December-the 'Merry Christmas' Babies!

[Calmriver]

Hi Guys, thought I wouldn't betray our months of being together...whats a week amoungst friends!!!

Elibean, I don't think there is a MN photo site. I put mine on Flickr which is a general photo sharing site. You can upload a small number of images for free or pay if you want to use it lots.

Accessorize, I have come to suspect large boobs actually make it more difficult! There's just too much floppy flesh about to make latching on easy, tbh. I have been topping up with formula for about ten days now and am wracked with guilt but did not seem to be able to satisfy DD's hunger with b/f alone. Now I'm doing a combination of b/f on the one breast she'll still use (!), expressing from the other, and formula. Lots of work. Good luck with expressing.

Baileys, you might ask your HV about SMA staydown - I think you are using SMA aren't you? It's good for reflux babies/those who are sick a lot. Bit of a pfaff to make but probably worth it. I'm trying to use it at the moment but not sure if my DD2 has colic or reflux. My DH also just bought some Dr Brown's bottles which are meant to be good for colic - they have this tube in the middle that gets rid of all the bubbles - allegedly. Expressing, adding gaviscon & using those now. Will let you know how I get on. Desperate times eh? She screamed pretty much all day y'day (unless held) and finally collapsed exhausted at 12.30am. Today she's quite calm but we put that down to exhaustion ... alternate days used to be the pattern with DD1 ...

Trying not to let it all get on top of me though I did have some bad moments last night & today. It's just so full-on especially when you have 2 other little monkeys with the pox and a DH who's only here at the w/e & then totally stressed.

Sorry for moan ... I keep telling myself how lucky I am, and I am. Will take myself off for a shower (note time ) and snap out of it!!!

Thanks Jabber - and re the pnd. A lot of dd1's babyhood is a blur to me, too, but mostly through sleep deprivation and the shock of becoming a parent at long last - frustrating, but not painful. I hope ds2's babyhood, sleep deprivation apart, is a well deserved joy in comparison.

Loulou - thanks for the info, will try it asap!

I'm also wondering about reflux, given there is a strong link between it and the floppy larynx thing. dd2 has not been at all spitty till recently, but in the last few days I've noticed she will throw up if laid down too soon after a feed, or if she has a large feed. Is that normal, or refluxy? Anyway: we have an ENT appointment in early Feb for the larynx thing, to assess degree of severity, so I'll ask about it then if not before..

Sleep: 10pm till 1.30am, 2am till 5.30am, a quick five minute snack at 7.30am then slept till 9am. Me, too. Think the Spurt is slowing down....

It's so good to hear that others are topping up with formula! After having an emergency csection in a Spanish hospital, ds was whizzed away and I didn't see him again for four hours. In which time they gave him sugar water and formula. They were also obsessed that he was a big baby {he was by Spanish standards} and therefore needed feeding up and would whizz him away and pump him full of formula at every oportunity. This was during the first 24 hours when I was in no fit state to do much about it especially as I had been in labour for nearly 24 hours too.

Anyway I have battled to breastfeed, I didn't seem to get any milk for ages, i don't know if this has anything to do with the csection. I had an infected wound and was advised to give up feeding him to take antibiotics, luckily I ignored the outdated advice. Anyway ds now breastfeeds and then I top him up with a bottle. It is working well and he is not confused in anyway.

I am relieved as I felt tremendous guilt having fed dd for 17 months with no problems at all. Ds has been slower on the uptake, he wasn't a natural like dd. He has found it harder to latch on to my enormous boobs, particularly the bigger one .

So sorry I am rambling, I felt very pressured to soley bf by dh and friends and pressured not to by the Spanish healthcare system. Anyway what I really what to say is that I have found a happy medium and if anyone doesn't like it then it's tough. I am doing what works best for my baby. I also now feel a real empathy towards women who can't or have trouble feeding, I never understood this before as I had it so easy. Sorry to rant, just so relieved to hear that I am not the only one and not some sort of she devil [as some of the other threads make you feel}

Lucy just let someone try and tell me or anyone else they are a she-devil for using formul and I will let them have it! After what I went through with DD they can take a running jump. My milk is still coming in - despite not expressing or feeding etc for about 10 days!

