October 2012 babies - we meet them at last!

[YompingJo]

Getting thread in place in readiness!

Oooh yes I'm tempted by ergo too but dh wouldn't be impressed at all - would point out that last time I bought about a million (well, 4) slings and that the wrap sling we have works well. Which one are you trying squid? Left to myself I'd also like a bedside cot but again dh is the spoilsport voice of reason and economy.
I've been out with baby smiley on my own today! To a friends for coffee and to baby clinic. And she's gaining weight really well. Worn out now but feeling very proud of myself. Back to sitting on sofa with boobs out, tv on and iPad to hand now....
Dh doing live tv interview (eek!) tomorrow at 7am so I get to do the school run. Bit nervous about this.....
angelico hope the extra sleep is helping. We do expect a lot of ourselves - healing after major abdominal surgery and looking after a newborn is a big challenge.

hi all! Just popping in to read about life on the other side. I am a week overdue and feeling really down. Feel like I am terrified of birth and terrified of facing all the difficulties you are all describing. (i think it is worse second time around as I know exactly what I am in for) but at the same time I am just dying for it all to get started.

I have so enjoyed this last time with DS and all the prep, but being on the edge of this for so long is driving me mad!

Am soooo impressed with you all and how well you are all coping. You are inspirational. I can not believe elpis helping out at school too! Bloody hell woman! Superhero or what?

Love to you all xx

which slings do you already have smiley and what do you think of them? Everyone told me the moby was best for newborns but I didn't get on with it that well. The sling library is awesome in theory but all the slingwearing ladies can be a leetle bit tiring... they are VERY SERIOUS about slings and meet every week to discuss slings

Nice one on going out, it's such a mission isn' it?! and yay for baby smiley putting on weight :)

squid arf about the sling library, can totally imagine that [hgrin]

Reading reviews of ergos online now...this is so dangerous...

Went for a long walk with DS2 in the moby this morning and now my pelvis and shoulders are killing me. Must've wrapped it wrong or summat, and obviously expecting too much of my stupid pelvis. Stupid pelvis, mutter mutter [hhmm].

bella can really sympathise with your predicament - enjoying time with DS but wanting the anticipation to be over, already! I was so ready to just get on with trying to figure out life with newborn and toddler. But I must admit I felt a bit weepy this morning as I dropped DS1 off with childminder as (whispers) I'd rather have been dropping off DS2 and spending time with my gorgeous little DS1 who is such a laugh....newborns are so demanding and relentless..... [ashamed mummy emoticon]

elpis can only echo everyone else and just be [hshock] at how you're doing it all. Can you come and give me lessons please?!

Sorry all, gone a bit halloween emoticon bonkers [hgrin] Just been for DS2's hearing test and one of the only places he sleeps, other than in my arms, is in the carseat, so am enjoying a few blessed moments to myself. Have scoffed some lunch very quickly (at 3pm), hung up some washing, put another load on and tidied up. Feel a bit sick now, unsurprisingly...

Can I just ask what age did you all start expressing? How did it go, have you managed to get babes to take it?
I thought that you weren't supposed to start too early in case they got confused between teat and nipple and I know it is far too early at the moment but it is would be good to think there is a way that I might be able to get someone else to do the occasional feed

We had a Babasling (rubbish for us, don't think it was comfy for baby and certainly not for us), a Bushbaby cocoon (liked this and did use it) another one I've forgotten the name of whic was rubbish and the hugabub which saved our sanity, dd1 napped in this till she was 1. Also had a rucksack type back carrier with a frame which dh used but was just goo big and cumbersome for me (I am only 4 11 though!).
Not started expressing yet, might wait till she's about a month I think this time. Dd1 was about 2 weekd but only cos she wasnt gaining weight so wanted to top up. Then carried on to build up s freezer stocks but be warned ladies dd1 would not drink milk that had been frozen! I cried throwing away 7 litres of painstakingly expressed milk....

Oh and when she was older I had a hippychick hipseat which I loved, made it sooo much easier to carry a bigger child. £5 off this on amazon at the moment if you join their family thing if anyone's interested!

