March 2012 - Brewed to Perfection!

[TroubleAndFyfe]

Hello all, come and add your babies to the list and let's see what adventures they bring!

[broodylicious]

Wow. What a day. Poppy has made us very proud parents! She smiled at me three times this morning - defo not wind smiles - and then tonight she followed/tracked dh's movement when he moved his head to the right and then the left when he was holding her She also has had tummy time for the first time on her playmat (I feel awful, I didn't think we were supposed to do tummy time til later on but apparently she should've been doing it a bit every day since birth ) and she lifted her head up! Very productive day in a four week old's little life!

Re classes - I haven't booked any yet. I want to do swimming, massage, yoga (same lady as I did my pregnancy yoga with), sensory and signing. There's so much out there, it's hard to know where to start! The local NCT runs a drop in coffee morning type session every Tuesday called bumps and babies so my plan is to go there, meet other mums and see if they have any particular recommendations. Our local sure start centres also look as though they run some good classes so I'm tempted to give them a try too as they're free. Btw, has anyone else been to a ss centre? I was a bit snotty to begin with as I thought they're for a certain type of parent/family (you know what and who i mean!!) but actually that's not the case at all! They seem v supportive and the classes look really good - the one I'm going to attempt to go to tomorrow is called discovering babies and it helps them build skills and teach us about what they're up to in terms of development etc and how we can help them through games or activities aimed at their age. Will report back tomorrow (if we manage to get there - Poppy runs the schedule these days and she's not too hot on doing things to a certain time )

[TroubleAndFyfe]

Sounds great broody, well done poppy! I go to a children's centre breastfeeding lunch club and under one's club every week and they're great, will be starting lots more once Fyfe is a bit more in to things. I know what you mean about the preconceptions but they were totally wrong!
bee can you still get gripe water where you are? Fyfe was a bit colicy yesterday, we managed to settle him but it was all consuming and there's a shortage in the UK, it is selling for £15 a bottle on eBay! just wondering if it was worldwide?!

[Punk80]

Poppy and Fyfe sound like they're doing well. They're so interesting to watch aren't they! trouble and broody you sound like you have lots of good groups to go to. I meet some mums once a week and might start a rhyme time group next week. Thinking about baby sensory and swimming in the future. How are yours getting on with sleeping? Orla is sleeping 11.30pm till 4.30am but then will only go down for about an hour 5 till 6 which seems early!! She doesn't really go down early in the evening as she tends to feed a lot in the evenings. Hope the rain isn't too bad where you are we're going out for lunch think I'm going to get soaked!

[TroubleAndFyfe]

The rain is terrible here! Where are you punk? Fyfe is sleeping approx 10.30-3 then 4-6 then 7-9 then 10-12 if we haven't got up and out by 10 which we normally aim to do. That's just this week though, probably be different again by next week!

[Punk80]

That's really good trouble he's into a good routine. Will Fyfe go down in his crib for his morning naps? Fyfe is such a great name! Orla seems to prefer her pram or bouncer for in the day. I guess 5 weeks is still early for a routine each day is different I'm in Derbyshire and its pouring about to brave the rain now where are you trouble?

[broodylicious]

Wow trouble that's a great routine! We are all over the place still - some days she cluster feeds so we get a good five hours sleep in one go, the next day she doesn't so will go 2 1/2 ish hours before waking for a feed. Yesterday, she set herself a "let's see how long we can be awake for" challenge - she woke at 7.45am and pretty much wanted to feed all day and only slept for about half an hour at about 1230ish when we went to asda to print out the first months photos. She ignored all my attempts to get her to sleep - off went the tv, closed the curtains etc - until 430ish when she finally fell asleep on me for two hours.
punk whereabouts in Derbyshire? I used to live near derby and now am in Leicester

[Punk80]

That's funny broody Orla sounds just like Poppy yesterday refusing to sleep for the day! She did sleep this morning probably catching up from yesterday[smile
I'm in Ashbourne about half hour from derby. How are you finding Leicester?

[TroubleAndFyfe]

I'm in Hastings on the south coast.

[broodylicious]

Ah I know Ashbourne punk, lovely little town Bet you stayed away from that crazy shrove tide football match this year, hey? That looks crazy every time I see it! Was the big pub - the George? - sold the other day? I saw on east mids today it was going up for auction and the locals were worried about who'd buy it with it being such a big part of town life and having all its heritage/history.
Leicester is a great city, always lots happening and it has everything you could possibly want. I was worried about moving here to start with but feel settled here now and like the fact there's amazing shops, restaurants and facilities as well as being close to some gorgeous countryside. We live close - about quarter of a mile - from one of the best primary schools in the city too so that will be great in a few years! I'll always be a derby girl at heart though haha! My parents live in uttoxeter, so not far from you but unfortunately 60 miles away from me

[BeeWi]

Oh Punk & Broody, you're making me pine for east mids a bit! Although a Geordie, I lived in Nottingham for 5 years before we emigrated and worked in Langley Mill for a couple of those. Husband lived in Leicester before moving to Notts too.

