November 2014 - newborn thread!

[Greenstone]

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

Sounds like some tough nights were had last night ladies.

FWIW I have always found the 24 hours that my milk comes in to be a bit of a low point. Feeding isn't comfortable, and not feeding and getting engorged isn't nice either. I always feel better the next day.

DD is currently being treated like a veal calf, trying to feed her up ahead of this afternoon's weigh in.

Hi all, sorry for weight issues and hope we all get a better day of it than last night.
struggling with the pain both from the cs and from uterus contracting, which is much more painful than it was with ds1. Dh is being wonderful though, and during his own sleepless night thought up a hanging shelf to make for our bed so I won't need to get up or even twist hopefully in the night - he's making it now while dm helps entertain ds..

like kantha I also find the night the milk comes in a bit emotional. They're well and truly engorged already, much to dh and ds1' s delight. He (ds1, almost 2 yo,) has been having a hilarious morning sticking his head down my cleavage yelling mama at them.

My milk still isn't in fully - or rather its coming in OK but still am not at watermelon stage. We're having a lot of smaller feeds here but more often.

My MW came for our Day 3 visit. Its a huge comfort having them come cos they're in no hurry and answer all your questions and give you loads of tips. She said her other Day 3 Mums this morning were all bawling their eyes out even answering the door. She said that even though I'm OK today I may get baby blues tomorrow when my milk comes in properly and its painful to even move. So am very glad she's coming tomorrow too!

I'm low in Iron and so have to start that, and she wants me to start my pelvic floor exercises today. I told her my undercarriage is pretty numb but she said to do them even if I couldn't feel them! Apparently they get a lot of new mums having to come back in for prolapse repair so its worth doing even if we don't feel like it.

Oh and utopian I was talking to her yesterday about my terrible afterpains and she happened to mention that they get worse with every successive child. So thats why they're worse for you this time around! Its shit, isn't it? I get pains just hearing baby cry! If I have a 2nd kid I'll be crippled!

Oh lovely nov ladies. Lots of us are having rough ole times of it. It isn't easy - after being variously a bit battered and bruised from,labour - physically / emotionally. I really feel for you all, with sleeplessness and feeding issues. I have nothing to say but that what we are all going through is common, which means none of are doing anything wrong / failing/ not succeeding. I guess this is the joy of new born days!

i managed to get outside today! Wooooooo! we live in,top floor flat so no way i can drag buggy up and down with csection so the wrap was utilised! I arrived unexpected at DD1's swimming lessons - she was chuffed to show dd2 off.
ongoing feeding issues and sleeping diffs here too. Keeping going with breastfeeding but looking enviously at bottle feeding mums who seem,to be having it easier?? I feel I am,permanently rooted to the sofa with baby latched on and so little time for dp and DD!

Small boy has put on 150g in 24 hours. That's 5x what the paeds docs wanted to let us leave hospital before. So either he's Magic or DP pointed out that she weighed him with her scales on our rug yesterday and today she weighed on the table so her scales might have been off. Not sure which but don't have to weigh tomorrow. Annoyingly though I have a uterine infection to add to the infection in my stitches so I am now on 2 kinds of antibiotics plus the iron and pain killers. Symptoms are tender tummy and increased fresh red lochia. Just so you know.

At least he is going in the right direction. I feel better although really want my milk to come in properly and to have a plan to get rid of the top ups. Hopefully clearing up the infections should make a difference as well. Relief all around that we don't have to go back in (although still no dirty nappy). Hope everyone else has had a better day.

Wonderful news about the weight gain FTMK, it's funny the way they can just suddenly turn a corner. I'm sure once the poos come through there'll be no stopping them. Sorry about the double infection, that's the last thing you need

Yes it's all very hard and it's a hard time of year to have a newborn with the dark evenings. Even in 3 months' time it will all feel easier. My friend came around yesterday with her gorgeous 3 month old who sleeps...wait for it...10 PM to 8 am. EBF. So although establishing breastfeeding is incredibly hard and the work is all front loaded, it's not all doom and gloom! I'm accepting all help this time around and napping for 20 mins on the sofa whenever I can.

