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!

Just been to the GP and got my domperidone for increasing milk supply, hurrah. She thought my blood pressure was fine & my headache has gone- feels like a weight has gone from my mind & so much happier.

hayley I am so clueless about wind, DH is much better at burping DD than me & he claims he can tell a 'windy' cry from a hungry one. It all just sounds like crying to me!

Pitmountain do hope things improve for you soon. For me it's still one day at a time but feeling so much more cheerful than yesterday...

7 weeks after giving birth and my periods are back and boy are they heavy! No sign of PMT though, and no aches or pains. Monthly cure for constipation ^^

I wipe the sweat from my brow when I realise the night I must have ovulated is the very same one when I had sexytime with my bf without using contraception

Oh yes, this is about babies...

Anya is growing well. I'm amazed at how much her head is expanding. She looks like someone's drawn some eyes on a ball.

She still strains so hard when she needs to pass wind or poop. It's sad and I'm sure it's completely abnormal but every time she strains we get the thermometer out and help her to pass it. I'm worried she'll eventually be unable to poop without help. I hope her bowels get stronger.

Frankie does the same. Mainly of a night. She's fast asleep and straining away. The farting rivals my 18 yr old nephew!It's awful to hear though but she doesn't seem to be in any pain and is mainly when she's flat on her back.

Going to try and put a towel or something under the mattress to tilt it ever so slightly to see if that helps..

DS can do some rip-roaring farts, and his straining-poo-face is something to behold - you'd not think that something so NOT solid could require such effort!

For those of you on DC1 though, the huge effort required to get that newborn poo and wind out is generally normal!

Boomer Really, I wouls stop now using a thermometer to help baby's poos out. If the constipation is tht bad it's best to chat to your GP. My neighbour's baby had it and they gave her something called movicol.

Yes the wind/farting/pooing seems to make most new babies wriggle, writhe & cry. Definitely normal, agree a thermometer is probably not the best way to deal with it.

Gently cycling babies legs , massage etc are the best way we've found previously to help our dcs feel more comfortable & poo.

This sort of thing.....

As their guts mature the get better at moving the gas/poo along their intestines. As upsetting & tiring as it is, it will pass (if you'll excuse the pun)

Just reading through the updated thread, and as I reach the top, Bill (fast asleep next to me) does a ginormous show-stopping gurgly poo.

That's my boy!

...he's not asleep anymore - and I have to go and change his explosion!

Oh, wait...he's not done yet!

spannermary DS has been about four times today and we've been giving the reusable nappies a go - not one of the nappy liners has contained the poo explosion so the pad and the actual nappy wrap have all had to go in the wash each time. Think they'll be going back on Freegle from whence they came...

Oh, and YY to the 'urges', it's not just you but haven't had the opportunity to attempt to commence marital relations as yet

Ah - so glad it's not just me!

...Just realised far too many of my posts are about poo or sex. I'm all class, me!

DD does (and DS did) seem to poo continuously - I'm sure I can hear squits hitting the virgin nappy before I've even sealed the tabs. Every nappy is dirty and I change her every couple of hours during the day. I have to change her at least once in the night (usually around 3am) so she doesn't get a really red bum. Bepanthen cream helps.

Lyra has loud farts and squirt pop out too, she had a red bum but all clear now. Use bepanthen too. Changing loads, worked out we had been through 300 nappys in five and half weeks.

Had her tongue tie, snipped on Tuesday, felt really bad, cried when they did it! Hubby had to hold her! Was real quick and she will benefit hopefully from it, they explained it could effect speech and tongue movement when older. She seems to open month more now and latch on much stronger! :-( did feel terrible!

Hayley: snap in the wind front. Emily has the gurgliest tummy ever (my mum had 7 of us & says she has never heard the like). It really seems to HURT her-she goes into spasm when she gets what ai imagine are crampy pains. Am swinging her through a bad screaming session now... Does your LO spew lots too? Worried theres an element of reflux here. Bought Colief today to see if it'll help (£12!!!-cheaper on Amazon but couldn't wait); gave it at start of feed in expressed milk & am sure it came back. :-(
Will let you know if it helps. Giving it a few days before I decide....glad you're doing ok-noticed you hadn't posted for a bit & was hoping you
were ok.

Spanner & Fliss; have had 'The Urges' & answered the call! Am I the only one so far? DD was 3 weeks old..relieved e'things still in working order. Cos of VV in pregnancy DH terrified of doing damage so waited a long time...so it's been a while ;-)

With you all on the noisy poops; my family all amazed by the sound effects. Also: Emily very talented at weeing & pooing mid nappy change. Am sure I'm the speediest nappy-changer ever now! Thank goodness it's being contained IN the nappy now though!!

Marshmallow- glad all is ok!

Newmummy: hadn't read your post properly. Poor you & poor Lyra; but sounds like it was really necessary to have it done.

Jellybelly: bravo!! I'm most impressed! Did you have stitches? And if so...weren't you a little scared?!

