March 2013: Smiles, sleep & excellent feeding.....the thread of wishful thinking!

[SoYo]

Well we may as well start the thread on a positive note before the grumbling about the little darlings begins!!!

Re: forgetting this is public, that's kind of why I joined in! Was starting to feel more and more voyeuristic and decided I either needed to stop being so nosy or become a part of it!

Ok night here- up at 3.20, fairly quick feed and quick to settle but then awake at 5! Tried to get her back to sleep (all the while DH was out cold) eventually brought her into bed with us, and DH said "you shouldn't let her get used to getting into our bed" at which point I pointed out he was welcome to try to settle her himself but if he was determined to leave it all to me then he'd have to deal with my decisions! ...and breathe...

Anyone got anything nice planned for today?

Hi vj. Having just done a feed I've come back to bed and dd/dh are going to hang out on the sofa for a bit. It's so grey here in the east it doesn't feel too naughty coming back to bed. We have friends from London coming to meet dd later and there's a massive pile of nappies that need washing. So that's my something nice for today; how about you? What's on the cards?

Vj DD woke up too much after her 4 feed so I didn't get her back down till 5:20 after more feeding and multiple reswaddlings. Then she woke at 6:30 so I told asked DH to bring her into our bed and she slept then on him till half 7 which gave me time to doze. He knows better than to refuse me that

Leni good luck with the tube! The hardest part will be the steps unless you'll be using a sling/carrier?

Yeah, dd slept til 7.30 and thrush is nearly gone for her, the feeding is fine for me now too ... Could it be I am not having to push the cart up the steep hill with only my nose! Yes I worried about public too and but figured what the hell! This thread is keeping me sane. If we want , later on, we can get whoever started a thread to ask mumsnet to delete it if we are ever sleeping enough to care!

Well despite forecast it's looking like a beautiful day here so think we'll spend the day chilling out in the garden. Anyone else's LO at their most cheerful first thing? She seems to get gradually grumpier as the day goes by which makes me think she's obviously not napping for long enough during the day.

Morning all, and welcome Vj.

We had one of those afternoons that reduces me to tears yesterday. 4pm feed, she only took an ounce, and that was with plenty of fussing. Did the same thing at 7pm. Managed to get another three in her when she was half asleep at quarter to eight. Worrying me ridiculously though. Got almost four ounces down her at breakfast, but that was a split feed at 7 and 7.45, because on the first attempt she decided she'd had enough after two and a half. Sigh.

Our middle of the night feed seems to be creeping later and later. Had a couple of 4ams recently, and nothing earlier than 3am in almost a fortnight. Unfortunately, forgetting the dream feed until 1am (because she was fast asleep and the man forgot) didn't seem to affect things much and she still woke at 4. Positive thoughts: she won't need milk in the night when she's weaned! And we should be counting our blessings really, as she sleeps a good seven or eight hours before wanting milk every night.

Who was it commiserating with me a while back about the inability of nappies to last the night? Whoever it was, try Pampers baby-dry, they're working a treat for us at the moment. And you can buy them on amazon with free postage, which is handy if you're a lazy arse like me. Fifteen quid for 156 of the things!

Nothing much planned for today (except good feeds and good naps, but no one's told DD that). Exciting week ahead though, got my birthday on Tuesday, and the man's father visiting at the end of the week. Really hoping he's on his best behaviour when he meets my dad, or it could get a bit shouty...

Nothing exciting today but bubbie and I are off to st James' palace for dinner with prince Charles tomorrow night. My first child free night out, infect my first night out of the house in nearly 10 weeks .....

Hubbie, no idea who bubbie is, clearly baby not invited!

Welcome VJ, my DD is also most cheerful first thing, all big smiles and giggles, I think it's to stop me throttling her after a night!

Had a sore throat yesterday & now have full blown stinking cold & feel like shit. Urgh.

Bad night here, she woke for feeds at 11, 2, 3.30, 5 and 7.30 and is now going downstairs for some daddy time while I nap.

Unfortunately my exciting job for the day is to try to start so sort the house out a bit because its filthy and a tip (I'm lying here looking at the sun on our mirror showing all the dust) and cooking a roast dinner (something I usually quite like but DD has a habit of throwing off the timings)!

Oh and Leni the heavy bleed is very likely to be partly due to the levonelle, it can cause a prolonged bleed too. The first period after a baby is usually very heavy though so probably a bit of both.

SoYo very heavy is putting it mildly! My first post birth period involved going through a super tampon in an hour and a half, consistently, for over a week.

We're on the cusp of the naptime danger zone. Let's see how this one goes...

Eig hang on! Did you say you're off to dinner with prince Charles?! Round these parts that's big news but you threw it in your post like it's a regular occurrence!! More detail please!

stormy As we know given the nightmare I am having I am not really placed to give advice but I can't help myself as it might help. Feel free to ignore me. Night nanny said to me that as little one isn't taking big feeds from the bottle Not to drop any night feeds til she is bigger ( over 12/13 pounds) and to always wake by 11pm latest then 3.30am latest so she feeds well at 7 am ish. It's painful as its so tempting to want them to sleep long stretches but if you really feel she hadn't taken enough in the day this is the way to get more food in. It also helps establish a 7 am ish get up time rather than be random. Feel free to tell me to butt out though and completely understand this may not work for every baby.

