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!

yobe1 - i had a homebirth but due to a few 2nd degree tears got transferred in an ambu to hospital (the neighbours were having a field day!). dd1 was born at 8.05, i reckon we were in the hospital by 8.45 and we were back home by 12ish (at my request also). they wouldn't discharge you if you weren't in a fit state no matter how much they might need the bed!

word of warning - i felt a bit shaky but really good for the first few days and then the pain kicked in (see previous posts), i think the painkillers they gave me worked so well i was pretty much numb and totally over did it. i haven't left the flat in a few days now and the simplest of tasks hurt me. all i can recommend is cocodamol and lots of salt baths... day 11 tomorrow and i might attempt a walk!

congratulations on the baby btw!

Congtrats yummy and cub! Sorry you got so sick but glad you are now better riamay .
Our LO is doing well , generally sleeping a lot and eating ever 3-4 h about 3 Oz at a time . Might ingrease it a bit soon since she often seems to want a bit more. Daytime she sometimes sleeps in my lap or next to me on the bed and night time thank god is now settled in her buggy carrycot . Goes there in the day too. She went to the pediatrician on mon and also had the routine bloodstest taken. Apparently needs to see a doctor in about week again but by then we'll be in Dallas so we'll need to find a new doctor there. Her belly button fell off yesterday . We got our birthcertificates on mon and applied for the passport yesterday which we should be getting on fri because of expediating it.
That's the good news... The bad , wish I hadn't gotten up today.... First we found out the damn DNA test hasn't yet arrived to the UK lab even though it was sent on last wed or thu by the hospital and now we don't know when it'll get there and whether our lawyer can apply for the entry permit before getting The results even if the passport's ready on fri so all of this could take even longer. Going stir crazy here after nearly two weeks already even though the baby is an angel and DS has been very good considering ... Then called our surrogate and to our horror heard she has developed Bells Palsy and has facial paralysis that they're trying To treat with stereoids etc. she was fine last wed when we last saw her and didn't mention anything on the phone on tue. It can sometime develop in pregnancy or after but not sure if it's now related. Feel so bad for her:(!!!! She did such a generous thing for us and is now unwell herself!!! We're seeing her tomorrow aft so she can meet us and Rose again before we'll go to Dallas on sat. Then the worst : my DH mother might have a serious health problem and we don't know how bad yet. In any case they can't look after DS in our house so we can't send him back in a few weeks to school ... DH is distraught and I feel like crying but don't want to worry DS who doesn't know except that he might stay with us after all. Maybe the lawyer can give the info to visa department to get us home sooner...

Congratulations on your little boy cub! take it easy with your recovery.

Re: sleeping. I sometimes put ds2 on my chest - he complains after a while (prob too hot even though i dont cover him) and I move him to the crook of my arm which he loves although my shoulder gets stiff after an hour. Our fave co-sleeping position is definitely him lying on his side on my mattress. Although he tends to leak out of his nappy in this position which eventually wakes him (and me) up.
I do put him in the cot every now and then just to see if he'll sleep in it and he does sometimes, but if he starts fussing I don't hesitate to co-sleep.

He now has a cold and is super snuffly so we're sat in the bathroom with the shower running.

Massive xpost. Congrats to yummy too!

Hope DNA results turn up soon Nordic and sorry to hear MIL is v unwell. You've had so much to deal with I'm amazed you're holding it together. Treasure those snuggles with dd - it's been a long time coming.

Congratulations to yummy, taten and karensb.

Sorry to hear that you have been ill riamay, hope you are fully recovered now.

nordic sorry to hear that your MIL and surrogate are have health issues; and I hope that the DNA lab gets your package soon.

Feeling a little left out ATM as I think I am the only April lady left to give birth now - anybody fancy lending me a newborn for a quick snuggle so I can see if sniffing the newborn smell gets things moving? (or is that supposed to be what you do when you are trying to get pregnant?

yummy I stayed in 2 nights but that's standard here as no one visits our home - all tests done in hosp then follow up at 2 weeks with mw and baby's dr. I had 3rd degree tear but was out and about when she was 4 days old. Tbh I overdid it and I wasn't healing too well but things are better now.

nordic hope your surrogate recovers soon. And that your MIL is ok.

