November 2012 - babies are here at last

[StuntNun]

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

Vq hope you're ok

horsey at least he hasn't LOs any weight that's a positive sign. Hope your okay x

Blonder That is unbelievable dont listen if you dont want to....love and hugs toVQ

Blonder I am so shocked they advised that ...sorry Im speechless...wheres Shelly ?

Or Stunt ?

Has anyones baby got a spotty face yet? I read on babycentre that its not uncommon between 3 and 6wks because of my hormones apparantly still in her system but they are not bothering her and she is well so thats the main thing.

Ok so I stood my ground, just about. She rang the head cmw and I spoke to her. I am going to start expressing with pump to encourage more milk to come and potentially top up between feeds. They are going to come back on Sun, if he is still losing weight they will refer him to hospital to see paediatrician.

Cmw kept saying how healthy he looked and how she wasn't worried but it was just policy. And how well I was doing. Yeah thanks.

donna my little one has a couple of white spots/pimples on her face

blonder I'm glad you stood your ground, you'll do what's best for you and your LO

I have to admit I'm embarrassed to admit , when asked , that I'm giving formula. On phone to my cousin in Canada, when I said DH helps with night feeds she was very shocked I wasn't breast feeding n was even more shocked when told I didn't get support in hospital to feed. She had issues feeding at first but had access to lactation consultants to sort it out. I'm still very angry at lack of support and will b complaining to the hospital, particularly as they had posters promoting bf everywhere n saying that there is a specialist. But they didn't.

I got my medela swing today. Currently in steriliser. Looking forward to using it. Oh my life gets more n more glamourous. hoping that will up my milk collection so I can feed my son more of my milk.

Donna- yes he as spots all over his face. They are called milk spots apparently.
VQ- hope you get better soon.
Evil

That's what I mean GT - you shouldn't feel like that. If a more realistic attitude was promoted it might save a lot of stress and actually improve bf rates. It's clearly not your fault you weren't given the support and you are still working hard to do what you can in spite of that.

So far my experiance has been not that great. The nurses while brilliant, were few and some were clearly trainned more than the others.
I kept saying to them, he was having loads of propblems latching on and only one nurse listened to me. So I guess that's why I ebf.

Even now I want to chuck it all in and FF, as he is "only on the 9th percentile" I'm now topping up with ff as some days I can't keep up with demand.

It really doesn't help that we have a hormones floating about. Anyone else still feeling very up and down?
Evil

Blonder it is up to you whether you top up, give it up a few more days first, or decide to continue with breast milk only. I would stick with breast milk and see how things go, there are easier ways to spot a thriving baby than just going on weight.

Evil the 9th percentile is fine, that is normal. A lot of babies are born on one percentile then move to another which they then stay on. My two boys are both between the 2nd and 9th and have been since they were weeks old but DS1 was born on the 50th and DS2 on the 2nd. If you want to FF, then do it because you want to. The best feeding method is what keeps mother and baby happiest, nothing else matters.

Horsey it sounds like there is something wrong. Do you have access to any breastfeeding support or can you contact La Leche League or start a thread on MN? If your baby cries whenever put down it could be reflux. I'm no expert but my two neighbours boys had gastro-esophageal reflux disease and both cried whenever they were put down flat to sleep.

He doesn't cry when put down, only when put to the breast. Or when he's hungry or colicy. Anyway, yesterday he wanted 4 hourly feeds, today three hourly.

Ive started writing down patterns etc to show the mw. At least then they can see exactly what I'm doing. And I can remember!!

