February 2016 - our babies are here!

[IslaMann]

New group for those graduating the ante-natal thread

DH has excelled himself this afternoon. In front of MIL he says "You need to pull yourself together and stop this moping crap! If you do it in front of the health visitor tomorrow, they will take your baby away!"

I know he was annoyed with me, I was making it very clear I didn't want MIL there but she was ignoring that. She jiggled DS until he projectiled his entire feed up over her and him. DH had to grab DS to stop him choking as the stupid cow tipped him backwards instead of forwards to try and save her clothes.

I've just noticed one of the cats has conjunctivitis so someone in the house hasn't been washing their hands and has spread the infection around! It wasn't me as I haven't touched a cat since coming home.

Oh rufus that sounds absolutely horrendous! Do you have any midwife postnatal support? It's definitely worth trying to get some help especially if you're feeling a bit depressed, just to nip it in the bud. Can you get in laws to help rather than just have cuddles?

Placenta smoothie doesn't taste of placenta at all and having red berries in there helps massively! Although I came across the first chewy bit today, that was...interesting! :s

Thanks so much maisie for that. Your ds2's tt sounds really hard work, your poor nipples!! When will it get sorted?

He was still feeding at 6am this morning and I kept nodding off. I think I'd had about 30 mins total sleep at that point. I just had to get DH to take him downstairs, I had a bit of a meltdown. Mum came and held him for a few hours so we could sleep and the midwife came to basically tell me it was normal and to hold on there, so I'm feeling a bit more normal. Dreading tonight though... :s

Missed your last post rufus. your DH needs to sort himself out! How bloody unhelpful! Do you have anyone who can support you that you trust? And the health visitor won't take the baby, they'll be more worried about how you are. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time.

rufus that sounds shit, definitely speak to midwife they will help it's easier to stop depression before it hits than pull yourself out of it.

haq that's sounds disgusting sorry!

cud thanks for pointing me to kellymom managed to express nearly 3 oz and DS took his first bottle just and immediately started screaming for more and is currently guzzling from me. Oh well will keep practising this week and hopefully get enough for a full feed Friday.

haquoi I am intrigued, is your placenta in your fridge? Whole? Do you just cut a piece off for each smoothie? Will you eat the whole thing?

Having my 1st bath tonight. I've really missed them, not sure if I'm allowed one but I just needed to chill. When does the bleeding stop? Mine is only light most of the time, except when I sit on the toilet, then it comes pouring out. It is absolutely nothing like any period I have ever had! When can I use tampons? I hate towels and they rustle when I walk!

rufus I hope you enjoyed your bath. I don't think you can use tampons yet not sure when you can though sorry.

Hope feeding gets easier maisie and haq lansinoh is also good for sore nipples...

Sorry things are so tough rufus hope the antibiotics kick in soon... could you leave dh and baby with mil and go for a sleep next time mil visits??? Not sure about bath post section but fairly certain tampons are off limits. Hope you feel better soon and your hv is supportive. They definitely won't be taking a loved and cared for baby away.

Hope you have managed to take it a bit easier clumsy and good work on the expressing!

We've had a pretty good day here. I had wound myself into a tired hormonal mess yesterday after having visitors all afternoon and my mum staying so just needed some breathing space. Ended up with a silly argument with dh who had to go back to work today and is also tired and will be working v long hours for the next few weeks. Not clever but all sorted now. On the positive side though, i took ds1 to nursery on time all by myself and have managed a good long walk into town and back, although feeling it a bit now!

Anyone else with older children have any advice on how to deal with ds1 having 'accidents' on the toilet front? It's very frustrating as has been clean and try for a while... no idea how to tackle it! Thanks!

I've had a letter to say I'm due a smear. Anyone know how long postpartum you should wait?
Rufus a bath is fine, encouraged in fact. But no to tampons for at least 6 weeks I believe.
cudby no experience but im sure it will soon resolve. Could it be that DS is feeling unsettled by the new arrival? (Hope that doesn't sound mean)

Two very interesting nights here after the first nightmare. DH and I took turns to be downstairs with bubs while other slept - I would feed and then DH wind and hold. First night of doing this rocked, but tonight started really badly. Midwife had tried to correct my bf technique and it didn't work - by the time night came I was in agony and feeling desperate that I couldn't feed him. I then remembered laid-back feeding (thanks rufus) and blooming heck it made a difference!! Trusting that he would latch was hard but once he was on we were both surprised by how much milk he had and he drained my boob in 10 mins, rather than spending 30 mins fussing and getting nothing. The latch is still painful but not as bad as before and the relief? Oh my! I'm going to push for a referral on the tongue tie though. Unfortunately no sleep though! Maybe an hour?

rufus are things going a bit better? Another option, if you can afford it, is to hire a postnatal dose - they're there for you and baby only so can be your advocate... But I know it's more money, I wish we could consider it.