During the day E sleeps on us/in bouncer/if we're out, in the carseat. Sometimes next to me in bed if I want a nap. At night she's in the bassinet in our room and seems ok with it so far.

when tried that theory with my friend who was 2 weeks over and being induced the next day. Her baby arrived another 2 days later so I don't think the cuddles worked!

Congrats Yummy & Cub! I was home 6hrs after an uncomplicated waterbirth at the local MLU, which is standard for second or third time mums. Had second degree tear but no stitches. Was lovely & Made me feel like what I'd just done was natural & didn't make me a 'patieht'. My whole outlook has been better this time & I felt pretty empowered by the whole thing.
Buns: thx for that. It's easy to lose sight of common sense with well meaning Doubting Thomases around....I know all of what you've said
Is true & the reminder has reinforced it!!
Lots of snuffly newborns; my LO currently snorting & snoring on my chest as I wind her. She has a xcShe's gotten very windy this past few days & our evenings have had ots of crying-hers, not mine (yet!). She's fussing & squirming a lot during feeds & am presuming that wind is causing this.....

Hit post instead of preview...
Nordic I hope things get sorted for you, sorry to hear it's gotten so stressful.

Hi all, just checking in, havent read back yet.
DS2 is settling nicely at home, 12 days old now. DS is coping very well with him, and the last two nights slept the whole night in his own bed!! (he must have realised that he was just getting woken up more in our bed )
Feeding is sorted now, had a few problems with cracked nipples but all better now. Latch was checked and fine, so must have just been a bit sensitive to start. He sleeps in his moses basket at night like an angel, and in the pram mainly during the day. He is the most laid back child ever, though I guess he doesnt have a choice with my highly strung first born around
Hope everyone is well, will catch up properly when I have two seconds spare!!

Does anyone else with more than one feel incredibly guilty that they can't give the new baby as much attention etc as DC1? My baby is so easy and good natured and wonderful but I feel I'm not giving her everything she deserves as I have DS (demanding toddler) to tend to. I hate it when DD has to cry by herself for a time as I'm dealing with DS; is it just me being crazy and hormonal?!

LaT I feel guilty for the opposite. Ds1 is 3.5 and quite independent so I feel incredibly guilty that I'm not able to give him the attention he's used to because I'm feeding/changing ds2. He's been playing an awful lot of games on the laptop and keeps asking me to play with him but I can't.

Hello ladies, may I join your April 2012 post-natal thread? My lovely little DD2 was born on April 19th, so 2 weeks old today!!

We're just trying to get her body clock out of womb-time. She wakes at 1am and doesn't go back to sleep until about 3:30am. She'll have been fed, winded, had her nappy changed, yet will grumble when put down. Not crying, just grumbling unless she's held! It's very cute but we're finding it exhausting now. Those couple of hours make a huge difference!

DD1 would obviously wake in the night, but I remember her being satisfied after a feed/nappy change; didn't need the midnight snuggles

Congratulations to all of you for your April babes! xx

Lunar welcome ! We've had the same thing last 2-3 nights. After 3 am feed DD won't go to sleep , done a massive poo two nights and then not settling in the buggy and I've had to hold her in bed until next feed after which we've all slept fine until 10/11 am. We'll that's ok now that we're stuck in the US and not working so doesn't really matter when we get up but when we're back to normal back home with work/ school run I'll die if I don't get sleep after that nighttime feed ...

Thanks for everyone's kind words. Am trying to hold it together but feeling tearful at times . DS doesn't have a clue about grandma possibly being sick so must act normal. It's such a stressful situation already that I can't believe this is happening ! Talked with the inlaws on Skype today and all of us trying to be cheerful with DS there but MIL was tearful in the end but it escaped DS attention so that was lucky . I wish I knew when she'll get the test result from yesterday! Passport for DD is ready tomorrow so DH is driving to get it and apparently we won't need the DNA test results before applying or the visa s the lawyer can get on with it ASAP. Just want to keep the ball rolling ...

We are back on formula today as DD has lost 13% of birth weight based on today's weighing. It's clearly a massive effort for her to get the limited amounts of milk out that I seem to be producing.

Of course I am still offering the breast first and feeding still lasts hours...but with a bit of formula top up we can just be reassured she's getting enough. Have posted over on the BF board about what I can do to improve breast milk volumes & had loads of great advice already.

