January 2013 - New year arrivals welcomed into the world.

[PricklyPickleInAPearTree]

As a few of us have popped early I thought I'd start us a post-natal thread.

[SpringFlowers]

We are six weeks old today and to celebrate ds rolled from his tummy to his back! I'm quite surprised dd3 was never much bothered about rolling. I will have to be much more careful where I put him down from now on.

Sorry things are so awful Tinkle, I hope you get some resolution soon. You must just be worn out.

I hope your DS is still asleep Octane, Ewan sounds fab!

Welcome Snow, congratulations!

[Berniebennett]

Hi newbie - yes we are using the GF TCLB routine. I haven't honestly read the book the whole routine but we are using the theory of her routines, as in guides on when to feed/which ones to increase first to benefit us/when and how long to roughly sleep for! We adjust it as necessary ie for growth spurts - he's just had one and he wanted to sleep longer which we let him but still woke him at all the normal times and if he wanted extra we gave him a small top up but still did feeds at the normal time.
This routines works so well, we maybe have a maximum of 30-45 minutes crying in a whole day (if that)!

He is currently 7 weeks, so u might need to adjust to the closest age!
6-7 am 180ml feed, play time, with daddy then by himself, then by 8.30/9 he goes to sleep again until.....
10-10.30 (we do wake him if he sleeps any longer then that) 180ml feed, play time with mummy then on his own, then he has another nap about 11.30 - 12 until 2.
2-2.30 150 ml feed then play until 4-6 GF recommends just 45 mins but he needs longer and still sleeps well in the eve.
6-6.30 - 150ml feeds then has quiet play or a bath until7.30 -8 the sleeps
11pm 180ml feed and we put him straight down (sometimes struggles with this feed falling asleep so we change him mid way)
He was waking regularly at about 4am when we would give him a small feed of 60ml just to take him till 6/7 but currently he is sleeping through until 6-7!

I don't know if its the routine or we have a very content little boy, but it works for us and his happy/healthy! It doesn't always suit everyone though... C. Hope that helps, let me know if u want to know anything else! Xxx

[Lostbobbles]

This made me laugh today

Ready to have kids?? take the test!
Test 1: Preparation
Women: To prepare for pregnancy:
1.Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2.Leave it there.
3.After nine months, remove 5 per cent of the beans.
Men: To prepare for children:
1.Go to a local chemist. Tip the contents of your wallet on to the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself.
2.Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to its head office.
3.Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2: Knowledge
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child?s sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life when you will have all the answers.

Test 3: Nights
1.Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing 4-6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2.At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3.Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.

1. Set the alarm for 3am.
   
2. As you can?t get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
   

6.Go to bed at 2.45am.

1. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
   

8.Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9.Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10.Make breakfast.
Keep this up for five years ? and LOOK CHEERFUL.

Test 4: Dressing small children
1.Buy a real life octopus and string bag with holes in it.
2.Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no tentacles come out of the holes.
Time allowed: five minutes.

Test 5: Cars
1.Forget the BMW. Buy a practical five-door wagon.
2.Buy a chocolate ice-cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3.Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4.Take a box of chocolate biscuits. Mash them into the back seat.
5.Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test 6: Going for a walk
1.Wait.
2.Go out the front door.
3.Come back in again.
4.Go out.
5.Come back in again.
6.Go out again.
7.Walk down the front path.
8.Walk back up it.
9.Walk down it again.
10.Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
11.Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least six questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
12.Retrace your steps.
13.Scream that you?ve had as much as you can stand, until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
14.Give up and go back in the house.

Test 7: Conversations with children
Repeat everything you say at least five times.

Test 8: Grocery shopping
1.Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child ? a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2.Buy your weekly groceries ? without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3.Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Test 9: Feeding a one-year-old
1.Hollow out a melon.
2.Make a small hole in the side.
3.Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4.Get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5.Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6.Tip the rest into your lap, making sure most of it falls on the floor.

