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.

My list so far is:-

for Blair
Pram (B will sleep in this, it is huge though and takes up most of the boot!)
steriliser
bottles (need for feeding and for the EBM, currently pumping 800mls+ a day)
clothes (going fopr 3 nights so thinking maybe 2 changes a day, 6 vests, 6 babygros/cutesy outfits, hat, warm pramsuit/mini parka jacket, bibs)
sleepbag
nappies
muslins
blankets

for me
pump
clothes
toiletries
nipple cream
breast sheilds/shells/pads (thet need a lot of looking after!)
valium and vodka!!!

DH can look after himself!! If I've missed anything really obvious please let me know!!

lucie can you try a dummy? Maybe he's using you as a comforter?

Hugs to all.

Beatle our boys are one and the same. S has just started bringing some back cos he's a guzzler!

kitty been trying a dummy on and off for a couple of weeks but he wont take it unfortunately.. he did on one occasion when he was particularly hysterical and I was overjoyed but not again since.

lis be sure not to forget the last 2 - The most important on the list I think!! If it was me I'd take more than two changes per day, thats only one each day/night - B must be less messy than G as he can do about 4 in 24 hrs on a particularly sicky/pooey day! Also may be included under nappies but dont forget nappy sacks, cotton wool and bum cream. does he have a playmat or chair that he uses in the daytime??

Oh dear , I feel like my DS has had a major change of heart for being an Easyish baby !
We have had two nights of refusing to goon his basket , so been in our bed.
Yesterday was full of the joys of , " unless I'm being fed , I'm going to scream" . But of course when DH came home he was behaving perfectly !!!???? We have already had real tears this morning because he didn't get boob quick enough. I have a feeling it's going to be a repeat of yesterday : (

Bleugh - T didn't go in his bed at all last night. However the little darling is happily snoozing in it now!

I am pacing around the house with G in sling trying to get him to settle. Been up since 3am. He just doesn't settle well after his middle of night feed. I feel like a Zombie! We seem to be going backwards at night, after 2 weeks of relatively good nights with 3-4 hr stretches of sleep at a time, I had been lulled into a false sense of security by the little monster. Oh well we are all in the same boat, lack of sleep is one of the prime topics of conversation isn't it!

To make it worse DH has organised some people to come round today to put cavity wall insulation in. So there will be lots of drilling noise and dust everywhere. Of course DH is at work, so I have to stay at home waiting for the men to turn up, and even when they do apparently I have to stay here in case they damage anything. Thanks a lot DH. Why on earth we couldn't have waited a few months to get this sorted I have no idea. We won't really need cavity wall insulation over the next few months anyway!

Cookie we get real tears now too. This morning G was screaming and the tears were rolling down his face, seemed like he was starving. He would have anyone believe he was literally wasting away, the poor little mite. despite the fact it was only 1 hour since he last fed.

Lis we are going away on hol to a caravan for 1 week with no washing machine in June. If I go on needing up to 4 changes/day I will need to take about 30 babygros with me! I think we may need to leave dd at home as there won't be any room for her in the car....

Thanks for the advice girls, think I'm going to go with the storing option so that I can give milk for longer. Not holding out much hope for boosting supply but will try what's been suggested. I have 2 weddings in 2 weeks time, both in the same week so those are 2 days I won't be able to express really at all so I think that'll be the time to stop. R will be 6 weeks by then and that was orignally the time scale I'd given her and myself for BF (unless it went really well) so I'll be happy enough with that.

Lis Spat tea allover the place when I read your "bide at peace" - classic!! Stupid question - for pumpng between 12 and 3 am, does it matter if you haven't been to sleep before that?? I have been pumping at night but probably last one is around 11pm and then depends when R wakes I do the next one but it's rarely before 3am. Do you set your alarm to get up and do it at that time if you need to or would B be waking for a feed then anyway?

Didn't have a particularly good night last night, R went down too early after a scuttery feed and woke at 3am - I know that's still brilliant compared to what some of you are going through, but she usually only sleeps for 2-3 hours after her night feed which meant she was up again at 6.30 - too early for getting up!! DP gave her her bottle before he went to work and I foolishly thought she'd just go straight back down (like she does every other morning) so I could get another wee sleep. Nope!! She dozed for half an hour or so then started screaming for more and tanned another 3 ounces!!! What's that all about, 8 ounces for breakfast!?!?

