February 2007 Post Natal Club

[Plumpbump]

Hello

I know it's not even February yet, but here is the new thread. Even though Jacob was born in January, I feel he is an honorary Febster!!!

Looking forward to more new bubs coming this way!!!

hello all. Meant to post since yesterday morning but ...

Was truly shocked to read about periods here - that's the last thing I'd need now .

We are due our (belated) six week check ups tomorrow morning at 8:30. Now on a good day I have managed to bf DD, be washed/dressed, walked the dog, done dishwasher and washing machine at that time BUT more often than not I am pacing the house with DD who won't settle even after a good feed.

I had a really good pregnancy so was hoping things would continue in that vein but there's justice in life and I have the bad back NOW, sore feet, still carry ten pounds more than before and have an amazing non-sleeping baby. We actually moved DD into her own room three nights ago and when she finally falls asleep she does sleep through but until then it is very hit and miss (more miss than hit).

We are using washables too, paper liners go in the bin (I don't trust the plumbing) and the rest goes in the dry bucket. Washing every 2 days or so at 60 degrees. DD has no nappy rash, so that's a blessing.

I did succumb to some daytime telly when the weather was bad (Loose women/Doctors/Saturday cooks if DP is working) but now that the weather is improving I have made a start on the garden. It's taken me three weeks to get the pruning done (no, it's not a massive estate but a normal sized garden for a terraced house) and I have just about finished one of the long borders in terms of weeding, lawn edging and mulching. As I might move into gardening to earn a bit of money following my redundancy, I guess I need to look after our little patch.

Really enjoyed our day out to Norfolk coast on Sat. DP often works on a Sat, so to have a "normal weekend" was great. DD slept a lot but when she was awake she was feeding, so we had lots of food and drink breaks. Crab sandwiches, smoked fish chowder, walnut cake, etc - I'm making myself hungry typing this?

If anyone has any tips as to how to improve on a baby that feeds a bit then falls asleep at the breast and wakes again withing 10 minutes or so (and plays that game for hours in the evening), please come forward!

Good Lord can't believe this is the first time I've posted since Noa was born!! All's well,feeding brilliant, although I mix feed her now, due to the fact that she is THE hungriest individual I've ever known, lol! Started that about 4weeks ago and it's problem free, she's happier now and that means everyone else in the household is too. Since after her first night at home she's been great sleeping at nights. Was waking every couple of hours at first, but as soon as she'd had feeds, she settled herself. Jammy or what? The hammock works a treat, would highly recommend to anyone considering buying one. Last two night's she's sleep straight through till bout half 6-7. Delighted at that. My dd2 Ty, has been an absolute dream as well, she's a proper little mother and has been really invaluable to me. Dirty nappies, feeding, taking for walks , she does it all, can hardly believe my luck. She is available for hire at reasonable rates.

Oh btw, just to take the edge of my smugness, the wee bugger nigh on refuses to sleep during the day, 40 winks is generally her lot, unless of course one of her grans are having her,in which case she sleeps for hours!! Kids eh? They'll make you out to be a liar everytime.

Glad to see everyone else is enjoying their little bundle of joy too.

K.x

Alocin, Ruth has a rash that sound a lot like that. Tiny red spots over neck, ears and part of cheeks. People have been calling it milk rash to me and say it will go of its own accord. I thought it was probably exacerbated by heat since its right where I hold her to feed her.
Bienchen, We had much better evenings since I started putting Ruth upstairs in the bedroom with the monitor on. Prior to this she was waking every half an hour to feed and fall asleep after 5 mins! I put ds to bed then go downstairs and get Ruth, then feed her in the dark in the bedroom. That's at about 8pm aand she stays asleep more or less until 11pm wen I go to bed and feed her again. Worth a try.
No period here and last time took about 6 months so hoping for that this time too. Had a visit from an old work colleague today. She had a baby in january so i was really good to catch up but has made me think about returning to work and how I would love to have more than 6 mths off. Not sure we can afford much more though - we're in what another friend calls the 'wealth trap' - earn too much to give it up! I'm sure this'll become a recurrent theme of our thread over the next few months.

