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

Marinda - Mine is snuffly too - bunged up from the birth still I guess. Bloody noises all night, it's like trying to sleep in a nest of piglets. Early weeks ARE hard especially with an older one. Big Sis is being a star but I am so crabby and my mind is totally on the cute new baby. I seem to be shouting MIND THE BABY! all the time.

Can't wait until my body has recovered - I don't remember it feeling so bad physically the first time. Everything hurts and makes me want to cry! I'm sure once I am back on my feet properly I will cope a little better.

Thanks for the nappy rash tip, MP - i'll give it a go later, although thankfully things seem a lot better.

Terrible afternoon yesterday - my friend bought her 5 month old round and upset Joey to the point that he howled all afternoon and evening, and fed every hour! I was at the end of my tether, feeling like a really crap mum etc, so left him to DP and wallowed in the bath for an hour with a big glass of wine. Eventually at midnight, he settled and we seem to be back to the normal 3-hourly feeding regime today.

I too have to prop Joey up post a feed, otherwise he sounds like Darth Vader and seems to choke and be sick. Good to know i'm not alone

Feeling stupidly happy - just tried my pre-pregnancy jeans on and they (just about!) fit!

I suppose the old tales about weight dropping off during breast feeding must be true, as i've certainly not done anything to aid the situation. If anything, i'm eating more now than i ever have!

Hope everyone's having a good weekend, NM x

Nervousmum, at least your jeans cheered you up! I am the same - parading around in my pre pregnancy clothes like a loon. Still got a flappy tummy and sore from the c section, but think they must have took out some of my fat when they took Evelyn out, as I'm a stone lighter than I was BEFORE I got pregnant! Sorry, shouldn't show off.

Anyway, Evelyn is the same about feeding, sounds really snuffly like I'm suffocating her with my boobs or something. Then when I wind her, boy, dont know who she gets them burps from but it's not from me!!

She was awake today for about four hours in a row, which was great. Me and DH lay her on the bed with us, took turns to hold her and ooohh and ahhh over her, her staring back at us, made a change from the fat she's usually asleep all day. Ahh, I bet she's up all night tonight!

Hope everybody is well and enjoying the loved up blissed out feeling!

Day 5 here and definitely hitting the hormonal-crazy-lady stage - start crying at 5pm for two hours. This happened the last time so at least I know I shouldnt book myself into the Priory just yet.

PRE-PREGNANCY CLOTHES?! I am still in maternity wear - reckon I look about six months pregnant. But I was bloody massive. I'm probably two stone heavier but it's all still there as 'bump'.

Baby feeding every hour through day and night today - this was dd's pattern too, no wonder I'm emotional! I'd be delirious if it was two-or three-hourly like some of you! Still, every day is different.

My perineal tear is killing me - going to write to consultant tonight for advice. Feel like I'm tearing every time I bend down, feel very faint all the time.

So it's faint, fat and fecking emotional chez morningpaper - but my baby IS adorable and her big sister is also being unbelievably good and helpful about everything - so it is not all bad. xxx

Joey is 3 weeks old today To celebrate, DP and i took him to Bluewater and i somehow managed to spend nearly £150 on bits for him. The child has far more clothes than me now!!! He's been a good boy all day - bet i pay for that this evening

MorningPaper - hang in there with the hormonal crazy lady thing. I felt like s**t for the first fortnight (not helped by interfering old bag M-I-L!), but the fog has now pretty much lifted. Mind you, it doesn't take much to set me off still - currently the NSPCC ads and the TV appeals for the asian earthquake are guaranteed to set off the waterworks!

i am still waiting for the bomb to land! so far caitlin has been just great! sleeps 6-8 hours through at nights; during the day she feeds about every 3-5 hours for 10/15 min and the rest she is asleep

she manages to stay awake for longer periods now which is quite nice - and she seems very interested in her surroundings!

but then again i tell myself i really deserve this!!! ds was a very difficult baby (feeding every hour!!!)

i hope you all get lots of sleep tonight!
i hope you all get enough sleep!!

