May 2013 thread our new and not so new arrivals

[BeauticianNotMagician]

Hi ladies

Just thought we could all really do with this. Rather selfish a its mostly for the thousand odd questions I have and things I'd like to share/ vent that no one else would understand.

We've all been together so long I even talk about you all to DP

Gripe water is definitely the best thing for colic.

Anyone else finding their babies are settling really well in the day when it is noisy and then at night having a restless sleep. Had to put Kate in bed with me last night so she would settle soundly.

I have just changed to the tomee tipee bottles and he is a bit better with them. Got some gripe water but you cant give it to them till they are 4 weeks old. Going to try infocol today.

Im EXHAUSTED !!!

Hello ladies! Lovely to have this group - one of my mum friends from first time round rang me yesterday and I realised how much I miss having a group of friends in a similar position.

DD still has no name, but she's doing ok. Really struggling with feeding though which is a bit of a shock because DS had very few problems (with feeding, everything else was a mess lol). DD had one really good feed when she was born, then was getting bits through feeding often but she was only licking/getting drips of the breast. Day 3 I spent expressing and feeding her from a syringe so she was at least hydrated, but nowhere nearer latching. Cue misery from all sides. MWs came round and weighed her, and she has lost 10% - if she loses 12% then she has to be admitted to the nearest hospital which is 40 minutes away

Went to then MLU near here last night and they got her to latch (after lots of squeezing and manhandling) - managed to get her to feed every 2-3 hours since then, but just a bit at a time and she is always sick unless you time the end of the feed then putting her over the shoulder and upright perfectly. She seems ok to me, cheeks fattening and getting her colour in, plus sleeping/pooing/weeing/alert. But she is very sleepy and I'm finding it all a bit of a struggle, especially with the idea that I might have to take her to a hospital far away when DS needs me too. Boo

Sorry it's so long, just wanted to get it off my chest (so to speak )

Infacol usually always works for me. I'm struggling as he only seems to be unable to get wind up at night. He sleeps all flippin day in fact Ive just woken him for a feed.

My head is pounding I'm popping pain killers like crazy. Me and DP were grumpy with each other last night as Teddy just so won't sleep

Sorry to hear that Beaut, it's so hard to do it all and feel ill at the same time :( Hope your infection is clearing up and you feel better soon.

oh zorra and beaut I'm sorry to hear your having a rough time. isn't it a good thing that we can support each other through this x

Zorra, I've had similar feeding problems with James. He had two feeds after being born then just could not get him to latch again so he was just getting drops of milk and I hand expressed a bit. After a day or so we worried he wasn't getting enough so the hospital midwife showed us how to cup feed and we gave him some formula. I kept trying with breast but couldn't get him to latch and nor could anyone else even with boob grabbing and head shoving from experts! When we got home I started expressing with a pump (they didnt want me to use a pump in hospital for some reason) and have carried on doing that since. It turns out James is tongue tied so we're still cup feeding the expressed milk plus the odd formula meal - hopefully once we get the tongue tie fixed he will be able to latch!
The expressing, feeding, sterilising cycle is exhausting!!

On the plus side, James had only lost 2oz when weighed yesterday so the cup feeding is obviously not doing any harm!

Sorry to hear that some are struggling. I find dentinox better than infacol tbh, and easier if you're FFing as you can add it to their bottle, DS and DD1 always spat out infacol!

beaut if its constant and nothing seems to work do speak to your HV. I still feel guilty that DD1 was 5 weeks old before we worked out she was lactose intolerant and that the near-constant screaming when she wasn't bring held was because she was in pain, I'd thought she was just a miserable difficult baby :(

Bad day today. Teddy has terrible colic and constipation. He has been unsettled all day. He hasn't slept for more than an hour at a time. His cry is so painful and there's nothing I can do. Earlier colic was so bad he was breathing really rapidly then he started wretching. I sat him up quickly and he burped so I'm hoping it was all just wind.

On top of that he has a sticky eye and every time I clean it its sticky within minutes. Feel such a useless mummy today

Big hugs beaut x I know that you are doing a great job and that you are doing all you can for your gorgeous boy x

Hey ladies great to have this thread here for all those questions I seem to have 24/7. beaut so sorry to hear about your infection you poor thing, and after such a lovely birth experience. Oops was going to write more but Jamie needs a nappy change! Will post again in a bit...

Beaut, sounds like our same day arrivals are having all the same things! James has had a sticky eye which we've been cleaning for the last couple of days and it's started to look better today fingers crossed.He also may be a bit constipated as we've had no poo for over 2 days now.... He's on a mix of BM and formula so hopefully not too blocked up. I'm going to eat some apricots now and hope they get into my milk a bit to help move things along!
Hope teddy feels better soon and you have a decent night with him x

Beaut, you should never think that. Babies are hard work and no matter if it's 1st or last baby your gonna worry about every little thing. Hope your ok tho.

Marking my place for this thread. Keep trying to update our antenatal one and do my birth story but never seem to have time! And now it's half term...so no chance! I will very much try though.

All going well here so far. DD1 is besotted and very overwhelmed with her emotions for her new baby sister. Said baby sister sleeps and eats and poos in response :o And my other 2 are loud and lovely still with much hugs and kisses (from DD2 mainly) and fascination (from DS mainly) for the new one.