Erin and I have been doing a 'Baby and You' course for the last couple of weeks. Last week a doctor came to talk to us in the class and answe questions, like when to call a doc, how to treat common ailments, basic baby first aid (good tip for us was about blowing into baby's face if they stop breathing- good because Erin is a terrible breath-holder when she's upset) etc. Today a health visitors came to talk to us all about feeding and sleeping issues. I must admit to being so envious of some of the women in the class whose babies are the same age or younger but who seem to be sleeping for good stints at night while we're still on the 3 hour cycle (or two and a half as it was last night).

In other news, I've now gone dairy-free to see if it'll sort Erin out. It is looking like she's suffering from silent reflux(has very fussy feeds, screaming inconsolably in afternoons and evenings, hiccups, gagging). It's a bit of a pain as I'm already vegetarian and husband loves meat, but if it stops her being in pain it'll be worth it. 4 days in and she seems a bit calmer. I'm going to give it 10 days and see how she's going and perhaps give her a formula feed then to see if it is that she's dairy intolerant. Apparently it's better to doit that way than test it by me having dairy as it would then take a while to get out of my system again.

Gripe water is still readily available here, Trouble. How strange that it's not in the UK. If you get stuck, let me know and I can stick some in the post. The nurse at the class today recommended Weleda, so have got some of that to try. Will see how it goes. Might be worth getting some of that in if they sell it in the UK?

[TroubleAndFyfe]

Thanks bee, he was fine last night so hopefully was just a one off grotty night. Your course sounds good, we should be starting a postnatal course in about two weeks which I think will be similar. I want to join a singing/music group too as Fyfe loves it but I struggle to think of songs to sing him! Sorry the hear Erin has been upset, would a second cranial osteopathy appointment be an option? (it was you who had it wasn't it?) hope the diet changes give you some answers anyway! I'm vegetarian too and would find going dairy free quite tricky I think!
Fyfe had his injections today, he really screamed, bless him! seems fine now though!

[BeeWi]

Aww, poor Fyfe. It's horrible seeing them in pain and not being able to explain why it'll be for the best for them in the long term, isn't it?! Glad to hear he's doing well now though. Don't be surprised if he's a bit weird on the eating front in the next day or so mind; Erin went really 'snacky' and stopped doing longer feeds. She was worst for that on the Sunday following the Friday but was back to normal by the Monday.

We went back to the cranial osteo and it did o some good but I still feel there's something not quite right, so hopefully the diet will fix things. A nice side effect is that it's making a noticeable dent in my baby weight in just a few days, which is nice!

Which songs are you singing with Fyfe? Erin gets really calmed by 10 Green Bottles for some reason, perhaps because it's so repetitive? I know what you mean about running out of songs. I'm not good at remembering lyrics, so they often end up being silly made up songs about Erin to the tune of popular songs.

Have you had any funny reactions to bringing up Fyfe veggie? I think the older generation here don't really 'get' vegetarianism and often seem really shocked that you won't be tucking into beef or lamb at every evening meal!

[TroubleAndFyfe]

Thanks for the heads up about the feeding bee! He's been normal so far but will prepare for anything over the next couple of days. Since I posted about how he was sleeping he has gone back to sleeping for 2- 3, waking for 1 like he did from birth! Oh well, so unpredictable! He spent a whole hour singing with his daddy yesterday evening though and I had a really hot bath - on my own!
We've been singing horsey horsey, teddy bears picnic, little green frog, never smile at a crocodile, 12345, and yes, lots of songs about Fyfe to random tunes! Need to increase my repertoire!
I haven't had any reactions yet but not many people have asked! DH eats meat and we live by the sea so have decided we will feed Fyfe fish until he is old enough to make up his mind about meat. I wish I'd had it that way around as my mum knew from when I was 4 I'd be veggie (turned at 7) as wouldn't eat anything that looked like an animal! I'm happy for him to have fish a couple of times a week too as fish is very good for you! Will report back any funny reactions!

[KikiRC]

Funny we're all singing! I've made up a playlist on Spotify which we play and sing along to- Ivy likes show tunes/ musicals (Wizard of Oz/ Mary Poppins/ Oliver etc) & things like 'Mr Sandman' (with all the bom, bom, bom, bits!)

I'm pescatarian (sp?), her dad will eat anything. I'm going to cook fish & maybe chicken when she's little & let her have little bits of good meat here and there & let her choose when she's older.

[BeeWi]

All this talk of tunes is making me think I need to up my game! I didn't recognise fair few of yours, Trouble, will have to look them up. I definitely want to get to know nursery rhymes better too.