I wish Joey slept through! What age can i expect him to drop his night feeds and start doing this? Mind you, i can't really complain - apart from a few 'issues', he usually feeds every 3 hours during the day and 3-4 hourly overnight, so we do at least get some sleep!

After a nightmare night a few nights ago..DS seemed to be doing bettr with the wind until todaty when he seems in pain..just hope he doesnt get colic like his sister just had projectile vomit, me and him were covered and carpet and chair. just fed him again anhd he is back full of wind!! last night he woke every 3-4 hrs but takes around 30 mins to wind and settle him. then it takes me ages to get back to sleep cos i've been awake for over an hour. Dh still at home so can snatch naps in day but dreading next week when it's me, ds and dd. will be going to bed i a bit before he wakes for his next feed. MW has suggested putting him in bed with us, may do that when dh returns to work so we all get some sleep. oh yeah and another hormonal emotional mum here too!! we'll get there...good job our bundles are so cute here's to a good nights sleep for us all x

Hi all

Finally managed to make it over to join you. Baby Isaac was born on Monday 10 October, three weeks early according to scan at 10 pound 2 so hopefully he was right on time otherwise there will no be another one!!!

We were allowed home on Friday and have spent the time since struggling through.

Strugggled intitally with breatfeeding, he was ventouse (sp??) and forceps and I think his head just hurt too much but he just would not latch on, but we have success now but only using nipple shields which the midwife is tutting at ???

It is good to see that I am not going through it all alone though, especially this wind - I cannot believe something so small can contain so much

Hi Jai, do you have any lactation consultants near you? The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers has a lot of bresatfeeding groups around the country and they really helped me with my first baby. It's TOUGH and you need SUPPORT. You have my sympathy. You are doing a GREAT JOB and being a fabbie mummy so try to remember that.

Mine has a good latch which I am VERY grateful for but for the last two days hasn't slept for more than an hour or so at a stretch... nights are hard hard hard work.

Nervousmum: Personally I would expect a baby to sleep through around 1 year - 18 months but some of my friends had babies who slept through from about 4-6 months. It's mainly down to luck IMO.

Morning all.

jai38 - tutting midwives are the last thing you need at the moment. When I was in hospital, there were a couple of really nice midwives who sat with me for ages trying to help with breastfeeding. When Evie wouldn't take the breast, one sat with me while I expressed and we fed her with a cup just so she had fluids in her, as she was getting quite jaundice. But then the shifts changed and other midwives were against feeding with a cup and made me feel like a failure. When it came to leaving the hospital, a midwife asked me what I'd do if I couldn't get breast feeding established. I felt like saying "I'm going to sit my baby in the corner and tell her if she doesn't take the breast, she goes without!".

Since I've been home, its got a lot better. A community midwife saw me the Monday after I was discharged and watched me breastfeed and said things that gave me a confidence boost. Since then I have been doing well, Evie feeds regularly and is putting weight on.

morningpaper is right, try to see a lactation consultant, they will be able to help and once you get that little bit of confidence, you'll be well away!

I think the midwives tut at nipple shields the same way that they do at dummies and feeding expressed milk through a bottle, something to do with the babies getting used to something other than the nipple. BUT IMO, if they're feeding well, where's the problem?

Hope everybody is feeling well.
Luv Elf

Thanks for all the notes of support - Issac had breast milk through a cup for the first four days and top ups of formula. I have a breast feeding advisor coming around at lunchtime who's aim is to get rid of the nipple shields.

To be honest the wind is more of a problem at the moment, I can't stand to see him in so much pain and do so little abount it

And to top it all off after a two hour feeding, crying winding stint last night he has just gone off to sleep when drunks decided to have a fight down the side of the house and bang on my door for an ambulance - what a night!! - Nothing wrong with them in the end just drunk

Morning mummies - hoping to join you all soon on the postnatal thread.

My brother and his wife had a very "windy" baby earlier this year, and have just sent me a book they found very helpful. It's called "The happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp - an American paediatrician and child development expert.