Placenta is cut up into chunks and put in freezer in little ziplock bags. The grungy bits are also in there and we'll eventually bury it in the garden. I haven't actually seen it, DH does it for me (star). Add berries, banana and juice or milk and it doesn't taste of anything weird.

maisie how're you holding up?

clumsy that's great news about the expressing!

cud I'm dreading DH going back to work, I'm a complete mess without him. Really hope things go ok. And (this for others as well), MASSIVE respect to those who are looking after older children as well. Excuse my language, but fuck me this is hard.

rufus *postnatal doula

DH and I took DS to the pub yesterday. We walked there and then realised that we couldn't take the muddy buggy in and DH had taken the handle off the buggy so couldn't take the bassinet bit off! So we sat outside in the sunshine, which was actually really nice. I felt so much better just being out, it was my 1st outing since coming home from the hospital.

Weighed myself this morning, 2 weeks since c-section and 10kgs have disappeared with no effort from me. So quite pleased, another 10kgs to go but going to give myself 1 year to lose that. I'm very surprised how quickly my mummy tummy has gone down. Another 4 weeks before I can start exercising, which does make me feel better.

DH goes back to work tomorrow, quite scary that I will be in the house with no back up. My mum is going to come over at some point so not alone all day.

Congrats on your first outing rufus sound like a change of scene was a good move. And v impressive weight loss, i'm not brave enough to go anywhere near scales!

I'm sure you're right and ds1 is unsettled by new arrival isla he is really playing to visitors for attention and we are trying to make sure he gets plenty from us... at the moment he is still going to nursery 4 days a week so hopefully some stability there will help. But i could do without the extra cleaning up and it's hard not to get cross when you're tired!

And 2nd baby is definitely easier haq ! They just have to be...

Good, thanks haq

In answer to your qu upthread ^ - we had the TT snipped last Monday when DS2 was 6 days, bless him. I had been through this with DS1 so I wasn't hanging around. The thing in Ireland is that you have to pay for most medical things so it's a bit easier to get seen.

I'm still having feeding issues though! My supply hasn't recovers from the first week of inefficient feeding and seems to fluctuate madly. I suspect one of my breasts isn't producing much at all. I've no time to pump. Poor ds1 is being so good but I simply can't spend 16 hours a day feeding with an 18 month old to look after too.

I'm going to end up doing a mix of BF, formula and, when I get sorted, expressed milk.

I have to watch out now that I don't get obsessed with breastfeeding as this happened me last time and it really blighted the first 8 weeks. I just want to enjoy my babies and be happy.

DD being weighed again tomo 2 and a half weeks old - hoping she will have gained back to birth weight so we can be discharged from the midwife!

Hello everyone! Just saying hi as DD2 arrived this morning at 5am, another quick delivery and home birth. It was great, still feels surreal! Am a bit worried about our first night! After pains killing me at moment but other than that feeling well! We're all in love!

Congratulations xing! Hope the after pains ease off for you soon

Welcome to the thread Xing, congratulations!
Had my DD weighed this afternoon. She's gone from 8lb3oz at birth to 9lb15oz at 3weeks and 5 days (26 days- do we still count in days?). No wonder my back pain is getting worse!

I'm so jealous isla my DD was weighed today too and has gone from 4580 at birth to 4060 at 16 days :(

Congratulations xing!!

Welcome to the new thread!

The after pains are a killer but they don't last long beyond the first day or two. They're a sign feeding is going well anyway

liberty what did the mw suggest? Are you bf or ff? DD lost 10% while bf, all of this weight gain is from ff. I just wasn't producing any breast milk. I know some of the girls on this thread have had to be admitted to transitional care where they were successfully given a feeding programme to follow. Could this be s possibility for you? Sorry you're going through this. X

Thanks isla I'm bf, mw said to express after feeds and give her that as a top up. Being checked again for weight on Monday xx

isla when did you stop bf and switch to ff? What caused the switch if you don't mind me asking - just the weight loss or something else?

Liberty DD had tongue tie which was snipped, but she didn't adjust her latch. My nipples were bleeding and at 6 days old DD suddenly refused to feed. I think it was due to the bleeding. So I gave an emergency ff and expressed instead. It took over half an hour to get just an ounce. I had to express every 2 hrs all day just to get enough for 1 expressed feed. So had to give formula. My milk dried up completely 2 days later. It appears I am one of the very small percentage of women who truly can't breastfeed

isla I think I might be the same - this is what I've got from half an hour on both breasts - pathetic right