April 2011; springtime arrivals - blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush, nipple thrush, nappy thrush...

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Here we are, our new thread and this time we all have our babies !

I thought we were getting thrush again, but then realised I had let ds's latch get sloppy. He was constantly clicking and tutting at the breast but I was too distracted to notice.

Ds and I made butterfly cakes together this morning, ds got to choose the colour of the buttercream icing ..... It is a very lurid shade of pink and they are covered in sugar strands. You can never have enough sugar!

Skef settling is a distant dream for me too Moley but we're very lucky in that H is on a similar schedule to yours MrsW.

I like that he goes down at about 10.30-11 as it means he gets some daddy time post work and I can do some morning housework.

Have rediscovered my cookbooks, made pizza for dinner last night and am looking through my Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook for cakes today, mmmmmmmmmm.

Wow we have another epic poo all over dungarees the morning. Its nit so much the amount as the for e with which it's expelled.

I've been in touch about going back to work. 2 months to go :( It makes me sad but I know I enjoy work, it pays well and careers in academia are hard to get into so I can't give up this toehold. Really stressing about finding childcare though. You'd have thought that having been a nanny it would easier to recruit one for myself because I know what I'm looking for, right?

In other news DTD last night. My amazing come on/sign that it was okay to continue was 'I really, really don't want to get pregnant'

Hehe, my come on is 'Quick, the baby's asleep'

H has been asleep all morning after a mega sleep last night, he's just woken for a big feed but is asleep again

Well, yesterday a doctor put her fingers up my bum. Had a postnatal check for my tear - they're referring me to the bum doctor (for sphincter scans to assess potential problems with continence and future babies) and the fanjo lady (there's a special "too tight" clinic and talk of 'dilators'). So that was a fun morning!

F did loads of massive poos yesterday too, all over his trousers and soaked into my jeans. None this morning (that I know of, DH is off today and is on baby duty!).

We don't do self-settling, although we probably should. It takes ages to get him to sleep, but he's pretty good once he's down.

And... DH's arm got tired and he's stopped off. 2 children!

ooh Cycle you've just reminded me I have the Hummingbird book too! Might bake at the weekend!

Busy day today, just had Bs 6 week check! he's 11lb11ozs now! BF support group in an hour then got the BF clinic at 2. I'm really just going because I haven't been since B had his TT snipped. I'm sticking with the expressing as the latching isn't working. It's all part of my daily routine now, pump in the mprning, arounf lunchtime, after dinner then before bed. I'm getting more than enough and have a freezer full of bags too!

Then ta dah da tadah TAKE THAT TOMORROW I'm so excited like a giggle teenager!! Do you think Mark might ask me up on stage!!!!! I'm not even worried about leaving B, does that make me a bad mummy? I'm staying overnight in Glasgow too, so a whole night of uniterupted sleep! i hope my room mate doesnt snore! :o

I'm not sure if this is self settling but we feed B at around 8ish, wind him, change and dress him for bed, then we put the same lullaby on the monitor and lay him down. Hes usually asleep by the time the lullaby finishes, if not we play it again and then he'll def be asleep. His room is also dark. Last night he did 8.30 to 4.50 then went back down til I had to wake him at 8.30 to get ready for the docs.

Why is it that when you tell someone how well baby is at sleeping they decide not to be? We've been putting M to bed after bath, massage and feed about 9, though last night was bath, massage, hysterical crying then finally feed. She did drop off pretty quickly (probably exhausted by screaming) and slept through til about 4.20 by which point I had mega boobs and was ready for her to feed. We did the usual feed, change, feed but i think she dropped to sleep after the first feed and instead of smiles during the change we had more crying :( then it took an hour or so before she would settle back in the crib after the second boob when normally she settles immediately.

Beetle I'm temped by the idea of the breastfeeding in Leeds but don't think I'm confident enough to try an hour each way on the train with M yet.

Lis that is amazing self settling! Sometimes I put S down when she's had her feed and is dozy and she will drop off herself, but never in the daytime when she has to be either rocked/patted or in the car/pushchair/sling. Self settling is the holy grail in this house!

I thought I was done with 2 DCs but today I had a pile of S's things that she has grown out of in my hand and I couldn't bear to think of them going to charity/ebay so maybe I'm not done? Confused!

petal sounds like you'll have the best sorted bits of any of us after your referrals yesterday! Can I say that I had fanjo physio after having DS (episiotomy blah, blah, blah) and it was bloody brilliant. My pelvic floor was better when I finished with her than it has ever been in my life. It even held up quite well to having had S and a 2nd degree tear along the old epi scar.

The boob thrush is back in the caramel house and I'm back on the flucanazole etc. Also means I'm trying again to cut down the sugar so all this talk of the Hummingbird is killing me!

Hi all
I just expressed for the first time. Medela bottle said 50ml but tesco bag said 100ml / 3 oz. So do I now need to express every feed or just to get enough milk for when I leave S? or when boobs explode? Any idea how much to try him on the bottle?and how long from fridge or freezer to room temp?

Kitty trust the bottle. The bags do measure right but because they are flexible can be a bit off. If you fill one with water you will see what I mean.

Posted too soon.

B takes 150ml per feed. He's 7 weeks. You can store in the fridge for 3 days and freezer for 6 months.

And again can't check back through thread when posting on iPod

Express when you need to. Because I never got b to latch I can say when you should express, but my supply is best first thing am or last thing pm. I get between 350-400 mls at those pumps. But remember demand= supply.

Sorry for post being all over the place!

350-400ml! Wow!

I get about a quarter of that.

Thanks lis

I get 150ml per boob if I'm lucky!