Pretty much one week old exactly right now :)

Just wanted to say that Alice had sticky eye as well. It looked pretty gross for a few days, but we kept cleaning it with cotton wool and water and it cleared up within a few days.

Alice is going to be weighed again tomorrow- we have everything crossed for a bit of weight gain, even just a tiny bit as long as it is in the right direction. It is getting a bit concerning otherwise as she'll be three weeks on Tuesday.

Wishing you all a peaceful night and some restorative sleep!

OO sorry to hear about feeding issues, I was a woman obsessed with time/ position/ latch/ hind and fore milk with DS.

Those with constipation issues, try our super pooing move; if bubs is straining and uncomfortable, put the soles of their feet together and gently bring them up to touch the nose. The legs will look like frogs' legs and resistance usually means a fart or a poo is there. Did this 15 times, 3 times a day with a more constipated DS. With DD, sometimes if she's straining, just gentle frogs' legs and rocking can produce a poo.

We are doing great, but we've had both the HV and the GP telling us to wean DS (2.5). As I did explain, he was weaned and now is having a regression - another involuntary wean at this time would be asking too much of him, I think, he's just finding it all really tough right now. I found it really cheeky, actually, they wouldn't be telling me off if I'd said he'd regressed with potty training, they'd be making supportive noises. Am particularly fucked off with the GP - we'd gone for thrush meds for DD, as I'd thought her tongue looked pretty thick with it (though it could have been milk - I wasn't sure as I'm fine and she's feeding well). The MW said check with the Dr - who didn't even look in her mouth to confirm diagnosis, prescribed only enough for DD and I and not DS, took a phone call during the consultation on her mobile phone, and basically talked shit about bfing, saying that because I'm blonde, I'm not going to be able to supply enough vit D, so she probably didn't prescribe for DS because she didn't support my decision to bf him. Apart from anything else, being fair means you are more sensitive to the sun so less likely to be vit D deficient in low level sun. Plus, we could just supplement - to my mind she should be supporting what my decision is and advising me how to protect the three of us from any possible deficiency rather than refusing meds and telling me off. Less than two weeks since I gave birth. Think I need to contact PALS...

sparkly that's pretty poor of your GP, what does it have to do with them if you're still BFing him?!

beaut what formula are you using, and is it powder or ready made? If you're using powder using the ready made stuff for a couple of days can help. My HV said last time SMA seems to cause constipation more than other brands, incidentally DD1 and DS both had constipation when we started using powdered rather than ready made (SMA), DD2 didn't (cow & gate).

Good luck with the weigh in roast.

Ladies I don't know what I would do without this thread. I read the messages from Rachys onwards at 11pm after Teddy had just cried in agony for an hour. You all made me cry with your supportive words in a good way.

Following Sparklys advice I got him to finally fill his nappy. He cried through it understandably but was visibly improved afterwards. We managed to wind him at last and since 11pm he has slept just waking for his bottle on cue every three hours for his feed. I'm so happy and hope he continues to feel better today.

Seven we were using cow and gate now using cow and gate comfort. We started him on that yesterday morning so hopefully after a better night its working.

Sorry for the me me me post. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Just a quick question for those that suffered puffy feet/legs after birth how long did it take to go down. Mine are still really bad and a lil painful after a week

wrigglerchick DGS is now 10 days old and we think he has posterior TT, he has had difficulty latching, plus lots of other signs too. DD is now expressing regularly to allow her poor nipples to heal. GS is doing well, he is having C&G top up occasionally. Ann Dobson is visiting tomorrow - I will post again afterwards with an update. DD is staying with me at present and the expressing, sterilising routine is exhausting. I am so glad I am around to do all the washing, cooking, looking after GS whilst DD has baths etc.

beauticianNM DD had really puffy feet too at the end of pregnancy. It took about 6 days for them to go down. Her feet are now back to normal (10 days after delivery) and I am going to give her a pedicure today. DD can wear all her pre pregnancy shoes again now too. I hope your feet get better soon.

Chottie, reassuring to know we're not the only ones expressing and topping up with formula. Hope your dd is doing ok! We are also seeing Ann Dobson in the next few days - she's obviously highly recommended so hopefully we can get back to successful bf-ing before long...

Glad things are settling down Beaut and hope its the start of things easing up and you getting to enjoy the early days a bit more. It's so tough when it feels never ending and like nothing you can do works. It does always pass though (or at least turn into a new challenge!)

Very happy here today: DD still fighting the feeding a bit but something we are doing is working and she has regained more than half her 10% loss and put on 4oz since Friday Main thing is that I can stop panicking about having to admit her to hospital and focus on improving the feeding.

Marking my place - couldn't find it for ages. Be prepared for a million 'do you find that...' Type comments

By the way, terrible constipation here (Alice not me) in the transition from Breast to bottle was solved by constantly offering cool boiled water - worked VERY well. Changing to Aptimal constipation has now stopped it happening. My little munch with the shallowest latch in history (thus admittencevto hospital as BF couldnt shift jaundice) also wasn't getting on with bottles or teats specifically so I've moved to number 2 for night feeds and she is now waking at 12 , 3am & 6/7 ... From not settling at night at all. We are 4 weeks on and she is finally putting on weight albeit still on 9th centile. There is light at the end of the new born tunnel.