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June 2012 - Jubilant mums of Jubilee babies

570 replies

TeaandHobnobs · 02/06/2012 16:32

It is Jubilee weekend Crown - awaiting those babies!

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TeaandHobnobs · 26/06/2012 08:17

Thanks for sharing your story Annakin Smile

Another night of 3 hrs - 2 hrs - 2 hrs - 2 hrs. I feel like death.

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CathFin · 26/06/2012 08:50

Annakin - loving your gas high (although maybe not the hallucinations)! I obviously don't get the same reaction!! It def helped when they did my stitches but I just felt a bit of a head rush and I think I actually got some relief when I was pushing as I hadn't been chugging it all through labour.

We have a bit of a day/night issue here - Tea - my night was like that too.
However I think since my milk is in the tummy ache for Benedict might have lessened so that is good. He slept so much in the day yesterday I started to worry but of course come bedtime he was up every hour, I resorted to keeping him on my chest and that stretched it out a bit but its not ideal.

Shelduck · 26/06/2012 09:17

Hi everyone. Hope everyone is hanging in there, and managing through the sleep deprivation! [yawn icon]

Thanks for all your support the other day, re BFing. I've been hanging in there, but i really am now looking at at least moving permanently to FF top-ps, and most likely a mixture of FFing and expressing (the least convenIent option of all!)

Have been in touch loads with our local BF support and lactation consultant. They have been fantastic and really supportive, and to my delight, have reassured me that i really shouldn't beat myself up if i have to switch to FF because i've given it my best, and it's not my fault there have benn probs. The BFing issue has made me massively anxious and my baby blues have been really intense, and i just refuse to let the feeding issue get in the way of building a bond with DS.

SO ANYWAY - now that i'm looking at FFing at least in part, i'm feeling really daunted by all the practicalities. Assumed i would BF, so totally at sea with this mularkey! (bloody hell, the idea that FFing is a cop-out easy option has me in mad sleep-deprived hysterics) Was there someone else on this thread who is bottlefeeding who could share the pain and swap advice?

Hugs to everyone. And apologies for being massively selfish and coming on here for support but not giving much back! I'm not much good anyway!

DairyNips · 26/06/2012 09:33

Shelduck Sounds like you've got some good support in your area, glad they helped make things clearer for you. I have formula fed my ds1 although that was 4 years ago but if I can give any advice or tips let me know! Was there anything in particular concerning you? When we used to go out and about we used to take a flask of boiled water and a little container with 3 portions of formula measured out in to it, so three feeds worth. You can get these containers from Tesco and boots etc, little round tub with 3 sections inside, you spin the top round to get one feeds worth out. So, we would make the feed up when out with the water that was 70 degrees+ then put it in cold water to get it to the right temp or run it under a cold tap. We found in the house cold water sterilising easy as you make up the tub of water, add Milton fluid (the Milton stuff sterilises in 15 mins and doesn't need rinsed off) then just wash the bottles and chuck them all in. When you need a bottle just take one out, change sterilising solution once every 24hrs. We also had a small microwave sterilising tub that came with the tommee tippee breast pump I bought. We used this if we needed to sterilise a bottle when out at someones house for instance and also used it to carry the clean bottles in. Sorry just babbling on now, hope some of this is of use!

blacktreaclecat · 26/06/2012 09:53

Hi
Lurked here really. I did post a few times on the July antenatal thread. My DS Nicholas was born at 36+3 on 11th June by CS due to placenta praevia.
I'm FFing after trying to bf for a couple of days. N was unable to latch or suckle at all so I tried hand expressing colostrum, only a few drops so we turned to formula. I did feel guilty but he needs to eat! He lost 11% of birthweight at 5 days which I think is down to such a slow start.
So we are FF and it isn't an easy option. Maybe we need a support thread?
Xxxx

ffnorm · 26/06/2012 13:44

Shelduck I FF my DS so ask all the questions you want,I'm sure between us all we can give you some answers/advice Grin

Welcome blacktreaclecat

blondiedollface · 26/06/2012 15:15

Shelduck I'm in exactly the same position as you and decided that a happy mummy and a happy baby were far more important than bf in the grand scheme of things... It was stressing and frustrating her AND me, nipple shields worked to an extent but because her tongue-tie was so severe it really affected how she latched... I figured I'd rather have a happy, healthy, weight gaining baby than both of us exhausted, frustrated and not getting anywhere!

We're using Cow and Gate and she seems to be thriving - I'm expressing twice a day and she's getting about 60-80ml from me every day, I figure that because I'm leaking I might as well use the milk and it doesn't seem to be drying up so that's a bit of goodness for her...