On the plus side - she seems very happy in her Moses basket at night and never complains about being put in it. I feel for those of you whose babies hate their baskets!

Nordic hope things improve for you soon, must be so hard being far away when family are ill.

Nordic hope it all gets better soon. How stressful for you all.

Frankie has decided to be a new born tonight and won't settle. I fed her at 11 and she puked the lot up in spectacular fashion. I'm now worried that she's going to eat and puke every time :(. As I'm breast feeding does this mean that she's over feeding?

We're now bottle feeding DD2. I breast-fed for the first week but her nappies were not very wet and neo-natal jaundice was spreading onto her chest. I found the let-down reflex quite painful, like being stabbed in my nipples with pins (I get it when she cries, too). Also, I'm naturally larger breasted anyway (DD normally) and my cup size was spilling out of a G cup. Backache aplenty and my boobs felt like a couple of rocks crushing my chest! Couldn't have carried on like that. Didn't like pumping, either; again, very painful.

The good news is that I'm not guilt-ridden like I was last time when I swapped DD1 to the bottle (for very different reasons then - body had taken a childbirth battering!) As I know she thrived on formula and is a delightful, happy and nourished little girl, I just don't feel bad about it. Also, it really was my choice to swap over this time, and I feel just as close and snuggly to my new baby when bottle feeding her.

I'm totally pro-breastfeeding and breastfeeding mothers having all the support they need, but the UK, I feel that this is at the expense of mothers who bottlefeed. A lot of psychological damage is (inadvertently?) inflicted on bottle-feeding mothers and I for one felt this with my firstborn. it would be good if a balance could be struck, without judgement from HCPs. Maybe that's just my experience though- anyone else felt this way?

Welcome Lunar & congratulations! Nordic, hope things continue to

Progress for you (sorry; keep hitting post message whilst typing on my phone :-().
We're having a bad couple of days & I'm worrying that I'm going to have the same breastfeeding issues with Em as I did with DD1. I suspect I have a strong let-down & oversupply as Emily has suddenly become windy & colicky (3 HOURS of ear splitting, gut wrenching screaming last night 8-11ish). She's constantly spews (like a fountain it spurts..), her nappies leak & soak through 3-4 times daily, and her fussing at the breast has turned into refusal to latch at all, particularly on the L side which is bigger. Trouble seems to start when I feel the let down. Her wee tummy gurgles all the time & she's crying increasingly. Getting emotional myself & have my 4yr old with me today & am frustrated that I'm unable to get her more toast/play/tolerate her clambering over us when I'm trying to sort a crying Emily at my breast. She's only fed 4mins on the L so far for this feed which was usually just starters till yesterday . Can't imagine how I'll ever be able to feed her in public. Have read Kellymom this am & think I'm right about the issue. Anyone have any ideas? Holly, I feel for you; it's so demoralising when you've gone through a feed only to have to start again. Sorry for mammoth post. 3 weeks today & things have been going so well till now. Really upset.

Hey Jelly, don't have much time to type but check out this fom La Leche League. I'm having similar issues with DD and have had some success with some of the techniques here. Will try and post more later...

jelly I had similar with my previous ds.

Things that helped were:

Taking him off as let down started & letting milk squirt into a muslin then putting him back on when flow had slowed.

Leaning back when feeding to slow flow.

Block feeding ie 1 boob per session, if he wanted to feed again within the hour putting him back on the same boob. This might reduce your supply a bit.

Also when ds was fussing he would let me feed him standing up.

Bear in mind it's early days & your over supply will probably calm down, it takes a while for your body to get the balance right.

Just read latris' link, that's a great one, lots of things to try there.

Long time no speak
Ive been so busy with little Lyra she is up to 8.2lbs now her birth weight was 6.5lb. Still going with the breast feeding mostly every 3 hrs but some time 2 in the day. But at night she goes 4-6 before a feed. Nipple are so much better pain nearly gone and latching on much better. She still comes off on left side seems to be for a bit a breath, maybe because flow is to fast? Still getting lots of burps up. Before and after a feed.

Sorry your having problem Nordic hopefully U will sort things soon x x

Nordic my husband got b/p last years and they don't know what causing it. His seem to clear up in 4-6 wks. They said it can be stress realated by no prof!

Hopefull it will clear soon for your surrogate?