Castles, I am using Farley first and hungry baby milk and alternating bottles. DD was last fed at noon and despite bringing so much back up, he is still sleeping peacefully on daddy's lap. So between now and last feed he's gonna get regualr formula, then last feed of the day will be hungry baby. Fingers crossed for a better nights sleep.

Did'nt get sleep while DH and DD were out as DS needed feeding changing, winding etc. And now DH has the nerve to doze on the sofa - although did say to me he does'nt know how I keep going!

Hi, Hester (Hettie) is now 12 days old and came off the ventilator yesterday, and as of today is in the SCBU rather than intensive care. She was being fed by a long line, but that has been removed and she's been taking a small amount of expressed breast milk (through a tube) since Friday. So she seems to be on the mend. We could give her a cuddle today, and I can just about imagine that she might be able to come home in the near(ish) future. She has had an EEG that shows no evidence of further seizures since the 29th, and we're now waiting for the results of an MRI scan she had on Thursday. She's around 9 lb now and looks totally out of place in the SCBU with all the little preemies, it's hard to believe she's been so so poorly. We still don't know what sort of level of brain damage we'll be dealing with (or even if there is any). Terrified of what we might find out next week (worst case scenario is cerebral palsy).

Can I ask how much your LOs are awake for during the day? I keep being told to 'keep her awake' during the day. She's up a lot as it is I think and I was wondering about yours.

My DD can be up from 20 mins to 2 hours for each wake time depending on how hungry / alert she's feeling. She is b/f about every 2-3 hours at the the mo and on average is awake anywhere between 7-9 hours in a total over 24 hours.

I keep reminding myself that DD1 really started improving at about 6 weeks....only 2 to go. she whispers hopefully

x-post with mardybum. great news that hester is out of intensive care and off the ventilator. I pray that the test results have positive news for you.

Thanks for taking the time out to let us know.

Promising news Mardy, I hope things continue to go well for you.

Been reading about everyone elses trials and tribulations! Hope I join you soon!

Hi Mardybum, I am pleased that your news so far is good and am keeping everything crossed for you that it keeps on getting better.

I know what you mean about SCBU though when DD was in there she was around 9lb, and some of the others were lucky if they had actually made 1lb!

Satinshoes. DS is awake about 4 hours during the day on and off, and between feeds, sometimes longer - loves to play on his gy for about 30 minutes a time. At the moment I dont want to force a routine, just gently coax....but MW told me al they do for the first few weeks is eat, sleep and pooh! DD will be 1 month on Tuesday! DH goes back to work on Tuesday

You know what really pissed me off!!??

WhenI had DD2 this time, they said she needed top ups because she was small, but didn't ask me to feed her myself first, so when they went off to fetchsz the formula, i stuck her on my boob...then when they came with the formula...I asked if I could feed her and they said 'No, there is a special knack to doing this'............

WHAT THE!!!!!!!???????

Would you guys have been mad about this too!?

Mardy, I'm glad that little Hester has not had any more seizures, Hoping that the other tests come back OK. Thanks for letting us know.

It sounds as if all the bavies are doing a similar wake timw schedule. DS2 yesterday woud sleep about 1 1/2 hours then do maybe 2 hours awake if I was lucky.

We had a good first half of the night then fussy second half. He is also doing a few more spit-ups now than before. Maybe taking in more at a time now?

calm, that would have made me too!

Mardy, am pleased to hear things are looking up for your LO, I hope your test results are good, but please come and tell us either way

Glad to hear a few of you are getting sleep . I put ds2 in his cot last night for the first time, moved into the spare room (dp back to our bed) for this & he slept better than ever swaddled up like a little coccoon.
Re: expressing/formula, went out and bought some SMA today & have expressed a little more today in readiness. Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm thinking of buying another pump as the one I was given is killing me (manual Isis one) it's so not one-handed! I mixed-fed ds1 1 bottle a day from 5 weeks & it was fine until I increased it to 2 then my supply dwindled but if expressing as well, supply should be ok I think. I'll just try and express a bit several times a day, I think, keep a bottle going in the fridge.
Lucy, did you ever buy a sling & try & bf with it (remember you posting about slings for big boobs as I watched it!)? I'm thinking this might be a solution to the quite embarrassing faffing ds2 & I do to feed in public. Just hauling them out of the bra is horrifying enough to passers-by I should think Am still trying without shields but I have to then fiddle with my nipples constantly so have resigned myself to combo of that/expressing/formula top-ups for five months (see what happens when I return to work).
Jabber, acne until 3 months no way!!! How will I ever post a photo on here if he's constantly spotty (and then the hair will go...).
Jabber/Eli, babyhood missing for me too, I have to look at photos for the nice memories as I know there must have been some good times pre-3 months at least!
Castles, I've been taking Sepia (I think you mentioned it a while back) & really helping with the tiredness fog. I'm a homeopathic convert now!