Test 10: TV
1.Learn the names of every character from the In The Night Garden, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2.Watch nothing else on TV for at least five years.

Test 11: Mess
1.Smear peanut butter on to the sofa and jam on to the curtains.
2.Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3.Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds, then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon.
4.Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house on to the floor, then proceed with Step 5.
5.Drag random items from one room to another and leave them there.

Test 12: Long trips with toddlers
1.Make a recording of someone shouting ?Mummy? repeatedly.
Important notes: there must not be more than a four-second delay between each Mummy, and include occasional crescendos to the level of a supersonic jet.
2.Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for four years.

Test 13: Conversations with adults
1.Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2.Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.

Test 14: Getting ready for work
1.Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2.Put on your finest work attire.
3.Take a cup of cream and put one cup of lemon juice in it.
4.Stir.
5.Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt.
6.Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture.
7.Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel.
8.Don?t change (you have no time).
9.Go directly to work.
You are now ready to have children. ENJOY!

[AppleCrumples]

I love that lost! Have seen it beforw but it always makes me laugh and then cry, this is my life

Hope everyone ok.

Tinkle so sorry things are still so hard i really hope they can get to the bottom of things.

Bernie i like a routine it makes life easier but at the moment is impossible! Ivy just has to fit around everyone else. Dh works nights which makes getting a routine for bedtime hard as she has to come with me to cubs and beavers. Am hoping to start putting her down to bed at 8 each night in a few weeks. I need some time fo me! :)

Right tmi question now. Is anyone else still bleeding? Am 8 weeks pp and its only a little now and stop/start. Am sure its normal but can't remembet whrn it finally stopped for good with the others. Also.am truly fed up of wearing pads :(

[happyhow]

Apple, I stopped bleeding at 4 weeks and haven't had anything since then. Being my first, I'm not sure if it's normal or not and I realise I'm not being any help at all! Sorry!

I think we may have broken the feeding cycle of every 2-3hrs... He got fed around 4.45pm and played for a bit, had some really bad wind and has been conked out since around 7. Can't decide whether to wake him or not but don't want him thinking this is his long night time sleep and then having me up all night wanting fed and played with. My mum is staying and she said leave him... Hubby is saying wake him... I'll give him til 10 I think...

[BuntyCollocks]

Have had a trauma of a day. Took Cameron to have her laser revision on the tongue and lip tie. She came out fine, latched and had a little feed, 29 min into hour long journey home she started screaming. Woulsnt take a dummy, boob or finger. Got home, she wouldn't latch.

Gave her 2 oz expressed and walked with her - little calmer. Another 2 oz - much calmer. She finally latched at 9:45. 2 of the worst hours of my life. Hoping tonight goes ok.

[Meringue33]

Hi all, hope we're surviving. Tinkle, Bunty sorry things are tough, sending un Mumsnetty hugs :(

Terrible night last night as LO unbelievably congested - would not settle then own snoring kept waking him up. At one point I got so worried he could not breathe, could not sleep myself, finally by morning I fell into such a deep sleep slept through his crying for morning feed and DP had to shake me awake.

On sofa at present as DP is taking the chance of an early night for once. LO has been cluster feeding since 7pm, has just done a massive shit then fallen sound asleep on my lap. I despair! Nappy change will inevitably wake him, drives me mad!

[Pascha]

Just me and Dan today as DS1 has gone out with nanny for the day. Feels quite decadent drinking tea in bed with no pressures and a nice snuggly baby next to me. Might take him swimming.

[salt1]

Hello to all and love to those having a tough time. Floss slept for 4 hours last night for the first time which was great. Hopefully not a one off. She also slept in her grobags for the first time as she was too little for it before.

Have a great day x

[lollipoppi]

Hi all, sorry not checked in for a while DS got hold of my phone .... I'm pretty sure it ended up in the bin, new phone delivered yesterday

Tinkle so sorry things are no better, is dd still in hospital? How are things?