Yes! It's a princes trust dinner for education leaders and in my spare time (what was that again) I am a governor at one of the London academies that has significantly turned around pupil achievement! It's black tie, very excited! We have received a royal protocol etc! Even if dd wasn't taking the bottle I would be going, can't miss a chance to see him in the flesh!

And see the palace!

Very exciting Eig. Will be lovely getting your gladrags on and getting fed a slap up dinner, just the thing to make you feel human again eh?
The night nanny's advice makes sense intellectually - it should solve the too hungry to sleep/too tired to eat dilemma. It's a trap we're guilty of even with the bigger bottles.

Wing I'm not poas today as we only resumed relations 3 weeks ago so I think it'd be too soon. I'm eagerly awaiting my monster period. Another one for you SoYo before you go off enjoying a delicious roast dinner - my loch is didn't disappear until 6 and a half weeks postpartum. Could this be a reason for delay?

Eig we're not deliberately dropping any night feeds at this stage. You're right; night feeds are the only way we can make sure she gets anything like enough milk in her. And we do get up at seven, as otherwise there wouldn't be time for enough feeds before bedtime. We just don't actually wake her for the 11pm feed (and she takes three ounces, usually, with no fuss at all). The other night feed we wait for her to wake up and let us know she's hungry.

Mind you, even when she hits thirteen pounds or so, I'm not going to want to drop a night feed unless we've managed to explain to her what an appetite is by then!

Plonko that can definitely be a reason for delay as your postpartum hormones often don't return to normal for up to 6 weeks which wuld stop you having a period. Even without that its still not uncommon for a long delay to first period. The only reason to POAS is because you haven't been using a reliable form of contraception & if you were pg you'd probably want to know sooner rather than later!

Ok, napping sorted, we (me,dh and mil) plus dd went to natural history museum. Dd slept from11.30 til 2.15 in buggy while we went around museum, had lunch, woke on tube home and I fed her... Very pleased with my cover up and great to manage an outing!! Dd didn't get to see any of the museum but never mind!

stormy that makes sense, I am going to be the same, until she is really keen in food during the day I am going to keep up all the night feeds! I like chubby babies!

Although I am joking about naps as clearly can't walk non stop from 11.30 til 2 every day!

Chubby babies? What are they? Can feel all the bumps in this one's spine, and see her ribs clearly. And she's now having a screaming fit because she's tired yet she refuses to sleep. Argh!

Wow this thread has been busy! I missed my window of opportunity for a morning catch up, as it appeared to have vanished. Or was that just me? Seriously, I checked, and re-checked, and checked threads I'm on... and nada. Most weird. But then again I am a sleep deprived walking zombie so it is entirely possible that I have lost the ability to read.

Hob-nobbing with royalty are you now Eig... . Have fun, and say hi from me. Not that he'll have any clue who I am, but hey, enjoy!

Plonko - pregnancy scare? Already?! You're a brave one. I'm kinda broody for number 2 as well, and frankly time isn't on my side with this one so will have to get cracking sooner rather than later, but already? Not. A. Chance.

As for feeding, well yes, we're still on 2 night feeds at 10 (is it really 10...) weeks (3.30am and 5.30am) as well. My maternity nurse friend assures me that at 10 weeks her smallest-ship should be more than able to sleep through, and in fact should be doing so. Really? Should she now? Well that doesn't make me feel inadequate. Oh no, not at all . In fact I'll have words with her now and she what she says. Wish me luck with that ladies as although dd is the most intelligent child on the planet (according to her dad) her language skills? Bit lacking...

The BIG news though (brace yourselves), we can finally do bottles? Yay, go me... For those on the bottle refuser treadmill, the DD approved bottle type is Dr Brown, and the cunning method used to con her is holding her in the breastfeeding position. Sit her upright and stick a teat in her mouth and she just coos and looks confused. Lie her on her side and her brain thinks - lunch!

Speaking of food, she's woken up and I have a split nano second before she cries.... aaannnnnddd there she goes, right on cue

Arrrrrrrggghhhh!!! DS is having a complete booby meltdown day. Hasn't managed a full feed without going nuts... 48 hours without formula but I may have to resort to a bottle tonight unless I want another sleepless night

I didn't start the pill again to kick start things as such it was more in the vague hope I might get brave enough to try sex again lol. Dr said I could either wait until period to start taking them or take them now and use extra protection for first week. Not that I've been brave enough yet. And this period is horrendous but in a weird way has made me feel better as though it's made my body more "back to normal". Very odd.

HAve started trying a routine here as he's almost put himself into one and I want to start trying to up feed amounts in the day so he won't need as much at night. Managed well yesterday but he's demanded an extra bottle around 4.30 and has been fast asleep on me since then so that will probably muck up bedtime.

Had my cousin pop round today with her perfectly behaved baby. He's lovely. He's also about a month and a half older so she had some cute outfits to give us that he's grown out of. Haven't braved going out today as it's chucked it down all day and haven't got much constructive done as bubs has been a grouch this afternoon wanting cuddles or entertaining or he'll cry. My baby is also at his happiest first thing and gets gradually grumpier over the day.

Hope everyone has had a decent weekend.