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 :)

Hello all, have tried to catch up as not been on here yet despite Madeline being 2weeks old yesterday.

Madeline is doing well & BFing like a pro, she seems to be settling a little into a routine. She is a bit of a nightmare sleeping though, to start she would only sleep when held - when put down you could time 10mins exactly & she'd scream; the past couple of days though she has improved and has slept in her pushchair & her cradle during the day :) we are co-sleeping at night & she won't settle in her moses/cot at all - this I am happy with at the mo but my aim is for her soon to be put to sleep in her bed even if she then co-sleeps folloowing night feed...not sure how I'm going to go about this (swaddling, warming, my clothes all failed).

Hope mums & babies are well and will be great to see some more Nov mummies joining us soon xx

Sorry Katie about the lack of sleep. Thought I was onto a guaranteed three hour stretch at night but the other night was up every hour and was a zombie.

Hi everyone, creeping on here whilst Luke is asleep and the boys are at school to catch up.

Do I need to post a birth story? It all went well and I got my water birth which was great, gave birth at 3pm and was at home by 6pm which my mum thinks is disgusting! Bless. In her day you had 10 days at a little nursing home being looked after, fed and the baby taken away at night so you could get your strength back.

I have to say that I am besotted by our latest little addition to our family - he is a total gorgeous little star. I haven't had a lot of sleep at night however as he is another who won't settle in his moses basket meaning that he has been co-sleeping with me. I remember the other 2 being exactly the same however and ds2 slept through from 6 weeks despite being fully bf so I am not stressing about it at the mo - he is only 4 days old bless him and is used to having food on tap, things soon settle down if I remember rightly.

I recommend the Baby Whisperer book, I used it with my other boys and she has a routine called EASY that worked really well with us - I am just re-reading the book at the moment and will start trying it out next week sometime I think.

I am exhausted and so happy at the same time. I am blessed with my mum who comes round every day, cleans up downstairs, takes Luke while I have a bath then cooks me a nutritious lunch and washes up leaving a casserole for tea for me and dh. She has done this every time I have had a baby and it makes such an amazing difference - dh's parents turned up the other day for a visit with a card and a babygro then proceeded to chat about irrelevance for an hour when all I really wanted to do was to go to bed! I am hiding from everyone else - I always declare a Babymoon for about 2 weeks after having a baby where I hide from the world and get to know my baby in peace. I don't want to have to get the house tidy or myself dressed to entertain people - maybe next Saturday we will have an open house where people can come and visit and meet the little fella.

Hope all the little ones are settling in well, so nice not to be pregnant any more, 13 stone feels so slim!!! Will be joining weight watchers in Jan!

Katie so sorry, that sounds horrible. Went to docs today as we spent another night sleepless night. He's in pain when processing a poo so some feeds are fine, others can take up to 2 hours to settle him and then it's almost time to feed him again. His pain is in his tummy. He prefers to be held upright.

Sorry got to go, dhs relatives are here. Just managed to soothe ds as well. Sigh.

Hello Moosey. I feel for you so much. We have switched DS formula to an easy digest one which has eliminated obvious trapped wind colic and issues pooing. We hold him up right post feed for at least 45 minutes.

We just can't calm him late evening. Just as we are dropping with tiredness. Sounds like we are not alone. Little mite is only 2 weeks old bless him. Council meeting with DH tonight to plan how he can sleep enough to work and I can sleep in the mornings as DS does sleep after his early morning feed. Also plan evening meals! I have to master my nemesis - the slow cooker!!!!

2 is a million times harder than 1 ( to us anyway).

Hi all, colic worse here, infacol doesn't seem to be helping.....has anyone used colief, supposed to be more of a faff but better? hv mentioned last week but she's coming tomorrow so going to discuss then.
Re bedtime settling, I've found keeping the room as dark as poss and absolutely no talking when getting up for night feeds so baby stays quiet and calm and goes back off after, doesn't always work but in the main after a bit of a burp and rocking on knees she falls asleep and can be put back in moses basket without a mumur. Seems to like bath time.....how often is everyone bathing, we're not much, just top and tailing mostly, but someone said to me recently to start getting in to a bath time before bed routine.....seems a bit early for this yet as routine is a bit all over the place? plus she gets quite dry skin after bath (only using water) so wouldn't want to be bathing every day surely?
cali sorry to here about the burn.....accidents happen though so don't be hard on yourself.
katie what formula are you using thats helped?

It's Aptimel easy digest. It's slightly thicker so you need variable flow teats. But what a difference re the pooing. So much easier for him .

Relatives gone. Blimey that was hard work. Especially as they kept wanting me to wake DD. Couldn't quite get them to understand I didn't want to wake her as she really needs her naps at mo otherwise she turns into tantruming stroppy nightmare.

