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've been really poorly- think it's a urine infection, got antibiotics. Had high temperature and horrible shivering which has made feeding/looking after dd really difficult. Luckily dh came home from work yesterday and is off today but it's scary how much dd needs me and how horrible it is when I'm not able to look after her properly.

Need to look into expressing milk!

Oh dear tea hope antibiotics kick in soon so glad dp off to help- just so you know when I was on antibiotics ds was pooing constantly! Nothing to worry about just to be aware!

auntie glad hv met dh hope he is ok, rubbish that you didn't get much sleep- keep resting up as you can

Ds refused to sleep at friends house this afterafternoon so came home he's now asleep but no idea how tonight will go as totally out of routine. ..its funny if you ask me if we had a routine I would say no but actually he would normally have slept from 1-3ish then be awake now! Oh well at least it's the weekend!

Anyone still waiting for babies? DP went back to work Monday after a month off together.... He looked after me too well, I've barely lifted a finger and now I've been thrown in the deep end.

Had DD2's 1 week check at her doctor today (no health visitors here, all kids have paediatricians). She's gained 7oz since we left hospital on Sunday and is only 4oz below birth weight so is well on track to regain her birth weight. Got to take her back for a quick weight check next week.

Oh dear fifi so lovely that you had so much time together! Does he work weekends? If not enjoy next 2 days. Can anyone come help next week to make it a bit easier? Guessing anyone awaiting babies hasn't come to this postnatal thread yet!

nancy that is fab news congrats! Weekend of celebration no doubt

Hi all good to hear you are all coping well despite the lack of sleep and feeding worries. DD is also difficult to wind. I have found that by winding her on my shoulder for a bit, then laying her down for a few moments while rubbing tummy and lifting her to my shoulder again she generally does a burp or fart. Sometimes it takes a few goes.

I am officially the worlds worst mother. Prepare to hoik your judgy pants ...

I am at my mums for a week while DH works long hours harvesting, she lives beside the seaside. On wednesday I took bean (4.5 weeks) out in a rubber dingy and also paddled her in the sea. This is in Norfolk so the sea is cold. I keep wandering off and leaving others to take care of her. Last night I went to the pub for 3 hours with my siblings. I didn't worry or call once while I was there (3 hours). I got a kebab on way home and ate it before I took over from my DPs who were up with bean.

OK, so the dingy ride bean was in my arms and we were in the shallows being pulled up and down by three burly male relatives and the sea was actually not that cold. I also trust my DPs with bean completely, she adores them and is fully bottle fed. I also only had three G&Ts last night and hadn't had a kebab for years .

Back home this morning to the dreaded interfering PILs. Apart from having missed DH I am really not looking forward to it .

Hi, everyone!

Can I jump on this bus? DD and DS born on the 30th of July by EMCS, at 34 weeks so are teeny tiny but coming home from the special care unit this coming week! Yay!

I haven't had time to read the whole thread yet, but would like to say hello and congratulations to you all

Here DD is not the problem (other than the entirely normal newborn feeding marathons), it's DS. He seems to have this amazing ability to wake up and come into our bedroom after I have done DD's 3am and 6am ish feeds. So I can spend 1 hour feeding and then another hour in DS's room. And then he comes in at 6am demanding that I get out of bed!

DD ( 6 weeks old) seemed to feed constantly between 5pm and 11pm last night. Every time I thought she was deeply asleep and put her down she woke up!

Sympathy to those of you who are struggling with colic.

PILs and BIL are here doing a brilliant job entertaining DS and generally being useful. I think I will cry when they leave!

I've got an ultrasound on Monday to check my post-mastitis breast lump. I'm desperately hoping it is not an abscess. It feels suspiciously similar to the lump I had when I had an abscess with DS. If it does turn out to be an abscess I think it could well be the end of BFing for me.

Prepares to judge Liquid...only THREE G&Ts?? Slacker.

Whoever recommended MAM 0-2m pacifiers is a certified genius and pacifiers are amaze.balls. Bean now falls asleep with a pacifier on a regular basis rather than scream her head off. Still reluctant / struggling to do poos.

I've been BF as a top up - our BF/FF balance got all shifted round early on - but bean isn't interested any more. She likes the cuddling but boobies seem to be too empty now to be fun so I guess that's the end of that.

We have our 6w check-ups next week. Unfortunately, it's with my GP as he's one of three listed in my baby book as suitable. Bah humbug.

Welcome Poycastle and congratulations.

Excellent news ismarah I am now definitely getting MAM pacifier- finally persuaded DH that worth it to save my nipples- best not to ask if not read previously in the thread!

liquid no judgement here only jealousy! Some disadvantages for breastfeeding- and really must start expressing. Your parents sound fab! Hope in laws can be put to use? Cooking? Cleaning? Gardening? Food shopping? Anything to get them out of the way?

foxtrot honestly seems like 2 is far to much like hard work...may just stick with 1! (the thought of labour again is enough to put me off for many years!)

Welcome poycastle!

Welcome, poycastle and congrats on the birth of your twins! Lovely that they are coming home.

Baby Kiwi's cord stump started bleeding this afternoon (and has a bit of pus, plus a little bit of redness to one side) so I am naturally paranoid that she's got an infection. Waiting for NHS 24 to call back. Of course it happens when MW and I agreed that she didn't need to see us till Monday. Not sure whether I can get the weekend team to come out tomorrow but going to leave a message for them if NHS 24 says it sounds normal, just to make sure it looks ok. DD1's cord fell off after about 5 days. It does throw a curveball when things don't happen the same way!

grouchy we had a touch of redness around cord stump and were told to keep an eye on it, but if the area didn't feel hot to touch it was OK.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by clingy DS - I end up holding him more or less 24 hrs a day as he generally won't sleep lying anywhere else.