Well i am totally gobsmacked !!! My DS has decided after a week of battling with his moses basket, to just happily be put in it this morning after a feed and not even squeak at this ????
Surely the basket is no different in the day ???
I have question for you ladies that are expressing and BF, when do you find the best time to express is , after a feed, before, half way through your feed break?
Im really hoping to start expressing as i need a break !!!!

Morning all,

Sounds like it's all sleep-related fun & games with Team April!

Hilarious DH moment of the day: So F was up all night Tuesday night, finally sleeping for about an hour at 6-7am. Therefore I was up all night, having an hours sleep. So we implemented the new nap/feed routine, and I had another nap of about an hour in the morning.

So during the day (DH was on day off) he snoozes on the sofa while I do laundry, express, feed the baby, etc. Later that afternoon, since F is doing so well with his naps, DH starts getting amorous & pawing all over me. Because everyone knows that hideous sleep-deprivation is just the best foreplay!

Still, if we can keep this routine going, he might just get lucky yet

So, here's my report from The Sensational Baby Sleep Plan: Day 1

F went straight into the 3 hourly feeds with naps in between. Baby sleep cycles are about 40 mins, so aiming for one or two sleep cycles for each nap. He did 4 naps, with the first 2 up in his crib and the later 2 in the carry cot downstairs (to get used to officially napping in the pram, enabling flexibility, and to make the later naps distinct from Bedtime).

Bath & bedtime routine went well, F was asleep at 7pm. Where he slept for a full... hour. And then refused to go back to sleep until 9.30pm and I gave in since it'd been nearly 3 hours since his last feed. I fed him & put him back in the crib (DH appeared at this point, announcing it was his Bedtime too - I went to grab a bedtime snack and discovered a bunch of chores left to do - DHs idea of foreplay again no doubt!). Apparently, F happily lay in his crib looking around, talking to daddy, and then just as I was about to get into bed at 10:30, he just fell asleep!

However, he woke again at 11:30, fed and slept 11:45 - 3:45 (4 hours!), fed again and slept till 7:45am this morning.

All in all, a much better day than the previous.

However, this morning he's already pushed the flexibility of the plan to it's limits and is already 45 mins into his 'midday' nap (he only managed 40 minutes earlier). He's just grumbling now, I'm hoping he'll settle back for another 40 mins or so, his next feed is due at 12:30.

So far, he's been ok without a dummy too, I think he needs to suck for comfort more when he's overtired.

We'll see how day 2 goes...!

MrsWajs I thought you might be the only one to understand "bide at peace" :o Re night pumping, to start with I was pumping every 2 hours through the night and had set the alarm to wake me. This only lasted 2 nights, but seemed to do the trick. Although, I had to get up through the night last night to pump as my boobs were so full they were like a dead weight on my chest. I got an amazing 350mls! Which is great, but I now have over a litre of BM in the fridge! i think I'm going to have to freeze some now. I did think about starting a "how do I slow my supply" thread, but thought against it.

Tried to get B to latch again, still unsucessful, but at least he didn't scream like someone was trying ot murder him! He has finally dropped off to sleep, he's been awake since 5.30. He's had 3 120ml feeds in that time, could this be a growth spurt?

Cookie I'm not feeding B at all myslef, so I really only pump just after he has fed. I've been told that if/when I get him to latch feed from one side and pump from the other at each feed. Not sure if thats any help, and as I said I have no experience of it at all.

Hi ladies

Just back from 2 wks at Disney in Florida. So congratulations on all the babies that have arrived.

Finn is now 7wks +4days and weighs in at 12lbs 10oz - thats a gain of 35oz in 3wks. BF'ing going well although he doesnt have a set feed time YET.. that is all to come for him very soon :). Tend to feed him on demand, but mainly because I didnt want the 5 hour time difference between here and Florida to mess him up.

He went in his cot for the first time yesterday as dd2 (20mths) only went into a toddler bed on Tuesday. F has had a few naps in it and has spent time getting to know his mobile.

He is quite a lot more demanding that dd's 1&2 were and possibly even more so than ds1. He makes up for it though with his lovely heart melting smiles and little gurgles.

Sleep.... well I am sleeping in his room and he is in bed with me, which breaks every rule i have ever made about sleep... but hey ho! Am hoping within 2 wks he will be happily sleeping in his cot for long enough bursts for me to move back into my own room with dh, somewhere I have been for almost 3 mths!!