I think milk rash happens earlier on when your hormones are still crazy, it looks more like acne. Heat rash is more splotchy and doesn't look like you want to squeeze the spots! HTH

On the nappy front, we've had a few problems with the Bambino Mios sogging through in less than 3 hours and one pair of Cotton Bottoms pant even fell off and she pooed out the back of it ! She is now wearing a size 2 fluffle of DD1's as they can be folded down and used from 8lbs. She has the most cuddleable squishy bottom tonight! If it works well then I'll be buying a few moew sbn, I think I'll need 4 more with both of them wearing them now.

What are you all doing for cleaning bottoms? I am using washable wipes (Snugglebumnappies, the ones you are selling are fab!) and I also use cotton wool pads and almond oil. The pads and oil work well when out and about, too.

Had a great night too, DD went to sleep at 11pm after a few feeds and a bit of rocking and she slept until 5:30 this morning.

Off to have breakfast with DS and to get ready for our check ups.

Have a lovely day all of you!!

Well we surived the jabs - he screamed and went reall bright red - the worse noise ever, and then did the same with the one in the other leg. Poor little thing - he settled down after about 5 mins and then fella sleep in the car when i went to get dd from school. I gave him Calpol when we got home and he as ok that evening, just a little unsettled in the night - but that ay have been due to a very full wet nappy!

Got to go through the same again in 4 weeks time!

I clean his bum with cotton wool and water at home, and wipes when out and about - and yes I have one of those that cat naps when we are at home, sleeps well if out in the pram ./ car, but if Grandma is in charge - he drinks a full bottle (well 4oz) and then sleeps for over an hour! Maybe she scares him to sleep!

We also have the so called milk spots, but have had a few that looked like proper acne! Didnt squeeze them though! I have heard that calendula cream is good for them - from health food shops I think - not sure what it is though?!

Some people use the term "milk rash" for baby acne. DS had it and DD has also had it. Hers was a few weeks ago and was soooo bad that I thought it was an allergic reaction. Best thing you can do is leave it well alone. I found the heat and her fussing made it look worse. Once it was almost clear, it dried out a lot and I used a wee bit of moisturiser then. But nothing before then - jsut a wipe over with water now and then. Typically starts around 4-8wks I think due to a hormone surge.

Right ladies... I keep getting confused about what baby is what age when we're talking in posts so ended up looking up the birth list. I've updated it and thought popping it on this thread once might help. There are a few ommissions and I know a few people have changed username. So just let me know any changes.

I got stuck with DD on my knee for a few hours this evening. She had her jabs and has been in an awful state all day so I didn't dare move her wehn she finally nodded off. So I got bored and did some stats...

Any ideas on a strong ammonia smell coming from DS's wee ? He seems fine otherwise, and I mentioned it to the Doc at the 8 week check and she wasn't bothered, but it seems a bit wrong to me.

Check itself was fine, and he was a brave wee boy for the injections, only cried a little bit. I felt terrible as he looked up at me all trusting and then I let someone stab him in the leg... Twice ! Horrible. Then I was brave myself, and bfed in the medical centre waiting room to calm him, which worked a treat. I managed to feed with him still in our Coorie sling which kept things pretty hidden.

He had the "baby acne" too, all voer his face, upper chest and back. It looked pretty nasty for a bit but it cleared up just at 8 weeks. He didn't seemed bothered by it and I just washed it with cooled bolied water a couple of times a day and it cleared up on it's own.

I wipe him up with either a wet fleece liner for wet only bums, or herbal wipes ( v good and available from Snugglebum) for muckier bums.

