December-the 'Merry Christmas' Babies!

[Calmriver]

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

Hello, havent been able to post anything but this morning DH has taken DD1 o a mums and tots group which gives me some breathing space......I hope!!!!! Had a rough night DD2 was taking about an hour to feed and then we spent ages winding her and by the time we had done that she was ready for feeding again So eventually we gave her a top up of formula and she went to sleep for four hours!!!!!!! Couldnt believe it! However when the mw appeared this morning she said Oh I see the formula sitting out how much did she take........It made me feel like I had done something wrong. She also said that she can understand why we did it but its better to express rather than give formula......

Mardybum- I will keep my fingers crossed for you that your news is good news.

Oh yes, I love my coffee in the morning.....Especially since I didnt drink any for nine months

Castles, thanks, I will - but what a bummer re your doula, whatever happened to sticking to contracts?!?

Still unsure about the reflux thing. dd2 has to lie propped up, especially after a feed, or she vomits. She was very unpukey until about a week ago, but its increasing...and mornings as well as evenings. She takes feeds well in the middle of the night, and in mid afternoon - both times when she's very sleep and relaxed, and hardly wakes up to feed. But in the mornings and evenings, her 'alert' times, its a real struggle. And reflux is very common with floppy larynx, so...?? I'm so glad the meds are working though, C, hope your dd and you have an easier time of it from now on.

Oonagh, ignore judgemental tones from ANYONE...so unhelpful, especially when in innuendos/indirect!

Eli, apparently reflux starts to show around this time. Don't want to alarm you, some babies are just sicky. It's when they are obviously doubled up in pain as well that I think you should worry. I'm still waiting for DD2 to get some meds This is the hard bit, doctors are so reluctant. I'm told it's colic but surely babies don't get this 24 hours a day?????

Also, with DD1 (who used to feed beautifully from birth, she just couldn't keep it down ) the middle of the night feeds when she was really relaxed/sleepy still came up. So your DD probably doesn't have reflux by the sound of that, just wind possibly and the force of burping brings up the milk? Hope your doula can shed some light for you.
Even after DD1 was on meds I still had to hold her upright for 40 minutes after feeds so maybe that is what we should be doing now?????

Hi All,

DS continues to play tricks on us wth his feeding going anywhere from 2-5 hours between feeds and no pattern as to when or why!

Going back to bed at 6am this morning ntoiced DD was sitting up in bed, went to lay her down and found her pillow all wet. Put the light on the poor mite had been sick in the night . Chucked her in the bath, changed the bed, and as she semed fine dressed her for school. Howeve since then she is keeping nothing down but the tiniest sparrow sips of water. She has gone through 3 pairs of PJ's and I have 1 because she was on my lap. GP thinks it;s either food poinsoning from the party she went to yesterday or gastric flu! Now I have to keep her and S seperate - although he was projectile yesterday so maybe he gave it to her??

All I know is I am living on coffe, biscuits and redbull and about 4 hours sleep and DH is back to work tomorrow. I am fine during the day but at nigt I could cry for the lack of sleep!

Welcome bebspain!

Had a really awful start to the night last night. Ds2 has been regularly taking about 2 hours to settle at night, but last night it was closer to four! I really started losing it and dh took over for the last couple of hours. I'm seriously considering doing a formula top up at night to see if it makes any difference. Dh gave him a bottle of expressed milk that I had frozen but he only took a couple of ounces I'm so confused as to what to do. Could it be mild colic? He didn't scream the entire time, would calm down and look happy for a minute or two then go back to screaming his head off.

Also that I had to throw out the rest of the ebm. Dh has no idea what that means to me! I'm like you,AQ, I can't find a good time to express. I just try to catch an odd moment between feeds mostly. If I get a chance in the mornings after he feeds I tend to still have quite a bit, almost engorged occasionally, so it works out well to try it then.

BAileys, meant to add big sympathies for you. I can't imagine dealing with no sleep and a sick toddler like you and castles are ds1 is well but still winding me up every chance he gets!

Apparently, for anyone interested, chicken pox is only a "problem" for babies under 1 month. If you are breast feeding it's likely your LO won't get it. I'll let you know!!

