October 2006

[Bronze]

Am I the first one here or have I completely missed the thread? If this is the only thread please come and join me
Bron

Hi All,
Totally - Am sure it is 24hrs in fridge and 3 months in the freezer.
Majormoo - missing being pregnant?! I am sooo not - hated everything about it (apart form feeling baby kick) felt so ill the whole time - despite hellish labour and recent lack of sleep/sore nips/probs bf - still feel a million billion times better than I ever did when pg!

Made it out the house today, eventually, everyone kept saying how tiny LO is - should finally be back to her birthweight now - 3 weeks old today! HV comes Friday to weigh her again. expressed milk yesterday and DH used adiri breast bottle - too fast for her though - ended up covered in milk. Bought nuk bottle today and dummy to try that. She loves the dummy so far. ~Met someone who's not so LO is 6 months and huge - looks like she's been feeding him 10000cals a day - was like a sumo wrestler!

have good sleep all - I got 5 straight hours last night - heaven - feel like a human being today - smily and everything.

Where have you all gone?

Well seeing we are all far too busy to get to the pc. My LO slept for 5 hours again last night - could we maybe (fingers crossed) be in a wee routine? 5 hours sleep a night would be great.
What do you all think about the fact that Britain's shops are soo not designed for prams/wheelchairs? People are pretty rude too - amazing how many people don't hold the door open for you when you are struggling with a pram in a narrow shop door. Not to mention the narrowness of the aisles etc. Must be horrid for wheelchair-users. Also pavement fights!

Here but zonked after another bad night . Not sure what's the matter, but W not a happy baby at the moment. I'm hoping a peaceful day today might help.

BTW, are you giving a bottle of EBM at night? Does it help? Willing to try if it will give us some sleep...

Talking of explosive poos - dp was changing a nappy last night and managed to get pooped on! He was rather shocked to say the least! He was quite prepared to get vomited on countless times like with dd1, but pooped on from a distance!!! It must have travelled a good 18 inches, and god knows how far if dp hadn't been in the way!!!!

Has anyone else experienced bleeding getting worse 1 week after the birth - mainly at night? Should I be worried?

Mamadoo,my bleeding is worse at night,mw says its cos baby feeds alot in evening.Its also heavy when i go to the loo(tmi)sorry.
Well another exhausting night,she wouldnt settle and fed almost all night,ended up falling asleep with her still attached.Am hoping this is just a growth spurt and she goes back to her 5hrs a night sleeps or i may hang myself.She is 2wks today and is now 7lb14oz.My nipples are really sore now though,i think from all the night feeds as she latches on herself and has this habit of rearing back and then chomping down just on the nipple,brings tears to the eyes,but am to tired or asleep so dont correct her,so i suppose its my own fault.Anyone doing expressed feeds? can you let me know how its going,want to get DH to do some but keep being told its to early and she will get confused,but she knows the difference between a dummy and my breast.

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totallyfloaty - we do some expressed feeds, I use a Tommee Tippee closer to nature bottle which he finds quite easy to latch onto. It is nice to watch DH feeding him, but I felt a little bit jealous at first.

Am back on antibiotics for mastitis so LO's tummy is a bit sore - back to restless nights and days then. Think he's also having a growth spurt as he's been feeding non stop all day. Thankfully just gone down for a nap, unfortunately not at same time as DD who has just woken up...

My bleeding was worst at night too. And had days when had no bleeding at all only to have massive flood (sorry for tmi) at night after feeding him.

Oh bugger, can hear him crying...so much for my cup of coffee...

p.s Milliee...put that baby down and go and make yourself some food!! You need to eat to maintain your milk supply...

Gemmity - just hijacking this thread for a minute to alert you to the thread "Adoptions: all my bags are packed...." there is another mnetter who is heading out to Kazakhstan to finalise an adoption. I think the whole process takes about two months once she gets out there. I hope you don't mind, but I told her you lived out there - thought the two of you might want to meet up when you're back there and settled, as I guess there aren't that many ex-pats around the place....apologies if I overstepped the mark in letting her know you lived there.

totallyfloaty- know exactly how you feel about being discharged from mw.

Reading all your bf-ing experiences kind of makes me wish I hadn't given up. Doctor says if I still have milk its ok to let her suckle, it feels so nice because I haven't the pressure and it calms Samantha a little. Don't think they'll be enough to go back to it full time.

millee- you must eat, you will make yourself ill, I wasn't eating and that why I lost the strength to carry on feeding.