Honestly don't worry about it - do what's best for you and your baby, formula exists for a reason and it's just as good at getting the nutrients into your baby's system :)

TeaandHobnobs · 26/06/2012 21:09

It's wrong that I'm sitting here enjoying the scent of DS's poo, isn't it? Grin Confused

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AmethystMoon · 26/06/2012 22:01

Hello everyone

Just marking my space. I will at some point catch up on all of your posts.
I sympathise with all of the sleepless nights! Still ploughing on with bf here with nipple shields as little India wasn't getting it with my small nipples Blush
Dreading DP going back to work on Friday Sad he has been amazing.
I will post my birth story soon, right now I am too tired to even drum up the energy to type!
May we all get some sleep tonight

Bumper1 · 27/06/2012 08:44

Hello everyone, I lurked quite a bit on the antenatal thread and I wanted to say congratulations to you all on your little arrivals.

DS is my first and I had no idea just how demanding it would be. I'm tying to bf but finding it so tough. My husband has bought formula but we haven 't used it yet. I can't say I enjoy bf at all and would like to start phasing it out soon. Emotions riding high but as others have said happy mammy = happy baby!

Hope you all have a happy day

rrrayray · 27/06/2012 10:55

Hi all

Good news is little pile is all but gone. Not a pleasant experience, hope none of you are or do suffer from them. Not something I want to experience again.

Bf going well now boobs & engorgement have finally calmed down. Boobs down in a hot bath & combing boobs towards the nipple seems to help (recommended by my mum)

Feeding on demand & waking (bloody hard... Such a sleep baby) if sleeps longer than 3 hours in the day time seems to be shifting his body clock to the right times as after feeding at 10pm only woke and fed at 2am, 5am, 7am which feels so good after the first 3 nights of feeding every hour.

Welcome other new babies.

rrrayray · 27/06/2012 10:59

Those considering switching to FF.... I def 100% agree a happy mummy is a happy baby. A happy mummy also outweighs any BF advantages as if your tense, fretful etc it all crosses accross to the baby.

Shelduck · 27/06/2012 12:46

Hi all! Thanks everyone. Good to hear i'm not the only FFer, and so many happy stories! Since starting FFing, DS is actually getting proper wet nappies, which fills my heart with gladness! And since i stopped feeling so anxious, i'm my milk has picked up, and i'm expressing away like a dairy cow! [moo icon] i can tell you, being anxious makes a massive massive difference to productivity!

So maybe there are enough of us here to get a bit of support. The thing i'm a bit worried about is current/new advice not to make up formula in advance. I think dairy's advice about a flask still stands. But is anyone contemplating making up a bottle of boiled water, leave it in fridge and then make up formula with that and warm? Manufacturer used to say you couLd do this, but advice changed 2 years ago. MW said she can't recommend it, but hasn't noticed decrease in gastroenteritis iN that time. DH has microbiologist backgroUnd in food industry and can't see how it would make a difference. Any thoughts?

Thank you for all being such brilliant people! Hugs to everyone.

Kveta · 27/06/2012 13:18

Hot water is used to make up formula because the actual milk powder is not sterile, so the water is used to kill off any bacteria kicking around. Using cooled boiled water won't work in this way, hence no longer being recommended. It's not the water you're sterilising, just the milk powder!

smallwonder · 27/06/2012 14:51

Hi ladies,
Just had a quick catch up at last. Hope everyone is well and not too sleep deprived -- I much prefer trying to stay awake throughout the night than the awful insomnia during last trimester of pregnancy! I haven't slept so well in months even if it is totally broken and bare minimal at times.
How are the ladies post c-section getting on? My scar is healing well but when I get tired, especially after walking/park with the children I limp a tiny bit and usually resort to taking a painkiller in the evening.
DS is 3 weeks old, all is good, he is a little colicky and getting a bit too used to being cuddled/carried around but none of us can help ourselves, he's our very last baby and it's like he can do no wrong Smile Probably digging my own grave eh?
I joined slimming class last week and went for my weigh in last night, lost 2lbs which was a start, cannot believe how much weight I gained this pregnancy. Have not touched junk food or soda since I started, long may it continue I say, feel like the old me. Anyone else needing to lose weight and made a start?
Anyone putting their mat stuff on ebay yet?
I have bags of clothes and stuff that I bought and didn't even wear thanks to being housebound a lot of the time. Just don't know if I'm ready to start all that yet but the house is getting smaller since DS's arrival and space is limited.

Anyone else feeling like that they are running out of room at home?
And the washing? Machine is constantly on and housework is such a full time job, I'm going to have to lower standards, can't do everything.

Should get some rest while DS sleeps (have been putting off the thank you cards for 2 weeks now -- another job waiting....)

TeaandHobnobs · 27/06/2012 20:45

After last night's horror, DH has said he will give DS a bottle of EBM for one feed tonight, so I can hopefully get a bit of sleep - but how much EBM do we give him? He weighs somewhere between 6.5 and 7 lbs.