My doctor has agreed to put DD2 on ranitadine. Hooray! Only problem being I have to get her weighed 1st and noone will have us with an infectious DS. Trying to get someone to visit us is impossible. We live in SW London FFS not the Outer Hebrides !!

Jabber, screaming on & off sound's like colic to me. Poor you but please hang onto the thought that it's usually over by 12 weeks and 6 weeks is the peak.

Hi All,

Jabber - could be colic. Dont worry about letting DH take his share.

A useful tip for all of you. My DD seems happy and content all the time except when she has a poo coming. She grunts and moans and can be unsettled for ages. I read on another forum to push there feet ie give them something to pressure against. Imagine doing a poo lying down - it would be very hard. so by pushing against their feet you are helping.

Well i tried this the last 2 days and it seems to make her less agitated...

sorry not had a chance to read messages. did a quick scan for news,mardy and i'm glad things are more positive. i'm keeping my fingers crossed the good news will continue.

had a great first week with T. not alot of sleep,lots of wind(infacol is wonderful stuff) and one middle of the night argument with dh, but we're more prepared for all of the above this time round.

however,T has lost 15% of hos weight so i'm now on a ridiculous schedule of feediung,expressing.topping up. i'm not stressed(like i was with ds1) but i am very downtrodden. i'm sure he is/will be fine but immediately that his weight was discovered, my latch,ability to produce milk, iron levels are called into question. i was told on thursday that they don't weigh babies in hospital or at home until day 5 as weight loss is expected. so as soon as he loses wt.(ds1 lost 20% btw and eats for europe and is dinky) it automatically becomes a HUGE(or not) issue and MY fault.

.. oh and my house became a building site this morning.

I'm sooo glad to see that advice from mw's and hv's has not improved one iota since I last had a baby - inconsistent, judgemental and seemingly designed to make the mother feel guilty when she has been through birth, is getting no sleep and in many cases dealing with another child as well. glad you're not getting anxious about tho spina & welcome back How's it feel having 2 boys? I'm really lovin' it, I want to dress them in matching outfits but can't find anything to fit them...

Jabber, isn't colic usually late afternoon/early evening rather than the middle of the night? I had the issue of settling with ds1, would take hours & swaddling & some other settling techniques I read about it eventually solved the problem. Is he sleeping on a raised surface, like a blanket underneath the mattress etc as that seems to help ds2 & other people have mentioned it for colic/windy babies. I do think it's the settling that does your head in, not the night waking at all. Just as you lie in the nice warm bed, they scream. I think they have a 6th sense for it.

WB, can't believe you're managing to do ANY work, I tip my hat to you & extend enormous sympathies as I'm barely able to check my email every week. Will it end soon, and then you can get back to just ordinary new baby exhaustion?

i'm loving having two boys. the weight thing is getting to me, i'd decided to admit.
the whole thing brings back such unhappy memories of last time. i was so stressed for the first 6-7 months of ds1's life about his wt,only to discover that lo and behold he's just small(size 8(in a former life now mum and 5ft 5 dad)

why oh why can't i just be left to enjoy my dinky family in peace?

is it acceptable to decline the advice of one's m/w?

God, yes & advice of hv's too. It's one size fits all, and you're the wrong size! My (pediatrician) dad told me that ds1 just wasn't meant to be born at 9lb (he also lost lots of weight, never got back on the percentile & is on the dinky side at 3 but as healthy as a horse) & was reverting back to what he should be. If you think of it that way, thomas is just being what he should be. If he looks healthy & alert, that's the only thing that matters in my book & don't get him weighed after the mw visit's are up as it's up to you then.

And of course, he was overdue, wouldn't have been that weight if he had arrived on time!

And of course, he was overdue, wouldn't have been that weight if he had arrived on time!

Spina, I know a bit how you feel. Ds2 came early you know and the first month I felt absolutely bullied about his weight. Try to ignore them as best you can.

AQ, the screaming, unsettledness (is that even a word?) starts about 8:00 or 9:00 pm. Dh is convinced it's gas b/c of something I'm eatiing - back to blaming the mother! - b/c something similar went on with ds1. I keep trying to tell him that ds1, who was sensitive to dairy in my diet, was windy and unsettled at any time of the day until I cut out the dairy. Ds2 is a little angel (well, mostly wink]) during the day and turns into this other baby later on.