I love slings and have been known to meet and be serious about slings and discussing them in a very geeky way

I love my Moby stretchy wrap, and my Didymos woven wraps

bella big wave to you. It is a bastard waiting - especially like you say when you know how bloody hard it is. Take heart though as number 2 is easier as you know what you are doing. I have managed to do so much more this time already. The challenges are just different - keeping two little ones happy brings its own problems but a bit of patience and a whole lot of love seems to work in the long run I bloody well hope so anyway, hope things move along soon for all of you left waiting to hold your babies. I did an epic post on the thread and then realised zara pipped me to the post finishing that one off and I lost it all again. I was trying to give my experience if induction - which is not all bad. If I ever did the words time again I will slip back in. I wanted you all to know we are still thinking of you all.

October I thought best to start expressing about 4 weeks. I have had to top master midge up a couple of times as he is jaundice but stopped because he was getting lazy on the breast. Not all babies will do that but they say it is best to establish supply and feeding first. Pumping too soon can also make engorgement worse for some as your body ups production. Again - not everyone but always best to wait if you can. I had to express loads with DD1 and I am pretty sure that is why I got mastitis a lot as it messed too soon with my supply but hey we do what we need to do to get through.

master midge is a bit less jaundice and putting on a tiny bit of weight. Still nowhere near back to his birth weight but give him time and I am sure he will catch up. Been out the house, picked up DD from school who had a nasty fall as I was putting The baby in the car. DD told me I should have just been doing one thing at a time and it wouldn't happen between howling in pain. oh the guilt of being a new mum and how it affects your other kids. Poor little thing really hurt herself and I felt awful. Managed to put makeup on today - may have to do it every day as i looked human. This is progress from looking like Casper the friendly ghost.

Best go do something productive with my spare time....like feed the baby or rub my nipples with gunk.

Hey girls

Day 4 and feeling like everything feels so hard, this parenting malarkey is such a roller coaster! Baby Loopy is finding hard to settle in cot, preferring to sleep on DHs very cosy chest instead - any tips?

The other issue is that now we're home, he doesn't want to latch. Cue 13 hours of no feeding & slightly dehydrated/jaundiced baby Had to do an emergency run for formula this morning which he's taken to but I'm concerned going back to breast will be all the more tougher. Got a BF counsellor popping over tomorrow.

I'm trying to be kinder to myself but just want to find a dark corner to cry in...

Hi loopy it will get easier!
No easy answers on getting baby to settle in cot instead of snuggling on mum or dad but swaddling helped for us.
Glad that he's at least had something and that you're getting some BF support tomorrow. Maybe worth lots of skin to skin time in meantime - might help snd I find it makes me feel better when it all feels too much.
Keep trying to be kind to yourself, remember to eat and drink plenty too.
Big hugs xxx

LoopyLa don't feel too disheartened by resorting to emergency formula, you are doing what you need to for your baby if he is getting dehydrAted.

We have resorted to a top up of formula every night (currently 6 days) to get us through and it doesn't seem to have affected DS breastfeeding now that the milk has come in. Also, I found the stage you're currently at 4 days the toughest but it has got easier - don't lose heart.

ah loopy you poor thing. Everyone feels as you do at some points don't worry. Tomorrow is another day and with some help and guidance hopefully you will be able to sort the bf issues out. These first few days are completely mental but you will get through it. Massve hugs to you.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond crazy and midget, your words are very comforting, and I can well imagine feeling as you do crazy. My mum took DS to her house this arvo to give me a minutes peace (i ended up changing the beds, cleaning the bathroom etc etc- doh!) and i felt v. Jealous of all the fun they had been having making jam and making an autumn picture out of leaves. I think i have forgotten the good bits of having a wee baby and can only remember the exhaustion!

I wonder if there is a sling library in Newcastle? I never got the hang of our one, so should maybe look around. My amazing friend cut my boy's hair yesterday then played with her toddler with a newborn sleeping in her sling. I was so impressed!

Also meant to say dd1 had formula top ups for a few weeks when she was about 3 weeks old, then breastfeed till she was 15 months. So doesn't have to cause BF probs. though I also don't think there's anything wrong with formula feeding - its all about what's best for each mum and baby.

Loopy I agree with October - day 4 was my lowest day. Although I breasted for over a year with DD I had forgotten how sore it is at first - nipples took a hammering plus all the worries of jaundice and loosing a lot of weight. It has got easier every day - honest! Day four is a mo fo x

Breastfed even

jazz hands< baby Frederick arrived yesterday about 9pm!

