February '15 babies - appearing thick and fast!

[GeekyHybrid]

Our first thread on the 'other side'. And may all our soon to be mummies join us in this adventure through the early days of parenthood as we continue to share exciting times.

Blank how old is your LO? It's very normal (so I am told) to cry a lot the first couple of weeks whilst hormones and life with LO adjust! I have been exactly the same worrying about him if what I'm doing etc is right so you are not alone ... Just hope it doesn't last long!

Popsicle a bedtime routine can be very simple, so don't think you have to find a way to include a bath. With DS (who despised even top and tailing never mind bathing), we had a very simple routine of going upstairs to our room and changing his nappy, then doing his bedtime feed in there in the dark. Then we'd put him in the cot and sing his lullaby. DS has always been really good at bedtime and always slept brilliantly.

When he got older we added in a story in low light after his milk.

Thanks ladies. He's a week old today and a good little sleeper. Im breastfeeding him so feel a lot of responsibility there also that he's getting enough goodness.
DH is amazing and reassures me constantly that what Im feeling is perfectly normal. He jokes that I should be sponsored by Kleenex!
Glad to know that some of you are also having irrational worries about the future. Bloody hormones.

Hi all,
Had a tip top night yesterday- feeds at 10.30 and 3, so felt pretty awake this morning. We've had to take the tack of sitting up for half an hour after a feed or sid just makes awful grunting noises, or throws up on himself

on the dummy front, we are using one on occasions- happily he'll settle with a dummy but wont wake up if he spits it out, so as long as thats the case, im happy to continue with it.

We don't have other children, but my niece and nephew (2 and 4) are utterly besotted and if they're not asking to hold him, they're standing next to whoever is holding him chatting away- its very cute!

Blank- i was an absolute mess for the first week and a half- cried a ridiculous amount about a mixture of ludicrous things (like an advert for kfc), real reasons (worry that i was doing the motherhood thing totally wrong), and sometimes just because i was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but it did ease off, and like you I could control it when we had visitors, but was a weepy puddle when it was just me and dh

Hope it's ok for me to join. I was due in January but LO kept me waiting until February. He (Jamie) was born on the 3rd, following a lovely water birth. I also have Dd (23 months) and she adores her little brother.

Hi Emmie

Welcome Emmie!

Thanks Bangles. Your post has made me feel more normal already!

Blank I feel the same, especially when I think about DH going back to work on Monday! I found I feel a little more capable after either a nap or doing something for myself (obviously only when DH is here, I got a haircut the other day, just an hour of pampering gave me a huge boost).

Had a nice long doze late this afternoon, but I'm still hoping for a better night, because the last few have been hell. We're trying to install the difference between night and day, but LO is just very grumpy at night. Infant gaviscon not helping so far - he has had some quite solid poo though, is this normal?

Also, is baby oil OK for massage? If not I think I have almond oil and vit E oil. Are either OK?

Blank- with my first I cried constantly for about 2-3 weeks. I could pull myself together when we had visitors but when it was just dh or on my own I blubbed and blubbed. This time I haven't felt like that at all but do vividly remember it!

Frenetic baby oil is ok but so is almond oil, I have used almond oil but today bought some of the johnsons range which is the new newborn one with no smell (hate the mormal baby oil stink)

Being emotional is normal, I had a bad day yesterday where I felt like I was a bit on edge and today it has lingered a bit, ended up snapping at dh in Gap of all places.

Thanks for sharing your stories with me. My DH is also going to work on Monday. Im dreading the responsibility on my own.

I suppose a week isnt too long when I look at things. Things are all so brand new. It's just hard to know if DS is getting enough when Im feeding him myself.

On the dummy front - I like them as i worry otherwise they'll suck their thumb - like my niece did (and still does at 7!!! Its ruined her teeth and you can't take their thumb away). But DD won't take one like DS did. DS was only allowed it when sleeping (and in the car or at hospital appointments when he was little) and stopped using a dummy at 2.5yrs when he ripped his last one. He asked for it a few times but we just reminded him it was broken and in the bin and he settled fine without it (shockingly easy actually).

On the sibling front DS will be 3yrs next month and he has been an absolute star. He is so gentle with her its beyond belief, he helps with nappy changes, he loves telling people this is his sister Alice (despite being too shy to tell people his own name). He kisses her lots but is so careful he never quite makes contact with her. He asks to hold her and never looks happier than when he's sat with her carefully placed on his lap with daddy supporting her head still. He gets daddy to read stories to both of them and tells her whats in the pictures and loves showing her "baby sees spots and dots" book and telling her the different shapes and colours. Hes been angelic and if you say you're a good big brother he looks so so happy (I think that's down to his pirate Pete book). The only thing he's done that concerned me slightly is try to push the Moses basket and stand out of the way (i worried it would tip) to give me a cuddle but I don't think he'd even realised baby was in there. I'm so proud of him. I think it has helped though that I have had such severe PGP for so long because he's used to me sitting on the sofa and being very limited in what I can do with him, so me sitting there feeding and cuddling baby isn't really any different and so there's no jealousy at all.

Late joiner..hope that's ok! Baby is now a bit over 3wks. Things going ok so far! Hardest bit so far is helping toddler adjust to sharing his mummy & daddy.

Frentic my first baby had reflux and was on infant gaviscon for a while. It can cause constipation so solid poos sound about right. We changed meds eventually as gaviscon didn't work and for us created a diff set of problems...

