Jan 2012 - Higgs Boson Gang pt1

[Oeisha]

Link to antenatal thread for convenience

Not a very good title, but it will suffice 'til we fill this one in record time!

Congratulations to all that have popped so far!

Welcome mrsvc love the name thea!
Has thea dropped too much weight? As if not she is still getting 8 feeds in a day which is what's recommended. I certainly wouldn't be waking my meg up if she was going 6 hours!

I've been back to the docs with my cs wound infection, it was particularly stinky this morning, I cleaned it up with tea tree oil again then went to appointment at half 11 and the doc said it looks clean but took a swab. I'm praying swab comes back clear as I really don't want a third lot of anti biotics. I have developed thrush in my mouth (deep joy) so was given a script for that.

Hi mrsrvc welcome

After much deliberation we have also decided on the name Thea for our baby girl. Just this afternoon in fact.

How does one go about reversing an infants body clock-our boy sleeps all day dewspite our best efforts to rouse him as often as possible, then he wakes between 1-5 am?

I should not complain-dd was never like this-we had the opposite problem getting her to sleep at all.

Ah fish, hope he sorts himself quick smart, must be hard with another little one, at least my 2 are at school so I am free to be a zombie all day!

So, 3 week weigh in today and we have on a whole pound in 7 days! [Show off emocion] well in fact I have lost 2 pounds meg has put on 1. :)

Hey fish - I don't think you can change it unfortunately! DD has a similar pattern, just a couple of hours earlier. Babies are programmed to feed at night as that's when our milk hormones are strongest. I think it's an atavistic thing - with primates it makes sense to feed at night when the group is resting not moving or hunting, iyswim. Hopefully the babies will sort themselves out soon!

I think for the next few weeks we are stuck with it. I have a similar issue.

MW came today for 5 day check. Bubs has only lost 90g so am very pleased. After last night's shenanigans I thought she must be getting no milk. MW thinks she's not finishing the breast off properly before detaching so never getting to the sleep inducing bit. I'm now trying re offering the same breast which has worked this afternoon. We'll see if it works tonight.

I always try to drain one boob per feed apparently the milk comes through like a drink at first then a main course with the filling fattening stuff last like a pudding. I find dd gets "drunk face" when she comes off after having the back stuff.

I'm hoping to drain my boobs permanently now! Find the breast pump is nipping a bit and I'm beginning to get fed up.

Welcome mrsrvc

William has resorted to a midnight feed and a 4am feed. Not too bad but he was up again at 6:30am. I actually lay him on his side at 4:30am and then couldn't sleep for fear of him rolling onto his front. At 5:30am, I checked in on him and he was fine. I managed 1 hour sleep when the little monster woke me. He had some how managed to turn onto his back!!!! Worried me slightly but glad it wasn't his front. He lay on his side for a whole 4 1/2 hours this afternoon. DEFINITELY better.

Love the name Thea. If I was having a girl, I would give this name some consideration.

Fish How old is your little boy? I read in a book today that babies are naturally nocturnal (because our activity lulls them to sleep during the day whilst they are in the womb and at night they wake because of lack of and room to stretch). This usually passes in a week or two. Found this with William during the first 10 days. Now he wakes twice for night feeds (between 7pm and 7am).

Thea's suddely not looking so good for an unusual name then !!!
We have a bit of a feeding problem in that she is needing feeding to get through the jaundice but can manage a maximum of 5 mins before falling off punch drunk. I have a fast let down and an over supply so trying to lay back during feeds, but there is no way she finishes a breast, ever...
Will see how it goes. DS was similar and he never struggled to gain weight even with terrible reflux (gained 9oz in the first 10days) but she has lost 4oz by day 5.
Sorry to hear that some of you have nocturnal babies. I hope they work it out soon. Have you tried cranial osteopathy?

Hello everyone
Sorry I've been so absent!! I'm finding it a struggle to get anywhere near my laptop these days and my phone is crappy at doing messages on here - they always get eaten up in the ether.