It was, as predicted, a fairly highly medicalised French style labour but you know what? It was totally fine and I was very well looked after. Bit sore now though but have a few days here in the clinic. He's fed well straight away and has been asleep ever since... Wondering whether to wake him for another feed or make the most of the quiet time He is so gorgeous I just secretly want another cuddle.

smorgs Congratulations! Great name. Make the most of being looked after and opportunity for sleep and cuddles! A French friend of mine now in her seventies was told not to pick up one of her babies when they cried in the hospital 'because she will become dependent on you' - and wasn't allowed to have her other children visit in case they spread infection. So sad.

crazypaving 'Lying there yodelling like an angry old man' - yes, that's my boy too...

DS has been guzzling all night, and it's nearly time for preschool run, which sandwiches his hearing test - this involves shuttling between three different postcodes in same borough. My phantom weak knee is going to be better today. It is. On bright side, looks like DH will just escape another hurricane in the States by the time he returns tomorrow.

smorgs congratulations! Glad it all went well, albeit in a very medicalised way.
I am SO tired this morning, feeding frenzy all night so basically no sleep. And got to do school run for first time with dd. And I've got a cough and my scar hurts every time I cough. Waaah!

Congratulations Smorgs and welcome Frederick. Enjoy the rest and the cuddles. I was so anxious to get out of hospital with This baby and in hindsight I was crazy as it was a great place to just focus on me and the baby and snuggling and cuddling (and a bit of liquid morphine helped me sleep ),

Smiley good luck with school run - I did similar yesterday and had to take to my bed so hope you are made of sterner stuff than me!

Just catching up again- loopy it does get easier. DD2 wouldn't sleep in her Moses basket for a week, but with the help of a hot water bottle to warm it up, and even though it sounds disgusting, used breast pads in there so it smells of me and my milk, she now has a good 2-3 hour stretch in the evening and another at some point in the night. Otherwise yes she still sleeps on or next to me or DH.
It is hard- I haven't properly looked after DD1 and DD2 on my own yet and keep thinking "how on earth do I get us all ready and out of the house?!".
But then u keep reminding myself that every new major life event takes about 6 weeks to 'bed in'. With DD1 I remember thinking after 6 weeks that I suddenly felt really confident. DD1 had fallen into a pattern of her own, which made it easier for me to anticipate her needs.
One thing I should mention is that with DD1 we had cranial osteopathy on recommendation. Details here www.cranial.org.uk/page3.html.
Now it's one of those where we wouldn't have a clue how DD1 would have been had she not had the cranial, but I joined an NCT group at the time, and out of 8 of us it was often remarked that she was the most settled baby. Other things he told us eg she would be an early talker, have a good immune system, have also proved true (she's had one tummy bug in two years and hardly ever gets colds, and if she does they don't bother her much).
So we're having it for DD2 tomorrow-shall report back!

Another article. Sorry it's in the Daily Fail, but actually a decent enough article.
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2004700/Cranial-osteopathy-Soothing-away-babys-colicy-cries.html.

smiley I have an Ergo and its fab! I love it. DH has found he's a bit of a lady magnet if he wears it too!

Loopy day 4 is the worst bit. Take it easy today. Eat lots of cake.

smorgs congratulations! Frederick is an awsome name .

Baby Orange is very unsettled this morning so we off out for a walk. She's crying real tears!

Hi all,

Can I join? Me and baby Spice left hosp last night and she's a wek old today. I know some of you from the 'Last two weeks of pregnancy' thread - how are we all getting on?

Quick sorry, just read through and not quick at all question I hope some of you will know ther answer to.

I haven't been able to express or bf since leaving hosp yesterday pm (new pump rubbish and baby Spice has forgotton how to bf after getting it expresed into a bottle)

My milk has been literally pouring out of me all night and my boobs kill.

My hired Medela Symphony pump is coming at some point today (totally brilliant btw) please, please tell me my milk wont have dried up?!

I'll feel absolutely terrible, had to give her formula last night and now feel like a rubbish mum! TIA :)

Also, did anyone else have a total meltdown on the dreaded day 3? I didn't believe it really but I did. Sobbing on a MW about not being able to go home.