Late Jan 2011 (some very, very late!) - here we go!!!

[ThreeBubbasAndManyBumps]

Graduated
JJKM - Twin Girls
Stars - Baby Boy
FloraPost - 6th Jan - Baby Boy
Mimou - 14th Jan - Baby Boy - 7.3lb
Zippy - 14th Jan - Baby Boy - 7lb
LadyBuzz - 18th Jan - Kali Margaret Briany 6lb 1oz
Scuba - 22nd Jan - Baby Girl - 6lb 13oz
AmIGoingMad - 25th Jan - Baby Boy - 7lb 5oz
Gallicgirl - 26th Jan - Alys May - 7lb 2.5oz
BubbaAndBumps - 27th Jan - Lachlan Robert - 12lb 3oz
Travispickles - 27th Jan - Saskia Faye
Fuzzy - 28th Jan - Evan James - 8lb 8.5oz
*Saltnvinigar - 28th Jan - Henry David
Ryuk - 28th Jan - Ezra - 7lb 4oz
TheBreastMilksOnMe - 30th Jan - Amelia Rose - 8lbs 9.5ozs
SaraL77 - 31st Jan - Reuben Mark - 7lb 2
Pootle - 2nd Feb - Jacob - 8lb 9oz
cyberfairy - 4th Feb - Rowan - 7lbs 7oz
RockLover - 5th Feb - George Christopher - 8lbs 4oz
RunningKatie - 5th Feb - Isobel Millie
CupcakesHay - 5th Feb - Jesse William - 7lbs 1oz
Crystylline - 8th Feb - Xavier Louis - 8lbs 11oz

Count: 8 girls, 15 boys

Still Huffing and a Puffing..?
Shanster: 30/01 Boy (1DD)
Faraway Trees: 22/01
RobynLou: 24/01 ?? (1DD)
Loopylu: due 31/01 (1st?)

Here we go, down the slippery slope of parenthood. Slippery thanks to the poos, wees, leaky boobs and goodness knows what else :o :o

We'll be here to hold each other's virtual hands through the tough nights and delightful days, and to laugh at each other's stories of comedy nappy changes , and the fear (or not?) of getting back in the saddle, and coating some cervixes just for the fun of it again!! :o

Hey Bubba, have you tried swaddling? SAskia wouldn't sleep in moses basket but now we have rocker/swaddle combo she is better...

Just a quick question to all of you ladies who had c-sections, how is your stomach feeling? 11 days on and my scar feels better, but I am aching quite a bit inside my tummy, mainly up the middle.

Not sure if this is normal or not, but I have been doing more recently (a bit of housework here and there and a very short walk to get George registered this morning) and the achiness seems to have come on since I have been more active.

Anyone else the same?

thanks travis, i do swaddle but sleeping itself isn't the problem it's just he's so hungry and it was less hassle for me to feed him in my bed than to get up an hour and a half after i'd gone back to sleep - just me being lazy, and tried dummy to trick him into not feeding by satisfying his need to suckle. Tiredness def getting to me, just yelled in DD2's face :( :(

rock I had pain but it wasn't in the middle so much as the bit that hangs down. Just keep an eye on it as mine was an infection. It could be as you say cause you are doing more but maybe mention it to the MW.

Aww bubba I did that to DS2 yesterday it is just the tiredness. Its so hard with the older ones when you feel like that.

All 3 of mine were crying at the same time yesterday and I almost left home!

ladyb that sounds awful! i barely cope when this LO starts having a good yowl, let alone 3 at the same time!

rock no CS for me, but did have retained/broken placenta which meant plenty of internal messing about. i've had sharp pains on the right of my uterus and MW thinks it's where it's involuting, as it was over stretched during pregnancy. i've had a ton of antibiotics so she doesn't think it's infected.

she told me to keep an eye on it and call if it got any worse or the pains became regular or insistent. luckily they haven't, but i'd phone up if i were you to get someone to check.

i had a seriously good nap earlier, but have woken up tired... maybe i'll venture back to bed with a DVD!

How do they check if you have an infection? I mean how can they tell? My scar is fine by the way, it's just I have pulling type pains inside, I'm presuming it's normal, but wasn't sure.

Sorry - honeslty i am trying to get on here as often as I can!

bubba don't cry lovely. I am sure it'll get better and poor you over the fridge business but no point crying over spilt milk But seriously, I am sure lachlan will calm down soon and allow you to get a bit of sleep - and tell your Dh when you feel down and crying is completely normal. You are doing such a fab job with 3 kids that a little cry every now and then is ok.

