JULY 2014 - WE HAVE BABIES

[justhayley]

Well it's only mid June but I hear we have our first July 2014 baby - congratulations MrsC, also hear there is one going to be joining us very very soon so thought it was time to start a postnatal thread! Wow can you believe it's that time already!!!

I hope to be joining you on this thread in the next few weeks - have no desire to get to 40 /42 weeks in this heat thank you.

For now congratulations new mummies xxx

I'm using the medela electric single pump. Wish i had bought the double. DS really sleepy and falls asleep on the breast within 10 mins. I put him down...and then he wakes up screeming...repeat
so I express and give him a bottle every night as that is the only way he would take a proper feed at night.

speaking of dirty nappies, DS does one at 2 a.m. then 3 a.m, every night and the noise is unbelievable!!

for those of you expressing, how long does it take you???
it takes me between 15 mins to 25 mins to express 1 oz. I am worried I have low milk supply

coco that sounds similar to the amount I'm getting over a similar time, although I can't vouch for how great my supply is.

kiwi i know MrsB looks after facebook page. I think there is another kind volunteer but I can't remember who

its a quick Google shows there is mixed advice on fizzy drinks and breastfeeding - some suggest it can cause colic so maybe it's the stuff in them that can cause wind rather than the bubbles

What mobiles are people using? I want to get on for ds but kiddicare had none yesterday (it's closing so was a nightmare in there too!)

ismarah the mw told her that the HV would be concerned about the microwave steriliser...

kiwi nipple shields really helped me through a tough few days hope they are good for you too!

plate and coco from what I've read the more you express the more you can express so don't be disheartened if not much at first!

I think it was this thread I asked about delatching sleeping chewing baby- well tried and compressing boob to get him to drink more- 15mins of screaming only calmed by going back on boob and now chewing again! Arhh!

auntie that would make more sense!

On amounts when expressing: it really seems so far to vary for me depending on when I do it. Had been getting around 1-2oz mid morning ish and with a manual - got up after the 4-5am feed this morning to try and got 3.5oz with the electric. Also have been told that the amount you can express is no reflection on your supply: babies are way better at getting milk out of you than pumps!

coco that solo time sounds tough. DH has been managing to get home by 6-6.30 but I know I start counting the hours till then from about 4pm so kudos to you for managing by yourself until 9.

ickle that's really frustrating! This morning DS is doing similar by pulling off due to wind attacks.

its thats why ds pulls off gets awful wind.

If only get a few oz how much do I need to leave for a proper feed?

coco will it always be so late or is this a particularly busy time for dh? I would also be struggling

Dd has had horrid wind for the last 24 hours too...vomits and sleep refusal and coming on and off the breast. Is there something in the air?! I think it's due to my milk coming too fast- she really gasps and gulps and chokes when feeding- does anyone know what I can do to help this? Will it just settle down? If it's still a problem tomorrow I might go to a bf cafe or ring a helpline.

I'm venturing out today on the bus. Terrified isn't the word. Work colleagues desperate to see baby but it's scary- what do I need to take with me? Just nappies, spare clothes, changing kit? What if she gets hungry on the way and screams?

Aware I am being a big baby about all of this

Ickle this page on Kellymom has a handy calculator: kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

tea I'm still terrified and I'm 3 and a half weeks in! Been trying to leave the house (just to go to the shops at the end of the road for the last half hour but DS won't settle. May have to just plonk him in the baby carrier and hope that he'll fall asleep once I start moving! Attempting to knock him out now with one final feed.

I had the same problem with the fast let down and was advised both to hand express a little before latching on, and then to recline as much as possible when feeding so that gravity was working against the flow - seemed to help and DS seemed to adapt after a few days.

fox82 is the other facebook admin. its a closed group so you can post pics!

still catching up with thread...

We have a Fisher-Price jungle mobile thing. It plays three different pieces of music and does a rainforest sound and the movement makes DD smile immediately. I didn't really look much at any others to be honest though.

We have a microwave steriliser and a tank for Milton tabs. Where we are the water is very hard and the Milton leaves everything slightly tacky. The microwave doesn't seem to as much. With both you have to wash the bottles and everything quite carefully to get rid of any milk curds - and as l

(Bugger - posted too soon - left handed typing - feeding)

...as long as you wash everything they both seem to sterilise just fine but I've come to prefer the microwave. It feels more like boiling which is how we used to do it back in the day. When I was my little siblings' unpaid babysitter for years..

I'm so old.

It's my first day at home alone with DS (who is 3) and DD. DS's childminder is on holiday and DH is at work. I'm trying to get DS to fall asleep for his afternoon nap (on sentry duty outside is room) before DD wakes up! DH's parents and brother are arriving this evening thank goodness!

It was so difficult to entertain DS, feed DD, make DS and me lunch, bath DD and do the final prep for guests this morning and I could do with a nap and a cheeky chocolate eating session out of sight of DS.

