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

3Bears we are ebf but are thinking of introducing an expressed bottle in the future. We have managed some syringe feeding (we were given syringes by the midwife) which has meant DH could do some feeds and I can sleep. With syringe feeding there is no worry about nipple confusion and you squeeze drops of milk into their mouth. I've been told six weeks is when we can introduce a bottle.

Hey ginger also recomend lansinoh I only I used it a couple of times after one nipple had been attacked by lo not latching on properly when going mad for collostrum and my nipple healed right away now have a whole wasted tube that cost me a tenner however you can use it for other things. Also breat milk does help if they are dry I squeeze a bit out at the end and rub it in.

3bears I exclusively breast fed ds1 and it was recommended you don't introduce a bottle before around 6 weeks but don't leave it much longer or your lo may not accept a bottle at all its like a very narrow window. We did 1 feed with a bottle for a week or so at the same time to get him used to it but don't forget do not do it yourself make sure someone else does it if your lo smells milk he will want booby!

Funny moments - 2nd midwife turning up without oxygen and having to sneak back to the hospital to get some! Save embarrasment of having forgotten it. Thing that made the midwives laugh me saying through gritted teeth 'it didn't hurt this much the 1st time!' When pushing baby out which by the way only took 15 mins and about 4 or 5 pushes as apposed to taking an hour and a half and god knows how many pushes!

Jacob slept better last night thank goodness but I could not get to sleep as easily so grrr! Never mind love my baby soooo much!

Ahh sunshine, sat outside with LO in the pram, lovely :)

Anyone else really thirsty and hungry - no famished would be a better description!! I am greedy have a healthy appetite normally but this is something else! Anything I might have saved on formula milk I'm certainly making up for in the weekly shop.

impressed some of the LOs have gone 6 hrs, even as a one-off. Good sign of things to come hopefully :)

ginger agree with time for the nipples provided your latch is good. Got told at hospital that clots smaller than a 50p can be ignored. Also your more likely to get clots after feeding from your uterus getting smaller again if bf.

Great news of your LO getting heavier bears sandy is porking up nicely too I'm so proud... Looking at his double chin in admiration right now!

Loving all your funny moments especially hanibal lector!

So sandy is now 5 weeks so thinking of starting to express and freeze in prep for some bottle feeding by his dad next week. Tell me though... If you hand express into a bowl or whatever, where do you store the milk? And also what bottles should you get?
I trust your opinions much more than my HV! Last time she didn't even recommend waiting til 6 weeks

Oh also heads up sandy was sick properly twice yesterday like projectile and a lot of it. I'm fairly sure it was from eating too much. Anyway today I noticed his fontanelle was a bit dipped which MW had said meant he was dehydrated. Made me feel like the absolute worst mum in the world I rushed to feed him and gave him each side fore milk first to try and get him hydrated again and it's now normal. Anyway it's not happened before sound I think because he was sick in such volumes. Just incase anyone else's LO is sick watch out for that! Poor mite :(

I'm eating and drinking loads Lois but it's hard work when Rowan will only sleep on me. Have to keep shouting for supplies! Has anyone noticed certain foods giving LOs wind? Poor Rowan is really struggling today and making lots of noise. It's coming out eventually but obviously making him uncomfortable. Wondered if it was something I ate?

Funny you say that whiteangel about foods causing wind. As always lots of conflicting information but have to say I've cut out acidic fruits and not too much dairy. The wind seems a bit better (lots of groaning still but not as much pain) so don't know if its coincidence or not.

ham you can get b-milk storage bags but my friend said regular freezer bags are just as good and maybe more robust. Never done it though so someone more knowledgeable may advise!

Hi all, good to hear how you're all getting on.Lois I'm eating all the time, mumble about how often dd is feeding then realise that i am feeding more!

Enjoying the funny labour stories! I dind't find mine very funny unfortunately (although the midwife stitching me up did offer to put her back in!). I went to postnatal ward to drop in chocolates and saw the MW who looked after me during labour. She said she was pleased to see me, as some deliveries stuck with her, and clearly she didn't think mine went very well! I really didn't think it was THAT bad! Not my dream easy delivery and home after 6 hours, but it was quick, the nice anaesthetist made the pain go away, and the only damage to either of us was an episiotomy. Surely they must see worse? (Like my first....)

We're doing well, dd sleeping 3-4 hours most nights then settling for shorter periods, if only big brother would sleep a bit later I'd be happy (and less tired). Plenty of milk, and feeding well. I managed to get up and out of the house this morning to go to breast feeding group, felt like a major achievement!