Weight.... I can get back into some of my pre preg clothes, but not all and not the ones i want to be in. I still have about 7lbs to lose to get to pre preg weight and then another 10lbs to get to my pre children weight. Ideally I would like to be at least at pre preg for July as I have 2 weddings to attend and want to look nice :)

Am just about to start on the pumping side of things as I want him to get used to a bottle as I am off to see Take That in July and will need to leave him with dh and the Nanny.

It does seem like he has been here forever and pregnancy is almost all forgotten.

I hope everyone has a good day today and that babies are all well

I am in awe of you April, I'm just getting back into day to day stuff and you've been in Florida for 2 weeks!!

I took both dc to the supermarket this morning, and we've all lived to tell the tale! DS3 wailed all of the way round and ds2 was a delight and telling everyone about his new baby brother and then stroking his head and holding his hand to make him feel better

Hi all!

Petal let me know how you get on with the Sensational Sleep. I'm having pretty good nights now, C still feeds at around midnight and three/four am but he feeds, burps and settles easily so something is working. Her theories about sleep seem to make sense without being too controlling.

I had a pretty tough day yesterday, with C deciding that if he was awake he was going to be crying. I think it's still a bit of a hangover from his constipation as he goes red and does a big ol' fart and then cries. I've changed his formula type and have also started adding a bit of boob milk to each feed rather than giving him all formula or all breast-milk, seems to be helping. I've heard that's a good idea, so maybe something for your to try too Mrs W. Also agree that the best way to keep supply up is to pump aty least every three hours and also in the night. My problem has been that trying to do that and look after a baby is next to impossible unless you have a DH that is around at the drop of a hat to take over when you have to express.

Today everything is calm and C is asleep in the vibrating chair, which he has finally taken too. Horray! I'm off to Richmond Park to meet up with some of the lovely ladies I met in the NNU and the sun is shining. Happy days.

Has anyone else had their LO smile? C is corrected age of nearly five weeks and I am doing everything I can think of to get a smile out of him but nothing yet. He probably thinks I am a complete loon.

I wrote my post this morning but only just sent it, so I didn't see your report back, Petal. I found that some days the routine goes totally out the window but you just start again the next day and eventually they get used to it. I only have the odd day when everything goes according to plan but I still think it's helping with his sleep.

JoEW we started getting a few smiles at 5 weeks but they weren't frequent, I'm sure C will start soon.

I joined the gym today I WILL lose this weight!!!!

Jo - we've had smiles since the end of week 5 - they were rare but are becoming more frequent. Conor will be there any day now :)

April - blimey, T is the same age, I cannot imagine having been away for a fortnight! Well done!

ILike - well done for getting out with them both, it is a bit daunting! I've managed to take DS1 to his usual music group the last two weeks, with DS2 in the sling - it is a bit stressful though!! :)

April - two weeks in Florida. Wow! I am in serious awe. I can't imagine how I'm ever going to be able to leave the house, let alone go on holiday abroad!

We've had a pretty terrible day today. Lots and lots of hysterical crying and no sleep for me or baby. I feel like things will never improve. I wish I had a crystal ball and could see when things will begin to get just a tiny bit easier and more predictable...

Perhaps I need to start expressing and try and give the little one a bottle. At least then I'd be a little bit more confident about getting out and about. How much breast milk would I need to express to give her enough for a typical feed?

When I had DS1 things definitely started improving at about the 6 week mark, it was like coming out of a zombie-like fog.

It is totally different 2nd & 3rd time round - things still get tough but you know it will improve, the first time you just hope they will :)

Hi April ladies

Still keeping up with the thread when I can, but never get a moment to post, as Joanna seems to be perpetually sleeping (on me) or feeding. I never have my hands to myself! She's 3 weeks old today and we've just been to register her birth so I'm feeling a bit proud and emotional. Bloody hormones! We met a woman in there registering the birth of her quintuplets. Five babies! Apparently the scan only picked up four, as well, so the final one was a surprise. And I'm struggling to cope with one newborn....

We have the occasional bright green poo here, too, amongst the turmeric yellow ones. No idea why. It was stringy today as well. Yum.