Hi All again,

Hardly any bleeding for me as I had to have manual removal of placenta in theatre - am presuming this is why I've hardly bled at all.
Notice my stitches are going keloid though, so am rubbing calendula oil in to hopefully avoid future probs.

Expressed 2floz last night, another 2 today thinking good am building up reserve supply - only to discover plonker DH had put yesterdays in sterilizer instead of fridge!!! Trying new bottle 2nite so will see if it works better.

Milliee - how are you not collapsing? - you cannot afford to be ill as LO needs you. I am constantly starving I leave her to cry if I need to prepare food, then eat whilst feeding her - you need to look after yourself.

Totally- poor you lack of sleep is horrid. Middle of night feels so lonley and looong!My LO has been sleeping most of 2day so am hoping she is not going to be keeping me up all night!

Baby been asleep for 3hrs,know i should nap too,but been running around doing washing,catching up on emails and spending time with my other 2dds,4 dogs and 2 cats.
Millee,will lend you my DH,he went off to do a show today and was so worried i wouldnt get to eat he baked a chicken pie,lasagne and made a bannana cake.He only away for 1 day!But you really need to make time to eat,either get someone to make food and leave it for you or when lo asleep make a couple of rounds of sarnies to have on standby,BF is hard work and lack of sleep ruins appetite but force yourself or you will become ill or end up with PND.goodluck

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Hi all!

Whiffy, that's fine about Kazakh adoption mum: I have to say I know people who have had frustrating experiences trying to adopt from there, but hopefully it will go ok for her...

mamado, I'm also getting bleeding, think it's stopped but then it starts again. thought it was cos of doing exercise, but then I haven't exercised for a couple of days and nothing changed..

totally, Darius does that chomping and rearing thing, like a shark in a feeding frenzy! I think he's just playing. I did expressing one night and DH fed him, but the funny thing was it really upset me; I felt so left out, and I felt as if it was an artificial separation from him and the steriliser felt so clinical and wrong etc etc that I cried! (hormones) Will have to get used to it as going back to work when he's 3 months. Will have another go tomorrow (would be great if DH was doing the 10-11pm feed).

Am still on the unmentionable routine and must say it's good to the extent that I know when I'm going to get sleep (11.30 pm till 2.30 am, then 3.30 am till 7 am. ) But still would like to be getting a nice long stretch of sleep.

Does anyone know, by the by, how long a baby of 2 weeks is supposed to suck on the breast? I'm giving only one breast at each feed as he doesn't seem able to empty it, and he feeds hungrily for 20-25 minutes but then really doesn't want any more. Just be interested to know how long you're doing..

Talking of which I've almost missed the next feed! Argh! Back on the breast..

Gemmity: I thin it varies massively, W usually only takes one breast and feeds for 10-20 mins (I think I have a fast let-down, tho, as tend to spurt milk!). He'll sometimes take more during the day, andwhen he's cluster feeding at night.

Much better night last night - used dummy to soothe him when he'd finished feeding and he slept for 3 1/2 hrs . Then another feed at 5 and more sleep (without dummy) until the postman woke him up at 7:30. How long will this last?

Hope everyone's having a good day. My mum and dad are about to turn up for their first visit, so preparing for boarders...

milliee - is your LO in a crib? if so are they getting cold at 3am and so wanting to cuddle and feed for warmth? Only say this cos its been freezing here the past couple of nights and Edward has woken up at 4 - I brought him into my bed to feed and both times he just sucked for 5 mins then nodded off to sleep once he was warm. I really would rather he slept in his crib as I am paranoid about rolling on him etc, but at the same time it is LOVELY snuggling him.
Another thought is that maybe you're anaemic post delivery, and sometimes can also get thyroid problems after PG both of which could make you feel a bit 'slow' so if you aren't getting better with more food and reasonable amounts of sleep maybe you should see your GP?

Re length of feeds - totally variable here - about half an hour to 40mins at night and in morning, 10 mins in middle of night, 10-15mins in day time. But past 2 days has been virtually constantly stuck to my boob.

pmoore - if you wanted to you could restart BFing - especially if you still have some milk. If you wanted to then post a message on the relevant forum for advice - think it involves fair bit of expressing for few days to stimulate your supply.

and gemmity - i did exactly the same when DH fed baby - cried my eyes out and felt really jealous. No idea why...

