April 2011-kicking back drinking lactulose cocktails and riding the maternity surfboards

[Petalouda]

Post-natal thread for all the antenatal April 2011 Family!

Share the birth stories, the baby blues and everything else.

Ali - how long do growth spurts last? F didn't sleep at all on Thursday (well, not for more than 15 minutes at a time) - all day and most of the night too. But since then he seems to have developed some sort of pattern (although we've been away, so it might not stick).

Kits - I am not worthy. How anyone could survive a small baby with one other child baffles me, with two I can't even fathom!

Re slings - I've got a maya wrap ring sling which F loves, and is really easy to use. Thoroughly recommend it.

Travelling with F was ok, he got passed around the entire family, didn't sick or poo on anyone. Discovered he loved his cousin's old bouncy/rocking chair more than me. He slept well in the carrycot too. Hope he's that good when we're at various weddings in a couple of weeks.

DH has just given F a bit of expressed milk. I made him read that kellymom info first, which he did, and they both seem happy! Although F doesn't want to do anything other than lie on DH's chest now.

I hate night times. Last night I actually wished we'd never had him. I swear it was only momentary. Daytimes are lovely and fine. The world is always worse in the dark. I'm so glad he's a spring baby!

Oh, and he's 6 weeks now. And has grown out of all his newborn clothes. Bittersweet.

Daisy - your sleep-logic is brilliant. What are all these 'experts' on about, sleeping on their backs. It's ludicrous!

H always sleeps in the bouncer in the day unless we're out in the pram. Most people I know do that so I reckon it's ok.

That's really sad Stuffed, I hope she's ok. One of my friends has just confided she's pg after a horrific ectopic pregnancy two years ago, it's all going well so far so I hope your friend is able to go on to have a healthy pregnancy if and when she feels ready in the future.

Am so knackered today, H just wouldn't settle after waking up at 3am last night. He got weighed today and is now 10lb 5oz so has gained more than a pound in a week and a bit I saw a lady who'd given birth the same day as me and her baby was about two-thirds H's size and still looked all crinkly newborn. H looks like a proper bruiser in comparison. He's falling asleep on me after a screamfest right now, fingers crossed I can get him down and have a much needed nap!

Well, I am sat here waiting for the massive DLA claim form to print out as we have had a diagnosis now for DS1 of ASD. Don't know if we will get anything but according to the descriptions of who should theoretically be entitled he should. We will have to see, not really bothered but the extra would definitely be useful for him (thinking extra learning materials or maybe even a tutor to help with his maths). Not looking forward to filling this monster in though :(

As for the sling debate....I figure they wouldn't be so comfy in them if it was bad for them.

The terrible thing about our friend is that she wasn't sure if she wanted it to start with, having split with the Dad and certainly not trying to get pg. She did spend the beginning of her pregnancy not really looking after herself of baby, drinking, smoking etc but after 12 week scan being told all looked well she decided to keep it and changed her ways, it is hard not to wonder if it would always have happened or if the early behaviour had an affect. I know she is absolutely gutted so it makes no difference but I know it was bad enough going through a mc when I knew I had done all I could to be healthy, I can only imagine the thoughts that must be going through her mind right now. I did judge her badly at the start, but I feel no less bad for her as I know how much she is hurting right nowr,

Stuffed - very sad.
re DLA - we've filled it out for DS2 (had severe epilepsy), it is a beast of a form. remember to be as negative as you can although that is not our nature as parents. DS2 got highrate care for a while, now gets middle, plus i get carers plus mobility (which we put towards a motability car) it all helps.

had HV today, M now weighs 10,14! Put on 1lb2oz in 12 days :)
She is a chunky monkey, there is no doubt!

JKS My sister has offered to help me with it as she has been through it aswell. She has also said to be as negative as possible so will keep it in mind.
I was going to do it online but decided I would prefer to sit down with it with plenty of time now I've looked at it.

HV rang and left a message last week wanting to come round, I keep forgetting to ring her back....I'm sure she will ring me again

We still haven't had M weighed for about 3 weeks now! Had 6 week check and the doc said he didn't weigh! This is just after we went to the baby health check at the childrens centre (I mainly wanted a timetable of what's going on there) and they thought it wasn't worth getting her upset to weigh if she'd have it again at the docs! I just hope the nurse from the health centre weighs on Friday when she visits.

