November 2012 - babies are here at last

[StuntNun]

This is the post-natal club for graduates of the November 2012 intake.

I think if you expressed a lot then tried to feed straight after might be an issue, but if you do it after feeding it will stimulate more supply. Hope your Dd1 is ok pr . blonder leaks is a good sign. Don?t worry if u do have to top up with formula a bit ~ with Ds1 he had bf then expressed then formula fora week or so but was fine on just bf after. Hope you have good days today horsey and gt. Don?t know if that?s everyone. So tired today my brain is very fuzzy. Got DN?s birthdayvparty this afternoon but all l want to do is slump on a sofa and sleep/eat.

Oh and l had 14 lots of trick and treaters last night. Surely that is a record. Went through 2 bags of lollies, 2 bags of haribos and all Dhs stash of chocolate .

I need to be stricter with myself expressing but it takes an hour a time!!

Hoping a breast feeding person will call me back soon too.

Expressed breast better than all formula though?

OMG, what is it with all this top up on formula rubbish! I actually can't believe it. If ANYONE tells me to top up with formula I will physically pick them up and throw them out of my house. A chart and a pen is all very fine, but it's you ladies that change the wet nappies and sit there for hours feeding your babies. I can understand that some have lost quite a bit of weight, but if they are feeding and having wet nappies then in my opinion they are really adding pressure to a huge pressure cooker. I accept that some babies do need a top up, but just read how many have already been advised this, this has got to be WAY over the norm. And they say Britain is shit for breast feeding rates, well I'm not surprised reading this thread.

Trust yourselves, this is the little person you have been growing for nearly a year, you know them better than ANYONE else and they know you better than anyone. If you're unsure of any advise you're given, get a second opinion, it's your right.

Sorry for the rant, but it's getting on my tits!

horsey expressed breast is better than formula most definately. He is your baby and your body provides the perfect mix for him. It contains all your lovely antibodies and will be thinner if hotter weather, more concentrated if cold weather etc etc.

DS has put on 40g so the Gestapo are happy for the moment. To be weighed again on Saturday. I am refusing to give formula, I am refusing to express to measure to give via bottle. Awaiting bottle brush so I can commence expressing, so I can top up with bf if they insist on it. I will express about 10mls from each breast prior to a feed, and once he has finished, I will get what I can off them.

I am sorry they got back to you blonder I thought you were going to be spared this stress.

I wish they would look at the baby and the mother rather than obsessing on the numbers. Would a dehydrated malnourished baby feed happily for 1hour, with no fretting, then sleep peacefully for three? This is the pattern he seems to be falling into including overnight, just with the cluster feeding late afternoon and evening. I got about 5 hours sleep last night in two stretches so I am happy with that. Also, I had a section, and have two older children including a 2yo. I do not have the luxury of going back to bed. They were up at 5.30 this morning.

Clearly I need more chocolate!

Completely agree shelly. I am furious. I know some mums feel formula has helped them to continue breast feeding, and that is great, but when you feel as strongly about bf as I do and put every ounce of my energy into doing it, then being told to top up with formula with absolutely no clinical signs it is needed, really upsets me. If my child needed formula then I would happily give it, but there is no need, and he is fine and dandy.

I have been so tearful over this, and it has brought back bad memories of my first child's birth and first weeks.

Today she said 'is he feeding better then?' And I said there has never been any problem with his feeding. She asked me what my plan was, and I said to demand feed. But you must be waking him up every so long? I said no, that would not be demand feeding. He knows what he needs, and if I try to wake him when he is not hungry, he will not feed, but get overtired, which will affect his weight gain negatively.

I hope everyone is well.

Tired, tired, tired! So glad my mum is here helping, we need all the hands we can get. These babies have 3 adults running around after them and it is hard work! Am using resuables on them completely now and their bots look lush in them!

I am going in for surgery soon to have my gall bladder removed. Ended up in A&E last week on a morphine drip because the pain was so bad. Cannot wait to have it removed. Consultant has marked me as urgent because of the babies and I should have the surgery in the next 5 weeks.

On a positive note, the girls are getting into a good routine now. They feed at 10pm, 2am & 6am. Georgie is a great sleeper and I have to wake her at 2:30am for her feed, she will definitely sleep through the night before her sister does.

I am becoming a pro at doing things one handed. Feeding one baby and sticking the dummy in the other ones mouth. I have even mastered how to pick both of them up at the same time!

I just don't have the time to read all the posts (my life will never be the same again!) I hope everyone is well and enjoying their lovely babies :)

I wonder whether there is some change in policy on the 10% weight loss issue and topping up with formula. Its totally stupid to make a judgement call and then call you back to say "no I was wrong top up". I never remember with DS1 or DS2 somebody telling me the % of weight he had lost and weighing every five minutes.

I totally agree with formula top ups as I think it does help get BFing established and take the pressure off but only if you want to and feel it will help.

Its useful to know I need to be ready for this when I have DS3 but it is just another thingto stress about. Maybe I will put a sign on the door: "if he is happy, has wet nappies and looks healthy then you will be ignored when you talk about %'s". I think I will get it laminated..