DH has generally been great but has used about 3 days of his paternity leave engrossed in a difficult and entirely non essential DIY project, at least I'm getting some insight into how days will be when he is back at work next week.

Improving BFing - now just using formula for top-ups 2-3 times a day. But milk supply not abundant which partly think relates to me - am below my pre-pregnancy weight already, feel like a bag of bones and have a poor appetite. All NCT buddies are moaning about bad eating habits and needing to lose weight so don't feel I can moan about being too skinny with them, but am genuinely a bit concerned it's impacting my milk.

moresnow you deserve a medal for exclusively expressing. I did it with DS4 and it was really hard work.

auntie glad the hv has met your DH and could offer some advice

Welcome poycastle. Glad your twins are coming home. My youngest 2 were both in special care. DS4 was in for 4 weeks which was awful but DS5 was only in special care for 5 days and then 2 days on the postnatal ward with me.

I made it out of the house on my own with all 5 children this week. Only to the shop down the road but it felt like a big achievement. HV has said DS5 doesn't need to be weighed until 12 weeks now. Seems a bit weird to me as my others were all weighed a lot more often. When I went to breastfeeding group the other mums there said that they'd been told that too but they were all going to the baby clinic and getting their babies weighed there most weeks. I've got to go to baby clinic next week anyway to get DS4's head measured so I'll probably get DS5 weighed while I'm there if he's awake.

Welcome poycastle and congrats on your twins

plate look up galactagogues. They're certain foods that are supposed to increase milk supply like oats. Might help?

Well, Baby got the cord clamp caught between her knees at nappy change time and pulled out her stump while she was stretching! It made a little popping noise, which was gross. Was still waiting for NHS24 to call, so called them again to let them know this had happened. It looked better without the stump there so have just left a message for MW to see if they can pop around tomorrow. Will keep an eye on things in meantime.

Plate agree with Nancy re oats, and fennel tea is meant to be good for supply. But if you're worried about your weight I'd bring that up with HV and/or GP at the 6-week check up.

Kiwi DDs stump stank and then when it fell off it was a bit bleedy but stopped smelling. I kept wiping it with very weak salt water and it soon cleared up.

Plate I have been eating porridge whenever concerned about milk supply. It is also an excellent slow release form of energy.

Just had a 4.5 hour feeding crying frenzy here. Always consider switching to formula during these moments. My poor nipples. Or rather just my poor left nipple. The right one is still intact. Think dd has finally nodded off therefore it is bed time. Rock and roll eh!!

incapinka sounds very familiar! By end of crying/feeding nightmare I'm always shattered and fall asleep....normally a midnight feed feels far later because of this! Tonight however we seem to have missed this feed and gone from 9-2!

Hope stumps clear up soon! Really nasty but at least the warm weather quickens the drying speed and then can bath properly after it falls off!

ellie that is a huge achievement congratulations - I feel proud when me and my little one get out and about

Is jealous at liquid's pub trip. DH and I have managed 1 pint and 1 lemonade at the pub at the end of our road before having to flee back home with a hungry baby!

Inca -sympathy on the nipple front - DS's 48 hour feeding frenzy seems to be trailing off now (fingers crossed) but my nipples are still recovering!

Ellie - well done on escaping the house with all 5 in tow :)

Kiwi - our midwife gave us some antiseptic powder to put on DS' cord stump. That and making sure we cleaned it with cooled boiled water everyday cleaned up any nastiness - I think it was a bit bloody looking for a couple of days after falling off.

Hello poycastle - glad your twins are coming home soon!

Anyone else having a christening/naming ceremony? DS was 6 months when we had his so we had nice May weather, not sure if I should hold on for a similar age and have it in the Christmas/new year period or do it younger and get some warmer late summer/autumn weather.... Not the biggest problem in the world I know!

fifi we will be having christening thinking jan time prob best, had considered doing before Christmas but cousins wedding end of oct so would then be 3 'family events' in close succession succession

MW coming around sometime today, which means I can't go to church. Admit that I did cry about that. Feeling a bit emotional; today; is there a Day 10 Blues?

fifi We hope to get DD2 baptised in early January. My parents will be across from NZ and DH has a big birthday so his parents will be up from England.

Wretched extra semicolon isn't supposed to be there.

We will be having a thanksgiving service for DS5 at some point. DH is keen to do it asap but I want to wait a bit as I think I'll enjoy it more if I'm less tired.

fifi have been thinking about christening for months now. Haven't actually done anything. We are not regulars at our local church as tended to go to the one we got married in but really feel we need to start making an appearance at services now. We have already asked the godparents before bean was born and have announced them. One couple is non religious so they are secular godparents and the other couple will be the religious god parents. I really wanted to do it very soon (October?) as DD is very cute at the moment and then I can relax and not have to plan anything until her birthday next year. Also I was never christened as a child due to the powers that be not liking my parents being one catholic, one CofE. Was turned down many times by both churches as neither parent would convert so I want the reassurannce of DD being christened ASAP. However DH starts a new job on 1st sept which will involve working every other weekend and we don't know which weekends he will be working yet. Annoying.

Have been a bit down since I got back from my mums, really feeling prickly about the PILs at the moment and not sure how to handle it. Its difficult to see them with bean without thinking of the accusations they have been saying about our parenting. . I'm sure I'll get over it but it just makes me wary and I was not happy that DH took bean to see them this morning on his way to the supermarket but I had to grit my teeth and let him get on with it.