January 2007 - i know i'm not the only one, come on, where are you all???

[theUrbanDryad]

hey, where are all you guys? i know i'm not the only one to have popped from the jan '07 thread!!

anyway, if you're out there, how's it going???

Help! My nipples are killing me! I know LO is feeding ok (I can hear him gulping it down like a little piglet!) & my technique has been checked by all my midwives. I know its just a matter of getting used to it, whilst they harden up, but - FLIPPING HECK! I have never felt pain like it! ...apart from when I was pushing out a baby last week!...
Is there a cream around which numbs the nipple? Or do you reckon a strong G&T before breastfeeding would work?! Any tips greatly recieved! x

lizz - i am with you on the pain. i have not known pain like it. lanisoh cream is ace as is swearing constantly for 5 seconds as lo latches on. used nipple shields yesterday for the first time hich brought relief for that feed but was worried as i didnt know if they were rexcommended.
btw, i watched 'snakes on a plane' yesterday -most amusing-but nearly cried when a snake 'latched on' to a womans breast!!

Lizzz and RGee, lasinoh is good, I also liked Boots own brand (a bit cheaper). And you can buy/be prescribed hydrogel pads from chemists (or buy as "mother's mates" from Boots, but more expensive), which you can put in the fridge and are amazingly soothing, really recommend those. Don't suppose a G&T would harm either (starts to dribble like Homer at the very idea of alcohol...)

Lizz it will get better. I had forgotten how painful it was and at forst I was dreading every feed and my nipples were so chapped. Lansinoh is great plus a hot bath with a little tea tree and lavender. I put a warm cloth on each boob to calm down the pain and it was soothing more than anything. My boobs are fine now and I am glad that I stuck it out its so worth it.
After a horrendous week with no sleep last night was definately more normal she had two feeds in the night but went to sleep after each one which was such a relief.Fingers crossed for tonight

Lizz - only did 4 BFs in hospital which was enough to crack my right nipple so I can only iamgine the pain now [ouch emotion]!!!

More advice needed please - Jacob has a proper runny tummy after all of the IV antibiotics, I'm changing a pooey nappy every couple of hours - problem is his little bottom is bright red and he has a small red sore patch on his scrotum. MW is hospital said Sudocreme is the worst thing to use as moisture can get trapped underneath which exacerbates the situation and to use Vaseline. Community MW told me to use Sudocreme. Arghhhh. Conflicting advice - any suggestions??!?!?!?!

Baby blues have hit BIG time today - spent most of the day crying but I think with everything that has gone on this week for us it has just tipped me over a bit. So looking forward to mum coming next week. Nothing quite like a hug from mum (never too old)!

Lizz - I've had a bit of the dummy paranoia too. My LO LOVES his dummy and I have to say that nights have been a lot easier since we discovered them! He still doesn't settle very quickly but it stops all the crying and makes him very peaceful which is bliss compared to the nights I had last week where he'd just scream when he couldn't get back to sleep after a feed. So although i was a bit of a dummy snob as well, I'm very very very thankful for them at the moment and am just hoping that if i restrict them to night times (ok, well, he has had it in the day once or twice...) it's probably okay When he doesn't have the dummy he tries really hard to suck his fingers/thumb, but hasn't quite got the hang of it yet and gets a bit fustrated. I read somewhere that they tend to find their fingers & hands at about 4 weeks and might start sucking them then. Not sure this would actually be better though as at least with a dummy you can take it away when youre out in public and dummies these days are meant to be better for their teeth than sucking a thmb anyway.

Sympathies Wilkie. Hope you feel better tomorrow. My mum has been staying nearby since LO was born and has been brilliant and been around to give me lots of hugs on the many occasions I've been in tears in the last 2 and a half weeks! She lives overseas though and is going home in about 10 days which i am absolutly terrified about!

anyone around?? have lo on my shoulder and weve had the usual nonstop feed/put in basket/scream scenario for the past 4 hours

Wilkie, now before I strt I will warn you that I'm going to give rather TMI here so brace your self!!

I get a spotty bum. Very spotty sometimes. Boils occaisionally and they really f*cking hurt!
I once put sudocrem on a sore popped spot and nearly hit the roof! It absolutley kills!!
IME if the skin is broken then avoid sudocrem because it really really stings.