Sorry to read of the problems a lot of you are having with cs wounds and bf etc - i think if any of you are struggling you need to keep asking for help from as many people as poss. don;t be afraid to do that. Look after yourselves as a top priority so you don;t get too sad. dangerous times. i had a few moments last week where i was so tired i started hallucinating and thinking i couldn't do this, but luckily i have great support around me and got through it. If you don;t have this support it must be terribly hard. I feel for those of you feeling the strain and send out big hugs and healing vibes xx

so an update from us - We are now doing great here after the hallucinations and some initial nipple problems, everything seems fine. We haven't had another weigh-in because our midwives didn't think it necessary, so we've got one tomorrow (11 days old), will see how he's doing then. Jim's exclusively BF which has been fine so far (apart from the cracked nips) but in the last 24 hrs i think the milks gone a lot more runny and he's had some weird times where he hasn't bf for hours and hours, and then this afternoon he sicked up his entire stomach onto my leg

Hopefully the midwife will check him out tomorrow and tell me this is normal!!

Sleep seems different every night - we had two great nights of 8 hours sleep with 1 or 2 feeds in the middle, then last night he was awake every hour again. c'est la vie, i guess. i think at this stage everything changes daily doesn't it so we;re trying not to second guess anything and just ride it out with naps in the daytime.

bit scared of when my OH goes back to work though, Jim doesn;t really settle on his own in a basket or anything, so making tea/food/having a wee on my own might be a bit problematic to start with!! i guess he'll just cry and I'll have to deal with it! not very strong in that area yet... with co-sleeping he doesn;t really ever get the chance to cry, he's on my boob before he gets to that stage.

Is there a separate birth story thread or are we all doing it here? I don't want to bore everyone to death if it's not appropriate.

anyway sorry for long post, and well done to all the new mothers and babies, I'm loving keeping up to date with everyone and reading all the stories, it feels like we've all been on a journey together and now it's the next stage. love it.

DH has downloaded a "Womb sounds" app for the iPad, it plays for 10 mins then is on standby to switch itself on if baby makes significant noise!!

It's my turn for the Graveyard Shift tonight so I will let you know how it goes!!

I'm kind of dreading dp going back to work on Sunday night, but, on the other hand it can't happen soon enough. We've been trying really hard not to mess with dd's routine and dp going back to work will help with that. Hopefully she will then start to calm down with the emotional outbursts she's been having.

Here's hoping we all have a better night tonight x

Hi, I'm just going to creap in and hope all the baby talk will persuade this stubborn monster out of me! Plus with not many left the antinatal thread has gone quite quiet :(

Hope your all doing well post birth

Cameron is 6 days old now. Breast feeding seems to be going well but I'm dreading going out for too long. We are off to the in laws today and I'm nervous about feeding him. How do you do it discreetly or is that something that comes in time? I find I have my whole boob out, he sometimes fusses on and off the nipple and quite often needs a wind during a feed (during which i usually just leave my boob out at home). Help!!

Welcome Mrsvc. Sorry if I've missed any other new people, the more the merrier!

Redhead - I got so tired I was hallucinating too, glad it wasn't just me. My baby also has giant sicks and last night ended up making choking sounds with wheezy breathing - so worrying!

I think here would be a good place for birth stories but I've been avoiding details of mine as although it was amazing as our daughter was born and my primary emotional memory is exhilaration and happiness, it went a bit awry and so I don't want to scare those still antenatal. :)

Talking of which, hello addicted! sending squeezy vibes and hope it kicks off for you soon.

saladcream I might check out that app, do you find it works?

Frilly I can't yet be discreet either. I've tended to turn slightly away and use a shawl to cover myself and babies head, but I also thought, well, baby needs food, I'm just going to brazen it out so I sat at the table with my inlaws while feeding. You could ask to go to another room though or just find a quiet corner where you could turn slightly away. It is hard though! I'm hoping it'll get easier so I can manage better while out. Good luck!

Also feel for those whose DP / DH are going back to work. Mine goes back Monday, I wish he could stay here. :( I think he's a bit worried about me - I may still have an infection So I'm on more antibs and I find a 5min walk out completely exhausting. I hope with time and sleep that will pass.

hi all - welcome mrsrvc andlovely nameto you and parsley! great minds think alike
Miss ree Freya is beautiful!

After a great night the night before last when Ruta slept 12-4.30, last night was a complete nightmare. Didn't get any sleep till 3.30 - she was hungry and fussing but I had no milk left. Kept swapping her from breast to breast, from one hold to another, but nada.

In the end I stripped us both off andlaid her on me and she eventually latched onto the empty breast and dropped off out of sheer exhaustion. So today I'm taking things a lot easier because I think I'm just overtired - I'm eating and drinking loads so that can't be the problem.
I agree that the thought of DH's going back to work is daunting, esp. when you've got a toddler in the mix. Mine is home for now as he has no work to go back to, but in Feb he's got to start travelling a bit to drum up contacts to kickstart his consulting business. Red have you got a sling - I find Ruta is calmed immediately when I put her in it...