Hi all, thank you all sooo much for the nipple advice, this thread is amazing. Have been using lansinoh since day one and no signs of White spots or cracks....pain is only when she first latches on and definitely more in the nipple itself rather than inside breast. Going to 'get HV to check latch on Monday but a friend said to me it may just be a matter of time before nips 'toughen up' to it all.....I user to like having sensitive nipples (ahem) but not so now!!!

Also called HV for other issues so in case others are having similar issues here's what she said....

1.swollen breasts in baby v normal, to do with all the hormones she got from me during birth and will go. Apparently she may even leak some milk! Just like her mum!!

1. Clots/slightly heavier bleeding at this point also fine and to do with being up and about more now. So all fine there, phew!

Thx again for all your support. Oh and re the vomiting...we had similar here the other day and LO then had a massive feed session that eve as presumably was v thirsty....bit scary when she first did it though, straight in my face! Bleurgh!!

Happy sunny Friday all and thx again xxx

tumblebug how was the breastfeeding group you went to? what do they do just offer advice etc? I was going to go to one next week but never been to one before so unsure what happens there.

So glad you said about eating more lois and others I just said to dp i've not stopped eating all day, feel constantly hungry all the time also drinking lots of water but it must be my body keeping up with breastfeeding, good excuse to eat yummy food though

ham Noah has been sick alot aswell asked my HV today and she said it's fine just when he's too full will keep an eye on his fontanelle though, thanks for letting us know. Glad sandy is okay now aswell.

ham dunno about expressing into a bowl but last time I used the phillips advent pump manual one (cos it was on offer in boots half price plus boots points) as was the microwave steam steriliser which came with 2 bottles and a dummy. But advent comes with this system called via cups where you express into the cups which have screw on lids so no leaks then the cups can go into the fridge or freezer so no transfering and then when you want to feed to lo you just put on the adapter (which it comes with) and put on a normal advent ring and teat and feed baby so no transfering back into a bottle. Less chance for any bugs to get in as well. Very good system especially when you go back to work and have to express no worrying about spilling any milk as screw on lids and no tiping from bottles to bags etc. But that's just my opinion and obviously of no help if you are hand expressing but you can use the normal bottles on the pump too if you just wanted to keep in the fridge and use fairly quickly. Oh and the steam steriliser only takes 6 mins in our old rubbish microwave quicker in newer faster ones I'm sure!

Oh forgot to say ginger have been told by breastfeeding advisors before that as long as it does not last more than about 10 seconds the pain that is then it is just a case of waiting for nipples to harden up a bit and latch is prob fine but still a good idea to get hv to take a look as well just to be sure.

Oh and 3bears our local nct breastfeeding group is there as a social group for you to meet other mums with similar age babies as well as get advice some people only turn up once for advice and are never seen again others go for a natter and tea and biscuits every week. With ds1 I went every week from when he was 3 weeks as needed to socialise and most of the other groups locally seemed to be geared towards toddlers so was good to have a group for babies.

Glad it's not just sandy who is being sick!

Thanks lois and susie on expressing

Read this online and think it makes sense. Apparently when baby falls asleep on you you should wait a while before putting in their cot as they will have dropped into deeper sleep rather than being in light sleep and moving too soon will cause them to wake. Seems to work for sandy, who is currently sprawled on me post feed and soon or his basket so when DH gets home I can get a bit of time with him. Actually really miss being close to him physically!

Thanks susie - pain is only for a few secs so does sound like it's a toughening up issue. Think I might go to local breastfeeding drop-in group next week too though, sounds like they can be helpful/friendly!

ham so know what u mean about missing being close to DP....mine is sleeping in other room still as I'm mostly co-sleeping and to
Be honest one of us needs to be alert/functioning in the day so it's all good from a sensible point of view but I really miss him....we've tried to have a few times of getting some cuddles in in bed or on sofa but LO always seems to pick that moment to do a massive fart/poo combo or have a good scream-up. I know it'll get better but I know DP is struggling a bit with there being no 'us' time for a while...whoever said being a mum
Is a full-time job SERIOUSLY underestimated the time it takes!

ginger how old is your baby? I had 10 days of a lot of nipple pain. Then it got better. Now I occasionally still get it if he is feeding a lot... Just over use!! Sandy woke up 5 mins before DH got home there arg! But is zzz again now. Going to tentatively place him in the Moses and grab a cuddle! We are doing the exact same co sleep and DH on couch on his work nights

I second what Ham says about waiting till deeper sleep. I do the arm test... Pick up LO arm, if it's loose and drops down then he's fast asleep, if he pulls it back then he's still not asleep enough...

