November 2014 - newborn thread!

[Greenstone]

Welcome to all the November 2014 babies! Let all the post partum rejoicing and angst begin...

Hey ladies sorry it's been a few days. Hope you've all had good-ish weekends?! I'm not looking forward to my first full week at home on my own as DP back at work...

Just catching up on posts and wanted to share with you that a breastfeeding apron might be handy for those who want to feed in public but not want everything on display - I got my 'palm and beach' one on amazon for £8 haven't tried it outside yet just practicing on the sofa lol it's got a handy little wire at the top that helps shape it so you can see in but others can't

Definitely use infacol it helped massively this end and DS does at least one massive burp post feed and seems to go down easier. According to hubby LO can't overdose on it either (he's checked!)

Still struggling this end with a sore cracked left nipple ow ow ow! Have been to breastfeeding clinic which was useful (well that day at least!) but basically I need to retrain DS how to latch on - he's now 17 days old so not holding out much hope eek! Seems easier said than done. Got emotional last night and nearly abandoned BF completely as in so much pain. Will try and go back again this week on the cafe thing for more advice. In the meantime I'm using a nipple shield in the hope it might help actual nipple recover fingers crossed! Any idea how long I should use it for? Thanks for your tips Twiglet & Moggle using Lansinoh and airing baps as much as poss just hard going when you've got little monster screaming in middle of the night not to shove boob in :)

So my MIL has become more enlightened in the past 3 years. There was no talk of bottles or dummies and I wasn't asked to feed upstairs.
DD2 has a terrible rash on her face, scalp and a little bit on her chest and back. I think it is erythema toxicum, which is common and harmless despite its name, but it does seem to be a severe case which isn't getting better after over a week. I might try and get a doctor's appointment tomorrow just to be sure. That would mean leaving the house with both girls at a specific time which seems like quite a challenge. Even after 4 weeks I am not at all used to having 2 children.

mama, I also have a badly cracked left nipple. I feel your pain :(
Just when I think we're starting to crack it after a couple of fairly good feeds, I get a bad latch again and he makes me bleed The right side is so much better now, after only a week, so I'm feeling quite confident we'll get there in the end though. Could you try expressing and feeding from a cup for a feed or two, to give yourself a bit of a rest? I don't know about nipple shields, but I did try using a cup from time to time in the early days with DS1.

I'm using my mobile A LOT at the moment. Mainly for company during these very long drawn out cluster feeds at night, but also for white noise to calm the baby.

Anyone else worried about the phone effecting the baby somehow?

Well tonight had a total meltdown about my episiotomy pain. Can't even wipe myself without wanting to scream, 12 days on.

Going to GP tomorrow & will demand earth moon and stars. Wish me luck, I can't take this anymore, tbh.

Honestly the last two weeks have been more debilitating than the labour.

Certainly a night for it! Dd has the sniffles so is a bit unsettled tonight.
Gonna buy some saline drops in morning but think thats all she can have at 3 weeks ?
I have popped a folded towel under her matress in carrycot so its just slightly raised. Sure she caught it from me :(
My lower tummy and c section scar is v numb and tender still ( still in mat leggings as cant bear anything tight on it at all ) has anyone used oil to rub on theirs ?

Pinkgirly yes have thought about expressing and might try that in daylight tomorrow to see if any better.

Annarose I'd definitely get to your doctors / urgent care centre as I ended up on antibiotics after getting an infection following my episiotomy. Get yourself checked over it shouldn't be that painful I wouldn't have thought

Bellyrub haven't really thought about mobile use & baby tbh, but like you it's been my best friend over the last few weeks...

Lisad the saline drops are brilliant and really helped with dd's stuffiness. You shouldn't need much else. Sorry to hear that your little one is snuffle too!

I want to cry - we have MICE. I nearly had a meltdown this morning, I know it's the time of year that they come in and all (we live in an estate that backs onto wild land so have had this issue before) but I just hate the thought of them around my children! Dh is good at catching them with traps but he's back at work now and I want them gone ASAP - what if a HV saw one while on a visit!

So me and dd 2 are hanging out in a coffee shop while I get my shit together before returning home. She's asleep in her car seat, so annoying that babies sleep so well in the one thing they're not supposed to stay in too long...

Anna hope you get checked out and get some pain relief, how awful

Oh and I can join you all in the sore left nipple club. Are you all right handed? I am and have wondered if it's something to do with poorer positioning on that side. Dd tends to nipple latch unless I'm really careful. Loads and loads of lansinoh has helped a bit though.

