August 2012 - sunny (ha!) summer babies

[ImissMiniPop]

they're starting to arrive, so here's our 'Due in August' post natal thread. To talk poo, pee, burping and everything else, too...

Here's link to antd-natal thread for those we'll be waiting for www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1511603-Due-in-August-Thread-Part-6

Have borrowed Needles list, which I'll start here, please feel free to add your details to it. I'm rubbish at list keeping, and hopefully Needles will be along to keep it updated :o

BIRTHS
tigger8 (?) DC? due 27/7/12, GIRL born 11/7/12
missjemima (?) DC2 BOY due 3/8/12, born 10/7/12
PoppySeed34 (34) DC1 BOY due 4/8/12, born 28/5/12

gnomi when trying him with the bottle my top tip for trying to get him to take it is do not do it yourself! Whatever you do, do not do it. Make sure dh does it and you might even need to leave the room (think I did with ds1 the 1st time) cos if they see you and smell the milk they want it from the source. The mistake most people make is trying to do it themselves. I only once did it myself and that cos. I was at work and did not want to get my boob out but he had already gotten used to the bottle by then.

geekete ds1 had a very mishapen head after an hour and half of pushing it got all squashed in the birth canal don't worry it will go back to normal all there bones are soft at the moment anyway. Jacob has a slightly bent foot due to being squished in the womb and we have to excercise it daily to make sure its corrected but that's not true of heads I'm sure.

Jacob was awake a lot of yesterday and only had cat naps too and seemed to be constantly feeding but did eventually fall asleep at 5 and stayed that way till 9.30ish but I know what you mean if they don't do some day time napping you can't get anything done especially with a 2 year old as well! Might have to resort to baby carrier when dh goes back to work!

Morning! Have been too busy to properly come on recently and post, but have been flicking through on iphone. Interesting tips susie re bottle feeding by DH. Makes sense as I've been expressing a bit so will hand over to DH more.

gnomi, mine often doesn't sleep too much during the day either, esp in afternoons. But it really varies from day to day too, as right now, he's been asleep since 1130 when he had a bottle of expressed milk due to MASSIVE breast that neded relieving. He also really frets and fusses at night by about 10pm. Anyone else have this? He either wants to feed and feed for HOURS or cry and he's not easily comforted. I don't think it's evening colic, just unsettled somehow.

Finally plan to get up courage and go for a walk today in the suunshine. My confidence is taking a while to come, and I'm still quite teary at night. Hey ho, wouldn't change it for anything!

Happy Sunday all, xx

My LO is a bit fussy at night too MrsMiggins; from about 8-12 on and off. Generally sleeps quite well during the day so I figure cluster feeding (?) and she tends to have a build up of wind as well.

I'm not great/confident going out yet but went for 45 mins walk with pram yesterday afternoon after a feed an she went straight to sleep. I'm scared of her crying when we're out for some reason but wasn't worried in the park as wouldn't disturb anyone. Could you try something like that?

Think we're all still a bit teary from the emotions of it and lack of sleep - sure we're all doing a grand job (well trying at least in my case! :))

geek John Lewis do a pack of two nursing bras for 30 quid. They have the peephole thing and they unclip and open downwards. Worth getting re measured if you've nt bee. Since starting to BF.
Have has such a lazy day, LO just wants to cuddle.

Ps have started using ALDI nappies, much bigger than Huggies which leaked, these have higher backs and seem to hold a lot of wee.

Sorry meant to say ALDI are much better.

Thanks for the info Susie. Glad someone else has been down this road before. I will try to relax about it.

I did go out today! O_O! I had a vest hidden in back of closet. That, and a very large muslin over my head during latching phase, gave me the confidence I needed to not dive for the car at the first feeding cue.
Thanks for all the tips.

Had to get a bigger sized sleep suit for baby geek today. Her legs seem too long for the 0-3 month sized ones...

We have tried the naty and pampers nappies. Naty came out tops.

Thx for info Welsh but my nearest jlewis is now too far away...

I'm having real problems with nursing bras. Went to mothercare but seem to be back to a 32 back and their biggest cup size was too small! Been looking online but they're all fancy and expensive and I have no idea what size to order. Might have to go into town to be fitted properly before DH goes back to work. Really struggled with maternity bras though so not sure I'll get anywhere. My boobs don't seem that big to me. There must be bigger BFing s out there! Rowan also goes a bit crazy in the evenings he has a feeding frenzy and will only calm down if him away from the smell of milk. eHe feeds until he is sick, often whilst trying to cry at the same time and giving himself wind. Last night he was a super star and settled down at 10:30 so we got a nice long sleep! Yey!