GT you have nothing to be embarrassed about. There is way to much pressure put on mums to bf, the most important thing is that you and your son are happy. How anyone feeds there child is no one else's business

evil I'm deffinatly still hormonal but its alot better now rather then when LO was born, I could cry at the click of your fingers

Just been to the MW clinic and were all signed off. BabyN decided to wee the second her nappy was off that seems to be her party trick. We walked there because I have no car and my god there was a hill that killed me, I am ashamed to realise how spoilt I've been since I could drive, in my teens I use to walk everywhere!!! that's why I have a fatter arse now then

Sorry to hear you are in hospital VQ Hope u feel better soon x

The latest ante-natal thread is here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1602708-November-2012-its-here-at-last-were-ready-for-you-babies

Home from hospital. Strict bed rest. BP was fine when I was resting, so clearly I am overdoing things. Very relieved as is DH. Head ache still there. Initially they said I could have codeine, then remembered I was bfing. Why do they torture me like this?

blonder I am sorry you have the ongoing upset about weight. I swear that is what triggered this episode. Dreading tomorrow and sorely tempted to refuse weight, but then I will worry that I am not caring for my son by refusing.

Completely lost my nerve. Tried to express earlier and just felt like it left my nipples no time to recover in between feeds. L doing repeat feeds so it seems like he is not getting enough from me. Plus no dirty nappy since the early hrs (DH thought this was a good thing so hadn't mentioned).

Just been crying a lot, DH sent me to bed for an hour to try and sleep. Just feel like I might as well try the sodding formula if it is what L needs. Not sure what I am fighting for any more.

I am covered in milk and Lanolin and feel like crap.

I am so glad you are back home VQ. I am not surprised your BP was raised.

I think it is so sad that at what should be a happy time for everyone on here that there is so much stress about feeding. Do what feels right for you. There is no such thing as failure as long as baby is fed somehow. I learned with dd1 that there was no point in stressing ourselves out over this issue, and I am sure that this has helped settle down to looking after dd2 more easily.

Please give yourselves a little rest over this. :)

Please try and relax Blonder, it doesn't matter what you do so long as baby gets fed. If he keeps bfing your supply will increase health visitors should know this doesn't happen over night, if you top up with formula then the pressure will be off. Either way your baby will be fine.

Blondera baby feeding ondemand might choose to feed every half an hour or even every 5 mins, it doesn?t mean tthey?re not getting enough, they are just built to feed and grow (and they do have growth spurts, including one around 2 weeks). You are doing an amazing job..

Vq hope your bp settles soon. Make the most of being. ordered to rest!
Couldn?t find a nappy bargain, but tthey are a bit cheaper oon Kingdom of Fluff than elsewhere.

Going. to try LO in a. cot tonight as he now only goes abt 40 mins in his moses baskket without whinging. No idea if it?ll make any difference, but wwe?re getting to the try anyrhing stage.

Blonder My first didn't do a dirty nappy for 2 weeks, plenty of wet ones but no poo. I obviously got this checked out with my GP who phoned a pediatrician whilst we were there, we were told that because I was exclusively breastfeeding, there was obviously no waste at all and not to worry. She was totally fine and 12 years later, shits for England!

Donna Unfortunately just a very busy day and not had a chance to get on before now. Thanks for noticing my absence though

VQ Glad you're OK :)

Little lamb nappy sale starts tonight. Two times given, 8pm and 9pm. You can only see the sale items if you like their FB page.

blonder perhaps a wee bit of formula will help you through this difficult time. I was determined to not give formula, but after feeling so very unwell today, if his weight is down, and he is showing signs of not getting enough, i too will top up, but only for as long as it takes. He however has never fed or looked better!

horsie if you want to give formula and stop expressing then do so, just please be sure it is what you want to do. What you have given him already will stand him in good stead, and you can hand on heart say you gave it a bloody good try!

I spoke to my HV mum today about the seemingly widespread advice to top up with formula. Unfortunately she was quite disparaging of her peers (she has been a HV for decades) saying that some are recruited straight from nursing courses without having any experience, particularly community experience, before graduating as Health Visitors. Apparently the WHO guidelines for newborns recommend infrequent weighings of up to four times per year! This is because weight gain is notoriously erratic. She also pointed out that your baby could appear to lose weight in the short term simply because they have just had a dirty nappy or they're wearing different clothes. I can't remember who said their baby had lost 30g but that's probably less than the weight of one wee.