We're struggling a bit with breastfeeding, not really sure why. Multiple niggles - I'm sure I'm not quite getting the latch right as it's still a bit painful and my nipples are sore both during and between feeds. Admittedly this is much, much worse after a marathon cluster-feeding session and so I do think perhaps however perfect your latch is you're going to feel a bit mauled after 8 hours solid feeding. In fact, last night she did almost 12 hours on and off (never off for more than about 45 minutes). I was just about at the end of my rope by 4am when she fell into an unprecedented 4.5 hour sleep. Bliss! I felt human again this morning. I'm a bit concerned that an imperfect latch is what's causing her to feed so often and so long just to get enough. The health visitor and the midwife both said my latch looks OK, but it doesn't feel right to me, it feels shallow. I've watched millions of instructional videos and read pamphlets etc and I feel like I'm doing it by the book but I just can't get my nipple deep enough into her mouth, and I don't think she's taking enough of the lower part of the areola into her mouth. This isn't helped by the fact that my boobs are enormous and even if I squeeze them they're not even a little bit pointy - so for poor little J it's like trying to get a football in your mouth. Not really sure what to do about that - problem is no better when the breast is a bit emptier in fact it's worse. We seem to get a good latch on both breasts to start with but after about 5 minutes of brilliant drinking (long sucks, chin pauses, happy gulping noises) she just seems to tail off and we never quite get the latch right after that, she just bounces on and off for ages. The smaller boob is slightly less of a problem as I can get it a bit 'pointier' and it feels like it goes deeper, but it's not perfect by any means.

We've just got back from her first swimming lesson too - water babies. At 3 weeks she was by far the youngest there, but she seemed to enjoy it (at least, she didn't cry for the full half hour). She even did two underwater swims which terrified me but seemed to go OK.

Well that was a bit of a marathon (started yesterday and only got around to finishing today!). I love hearing all of your news, though, and it makes it so much better to know lots of us are in the same boat.

Oh yes and, on baby weight. I have no idea what I weigh as I don't own scales. I've been back in pre-preg fat jeans since 2 weeks, but have massive overhang of flabby belly so am not exactly looking hot! And photos of myself are making me cringe....

JKS -Thanks - I've heard a couple of people say things start to make more sense around the 6 week mark. 6 weeks still seems so far away but we'll get there I'm sure...(eek!).

However all my moaning is put in perspective by the woman with quintuplets. Oh my gosh - I can't imagine having five babies to look after, it must be never ending for her. Somebody give that woman a medal!

This afternoon I felt like I'd been hit by a train. headache, chills, aching joints, so tired I could barely move. Thank god mum was here. Was begining to think my infection had come back. Took some paracetamol and my left over SPD dihydrocodeine and I feel like a different person. I'm just hoping its gone and isn't going to make a re-appearance. Mum terrified me by saying she had milk fever when she was BFing my sister and was basically bed bound for a while.

B seems more unsettled today then he has ever been, not sleeping after his feeds and when he does sleep it's only for 45 mins at a time. I hope this changes for next week when I'm all by myself!

Re-driving after a CS, I hardly have any pain now and I'm no loger taking painkillers (bar todays emergency ones) I've heard that the GP can sign you back to driving after 4 weeks. Anyone have any experience?? I'm really stranded without the car, even the centre of the village would be a good 45 min walk away, longer on the way home as it's up hill! I think that would do more damage to me than driving! [seriously unfit emoticon]

ILTMIMI I will be attempting the supermarket and exiting the house with 2 DCs for the first time on my own tomorrow as DH is going back to work . I'm stupidly nervous about it and I don't know why, I'm sure S will sleep the whole time we're out.

Amazed at those of you in pre-preg clothes. Well done! I'm still in maternity jeans. Don't have scales so not sure how much I have to lose but I know my arms are very flabby and I'm a little off doing up my pre-preg fat jeans. I'm thinking a little Tracy Anderson love may be going into my Amazon basket shortly.

Anyone else's baby not gaining weight? I got S weighed today (she's 4 weeks), and she is the same weight as she was when the midwife weighed her when she did the 7 day check. So nothing in 3 weeks. The health visitor wasn't too concerned but now I'm worried. I thought the breastfeeding was going well. S seems to latch fine, seems satisfied after feeds and feeds on demand so I'm not sure why she wouldn't gain anything. Can this be normal? She's 6lb2oz now, same as her birth weight. .

Re driving my Gp stated me fit to drive at 4 wks post c section. I checked with my insurers and they were happy with that.

caramel weight sounds fine, if s is happy and the HV isn't worried don't sweat about it. I think slow gain earlier on is pretty common in BF babies.

I'm also nervous about taking out the 2 DC alone as DS is a bolter, so far i've been trying to stick to enclosed spaces and places with an adjoining car park

I went clothes shopping for some new tops this morning after a childfree trip to the dentist. I'm normally a size 16 but had to get 18's as I couldn't get the 16's done up over my