Right, off for a doze

frilly I've been given one of those breast feeding tent / apron things. I haven't used it yet but I don't think I can feed discretely. I need the whole boob free and Thea likes to rub her whole face over it before latching. She also likes to break off half way through and stick my nipple in her ear so I can't do that discretely.

butterfly we had a night like that yesterday. I don't think my boobs were actually dry though. They were just sore and unproductive. We had a similar beginning to last night but it seems to have been caused by trapped wind.

Butterfly I also had a night of that kind of feeding too. I think she's cluster feeding and it wasn't as late at night as your dd so I was able to plonk myself infront of the telly and just keep popping her onto each breast. I heard that the breasts still produce milk even as they are sucking so she probably was getting something. It was the first time she's done this, I thought I might be getting away without the cluster feeds but looks like that was wishful thinking.

Missree Freya is gorgeous!

Redhead I'd love to hear your birth story.

Frilly the discretion definitely comes with practice. On DD1, I hid away for the first 2/3 months as I was so self conscious. The baby's head blocks a lot out of sight too so use that to your advantage. And if somebody does happen to look at the exact minute that your nipple is showing, I'd just say something like "oops, you got an eyeful there" and carry on.

I also would feed with DH sitting across and ask if he saw anything. Helped my confidence.

ugh-beginning to feel like were cursed in this house. MW been out today with my blood results and they are still low which explains why i'm still feeling so crap. Jago was awake til 1 screaming the place down wih a bad tummy and my eldest has been sent home from school early full of a stinking cold and earache and she looks rough.

Can i get a break some time soon please?

fish that sounds such hard work . DO you drink chamomile tea? I've heard it's great for colicky babies... Might not work for colds and earache tho... Mine get dosed with garlic syrup 3 times a day when they've got colds and it seems to work wonders.

Thanks parsley and scrambled - it's good to know it happens. THe problem I find is that after a while she just gets so impatient that she can't latch on even if there were anything in there. But we will persevere. But it's at times like these that MN is a treasure trove. I've learnt so much already this last few days.

i'm not fond of chamomile tea at all but hey-i'm willing to weather it if it gets him soothed. It's because of the antibiotics i'm on i'm sure.

butterfly? do you buuy garlic syrup or make it yourself? I may invest, she has had far too many colds this winter for my liking so far.

Well I did my first out the house breast feed. I was so nervous!! It was at the in laws with MIL, SIL and niece there. BIL arrive when I was feeding and sort of hovered in the other room. I managed it by leaning in to arm of couch, putting a best on under my top and having a muslin to hand. I feel better now it's done. DH assures me you couldn't see anything much and it's not anything to worry about. Coincidentally I got a message saying my nursing bras where ready to collect whilst I was there. Picked them up and I think they will make feeding easier.

Hi ladies! Hope you're all well. Had a fab day taking DD out in her pram but I'm so tired now! I'm really suffering with carpal tunnel syndrome at the moment - the pain is awful if I lift things wrong, especially the baby .

I'm not at all bothered by public breastfeeding - maybe I'm just shameless ! But you have a legal right not to be discriminated against in public places for breastfeeding (anyone know the article number?) and if anyone has an issue tell them that they are the only disgusting thing going on!

Nursing bras with clips help, as do vests under tops, feeding tops etc. but to be honest, if anyone thinks that I'm going to deny my daughter what she needs for their sensitivity or prurience then they can fuck right off they should think again. Get stroppy ladies - bf is your legal right in public places!

Ghost I'm wapping them out all the time too. Although we haven't had to feed anywhere that was public as such. Just the in laws and such like.

Been the most amazing week. Oscar is totally edible. BF is going well, long nights with lots of feeding and not wanting to sleep in his crib but otherwie not too bad. And to make the best week ever even better... My OH proposed yesterday!!! I now have the most beautiful baby in the world AND the family jewels on my ring finger. I couldn't be any happier right now

Really hope ever ones aches/pains/BF issues start to settle. Is anyone else suffering with farmers? I was told I didn't have any but following my return to pooing (now managed to go 3 times since birth last friday) I think I can feel something that shouldn't be there... Ouch ouch ouch! TMI I know. What's the best way to get rid? I want them gone!!!!!!!!!!!!