It's April 2013, the time is now & HERE ARE OUR BABIES!

[toobreathless]

Our first post natal thread!

Cooking & Cleaning can wait till tomorrow
for children grow up we've learnt to our sorrow
So wipe away cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm cuddling my baby cause babies don't keep!

A thread to celebrate the highs of life with a gorgeous newborn and the lows of sleepless nights, stitches, feeding traumas & Baby blues.

We are having a good couple of days :)

DD2 is now three weeks old and the sweetest little thing. She is a very efficient feeder for her age. 10-20 mins per side and fed on demand which is 3-4 hourly. Thank god as it gives me time to spend with DD1, DD1 took much longer.

We went to a music and movement class that we do every Monday & DD2 slept in her pram through out, I am dreading her waking for a feed at one of these classes. I'm not usually shy about feeding in public but we all sit on the floor cross legged in a circle! I could go out the room but DD1 would have to come with me and at 2 years (just) needs constant supervision.

HV is coming out to weigh DD2 on weds as she continues to be very sicky and I'm not convinced she has grown much in the last few weeks. We had a rocky ride with DD1 with CMP allergy which manifested as failure to thrive and a very sicky baby so I'm trying to be a bit more on the ball with DD2.

To all those With marathon feeding sessions hang on in there! It does get better. One thing just to consider, is the baby actually properly feeding? DD1 used to do little comfort sucks for hours if allowed, my mum pointed out she was fast asleep & sucking for comfort. Nothing wrong with this of course, totally normal newborn behaviour. I will admit to giving both my girls dummies which certainly helped.

WRT Nipple confusion (can someone correct me here if I'm wrong?) I thought outside the very newborn period (first 5 days or so) it was now thought to be somewhat of myth and not that much of a issue?

kellestar sounds like you are doing an amazing job! It's quite adjustment going from 1 to 2 isn't it. Can't believe your MIL the very cheek of it! Wilf is a gorgeous name & goes beautifully with Bea. The sling thing is utter nonsense he should be with you/DP and if that's hanging out washing in a sling so be it!

faith when was baby faith last weighed? Is she gaining weight well? I would be tempted to leave her at night if you are struggling to wake her and make sure she is feeding at least every 3 hours during the day.

too sounds like you're handling your two well!

She was weighed last Thursday and gaining well. She feeds at least theee hourly in the day, often hourly so we're going to try letting her go longer overnight and see what happens. There was a moment last night when she'd been on and off for 4 hours and I said I don't know what you want. I think she was looking at me saying Well you woke me up!
Delighted to report a massive poo this afternoon, just after we'd rung and booked in with the GP of course!

Keep going trish. I hope you find a balance/solution to the feeding soon.

Faith it's amazing how obsessed we become with poo once we have children isn't it?! Too much/not enough/colour/consistency! How glam life is!

Mama cannot believe Alex is almost 6 months old.

For those going through cluster feeding - you have my sympathies. Henry isn't doing it at the moment but I know it's only a matter of time. I'd recommend the Wonder Weeks app to give info about when growth sports happen and why - very interesting.

Very excited as DM has gone to Starbucks this afternoon and has promised to bring me a mocha frapuccino back - can't wait for the doorbell to go.

DD is at nursery this afternoon, DH is at the optician and DS is asleep so it's very quiet in our house - lovely! Going to watch Peep Show with my feet up.

faith, glad to hear that faithlet is growing well. I'd been waking Theola at night too if she went too long between feeds, so hard to gauge it at first. I'm going to feed on demand at night now as I do in the day.

trish, hope you find the feeding balance that works for Hunter.

mama, wow can't believe Alex is 6 months now, amazing!

Had a really good day. DH, Theola and I went to our local.park and had a cream tea. Came home to a delivery of a gorgeous baby hamper from work and best of all the MW came round and really helped with BF. She got us into the rugby position and Theola latched and fed straight away! She fed from the engorged boob for maybe 20 mins which.is the longest we've managed. Of course the minute the MW left she came straight off the boob and has been asleep since so we'll have to see how the next feed goes but delighted she has been back on the breast.

