April 2012 newborns: the insomnia continues...

[LaTristesse]

Hello fellow April mums. Following on from our lovely ante-natal threads, here's the first of the post-natal ones. Join us as we work out how to handle nappies, feeding, colic, crying and all things newborn, or just to celebrate the joys of a new baby!

Holly I think the grunting and going red is them digesting or straining to do a poo, apparently even the softest poos are a bit of an effort for newborns.

Yup, Babba does make those grunty noises! Sometimes there's poo, sometimes not ...

Thank god! I thought that's what it was but Lordy, it's so scary when they do something new!

Emily makes all sorts of odd noises, especially at night - grunts, snorts, sighs etc.

We are back :) Raphael and I are home now after 3 days in hospital after the cs. Yesterday was our first night at home and it was long. It was also quite an eye-opener for hubby who did not really, really realise what 3 hrs of sleep mean, especially one at 1pm, 3pm and 6pm. Plus my milk came in, which made me feel like getting the flu.

I got on the scales earlier just because I thought I cheer myself up. Well, didn't work. I haven't lost any weight, well, maybe 2kg since giving birth 5 days ago, which means, I gained weight as not even the babies weight has gone and here is me, holding him.

Is that due to the cs? Or did I put on weight because I hardly moved so far? It doesn't really matter as I have no illusion of not not going to the gym to get rid of it, I just thought I get a head start and won't start with my 40+4 'sigh'.

Hopefully won't bore you as some of your babies are almost 4 weeks old and my one isn't even a April one any more

Just had to wake Francesca up for her middle of the night feed!! Seems do cruel to wake her but needs must. I changed her and she's now on the boob quite happy. When can we let them sleep through ;)

Holly that's what I'd like to know

DD is always so sleepy in the middle of the night when we wake her, she won't latch on at all, so at the moment it's the only feed of the day which is bottle only. So DH does the honours and I can relax for once...not complaining there!

I wouldn't wake a sleeping baby, unless you need to ensure they're fed at regular intervals. DD slept from 11 til 6.30 last night. Bliss! if it weren't for DS getting up at half 4. She just makes up for it during the day.

That's it latris the mw and hv have said to not let her go longer than four hours between feeds. She had her feed at 12 then again at 4 then at 8 and she's still out for the count now!

Today we intro a bottle so DH can do the late feed and I can get more than 3 hour sleeps.. Have to say though that waking just once in the night isn't that bad :)

Have to say I envy those of you whose babies are sleeping so well at night!! Em going down at midnight, up 3ish & unfortunately very often I fall aslp during this feed & when I waken & try to put her down she doesn't like it :-(
Last 2 nights she's been v windy & has been up & down a lot. I'm glad I get 3 hours between midnight & 3 though. It helps!

I'm with you jelly my ds is awake every 2 hrs & last night was windy & kept waking up sobbing. We are co sleeping as he will sleep for about 5 mins flat on his back on his own.

By contrast my first dc was a sleeper & I had to try & wake her to get her to feed at night. I was told that babies should be woken to feed frequently until they are 6 weeks & bf is established. Very hard as dd was so sleepy I could change her nappy & she'd still stay asleep & not feed.

Ds1 & 2 nothing like their sleepy sister unfortunately. Just goes to show you get the baby you are given IMO.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today with the lack of having anytime that doesn't involve having a baby on me. Also, though my mastitis has gone (I hope) I think I now have thrush. So need once again attempt to get a drs appointment with what seems to be the worlds busiest practise.

Oh NO Buns. Poor you. Would the Surgery give you s'thing for the thrush without seeing you? Such a hassle having to go & get seen...Ive never had a 'sleeper', so wasn't holding out any hope this time! Have just resigned myself to the sleepless nights in the hope that it's just for the next few months & at least this time it'll be bright. Had both previous babies in Winter & felt like it was permanently dark. Thaleia; of course you won't bore us! My weight loss stalled at 1st above my pp weight about 2 weeks after I gave birth. No idea how much I gained in total as knew it would depress me. An Bridesmaid in 12 weeks & this time feel the need to be my pp weight ASAP, so will actively have to start doing s'thing & Im useless at dieting. I eat MORE on a diet.

Have had both types of nights with ds - sometimes he wakes every two hours or less. Othertimes he'll wake around 11pm then 3 then 6/7ish. Which I count as one waking!
Last night he woke at 3:50 then 5:30 then grumbled on and off till I fed him at 8:30.

I find co-sleeping definitely helps him go longer between waking. I even tried feeding lying down last night. Took him ages to figure out how to latch on but he eventually got there. Can't have got much though as he woke just over an hour later.