Hi all, finally got round to finding the postnatal thread! Little miss is 18 days old now! Out of the 3 c sections, the recovery has been the easiest, despite needing a transfusion after blood loss of 1.2 litres during surgery and baby's early arrival (by 8 days). Settling in to routine with 3 little ones under 5 is certainly a new challenge...

Wow mumonabroom - 3 under 5!!! My mum did it but I'm struggling with just 1 at the moment. Xxx

Oh my God... Milk is coming in and my boobs have doubled in size in the last three hours!

Mine are getting a bit major now too - tomorrow they're gonna be monstrous!

We're having a bit of a tough day - feeding every hour for 15 mins since afternoon. Is this cluster feeding? If so - it sucks! I'm wiped!

Am also in a lot of joint pain. Knees, hips, wrists.... Even my jaw hurts. Possibly something to do with relaxin, apparently? Either that or I'm seriously coming down with something.

Hope tonight isn't too bad. Really need a rest.

Oh Anna, that's pretty pants. Hope DS settles down a bit better tonight! DD has been quite good today but now not settling! Been feeding since 9:45 pretty much non stop. Was hoping enough milk would have come in to fill her up a bit but obviously not. Bracing for another long night here too!

Weigh in not great today. DD has lost a little more. We have been put onto a 3 hourly feeding schedule with a 30 ml EBM top up. DD has spent the evening cluster feeding which makes the logistics of sterilising and pumping pretty impractical.

The MW who I saw and who seems to know her stuff, unfortunately comes from the battleaxe school of midwifery. I left feeling pretty beaten up and blamed for DD's weight problems. She also in my hearing told off the MSW (maternity support worker) who has weighed DD on Monday when she had gained slightly for not escalating the problem because she had not gained enough. At least it wasn't just me that got told off. The MW did say at the end that she was sorry for 'bitching' me but it's because she is so concerned about DD given that I am an experienced mother this shouldn't be happening . DD was checked by a paediatric nurse too so who also can't find anything wrong with her.

Sorry that's all a bit of a ramble and rather self pitying.

FTMK - great news about the weight gain / dodgy weighing methodology. That must be a relief.

Hope there are some better nights tonight.

We've had a nice day with a visit from friends who live locally, they have an 11m old who suddenly looks huge!! My brother and SIL also came round this evening and brought DD a gorgeous merrythought bunny - under strict instructions that it isn't for sitting on the shelf but for loving :-) Bro's adored childhood teddy was a merrythought bear so it's a lovely connection.

My boobs are rock hard and huge but DD seems to be keeping up admirably. Felt a bit hot and tired before bed but used some hot flannels on boobs and took paracetamol and ibuprofen and feel better now. Today DD seems to be getting the hang of lying down feeding which is a blessed relief as I think my stitches really need a break. Think they are weeping a bit but it's clear and not smelly (sorry tmi!) so think they're ok, just need to get off them which is hard when she's wanting to feed every 2 hrs.

She also has had sleeps in the Moses basket and bednest, which is good to see.

twig hope tonight is going ok. Kantha hope tomorrow is onwards and upwards.
Really appreciating all the advice from the non- first timers xxx

I stupidly joined the October thread, I think my mush like brain could only compute that she was meant To arrive in late October but of course I was 2 weeks over due!! My baby was born 5 days ago so is most definitely a November baby.

Must say, these have been the most challenging 5 days of my life. Mainly due to sleep deprivation (which started 3 days before she was born with a very long latent phase) and also the 'baby blues' (which I think sounds a lot nicer than it is).

Anyhoo, my main issue at the moment is feeding. On day 2 she sucked my nipples like a baby possessed and made them red raw and bleed. I was too tired and in too much other pain (mainly between legs) to cope with it and so I started expressing and topping up with formula.

She absolutely guzzles the bottles and as a result throws up at least 2 feeds everyday. Meaning I often end up feeding her twice in one session. I then have to express which takes 20 mins minimum... I get about 3oz usually. So one feeding session with a nappy change often takes 2 hours!!!

So it's a bit non stop. Hoping to go back to Breast feeding on Monday as nipples almost completely healed and that's when I see the midwife. At least that will remove expressing and sterilising bottles from the equation, and hopefully no more big sicks!!

I really do hope she hasn't already developed nipple confusion!!

Anyone else going through something similar??

