March 2013- here we go....

[Oodsigma]

Welcome old & new to the other side!

I'll start with a stats list!

Ood -ds 7/3/13, dc4! Elcs


If anyone wants to add any more details feel free!

[Oodsigma]

Lanisoh works really fast. Also do air drying to help healing. If the latch is ok now you'll feel much better when they heal. Its horrific the damage a bad latch can do.Also if you are mix feeding there's the option to up bf when you feel better.

[StormyBrid]

plonko Still pumping, but already not as much as the suggested every two hours. It just takes so much time and the formula's so much easier. Realistically I can't see me keeping it up for more than a few weeks, but we're just taking it a day at a time and seeing how it goes. And I'm 99% certain she will not be going back on the boob. Next feed's due in about half an hour, and I've got nearly two ounces for her. Could've probably got a bit more, but it's a manual pump, and my hand aches more than my boobs right now!

Got no guests today, so it seems a good day to start on the baby whisperer routine my sister swears by. So far, so good, but it's only been a couple of hours so far...

[StormyBrid]

More on the mixed feeding - we start off with breast milk from a bottle, then have a burping break before the formula. In theory she should be managing three ounces total per feed, but it's taking time for her stomach to stretch - at first she could only manage an ounce and a half, now she's consistently managing two and a half and occasionally three. Overfeed and she throws up impressively though. So, say you get an ounce of breast milk out, make up two ounces of formula and see how he gets on, and if he's still hungry and not throwing it back up after, make a bit more formula next time.

Also, be prepared to feel like a dairy cow for a while.

[SoYo]

I expressed 2.5oz yesterday as I need to be able to skip a boob feed to save my sanity....unfortunately BubbaYo had other ideas & completely refused to take the bottle. Cue many many panic stricken tears from me that I'll have to keep exclusively breast feeding when I really don't want to. Just want a one feeds break!

[StormyBrid]

Wish I knew what to suggest, SoYo. Is it a normal teat on the bottle, or one of those funky nipple shaped ones? And are you having any more luck with the sleeping yet? Deep breaths and don't panic - it's only the first time you've tried a bottle. It'll take time for BubbaYo to learn how to do it. You will get a break sooner or later!

[plonko]

It took baby plonk a good three or four attempts to feed from a bottle, you will get there Soyo! After initially gulping like mad and scaring me with choking and over feeding, he now does the fast/slow rhythm like he did on the breast. Baby Soyo will learn over the next few feeds, and it's so nice to not feel pinned down with your knockers out!

I felt human enough today to venture out alone with the baby. Call me pathetic but I'm so proud of myself! Contemplating having a bath with him later, after the stress of yesterday I really just want to bond in ways with him that don't involve nipples.
I know exactly what you mean about expressing being a pain in the arse stormy. I'm looking at hiring a medela symphony tomorrow. Pricey but way more convenient and effective. If it removes just a tiny bit of the stress of breastfeeding then it'll be worth it my bank balance disagrees

How are you feeling today, Ood?

[Countmyblessings]

Woke up to lil miss with a "spot horror" all over her face!!! I know its normal but she is covered only on face/scalp!!!!
Thank goodness no public appearances really yet!!!!
Sore boobs have eased thankfully but I would cry when she went on even the filling up hurt!!!!! Eeeeeekkkkkkk!!!!

[Oodsigma]

I'm sore again. Infection has gone gunky, have been using crutches a bit around the house which feels like a step backwards and I can't pull my trousers up again. On the plus side DS had his day 10 check and has put on 9oz since day 5 so at least one bit if me works!

[peanutMD]

peanut - DD 5/3/13 ELCS.

Hi everyone :) Hope all the mums and babies are doing well!

[StormyBrid]

Spotted something in the baby book earlier that might be of use, SoYo - was it you who offered the bottle, or someone else? S/he (can't remember what flavour baby you have, I'm braindead, sorry) will associate you with lovely boob juice, but no one else. So if someone else offers the bottle it might be a little more successful. Could be bollocks, of course, but worth a try?

Once again I've managed to get an appointment at the clinic booked for feeding time. It says on the formula to feed instantly, but surely the stuff can be refrigerated or transported? Anyone know?

I am very proud of myself today. After two days of poo explosions, I have finally figured out what I was doing wrong. Am pleased to report that the most recent poo, despite sounding like a high speed water balloon bursting, was entirely contained.

Congratulations, peanut! How are you getting on with her so far?

[Oodsigma]

stormy poonami nappy explosions happen to everyone, it's a right of passage

And yes bottles from someone else often more effective.