Thanks for tip re Mamas and Papas tops! Bought 3 for 2 as have only 2 topsand they're pj ones! Walk was nice if short as it suddenly got cold and windy. But felt very proud pushing my tiny son in his brand new shiny pram.

Out of interest, how long do other babies take to bf? Mine can take AT LEAST an hour and sometimes, wants to feed again fairly soon after. Presume normal?!

Been having a tough time here so apologies for not being involved I discussions. Had really good Friday and Saturday but awful night last night much upset and barely any sleep due to it and today felt so so ill but just tiredness and sandy won't settle. Have been relying on the dummy too much I think. He is very hard to get to latch on recently which worries me. He settles better on the dummy than the breast which is upsetting me a lot making me feel useless. However I've been getting really sore shooting pains in my breasts when not feeding and looking online thinking it may be thrush which would also explain sandys poor latching... Health visitor tomorrow will ask about it.... Anyone had this??

Im finding the ups and downs so hard at the moment. One good night and everything is rosy and then he fusses a few hours and I lose the plot. Also I think I have changed since being pregnant. I mentioned it on the other thread ages ago but my DH said I was much more placid when pregnant and he has confirmed I am more prickly since having him which makes me worry I'm the better me when pregnant :(

It's still very early days, Ham. Not only have you given birth, but BF and looking after a newborn send your hormones crazy. I'm sure most of us are also experiencing the ups and downs you describe - I know I am! You've also not been well, so please don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Definitely get your health visitor to check for thrush - Sandy might also have white patches in his mouth. I'm usually very prone to thrush myself so am keeping an eye out for the signs.

This weekend, I have been told by separate people that the first three months are mostly about survival, and that if you get to the end of the day and have brushed your teeth, you're doing well. I think at times we'd all relate to that!

Hey ham, agree with gnomi - your hormones are all over the place right now and that topped with lack of sleep and massive changes going on in your life... not surprised if you're prickly!! I remember crying every night for about a week after DS1 was born and poor DH didn't know what was wrong (and neither did I). Hmm.

mrsmiggins not convinced there is a normal when it comes to length of breastfeeding time! Some babies are super quick and others just not. Some like to suck more than others too. Looking back, I fed DS1 for hours on end and felt like he was permanently attached to me. He was and still is a particularly hungry little guy, but I think he also comfort sucked quite a bit and we took advantage! LO seems to be less so and a more efficient and faster eater - feeds take about 30-40 mins but longer and more frequent over fussy evening time. Not sure I have helped you at all!!

Ham if it is thrush trust me you'll know, it's the most painful thing I've ever had (and I gave birth with just a tens!!) It's sharp stabbing pains deep inthe breast and nipple when they latch on, whilst feeding and after. You have to get a prescription for Fluconozole or something like that!!! It takes it away immediatly. My thrush took them about 6 appt's with different dr's to diagnose and they still didn't get it right, I had about 4 diff drugs b4 it went after I phoned the breast feeding counsellor crying, she diagnosed me over the phone, got the prescription for me from my dr's and dropped it in! Saved my sanity 7 years ago I can tell you!!! Long and short of it is, if you think it is thrush the dr's don't always recognise it so fight for your rights as it is soooo painful.

Morning all.

ham I feel your pain :(. I'm certain William has thrush as his tounge is bright white which seems far too thick to be milk residue. There's a baby clinic on today so I'm going to pop along there and see what they say.

I haven't fed William for a few days now and my milk has more or less dried up which is really sad. I tried expressing but I was getting less and less out each time :(.

The tiredness is really taking its toll now. I do all the feeds and changes etc and I just feel exhausted and miserable :(. William just won't settle after his 2am feed and I'm up and down with him, resulting in him usually getting into our bed about 5am.

My older children are back to school on Thursday, ( my 30th :)) so hopefully I will get to have a rest!

Thanks guys had a better night by banishing DH to the couch so we had lots of room and I was so tired I slept through all of sandys crazy noises.

Trying to see his tongue but he isn't for opening his mouth!! It is a pretty sore sharp stably pain will get to the doc

vino sandy gets angry around that time too :( I just keep him in with me all the time. I figure he can go in his cot after the magical three month mark if he wants but he sleeps in our bed so that's where he will stay!