Have tried swaddling and putting him on the raised pad next to me. We're still co-sleeping, which I don't like at all. Both things seemed to work at first but now make him furious????? I was sitting down and kind of bouncing him on my lap last night and that calmed him but my arms couldn't keep it up for very long

WB, can't believe you're getting work done Hang in there and drink lots of caffeine

ds2 having a long overdue nap, so I'm surfin' instead of, say, housework. Has anyone seen that the Odeon do parent & baby screenings ? Sounds fab, I'll get to see a film at last!

Yes, Spina you can "fire" them. My friend did that with our HV Talk about conflicting advice: you feel like you would be sent before a firing squad if you didn't bf only for 6 months minimum round here but you lot seem to be getting it in the neck about giving your LO's formula.

An example of some MW's stupidity: one said DD1 was "tiny" (53cm at birth, average I thought) and this was the reason she had reflux - have you ever heard anything like it?!? She also added that her lack of height was due to short parents ... DH 6'2", me 5'8"

Sounds nightmarish, jabber. Trouble with colic is it's so vague & there's no cure anyway even if you figure out that's what it is. If it's starting at the same time everynight & he's pulling his legs to his chest like he's in pain then prob. colic. DS1 had it, I'm hoping to escape it with DS2 - the only thing we did is share out the screaming as he did it from 4-midnight, DP did 9-12 shift so I could get some kip. Bottle-fed babies more likely to get colic becoz of the air I thought, so possibly not giving him bottle at that time might help? I'm putting off giving ds2 a bottle until he's past 6 weeks for this reason.
I think there's a section on colic in the discussions isn't there, maybe some more hints on what might help if swaddling no longer is. {hugs} it WILL get better.

According to the night nanny who came here twice (very experienced maternity nurse/nanny but not old fashioned views) as long as you feed every 3 hours & not demand, babies don't get colic and it's not to do with breast v. bottle. I don't know what works, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you have a little screamer but it's usually better by 3 months. If all else fails, try the hairdryer I say!

I've fed DS every 3 hours since he came home from hospital (regime imposed by them) as he basically got used to their feeding schedule and stuck to it himself and he has colic so not sure about your nightnanny's advice castles. Mind you he is 11 weeks now and it does seem to be improving gradually although he was shocking last night bless him.

Hello all! I'm back! Spent most of the afternoon catching up on all; the news in between breast feeding and bobbing Ewan up and down.. feels like I've watched a hollywood blockbuster with all the highs and lows! Really nice to see how you've all been doing and that I'm not the only one veering like a maniac between euphoria and exhaustion...
been breastfeeding but as DS1 utterly rejected a bottle at all and I HATE milking myself, as from two nights ago we are giving DS1 a bottle of formula at the 10/10.30pm feed and I have to say ladies, it bloddy well does push them through!! He's slept brilliantly the last two nights with only one night time wake up (at about 2-3am) so I don't care about the guilt factor, I'm just going to do it!
other than that ionly major trauma for me has been juggling bed time between 2 year old and DS2 as both are tired, hungry and grizzly at the same time evry night- on Friday I ended up breastfeeding DS2 whsilt DS2 sat next to me reading his nursery rhymes... I know some of you have been doing this balancing act foir years but am finding it a bit scarey a the moment. Secind night of it tonight so will see how it goes...
apart from that we're stcking in there. DS1 has been brilliant- a few tantrums in the first few weeks, but now loves the baby (sometimes a bit too over enthusiastic IYKWIM) but better that than the other way. Hes keeps running up to me and announcing "Mummy, I LOVE baby"..
Anyway hope to post more regularly now I have my house back to myself and things are returning to normal after the xmas madness.
Mardy- keep us posted... thinking of you. x

Hi! It's been ages since I posted, and boy has life changed! Charlie Iain made his appearance at 15:40 on December 29. I had to have a c-section in the end as he was in breech. He weighed in at a whopping 10lbs (about 4.5 kilos) so perhaps a section wasn't too bad an idea (!)but has since lost a fair bit. Spent two days in hospital for checks on weight loss, but all seems to be due to late arrival of milk. He's eating really well now, will have to catch up with all messages while he's on one of his marathon feeds! Congrats (and good luck) to all new mums!