August 2016 - early arrivals to the newborn cuddles & graveyard feeding shifts

[rumisyum]

So many August bus babies have arrived already! Anyone else fancy a chat during night feeds or wondering what to make of the contents of tiny nappies? Might as well get comfortable...

Oh Mrs that's a steep bill to be hit by :( Like Pear says, snuggly babies helps a little bit :)

Glad you got some help Pear. I genuinely would go dolally if I had DS at home every day alongside a newborn. DS has 3 full days of private nursery and is a saving grace. The solo days with both children are hard but manageable because there is rest bite in between if solo days with a newborn are ever rest bite!

Quick update, promise to catch up tomorrow when I don't feel so awful due to a few hours broken sleep in the past few days. We are still in hospital, Freya was taken to scbu the first night and it was horrible being apart from her. She is ok, they thought an infection so started two lots of anti biotics, blood tests and gases, and everything that needed doing. She was brought back to me (dh was with her until then) just after 5am so I was pumping for her. She's been going off twice a day for iv anti biotics in scbu but has seemed fine since. She is perfect, not grumbled and is feeding amazingly well from me now. Hoping to get home tonight, waiting on blood culture results this evening. Fingers crossed! Far too noisy all night long in here with staff in and out constantly and lots of noisy babies, hence the lack of sleep.

Ahhh Cheese how stressful for you but I'm pleased to hear that all is OK and that Freya is being looked after. You're doing a fab job pumping for her. Well done you Also, great news that she is feeding well from you. In heindsight I think I should have stayed in hospital a little longer then I did, it was just sooo noisy! I'm sure DD slept better there though

So, I last fed DD at 4 and she's been asleep for 1hr and 40 minutes. I don't know whether I should leave her sleeping or wake her up to feed. I'm bursting because I forgot to pump and my sister is about to arrive. This is the problem with visitors

Biscuits thanks for sharing about Ds nursery schedule. That does make me feel a bit better. My DS doesn't start back until September and he only does 2 mornings a week at the moment. I think I'm most sad because I really want to be that fun mummy for him again...I'm sure it's just time. I'm hoping next week I can take him to the library on his own. I just feel like we need to do something together again

Who was asking about leaking boobs? FYI I didn't leak once with DS and all my breast pads went to waste. However, I am leaking loads with DD and now 3 years later I am using the pads So, it obviously just depends on the baby. I'm pretty sure DD is a quicker feeder then Ds. Or maybe I'm producing more?! Who knows.

Lastly, is anyone else suffering from upper back pain?

I'm feeling really crap today, can't stop crying. Think I just feel overwhelmed. Dd's due date today, so she's now a week old. Think it's probably hormones and lack of sleep, plus I feel like I'm under house arrest as I am still recovering from the section. My dh keeps taking our son of and having fun, which is great but I feel really left out.

Has anyone else felt like this?

I get backache if I am in a slightly tense or hunched position when feeding Pear. I also spent most of the first week or so after she was born with awful backache. No idea why, but it got better gradually.

DD has been feeding off and on for the past 2hrs. I think she needs to sleep, she thinks she needs to feed and feed and feed.

And DS deliberately did a wee on the floor this evening in front of us. It's not the best way to get our attention alas though effective

Oh Owl, yes, yes and yes some more. Hugs. DH takes DS out to do stuff while I rest/feed DD. Which is great but I do feel left out. Especially if I get left with the less fun parts of the day (ie tired toddler returning home). It has been getting easier as time goes on - DD is 5 wks old now, and I have more energy than I did (though not as much as DS would like me to have!) Also because DD feeds on demand and hasn't established a predictable pattern yet there are some outings that are still tricky to do.

Biscuits ahh yes it must be my positioning! I'll have to focus more on this. I think I've been trying to fit in playing with DS around feeding too much so I've been in awkward positions.

Owl I so feel your pain. I really do! DH is planning a lovely trip with DS on Saturday and I so wish I was well enough to go with them but I know that I need to spend quality time with DD and rest more! It's so so hard and I only hope it gets better...it must do, right?

Btw as of now I am back using infocol. Stupidly stopped but my sister has told me to get straight back on because DD is really colicky I only went and spilled half the bottle. DH is not happy that I'm about to send him out to buy more...seriously wish this man could share some of the pain I'm in!!!

Quick update from me back in sick kids hospital , William is being kept in over night to monitor breathing as last night he nearly gave us a heart attack , sounded like he couldn't breath

They thinking it could be a mix of reflux with the laryngomalacia.

They weight him and he 7lb 13oz do finally over birthweight and that's him 16 days old today so I'm pleased about that.

Hospital did say they not overly concerned about him so that's reassuring

We away on holiday on Sunday to a Hilton in aviemore that's running a 5 day toddlers holiday , so looking forward to that. Our other son not taken well to baby although coming round a bit now so thought it would be nice for him to have a good few days of fun and it all be about him .

also thought it would be nice to get away to relax before husband away back offshore for his month and I'm left juggling baby and 2 year old, not looking forward to that I have to admit.

Daytona how scary for you all You come across as being very together. Not sure I would be after something like that! I guess mummy mode just kicks in

Well, I came on here to talk about evil colic but after reading Daytona's experience it doesn't seem so bad I am awake repeatedly winding again tonight and DD is screaming in pain which I just really hate. So sad for her. I've just calmed her down with a last resort feed even though I'm probably escalating the problem My mother cooked me two tomato based meals today. Lamb casserole and bolognese. I'm just wondering whether either is the culprit. I think tomorrow I'm sticking to much plainer food for all meals!

