Had to post my first post half finished coz dh was in military mode shoving me out door. Has taken til now to find time to finish it!
Mini I'm sorry you're having tough time with sleeping. RE co sleeping I say whatever works for you! I co slept with B in hospital both to comfort him and get him to sleep. It was lovely
Wil that sounds so utterly frustrating! Would white noise help to lessen the impact of mini noise/disturbance?
Cym yet again I bow down to you and have no frigging idea how you do it! bows down reverently
Deeply you can rent pumps from nct or from mothercare I think? We bought ours 2nd hand on eBay then bought replacement parts for the bits that need to be hygienic. Medala swing. It's good but I preferred the symphony they had in hospital which is way too expensive.
We tried the whole me going to bed early and dh doing late (10pm) feed of expressed milk so I could have extra couple of hours sleep. Was disaster - I'd expressed 120ml which he sucked down quickly then started roaring. Poor dh was in shock at having a screaming baby and no food so no way of stopping him screaming. Id thought 120 ml would be enough for a feed! We haven't tried it again yet. Definitely no problem with him actually taking bottle, he was fine doing that. HV has suggested feeding a bit at a time and winding in between to get him to slow down.
Dulcet - B has started fussing like mad latching on, same as you described. He pounds me with fists, pushes me away but then gets frustrated and yowls that boob isn't in his mouth. It's like a battle :(. I've been trying different holds and approaches to see if it makes a difference. He also chokes a lot and coughs which mw said was because he guzzles and my flow is fast squirts him in the face HV has just been and suggested swaddling him for feeding and trying more upright positions to slow him down.
Yesterday we had another exorcist vomit moment - all over me and couch. My fault, I don't think I winded him properly so he must've had wind then eaten more on top of it and the whole lot came back up. He looked so sad poor love!
We are starting to think about routine. During day it's pretty set - 10, 1, 4, 7. But we are trying now to work a bath in somewhere between 7-10 pm and get him into idea that night is quiet sleepy time. Advice is contrary though - some say feed before bath, others say feed after bath. Either way he doesn't much like baths. HV has just said feed after bath so I'll do that tonight. She said don't worry much about routine until 3-4 months as that's when they start forming habits.
Once he's asleep he sleeps through anything and wakes up like clockwork for his feed time regardless of whether he went to sleep 3 hours earlier or 20 mins. It's uncanny.
I'm feeling a bit better for having had more any sleep but it's still hard going.
The biggest drain just now is the sheer number of visit requests. I just simply can't hack all the people coming round who want to. People don't realise how tiring it is having to make normal chat. Yesterday it was lovely to see my sil but she arrived at 12:30 and didn't leave until 5pm. I can't make conversation for that long! My brain was mush by the time she left.
Went to photographer this morning to see our photos she took and chose prints for a multi frame and then some digital prints to be able to print off ourselves. It was extortionate but they are so beautiful I really don't regret spending the money! So many gorgeous newborn ones!
HV has just weighed him - 10lb 14oz! He's 98th centile. I produce big children!