The 5th Gemini luxury bus - the one with babies!

[FrustratedSycamoresRocks]

As we have all our gorgeous babies now, welcome aboad the 5th Gemini bus.

Drinks and previously banned foods supplied in bulk, Car seats installed, slings and prams at the ready, as we head into parenthood, and all the excitement, and sleepless nights our little ones will bring along the way.

Sounds really stressful at the time Jo! Glad it all worked out and you three were able get in a good nap.

These headaches have been plaguing us all. I've had one since last night and it won't seem to budge. Haven't taken anything for it though. I feel like I've been living on ibuprofen for the past week! My poor liver....

Think my little girl has discovered cluster feeding...ll every hour for 20 mins

My poor shredded nipples are never going to recover.

Still breastnfeeding support group in the morning...yay! Then coffee OUT, OUT OFTHE HOUSE with DH!

Ooh ouch LIb. Keep using your nipple balm! Hopefully you can get some pointers at your support group tomorrow. Cluster feeding at night is seriously the worst. Your nipples always feel just that much more sore for some reason. Little Miss likes to cluster feed at 4:30 am until like 6 (of which then the boys then coming charging into our room). I'm so zzzzzzzzzz in the mornings now.

No headaches here but ill put myself on the line and say that as I had an epidural one I think I may have had my years allowance in one and I'm due a break?!?
Ouchey nipples lib, they do toughen up though, I remember mine being toe curling first time for a few weeks then it never bothering me again, this time I've not really had it at all!
Dd was so close to the perfect 1 feed night, woke at 1 went straight back down for dh but then just woke at 5 so close to 6 and I'd be dancing around, going to try to get abit more shut eye now as having a mini break today and taking dds to meet my best friend who lives in oz down in Windsor at Lego land, she's only back for a few weeks and hasn't seen dd1 since she was newborn

bring you've just made me wonder if I should have been taking ibuprofen after having colistatis. Although I did resort to my pain relief of choice. ignoring whether it was okay during breastfeeding in the desperation to get rid of the headache

lib cluster feeding is a nightmare, we have constant feeding from about 6-8 every morning.

Have discovered that ds won't latch on at night unless I shine a light on my nipple and call ds a good boy.

Lol boys always need praising

Didn't realise it started as early as 6weeks kitty dds never cared whether I was awake or not as long as they could get to the milk. It's like ds want me to be awake and wants me to see what he's doing.

My ds seems to be cluster feeding around the clock at the moment. Every hour has been looking for a feed but only stayed on for about 10 mins. So frustrating.

I'm sure they would have warned you against taking it Frus if it was a worry. I just said that b/c I almost never take medicine, so I'm sure it was a bit of shock to my system. Seriously so funny that you say that about feeding boys! We had to flip on all the lights in the house when feeding DSs and this little lady seems to just find it and get the job done. Boys so do always need praising!

Yikes, Lor that sounds really frustrating (and time consuming). Have you tried tickling feet, using cool flannels on the shoulders and back to stimulate him to keep going at all?

He settled down a bit this afternoon again. I do try tickling, blowing, cooling, nappy changing to keep him going but sometimes he just resists.

There is such good advice in this thread, I struggle to keep baby awake for the latter half of her nighttime feeds and it feels such a waste to wake up fir a 10 minute feed!

Tiny Nora has discovered she loves going out for lunch in her sling, however this afternoon she is really grumpy and I'm sure it's because now she's discovered how nice it is, that's the only place she wants to be.

I'm so glad I went to BF group this morning, I met 4 other new Mums and felt normal for the first time in days. I also fed for the first time in front of other people, and sitting on the floor, still hurts, got a cabbage down my bra, but i don't feel like giving up at the moment. I do wish the midwives could help a bit more with latching.

I wish I could just zip over and help you lib! Are there any Le Leche League leaders in your area that could make house calls? So glad you've had a nice morning! I promise things seem really hard at times in the beginning, and there's a learning curve for both of you but it will start to get better.

Glad you're getting a break lor! Maybe he's working on a little growth spurt?

lib you know when you do a fish pout, and kiss a mirror (or window) and then puff it up. That's the seal that N needs around your nipple.
Do you have a feeding pillow? And do you hold the back of Ns head?

The problem I was having was ds wasn't quite getting his mouth open in the right place. I was trying to line his mouth up with my nipple, but the bf consultant I saw said to get his nose lined up, so he has to open his mouth wider and when he opens his mouth the nipple is positioned closer to the roof of his mouth. also got shown a trick of flipping the nipple in with a finger
Was also re-shown the tummy-to-mummy position and my ds has a better position if I hold him there with my hand on his back and let him hold his own head (rests on my arm).

bring I didn't tell them I took them, as I have a repeat prescription of a large supply of them. (didn't take them when pg).
The feeding must be a boy/girl thing then. Like DH turning every light on, on the way to the toilet at night, when I don't put any on.

