November 2011 - early birds, just in time and late to the party, all welcome!!

[TwoJackRussellsandapumpkin]

Hi all,

just starting up a post natal thread for all the due in November peeps on the antenatal forum and anyone else who would like to join in too, hoping to see my arrival by the end of the week, so officially an early bird I hope :)

Thank you, i feel a bit better now. Guess i have been reading too many books where they say you musnt rock your baby to sleep! I put him down much earlier to bed rather than trying to pacifing him and he went from 9pm till 3am (he did wake after the first 40 mins, but i stroked his head) Im hoping hes just over tired? We shall see how he gets on tonight. I'm not too keen on co-sleeping but will look into it if he gets worse. I think seeing seeing some of you ladies said you had a slight routine and it made me panic!!

Ive done my child benefit (even put his name down for the local pre-school, think i have too much time on my hands) When i received the birth certificates in the post they were folded in half anyway, i got the certificate back a few days after the confirmation letter for the benefit.

Its snowing here today down south, doubt it will settle!

My best bits are when he smiles and coo's at me, also when he pokes his tongue out too. Oh and he smells great, i smell him every day

never We sent off the short certficate with child benefit form and got it back fairly promptly (and not too creased!)

I went to bed at 9pm last night, I feel so ill and mentally feel weak, doesn't help that DS decided that after his 2am feed, he wanted to play until 5am. He is also a massive snot monster at the moment (luckily he is quite a sneezy baby so he is getting rid of it quite easily). Although having a cold has made him very clingy, making feeds one handed is a new skill I think warrants being added to the CV.

So, it's a pyjama day in this household! Hope you are all well!

freeangel and sasaunde Have you considered silent reflux as a cause?

Morning all...have become a lurker again! cali glad you've got to the bottom of things and you get continued improvement...worrying though when the supposed experts get things so wrong!
poppet everything crossed that willow is well and truly on mend and stays away from the hospital from now on.
Routines.... Ummm we don't really have one! E feeds every 3 hours in day and will have sleep and awake time at different times depending on where we are/who's about etc...usually 8, 11, 2, 5, 8 then bath some days before 11pm feed which we do with lights down and very quiet in bedroom then she'll sleep til 5am. I keep thinking she should be put down earlier but she stays downstairs with us having cuddles and snoozing or sometimes very awake and then we all go to bed for last feed. I need a new monitor as one I have loses signal through the very thick walls of our house...anyone else had this issue and found one that works well?
We have HV today at drs so interested to see what weight gain has been in 2 weeks. E still suffering with gas...she usually goes a couple of days between poos but has gone everyday last two days and seems much happier for it... Could it be constipation even if the actual poo when it does come is normal (although huge amounts)... Thought it was usually hard if they're constipated! (ah how life has changed, discussing poo in such detail!!!)
Anyway, sorry for long indulgent post!
Ooooh best bits...the grins melt my heart, when she clings on to my finger, falling asleep on my chest/tummy curled up so tight like she's still inside, all the fabulous faces, watching dh with her and knowing she knows I'm mummy and is soothed by me like no one else can do

kate my DS has the same issue with poo. Very very gassy boy and goes a couple of days between poos with a grand finale of an avalanche of the stuff complete with all the appropriate grunting and straining! I have mentioned this to three health visitors (absolutely no HV consistency in my neck of the woods) and they have all said that if the poo is normal then basically not to worry, it's just their immature digestive system yada yada...

Hope you feel better perish Max is very windy and grunts and strains, was wondering if he's a little constipated as 'im on iron tablets, turns out i'm now perhaps anaemic from the c-section.
Cali I do think he has a little silent reflux, as he gags, has a cough sometimes, very sicky, phlegmy at the back of his throat. I did mention this to the doctor she just said make sure he is propped up after feeding but nothing else to help etc and came across patronising as im a first time mum (im a nanny for my sins)! but will have a chat when i see my normal doctor this week coming!

Freeangel put the books away my lovely. I went through a "what the book says" phase but we've all been much more relaxed since I realised its much better doing whatever works for you, your family and baby. Babies don't read books afterall, they have nice tips that might work for you but they are not the gospel! That is my attitude now anyway!