That's great, Tea. Hoping the BFing continues to go well now. It's great that your MW is so supportive.

Tea - I also found rugby is best although at first it didn't come naturally and I prefer the cuddly-ness of cradle hold. I invested in a 'my Brest friend' cushion from mothercare too as I found the pillows harder to arrange for this hold. Such a relief when things go better!!

I am another one having a cluster feed from hell day today! DS is seven weeks old now but with him being early and small it seems that he is cluster feeding on an on-going basis. He is gaining weight well (he is 7lbs 6 now) and some days I love breast feeding but today not so much and I wonder what the hell I am doing!! Today everytime I try to put him down he crys and he is only happy on the boob or the brief reprieve I got when I took him out in the sling for a walk woth the dog. Having said that DH is home and has taken him upstairs and he isn't crying for the first time today. Not sure whether to take it personally but at least I can have a quick cup of tea in peace!

Sorry for the me, me, me post and apologies for the lack of name checks for those of you going through various challenges.

Ah, the joys of cluster feeding! Glad to see its a fun game for a lot of us!

Happy to report that we were both discharged from hospital after 5 days yesterday (although it was a lot easier to find time to post when I was there as there were limited distractions! DD is now finally clear of infection markers, so the antibiotics did their job well.

We made it home in time for bath time with 2 year old DS, which was lovely, as missed him so much when I was stuck in hospital. He needed a bit of persuasion that mummy was sticking around this time, but things seem to be back to normal now after a whole day of normality!

DD made my nipple bleed today! But we seem to be sorting the latching issue with a bit of patience... Let's see how tonight goes!

Good luck to everyone for a decent amount of sleep and successful feedings!

Aw quiet thread must mean lots of sleeping!

I like rugby hold but find it impossible without oh restraining one of her hands... Back to cradle hold now and after a terrible few feeds she seems to be latching on within 15 mins a time.

Just fed 15 mins from boob a, 5 mins winding, 15 mins more from boob a, then 15 from boob b so kind of hoping she settles for a few hours, just sitting by basket waiting now while she squeaks!

I'm getting loads of support, had visits from either mw or the bf support lady every day, was even offered 2 visits today if she wouldn't latch, I don't think mw will sign me off till feeding is properly sorted.

Uh oh, nappy time... Hopefully sleep right after!

It may be 3am but delighted to report I am up breastfeeding! We seem to be re-establishing pretty well.

user sounds like feeding is going well. Hope you get some sleep after that nappy change.

amber, great to hear that you're both doing so well and are home.

Aw teapig glad to hear its going well!

My night seems ok, had 2 hours exactly did nappy, and just fed for 10 mins, winded and reoffered but she now seems content and is back in basket, giving her a few minutes but hoping for another sleep now.

We had a much better night too! I managed to get her down by 9.30 (a record!) although that was with her sucking my finger for about 15 minutes! I think late at night she sucks for comfort hence why she'd feed forever and eventually needs settling in her Moses basket. I let her wake me and she never went more than 3 hours without feeding. She wouldn't settle from 6-7.30 - wouldn't latch but cried in the basket so we just co-slept. She's just fed and is now wide awake but settled. Daddy's turn to have her for a while I reckon! He's back to work tomorrow :(

Hi all,

Not a bad night here either, she went down by midnight was woke up at 5, so I got some sleep

She didn't go back for any great stretch, so I'll try to nap later.

Username, what great BF support you have, nothing like that around here. Sounds like thing are improving too for you teapig.

I'm going to try to leave the house today - we haven't really managed it with any success yet.

toobreathless can you tell me a bit more about using a dummy? I am tempted, but have heard the usual wait 6 week advice. Would be happy to try it now earlier, but how do you know if they are sucking for comfort, or if they are hungry? Any advice appreciated!

faith I am dreading DH returning to work, really wish he could stay with us longer!