Wow Cycle and JKS very impressive weight gain. I thought G had done well at gaining 13 and a half ounces over the past 13 days. But 1lb in a week wowee

G has literally been awake all day again, apart from the odd power nap of about 20mins at a time. Done eveything I could think of to settle him, carried in sling, out in pram, but keeps waking and fussing. Surely he should be sleeping for longer than this during the day? He sleeps better at night but only because he is swaddled. Perhaps I need to swaddle during day too.

Stuffed very sad about your friend.

Thanks stuffed don't think I have a prolapse then!! DP had a little look today and all appears normal, so none the wiser! Although the sensation seems to be happening less often now though. Sad news about your friend too :(

Lis read your thread :) still struggling to get good amounts despite increasing the amount of times I'm expressing. Can get about 2 ounces overnight and first thing in the morning but struggling to get one all the other times in between :( so currently means I'm only able to give 2 breast milk feeds per day, which is really not how I wanted it to be! Did discover today though that if I do it whilst holding R the flow does improve a lot so maybe that's the way forward! Not very practical when DP is at work tho - not enough hands!!

mrswajs i've been having strange sensations when weeing. mw said it was because i had a cathetar(sp?). just a thought if you had one.

apologies for no caps, one handed typing!!

Sorry to hear about your friend Stuffed. My friend lost her baby at nearly five months pregnant when I was pregnant. It was horrible and we still haven't met up as she'd find it too difficult with dd. All you can do is be there when she needs you.

Hello all, I was a bit of a lurker on the antenatal thread but baby P finally arrived on Thursday and I could do with some advice because we're struggling

I've posted a big long thread about in Breastfeeding but wondering if any mums with little newborns had any advice. P gets absolutely hysterical whenever we try and get her to feed. DH and I spent the whole of yesterday trying to settle her and get her to feed. It can literally take and hour and a half of comforting and screaming before she'll feed. When she does latch on, I feel like she's feeding quite well (waggling ears, sucks and swallows, jaw going etc) but she seems petrified and really resistant to actually latch on and get started... Has anybody else had this problem?

Also, are you waking your little ones in the night to feed? Last night she slept between 2 - 6.30am. I woke her at 6.30 for a feed (she was quite happily snoozing) and after 40 minutes of hysterical crying, she did feed. Do you think we should be waking her more regularly?

Will this get easier?

No Lis I didn't have a catheter, but it is in that sort of area that I have the weird feeling! Thought to myself that maybe I'd been a bit bruised or grazed around that area and didn't realise and maybe it's just everything healing up!? It's definitely lessening so am not too worried about it.

Managed to get 3 ounces expressing this morning - hurray!! Trick is definitely to have R next to me. Was a bit miffed that I lost about half an ounce having her next to me in bed this morning - boob just started streaming and we ended up in a puddle!! Just washed the bed sheets yesterday too!! Grrr.

Starshaped Can't help with the latching issue as R was always very keen - it just hurt me too much! Apart from the first 2 nights she has always only woken once for a feed during the night, any time between 2 and 4 depending when she goes down. I kind of go by the motto - 'never wake a sleeping baby', if she is hungry she will let you know! Unless of course she is tiny/sleepy and needs to be fed more often? Check with your MW and see what she says?

Oh Starshaped you poor thing. I've not got much advice to offer as I am expressing and feeding by bottle after B had difficulty latching in hospital. He got hysterical like you describe. I thought it was frustration in being o close to food but not getting any. Have you tried maybe expressing a small amount and giving P that before a feed to take theedge off her hunger first? Someone here recommended I try that. Didn't really work for us as B has a tounge tie. might be worth a shot??

I'm sure others will have better advice for you soon.

Morning MrsW. Are you pumping too! This is when i get my MN fix!! Keep perservering with the pumping, your supply will increase. And if you leak that much get a set of shells to collect it. It all counts!

starshaped you poor thing :( DS1 was just like that, but I fed him until he was 2 so it can be overcome :)

Definitely try what Lis suggested, giving him a little in a cup or syringe before you try and latch him to take the edge off his hunger.
I would recommend swaddling when you feed as it stops all the flailing around and lots of babies find it very calming.

It is hard to know whether you should wake her without seeing what she is like. My motto is generally to never wake a sleeping baby, as they tend not to feed that well , but if she is sleepy because she is exhausted then you do need to wake to feed.
How old is she? How many wet and dirty nappies are you getting a day? When she wakes up naturally is she looking for food (turning head and opening mouth, 'woodpecker' head, shoving fists into mouth etc)?
I would give one of the BF helplines a call today. I can't link as I'm typing one-handed while I feed, but they are listed on MN or you can google.