We had a visit to the hospital today for X to have bloods taken to check on his prolonged ongoing slight jaundice. It was awful. they went for a vein in his hand and he was so hysterically upset I felt sick. very traumatic all round really. his jabs tuesday didnt bother him but this was something else.

Going for a little visit to F.Christmas tomorrow. muchly excited!

Caz It's heartbreaking stuff, isn't it!? Abi is having her jabs on Monday, I'm dreading it!

And she's lovingly developed a rash all over her forehead, down her cheeks and under her mouth - I can see some coming on her hands, too.
Will it ever end? She's getting wheezy after feeds and runny eyes, too, and the stomach cramps are back.
Calpol and sleep tonight, I think.

Morning all,

J is upstairs in bed with his dad, checked a couple of minutes ago and they both were sparked out, catching flies, so taking the opportunity to catch up on mumsnet the housework

I am sorry for those who are still having trouble with their LO's, J has his second cold, thanks to his dad, it's horrible hearing him trying to breath, took him into the shower yesterday to get the junk off his chest, which worked really really well, but now we are on snot patrol!!!

Cali, I reckon that Abi is just getting all her health issues out of the way now, I'll betcha she'll end up being a beautiful little girl who has no trips to the doctor at all, I hope so anyway!!!

I agree that we should all step away from the books for most of the time, they do have their place, but I found that if J hadn't met the weeks "targets" I would get worried about him, now am blissfully unaware and he is still a little poppet, albeit a snotty one!!!

My best bits;

He's started staring at us when we feed him, those huge big blue eyes!!
I was granted my first smile yesterday, actually cried it was so lovely :)
He's taken to grabbing his dads chest hair and pulling really hard, mean of me to find that funny but it's better than when he gets my hair
But, number one is just him, I've waited such a long time to have a baby that most of the time I just feel very grateful to have this little person to love and look after...

Right on that totally soppy note, hope everyone has a good day and get well all those LO's!!

Quick one from me to say thanks to whoever mentioned the white noise thing on YouTube, sorry can't remember who it was (my memory is shot to pieces atm!) - I have had a very peaceful afternoon with DS on the sofa next to me with the white noise playing. I got all my online Christmas shopping done (I know, I'm cutting it fine) plus watched a bit of Mad Men. Joy!

Hi to everyone

Luke is 4 weeks old today - where has the time gone? I have been loving having a little one again and the boys are his devoted slaves.

He is very calm and sweet with occasional unsettled days. We are breastfeeding a lot - every 2 hours at least and so at night we have introduced a bottle of formula for the last week which hubby gives him at 10pm - I am supposed to go to bed at 9 but look at me posting at 9.30, shocking! He will then sleep till 12/1 then wake for a feed and go back in his moses basket which is next to my bed until 3/4 when he has another feed.

He has sort of slotted into our family routine so comes on the school run and sleeps in his pram on the way home - it is a mile walk each way so gets him nice and settled. I did the Baby Whisperer routine sort of with my other boys so will be trying to make sure he doesn't always associate feeding with sleeping but at this early stage we are just grateful when he sleeps no matter how we get him off!

He was very windy as well so we have just been trying infacol and tonight he was allowed gripe water which has really seemed to settle him well.

I am so loving having a baby - it was my 42nd birthday last week and he smiled for the first time for me, then for my mum later and also for my brother so I was totally delighted, what a lovely birthday pressie. Just feel blessed to have him added to our family.

To all those finding it tough - it is tiring at this stage but don't wish it away - it goes all too quickly anyway. Enjoy your lovely babies at every stage if you possibly can.

Big hugs and sleep wishes to all of you

I love hpow we were running through pre natal threads like water and now none of us have time we've slowed right down! My best bits. Um. Knowing this is us now, my family, complete. Asking my son to kiss my daughter and watcjing him be gentle with her (all the resentment, thankfully, directed at me still), just feeling how much love envelopes my babies and knowing they wwill grow in absolute love. Laughing at dd's attempts to remain asleep in the face of two adults trying to keep her awake a while. You can guess who wins.
Sore boob. Scaring me. After breast anbscess drama last time, am easily scared.
Have suddenly gone from xmas just the four of us to hosting. Its aalright, my mum will cook

freeangel thanks! I am feeling much better thanks.

