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.

JKS - thrush symptoms for me are: blanched nipples, shiny nipples, itching in the breast and/or around the nipple.

Sort of glad to hear others are having nightmare dinner times too as it doesn't make me feel quite so inadequate. If I come up with a magic solution I'll let you know

I lol at the bed breaking stories. I've managed to break a toilet seat before - the hinges on the seat ripped away from the toilet

Oh, and I thought I'd remind everyone that it is Fathers Day on the 19th June, so get your thinking caps on. I already have it sorted for my dad and my dh

Iltmimi I too am feeling very smug as already got Father's day presents for dh and Dad! I don't think I've ever been this organised before.

Thanks for the sleep advice everyone. I'll try the sling again though yesterday when I tried she still cried :( I think she was way past it by then. I think she's finally asleep now in the pram (took half an hour of ignoring her, though she was just awake and wriggling, not crying) unfortunately she could well wake when we go out in 15 minutes.

Hello all, I've not had chance for a proper read, just a quick skim but I'll be back later with a proper post. I once again have mastitis there doesn't seem to be any blockages so I guess it's the joy of oversupply again. I had to pump after feeding S in the middle of the night just to get comfy and still got 60ml off. I've spent the last couple of days feeling pretty out of it on the sofa. Thankfully S is cooperating for the most part and has been very good and having lots of mummy cuddles.

I'm on top of Fathers Day here too! Having all this time infront of the laptop feeding has helped with that no end! Got him a really nice 4 aperture photo frame to put pics of the 2 DSS's, G, and one of them all together that I need to take this weekend. He'll love it! And a load of other bits too... too much time on my hands!

Hmmm, I got cross with DP for not doing mother's day this year (went into labour the next day on my due date so felt I should have qualified!) so thanks for the heads up ladies!

chilli it may take her a while to get used to being in the sling. What kind are you using and do you feel confident with her in it? IME infants very quickly pick up that you don't feel secure about their security IYSWIM which is why babies often cry when they sense someone is ill at ease holding them.

beetle :( about the mastitis.

I've not prepared anything for Fathers Day but it's French Mothers Day this weekend so I qualify for at least 1 this year! Will need to think of something good for DH for the 19th...

In other news I crashed the car day before yesterday with DS in it. Well, I didn't crash it - I was driving along and the safety catch on my bonnet failed and flipped up to cover the windscreen (and smashed a corner of it in the process). The horrible thing was that I got out the car, got DS out, was there behind the safety barrier with an infant and NO-ONE stopped for a good 10 minutes. And of a few hundred cars who went passed and gawped a grand total of 3 stopped to see if I needed help . Check your bonnet safety catches!

Finally my (almost daily) question: tummy sleeping. How to do it safely? DS will NOT sleep on his back but happily sleeps tummy down on our chests and has snoozed away on our bed with me watching over him like a hawk for 2 hours.

We're going to go to the zoo like we did last year on Father's Day and take a picnic.

Odd to think back and realise that we had only just decided to try for another baby! How much has changed :)

Beetle - you poor, poor thing. Are your nipples cracked? I only ask because it's possible that an infection is getting in that way.

T slept 11.45pm - 5.15am, and then 6.15 - 8.30am. Then he snoozed all morning while I had a lovely shower and just faffed about for a while.

Hope you feel better soon Beetle, I remember feeling awful with mastitis and I didn't really get the full blown version.

Frakk - I hope you cursed all of those arseholes who didn't stop
I has a few naps on his tummy and like you it makes me feel very jittery. I don't worry if he does it on me or next to me as I believe my breathing stimulates him, but when he's napped alone I'm on a knife edge. However, I try to reason that he's on a good breathable mattress and that he is never exposed to cigarette smoke in any way shape or form. Maybe I say this to make myself feel better, but I do believe you have to look at the whole picture.

I think DS2 has got chicken pox - I noticed a few spots before he went up for his nap. Bummer.

chillikat thats fantastic if she can get herself to sleep without crying like that! This is what my HV is always banging on about.. I think if you're LO can drop off to sleep without having to be rocked/cuddled etc and without crying that is considered a very good thing! Hope she stayed asleep :)

beetle poor you with mastitis again.. no advice but I do hope you feel better soon.

frak that must have been frightening - glad to hear that you weren't hurt though.

M is now on her second nap of the day in the bouncy chair this time :) (but beginning to wake up now). I think because she always seems to sleep so well at night usually 11-7ish with a feed and change sometime in the middle I've been happy to let her stay awake during the day in case she doesn't sleep as well at night. I think I'm forgetting how much sleep babies need, fingers crossed we have a better evening and still sleep tonight.