Also, Jesse is eating loads at moment too - hoping it's a growth spurt - but have been feeding every 1.5 hours for about last 24 hours. thank god Dh is here to help - although he goes in a week's time and i'm dreading him leaving seems too soon!

rock my c-sect scar is still hurting. Also midwife said if you have bright red blood in your materntity pad, it's a sign you're overdoing it - so be careful to take it easy. My scar's healing ish - although the end is still tender, and a bit oozy. Also got my pressure sore dressed properly by a nice nurse today - so feeling better.

I'm getting sick of my mum - she's acting liek a kid half the time... she goes in a sulk over advice offered that I don;t agree with - and i heard her earlier saying to my dad that me and Dh were fussing ridiculously over the baby as we were feeding him too much and we should leave him to cry for a bit. honestly, breast fedding and bottle feedign are different kettles of fish aren't they?

bubba - are you expressing by hand or by machine? Anyone know when I can use machine?

sorry - i know i should make notes again - promise next time i log on I will! Kisses to all - and let's keep on going and SMILE - at least they are all here after that long long wait...

At last!! Just to let you know, I have FINALLY managed to get a pic of George on my profile if anyone fancies a peek.

I'm off to bed to rest my stupid balloon feet, hope everyone has a good night with their little ones. xx

Rock he is indeed gorgeous George. Your DD is beautiful too, you must be a very proud mummy.
Hope your feet start to get better soon, have you asked your mw/hv about it? I'm sure they will have some suggestions about what to do.
It would appear that Evan doesn't think left boob is quite so evil today. Just as well or that side might have gone pop

Thanks jjkm, I have no fever and the pain is actually not that bad, just when I move, think I'm just being a bit too anxious about things.

Fuzzy, yes I am an extremely proud mummy, I'm lucky to have 2 such beautiful children. I have been discharged from the mw, so asked the hv about my feet and she said I need to raise my feet as high as possible, higher than my scar.

Unfortunately I can't seem to do that as it makes my scar pinch, so I'm just putting them up as high as I can on a chair when I sit down on the sofa. I guess patience is the key.

Hmm, slightly confused about DS. From going from feeding every 2.5 hours he has gone for hours!! Fed him at 12 am then at 5 am and then at 8:30. Should I be worried? Great nights sleep I have to say and he is asleep again. He seems okay - no temperature or anything but worried he's not feeding regularly enought (bf). Was literally forcing boob in his mouth this morning as it was sooo full. Bubba I hope you get a bit more rest today, sleep deprivation is shit!

Rock lovely photo of George, cute little nose . Love babies noses :) Please can you put up a picture of your feet though like cupcakes lol. did I say that my feet have gone up an entire size from size 5 to 6!! It must just be water retention and i can't get my engagement and wedding ring on still :( Tips for getting rid of water retention folks?

Salt as bizarre as it may sound, drinking water helps with water retention, it must be something to do with flushing you through!

HV has just been, Jacob has lost 40g since Monday so have been told to up his feeds to 90ml and to wake him in the night to make sure he is getting enough. Cue me in tears thinking i must be the worst mum in the world.

My only query with that is that if he was latching on we would have no idea how much he is taking but cause I am expressing we are now being told how much to give and I'm concerned my lazy left boob won't be up to the task

On a positive he latched on to my lovely right for 13 mins today, even though it's been a week since he last tried!

such a sweetie rock

salt my LO seems to be feeding longer and then sleeping longer... sometimes wants 2nd breqast too. however as my boobs are streaming milk (so lovely sleeping in puddles every night), he's getting v. lazy with his latch and not sure what to do as hopefulconfident flow won't stay this strong all the time.

pootle did the hospital or MW team give you a BF syringe? i've got an 8ml syringe to hoover up breast milk then feed baby with so i can check what he's taking. advised to periodically use to get an idea of how long he takes to have 8ml. also you could express and check levels for full/empty breast. agree tho about latch, as depends on how lazy my LO is as to the speed of flow.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Crysty I too am sleeping in puddles and it seems that whatever breast I am feeding from the other one wants to see some action too and just goes mental. Probably feeding from the wrong one? Anyone else experiencing enthusiastic boobs?
Right, off to treat myself to a steamed chocolate pudding and ice cream. I wouldn't but there is nothing else in the house to eat and I can't go to the shops as waiting for my cot mattress to be delivered and they didn't give me a time! Life is unfair

That seems difficult advice to follow pootle - if Lachlan feeds from my right boob (which of course is the disgusting one), he would get a lot more in 10 mins than he would from the right.

40g is hardly anything in itself - the weight of a heavy nappy or two I reckon.

Hey - check out the paragraphs - I'm back on a laptop so can highlight your names, write in paragraphs and write a decent amount each time without screaming at my phone.