Evening all. We've been using that arm test a bit too to check how asleep he is. Edward currently asleep on my lap on his v pillow post feed. So sweet. I need the loo too (tmi!) but haven't the heart to move.
Gingerelle, I get that pain too as soon as he latches on for a second or so then it goes away. Must just be a toughing up/first latch thing. It makes my toes curl though! Also had a bit more possetting here too but like others, suspect it's a greedy milk monster gulping down too much!

Off to change milk monster, enjoy your evenings x

ham LO is 19 days now, so fingers crossed the nips toughen themselves up soon! geres good tip re the arm test, sooooo going to try that later! Just delivered another hour of 'milk bar', Lo is a feeding machine at the moment!

Gingerelle my LO is the same age and also having a feeding frenzy (just completed a marathon session)... I think it might be the 3 week growth spurt. He's just collapsed asleep on my chest, really not surprised, must be exhausted!

Ham, We got the Medela breast pump which comes with a bottle you can use. I tried last weekend, and was very proud of myself for expressing 3oz, which was suggested as the right amount for a feed. DH tried to give DS the bottle, and I stayed in the other room, but he refused it. I found the pump kind of bruised my nipples a bit, so don't try to express very much in your first go.

We've now got DS to take a dummy, which I feel kind of weird about . But it does really settle him, and I'm hoping we can use it as a tool to help him get into some naps during the day. Mind you, we went out for the day today, and he slept for most of the day. I'm hoping that now he is used to the dummy, he might take a bottle more easily (he is 5 weeks tomorrow). The dummy hasn't affected BF though.

I'm a bit concerned about a reddish patch on my breast today. The breast feels kind of bruised all along one side, and the red patch is closer towards the nipple. It's not painful, and this breast did become quite engorged last night. Does anyone have any experience of mastitis? I'm worried in case that's what it is.

No funny labour stories for me, I'm afraid, unless you count my parents turning up on the ward before the baby had even been delivered! Poor DH had to go out and tell them to go away again, and they finally came back to see us all 4 hours later. I also managed to completely fall asleep during my surgery - the bliss of an epidural and labour being over, I think.

gnomi I wouldn't worry about the red patch if its not sore. I've had this when breast has become engorged tho mine was a bit sore at the time but red patch stayed a bit afterwards. Not had experience of mastitis but its my understanding it would be sore. Red patch should fade but it may be a bit of a blocked duct which could turn into mastitis so just massage the area and it should unblock itself. Hope this helps.

Sorry if I'm being.a bit of a thread hog!!

Gnomi I have the medela too, I've found it good. Although you do feel like a dairy cow when it's turned on!

Do you feel any flu/cold like symptoms? My HV said to keep an eye out for that but it does sound like the start of mastitis. The HV explained it as milk making its way out of your ducts when you are over engorged going into your breast tissue. Your breast tissue treats it like a foreign body hence the redness. Definately worth asking your HV or doctor about just in case...

Ginger I'm the same and was going to post also about bright red clots, am on day 16 and some days is darker and if I've done a lot it's bright red and heavy and stringy. Wasn't sure about calling MW's as we were only just discharged!
ALso re nipples I fed both my others for 11 months and always used lansinoh every feed and still could never dry them with a towel, too painful!
Susie those Via cups are amazing for weaning, I've got loads of them and freeze all the puree's in them!
Gnomi when I had mastitis I had a high temp then a few hours later the red stripe appeared so not sure if it is that, all I remember is that I felt really ill, had to go and lie down on my dad's bed halfway thru lunch!

Thanks for the advice, will keep an eye on it and any other symptoms over the weekend.

Know what you mean about pumping making you feel like a dairy cow Hamster!

Baby Nicole was born just before midnight last night. Diddy thing at 6lbs 2.

Contractions became more regular and after a walk around the hospital at 8pm, they were every 3-5mins. Examined at 9.30pm and I was 4-5cms. Asked the MW for Gas&Air as becoming too painful. After negotiating with a super busy labour ward, they found me a room, got me up there and started on the G&A. We were so lucky as we were placed in the only birth pool and I could use it as I avoided any induction. Got in at 10.30pm, had dimmed lights, chilled music and enjoyed plenty of Gas & Air. Wanted to push around 11.30pm and she was born 11.58. It hurt a lot but was so relaxed, defo recommend. Had a few small stitches as she came out with her hand by her face.

Currently watching her sleep in a boiling and noisy pn ward. Counting down til I can go home.