May 2015: Still early but babies already arriving!

[Justyouwaitandsee]

Hi ladies, here is a thread to get us started. The support of other 'Maysters' has been so valuable, would hate to miss out on this once babies arrive. I have a feeling we are still going to have lots of questions and experiences to share!

On the stitches. I didn't feel that bad the first few days then day 6 I was walking like John Wayne! Phoned mw and she asked if they felt tight which was exactly how they felt - she said this was them healing and was totally normal. Felt much better the next day and 3 weeks pp I pretty much feel normal. Not had the guts to look yet though! I had a 2nd degree tear and I've heard episiositimies take longer to heal.

Morning ladies, finally got home last night it soon brought back memories of a baby making noises all night!!! I'm combining breast and bottle feeding as Mabel is so greedy I'm struggling to cope with her on me all the time,,, Is anyone else doing both?

Doing both over here! DD's severe tongue tie meant she couldn't use her tongue to get a decent latch and my supply suffered. Since the TT has been cut, I always offer her boob first and she takes what she can and then I have a bottle of formula on standby to have when she is finished. She takes from me maybe 10-20 mls only and expressing produces even less so formula has been a life saver!!

Hello everyone! I am here at last. For those not on Facebook/the antenatal thread, baby Bethany (Beth) was born at 3am on 5 June at 40+6 after induction. Birth was pretty straightforward in the end though made more dramatic than necessary by midwife refusing to transfer me to the Labour ward on the basis I couldn't possibly be very far along and should try and sleep! In the end it was a v undignified dash in a wheelchair and I only just made it! Probably better than the alternatives though! Despite diabetes I managed to escape the same day.

Baby Beth is gorgeous. She is a rainbow baby following three miscarriages and completes my family. Dd1 seems to be adjusting ok but it's early days so not counting any chickens.

Nights are hard though! Omg it is deja vu to dd1. She is so easy in the day - feeds, sleeps in Moses basket, looks around a bit. As soon as I get into bed she cluster feeds like a demon till 5am and poos for Britain . She will only settle on me and I am too scared to sleep with her in bed with me. As soon as I transfer her to the basket she wakes up and starts with the feeding cues again. Is this familiar to anyone? It lasted for 8 weeks with dd1 but at least that time I could have a lie in once she finally went off. Am wondering about investigating co sleeper cots. Does anyone have one?

Hah, sorry, typo. She is Bethan not Bethany. But really just Beth. She was 7lb 13 oz and I did get a 2nd degree tear and stitches but had that with dd1 too and it healed up ok so not too worried. More concerned about varicose veins in legs.

my little man is wide awake. he seems to be moving his wake up time by 2 hours each day. has anyone else had this?

Morning !

feeling - I don't really have any sort of pattern with DD so can't help sorry!!

longest - DD only ever goes in basket when it has been warned by a hot water bottle - have you tried that? Otherwise a sleep positioner insert might help xx

Thanks kitty. Not counting any chickens yet but last night she slept from 11:30 to 8:30 with only 2 feeds I between and no fuss about going back in the basket! Feel like a new woman. Dunno if it was the fact I put her in a sleeping bag or the fact she started cluster feeding earlier or a one off fluke but it was welcome respite! How does the hot water bottle work in the middle of the night? Do you have to get up and refill it?

Feeling dd 2 is never wide awake yet as she just feeds or sleeps so can't help either, sorry, but do remember being given the advice not to rely on anything lasting very long at this stage (which is both good news and bad news!)

Wow, longest, that's a good stretch. Long may it continue. Emmie did a 4-hour stretch between feeds yesterday and it was great! no sleep though as I had to do some work

on the sleeping front, have you tried a Sleepyhead? I've not used one myself, but it was highly recommended by one of my cousins.

feeling I was going to say the same as longest - Emmie's routine changes every couple of days so she's quite hard to predict.

Emmie is so alert now and wants to look at everything. We regularly get 2 stretches of awake time a day and they usually last about 2 hours or so at a time. With some shorter spurts of wakefulness in between. She's really got the hang of smiling now, and she's recently discovered her hands. She holds her own hands, sucks her thumb and has just learnt how to grab hold of things (hair/clothes etc). She's almost holding her head up now too, and has twice rolled from her back almost onto her side! So amazing watching her develop.