Well, its infected. Also have an abcess down there, joy of joys.

But am actually relieved in a way cos if it wasn't infected then I was looking at a...gulp.... revision.

So hopefully the antibiotics will sort it fairly quickly. I could barely stand in the pharmacy waiting on the script.

In better news, baby has regained his birth weight 2 weeks in. I almost burst with pride. Though I can't claim much credit - he goes at the tit like an alcoholic let loose in a brewery. All I have to do is whip it out!

Greenstone I grew up in a house with mice so am fairly laid back about them. You can get a thing that plugs in that makes a faint clicking noise - it drives them away from that room, so that may be useful for you.

Annarose, sorry to hear it's infected. I'm sure if will feel a lot better quite quickly now you have antibiotics.

I'm now faced with completely rearranging the nursery so I can sleep in there with the baby for the next 6 months. Baby in with me and DP just isn't going to work. She's a very noisy sleeper and last night didn't actually sleep till 5.30am!!!

I don't know why I'm so freaked by them because we often had mice growing up too ( don't most houses at some point?). I think it's the way you spot them moving out of the corner of your eye. And because our place is a bit untidy at the moment with muslin etc everywhere I feel like they could pop out anywhere!

Hopefully the antibiotics will work fast AnnaRose. I am completely pain free down there due to no stitches but have a horrible feeling I might have a mild prolapse. Scared to investigate too much.

Annarose Hope the antibiotics help soon and you will be feeling better.

Greenstone Hope your mice leave soon. I couldn't be doing with them. It is, I suppose, one advantage of our very annoying cats.

I was very impressed this morning to phone my doctors surgery at 8am for an appointment for DD2's rash and be offered one at 8.30! I was also very impressed that I managed to get us dressed and out og the house in 15mins ( thanks to babygros that no one knows if they were pyjamas or if she has got changed ) I was less impressed by the 30mins wait in the waiting room. GP said there was a possibility her skin was becoming infected and prescribed antibiotics. When we got in DH started asking if that was a good idea as he had read research saying that babies who have antibiotics are more likely to become obese, which didn't help. She has turned back into velcro baby now, stopping me from doing any housework, doing anything with DD1 or leaving the house. No sign of DH's paternity leave yet either.

happy I found the cure for velcro baby is to stick them in the sling - ta da, hands back!

Hope you get better soon, anna, and sorry to hear the news but like you say, easily cureable?

greenstone did you have a section too? Why do you think you have a prolapse? Scared of consequences and never really swotted up on sections as I utterly stupidly assumed it wouldn't apply to me.

I have a patch of skin in the inner crease between my leg and 'other areas' which looks like it's been rubbed by something. I don't think it's anything to do with the section, and only noticed it this morning. I think the bleeding has finally stopped, so going pantless (sorry for the overshare!) to see if that helps. Bit horrid though. Dh and I attempted some conjugal relations of a non full-on kind last night, but I was too scared about the scar to really relax and we ended up with a teenage fumble. Nice to get 15 minutes not being 'parents' though.

Annarose - glad to hear you got some antibiotics for your pain once they've kicked in you should be fine (I remember waiting in line at the pharmacy for mine hopping from foot to foot!) It gets better promise

Greenstone - sorry I'm left handed so might ruin your theory re nipple pain & positioning I did buy some formula today though just as backup in case I cave in, and going to try & express some tonight to see if that helps too fingers crossed! Good luck with banishing the mice thinking of you x

Bellyrub - sounds like a bit of upheaval rearranging your nursery, hope it helps you all get some sleep x

Here's hoping tonight is a good one all round... Twilight feeding hours are now in full swing here!

Little one has been going from side to side here for a couple of hours. I don't mind cluster feeding but I prefer it with daytime tv. Thank goodness for smart phones.

I'm not sure if I could cope with any additional worries, I hope everyone feels better soon and the anti biotics do the trick Annarose!

Fingers crossed for some sleep soon... For us all!

DD feeding away like a trooper again here. I just want some sleeeeeep! Bad night last night and looking like its heading that way again now. It sounds awful because I adore her, but DP out doing work in the new house from 9:00 til 20:00 at night and I appreciate that he wants to get it finished, but it's hard hard work being the only one home with a newborn all the time! Struggling to balance baby with keeping house tidy, horse care etc. I'm sure it will be easier once she's a bit more settled into a routine though. 11 days post birth here and DD has regained her birth weight, which makes the constant feeding more bearable because I know it's doing something, at least.