TOP TIP: If you have a sore throat, don't bother with lozenges, gargle with salt water every couple of hours... rank but it works! That was the pharmacist's advice and it was amazing!

mashpot I am glad the White noise helped and you got some quiet time.

juststarting that is such a lovely post (apart from the boob issue... hope that feels better soon!)

busyboysmum thank you for reminding me to enjoy the newborn stage! I find myself getting excited about the next milestones (rolling, talking etc.) that I sometimes forget to enjoy the here and now.

Has anyone had their 6 week check yet? Mine is on Tues and I was wondering what to expect?

DS is seriously smiling now, it's amazing! He also has a very odd fondness for the clothes horse and loves staring at the washing as it dries...

DP has taken DS out for the day so I can relax for a bit, I miss DS so much it's unreal, don't quite know what to do with myself!

So, I was a naughty girl and moved Abi over to Neocate last night...
No vomit, no stomach cramps...
Now I've got to convince the consultant that my daughter is worth the £30/tin formula...

Still here ladies - reading and lurking but not posting. Written up about half of birth story but been inundated with visitors, midwives, a very stressful 5 hr visit to the children's ward (also endured by my poor DD from 5pm to 10pm with no food or sleep - how guilty did I feel!!). Things finally getting there. DS now 12 days old and a VERY hungry baby. we're feeding about every 2-3 hrs and as would perhaps be put on a nice restaurant menu, we're feeding 3 ways! Breast, expressed and formula top up. Not sustainable long term but works for now.

I find my lovely DD utterly unbearable some days as she is a total PITA. Trting to be supportive but she is a total 3yr old teenager and how does anyone get anything done with 2 bedtimes, 2 bathtimes, feeding (3 ways!) and making quality time for DD and DS. I have no idea atm.

I'm sure I'll make it out of the fog soon but for now I'll post back once I have more time. :)

Baby up for an hour at 1 3 and 5 am. Could this be a growth spurt? He is on breast and formula top up and taking between 60 and 120ml as a top up. If he finishes 120 should I give him more?
Hoping tonight will be better. He has had another feed at 7am and he awake now whilst I hide next door with the monitor having a up of much needed tea.

mrsA was just thinking of you. V impressed with your feeding. Sounds like your ds is similar to mine. He was on 120ml when 2 wks old and feeding 2-3 hours. Mine milk didn't come in quick enough for his needs and decided, for my sanity, to ff. Glad I did as good lord he's a milk monster and is just over 13 lbs at nearly 6 wks old. He's v long and us in 3-6 m baby grows.

I hear you re DD. Mine chose to start teething her back molars when ds was a couple of days old and she was irritable, stroppy and whiney. She cried when ds made any sound and was v wary if him.

However yesterday, she picked most of lower level Xmas decs off tree and took one to ds and placed on his lips and made kiss sound. They bathed together and she helped wash his tummy (he seems to like baths and didn't cry!) and has started grabbing his hand or toes and saying what they are. Also pattin his head. V cute. She's 19months.

My DD is a bit older, 5, and has been fantastic thankfully, but the one thing I do notice is that she will wait until I am settled down to feed DS and then announce that she needs me to do something e.g. put the light on in the bathroom (she can't reach it), get her a drink, do her homework with her. I assume its her way of reminding me that she was here first!

MrsA and Moosey You're seriously making me question when to have a 2nd...

Moosey Have you had your HV say to reduce the feeds? I was so proud of Abi drinking 140ml-150ml for the first time, but was told by the dietician to not let her "over-feed". It's confusing though, as when do you know if she's over-feeding vs. seriously needing more?

snoozle my DD likes to give me toys when I have sat down to feed ds. Then gets upset when I can't hold them so have to wave hand fir her to place in. I now sing or talk to her when feeding so she's not feeling left out.