Dd3 was a refuser but we came to the conclusion that she couldn't do it due to her tongue tie as she never mastered a sucky cup either. We started with a doidy cup at about 4m and she had that until about 18m when she moved to beakers/normal cups.

[Countmyblessings]

Congrats Peanut!
Ood- ahhhh poor you, but good on the weight gain! Whoop!!!!
I have not had the nappy bomb yet, I seem to get it just in time!
She done a sneeze and poo went all over changing table missing me!!!!
I think she likes the breeze on her bum!!! Which I coat with Vaseline it makes cleaning easier!!!!
I def feel like bf is harder then before!!!! Just can't understand why???
But def not feeling guilty when I'm sleeping and she has a bottle!!!

[StormyBrid]

Day one of routine went well. Now for day two... She managed a four hour stretch of sleep during the night! Without wanting to wish away these early days, I can't wait for her to be sleeping through.

The poo's alright, really. If she weren't my baby I'd be revolted, though. As it is I just have to laugh. And at least it means she's eating! Weighing again at 4pm, I'm confident things will be going in the right direction.

My baby book says newborn crying peaks around the six week mark. Does this mean she's going to start crying by then? So far she's ever so quiet, except when hungry, or overtired and in her basket.

What'sa doidy cup? I keep reading it as droidy, and am having weird mental images of R2D2.

[Oodsigma]

doidy cup less tilting/spilling and smaller babies can lap from it.

[SoYo]

After consistently feeding for 90 mins every 2-3hrs for the past few days & lots of tears & feeling miserable & rubbish from me we've given MiniYo a formula feed which she's gobbled nearly 5oz of. Feeling a mixture of guilty & relieved & I've expressed while DH fed her so she'll still be getting breast milk & I'm going to try & breastfeed still overnight & at least once during the day. Just hope I'm not doing completely the wrong thing by her. Boo.

[pudtat]

just to prove you can't get it right, I would love to try a 90 min feed, or indeed any feed as babyPud shows zero interest in the breast at all. hand expressing every 3 hrs but milk not yet come in (it is only end day 2) and yields are so tiny its laughable (heartbreaking). have been syringe feeding formula top ups, now doing cup feeding as amounts larger. poss tongue tie complications, but mostly we just can't wake him up enough to get interested. still in mw led unit with lots of support which is good and trying to stay chipper. 3 hourly feeds are at least easy to schedule, if I was feeding on demand I wouldn't be feeding... (sigh).

[zigwig]

Oh pudtat I do sympathise, that's exactly the position I was in. I got quite upset by it all so don't let it get to you (easier said than done I know when you've a hungry screaming baby in the middle of the night)

I know what a struggle it is to wake them for a feed when they're so sleepy but you really need to even if it means giving them formula. My LO got really dehydrated and jaundice because he wasn't getting enough milk I wouldn't like that to happen to you as well. I wasn't warned it might happen and it was another thing that upset and stressed me out as I'd only just got home from the hospital and the mw was talking about taking him back in for treatment. As soon as I decided to express what little bm i had and bottle feed formula he perked up loads and was a different baby. My milk didn't come in for 5 days either which didn't help.

He never could get the hang of breastfeeding. He'd latch on well, suck a couple of times then either fall asleep or start screaming because he was so hungry. I've just come to terms with having to mix feed. He's put on loads of weight and is noticeably bigger than when he was born 4 weeks ago which I think is the main thing. I hope you manage to get the feeding working soon. Hugs for the meantime and get what sleep you can.

[SoYo]

Really sorry Pudtat, I was having to express in hospital too as she wouldn't latch on & found the amounts very depressing but they just kept telling me that their stomachs are so very tiny at that point & the colostrum so high calorie that it doesn't matter if you're only getting a few drops. My milk came in a bit on day 3 & properly on day 4 so fingers crossed tomorrow you'll have rocks for boobs & a more wakey baby!

[StormyBrid]

Sounds like we've all got the same baby in terms of feeding! Really makes me think they should give more realistic information about what breastfeeding can be like - it would save so much stress if we were expecting our babies to be a bit rubbish at feeding at first. One of the problems we had with BabyStormy was trouble waking her for feeds, and the hungrier she got the harder it was.

SoYo you're not doing the wrong thing, don't worry. For all they say breast is best, what's really best is a baby who's getting enough to eat, and a mother who's not at her wits' end. If that means formula, then so be it. A year down the line no one's going to be able to tell if you breastfed or not, and feeling guilty isn't going to help you or baby, is it? Deep breaths and relax.