George has a sore bit where his ballbag joins his body, the skin isn't broken so I am using sudocrem but if it was broken theres no way I'd put it on his skin....honestly it really really stings on broken skin.

Get Dh to go out and get some metanium. It a nappy rash cream that is make by fairies and has magic powers...well IMO anyway
DS3 had really really bad nappy rash when he was little. Blisters, bleeding....yikes it was awful and metanium sorted it out in about 24 hours.

You'll only need a teeny weeny tiny bit for Jacob, it's really potent stuff so use it very thinly. TBH it hard not to use it thinly. Atube will last way way way over a year, ours did.

oh, and don't get any on the furniture or your clothes beacuse it doesn't wash off easily.
(vaseline is crap IMO, it does work but takes ages to make the sreness better)

just to second what lth said, i was just about to post about mentanium but she beat me as had to do a nappy change we didnt discover it till dd1 was 4 months old but it was a life saver got a new tube ready just in case for dd2!!! be warned that it is like yellow gloopy paste and will stain some things.

Right dd1 insisting I play dora with her (fun)as have to do it as dh at work today, think i am going to be very stressed by tonight 6 days in a row with both children they are definately his children tomorrow and I'm having a rest don't think it'll happen

thought you were going to second what I said about getting a spotty bum, EaH

Thanks girls - will trundle off to get some. Need to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

LTH - beautifully graphic description of your arse, you absolutely make me LOL - I haven't met many other people like me who like to give detailed information I personally believe you can never be too graphic

Sobbed and sobbed on the phone to mum last night and feel loads better for saying it all out loud. LTH - revolves around 'the fear' you had at about 36 weeks iykwim.

xx

morning all!
well it seems i spoke too soon about the feeding frenzy being over - at the moment am feeding every hour again, which is very tiring...i can't even express because he's not off me long enough for my milk to replenish! however i have cracked the art of feeding lying down, but only on my left side, so at least i can feed and doze at the same time!!not
wilkie - i'm still waiting for the baby blues to kick in properly, i felt a bit low the first week but that was it...still having money worries and worrying about dh's job, but not what i expected at all. mind you, apart from the sleeplessness, nothing about this baby lark has been what i expected! so much for miriam's sage advice! i thought i was so prepared!!!

UD - Its so true what people say - nothing prepares you for having a baby, such a cliche but so true. Thing is, I felt we were doig really well up until he was admitted to hosp and noww I can't stop thinking about it. I am so aware of PND cos I suffer with hormonal depression anyway that I usually have to take low dose medication for but stopped when I started ttc. Dr has said they will keep their eye on me in case I need to restart it. Really want to avoid doing so if poss though.

Sorry to hear your 'feeding frenzy' is continuing - and just when you thought you had it sussed...

wilkie - i think things replay in your head on QuickTime or something when you have a small baby. i had a stupid dream the other night where ds climbed up on the windowsill and toppled out of the window! wtf? he can't even sit up yet?? but it keeps replaying in my head.....it's horrible.

ohhhh wilkie, i remember when ds1 was this age and getting "the fear". it hit me like a 10 ton truck.

don't get me wrong, i've got it each time but with your first it's the worst simply because you've never experinence any of it before.
Iremember sitting on the sofa and sobbing for hours, being absolultley petrifeid that the worst would happen.
i'm sure you know its perfectly normal to feel like that

God, this all sound so patronising and i haven't got time to explain it any better....sorry.

and as for my spotty bum, i figure its better than having them on my face so it's cool

oooh The Fear. yes.

ds has got a very sticky eye, should i worry? he's got red spots down one side of his face, should i worry??

well, i am, anyway.....anyone got words of wisdom they'd care to share?

breast milk for sticky eye UD. not sure what you do but it apparently work. i s'pose you put some on a cotton wool ball and wipe the eye with that...

spots, probably his skin getting accustomed to lifeoutside your belly or sweat rash maybe??

Hi everyone!

Just found this thread after having a 2 week break from Mumsnet - CS and newborn baby to look after!

Can't actually believe he's actually arrived - I think it's still sinking in! He is absolutely gorgeous and I can't believe how much I love him!

Harry
xxx

LOLOLOL

at 17:41 yesterday i was saying hopefully ds4 will be a non-dummy baby.

he's not.

he's gone off to sleep on his own with the one i bought today

at least it means i can actually get stuff done now!