Morning all glad everyone seems to have had a better night. Alex didnt sleep much and is now all dressed up and ready to go for his check up at the hospital, looking very happy at the idea of going out again!
Sorry I don't have time to name check everyone but whoever asked yes thanks ds1 is clear of chicken pox now, he had it mildly thank goodness. Though reading up as Alex is exclusively breast fed he would have had little chances catching it, the drs were just being extra cautious as everything with such a premature baby is very unknown.

Its quiet one here today hope Everyone is out enjoying the sunshine.
Check up went really well. 8lbs exactly so Alex has put on nearly a lb in a week! His lungs and heart are good, he peed all over the dr. So no kidney issues They also tested his eyes for tracking movement and he did really well I asked a lot about development and apparently by 3 if no issues present themselves they would expect him to have caught up. His muscle tone is also good they say but they gave me some exercise to help strengthen them. Dr explained it as he's soon going to be wanting things his body might not be capable of so anything that may help him can only be good.

Great news Mama, well done you and Alex! :)

We've been out - took Faithlet to DH's work so he could show her off! Then out for brunch with a spot of public breast feeding (!) and a bit of shopping. Home now, feeding again. Hoping we both get a nap when she's done!

Lovely news Bec! So pleased for you and Alex xxx

Angel I am ebf and he's had dummy since he was a week and had no issues, he often just wants to suck for comfort so the dummy is the life saver! My MW even suggested it as an extra thing to prevent cot death, which sealed the deal for me!

Well done Alex, still can't believe how well he has done for one so premature, just excellent news!

mama so proud of what you and alex are achieving ,I love all the updates, makes me feel that I really know your little miracle boy keep them coming

we had a really lovely night last night, baby bird slept next to me not on me so I actually got a bit of decent sleep, long may it continue! I sympathise with all the cluster feeders we had that a few days ago and by 10:00pm I was in tears and she was screaming again to be fed when DH walked into the room and helpfully suggested maybe she's hungry but the hv came and weighed her today and she's now 7lb 8oz so put on a whole pound in 2 weeks, makes it all worth it I love her to bits, can't stop telling her how cute she is, better stop that before she gets to big don't want to be one of those embarrassing mums!!!

also I decided to give her a dummy as I can't do anything when she's sucking on my finger and she bf very well so I just assumed it wouldn't cause confusion, but she refuses to take it just spits it out and coughs when I hold it in place, makes me nervous she won't take a bottle when I want to start expressing for DH to do night feeds...any ideas or advice how to get her to take it?!

great to hear lil Alex is doing so well!

I got semi signed off by MW today, cord is still attached (day 9 now & showing no signs of loosening) so they want to keep eye on it. Otherwise she is now 9lbs 1, so has regained birth weight & an extra 2oz.

I'm a bit jealous of all those on outings! Still a bit scared... went out yesterday but only with OH, she just seems so tiny & the buggy is so low.

May I ask if any are doing tummy time? I keep forgetting to ask MW if its too soon or not.

Hunter is having tummy time as suggested by MW and HV as he's had really good head control from birth x

My well behaved baby girl has turned into a little sucky cluster mad monkey! Jst about had time to wee and make a cuppa today without her wantin boob or a cuddle. I know it's her way of increasing supply for a growth spurt and I melt when she grins at me...but it's so hard when u don't get 5 mins break! Fx she's filling up for night time as she's been really good so far, only waking twice for 10-20 min feeds, otherwise it's going to be a long night...

Re dummies - both of my older dd's had them and they caused no nipple confusion and can be a god send. Imo it's swings and roundabouts tho if they become sleep dependent on them so you're up 15 times a night putting it back in their mouths. Fleur does suck for comfort, whoever asked how you know, she takes shorter sucks and I can see she's not swallowing. Will try and persevere this time though.

Hope everyone has a good night again!

Ooh I forgot all about tummy time. I can't remember when you start it either.

I've tried tummy time but H drops off every time we attempt it .

Had a very successful day today. We registered H, went for lunch and popped into DH's office for a visit. At this point with DD I was pleased if I'd brushed my teeth, never mind gone out!