DS is playing up big time at bed time and was screaming the house down at 11pm. I managed to finally settle him. Fun times

Pear colic is a nightmare my first born literally screamed solid from day 6 till 3 months it was awful and we tried everything but nothing worked , he never slept and I had to wait till he grew out of it which most do by 12 weeks when guts mature

It was horrible to watch him night after night crying in pain and kicking his legs about

Somethings that did help a small amount was a warm bath in a tummy rub and baby colic massage of his belly which I learnt

Not going to lie though 12 weeks of no sleep was a killer. I remember around 2-4 weeks thinking I can't cope anymore with this but it was just a blib you do just solider on

My husband left for offshore when he was 3 days old and never returned till he was 5 weeks so I found it hard night after night dealing with a crying baby alone.

So yeah to me colic is bad so you have my sympathy , I hope your little one perks up soon,

There is various potions from chemist you can try, colief, gripe water, infacol, a few different herbal powders etc.

Speak to your HV and she might advice you on something to try.

We had no luck with them but all babies are different

Good luck

Tummy tub not rub

Often your HV can lend you one so worth checking

Yeah my Ds was the same but I coped because I didn't have any other children to look after in the day. I don't know how I'm going to cope tomorrow let alone weeks down the line Infacol is clearly not working. I'm starting to wonder if she has silent reflux like my son I've already cut out so much in my diet but obviously I need to do more and even consider removing dairy from my diet

Oh and my HV and all midwifes that I've spoken to about colic are absolutely useless. Most of them were not even aware that you me diet is linked to colic

But thanks for the sympathy...always good to hear that others know what I'm going through

Have you tried drinking fennel tea..? That can help if say it's worth a shot for you

Anything is worth a try

I'd say

Tells you about fennel here

umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/infantile-colic

Hello everybody, may I join you?

I've been dipping in and out of the September thread (under a previous nn) as I was due on September 1st, however I went in to spontaneous labour last Wednesday and Poppy was born at 36+6. It was all a bit of a shock and we weren't at all ready. She also arrived very quickly (3 hours from when I realised the "Braxton hicks" were getting a bit strong to having her in my arms). And because she was born 18 hours before that magic 37 week cut-off, she was marked down as prem which kicked off all of the pediatric checks / longer hospital stay etc. I also had to go to the big city hospital rather than the MLU I'd wanted. We were transferred back to the MLU the day after she was born but then blue-lighted back to the city hospital 12 hours later when they thought she was having breathing problems.

We made it home last Saturday but have been having pretty much daily checks as she's not been feeding well and was losing too much weight. She's also jaundiced and very sleepy so I'm having to wake her for feeds.

I have a 3.5 YO DS who is smitten with his sister.

Anyway, just thought I'd introduce myself. I'm going to go back through and read all of this thread so I can get to know you all.

Hi bella welcome! Sounds like you have had a some what stressful first week or so!

biscuits DD1 used the peeing on the floor tactic when DD2 was born, potty training that she was more than ready for when DD2 was 6/52 was a nightmare as she quickly got the hang of it and then decided that she got a lot of attention if she didn't get the hang of it!

Sympathies to the colic sufferers, sounds awful. We've had a little bit, but not every night. Keeping fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse and that yours gets better!

daytona that sounds a stressful experience. Glad they are happy with him and yay for regaining birth weight. DS was 60g less than birthweight on Tuesday so I would think he'll be there now at 15 days.

We have our first visit from the HV today. She seemed sensible on the phone so hoping she is more use than the one I had with the older 2 as she was very nice, but a bit 'alternative' for me. Her advice on how to get bottle refusing DD1 to drink out of a bottle when I went back to work was amazing. Put mustard on your nipples. Erm, no.

Day Amen to anything is worth a try!! Funny enough I've been drinking "breast feeding tea" which is fennel tea without knowing it could benefit colic sufferers. Clearly not in my case That article is very interesting though! I really am considering dropping dairy. I've dropped so much from my diet already.

Well, weirdly DD now seems to suffer from
colic in the day too. Isn't that just fab! This morning I made 2 doctor appointments. One for Monday and one for the 1st Sept when she won't be a prem baby and the doctor seeing her is more specialised in children (I asked the booking in lady). So at least I now know that I have a back up plan. I was thinking about going to the doctors today but I also feel that I need to give Infocol a few days before completely labelling it useless for us.

From what I remember the worst part of having a colicky/reflux baby is that it consumes all the enjoyment of the first few weeks

Welcome Bella! I know how stressful it is to have daily checkups. Hope you're OK and I'm glad you've found us to vent!

Pear when I gave up dairy for DS, on advice of paed dr at children's hospital, they also said it takes a while for the proteins to leave your system, and thus even longer to leave a baby's system - so allow a couple of wks to see significant improvement. Also, apparently soya protein behaves in a similar way so I was advised to give that up too. But DS had blood in his nappies for a few days so there was concern of an intolerance/allergy alongside reflux.
But yes, colic/reflux does suck a lot of the joy out of the early weeks. I hated it when people said to me 'hope you're enjoying every moment, it's lovely' type of thing. Because I wasn't and didn't realise for ages that was actually okay.

DS did two more pees on the floor this am. I have put him back into pull ups. I can't juggle two sprogs on my own all day plus pee puddles all over the place. He did manage one wee in the toilet this afternoon so I made a big fuss of that and praised him heaps.

1 more hr of flying solo to go!!!