Cali I'm seeing the hv on 3rd jan so will check with her then. He's now 180ml every 3-4 hours and is going 5-6 hours at night. He doesn't always take max amount so know he is not overfeeding. The only 100% way I know he's not overfeeding is he's not throwing it up again once finished. I was more worried about over and under feeding with DD but this time am more laid back about it.

How you ladies are coping with more than the baby is amazing, as a newbie I can't even imagine it.

I got my longest sleep in a week this morning - 2 glorious hours. We slept together and I woke up staring into his gorgeous big brown eyes. We both looked shocked that we had slept.

I think that is a temporary hiatus in the week long monster growth he has done. Two weeks ago he was 7lb 4oz (2.5 weeks old) he is now 5 weeks old and weighing 9lb 4oz. I have no idea if this is good or not and I don't really care he is looking great and thriving, it makes the constant feeding booby demand worth while.

Evening all - my two angels are in bed and I have a nice relaxed evening to myself, bliss!

MrsA I know what you mean about 3yo teenagers! I was finding DS really difficult in the first few weeks but I realised that I was expecting a lot of him as he seemed so much bigger when DD came along. I had to remind myself he is only 3, I don't know if that perspective will help you but it did me. Also I started ignoring all negative behaviour (unless I couldn't IYSWIM) - so any moany voices were ignored, if he was crying for biscuits etc I would just say "you can have this or this make up your mind". Since then he has been much improved. HTH!

Pam I can cope with 2 as I am getting sleep but if I wasn't then I would be horrid cranky mummy, I can't believe how well you are coping! Keep it up and one day he will sleep, promise

cali I thought you couldn't overfeed a baby as they would just puke it up? Its funny how I always imagined FF was better than BF in this respect because you could tell they were getting some milk, but I never thought you could worry it was too much - I guess however you feed you still stress about it!

DD still sleeps like a dream at night for 7-8 hours, I am still waiting for her to realise she is too tiny to do this but enjoying it for now. She is quite cranky in the day but I realised I am just not paying enough attention to her needs and whenever she cries I tend to try and feed her but I don't think she always wants that - its very difficult balancing a toddler and baby and keeping both happy. I am looking forward to Christmas where grandparents can help entertain DS and I can focus a bit more on DD's non-feeding needs.

Evening all,

cali glad that Abi is feeding better now, shame to go from worrying about her getting enough to worrying she is getting too much. Hope you both find the happy balance soon x

pam have you tried co-sleeping or changing the position he goes down in?? To start with M would only sleep with me, so went with it & co-slept. I then realised whenever she slept with me she was on her side or her front. When I realsied that I put M to sleep on her side & she slept better (woke when she rolled onto her back). Put her to sleep on her front & she has slept brilliantly and now goes 10.30pm-5.30am.

We had our 6week check today & my BP has come back to normal so can come off meds. M is all good, though she has a squint in her right eye so need to have her checked again in a few weeks & if it not resolved she'll need to be referred to optometrist.

Those of you feeding EBM how much are LOs taking each feed?? M is 6 weeks and 9lb13, it has taken us 3wks to find a bottle she will accept - she likes the MAM bottle, but now not sure how much EBM I should give her if I was to go out & leave her with DP (not likely to happen at mo but you never know!!)

Hope everyone is well xx

Well, 8 week check-up and jabs today! Very tired, grumpy and warm Abi.

Our consultant appointment today had been cancelled without informing us, though, and we nearly ran out of food because no one could see us - I'm getting sick and tired of hospitals now! I can't tell if Abi is feeling better either, now she's all sickied out by the jabs :(

She has also dropped a percentile in weight, but I think that's the aftermath of struggling to feed last week - the doctor didn't seem too worried.

Oh well, happy days!

Quite a good link: pregnancy.about.com/cs/breastfeedinginfo/a/aanho2.htm Don't think DS has reflux cali as he's only like this in the evening? not sure tho as I don't know much about it.

Feeling the toddler pain mrsA and moosey! My oh still can't lift anything post hernia op and DD KNOWS it! If he tries to help with her she just throws herself on the floor and he can't lift her! Poor old DS has to cry while I wade in and sort her out She's great with baby though, loves it when he grips her hand.