His main theory is that babies need a 4th trimester, and then "wake up" when they reach about 4 months. So the idea is to recreate the womb as far as possible by using the 5 S's to calm babies - even those who are colicky.

In a nutshell, this amounts to "swaddling", having baby lie on their "side/stomach" (but not when they are sleeping!!), "shushing" ie loud white noise to recreate the hullabuloo in the womb, "swinging" ie energetic jiggling to recreate the rocking motion of the womb and "sucking" - offering the breast, finger or pacifier.

This is a potted summary, and I know there are hundreds of similar books available with different theories, but it all made sense to me, and I guess you need to try a few things to find what works for you.

Hope you are all well. Dh had heel prick today which wasn't too traumatic as the experienced midwife got on with it and it was over fairly quickly. She hasn't lost any weight but is more or less back to where she was. Actually, I shall be pleased when she is a bit chunkier, like about 10lbs. It'll probably take me weeks to get her to that! She's having a lovely sleep at the moment in her car seat, which she much prefers to the cot (more snug).

Feel much better today than yesterday which I spent most of in tears. No particular reason, just hormonal I think. Also, am starting to feel more human. I really did ache a lot this time & felt battered and bruised, probably due to the range of strange positions I got into during labour - and have decided I'm getting far too old for this lark!

Hope you are all well and will try and post a bit more often when the flurry of visits dies down.

hi all, i've only just found this thread! Haven't got time to read it all but I hope you are all okay and everythings going well for you all.

Been reading the other one still. Feel very sorry for those pregnant ladies still waiting. Anyway can't believe Ruby will be a week old tomorrow already, it only seems like yesterday. She is feeding really well and sleeps ALL day and all evening. Thing is the minute we go to bed and put her in her moses basket she wakes up straight away. She then takes a good few hours to settle. DH is really helping but going back to work on Monday so I'm a bit nervous. Would be okay as she sleeps in the mornings, but dd1 likes to wake up about 8am so have to get up with her. Am going to try and keep Ruby awake a bit towards the end of the evening tonight, but not sure how you keep a newborn alert! She had her heel prick test today and didn't like it one bit. Made me cry more than her though. Going to register her birth tomorrow so am looking forward to that. Really pleased with the way my 2 year old is coping with the new arrival as well. She has fallen into the role of big sister with ease and is always stroking her face and kissing her. Hope things carry on like this as so far it's going okay How are all you others coping with toddlers to contend with as well?? I actually managed to make cakes with dd1 today when all i felt like doing was collapsing into bed! She was very grateful though!

Baby is 6 days old!

BBB I have a just 3 year old and she has also taken to the big sister role MARVELLOUSLY well - far better than I expected. There's been no issues at all with her. She is coping much better than me with all the changes!! I can't believe how good she is being. She is acting like it was her destiny to be a big sis.

We registered the birth today and went for lunch at Pizza Express - went really well. Baby is sleeping a LOT but also very wakeful at night - much like the 2 hour crying/feeding stints that jai mentioned - last night was better though after midwife advised me to make sure I burp her after each feed, even if it takes another 20 minutes. Nighttime and daytime blur into a sort of 24-hour busy-ness of nappies and feeding, don't they?

Fortunately DH is off work for up to a month, so I have a lot of support here. Do you have anyone else who will helping you out BBB???

Jockey I'm crying loads too for no particular reason.

My ARSE is knackered - realised I have torn it from the inside out which happened with my first birth - I was SO hoping it wouldn't happen again. Had a bowel movement this morning and then passed out on the bathroom floor from the pain. Nothing really helped last time but it gradually got better over about 18 months. Fantastic.

omg mp!! that sounds awefull!!! is there nothing you can take at least?????
hope the pain passes quicker this time!!!!

can't believe my little girl is 2 weeks tomorrow! she too is getting quite windy now and there is nothing we can do to get ANY wind out of her! she has to do it on her own and that can happen just about anytime. but mostly the 'finger' does the trick for us and keeps her calm and quiet!

we too have a toddler in the house, a big brother who is 17 months!
he actually is quite sweet with her; strokes her head (after me reminding him to stroke it instead of hitting it) - and cuddles her alot.
first thing in the morning he always asks for her
but he's kind of falling back into 'baby mode' - wants to be picked up alot, wants to sit on our lap when she does, wants her out of her rockingchair to climb in himself ...
but it's going much better than expected!