I never did by the sling, leo came early and I wasn't very organised.

I also have a very spotty baby and loads of cradle cap too.

I have tried to express using an electric pump avent but so far have managed 3 drops. I also bought nipple sheilds but couldnt get them to stay on but luckily my flat nipple seems to have sorted itself out.

Good to hear from you Mardy am glad that things are improving.

Mardy so pleased to hear some good news.

I just need a moan, I am self employed, this is my busiest time of year as a Data Analyst so am snowed under with work, am working half the night & trying to cope with a newborn and am getting to beyond tired!

Witness it being 10 to 2 in the morning here and I am tapping away on a keyboard rather than tucked up sleeping...

Luckily my DH is on Paternity leave and he is doing lots, but I really wish she had come in Dec when I could have relaxed and enjoyed the first few weeks without all this work hanging over me....

(Sadly I can't afford to just say sod it and not do it...)

Morning all.

We had 9.45pm until 4.45am with a quick 20 min feed in the middle Great! But then she was up 2 hours...and I had to wake her for a feed so i can now go and take DD1 to pre-school. I really hate waking babies up - it seems mad when you spend ages trying to get them to sleep.

Have a good day all.

3.45 even but it was still good.

Hi everybody!

Thought it was time I joined the thread. My little boy Felix was born on 18th Dec here in Spain by C-Sec. Wasn't a good experience but I won't go into detail the main thing is he's gorgeous and soooo big by Spanish standards 4.1 kgs at birth which is 9lbs and a bit...!! Wow!!
So relieved to read I'm not the only one with a spotty baby. I was dismayed to see Felix has developed these little red spots on his cheeks but apparently its quite common (?)
He's also very hungry too. I'm bf at the moment but now thinking about topping it up with some formula...perhaps at night...

Congratulations to all of you on the birth of your LOs x

My first DD had spots like acne for about 6 weeks until she hit about 3 months. I was told it was hormones and Im afraid there isnt much you can do.

Mardy, so glad things are on the up - I can only imagine how the week's tests feels, will be thinking of you and hoping for the absolute best possible results.

Calm, yes, would have been furious!

Our postbirth doula started this morning - for three weeks, four monrnings per week - hurrah I can see the ironing pile decreasing a little, being able to see my bedroom carpet instead of clothes again, xmas cards finally being sorted ....

...best of all, she's experienced with reflux and colic in babies: I've been getting paranoid after our hospital adventures, its good to have a reassuring and practical take on things. Though taking her (baby, not doula ) to clinic this pm anyway, just for extra check.

Sorry - congrats bebespain!! And welcome Felix - love the name, btw.

oh - and Mischa is showing early signs of cradle cap on her forehead urgh. dd1 had it for about three months from this age.

MardyBum, hope the news is good about your LO. Fingers crossed & thinking of you.

DS off school with the pox. Waiting for doc to call and hopefully (ha ha ha) come round to see DD2. She's screaming all day/night now except when held. Finding feeding hard too, squirming & crying & falling asleep. So it must be gastric reflux. Also concerned about her getting the pox too. The only good thing about reflux is she's so exhausted that she sleeps from about midnight to 6am so I don't get up in the night ... it's just the rest of the time that is a bit busy.

For those wondering if their LO might have it too. All babies are sick a bit. The alarm bells are when they projectile every feed or scream after winding, don't like lying flat. If it's just in the evening it could be "colic" but if it's all day then could be gf. Good luck I hope it isn't as it is a truly awful thing though once the meds kick in you'd never know, it's just getting them that's the problem.

AQ, I'm quaffing pulsatilla & sepia (though I've run out). Good, aren't they? Also taking magnesium & vitamin B6 for tiredness. Coffee helps too ...

Congrats Bebespain!

x-posts Eli. Make the most of your doula. They are such a help, mine was anyway. She only came for 2 weeks (though she had said she was available for six ). Unfortunately she moved house last week & now won't come cos of the pox.