Number of Boys: 29
Number of Girls: 19

Earliest Arrival: Plumpbump's Jacob on 2nd Jan
Latest Arrival: MrsJohnCusack's Henry on 8th March

Most Early from Due Date: Plumpbump's Jacob at 32 weeks
Most Overdue: DrJo's Kimberley Ann at 42 weeks
Average Gestation: 40 weeks would you believe! (well, 39.99 and that includes elective c-sections)

Number of Early Arrivals: 16
Number of Late Arrivals: 27
Number Arriving on their Due Date: 5(incl 2 or 3 elective c-sections)

Lightest Baby: Titchy's Bethany at 4lb 13oz
Heaviest Baby: MrsJohnCusack's Henry at 10lb 5oz
Average Weight: 7lb 14oz

PLUMPBUMP(End Feb) 2nd Jan 5lb 1oz at 32 weeks! Jacob
MUMMYTOJAKE (7th Feb) 24th Jan 7lb 1.5oz Max
BECS21 (14th Feb) 28th Jan 6lb Tilly
TITCHY (15th Feb) 1st Feb 4lb 13oz Bethany
BABYDRIVER (3rd Feb) 4th Feb 7lb 7 Evan David
SMUDGEMUM (2nd Feb) 5th Feb 8lb 7oz Dominic Marcus
BUBBLEBELL1 (8th Feb) 6th Feb 10lb 1oz Harvey Eric
SHHHH (31st Jan) 7th Feb 9lb 13 oz. Harry Nathaniel
SOUNDBITES (1st Feb) 7th Feb 6lb 3oz Isla Maisie
SORKYCAKE (6th Feb) 9th Feb 7lb 11oz Luca
TUTTIFRUTTI (16th Feb) 9th Feb 7lb 8oz Emma Victoria
KATPOO (16th Feb) 10th Feb 7lb 3oz Kai Xavier Wright
HAIRYCATTERPILLAR (16th Feb) 10th Feb 7lbs 14oz Benjamin Lewis
BUNNY3 (12th Feb) 10th Feb Tabitha
RUTHIE21 (19th Feb) 11th Feb 6lb 12oz Girl
BOUNCYMINKY (9th Feb) 11th Feb 6lb 7.5oz Elizabeth Anne
FLOWERTOT (23rd Feb) 11th Feb Charlie Alexander
SUZI2 (15th Feb) 12th Feb 7lb 7oz Isla Grace
SALLYALLYALLY (1st Feb) 13th Feb 9lb 3.5oz Henry Eric
CADBURY (6th Feb) 13th Feb 7lb 12oz Aimie Flora Grace
PEACHYGIRL (19th Feb) 13th Feb 5lb 9oz Maya Peach
SNUGGLEBUNNY (17th Feb) 13th Feb (ECS) 7lb 4oz Arren John
QSACK (6th Feb) 13th Feb 9lb 9oz Zachary James
ANDYROBO (26th Feb) 14th Feb (ECS) 8lb 8oz Thomas
MRSJ (11th Feb) 14th Feb 5lb 12oz Millie Rose
SUIS (11th Feb) 14th Feb 9lb 6oz Alexander Kinross Stirling Mooney
THELITTLESTBOHO (15th Feb) 15th Feb 9lb 10oz Noa Echo
LEAHSMUM (14th Feb) 15th Feb 7lb 4oz Sophie Louise
JULEZBOO (16th Feb ECS) 16th Feb 7lb 1oz Adam Thomas
SALLYN (3rd Feb) 16th Feb Noah
TOMMY (16th Feb) 16th Feb Oscar
BABE (7th Feb) 16th Feb 8lb Boy
CHACHA (16th Feb ECS) 16th Feb 7lb 12.5oz Joseph Gabriel
LUCYB9384 (9th Feb) 19th Feb 8lb 6oz Oliver David
TIME4TEA (19th Feb) 19th Feb (C Section) 7lb 13oz Torin Oscar
MOOSMA (17th Feb) 20th Feb 7lb 10.5oz Tabetha Katy
BIENCHEN (24th Feb) 22nd Feb 7lb 7oz Catherine Isabelle
12YEARGAP (20th Feb) 22nd Feb 8lb 2oz Girl
ALOCIN (18th Feb) 22nd Feb 9lb 4oz Patrick James
RUBYANDBEANSMUMMY (16th Feb) 22nd Feb 8lb 4oz Oscar Gabriel
DONTCALLMEYUMMY (14th Feb) 23rd Feb 7lb 6.5oz Reuben
MARMITEMAD (14th Feb) 24th Feb 6lb 9oz Abigail Rose
CURRANTBUN (26th Feb) 27th Feb 8lb 4oz Kit Thomas
DRJO (13th Feb) 27th Feb 8lb 8oz Kimberley Ann
JA9 (24th Feb) 28th Feb 7lb 4.5oz Rosie Erin
FORGOTTENFREETIME (27th Feb) 5th Mar Ruth Isabel
SNUGGLEBUMNAPPIES (26th Feb) 7th Mar 8lb 10oz Charlie George
MRSJOHNCUSACK (23rd Feb) 8th Mar 10lb 5oz Henry

