Martians 2014 (and the February early arrivals)

[LyraSilvertongue]

I expect it will be quiet in here for a while with only four Martians born so far and it not even being March yet

Those who have popped so far:
Coolhand
Dabarai
LyraSilvertongue
Wuxiapian

Hi everyone, can't believe it's been 9 days already! We've also had some feeding issues - thankfully I've never got particularly sore but he has been struggling to get attached. At the day 5 check he'd lost a bit more weight than they were happy with so we spent 48 hours stuffing food into him every 3 hours and topping up with a mixture of expressed milk and formula. When the midwife came back he'd put on 140g so it obviously worked! I found that knowing I could give him a bit of formula too if necessary made me much calmer about persevering with the breastfeeding. He hasn't needed any formula now for nearly 48 hours, partly because I've now got the hang of expressing so can fill him up with that if he's been feeding for hours but is still hungry. Particularly helpful at night or if we are about to go out. He does get much windier with the bottle though.

Having said I'm not going to let him sleep longer than 3 hours in the day.., he has been on a breastfeeding marathon all day since 11am only pausing for 20 minute naps in my arms. I've literally just managed to get him down an hour ago. I'm shattered from all the feeding.

God knows how tonight will pan out - every day so far has been completely different.

I think I might try tonegotiate the moby wrap tomorrow.

How old is he MrsM? Could it be a growth spurt? I think the first one is meant to be between 7-10 days isn't it?

Hope all the daytime feeding gave you a decent night

Yesterday he was one week old - he didn't finally settle until 4am by which time I was in tears!

He just wanted to suck! He want even really feeding he was sucking voraciously on my nipples - ouch! He was so over tired he was even resting doing that he was screaming blue murder and flailing his arms in his face. What a palaver!

He's still sleeping now - I was going to wake him at 9 so he's had 5 hours. Is this a good idea or should I leave him to wake on his own?

Oh Mrs, I don't know what the best plan is... I thought that, with newborns, it should just be a 'feed when they need, and let them sleep when they sleep' - unless of course they've lost weight and need catching up!

Seeing the HV for the first time this afternoon - this is the question I'll be asking her!

Hi all. Sorry been AWOL. MrsM glad to read that that your LO is feeding well now.

On day 8 here after two nights of cluster feeding 9pm - 1am non stop Ella seems more settled today. She's just fed and is sleeping - I'm planning an early night too, as I'm predicting an 11pm and 3am feed and she will also need a quiet quick nappy change to try not to wake up DD1.

Emflat I was letting her sleep but wild her up for the last feed, trying to encourage 3 hour feeds rather than being latched in for hours on end in the dead of night. Not sure it will work though!! I have a OH with man flu too, great!!

Oh crikey, Flump... I see what you mean! It's blimmin' tricky no matter what, I reckon - our ff 17-day-old feeds on a 2-hourly (ish) cycle, only taking 2oz at a time. Although it's a bit often for our taste (including comfort feeding when distressed, usually after a nappy-change!), it seems to be working as he's put on a pound since birth. HV happy with his pattern so we'll just have to go with it! 'Little and often' seems to be Ben's motto

Friday tomorrow! Longest week, can't wait to have DH at home during the days, even if only the weekend

Good morning everybody shyly shuffling in and pulling up a chair
My DS Luke was born on Tuesday afternoon by ELCS.

We're home from hospital, and doing well so far (day 3) how are all the mini Martians and their mummies doing?

Hi Fender!

We're just starting to get into the groove of this parenthood thing. The days are great, the nights are a little tougher but I knew what I was signing up for!

LO initially lost just over 10% of his birthweight but has since gained 110g - he has another 200 or so to gain to get back up to birth weight.

Hi Fender! Welcome to the dark side

Am shattered - baby Ben decided in three dirty nappies in a row last night, all while taking his 4am feed! Mummy needs a nap

Ah yes MrsM, the dreaded >10% loss - I had it with my PFB and the interventions visits from the MW team caused me so much anxiety in the first couple of weeks. We got there though (through me expressing / feeding every 2-3 hours), And it sounds like you and Edward have cracked it
Hi Em ((waves)) glad to hear Baby Ben is making the most of the 24 hours in a day it's crazy it's it that the babas can be so awake at 4am but dead to the world at 4pm when there's nothing good on telly and it's a tiny bit boring

I also had a wide awake baby at 4am. Yawn.

I can't wait until she stops doing dirty nappies at night, it makes the midnight feeds so much easier...and quieter! I can't remember when DD1 stopped needing to have her nappy changed at night. Can anybody else remember?

indeed - although (thanks to my Mumsy) I've discovered there are at least three quiz programmes on between 4 and 6.30pm which I've passed the time watching! Oh dear

But I refuse to watch Jeremy Kyle

Hello all, our little girl Elizabeth arrived on 10th March.

We've had a few issues, she had a temperature after birth so we were kept in for 48 hours while she had antibiotics. She lost 11.5% of her birthweight by day 3 so I had the midwives flapping about upping her feeds (EBF) which got me in a state as I was convinced I was doing something wrong.

Our latest issue is that she hasn't pooped for 5 days. I took her to the GP this morning and he was very dismissive and made me feel like I was fussing over nothing. The health visitor is coming on Monday so I will quiz her too, but it just doesn't seem right that she's gone so long. Anyone else got similar issues?

I'm also having a bit of baby blues too (yes mine are worse in the evening/at night), which have been made worse by the fact that we've just been told DH is being sent to Afghanistan for 6 months in June

Ignore my last post re the poo - we've just had a pretty epic poonami

Yay ! High five to Frankelizabeth

Congratulations and 'yay!' Frankel never thought I'd cheer a 'poonami', but it sounds deserved Welcome to Elizabeth xxx.

Re: baby blues... Also have the mildest touch I think. Was in tears yesterday quite a bit over stupid things. Bloody hormones.

Grrrrr! 3rd time I've been up tonight, baby owl only letting me sleep for just over an hour at a time tonight, what with feedathons.

Thank goodness for mn to keep me awake!

LO did good last night!

We slept 8-11
1-4
5-7

Would love him to go down again though!

My issue at the moment is young sir is favouring my right boob and making a right old fuss if it's the left's turn

We have a sort of similar issue MrsM, E will feed from both sides but she has a much better latch on one side than the other. The result is one shredded nipple - ow! I saw a breast feeding consultant who said she seems a bit stiff down one side of her body, which could be related to the fact that she got a bit stuck at the shoulders during birth. She's recommended we see a cranial osteopath to get her checked out so we're going along next week.

My other main issue to get sorted is where madam sleeps at night. She really doesn't like her Moses basket, which she goes in swaddled. Most of her day time sleeps are spent being held by either DH or me, which I know doesn't help, but part of me doesn't want to not be holding her IYSWIM.

He is actually refusing the left side now so I am having to express that side for comfort.

He's taking the other side ok so going to go through today and then phone the midwife for advice Monday if still doing it.

Hoping you get things sorted with the right help, Frankel and Mrs

How's everyone else doing? B will be three weeks old tomorrow... although it feels like forever in some respects, I also can't believe it! Little dear is 6lb 12oz now, and finally into 'first size' babygros! Huzzah

Are there any breastfeeding support groups near you mrsm? When I was struggling to get breastfeeding established with DD1, I found advice from the midwives to be a bit hit and miss. I found the support from some if the helplines to be a bit more reliable.

We're getting by here. Things are ok - I'm just exhausted. The mini-me hasn't slept for longer than three hours in any one stretch yet and I'm starting to really feel it. Yawn!