Coffee cake is cooling in kitchen, took eight eggs! fingers crossed it's tasty, could fancy some as soon as it's cool... Mmmmmmmmmmm

Bloody hell! My supply is paltry after 4 weeks of formula top ups (which are really more like BF top ups...). I can get 50ml from both boobs combined if I'm lucky! (although that is after a breast feed). But that's why I've got the pump to try to up my supply. Also on my way to doctors for 8 week check and will ask about the drug that boosts your milk supply. And we've FINALLY got an appointment for Joanna at the tongue tie clinic next Wednesday. She'll be 9 weeks then so not sure if it's too late, but at least we can move on and make plans for what to do next after we've got that resolved.

I'm only expressing though, and to be fair if I didn't get that much I would be questioning the size of my heaving bosoms with mother nature!!!

Was at the BF clinic this afternoon, the lady there said I'd tried everything available tome to get B to latch and stay latched. I think what she was saying was keep going the way I am going. Which is fine, I'm quite happy to carry on pumping. I can;t remember if I've already said this here so I'll sy it anyway! I was worried about the cost of continuing tohire the pump, however, I worked out how much formula would cost for the month and it's only a few £s more for the pump! So while I've got the milk to pump I will.

ecuse good luck with the TT clinic, it has made a difference with B, but with everything we had going on, I just didn't have the time persevere. It literally just takes seconds to clip and you will probably feel it more than Joanna :o.

Now it's 4.30 and I haven;t even thought abotu whats for tea! Hmm might just get a take away!

Another q. At what age can I stop using cotton wool and water and use wipes and when can I put stuff in the bath? Oh that's 2.

I started using wipes after about 2 weeks, the cotton wool just couldn't cut the mustard! Plus I kept knocking over the top and tail bowl! And top and toe wash in the bath since hospital. They used it first so i presumed it was ok.

I gave up on cotton wool quite quickly as I'm a lazy arse and Jo has been fine. Given up using cooled boiled water to wash her face too, now just stand next to running tap with a flannel in one hand and her in other and give her a good scrub

Don't bother using stuff in the bath except after swimming though. Although she only gets a bath twice a week anyway. She is quite the dirty scutter . Actually because I read somewhere that the (relatively new) tendancy to daily bathing of children is thought by some to be responsible for rise in skin complaints. And since DP and I both have sensitive skin I thought I'd err on the side of caution. Which, happily in this case, involves erring on the side of laziness!

Same here with the top and toe wash. The midwives at the hospital's antenatal classes were adamant that we should be bathing our babies in nothing but water - shame they didn't tell the midwives on the ward. They were merrily pouring it in the tub for P's first bath! We've been using it ever since - doesn't seem to have done any damage!

We started on the wipes at about 5 weeks. The cotton wool and water wasn't even touching the sides of P's frequent nappy explosions!

Not a great day here. P's only slept for six hours since midnight. She looks knackered but we can't get her to nod off. DH has just set off with the pram in a desperate attempt to walk her to sleep. I though babies were meant to do nothing but sleep. Shame nobody told mine that!

Afternoon all! DH redeemed himself by baking cakes and giving me a lift to BF group today. He also gave F his bath, which was most traumatic and involved a lot of yelling (only F, not DH!).

Re expressing, if F misses a boob, I can get 150ml or more from the one boob. Otherwise I'm lucky to get 60ml from both. It doesn't matter at the mo, just need enough to keep him used to the bottle for now & the rest goes into the freezer for when I go back to work. I'm staggered at Lis's 350+ml!

I think we're on to the 3 month growth spurt, F's fed every 90 mins today! So much for moving on to 4-hourly feeds!

Weigh day tomorrow.

Hi Ladies, long time, no posting, p has a habit of waking up when i'm about to post, but i have been reading

i'm still using cotton wool pads (waitrose baby pads are really good and don't moult)and water at home and p will be 12 weeks this week, it's cheaper and she hasn't had any nappy rash at all, apart from when i had to borrow some non-sensitive wipes at the baby clinic.

We had p christened on sunday and she was as good as gold, stayed awake the whole time and only cried when the water went over her head. On the whole I really can't complain as she is a very easy baby. She sleeps well, is usually pretty content and keeps her milk down, a total contrast to how DS was. I'm glad i had the difficult baby first, it must be harder the other way whereas you don't miss what you never had. Last night p slept for 10 hours and we've been to the park today and she napped for another two. She did spend practically all evening on the breast yesterday though and didn't want her top up FF last thing so i'm wondering if it's the first signs of teething

ILTMIMI you're famous! Got a mention in the Mumsnet newsletter today!

So, those experienced in expressing: what's the quickest way to build up supply? Am taking fenugreek (although only 1 tablet per day - is that sufficient?) and trying to express as often as possible, although to be honest I'm only managing about 4 times a day if I'm lucky at the moment. It's so hard to find the time. If I put aside some days to do it religiously, how many do I need to get back up to the point where I can express (or directly BF) all her feeding needs (about 1000mls per day +)?

I've not taken any supplements to boost supply. I have porridge in the mornings (someone said oats were good for milk). I started pumping every 2 hours, including through the night, although not for long, until my supply was established. Then I pumped after every feed B had so i was on the same kind of timing as him. Gradually, I was getting more at each pump so I know only pump 4 times a day. It's taken almost 8 weeks to get to here though!!

Between midnight and 3am is apparently the best time to make sure you pump because you get a hormone(not sure which one?) surge at this time.

Good luck, I know it's not easy, but when you see all the milk in its bottles lined up in the fridge its worth it!

Ecuse I'm taking two fenugreek tablets three times a day as recommended by hv to boost supply! Think it's working though otherwise would stop as they are the foulest smelling tablets I've ever had (sick face not envy)