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Kveta · 27/06/2012 21:14

not sure tea have you googled formula amounts for his age/size? we always offered DS 2-3 oz, because that was all I tended to pump in the day, but he was huge (like his sister).

took the kids to a new playgroup today and made an enemy immediately, as DS insisted on bringing his own drum stick (as one does) then a wee boy nabbed it from him. DS asked the other boy for it back (very politely really - said 'please my stick back?') and other wee boy went 'NO IT MINES' so I looked around for his mum, no sign of anyone claiming responsibility, and I asked wee boy for it back. he said no again, so I removed it from him, told DS it was being put away so nobody could have it (and he is not to bring his own toys to playgroup again - my fault, but was a bit distracted this morning!), and the other boy absolutely flipped, was screaming blue murder about 'MY STICK MY STICK!' and his mum reappeared, and spent the last 20 minutes of group giving me the evil eye. sigh. she wouldn't let me explain either, so I thought 'sod you' and left her to it. will go again next week and see how it goes, but suspect that's one group I won't stick with!!

DD remains a wee angel, sleeping so well - she has a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, fills her nappy copiously, feeds for a bit, then goes back to sleep. she'd happily sleep longer in the morning, but we tend to be out and about, so haven't found her natural rhythm in the mornings yet. at night we're getting 2-3 hours at a stretch normally, then she goes back to sleep after a feed. Long may it last! DS was the total opposite, used to feed for 3-4 hours at a stretch and then nap for 45 minutes. I prefer this model of baby :o she is sleeping in her swing chair just now, after a lengthy feed, DH and I are still Shock that we have made a sleepy child this time. shame her big brother is still so bloody awful, he's been up 3-4 times a night since she arrived.

I actually had time this afternoon whilst both children slept, to finish thank you cards, just need to post them now. I have a lot of friends who only have sons, so have received some gorgeous outfits from them, as clearly they relish the thought of shopping for a girl! she'll be the best dressed member of the family when she gets into the 3-6 months size! going to try and sell all her newborn and 0-1 month stuff now though, so as not to tempt fate and decide to try for DC3 anytime soon!

hope everyone has sleepy nights and happy babies :)

ffnorm · 27/06/2012 22:02

tea it's quite hard as I found with DS, he never drank the same volume of EBM as recommended by formula volume and I was desperate not to waste as the EBM was so precious. Offer him 2 oz and see what he does with it, you can always give more but if you offer a large amount and he drinks little you have to discard the remainder. Hope that helps Smile

kveta I too am preferring this model of baby Grin

TeaandHobnobs · 28/06/2012 03:42

Woohoo went to bed at 10:30, DH gave him 70ml of EBM (which wa apparently a little bit too much) and then just got me up at 3:00. Sweet sleep! And desperately needed, as my sore throat has fledged into a full out snotty cold. DS is now mega snotty too, poor thing Sad

Anyone else suffering with these warm sticky nights? Yuck.

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smallwonder · 28/06/2012 05:56

tea hurray for some unadulterated sleep! Hope you both get rid of those colds ASAP -- how is DS sleeping with it?
I've just fed LO & have him upright on my chest as he too is bunged up but so an I it's horrendous hay fever though am wondering if that's the problem.
Hmm at play group antics kveta!
Sleep time c xx

MammaInTheMaking · 28/06/2012 06:57

3 hours sleep all night. OMG..... Think it was too hot for her dispute just ending up in her nappy. She's been so good in the night but last night was awful Sad

ceeej · 28/06/2012 10:13

We've had some awful nights recently too, DD has thrush which isn't helping but I think the heat has been a factor too. We slept with the window open last night and her wrapped up in a sheet with only a nappy on which really helped, it's difficult because she only really drifts off if she's wrapped up.

surfmama · 28/06/2012 10:17

oh god 3 hours sleep was bliss for me have to feed every 2 to 3 hours and did one at 3 and half last night heaven! what had you been having mamma? tea hope you bothe get well soon

TeaandHobnobs · 28/06/2012 10:21

For those with babies who need to be wrapped up in this heat, have a look at these:
www.adenandanais.co.uk/shop/swaddles.aspx

BIL bought us one of these, which I thought was the absolute business for feeding out and about as it is so massive I am completely undercover, but I see the point of them is to be a lightweight swaddle.

They have awesome patterns too - I have the monkey one, but I think I need to get the giraffe one too Grin

MammaITM I really really sympathise... Last night was the first longer stretch I've had in a while (still only 4 hours though!), and the first thing DH said this morning was how perky I seemed. At least this can't go on forever second or more timers, don't say anything; I'm in denial Wink

Final neonatal outreach team visit this morning - let's see how much the little porker has put on this week - and it is our 6 / 8 week check this afternoon, with Thomas' first jabs. I hope he doesn't get too upset

Looks like a scorcher today, hope nobody is melting! Really feeling for gwennie, coops et al in this heat!

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McKayz · 28/06/2012 10:47

Errrr. It's really really hot here but chucking it down. It's bloody horrible