I can't ever imagine bring ready for sex again! I'm still sore and tender and the thought office stitches still being there petrified me'! Not to day I'm not mentally ready though :)

Having the urges too but with constant house guests (PIL just left, BIL and family here now) and no contraception in place yet we haven't braved it. I know BF should mean I won't get pregnant, but I'm not risking it!!

YY on the farts and poos. The first time we heard E fart we blamed each other as it was so loud!

I had a great start to the day - showered in cheesey vom then came downstairs and trod on a slug in my bare feet.

bear urgh. Mine was complete opposite. Francesca slept from 12-4 then right through until 8. She's now practically out for the count again long may this continue!

Gosh Holly, that sounds fab!! My night sounds Luke it was more like yours Bear. My cleavage has had what feels like gallons of milky & curdled puke poured down it..my lovely clean sheets smell of sour milk. Em v windy last night. Woke up with her still in my arms after a 5am winding session at 06.10. Fliss; no idea how your muscles are holding out carrying your LO!!! Emily about 10.5lbs now at 4weeks & my neck & shoulders are so sore!
Spanner; no stitches. Second degree tear & a few grazes post delivery, which TBH I was hardly aware of this time. So getting back in the saddle in the bedroom dept not as daunting this time. Remember it being ages first time & maybe 5 or 6 weeks second time. Oops: just been showered in puke again!

Jellybelly He feels heavier than DD sometimes, I shall be nicely toned in no time :) haven't weighed myself for a while but imagine that I have probably gained weight due to eating cakes, cheese, chips and crisps muscle being denser than fat.

DS sleeps reasonably well, I've given up on the Moses basket and co-sleep. Have finally learned to feed lying down but DS won't sleep unless the TV is on (muted at least) . He eats pretty much all day and then does 3-4 hours from about 11pm, then back off until about 6.30-7ish so feel pretty normal. Getting more sleep than in the last trimester though with the 2 hourly wees!

DD slept 3am- 10am last night !!!! Granted she had first been awake after the previous feed... Miracle none of the less:). Don't know why I still feel so tired . Also she's gone to one pretty regular poo a day which she seems to do silently so dont think she's constipated . In the first week it was lots of poos. Have had a few spectacular voms so far but that's nothing compared to DS who'd do one pretty much after every feed. Lucky that DD has been so tidy since we're in the hotel with just the sink to wash clothes in ! Somehow don't feel like sending puky baby or our clothes to the hotel laundry ...
We've now sent off our supporting documents to the consulate for the visa application and have to just wait . It's already been 3+ weeks
in this country and I've really had enough of living in hotels!!! Desperately want to go back to my own house. We have been doing well together considering. Definitely in part due to the roomier living space atm.
Next week MIL is going to hospital to have a CS etc . Will be praying she is not very sick !!!! School was ok with our changed plans And have been doing school work with DS here. Luckily days go fast with two DC so hopefully the rest of this waiting is over quickly . Still unclear if we'll all end up in NY for DH work .

I'm still alive too .... gosh, I can't believe how much further down the road you are! Raphael is 11 days old now and we slowly, slowly getting there. I think when I had to complete meltdown recently (like Tuesday?) it was down to a growth spurt. I read they have one at 7 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks. Beyond that it's too far to think. We survived the first one - not knowing what's happening - and I think we are ready to brace the next one as I think he gets his milk supply up with feeding 50mins per breast at the moment, up from 20-30mins.

I wish my nipples wouldn't hurt so much, there are not cracked just very, very pink. Also, I hope I don't have anything nasty coming as I've got this odd pulling sensation in the left breast. But if he's feeding so much, it can't be that something is blocked surly??? I put some heat on it and will hop into bed in a minute to get some rest for later t'day/t'night. Does one actually have to eat more when breastfeeding? Not sure but hope so as the extra calories from chocolate and all the other sweets things seem to help me to get through the night shifts. Also getting lots of conflicting advise as in Germany it seems that you only feed 20mins per boob and switch again and I've been criticised and a little bit ridiculed by my German friends for feeding him on demand as long as he wants till one boob is empty. I'll stick with the English system anyway, makes more sense to me and it's working.

Re the farting. Someone told me that they fart instead of burping as it doesn't matter where the wind comes out? not sure if this is true though. What I only learnt yesterday is that I don't have to wake him up to burp him when he actually fell asleep on the boob. It was a constant hassle and it hardly worked anyway.

As for the pooing, well, we're still happy and a little excited if there is a little bomb in the nappy :-)

Hubby has to go back to work on Monday and I'm a bit scared how to cope without him. It's the little breaks he gave me (on top of everything else) like calm him down when I couldn't hold him any more or change the nappy and I could still stay in bed. My cs only heals very slowly, I could cry every morning crawling out of bed. No complications, no oozing just still very very sore and bruised.

Sorry, I read more but when I type it's long.

So long & remember the old days ... like 3 weeks ago ;););)

PS: Forgot!!

CS Ladies: someone told me to get shape knickers from M&S to hold it together down there. Has someone bought some and if so, which ones?

Thanks!