We still have no routine established as yet, but Darcie slept from 11pm-5.50am last night!!! Whoop whoop!! Sleep at last
Not hoping for any miracles tonight though x

[AppleCrumples]

Arrrgh longest morning ever! Had to go tp ds1 assembly whicg went on for ages! Ivy entertained everyonr by belching (!) and exploding in her nappy in the quiet moments! It takes me forever to bring up her wind normally

Got home just lobg enough to feed ivy and eat a piece of toast before going to post natal check where i was seen an hour after my appointment! Am finally eating now can't be good to starve a bf mum

Dr not at all worrird by continuing lochia but thinks i might still be anemic and told me to start taking iron again. Just glad to finally be home now :)


Hope everyone else having a good day x

[Pascha]

Dan has stayed asleep in his car seat when I brought it indoors and I have a cup of tea without accompanying baby on my arm

I have actually managed to find a moment to order some bras from figleaves to try on. Fed up of droopy boobs now. At the weekend party I wore a pre-pregnancy wired bra and my boobs were raised about 4 inches and pretty much poked everyone's eye out Made me feel quite good about myself.

Routine is coming very slowly here too. Finding it very hard to get everything done of an evening before bed let alone starting a quiet bedtime with Dan so he's just coming along for the ride in the sling at the mo.

[AppleCrumples]

Pascha i'm the same in the evenibg but i really need to find a spare moment to sort a routine for Ivy. Trouble is there are too many now think i might need to shift everyone to accommodate her

Ps yay to sleeping baby and

[katolla]

Apple how do they always know the worst possible moment to make loud bodily noises? DPs grandparents came round at the weekend and dd saved her farts for the quiet bits. :/

[AppleCrumples]

No idea katolla tbf it was quite funny and lots of suposedly professional grown ups got the giggles

[CreepyCrawly]

Yep, Nancy filled her nappy extremely loudly in the doctors waiting room yesterday.

We went out properly for the first time since she's been born today. I've been feeling so anxious about going out and have only managed walks around my village, but today I went to a cafe a couple of miles away and it was fine :)

In other news, I'm able to feed Nancy on my sofa now! I was struggling in the early days and so got a chair to feed in. The sofa is much comfier which makes the marathon feeds more bearable.

Also, Ewan is my new best friend!

[Berniebennett]

I officially must have the loudest sleeping baby (although grateful he is a sleeping baby) he's making crazy noises and is so loud and have DH zonked out snoring the other side (which I'm showing great restraint in not punching him)

[mrsbugsywugsy]

katolla I'm loving dd's well timed farts. we visited my work the other day and while my boss was holding her she cocked her leg and farted

well done creepy

[woody2313]

I have worked out the problem with DS waking so often after about 3 in the morning: he wakes up hungry but v tired. He takes on a little bit of milk - but not enough - about 5 mins on one side - then falls back to sleep. Because he hasn't fed enough he can't last much more than an hour and a half before waking up screaming for a little bit more . Has anyone got any suggestions for how I can persuade him to feed more - and therefore sleep more? He's v good at settling himself afterwards but waking every hour from 3-7 is exhausting for both of us!

[katolla]

Woody , dd was doing this, the HV said tickle her feet to wake her up again and make her keep feeding. A woman at baby bounce said rub her ears which also works.

Bernie glad other babies are noisy at night too. Grunt oink grunt. Wish we could wear earplugs :(

[mrsbugsywugsy]

woody could you change her nappy when she has finished to wake her back up for seconds

[mrsbugsywugsy]

sorry, him!

[BuntyCollocks]

Agree with mrsb - a nappy change and a burp work for me if I feel she's not had enough!

[katolla]

Don't let him leak what he's already eaten during the nappy change though.

HOW IS DD STILL HUNGRY.

[woody2313]

Thanks guys - will try your tips tonight and report back tomorrow!