Annyway doc was v helpful as her DD had v bad reflux and colic. Ds has mild version of both. Said to keep an eye out for baby being scared of bottle as causes pain. Am now using c&g comfort and hoping to see an improvement.

Katie that does sound like colic. You can get colief on prescription, so would be free at mo. I'm going to my chiro to do some cranial wotsit on ds as he came out so quick something might be out of line grasping at straws

I found a thread on here for colic support, can link to it if you want.

voodoo a sanitary pad pressed against stitches can help. The best thing for me was to eat food that I know goes through me quickly. For me that is twiglets . Agree with Stace that a hot bath can help relax muscles so easier to poop.

With DD I had a 2nd degree tear and lateral lacerations on my labia. Tears described by mw as being at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock. Extremely painful and was bleeding on and off for 5 weeks. Bits were aching at end of day and v uncomfortable standing up. This time 2nd degree tear again but not as bad. Hardly any pain, not uncomfortable and already stopped using the maternity pads. Still bleeding at 2 weeks, even though it stopped fir a day. I remember it doing this last time. If I did anything strenuous ie long walk it would set the bleeding off again.

Katie how long did it take for the Easy digest to work slightly manic looking mummy

Hello Moosey. 2 days less/no trapped wind and griping. 4 days for wetter easier poos but DS is an every couple of days big dumper!!!!

Little angel refusing to settle except on me today. DD was patient until bedtime. Her bedtime stories with Mummy are not up for grabs!!!!

hi all, I haven't been on here for about a week, just couldn't motivate myself, when previously I had been an enthusiastic reader and poster!

Ali you asked how my scar was doing.....not so good! I managed to get to the Dr in the end (my dad took me, although I hate asking him as he is quite elderly) and am now on my second set of antibiotics. Have found that if I am taking the antibiotics, I can't take the painkillers, as they make me really ill, even if I take them at a different time of day. When not on antibiotics, painkillers are fine. Its weird....anyway, hoping this course does the job.

Am also sleep deprived, although I have it easy compared with some of you on here, in that its not colic or endless crying, its just that DS is so hungry, he is waking constantly needing fed. And I'm certain that it is hunger, because I know him well enough now to know his hungry cry, which sounds different to his dirty nappy cry. Anyway, we're very blessed because he isn't much of a cryer generally, but we're still a bit sleep deprived.

Cali sorry to hear about the burn, I hope she is recovering well.

To everyone else who had hopped over from the antenatal thread, congratulations on all the new arrivals, its hard to believe that we are nearly all here now - to me it seems like no time since we were all introducing ourselves and worrying about making it to 12 weeks so that we could go public.....

Snoozle sorry to hear wound still problematic - mine is on the mend & I found that when the antibiotics kicked in I stopped needing much pain relief.

Well we've hit 3 weeks & having been in a reasonable routine at night feeding a couple of times & sleeping well on bedside cot it has now fallen apart. I've currently been awake since 12;50 without settling him & it was similar the last 2 nights. He just seems to want to feed & feed but I don't think there's enough milk - feeding 30-40 mins each side but still rooting like mad & looking for more. Hr doesn't seem windy or uncomfortable but must be overtired. If it I'd hunger hopefully my supply will catch up.

Ah Alicat sounds like your ds has hit the 3 week growth spurt. Lots of cluster feeding. Your supply will catch up eventually, just tiring for you.

Katie thanks for replying. Started on c & g comfort yesterday afternoon and after 4 feeds we both found that we couldn't get any wind up on the next 3 feeds. Was worrying I was going to have major vomalanche this morning but he's been fine. Will see how the next couple of days go. Fingers crossed.

Have got mw appt today so hoping they will sign us off.

Here's to a better day for us all.

Ah gosh the colic/reflux etc sounds so grim. For babies and mummy's. I have no advice as never had to deal with it. Moral support offered fwiw though.
I have to go find something for my nether regions. Arnica tablets and witch Hazel?
Has anyone disappeared under car seats, prams, baby gro's etc? I can hardly walk into my front room! Trying to make an appointment to register the birth.... Am very excited!

Hello Moosey. We aren't getting a many burps either. Perhaps it's the thicker milk meaning they feed slower. DS takes at least twice as long to take his milk.

No screaming last night but he slept on me. As soon as in his crib (raised on cot blocks at one end) within 20 minutes he's moaning and gulping. I'm convinced he has reflux now!!! He's happy in his bouncer chair.

More sleep last night than previous 3!

Just properly read through the thread as I've been on the phone previously and a big hug for Cali. I hope Abigail is recovering. Accidents do happen all the time. We certainly have had a few near misses with DD over the past few years, I'm so sorry you have to through this.