Yeah, Ruth's spots are raised and acne like so I'm going for milk rash. Is a bit better today though. have also been pleased with how quickly breast milk has cleared up a sticky eye - 6 hours! Felt a bit odd squirting it in her eye though! We use cotton wool and water everywhere! Ds seems to be allergic to wipes, even the sensitive ones since he comes out in nappy rash even after just one change with them! The 'home alone' week is going ok so far. I've been suprised that bedtime hasn't been more difficult but dd has fortunately decided to sleep until ds is down.
Went for a walk yesterday with my gym buddy who's been missing me a bit recently ( well, for quite a while actually). It's been difficult to find the time whilst working and looking after ds and then obviously whilst heavily pg I didn't feel much like it. I'm shocked at how much fitness I've lost, will have to make power pramming part of my weekly routine I think!

suzi2 I was thinking it would be good to have the list on here too, I get so confused...

Hi maya has small raised white sopts and has had them for a while. I always assumed they were milk spots.
Thanks for the stats suzi2 - aren't they interesting what lovely names all the babies have!
I'm venturing into London tomorrow to meet a friend for lunch. I'm thinking of taking the coorie. I'm a bit worried it will be too hot.( I have ordered a Kimmer but it hasn't come yet) I shall see what the weather will be like, otherwise it will be the baby Bjorn.

Hi I haven't been on this website for ages. I had my beautiful baby girl on Feb 12th called Grace. After worrying about it being 12 lbs she was 9lbs 4oz instead. I can't believe how much I adore her I thought I was going to have a problem with PND but no such problems. I do still have the occasional nightmare day because of my now 3 little darlings but it's amazing how relaxed I feel. Grace had those small spots on her face but they seem to have cleared up by themselves. She is though having a major problem with an eye infection but the doc has given us some drops which hopefully will clear it up but I don't like the fact that I'm giving such a young baby medicines!

Thanks for the messages re. periods. It was REALLY heavy all day Tuesday, but yesterday it had pretty much stopped by the afternoon. I spoke to the GP about it at my postnatal check-up and he said it's quite normal for the first few periods after a baby to be quite heavy. The uterus apparently takes several months to completely return to its pre-pregnancy size, and until then the increased surface area means that there is more lining to shed - resulting in heavier periods than normal. Felt greatly relieved after speaking to him and it's much lighter now - barely there really. The only question he couldn't answer was when I could start using tampons again - he said no-one had ever asked him that before! Most things I've read say six weeks postnatal but I think I'll stick out the pads for the remainder of this one then start using tampons again next period (which hopefully will be a bit lighter than this one).