So, I've managed about 90 minutes of sleep tonight on the sofa with DD. Guessing milk not quite in yet as she has been a boon monster all night again. Quite engorged now though, think she's struggling to latch a bit. I don't get much out when I express though, certainly not enough to soften the boob. Could my milk not be in even with the engorgement? Is that possible? Also haven't been applying nipple balm religiously enough and am quite sore now!

My boobs are now completely circulat. We have continued to feed for 15 mins every hour/hour and a half. But I've been sleeping in between so thats something.

Dummy is helping to settle him after a feed cos without it he wants to keep going off and on forever. Whereas if I give him the dummy after a feed he'll settle for an hour. Life saver!

Over the hump now - another night almost over!

Hi Bellyrub.

I am just starting out on the EBM top ups route due to no weight gain. Too tired to type it all now, but it's there in my previous posts.

Right, sterliser's just gone beep. Better go and sort it out.

Sorry to hear about all the feeding issues. I have found with all three that once the engorged boobs go down a little, the babies find it easier to latch on.

Boo to battleaxe midwives, no one needs that having just had baby.

Mixed night here, first part in bednest, rest on me and lots of nappy changes. Tired and out today, so will be a long one. Coffee anyone?

Oh kantha I feel your pain -. That's where I was yesterday. Although not good that the MW made you feel worse. It's good that you've enough ebm to topup - the most I've managed is 20ml but 10 on average and we're on 45-60 ml topup depending on how much he'll take. Felt bad about formula but had no choice. We still have not pooed here since Wednesday but passing lots of farts so hopefully things are moving now. Still feeling rough from uterine infection. Just taken 2nd antibiotic so hoping that starts working soon. Still don't feel engorged - cumulative effect of traumatic birth, 2 litre PPH, reluctant feeder and now infections seems to have slowed things right down. Although I think he's feeding better.

We have the opposite problem from those with boob monsters - he usually has to be woken to feed. Check your latch carefully and lansinoh is advice from lactation consultant I saw. There are videos on whether they're drinking or just nibbling / comfort sucking on the webpage I put on earlier. Makes it easier to see if they are actually feeding. By and expressing is tiring belly rub. I Try to express immediately after feed so I can try to get some sleep before starting again.

Well done all - we made it through another night. Day 10 here!

Day 6 here and like all of you, each night feels like an acheivement.

Is anyone else suffering from irrational anxiety? I think mine is 50% hormonal and 50% sleep deprivation. And maybe some genuine fear thrown in there too.

The truth is, I know I've nothing to be anxious about. A baby that cries, poo's and feeds 24/7 is hardly something to be anxious about. But here I am heart pounding, worrying and crying for no reason at all.

JUST SNAP OUT OF IT!!

I am finding that Googling every single thing that comes into my head helps actually stave off anxiety. Cos 9 times out of 10 the results will say NEWBORNS DO THIS -THIS IS NORMAL!

Certainly last night I was pretty chilled cos I knew it was normal to just feed all night at this point. So I just went with it. Dummy helped though!

Also my Community MW visits have helped - for example I've been losing some clots and she said "Oh don't worrry, you can lose ones the size of your fist!" Well sure enough last night I lost one exactly as big! But because of her I just shrugged, whereas otherwise I'd be running into A&E!

But Bellyrub its also normal to be a weepy mess at this point. Like i said yesterday, all of my MWs other visits yesterday were to women who were bawling.

Our bodies have been through a HUGE trauma. And we're sleep deprived, low in iron, probably low blood pressure, and have had massive & continuing blood loss. On top if that we have all this responsiblilty just when we're totally unable physically for it. I think thats worth a good old cry!

My boobs are like boulders. BOULDERS.

annarose I just feel like I'm going mad. I feel so anxious that I can't even sleep when my baby sleeps. My mum even did a night shift for me and I couldn't sleep then.

I just feel nervous all the time, shakey, tearful, guilty, nauseous. It just feels relentless.

When will it end?

Bellyrub - have you talked to your me about how anxious you feel. Some anxiety is to be expected but if you are really stressed - you need to let others know.
twig - with both DDs my boobs have been,like that - are you still able to feed? I had to express some so dd2 could get latch. I had the avent hand pump, but had to invest in the mini meddela - well worth the money.

I am,now discharged from my midwives care so a bit daunted. They have been fantastic since we got home last Saturday.