Congratulations to Jess and Harry.xxx

UD- DS1 had quite a bad sticky eye and everyone said that it would go away and that they dont do anything about it unless it lasts over 6 months. I tried squirting breast milk in his eye (didnt consider putting it on cotton wool-that would be too obvious!) and appart from making him blink and look at me as if to say 'WTF are you doing!' didnt seem to make any difference. Definatly try it though. Midwife said it works with some babies.

Is anyone else worried about weight gain. I think that everyone coming to visit me and saying that Ruth is so small and that their babies were never so small is really making me worry. Feel like a bit of a failure TBH. I think I had one of the lightest babies despite probably being the tallest on here. Ruth was only 6lbs3 and I feel like a bit of a failure that she didnt grow mroe inside me. Suppose it is because DS1 was 8lbs7 and by week three had put on over 2lbs. He has always put on weight well, and I used to feel like I was doing really well BF and fattening up my baby. Ruth was weighed on wed at jsut under 3 weeks and was only 6lbs14. HV said not to worry but its really getting me down to be honest especially when as I said everyone keeps going on about how small she is.

Dragonhart that sounds normal to me hattie was 6lb13 at birth and at 3 weeks she is 7lb 4oz so roughly the same weight gain as ruth (she was weighed at 1 week and 3 days and was 6lb 10) .

I got ellies red book thing out panicking because the hv comng back next week as hattie under the 25th centile and ellie was 7lb10 at birth and had put on 1.5pounds in the first 3 weeks. I think hattie bit slower as she arrived earlier than ellie (hattie 38+3 llie 39+3) assuming because she was smaller at birth her tummy smaller and can't hold so much feed and she took longer to adjust to feeding and had to change bottles as she had quite a slow suck. But now at 3 weeks she is guzzling her milk almost 4oz every 4-5hours and got the hang of what she is meant to be doing so please don't worry what people say as long as she is gaining weight that is all that matters

Wilkie, my dd2 had a really red bottom it looked so painful, my community midwife who was great suggested applying egg white with cotton wool once a day. It is an old wives tale but we did this and it worked. Some health professionals dont like this idea because of salomonella....however if the cotton wool is only going on the bottom then its ok.

My dd2 was two pounds lighter than dd1 which made me feel guilty even though I had ben doing all the right things when pregnant. it was a bit of a shock having a smaller baby as dd1 was huge.

J was 7lbs at birth and is now 7lbs 4oz at 2 weeks. Personally Dragonhart, I think small babies are cute and is absolutely no reflection on you not getting her to 'grow' enough inside you. People can be a little insensitive - we went out with J in the pram to the shops today and as we were leaving the house he was screaming because he hates having his cardie put on...the elderly neighbours came out to look at him and she said 'Oooo, he's very hungry, shouldn't you feed him??' WTF?? Telling you, insensitive and make you feel bad!!

UD - J's eye has been sticky since birth, keeps clearing up and then coming back. MW recommended cooled boiled water and use separate pieces of cotton wool soaked in the water to wipe from middle (nr nose) to outer corner (use different piece each time) until the gunk has gone. Do it every time the eye becomes sticky. She has said if it doesn't start to clear up, we need to see the GP to get some drops. V common apparently.

Thanks everyone. Guess I know I am being silly. It is just a bit strange after DS1 being bigger, like you said Oohna. DH keeps saying that she is doing really well and that she must be feeding well because she is going 3-4 hours between most feeds and up to 5 hours at night. It is just that she is on the 9th centile. Sound so low when DS spent all his time on the 75th-98th. Know you should not compare but it is just hard not to. DS was 3 weeks older than Ruth when he was born and one of the midwives said that if he had been born at the same time he would have been a similar weight.

BTW Ellie, why is the HV coming back just cos your DD is below the 25th? My HV was not worried?

Dragonhart think the hv coming back as they only appeared on thursday a week and a bit after being discharged from midwife, aparently I had got lost in the system and hv didnt know hattie had arrived let alone that i had been discharged.

I wasn't bothered but she kept saying sorry etc and now I think she feels she owes me a few visits. Also since she lives about 30 seconds from me and always tries to make me her 4 o clock call she gets home early i know last time she always used to say shall we make it around 4 and if i wanted an early appt she looked dissapointed