Had a good day yesterday but struggled today. DS1 is unwell and DH is working all weekend. I knew looking after two wouldn't be a breeze - but my god the stress levels rise when they're both crying at the same time.

My night was similar to yours digi - awake at 4am then 6am and on and off through to 8ish.

Thaleia - you definitely won't bore us!

I've lost about a stone so far I think and have a stone to go. I actually feel I've not been eating enough so trying to up my intake a bit.

Jellybellyrbest: I felt like that before I had the injection.

Have added a few fotos of Harry. He weighed 6lb at birth, weigh in last week 7.6lb, guess he's doing well.

For the thrush you'll have to use a pessary, and you don't need a doctor's appointment for that. Go to any pharmacy and ask for thrush pessaries. Don't ask for Canesten as it costs at least twice as much as their generic branded ones.

Can I ask, is it normal for a baby to strain and cry for about an hour before doing a poo/fart? Mine does it almost every time and it's heartbreaking to hear her getting so upset. She's on lactulose every day to help but it still seems to be a struggle for her. Do you think she'll grow out of it? We've already been to the doctor about it and she just suggested the lactulose. Daddy gives her a belly massage which seems to help, but surely she shouldn't need this all the time?

sorry boomer should have explained, I have thrush in my nipples!

As for the pooing, my ds does often get very fussy & cries for a good while before pooing/farting. He is bf & think it is pretty normal. My last two dc were the same, their digestive system is immature & does not do the peristalsis needed to push through the gut as well as an older person. Tummy massage helps & so does leg bicycling, foot stroking & nappy free time in my experience. They just grow out of it & maybe get used to the sensation too. Not sure if it's the same for ff babies.

Sorry to hear about the thrush Buns, big sympathy...hope you get it cleared soon...

Agree with Buns Jelly, it passes eventually once their digestive systems mature a bit. Both mine have been like it, and it is heartbreaking. I find holding DD in the tiger in the tree position helps. You can find videos on YouTube of how to do it. Hooking the outside leg up onto your arm makes a big difference IMHO!

Sorry, meant Boomer, not Jelly!

OOh - thrush in nipples sounds painful! Hope you get it sorted quickly...
I am having my own nipple issues at the moment: they tend to become painful a few minutes after I finish feeding, which is a little bizarre. Through googling, and reading kellymom.com I think I may have forceful let-down and oversupply. At first I thought I had spilled a cup of tea down my front, but then realised that my left boob had leaked so much whilst feeding with my right, that it had leaked through my pad, bra and top. Then my right boob did the same later that day!

Lovely.

Also, Bill has started choking himself during the first minute of each feed. I thought it's because he was so hungry that he was panicking and overdoing it, but reading about let-down and oversupply this seems to make more sense. So I'm going to experiment with blockfeeding (I'm right in thinking that's sticking to one side for 12 hours, aren't I?) and various different positions.

I hope that'll sort my nipples out: they don't look sore - but the pain is really annoying. Well, really painful actually. Anyone else got this problem?

Hey Spanner, a few of us are having oversupply problems. There are some posts above from me, Buns and Jelly among others, with more advice and links etc. I would build up to 12 hours block feeding, you might not need to go that long. Try just 2 hours to start with - so every feed within 2 hours is on the same side. Do that for a couple of days then add an hour on if you need to etc...

Hi spanner I did!! Boobs leaking all over the bloody place! I would squirt a little milk in to a muslin before I fed. This was after I squirted milk up Frankie's nose!! The excessive leaking has eased but I'm still squirting milk like a fountain every now and then! Ah, the glamour

spanner think LaTris is right start off block feeding for 2-4 hours. 12 hour stints will leave you open to engorgement/mastitis issues or could lead to under supply. Make changes slowly, it takes a bit of time for the body to adapt.

Here was the good link again:

www.llli.org/faq/oversupply.html

Thank you buns, Holly and latris! I have had a read back at the posts from a couple of days ago & have looked up that link: what a great site - I think I'll be referring to LLL a bit more in the next few weeks. It also explains why Bill has been fussing more & seems more hungry. He started crying just as I got in the bath, which was right after a feed, so poor DH is having to try and settle him. I can hear him cry & it's killing me...think this bath may come to a premature end.

So...I'll take it slow on block feeding. Don't want to give myself mastitis. The feeding him sitting up seems to be going quite well, though - he's taken to it already - such a clever boy!

Oh green poo. That's different. Seems from my googling that it could be a number of things so I'll see if it continues...