The sling I have is a Babasling, I feel she's secure in it, but wonder if her feet are squished up. I think I just need to use it more as she tends to just look puzzled whne i put her in it. We also have a upright rucksack type carrier, she fell asleep in that straight away when i tested it last week, but then I'm concerned her head is lolling about a bit. That said, she's 9 weeks now and has pretty good head control.

frak that's scarey, glad you and M are OK.

Thanks for the heads up on Fathers Day. I will try to remember for DH, my dad's not too bothered with cards.

Fathers Day. Have not even thought about that yet but am very impressed by those who have sorted it already.

S had a great night last night. Not bragging, just need to note it somewhere so I can look back in 6 months time and go, oh yes the 26/27th May, that was a good night's sleep! I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that she enjoyed 15 mins baby massage before bed. Until now she's only really let me do 2 or 3 mins (if any) before becoming unsettled and wanting boob & bed. Anyway, she went down at 8pm, woke at 1am & 4am for feeds then woke up at about half 8. I feel like a new woman today. Funny how you get used to such crappy sleep that when you get anything better you feel elated.

Oh Frak how scary.

I'm enjoying lazing in France but I'm ready to come home now. H is becoming a bit mummy clingy because I have nothing to do and DP is missing us both.

He's busy doing H's room while we're away so I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Chilli have you tried what my HV suggested. We dim lights and are quieter from about 8pm, we give H a bath about 9 then put him in a sleep suit and his sleeping bag for the final feed. It seems to calm him down and the sleeping bag means there's no change of temperature when I put him in the cot. He's been going to sleep at about 10-11 and I'm wondering if it's the routine.

Frak - I let S nap on his front during the day - I put the hand his face is turned away from down and the other one up so he is in a recovery position type pose which I think (purely my own theory!) means he is less likely to try to turn. And then I just put the Moses basket somewhere central and nostril and breathing motion check every five minutes! He has been absolutely fine so far. The GP also said his head control is very good and she had no doubts that he could turn it back if he got face down - I have watched him do this myself when he wriggles as he surfaces. I am nowhere near confident in his abilities enough to let him sleep that way at night yet but he naps for HOURS on his front in the day (self settling when he half wakes as he sort of snuggles back down himself) as opposed to minutes on his back, so I'm sticking with it despite the twitchiness!

Cycle we have no problems overnight - M sleeps really well when we sleep, it's just early evening and I thinks it's lack of daytime naps. It's been a bit better tonight - we even had a quiet bathtime :)

Oh, I totally agree on the routine thing - ours is very similar, though later and shorter it's really 5 to 9/10pm we have the inconsolable crying.

Does anyone else have a vocal sleeping baby? He's sleeping, but grunting, whining, snorting, wheezing constantly. DH had the pillow over his head when I woke up. B and I are now in the living room waatching TV. Well B is now sleeping silently in his pram [typical] and I'm drooling ove Bradley Cooper (again :o) on the Graham Norton Show!! I love Sky Plus!!

No wheezing here Lis, but S is a grunter and a whiner too. It seems to get worse as the night goes on. She's quietish to start, all ramps up an hour or so after the 4amish feed and just gets more frequent till morning. S raises her legs up too so might be wind.

Quick question- can I use both infacol and gripe water in same hour?

Just trying to catch up on the posts...

J is a grunter/whiner/almost sounding like crying after 3am feed. Glad it's not just J - was wondering why she was doing it but maybe it's just a thing babies do.

Am interested to know answer to infacol and gripe water question.... J had had very bad wind last few days.

Well i'm not aware that you can't if that's any help!

Having my first go at expressing for a bottle today.. Wish us luck! I have heard if you leave it any longer than about five or six weeks then they are less likely to take it. Plus I really need to get my hair done and it takes longer than G can go between feeds! Wish us luck!

Damn i said 'wish us luck' twice. How very demanding of me.

Good luck Lucie.
I'm going to try the gripe water after next feed as infacol seems to make L sick! I had a look at ingredients of both and I can't see any obvious reason you can't use both.

:)

are you breastfeeding? Colief has been recommended to me instead of infacol but it's a bit of a faff if you're bfeeding as you have to express a bit of milk onto a sterile spoon and at it that. Half an hour here and seem to be getting going now - I can see it squirting out.. Is it weird that I'm finding it fun!

are you hand expressing lucie or using a pump? Trust me of you have to do it all the time the novelty wear off!! I've bought a Medela Swing pump now as the Symphony will have to got back soon. It's not as strong a pump as the symphony but I think it should do the job. Hopefully after Friday's appointment B will be tongue tie free and we can get on the boob.