Ahhh Ham, hope you and Sandy feel a bit better and the mw can help out. Edward gets really stressy at night when he's been so good all day. We didn't have such a good night last night and DH got so wound up and grumpy about it all. He doesn't seem to handle getting up/having not as much sleep/being disturbed, so is quite ratty at the mo which I'm finding frustrating...
Edward is currently staring at me after his feed which I love. Could spend hours just staring back! x

Funny how all the babies get a bit unsettled in the evenings. Think I said before my LO gets a lot of trapped wind, I can hear her stomach gurgling bless so I've used Infacol twice which seemed to help.

I was a bit nervous about giving her anything tbh but after chatting with my sister I decided to try it and it is suitable from birth.

Not sure if your LOs having the same prob or how you feel about using it but seems to produce v loud farts and gives her some relief :)

Hey everyone. Jacob was unsettled last night at 2 also it must be the bad baby hour or something! Took me an hour and half of feeding, burping, nappy changing and rocking in moses basket to get him back off. Oddly I haven't felt over emotional or teary am a bit worried now that I am weird. With ds one I had definate baby blues on day 3 when I just remember crying in dh's arms for no reason but nothing this time? Maybe it will hit me when dh goes back to work?

Do feel a lot more angry lately tho which is also odd mostly at dh as he keeps playing on his comp till 2am and did not wash up last night and its still not done arrrg!

Like gnomi LO sandy had a big sleep stretch last night, he is 4.5 weeks so similar age. He slept 9-2.20 waking and feeding but only for a few sucks then so sleepy at breast no more so I'm counting that as 5.5 hours and a positive move to longer stretches of sleep!

miggins my DH finds the waking up way harder than me too. He gets really befuddled and a bit irritated whereas I seem to snap into awake immediately if sandy is up. Perhaps we have a physiological advantage and are made to we a lot at the moment unlike the dads who don't have the hormonal changes. I found actually having DH on the couch is easier on us all for work nights as he made us more tense if sandy was wakeful. Plus more bed room for the bed sharing baby and less pressure of an audience for me IYKWIM

Been using infacol since 2 weeks lois really helps get the burps up. MW did say it needs to be given regularly before feeds 4 times a day to work best. Sandy still gets very colicky sometimes though and all that settles him is feed after feed with much anger and wind in between!

We a = wake up*

I've also got Infacol, so might give it a bash later, esp if windy again later tonight. I stuffed him ful of 100ml Mummy's finest milk at 1130 and he's still asleep! Hurrah!

Yup, DH definitely not as good. I think it's certainly a maternal thing, as my Mum still wakes up instantly if my sister and I stay at home and go to the loo in the night! I'm instantly awake too with Edward when he stirs; that mother's link is amazing.

Had my final mw visit today before she hands over to the health visitor and felt quite teary at her leaving. I've really appreciated all the support, and somehow, have felt it easier to talk to MW about certain things than with family. Is that odd?!

Off to attempt to work out sling for a nice sunny walk later. x

We have infacol too and William has just had his first dose after chatting to the hv. I used it on my other two so know its good stuff :). She did say to use it five minutes before each feed for it to be effective, so fingers crossed for a more settled night.

My dh is constantly moaning on about being tired which is really starting to get on my wick! He hasn't done one single night feed, in fact, he has only fed William once and changed him twice!
I don't like complaining about him but my god my patience is wearing thin!

On a brighter note, the sun is shining :).

Aw vino poor you, I'm sure you'll feel better soon. We're definitely having good days and bad days (mostly sleep related). Heard some advice I liked: 'with babies, no matter how bad things are, it won't last, you just need to get through it. On the other hand, no matter how good things are, that won't last either so make the most of it!'

Another infacol fan here, DS's been on it for a week now and burping so much easier. How long do you think it's ok to use it?

Another one with the mood swings here. Ihshad a right go at dh this morning for no reason then cried at the midwife appointment...
Then had a brilliant time visiting the labour ward I had been admitted to...

I was warned by my consultant to expect hormone controlled emotions. So don't worry ham you sound quite normal!

Another co-sleeper for sanity here too. I find tho that mini geek still wakes up at 2 or 3 am and can be a right hand full if she so decides... it is just easier for me to go back to sleep.

Battling our first nappy rash here. We had been missing some folds of skin when cleaning her nd they are becoming sore. Poor thing

Hmm, dh has come home from work and has been amazing! It's made me feel tonnes better :). He's insisted I sleep downstairs tonight so I can get some sleep but I'm not ready for that yet.

Meant to say earlier, the hv checked and william doesn't have thrush in the mouth thank goodness, it's just very thick milk residue.