Funny that so many of us have veggie leanings. I was thinking of talking to her when she was older about how we love our dog and how he's an animal, to try and make sure she swayed more towards staying a veggie but perhaps that's unfair?! hehe.

Just wondering, is anybody having the odd drink now they're not pregnant but breastfeeding? Must admit, I've been having the odd glass of red wine on a night but do feel a bit guilty. Just feel I have so few vices at the moment- no coffee, cheese, chocolate...it's seems like my one real treat. I should probably be abstaining there too, right?!

Meant to say, Trouble, had a look at your profile pics. Oh my goodness, what a cutester Fyfe is! Some really lovely pictures you have there. really nice the picture of you both too . I have popped up a picture of Erin and added the frequent posters in this thread to be able to see. Let me know if I missed anyone and you're interested.

[Punk80]

Hi all currently back in bed watching sex and the city again with Orla hard life sounds like you're all good at the singing, I'm a big limited with my range! But did round and round the garden this morning which got lots of smiles
bee whereabouts are you? I hope the diet is making things better. Have to say I've been having an odd glass of red wine my friends midwife told her a glass an evening is fine as it would help her relax, I don't think an occasional glass can do any harm. Sorry to act stupid but how do you view profiles, would love to see pics?
Has anyone had any problems introducing a bottle? I had a go at expressing for the
first time the other night and dh had a go giving bottle but Orla went mad screaming and spitting it out, took ages to calm her down and I found it quite traumatic an worried about trying it again but will do in a few days maybe.
broody I definitely stayed away from Shrovetide this year is a crazy football game! Glad you're settled in Leicester.
Hope you all have a good weekend

[TroubleAndFyfe]

Show tunes sound like a good idea kiki!
bee Erin is gorgeous!! I must put up a couple more shots of Fyfe when I get on the PC, I have captured him smiling at last!
I can link you to the tunes if you can't find any of them!
punk you need to on a computer, not phone, go in to the thread click the person's name at the top of their post that will take you to their profile - then click on photos. I've just added you to my mates list so you can see mine. I had exactly the same thing with a bottle - felt awful! first tried Avent, next tried tommy tippee closer to nature - he was much better with this, didn't get upset or look so disgusted but still didn't suck it, just pushed it around his mouth with his tongue. My sis is sending me some tiny newborn hospital TUK bottles today so I'll try that! I think a smaller teat is what he needs as he jut looks uncomfortable! I'll let you know how I get on!
Re wine, hell yes, drinking as much as I like - several glasses some days, it's not a problem at all! I had a leaflet from NHS that said as long as you hadn't drunk so much you were vomiting you were better off breastfeeding than formula feeding as the amount of alcohol that gets to them won't harm them. Also better to have a drink whilst feeding them or when you know they'll not want to be fed for a while as it is strongest about 1/2 hour later.

[KikiRC]

I've been recommended the Dr Brown bottles (also good for colicky babies) have ordered a starter pack and they should be here on Monday, so I'll let you know how we get on. We were OK with the tiny hospital bottles, but the Avent ones (even 0-3 months) are hopeless- they make a terrific mess.

[broodylicious]

Re bottles - I've ordered a medela calma as it looks as though it's the closet thing to BFing as you can get, baby has to mimick the same action as they would on the breast. I have a medela breast pump and use the shields too so guess this is what they call brand loyal hey

[knitterati]

Broody - let me know how you got on with the calma teat - I loved it!

[broodylicious]

Ah, that's great to hear knitterati - I thought I remembered someone on here mentioning it (in fact, that may have been why I first looked at it!!) but I'm suffering dreadfully from post natal baby brain

How old was your LO before you started expressing and using the calma? Poppy is five weeks on Monday so just wondering if I'm still a bit too early and should wait a few more weeks?

[TroubleAndFyfe]

Woo hoo! Fyfe took the tiny hospital SMA/NUK teat! He's just drunk an ounce and a half from it! So...we're off out for dinner tonight to celebrate our anniversary which is tomorrow and Fyfe is going to Granny's, what excellent timing!

[ardenbird]

Hi all! Sorry for being MIA... It's just been a crazy month and i barely get any time with hands free. I believe DH popped in on the antenatal thread when Tessa was born (full name Teresa Mary) on 1 April.

I seem to not be able to do anything the easy way... A quick summary of events: birth was waters broke 29 Mar and Tessa passed muconium two days later so I was induced. So no birthing pool :( G&A worked a treat until my SPD kicked in with severe pain that increased each contraction, but never let up. There were positons that relieved it, but each time I got into one, Tessa's heart rate plummeted, so I had to stay where it hurt worst. So I got an epidural, but managed to have it come it disconnected at what we think was about 5 hours before the end, so by the time I was fully dilated and pushing no pain relief - I tried G&A, but it only took away the contraction pain which served to isolate the SPD pain which was much worse, so I preferred to feel the contractions to distract me :) Then Tessa wouldn't rotate and we did ventouse, a forcep (just one! Dr decided quickly it wouldn't work), and then emergency C-section. And, oh yeah, they gave me a spinal since the epidural had gone out. So we managed to do just about everything.

