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

Now that everyone has had their babies I have posted DS5's long and scary birth story here in the facebook group.

plate I'm in a similar situation with clingy ds. If I'm really careful I can put him in his swing when he's asleep and he doesn't wake up- I don't turn it on but I think he likes it because he likes to sleep fairly upright. Also I'm back to pre pregnancy weight with little appetite - I'm just trying to drink plenty and eat healthy when I do eat. Breastfeeding doesn't seem to be affected so far... Mind you i still need to lose about 4 stone!

kiwi a mw in the hospital said days 7 and 10 were also hard so quite possibly. Take care of yourself.

So we went to stay with DPs aunt for the weekend so ds was very fussed over but he slept last night from 8 til about 11:30, then 2:30 til about 6:30 and then 7 til 10 after I took him into bed to feed him and then we woke him because we were getting up! I had about 6 hours sleep!

Ellie thank you for sharing your birth story. It sounds like it was very dramatic. Has it helped you to write it down?

I've been waiting for everyone to have their babies before saying how much I was loving all the cheese, rare steak, cured meats and smoked salmon that I couldn't have when pregnant. (French recommendations are more restrictive than UK)

We have already booked DD's christening for October. Invitations have been printed and will be sent this week. We can't leave it too late if DD is to have any hope of fitting in the family heirloom christening gown! Big issue will be whether DD's passport arrives in time...

I hope I can put DD down now so I can go downstairs and stuff my face with chocolate. Or maybe ice cream. Or maybe I'll have some chocolate while I wait for the ice cream to soften.

Oh ellie that was really scary poor you! I feel like a wimp moaning about my labour! Btw I love your boys names

fox those things are banned in pregnancy in the UK too though after craving pate and cheese in pregnancy when I couldn't have it I'm not bothered now and still haven't had it! DS is guaranteed to wake when I want to do those things too and gets most annoyed if I try to eat whilst feeding him!

DD kindly agreed to being put down for 5 minutes while I went downstairs and got chocolate. My long sausage shape maternity pillow is perfect for holding my iPad and a plate of chocolate while I'm feeding.

fox good work on the chocolate am now contemplating when ds goes down sneaking down and having some!

Well last night was officially the worst yet! I thought all was going well, screaming 6-9 went up to bed, breast fed at 9 straight away, fast asleep waited good 20mins, floppy arm, snoring you name it. Put him down and eyes wide open, 2h later still screaming so we get in car drive 30mins fast asleep, get home and awake. However would allow me to feed him so back to sleep and finally went down...until 3am thank goodness, now hoping for at least a couple more hours. Have to see gp this morning as stitches still not healing. Because I get upset when talking about this to health visitor and generally gind colic very hard to cope with she referred me as concerned about my wellbeing. I guarantee that I will be emotional wreck after so little sleep! I am coping fine in day and with dh help we manage in the eve. Just don't know what they will recommend!

ickle that sounds very challenging. I often find that DD wakes up when I put her down when apparently fast asleep (e.g. Chocolate episode above where I got 5 mins before I was summoned back). In the evening I just keep offering to feed until she finally stays asleep when I put her down. Often it is just a little bit of a suckle before she falls asleep and we try again. But no colic here yet. I've no idea about your referral, but it is good that someone is looking out for you. I quite agree that lack of sleep is a good way to make you very emotional.

DD and DS have let me have a 6 hour uninterrupted sleep! I hope that this is going to continue and not just a one off...

Oh the trials and tribulations of a newborn, our DD sleeps well at night, like an old drunk all dozy and fill of milk! Come daylight hours it's a different story, she feeds for longer, gets more wind and screams in between the feeding, she will sleep in my arms but when I try to put her down she's wide awake and wanting more milk!! Managed to put her in her car seat a a get it into the pram for an walk yesterday afternoon and she slept in that for an hour but I woke her as didn't want her to sleep in it too l

Gag fat fingers!

Didn't want get sleeping in car seat too long! It's frustrating as it makes going out in the day difficult as I don't want a screaming baby in a public place - actually makes me anxious thinking about it! A true test today, we have to go and register her birth at 3.15 in town and that's usually cluster feeding time so ill report back on whether we had a complete meltdown or we managed to do it! DH still on paternity for another week and I really don't want him to go back to work next week!

DD doesn't want to be put down tonight (now 11.45pm). She'll take a dummy but it doesn't stay in her mouth so she just gets mad. I need some sleep! She's been spoiling us the last few nights with good sleep so I'm thinking growth spurt (9 days old). She's just pulled off my nipple and is asleep but I bet she'll wake the second I put her down as has been the pattern for the last 2 hours.

nancy and fox someone needs to invent something safe for babies to sleep in that is comfy for them!

howly I get the same about ds in car seat for too long and 2h goes too quickly!

fox I do exactly the same at night just keep offering milk and as you say often just comfort suck. Going to buy a dummy today and try that tonight. ..