Argh! Tearing my hair out! Joey has been howling the place down again. I've done all the usual paranoid mum checks (not hungry, not needing a nappy change, not got a raging temperature, etc), and still he cries. Rang a friend in tears and she suggested giving him a dummy to suck, as he won't suck a finger, and he's totally drained both my boobs. Hmm, he won't be fooled. I've tried an orthadontic teat one (teat too small), and a cherry teat one (no good - he won't close his mouth long enough between screaming blue murder to actually suck it, same goes for trying a bottle of expressed milk) Any suggestions for getting him to take to a dummy and bottle? The only thing that has settled him now is swaddling him in a sheet and draping a dark towel over his moses basket. God, being a new mum is hard work, trying to second-guess a small baby's needs from just a cry

And i've only got the one little one to contend with. Now i feel like an even more terrible mother! Goodness only knows how i'm going to cope when DP goes back to work.

hi there

I was on the due in nov. thread but my baby had other ideas and came 3 wks early on saturday. It's my first baby - a girl weighing 6lbs 13ozs, and the labour was fab.

Had first wave of feeling inadequate today after visit from community midwife, but hoping thats just a first time mum thing.

Haven't had time to read the whole thread, but I used to read the oct thread so am familiar with some of you from that.

I'm enjoying it so far, I find it hard to stop looking at her and want to hold her all the time.

congraulations to you all new mums

make me fell like i want another want but no im not as nealy died with both my dd plus dd2 is only 10mths were do the time go seems like yesterday i had holly and lauren whos 3
Caitlyn is a lovely name and so are all the other names

novadandypowder what did you call your baby girl and conrgulations

Hi Novadandypowder and welcome ! How did your birth go and how is baby feeding/sleeping etc...?
Morningpaper - I sympathise with the knackered arse - feel similarly myself - and no bloody midwife has given me any sympathy so feel pissed off. All I get is try some Arnica - which with my taer is impossible (it says on packet - "don't put on open wound") - some bloody help that is !!!! Baby keeps getting wind here as well - I have given her infracol (medicine for windy babies) which she hates (grimaces and goes bright red in face when it is given) but it does ease her wind suffering but I feel a nasty mummy stuffing it down her gullet. The night snuffles are doing my head in - can't sleep in same room as her for much longer ! DH is off work for a month - don't think I can cope when he goes back with new bay and DS (4) - aaaaaarhhh!!!!!!!!! Might have to have a breakdown or postnatal depression (I am NOT taking the michael here either!). Oh well must go and get an hour's TV in before bed and then the 3.00am feed (Argggg!)

Laurenholly - baby's name is Natalie

Marinda - the birth took us by surprise, so we were quite shell shocked for the first 48hours. I went to the hospital with a niggle at 11am and had given birth by 7pm! It was our last weekend of planned events as well - DH had organised a paintball trip for his 40th and I'd planned lunch with my best girl friends from out of town. Needless to say DH was worried he wouldn't get back from a field in Surrey in time, and lunch was cancelled.

Very straightforward birth, no pain relief until 6cms then mobile epi which I let wear off for the pushing. Had retained placenta which had to be manually removed under a spinal block, but apart from that it was all very smooth. Natalie has a touch of jaundice but thankfully we get a lot of light in our house so we're sitting her in the sunlight to get the last of the autumn rays. She doesn't quite know her day from night yet and sleeps well in the day but not at night, but I'm sure she'll eventually get the message. She feeds well - we're bottle feeding so DH gets to share the job about every 3-4 hours.

It's all very new and we're learning as much as she is. DH is off work until the end of the month and then his mum is staying with us for a week to help out as he has to travel away with work briefly. I couldn't do it without DH at the moment, he's being great.

Any other first time mums on here?