I've still got a lump from where I had mastitis. I went back to the oby-gyn emergencies at the hospital and the dr doesn't think it is anything to worry about but prescribed an ultrasound just to check, and that's next week. Dr said it wasn't an abscess but it feels scarily similar to the last abscess I had in the same place but without the redness.

Must remember to call the midwife to get a prescription for a pump. I'm going to see how I get on with one on loan before I buy. It's brilliant being able to get a double hospital grade from the pharmacy and costs are covered by social security and my top up health insurance.

DS still not asleep. Gagging for a cup of tea and some chocolate and maybe a piece of the carrot cake I made on Saturday.

DP is really struggling and I don't know how to help him :(

He has to help himself, unfortunately. All you can do is make it clear to him that it's OK to struggle and that you support him and you'd like him to get some help.

But help can mean different things to different people. In some cases it's the GP, medication, therapy etc, in others it's your priest / rabbi / imam etc. Or exercise or meditation or a little cry...

You could call your HV? I don't know if that would bypass the GP - in our surgery our GP is something of a bottleneck, a barrier to services.

Thanks, guys. Will pop a message through to Fox and MrsB.

ickle Boots only had their own-brand nipple shields, which it turns out are completely rubbish so I hate using them. MW agreed that I should get the Medela ones (which is what we wanted) so will have to order them in. I hope they're better because my nipples really need the help. Baby is latching on properly; it just hurts for now.

I know ismarah its just so hard to watch :( I'm seem to be spending my days comforting a crying baby or DP this week. I think its just sinking in that she's gone. But then how am I supposed to help him when I can't comprehend that she's gone either? She should be here telling me what DP was like as a baby and spoiling her only grandchild.

He went to the GP a couple of weeks ago who recommended counselling and gave him some contacts but when he called cruse he was put off because the person who answered the phone spoke really bad English.

HV knows what's happened - she's due again on Wednesday but DP will be here so not sure whether there will be chance to discuss it.

Sorry I've been absent, I seem to loose days to my little girl.

Auntie- I don't have any useful advice but just to say I'm thinking of you.

Tea, I have the same problems feeding DD, she coughs, vomits after feeds and my milk is still spraying everywhere. We don't have it cracked ourselves really, but I agree with Its to try and feed laid back and hand express a little at the start if you need to - don't express a lot though or you'll end up increasing your supply, which doesn't help! Also take a look at kellymom or Le Leche League for info on block feeding. I've kind of tried that but it's hard when the other book gets so full! Keeping DD upright after feeds helps here too.

Feeding has improved a lot and getting DD's tongue tie snipped last Monday seems to have made a difference. She still doesn't open her mouth that wide though - I guess it's just perseverance and practice?

Our night wake ups are getting LONG too as it takes ages to settle her back to sleep - night before last we were up for three hours for feed, nappy, feed, wind, more feed as she'd fallen off the boob the second time, then settling her - just as she dropped off, poo explosion so had to change nappy, sleepsuit and vest! She's gorgeous though so that helps...

MrsA thank you. It takes me ages to settle ds in the night too especially as he's more alert now and spends some time 'playing'!

Auntie you can call the HV and explain? Then they'd know to try and help? Also there's Samaritans, Mind, and the Black Dog Tribe. You could also find s counsellor outside of the NHS and pay for it (somewhere in the region of £30-40 per session)...or depending on jobs you might be able to get it through employers. For instance universities offer staff and students counselling.

There might also be free services (you're in Bristol?) that he could access - meditation or something via the library or local orgs.

And talking is good, no matter what. Drinking is not helpful, not that I'm suggesting that you or he does, it's just that it's a depressant.

auntie really sorry that things are so hard - it's two massive life events in a v short time. If Cruse don't seem v good are there any local voluntary bereavement services nearby? When my mum died I managed to get free counselling from a local group and it was really helpful.

DS is being a bit of a nightmare this evening and not being sated by anything. So much for our great 'DH will do the last feed before bed' plan :( still feeding/burping/comforting and it's been like this since 5pm apart from when we got him to sleep via a walk round the block in a sling :(

Sympathy its ds is like that every night 5-9 when falls asleep- had friends over this eve whose baby was the same. Nice somehow just to know it will end eventually!

auntie is there anything practical he can do to remember her? So hard and rubbish that when he made step in right direction to ask for help was put off...

mrsa know the feeling re length of time feeding compared to up for!

Cluster feeding is the worst. I'll be lucky if I have any nipples left by the end of tonight.

Woot. Insomnia. DD is actually asleep, albeit in the bed next to me rather than in her bed, and I'm just lying here.

Anyone that had s section have a lumpy bit under the skin anywhere by the incision? I wonder if there's an un-dissolved stitch there as it pulls a bit in a way that hurts if I move wrong. Have 6w checkup next week though so will ask then.

ismarah I've had that insomnia before absolutely wrecks you!

kiwi hope it doesn't last much longer!

Right so very post natal question- how long before everyone stopped bleeding post labour? Especially those with large tears/stitches? 4 weeks and I'm still going. Went to nurse to check all stil healing well post infection and she wasn't very reassuring. ..got some advice and to go back in a week but still bit worried. ..