Since then it's still been a struggle - Tessa was jaundiced and lost over 10% of her birth weight, we got off to a bad breast feeding start at the hospital (grr, I won't go into details, but I'm rather miffed at the poor after-care), I got mastitis and milk production went down, we discovered in week 2 I should have been treated for anaemia but wasn't (they assumed I'd had a blood transfusion since I lost so much blood, but I hadn't), and I have cracks and fissures in both nipples which we've just found out have a Staph infection which is why they haven't healed yet. BF is still pretty painful, although massively better than in weeks 1-2 when I had DH play my labour music for me :).

Tessa has not yet reached her birth weight but was close enough last week that the HV thinks we have 'turned the corner' and will do okay. Of course, I'm still paranoid that she's not eating enough/I'm not making enough milk, and probably won't relax until after next week's weigh. She constantly falls asleep when eating, so it requires both hands and all my attention to keep her eating, which is why I haven't been around!

A question for those of you with older babies - has BF stopped hurting yet? When? I feel like I could handle things if it just didn't hurt so much...

[FlipFantasia]

Hello ladies

Mind if I join you? I've been lurking but Arden's post made me want to de-lurk! My DD - Maeve - was born on 25 March and she's gorgeous (and currently asleep on DH, which allows me to have some MN time!). I also have a DS who's 2 (another March baby ).

arden crikey, sounds like you went through the mill during labour/birth! I had an EMCS after a traumatic induced labour with DS and also had terrible problems establishing breastfeeding - those early weeks were a toe curling, teeth clenching experience with a daily count down to the magic 26 weeks when I could stop (I hadn't expected any problems with BFing either, and think it was linked to the traumatic birth). I had terrible nipple trauma (caused by thrush in my case, which was undiagnosed for weeks despite going to breastfeeding groups etc) and once the thrush was treated my left side cleared up but I still had a terrible gash on my right side - I tried things like lansinoh, jelonet, silver cups, airing my nipple but it turned out to be a staph infection and at 10 weeks I got antibiotics which made all the difference. The crack cleared up (though I still have a scar) and feeding finally became pain-free. I went on to feed DS until he was 19 months and he self weaned because I was pregnant with DD.

It sounds like you're doing brilliantly in terms of addressing the problems you've been having so I really hope feeding will become less painful for you now the infection is being treated (and with antibiotics try to have yogurts/probiotics/acidophilus capsules to avoid thrush) . If it's painful and you suspect the latch then de-latch your DD and allow her to re-latch. This may also help with her sleepiness (DS was also a sleepy feeder and was a slow weight gainer, classic catch down growth as he started at a high centile at birth, just under 91st, and settled between 9th and 25th). The feeding section on MN is full of briliant advice, as is Kellymom and Dr Jack Newman (eg he's got some good videos on breast compressions that you can google). Also, you're still in the first month of recovery and things will get easier as you physically get over the birth fully. BTW I love your DD's name - Teresa shortened to Tessa is just gorgeous!

Otherwise I'm glad to hear that the other March babies are doing so well. I had a natural vaginal birth with DD, which went a long way to laying the ghosts of DS's birth to rest (I had planned a home birth with him but ended up induced at 42 weeks and having an EMCS). The recovery has been so much better this time, and I've had no problems with breastfeeding.

Also second time around I also know that This Too Shall Pass so we're trying to enjoy DD as much as possible, she won't be a tiny newborn for long! She's actually woken up a lot this past week, and smiles are starting - she's 5 weeks tomorrow. Though she also got her first cold (kindly given to her by her brother!).

Sorry for the ramble, Arden's post really struck a cord as I could have written something very similar 2 years ago (and probably did!).

[broodylicious]

Blimey arden that is a birth story and then some! Makes me realise and appreciate what a straightforward and simple birth I had. Sorry to hear the aftercare you received was rubbish. I think it makes such a difference to these early days, especially for us first timers.
I've been really surprised at how many of us and other new mums have found BFing so hard. I know when i was pregnant, I had a rather romantic vision of BFing, where my newborn would be staring lovingly into my eyes while suckling merrily away....instead in those early days, I got a terrier like child bashing away at my boobs, ripping my nips and even bruising the skin around them! (she gave me love bites, as the MW said!) Thank goodness we are now established and I've kinda got my romantic vision back on track (the terrier is sometimes present if we've dared to go beyond two hours between feeds).