And what is it with one-sided leakage?

lib I hear you. I was definitely having latch issues at first. Ended up watching some YouTube videos. Also I have a great feeding pillow that helped me get ds into position so I could just focus on the latch. Now that I have it I'm beginning to feed without the pillow.

When I went to bf support cafe last week I had to bring my pillow with me!

Videos on Breastfeeding from the breastfeeding God, Jack Newman. Have a watch, they are all super informative!!

I don't know Frus. I have one side that leaks way more than the other too. That side also never has problems with completely emptying while the other always gets clogged ducts and I have to massage it while feeding to try to get it to completely empty. Such complex and fascinating things we've got on our chests!

Midwife came around for 1 week check. M has put on 7 oz since birth! . Just under a half a pound in a week, she is growing way too quickly. Midwife suggested supplementing with sunflower lecithin to help with the breast that refuses to completely empty. It's supposed to make the milk more slippery so that it doesn't cause clogged ducts. Hopefully it starts working quickly, this boob basically starts throbbing again about 20 mins after a feed while the other one feels totally fine. Urgh.

Excellent weight gain M!
Interesting bring I had mastitis on the side that doesn't leak.

Up at the crack of dawn today, J was especially refluxy, and baby seagulls make a terrible noise when they run up and down on the roof. So we've taken the dog for an early morning walk. It's going to be a hot day.

Ooh and I won a double buggy on eBay, and all the bits on my current buggy fit it. Should make It easier to go out with dd in the summer now.

Never take a 22 month old and 5 wk old away to stay in a hotel room!

That is all

What happened kitty?

Actually baby a was a star, she had such an easy night of 15/20 min feeds and litterally straight back down to sleep as if she new we had to be quiet but dd1 our usual sleep angel would not go down, I think it was the excitement of being in a room with us in the end dh had to take her for a drive ( failed) and a walk in the buggey for an hour till she gave in at 11 ( she's normally in bed at 7:30) then she fell out of bed or got our at 3 in the morning and wanted more milk and walking around wanted to get in baby a car seat!
That was our room but worst a massive family came to check in at 11 just as dh got back from walk with masses of kids and they ran to and from each others rooms knocking on doors and going in and out and while the rooms were pretty soundproofed the corridor isn't and the doors make an almighty slam, at midnight we had to go and speak to the parents, I was absolutely livid arrrr

That sounds horrid Kitty. I do wish other people wouldn't be selfish, it just makes life harder.

We've had a busy 2 days. Baby is almost back to birthweight... Yay!

But more excitingly, I went to a Breastfeeding group yesterday where i met 4 other new mums and fed N for the first time outside of the house. We stopped using the cushion and changed from Rugby ball to cradle hold and it's really helped. I got a cabbage for my boobs and that helped too, but best of all is that last night she slept for over 5 hours which was the best thing of all.

Today we want to baby massage with the ladies I met at BF group yesterday. It was lovely and I think N liked it, when she eventually stopped feeding so we could have a go. Then we went to the supermarket and I fed and changed her in John Lewis. This time last week I wouldn't have thought I would ever do those things!

Am hoping my new nipple cream arrives today. And I hope she sleeps well again tonight. Love to you and your babies.

Yes it's really upset me as me and dh have argued out of frustration and its ruined what was surposed to be a treat, it cost £150 so just feel really irritated, very anoyed about the family as if they didn't know fair enough but they saw dh come back with dd1 asleep in the pram so saw wed struggled to get a tint one to sleep then carried on allowing their own children to be slamming doors going back and forth for the next hour, they'd even commented at first oh there's a little baby we must be quiet! I understand early mornings with kids etc but at midnight I don't think I'm unreasonable to think you should have more decency then
Anyway rant over!
You sound like you've had a good day lib, I remember with dd1 trying to always time feeds so I could sit in a car or hide under a big muslin, now I don't even think about it, 5 hrs is a great stint! Well done n, that's why I try to feed every 3 hrs in the day to incourage those long night stints, the best we've had is 7-3, one night of pure bliss, I'm still working on it

Oh gawd Kitty that sounds exhausting!! We had that happen with the kids when we flew abroad one time and spent the first night in a hotel. THE worst night of my life. DH got drunk and slept through it all You poor things! Hopefully you get a night to recover from it all and catch up on sleep.

Way to go Lib!! That is fantastic news!

Maybe we're on to something Frus?

lib what a great day! I went to bf support group this morning too. It's such a lovely, welcoming place. Ran into one of the women from my NHS antenatal class too.

I'm working on relying on the breastfeeding pillow to feed and being able to do it in public. I can cradle him and feed but only if he's calm. If he's too hungry and antsy it's too much. Also of I'm leaking a lot it's so hard to manage. Getting there though.