It does seem to vary with the amount of time they spend on the boob: Very relieved now as we just had Darius weighed and his hearing tested: and he is quite porky! Born only 6 pounds 2 (the smallest one on this thread (and I ate SO much when I was pregnant!) so he was 2.8 kg and is now 3.4 kg at 3 weeks. So very relieved about that; he must be getting enough. I was just panicked because in the she who must not be named book she keeps talking about feeds of 2 x 20 minutes or a 20 minutes on one side then 35 on the other, even in the very early weeks and he has never taken that much..

Anyway all is well.

Good luck with the relatives swizzler: we've now had my mum, MIL and my Dad (and already staying with the ILs). SIL, BIL and their baby were coming this weekend but now not cos a baby in her creche has chicken pox. It's nice when the visitors come, but it's also nice when they leave

Sallyrosie, I think it must be something quite primitive, feeling like someone else is feeding the baby and it's the mother's job. Hope I get over this before going back to work!

sallyrosie- thanks for the advice, I would love to go back to BFing even if it was for one or two feeds a day.

My mum has taken LO out for a walk to visit my nan, first time we have been separate, I had big ideas of sleeping for two hours but I'm too on edge. I feel bad for leaving her. DP wants to take me for a quick drink but I just want Samantha back!

milliee- hope you are eating more decently now?

Now when I was breast feeding the midwife told me to feed the baby until she literally fell asleep and came off herself. Now I don't think Samantha actually ever did that.

BTW for anyone that still has their post natal care plan don't forget that the midwife will eventually take it. I have photocopied mine as a keepsake - interesting to compare to next time!

pmoore-hope you managed your drink with DH. the first couple of weeks bfing are so hard i can understand why people give up. you could call the nct line for advice if you want to give it another go. i called with dd when i was at my wits end with her constant feeding, and they were really helpful.

I feel crap today. Every day ds has a 4 hour feeding frenzy where he just constantly feeds. Last night it was from 10.30pm-2.30am. So tired. he did then sleep til 7 which is good. i honestly do not know how i will cope when dh goes back to work and my mum-who is staying next week-goes home.

have not tried expressing yet as his feeding habits are so erratic at the moment but will do. i agree there is something quite primitive that makes you want to be the one to hold/feed your baby

feeds here totally vary in length.

Good news re the weight gain Gemmity. I was a bit bothered about the length of feeds as well, but the mw was completely unconcerned.

Took W to the doctor's today as was worried he was a bit wheezy - nothing to worry about as he's feeding well, just a bit of mucus from the birth whicih should sort itself out (phew).

Milliee: hope you're getting more food and rest. Is it worth getting in lots of stuff that doesn;t require cooking and which you can eat 1-handed? Pmoore: hope you managed to enjoy your brief break. You do need a little time to yourself every now and again - DH is really good at minding W while I slope off for a nap.

Mum and Dad have gone - it was nice to see them, but so peaceful now! MIL arrives tomorrow, then I think we've done most of the family visitors. FIL can't be bothered to come down and see his first grandchild cos it's too far to drive

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So glad to hear that milliee! You sound exactly like I was after my daughter was born - having been high flier at work I was determined to be the best SAHM and housewife...ended up running myself into the ground...this time round I have no choice but to let things slide but I feel much much better for it. The time goes soooo fast: just enjoy cuddling your LO and sod the housework!

Def ignore the housework and the crumbs Milliee

We hit the 3 wk groeth spurt - W feeding every hour last night so am rather bleary today! DH and MIL have taken the baby out for a walk so I've managed a bath and will shortly be returning to bed.

Hi all. it's good to be on the post natal thread at last!

Toby is doing well but I have felt really emotional for the last couple of days, not unhappy at all I just keep crying at how lucky I am to have my two lovely boys. DS1 is being so lovely with the baby, I'm just spending the whole day with a tissue in my hand.

Im also struggling with the breast feeding. It started off relly well but then i got so sore my mw told me to give myself a rest for 24hrs and now I can't seem to satisfy him. I had been giving top uo formula feeds as he is such big baby but they are now getting more and the breast feeding less. I feel really sad about it all, I realy thought it would work better this time but I just don't think it suits me. My DH has said to stop if I want too as a week is better than nothing but I just feel like i'm giving up too soon again.