Lachlan is determined to see the bags under my eyes get bigger and darker, he likes to play at 2am, with big blue eyes and a little gurgle which melts my heart but doesn't make me miss my sleep any less!! :o :o

Rock - gorgeous kiddies you have (finally been able to look at your pics - phone not clever enough to do that)!

cupcakes you must sooooo be looking forward to having the place to yourselves this weekend - honestly even the best mother-daughter relationships would be tested living together in the first few weeks of a newborn's life. To answer your Qu about expressing, I use a hand-held pump. Don't think there are any guidelines about machines or hand afaik...

fuzzy I have the same sleepsuit for Lachlan as you have in your pic :)

Now, my mum's bought me some very sweet sleepsuits for Lachlan, but bought them before she knew what flavour he was - am I being silly to think they're too pink?? The bunnies on them are soo sweet, and we have a zillion and one sleepsuits (and more arriving - ladyB are you finding also that you're getting more presents for your new flavour than you did for DC#2?)

thanks for tips on co-sleeping crystyll - am doing it for the post-2am party time until his next feed around 4am - as it's the only way I can snooze while he's awake at that godawful time! Little finger in his mouth (he spat the dummy out in disgust, both literally and figuratively last night!!)
and eventually he gives in and sleeps.

anyone heard from running? maybe her fettish for clean teaspoons and ironing flattening of clothes is taking up too much time with a newborn too!? :o

Pootle you are certainly not a bad mum though I understand why you're upset. The advice i was given about expressing is to try first thing in the morning or straight after a feed. It should also help if you can see Jacob when you're doing it. What sort of expresser do you have, if you're expressing a lot may be worth looking at an electric one if you haven't got one already.
Evan is all over the place with feeding too though pretty consistent at night. I think at this early stage you just have to go with the flow and expect days when tts feed for long sessions and others for shorter but more frequently. Agree it is so difficult though especially if you have no idea how much they're getting.
Salt sounds like a very hearty meal to me .
I'm currently eating outside a cafe with my little man as the weather is fab today, looking at the weekend forecast better make the most of it !

It's a cute set of sleepsuits that one Bubba though my mum bought them in new born size so he's pretty much out of them as he has long legs and big feet! Did Lachlan ever fit in new born size? Hows his weight doing now?

Nope fuzzy, he never even got a sniff at newborn sizes - went straight to 3-6months!! :o :o

he's practically back at birth weight now - got him weighed yesterday and he's 3 weeks old and 1oz/40g off his birth weight, which, considering the starting point, I'm pretty happy with.

I agree about expressing in the morning - I tend to do one boob while he's feeding with the other - allows the mental boob (right one) to be relieved and gives me a rough idea of how much he might be getting in that time too (although as I said, my right boob is mental and gushes milk). Also stops the 'tardis sensation' (as I like to call my let-down) leaving me or my breast pads too soggy!! :o

Hurrah, DH has taken the girls to the swings and I've persuaded him to take Lachlan too, so off for a much needed catch-up on snoooooooooze (surely L. can't smell my boobs from the playground?!)

I'm sure you've tried this bubba but on the off chance... I found that for night feeds feeding lying on my side with ds was so much more relaxing than sitting up in cradle position. Even though still sleep deprived you could still kind of half doze while he was feeding and then both just fall asleep together so not having to worry about getting out of bed and putting back in moses basket.

Anyway, ds has been good sleeping in moses basket but I wanted to cuddle him last night so he slept with me. I'm probably confusing him and he'll be difficult tonight

bubba no they aren't too girly! they are lovely tho!

i've had the reverse problem with clothes... got bundles of 0-3 mths stuff, but Xavi only fits in tiny baby clothes atm... he's got ickle legs, so he gets them all caught up in the sleepsuit bodies and gets v. grumpy about it!

he's just fed for england and now won't sleep... precocious... non?

salt i think the worst of it is when you think you've been smart to catch the overflow from the breast he's feeding on, but forget the other breast has joined in... clothes are soaked.

i haven't ventured out on my own yet. tbh, i still feel a bit like bambi - wobbly and not v. fit and able. will have to go out next week tho as have visits to make and am getting a bit stir crazy.

and yes, was wondering where katie went... hope all is ok.

Yes salt I tried that last night - was great for snoozing while he filled his little belly! :) Much nicer than pretending to be awake sitting up! But not sure how to do it so he can feed from the other boob once he's guzzled enough from the first, without shifting either me or him massively. Think I'd suffocate him if I tried to do it from the same position! Any tips anyone?

Ooh crysty you've namechanged! I feel bad about my flippant comments about runningkatie as I hadn't considered that anything might not be okay!

In-laws arriving soon. Wish me luck!