecall to say that his knee operation is tomorrow - he has to be 100 miles away by 7am tomorrow and im gonna be stuck with both girls all day on my own - im terrified!!!!!

Good luck Hester! Remember where your little baby was up until a couple of weeks ago - bloody cramped conditions in there and she was quite happy. I'm sure she won't mind casts at all.

Baby is waking every 3 hours at night for feeds which is MARVELLOUS although doesn't tend to go to sleep until 11pm-ish.

Her infected cyst has cleared up - only one more day of antibiotics left, hurrah.

good luck hester!! hope it's going well for you and your little girl

i've got a very strange girl here!
she went to sleep at 9am and is still asleep

I had a wonderful day

Ava does NOT have congenital talipes - just positional (i.e. caused by squashing in the womb). it can be sorted with physio and maybe a week in plaster casts, but no need for four years of barred boots as I was expecting.

I am delirious with relief. And rather cross with the obstetricians who gave me no good information other than dire warnings that I was at high risk of serious associated abnormalities. The physio I saw today said she hears about this happening all too often; she took a photo of Ava's feet to use during presentations to obstetricians, with the byline, 'this baby's mother was offered termination'.

Am off to massage my daughter's fat little feet

Bloody FANTASTIC news Hester - really pleased and glad someone is following it up by doing the presentation!

You must be so PLEASED!

aww that's wonderful news hester!!!!!
now you can enjoy everything even more

Great news Hester !!!!
Me - Caitlyn has slept 7 hours last 3 nights - can't last surely !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hester, so glad that everything is okay. Just hope that my Evie's hip appointment is all okay, still got a few weeks to wait.

DH is just tucking Evie into her sleeping bag after bathing her, so sweet. Cant believe she'll be a month old on Sunday.

Out of curisotiy, how do all your babies sleep, as in what do you put them in etc. Evie wont sleep in an all in one with full arms and legs, and she's a beggar for kicking of blankets so we've started using a sleeping bag, but can only put her in it when she's asleep or else she gets niggly!

BTW Hester, I'm so on your behalf about the consultant who suggested a termination. How awful. Especially when it could have been somebody else in the same situation who may have made the difficult decision to terminate. So glad that things worked out well for you.

Advice needed please ladies! Just wondering if anyone else is already planning on a sequel to their October arrival? We have talked about starting to try again in about six months, does this sound a reasonable gap to you?

Hester - that is fab news!!! so pleased for you
Mainda - can I please have 1 of those nights!! we are only managing 2-3hrs maximum with Thomas
JessicaandRebeccasmummy - good luck for tomorrow - I don't know how I would manage with 2, 1 child is a handfull!!!

Yoke: After CONSIDERABLE discussions with other mummies, I concluded that 3 years was the best age gap for the easiest life for you - although a smaller age gap is nicer for the kids when they are older, but truly fecking insanely awful for you for the first year.

So we went with a gap of 3 years (well 3 years and 5 days ) and so far that side of things has been brilliant.

I can't imagine when I'm EVER going to get the chance to have sex again though - one child is always awake...!