We're registering her birth on Friday leaving it to the last minute, eek will be the first proper outing since we came home from hospital, which is quite exciting. I feel bad for her because I haven't physically been able to take her out and about yet. I take her in the garden every day, but it's not the same

Blimey, sorry for the essay!

longest-yep-have to go and re hear the water bottle in the middle of the night! Sounds like you might not need to do that though!

mini do give yourself a break-she isn't missing out don't worry! Registering her is exciting-lovely seeing their name in print!

feeling I get the wide awake time anywhere between 10pm and 3.30am, sometimes that whole chunk. Absolutely knackering...

Although am having an extremely rare evening where she wants to sleep...

Too scared to put DD down in her basket in case she wakes up-I keep getting random flailing twitches from her that keep waking her up!!! Wish me luck-going to attempt a stealth transferral

That's what we get Kitty, we put her down on the bed between us at first (we stay awake) and once definitely asleep transfer her to the moses basket. Works most of the time... although am sure she is getting wise to it

Ah, the fun of those stealth transferrals... I hate that moment of holding your breath waiting to see if it's really worked or if they're going to wake up as soon as you lie back down yourself!

piglet yes have that here as well. you think they are completely asleep then they wake up and you have to start the whole process again. Thomas was up at 2am this morning, settled back down ok to start with, then woke up and I came downstairs as slept on sofa from 3.30am. shattered now.

That is exactly what Dd2 does. She looks peaceful for just long enough that you think she is asleep and then springs awake as soon as you lie down. That said we have had a few good night's now. It means she is cluster feeding in the afternoon instead which is awkward with dd1 but far preferable. The sleeping bag seems to help as I keep her in it while feeding so there is less of a transition back to the cot.

Haha loving the transferring stories, ds isn't too bad most of the time but sometimes it take two or three tries when u think he's asleep but isn't! My mum asked the other day if I settle him everytime before he goes back in his basket, which I replied yes, and she huffed and said I should just put him down awake!! U can tell it's been over 25 years since her last baby!! Does that work for anyone else or is she being ridiculous?

I've bought ds a grow bag, do u still put a vest and babygrow on them?

Doesn't work for us at night, sunshine - DS will sometimes settle himself during the daytime though.

Going to look for a lightweight grobag - I've got a couple of thicker ones in bigger sizes ready for later on, but nothing suitable for this weather. Sounds like that might help with getting him back to sleep...

Lol, My Nan asked me today if I was feeding on demand... when I answered Yes she seemed really surprised... also surprised that I didn't want to just put the baby in a pram in the garden to brave the elements whilst I got on with other stuff

Jojo have sheet sleeping bags. They are handy when they like the comfort of bags but not the weight of it.

We do put her down awake and hope she falls asleep. Frankly with an older child running around I can't really spend time settling her every time! I'm much harsher this time round. Was out walking and she kicked off and I just walked home rather than try and find a place to stop. Figure if I'm in the car she would have to wait so no different really. I don't want to feed in public at the moment as she tends to follow up with an outfit destroying poo through. Today it came through with such force that it filled her sleep suit leg. And once I'd mopped that up she was sick on me. Motherhood is so glam!

Loving all the stealth transfer stories too! Mabel is pretty good at the moment she falls into such a deep sleep moving her isn't a problem at the moment but I'm expecting that to change as she is only 8 days!

bean we have had a couple of those poo incidents too! Aren't they just the best!

tori everyone will always have an opinion on what you do with your baby... Ignore them, you are his mum you know best and everyone else can do one!

Lol bean

Have had a few baby grow fillers. Most of her changes though are because my boobs go crazy when trying to latch her on that they soak her

I hate all that rod for your own baxk stuff. No one should have to feel guilty for caring for their baby. Dd1 developed a severe feed sleep association but it wasn't that bad. At least there was a way to settle her and she grew out of it. She has slepr brilliantly since 1yo.

What exactly is a sleepyhead please?