Kit has his first vaccinations next week. I am dreading it - I'm sure I'll probably find it worse than he does though! He also has to have his hearing tested next week as when it was tested in the hospital after his birth they couldn't get a clear result from his right ear (quite normal at that stage apparently, as their ears are often full of gunk from the birth). He's now 10lb 2oz, so nearly 2lb heavier than his birth weight (8lb 4oz). Can't believe how much he's changed since he was born - he is so much more alert now, and seems to be developing his own little personality. He has just worked out how to carry on yelling even when a dummy is placed in his mouth (which used to soothe him really well!) so I hate to think how I'm going to calm him down when he's in a rage now!

T had her jabs yesterday and was very brave! She didn't notice the first one, the second one made her squeal but she calmed down as soon as I started to feed her then she was fine for the rest of the day and has done another of her good nights

Good luck to anybody else who has them coming up...

Suzi2 thats for the stats hey make intresting reading, we had a lot more boys than girls, wonder why

As for the co sleeping, we co slept with DD till she was 18 mnonths old, it only started because she wouldn't settle in her cot (it was a bedside cot so she was next to me anyway, but I think she slept in it once, it ended up being used as changing table!) she was still waking every few hours in the night to feed when she was 18 months and I was pregnant so DH took the bad cop role and moed her to her own room in a bed (despite my complaining that it was mean and she wouldn't cope) and she slept through on the first night! This time round DS2 is slightly better than DD but still ikes to be right next to me and at the moment I am happy with it so we will probably co sleep for the first year or so. As for when they roll and crawl, not really sure as because neither of them would settle in a cot they spent the whole night downstairs with us and we took them up to bed with us when we went to bed, not very good for routines I know but it was the only way we kept our snity to start with

Smudgemum, I am sure someone would buy the stuff left in the house, people buy anything on ebay, dont they!

Moosma, I have used DDs size two fluffles on DS2 and found they work really well, I was surprised as they look really bulky but seem to squash down with a wrap on, if you haven't got the new fluffles you must get one, even if it's just as a comfort toy for the LOs , they are so much softer and nicer than the first ones that came out!

Witth all this talk of vaccinations has anyone decided not to vacinate (I am sure someone mentioned it before but I can't remember who) none of my children have been vaccinated, but it's such a difficult and very personal decision to make, I was wondering if anyone has looked into other natural immune boosters as it's something I keep meaning to look into and never get the chance.

Ben has caught chickenpox...fairly inevitable after DS1 just having it (so much for the breastfeeding protecting him with my antibodies!!!). Every time i look at him he seems to have more spots, and he has been either sleeping or awake but miserable today .

On the vaccination front, in my line of work I have unfortunately seen the complications from many childhood illness including deaths from whooping cough, measles and rubella . My experience and research into it has led me to believe that for me vaccination is the right thing to do. HOWEVER it is a very personal thing and just one of the hundreds of difficult parenting decisions we all have to make.

I forgot to add, we weighed Tabetha and she's grown 2lbs in 3 weeks! That's 1.3ozs a day

My DS is due for her vaccines next week and I have a severe needle phobia. But my DH has told me to be strong or else I'll pass it on. About not vaccinating I work in a nursery and it can be a bit of a nightmare if some children aren't vaccinated. The diseases can spread like wildfire.

Thanks all for the info re baby acne/milk spots - you are much more useful than the HV I asked this morning, she offered no advice and didnt seem to have a clue what they might be!!

Can I just gush? Love love Patrick so much, he's smiling and gurgling and reaching for things and really is a delight. We are so lucky!

Swimming - would anyone go swimming pre vaccination or is it the norm to wait til after? Rec Centre said it was up to me.

snugglebum - i'm probably being a bit dim, but where can i find your ad/buy stuff from you? i've got a few washable wipes and they are FANTASTIC, so i want to buy some more but can't find them anywhere locally. cheers

Technically swimming is fine pre-vaccinations. BUT... I would say that most public pools, even the toddlers pool, are too cold for babies our age. I did a swimming course with DS - we started at 14 wks and he had to wear a wee neoprene suit to keep warm. And it was already in a hydrotherapy pool. After 30 mins he was always freezing and often shivering. Worth taking into account anyway.