Hope you all have a good night :)

So we are finally out of hospital and would like to announce the arrive of Peter Isaac born at 15.38 on Wednesday 25th Feb at 8lbs 6 ozs. I will post the more details of my birth story tomorrow, but basically After posting on here we went to hospital at 9.30 weds after I'd called the labour ward 3 times. When they examined me I was 8 cm dilated on just 2 lots of paracetamol and a couple baths! I gave birth naturally with little intervention, but lost a lot of blood. I have spent the last 3 nights in hospital and finally got given a transfusion last night. We were released today at 7pm and feeling a little shell shocked to be home. Feeling really sore and my iron levels are still low. Nipples are also really sore, but he now has a good latch. Had 5 hours sleep in the last 4 nights, but chuffed to bits to with him.

Congratulations grinning. I hope you get some more sleep tonight now you are home.

Congratulations grinning, hope you're settling back in OK!

So after a great day, the night hell starts. Crying already and we've barely been in the bedroom five mins. Fed, changed, warm, had gaviscon. Cuddled to sleep, waited 20mins and put him down. Instant waking and crying.

I sound awful, but I'm not enjoying being a Mum. Not at all :(

Frenetic go back to gp try to get ranitidine. Ranitidine reduces stomach acid and will stop the burning feeling when he does reflux. Gaviscon thickens the milk to try and stop it refluxing. So both together tends to be pretty effective.

Congratulations grinning

Finally had a bit of a better day today since I've had LO. Congratulations everyone, haven't been around for a few days but I've had an eventful 10 days...
Long post alert! Birth story "in short", def better than last time, however, still with a few probs...ELCS on the 19th, had PPH of 900ml (last time was 1,300ml), but I still didn't get a blood transfusion (not even iron tablets until a week later...), LO jaundiced under phototherapy for 2 sets of 6 hours (at one point he looked like an Australian surfer -tan and all), then paeds realised that he's got ABO incompatibility (we've got different blood groups -he's A+, I'm 0+. Had it been the opposite, it would've been fine, darn it!), because of this ABO, they checked him for anaemia and he's indeed borderline anaemic (doesn't really help his jaundice levels to go down quickly...). He was also tongue tie and while he was latching perfectly, the pain was excruciating, so after a couple of days of this, a midwife noticed it and sent the bf specialist to check. Even after the cut, the pain was the same and they explained to me that we need to work on some...tongue exercises to show him how to stick his tongue out...Didn't realise that you can do this when they're this young...
In the meantime I was so gassy after the op that two days later (still at the hospital) they urgently asked me to have 2 xrays (chest and bowels) to make sure there wasn't any perforation or obstruction anywhere -I was so scared I even reminded my OH that we hadn't done our wills yet...; luckily it was only gas and basically the doctors came back explaining in a polite way that I needed to...fart as loudly as possible which I find quite difficult anyway...
Eventually discharged on Monday 23rd but LO's poos turned green again on Thursday, so after reading horror stories on the internet about ABO incompatibility, jaundice, etc. etc. we decided to give him formula for 24 hours to make sure that he was gaining enough weight, getting rid of the jaundice as much as possible and that he wasn't starved (still expressing every 3 hours, half of my freezer's drawer is already full of medela bags ready for use! :)). He's much better today (next check will be on Monday), but I managed to get a very engorged right breast, so the mw told me that they'll call me tomorrow to check in case I'm getting mastitis and I need to start a course of antibiotics.
In a nutshell, I'm exhausted, luckily not having signs of PND as I immediately did last time (I did have a couple of moments where I cried for a minute, but forgot about it quickly ), the baby is unbelievably cute (you forget how small and fragile they look at this age ) and I cannot wait to start enjoying him as much as I can!

Welcome Emmie and Fizzy

Congrats Grinning!

Thank you Tonight and WhyO for the bed time routine info. Anna is just 3weeks old so think in the next week I'll start to introduce this.

Aww some of the stories about your other children with their new siblings are gorgeous.

Tweety congrats on your LOs arrival. It sounds like you've had some 10days! Here's to it hopefully getting easier from here. Enjoy your LO.

Frenetic I don't really know what to suggest but I'd agree with WhyO to go back to GP. Please don't be so hard on yourself. You're doing a great job.

Congrats grinning

Welcome newbies

blank i did worry if I was giving lo enough milk as you can't see but was told as long as the baby wees and poos they have enough. Also the weighing and putting on weight was reassuring. But most encouraging was today when we were told by mw that she was flourishing. Such a boost for my confidence! You should have seen me a week ago...a crying wreck.

so we were discharged from the mw care on day10 after 3 post natal visits. Was a bit shocked that it was so quick, I guess talking again about the reassurance and knowing you can ring the mw. We haven't seen the hv yet, that's booked for Tues.

Interesting about the routines, I'm keen to start one soon but heard not to bother with it in the first few weeks? Esp if bfing?

tweety glad your lo is much better. I remember farting like a trooper the first night in the hospital...it was so embarrassing as I couldn't stop and hubby just kept looking at me . Then got asked by the doc next day if I was passing wind, said yes and she said it was normal...so good to hear that encouragement

Hi all, time for night feedage
Welcome new peeps and thanks twety and trinning for sharing your tales- i love how different they all are!

Frenetic- second what the others are saying- get yourself back to your gp re the reflux, and be kind to yourself- youre doing a fantastic job xx. On the oil front, we were told you can just use bog-standard vegetable oil (which is better than olive, apparently)

Ha- twety and trining is tweety and grinning, obvs!