Good luck, you can do it :)

Hi star. How old is your lo? Do you know if you have a fast letdown? I'm wondering if you do and your lo finds it hard to cope with.

How about calling the NCT breastfeeding line? It is available to all, you don't have to be a member to use it.

Nearly all bfing issues can be overcome with some help

MW just been for 10 day check. B is perfect, but I have an infected wound :( and a prescription for antiBs. TBH it doens't feel like it's infected and I don't feel like I'm battling an infection, but if the swab came back showing an infection I had better take them. GP has said they ar ok for BFing though so thats one less thing to worry about.

stuffed so sorry to hear about your friend :(

mrsw I have a very bruised feeling around my fanjo still. I was panicking that it might be a prolapsed or something but apparently if you had stitches then as they heal sometimes the skin gets tighter, which if you had a deep tear can put everything out of whack. Plus your uterus is probably still bigger than pre-pregnancy size so it?s all adjusting and that can cause some odd sensations.

star DS sometimes does the refusing to latch thing. I find the trick is to take him away, calm him down and let him make his way there by himself then grab the boob and shove it in. It?s much worse if I?m very engorged and rock hard because he tries to suck and just slips off.

Any advice on when in the day is best to express? The growth spurt seems to be passing, thank goodness, but I?m keen to get my supply up ready for the next. Plus if I express I can leave a bottle and if I leave a bottle I can go to the gym. Cunning, no?

I did have a 2nd degree tear frak but no stitches, never thought about my uterus stil being bigger than usual!!

HV has been today to weigh R and she has put on 7.5 ounces since Thursday!! Little fatty. That'll explain why she is no longer fitting in her newborn stuff - am a little bit sad as she had some beautiful sleepsuits and she's only worn some of them once!! We're now stuck in limbo land where newborn is a bit small and 0-3 is a bit big!! I have some upto 1 month stuff from Next which I'm gonna wash and tumble dry and see if she can get into them!

I had that problem Starshaped and second the advice to attempt to express some to take the edge off the hunger. H was mixed fed atcfirst and I used the formula to take the edge off before putting him on boob. He's now EBF and although he throws this odd fit if he's very hungry the problem has definitely abated.

H weighed yesterday, he's 10lb 5oz now! That 1lb 2oz more in 11 days so clearly the pound in a week wasn't a one-off.

I'm feeling better now, the antibiotics have kicked in and the tonsilitis is clearing up. We had an extra day's holiday yesterday for Liberation Day and took both the children to a celebration fete. DS spent the afternoon running round the fields and eating lots of cakes and ice cream. The fresh air worked as we all slept well last night.

Well done to all those expressing away, have to admit i've given up with the pumping, Little P is still on 2 top up's of formula a day and breast the rest. we've settled into a routine with it now. DSnow calls the breastfeeding "mummy milk" and the formula "daddy milk"

P has woken up so I'm off to do the top up before picking up DS from preschool, then it's off to baby clinic to get P weighed and then tea at nan and granpa's.

P was born on Thursday, so 5 days old. CMW has been out today and weighed her and she's only lost 70g and is producing lots of yellow nappies, so she's happy that she's getting enough food. I fed her when the midwife was here and typically she latched on and guzzled straight away, so am not not sure she really believed how difficult it was yesterday!

It took about 20 minutes to settle her, calm her and get her latched on before lunch, but she then fed a few times so I think I'm going to just keep on trying. She's currently snoozing in her moses basket looking like butter wouldn't melt, so I suppose it's worth in.

One boob is definitely much more swollen and sore than the other though, so will try expressing some off that before I next feed her. Will definitely try feeding her from a cup to calm her down if necessary. What sort of cup is best to feed from though? We've got a bottle but am worried that giving her that will put her off the boob completely!

Feeling much calmer today but am dreading DH going back to work at the end of his pat leave. He's still got more than a week off but is being such a help. I can't imagine being in charge on my own!

Starshaped that sounds better :) In another week, just think how much more practise you and P will have had at feeding! Don't panic, it will all be fine :) I had a tiny cup that came with my Medela breast pump, maybe look online and see what you can find?
Tommee Tippee sell little cups, but they are rubbish because they have really quite a sharp lip so really awful for a newborn. Avoid!