Ds woke up 5.30 obviously still tired but fed then wouldn't sleep - not helped by dh getting up. Finally fallen asleep on me- been 20mins can't face more screaming so not moving for a while!

ickle they need to invent something mummy shaped and warm!

I'm the same about ds being in the car seat for long as it's not good for their little bodies and I'm sure he has worse episodes of colic/wind when he's been in it for a while earlier in the day like yesterday when we had a 4 hour drive home and he was really bad with wind last night even though we stopped and took him out. The shame is that even though he screams like mad when you put him in it he can sleep really well in it!

It takes me about 2 hours to put ds to bed at night between feeding winding and trying to put him down without waking him. Last night I sat with him in the dark until I could feel all his wind had gone after giving him gripe water and he barely stirred when I put him down. Wrapping him in a blanket helps as he's not being put down onto cold sheets then but I need to find some way of warming where his heads goes. I tried the hot water bottle trick but by the time I got to put him down it was cold and it was hard moving it whilst holding him!

Going to try to start a routine this week - but if he's asleep do I wake him to start routine of Bath, feed and bed?

Everyone going through hours of effort to get their babies down at night - do you have to go through entire process again once they wake for a feed? And if so how do you get any sleep at al?!

Also how do people manage with BFing in bed? For some reason we really struggle to latch on in bed, which means he gets cranky during night feeds and we inevitably end up getting up and going to sit on the nursing chair in the next room. Just means everything takes longer, he is more awake, etc.

Am also starting to hate bednest as much as DS as it just sits there empty all night as he won't sleep in it, then forms an obstacle to getting out of bed (particularly fun when holding a screaming baby)

moresnow that sounds tough!

For formula night feeds I just keep a sterilised bottle and one of the pre-mixed mini bottles of formula by the bed. Expensive but saves a lot of faff - works for me as I'm only giving him formula when we have a BFing failure, which tends to mean screaming baby and neither of us having patience to wait for boiling kettles etc.

moresnow with DS4 I used to get up and put a dvd on while I fed him and expressed. It took 2 hours in total, thankfully he only woke up once a night.

plate sometimes I have to do the entire thing again in the night but mostly just feed, wind and put him back to sleep - I don't change him unless he needs it and he normally goes to sleep easier.

Feeding in bed is hard and gives me back ache so I use the chair in our room or lie on my side with ds on his side and feed like that - I've got big boobs though so this is actually an easier position for me than sitting up. If I'm lucky after winding I lie ds back down for a bit and then transfer him to his crib by just lifting him with a hand under his head and bum which disrupts him less as he's going from flat surface to flat surface but I have to be careful not to fall asleep.

Our room is like an obstacle course with everything in it atm!

moresnow the routine is as much for me as him as I can make a move to go to bed anywhere between 8 and 12 atm and think I may benefit from winding down myself the same time each night but realise this may mean I may not get to sleep every night if ds is awake. So will start bathing him at say 8:30 if he's awake and then feed etc before bed but if he's asleep just take him to bed or go to bed and leave him with dp...

Plate I have to lie back (at least a bit) to feed because I have a lot of milk so BFing in bed works well for us. I sit up to latch and then lie back for the feed. Unfortunately, like the rest of you, the little demon darling wakes up almost as soon as I put her back in bed so for the past couple of nights she's been sleeping on me. I love and hate this in equal measure.

Have decided she's going to have to sleep in the crib instead of her pram during the day to get her used to it, but really I think the biggest problem is that she doesn't like the dark. I think that's weird considering she spent 9 months in the dark, but maybe she just doesn't want to go back to that!

Would anybody like to recommend a bath or a bath support? The support we got is OK but not for little beans that like to kick and propel themselves backwards..

Every bath she's had so far has been a joint one with both of us..

ismarah we have joint baths as well (just more fun that way) but last week at my DMs house we washed her in the sink. Worked a treat and was better for my back.

I tend to leave DD to gurgle with an occiasional whine and she drops off after night feeds.

bad mum alert #2 DD fell asleep on the changing unit so I left her there while I did some jobs. She was there an hour before she woke

Ended up in living room watching Netflix last night and she eventually slept 2-6. Now back in bed and feeding her. Hoping for another couple hours sleep!

ismarah we have a shaped bath like this but it's a pain with a little wriggly one especially to try and wash their back and bum! We've got a foam bath thing but I've been using it with a towel over to lie ds on the floor an dry him