Have put some photos of my munchkins up on my profile if anyone wants a peek.

pixies they are adorable. Well done on the washables.

brockle what would happen if we refused weighing? They do not weigh ff babies apparently.

Funny that VQ. The strange thing is that when you are signed off by the MWs I don't think there is any requirement for you to have to get your baby weighed at the HV sessions. I did with both of mine but I don't think I will if I am happy with how DS3 is progressing.

It just seems totally incomprehensible to me that you can have a baby that is feeding well, that you are confident feeding, that is producing wet nappies and does not look unwell but a test out of the scales produces a "computer says no" response. DS1 was a slow grower and is and always has been slim and gangly. If I had him now I think I would have encountered problems. DS2 was a 9lber but I don't necessarily think that 9lbers continue at the pace they grew in the womb. DS2 certainly didn't. He was always a bigger boy than DS1 but dropped a percentile.

You should not get me started on this!!

I shall bugger off and allow you lovely ladies to cuddle your newborns in peace but just wanted to say that I think you are all doing a brill job. In 2 to 4 weeks I shall hopefully be on this side (but much more likely to be a blubbering mess)

I refer you to my birth plan

"I consent to my baby being weighed at day 10-14, and not prior provided there are no feeding concerns."

You are entitled to refuse whatever aspect of the service offered you wish. You do not have to justify yourself.

VQ AFAIK they do still weigh FF babies. Depends on area as usual I guess! Most standard weighing policies now are weigh at birth, day 3 only if feeding issues, premature, low birth weight, or other 'risk factors'. Then weigh day 5/6. And weigh again day 10-14. For all babies.

You can see my feelings

My mw has just said the same thing to me. She said they obsess over numbers, don't look at the baby or mother and she said just try to relax. Thing is your told feed x amount so you want to do that.

I guess second baby onwards you trust yourself more. Mw told me off for looking washed out said take more iron.

Breast support lady coming at 2pm to see what we can do.

Perhaps I should have written a birth plan after all

When she said she was going to weigh him, I said, oh good, I am curious to see how much he weighs now as he is such a good feeder! That just shows how confident I was in our feeding. I need to get back to that way of thinking. It coincided with the 'baby blues' which were a bit late coming on, plus being fecking knackered after 5 nights of constant feeding.

Thank you ladies, it really helps to be able to talk about things

Good you have a sensible one horsey hopefully you can keep seeing her, and if someone else turns up saying different, then refuse to see anyone else. You are sounding more peaceful and hopeful, and I am so pleased.

I'm shattered I feel out of sorts but the blues are passing. I need to eat. I've not been eating but I'm getting a bit stressed by feeding. Look after self look after baby!!

Saying all that he's fast off in my arms looking gorgeous and every precious second like this is so worth it!!!!

Yes horsey you have to be eating, and possibly a lot more than you would prefer to as bfing takes a huge amount of calories, and goodness from your quota. And drinking loads too. And resting.

Valium It's absolutely disgraceful isn't it? Fancy saying that about his feeding! You see, you and I are experienced feeders, we have already gone through the ups and downs of most things that can be thrown at us breast feeding wise and so we should definitely have the confidence to know exactly what we are doing. Yet your confidence was knocked because your son doesn't fit nicely on the little chart, understandably with just giving birth - but imagine being new to it all! It really makes me furious! I too am passionate about breast feeding.

I just wanted to post before because there will be, and are mums on here doubting themselves when there is absolutely no reason too. We are designed after birth to sit on our arses and do nothing but feed our babies, this is what we have been doing for thousands of years, it helps us to heal and gives the baby everything that they need. It IS NOT unusual to sit on the settee ALL DAY just feeding the baby and for the baby to be suckling the whole time. It's what is supposed to happen.

It should be YOUR choice to top up or use formula if you feel you need it, it's not wrong to do it, but it is wrong to be pressured into doing it for NO GOOD REASON! I did with my second from about 5 months and he settled much better. Again I'm not saying that some babies don't need the top up and some mums do struggle to produce milk, but there is absolutely NO WAY that all the people on this thread that have been told to top up need to, NO WAY at all!

Anyway, thought I'd give you a view from the 'pregnancy hormone' side and not the foggy headed 'oh shit am I doing this right' side.

Brockle Sounds like you've nailed it Off to look at your brood now.

And my second and third never got weighed at clinic, I never took them

Can you shove a butty in whilst feeding Horsey? I used to get a little feast next to me and eat when the baba's ate. It used to be all lined up ready on the settee next to me.

Garden, not Brockle. See, baby brain.......

Amen Shelly!

Anyone got any advice on stopping the bottles completely. My little one was born at 34 weeks and was initially on a tube through his nose then bottles from birth. He is now 3 and a half weeks and takes the breast and bottles well. I want to exclusively bf but I don't want him to be hungry until my supply is where to should be. He is ff mixed with ebm.

I'd just go cold turkey chick and see how it goes - only topping up if you feel it is necessary.

Just put him on the breast first at every feed, and remember that he won't feed to a routine, just offer the breast at every sign he is hungry. That will increase your supply.

If you are worried you can of course continue to express, which will again increase your supply, but do it after a feed.

It is trial and error!

garden your girls look beautiful