Hope everyone else is in bed and snoozing! Fingers crossed for a peaceful night all around!

utopian you are brave, at the moment I can't imagine any of that kind of fun in the near future!!

Day 3, milk came in, made for a great feeding day, every 3 hours and sleep in between but trickier evening, she seems really distresses but wanting to feed but coming off the nipple every 30 seconds then does a big poo about half an hour later. Normal? Have started winding to try and help.

day 3 also brought the baby blues, very weepy, I'm not 'blue' as such just very over emotional. difficult though to explain to dp.

right, going to try ans transfer dd from sleeping on my lap to bed. I'm using a moses during the day then she and I co sleep in the double bes in her room and dp stays in our bed and comes in if she's screaming to help out. Worked a treat last night, what are you all doing?

Ds2 born by elcs on 20th so will be day 5 today came home day 3. Milk well n truely in. Ds has decided last night and tonight that he will feed constantly he slept 7.30-8.30pm and 1.45-2.35 so far tonight. Luckily he has a cute little face. :) I am knackered though.

We have a Moses basket by the bed; no room for a bed in another room unfortunately. DD sleeps reasonably well in it though so fingers crossed that continues. An ok night so far here, just fed, changed her bum and feeding again now but she has slept since last feed finished just before 12, so roughly 3 hours. Im hoping she will do the same the other side of this feed but not counting on it! Hope everyone else is getting some rest!

Congrats eastmids!! I keep saying that to DD, it's a good job you're so cute...
Think DH and I may have got a bit smug (only to each other!) as DD had a couple of nights of sleeping well and going 4-5 hours between feeds.however the last few nights have been awful as she hasn't wanted to sleep at all overnight, feeding every 1-1.5 hrs during late evening until 1 or 2 am (which I assumed was some form of cluster feeding) and then staying awake and alert after every feed during the night. Exhausted DH has had her since 3 and just brought her in for a feed.
I think wind isn't helping - I seem to have a fast let down and I can literally feel her poor tummy expanding with air as she gulps at the start of a feed :-( she also squirms with it and pulls my nipple around with her mouth, owww.
I want to try having her in bed with me again but my nipples are still healing and I can't bear the thought of her just rooting randomly around with her little scratchy fingers so I have to sit up and put the light on still for a feed.

Argh she sleeps beautifully in her Moses basket during the day :'-(

moggle have you tried the position of feeding her whilst you're reclined? It can help with fast letdown. I do that at night now as he splutters less. And definately go for the Infacol.

Feel very proud of myself today - I had a bit of a "do" on, so had to get dolled up and out the door with baby. Heels, Spanx, Updo, the works!

But I think I actually looked ok (with a jacket over the top, that is). Lots of compliments about how well I looked & for once I believed them! I still must have a good stone to go, but with the up-to-the-bra-Spanx I looked streamlined at least. I wore a wrap dress I last wore at 4 months pregnant, so it was the perfect size.

The baby was amazing - so alert, looking around at everything, & didn't cry once even with a dozen middle aged women cooing in his face. I was obnoxiously smug and proud showing him off. DH fed him using EBM in bottles. I was wiped afterwards though!

Thank god the antibiotics have kicked in - I am in almost no pain today, hurray!! I couldn't have done it this time yesterday.

Congrats Eastmids hope you managed some rest today.

And wow Annarose sounds like you've had a fab day today! Getting glammed up and out of the house is only something I can dream about at the mo

Ah well done Annarose, really glad the antibiotics are doing their job.

I have tried the laid back position but find it hard to get her latched on as I can't really bear her rooting around for the nipple with her bobbing head and scratchy nails, as my nips are so tender. They've both got cracks on the outer base and they reopen every time she's on, regardless of position, although everyone whose watched me feed, and every video I've watched tells me her latch is fine. I don't think the cracks are getting worse but they're not getting better either and I don't see how they will anytime soon :-(

Am joining in over here now we're finally home after 6 nights in hospital. Terrified that we'll not cope, especially after DD has shown that she likes cluster feeding/fussing in the early hours of the morning, but at least I'll have DH for support tonight.

Going to register the birth tomorrow, and possibly will pop to GPs to get her registered there as well. May have to go buy some nursing bras as well.