Good news here - despite the routine going out the window thanks to the timing of the clinic yesterday, it was a good day. Another four ounces gained! And after a stressful evening of overtired, overstimulated baby, and overtired, overstimulated me, she slept beautifully. And we finally got a baby monitor, so tonight she is going to bed upstairs, and we will hopefully get a couple of hours to ourselves. If only she'd go to sleep now so I could have some breakfast...

[plonko]

I'm a wee bit disgusted at the 'breast is best' (but we'll give most of you no support) campaign. It's like we're all in the same boat. I had an idea that feeding by boob alone would be hard and was never enamoured with it, but I can't really take this stress much longer. I've got a Medela Symphony pump arriving today, and it's my last ditch attempt to express. My nipples start healing but pumping seems to exacerbate the problem, and I've got a lovely rash on the left boob so it's off to the dr tomorrow. Thank god I was sensible enough to buy a massive tub of SMA on Sunday!

SoYo, formula isn't poison. Go easier on yourself. The important thing is that your baby is fed. I'm so much less tearful now 50% of feeds are stress free- and that's important. Happy mum = happy baby, right?

Pudtat, hope things improve. Zigwig talks sense, we were made to stay in for 2 extra nights for jaundice and only discharged after four painful looking blood tests on my pfb showed a downward trend. We got there by feeding through it, heartbreaking when you can only express tiny dribbles that stick to the side of a cup!

Off to sort the birth certificate this afternoon! Am so very excited. We're also attempting our first weekend away as a family and staying with dp's parents from Saturday to Monday. Really nervous about that, if we haven't cracked the nipple vs formula problem by then it'll be the final nail in the breastfeeding coffin.

Glad you had a better night, Stormy. We're making up for the lack of boob with loads of calm skin to skin, George seems to be really chilled if we've managed an hour or two of that in a day - and it's a good excuse to just sit down and watch TV for an hour!

[Rainbowbabyhope]

Rainbow - DD 07/03/13 normal intervention-free birth

Hi to all new mummies - lovely to be out the other side with our little ones! I must admit that I am enjoying every single second - can't believe I am lucky enough that this little one is alive and well in my arms. It does help that she seems to naturally sleep in 3-4 hours cycles so we get 6-8 hours sleep each night which helps us to stay feeling human!

I really empathise with everyone having breast feeding problems. DD was suckling within minutes of birth and it turned out to be incredibly painful for me. At point we weren't sure it it was a tongue tie (we now know that it is not) or something to do with my anatomy as the midwives said they had not seen that level of immediate pain before. The first night with her was very hard as she is an incredibly hungry baby with an almighty vacuum suck and I was in agony every time I tried to feed her - it felt hopeless. In desperation on day 2 we thought we would try formula (with so much miserable guilt on my part). However she was absolutely disgusted by the tiny drop of formula we put on her lips. That look of sheer disgust on her face and her point blank refusal to drink the formula suddenly made me determined to breastfeed no matter what, even if it would always be very painful for me. Tbh I don't think I would have made this decision if this had been my first baby and we hadn't lost her big sister - that kind of loss changes your perspective about pretty much everything forever.

Now, just one and a half weeks later I am so so glad that I was so pig-headed about the whole thing. In combination with a bit of expressing and having fantastic support from my independent midwives and a breastfeed midwife at the hospital, breastfeeding is starting to be less painful, although we are still learning. So I am hopeful for the future. Like so many of you though I was taken by surprise at how hard the breastfeeding journey has been and agree that there is not enough realistic information out there about what to expect in the initial weeks. Having good support (that is judgement free) has been absolutely essential to me and I know that not everyone has access to this which I think is a real problem.

[StormyBrid]

It's just one of those days today. Baby hardly woke up to feed, and now it's naptime she's wide awake. Happy in her basket watching the TV though - apparently David Cameron is utterly fascinating.

Good news of the day is trouser-related. I'm back in my pre-pregnancy jeans! Admittedly they're a bit snug, where they were pretty loose when I found out I was pregnant, but still. They fit! And it's only day 12!

[Oodsigma]

stormy I can now pull up maternity trousers on day 13

[StormyBrid]

Yes, Ood, but you've been kicking back and relaxing in bed and having regular meals brought to you, right? Whereas I never seem to have time to eat. You'll get there soon enough.

[Oodsigma]

My stomach is still swollen & bruised , too sore to pull trousers up. It's the previous 3 months I spent in bed being brought food