For those with stitches down there I assume you are taking lactulose, keep it all soft!!

hi ladies.

snoozle sorry your wound is still giving grief, hope it heals soon.

ali ds2 is cluster feeding last few nights was approx 8-12 but last night, omg, was approx 18:30 - 02:39 am so tired.

a wierd thing ladies any suggestions welcome, because i've had to use a nipple shield for feeding him, i've been expressing as well to try and keep the amount up, i was expressing approx 8 times a day, but since starting with the shield cut it down to about 4 times a day. the last couple of days i've hardly got anything when pumping, but then ds goes on and he manages to get some. He sleeps fine during the day, only cluster feeds at night so i'm pretty sure he's getting enough. not sure if i should worry that i can't get much when pumping or not worry at all as he seems to be getting enough during the day. Is it weird that i can't get it off from the pump but ds2 can???

oh and a yay moment, he took his first full feed straight off my boob without a shield earlier, sooo chuffed.

Moosey & CEP thanks for the moral support re cluster feeding - hopefully my body will ramp it up & he'll calm down. HV has suggested I try & wake him to encourage him to cluster feed through evening instead of middle of night but I'm nervous he'll end up being settled in the evening & overnight which would finish me off. Plan is to go to bed at 8 tonight so I can get some sleep in first...

Cep, when I was expressing for the first two weeks with DS, I got a lot more when he was in the room with me. He was a bit to small and early to suck, and I didn't have it in me to persevere, so we were bottle and tube feeding him expressed milk for the first two weeks in hospital. The neonatal nurses all advised loads of skin to skin to get supply up, which seemed to work quite well. I'm formula feeding now, as pumping got to be too time consuming once we got home.

Cali, I hope you're ok, and not beating yourself up too much, we're all here for you, these things happen, and I'm sure the only person blaming you is you.

Colic sorry to all those with crying babies, hope it passes soon for you all!

Eddie has just done his 3rd night in a row with a stretch of 5 hours in between feeds, which has given me and DH plenty opportunity to catch up on sleep. He now feeds at 7pm, 10pm, 1am and 6am, 8am, 10am, 1pm and 4pm, give or take 10 minutes each time! Each time he takes between 3 and 4 ounces, which seems like a lot given he only weighs 8lb, even after putting on a full pound this week! He'll be 6 weeks old on Sunday, I can't believe how quickly its gone. Does anyone know if I should be worried that he's taking too much milk now, I think he takes around 28 oz in 24 hours, and according to dr google he should only need 20 oz. I was looking at his weight chart, and he is all over the place on the premmie and 'normal' charts, but seems to be gaining weight a bit quickly now. He is obviously nowhere near overweight, but I don't want to start him off on the wrong trend. He was due on Sunday, so I guess he is probably just making up for lost time, but doesn't stop me worrying!

Lizzy, my understanding is that babies will eat when they are hungry and not when they are full, so I wouldn't worry too much about how much he is eating, I personally don't look too much at the charts or what the internet says I should be feeding J, he's putting on weight and there are plenty of wet and dirty nappies so trying not to fuss. He started off on the 95th percentile before he was born and is now down to the 40th, but the HV isn't too worried and so I am trying not to be either.

Baby not gained weight but not lost any more so bf then trying to top up either expressed milk or formula. Only got a two hour stretch of sleep between 5 30 and 7 30.
Hoping those babies with colic are getting better and their parents getting some sleep.

Thanks TwoJacks, I think I'm just being a fussy first time mum! He's only gone from the 0.2 percentile to the 9th, so I'm unlikely to be justified in my worries. My HV seems happy with him, so I'll just try to be pleased he's catching up. mmmm Domino's pizza on the way

For me, not DS!

Lizzy I started documenting every feed, nappy and sleep on a chart but I gave up after 3 days. I was stressing about everythig - not enough wee, too much poo, to much sleep wierd spacing of sleeps. The midwife was great she gave me all the cues to look for with dehydration, nutrition etc it's so much easier looking for signs rather than stressing about things that are nirmal.

Only issue I still worry about is the green poo - still very green and wet. Probably not getting enough hind milk. But he only lost 10g in the first week so can't worry he isn't getting enough. Oh and he has been asleep for 5 hours - I'll pay tonight :)

Aw Cookie thats pants, hope you get some decent sleep soon!

Lizzie I worry about stuff too, it's a bit scary being in charge of this whole other person!

I hate my breast pump, that's my contribution for this evening, although have Garrows Law and am eating ice cream, so could be worse...

cookie oh you poor thing. is awful when you don't get much sleep, everything seems so much worse.

saw mw today, finally got signed off to the hv's. ds has gained half a lb in 4 days so he's obviously getting enough milk, she told me not to worry about the fact i'm not getting a lot on the pump now, as long as ds is getting enough. She doesn't think he has jaundice although he does still looka tinge yellow, not badly though so i'm not worried.

ali i spoke to her about the cluster feeding and basically what she said was that some babies do, but that they do grow out of it, apparently quite quickly (but she couldn't give me an exact date.) It does tend to be worse around growth spurts.