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...

I don't know what to do I've just had another night of no sleep. My DD was up from 2-5 asking for food and for some strange reason I didn't have milk. I mean obviously with BF you'll always have milk but I am so empty that she couldn't latch on. Then when she finally had bm I was able to put her down in bed. 10 minutes later she wakes up making the coughing / chocking noises and bringing up milk. Wtf is wrong with her? Why does she do this everytrne I put her down?! Why won't the doctors help. Should I drive her to A&E when kg happens again in?

If there isn't a GP who you trust Pear, who you can also get an appt with pronto then maybe? Do you have a separate children's a&e? We took DS there once when tiny as that was the guidance. They were great & supportive.

Or your lactation specialist?

Are you drinking lots and lots to keep up with demand as best you can?

Probably not drinking enough

Also, am sure we didn't colief afterall. The only thing that required faffy administration was gaviscon. And that didn't last long because it made ds constipated.

Cheese I can't begin to imagine how you coped whilst pregnant again after your loss. You sound like you're doing so well at the moment xx

Oh Pear. What's your Health Visitor like? Could you go back to the midwives even? Ours have an open door policy when it comes to anything bf related.

Would you consider formula to give yourself a break?

pear I find the same at night, DD is still cluster feeding a lot in the evenings and my boobs become really soft. Have you looked up "boob sandwich" I use it to try and shove more boob in her mouth which helps her latch a bit better.
She also does the choking thing, which always sounds terrifying, I just sit her up and pat her back for her. Sometimes I think when she feeds sleeping she forgets to swallow the last bits and then when I lay her down she chokes. Have you got your wedgehog?
I have also tried slinging her last thing st night and the putting her down, sometimes works but mostly we are cosleeping.

cheese I'm sure I already said it on the antenatal thread but you are so strong. I hope you are enjoying Freya and had a nice evening for your anniversary.

biscuits sounds super tough - absolutely ask for all the help you need to get through this. Hopefully you will feel right as rain soon.

sloth excellent technique! DD will sleep when the shower is on, also think it's the white noise that does it.

I love the babies directing traffic and conducting orchestras. DD is the same - it's like they have just discovered they have arms!

Not sure mine is directing traffic or orchestras, I think he's an evangelical preacher - both arms in the air at once 'praise Jesus' style.

Sorry everyone is feeling so rotten and sleep deprived! I've been quiet for a couple of days, had a bout of mastitis that made me feel rotten and take to my bed, We've had a couple of decent nights since with just one or two feeds. Annoying thing for me is that DS is waking up (massive grunting) because he needs to poo and seems to find it difficult, and then I feed him anyway because it settles him and saves me waking again to feed him shortly again. But the volume of poo is crazy, I changed him 5 times in 30 minutes last night.

pear - massive sympathy for your bf struggles. There's nothing worse than trying to feed a hungry baby and having pain/not being able to for some reason. I had a really overactive let down with the first two, and it was awful until I discovered breast shields then slowly trained them to feed without them. This time it hasn't stopped DS feeding, but I have a painful latch for the first time ever, and my letdown really hurts. I suppose bodies can change and every baby can be different. You asked me about probiotics and combining with the reflux antacids - dr recommended to do so, as the ranitidine only treats the reflux and most babies also have digestive problems that can be helped by the probiotics. I ordered the Gerber ones online from amazon, but they are crazy expensive on amazon.co.uk, these ones look similar to what I'm using - www.amazon.co.uk/BioGaia-Protectis-Probiotic-children-Effective/dp/B00M9F7H64/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby&ie=UTF8&qid=1473681509&sr=1-2&keywords=baby+probiotic

Feeling accomplished this morning as it was my first day back to getting up with the older kids at 6am - managed to get breakfast in them, packed lunches done and everyone out the door for the school bus at 6.45am. Baby obliged by waking at 5.30 for a feed before I had to get up, and then slept while I popped him in the sling and made it to the bus stop. I'm a little depressed at the thought of having only 9.5 weeks left on mat leave already, I've 'lost' the first two weeks to recovering from the damn c-section.

DS is continuing his acrobatics, after all the flipping around in the womb, we've noticed that he rolls over consistently when I put him on the mat for tummy time. Crazy!!

biscuits - hope you are feeling better this week!

Pear I'm definitely finding things easy now Freya is on the outside with us, especially considering things started to go downhill and the placenta wasn't great when she was born. That was just 37 weeks as well so I'm so glad they decided to deliver her when they did. So sorry you're having such a tough time. Lack of sleep is just horrible. I hope tonight is better. It does sound like reflux, keeping her upright or lying with raised cot should help. One of mine used to do the same when she was laid down and it was horrible for her.

Plimsolls Freya ended up finally going to sleep gone midnight. Didn't get much sleep as she woke every 2 hours and fed for about 20 mins each time. Then up at 6 with the other kids and get them sorted for school. She looks to be going the same way tonight but I hope not! Currently feeding her again, maybe cluster feeding. How did you get on last night?

Sloth glad you got a few decent hours, surprising the difference it makes.

Biscuits touch wood but things are going well :) hope you've had a good day

Alfie I second the boob sandwich, I have to squeeze my boob at times so that it makes the right shape for her to latch on to when I've been feeding her lots. Thank you. We had a lovely day and having Freya made it all the more special.

Shan hope you're feeling better, mastitis isn't nice at all. We have the same with poo and the grunting. She seems so unsettled and wriggles around, has a poo, then falls asleep! I'm feeling a lot better after my section now and it's been 4 weeks tomorrow.

Freya can also join in with the arm waving now, all of a sudden she's discovered them

Working my way through crisps and maltesers currently, eating get too much of things like this but I'm making up for having to avoid them in pregnancy because of my gestational diabetes.

Pear I'm definitely finding things easy now Freya is on the outside with us, especially considering things started to go downhill and the placenta wasn't great when she was born. That was just 37 weeks as well so I'm so glad they decided to deliver her when they did. So sorry you're having such a tough time. Lack of sleep is just horrible. I hope tonight is better. It does sound like reflux, keeping her upright or lying with raised cot should help. One of mine used to do the same when she was laid down and it was horrible for her.

Plimsolls Freya ended up finally going to sleep gone midnight. Didn't get much sleep as she woke every 2 hours and fed for about 20 mins each time. Then up at 6 with the other kids and get them sorted for school. She looks to be going the same way tonight but I hope not! Currently feeding her again, maybe cluster feeding. How did you get on last night?

Sloth glad you got a few decent hours, surprising the difference it makes.

Biscuits touch wood but things are going well :) hope you've had a good day

Alfie I second the boob sandwich, I have to squeeze my boob at times so that it makes the right shape for her to latch on to when I've been feeding her lots. Thank you. We had a lovely day and having Freya made it all the more special.

Shan hope you're feeling better, mastitis isn't nice at all. We have the same with poo and the grunting. She seems so unsettled and wriggles around, has a poo, then falls asleep! I'm feeling a lot better after my section now and it's been 4 weeks tomorrow.

Freya can also join in with the arm waving now, all of a sudden she's discovered them

Working my way through crisps and maltesers currently, eating get too much of things like this but I'm making up for having to avoid them in pregnancy because of my gestational diabetes.

Oops sorry for the double post

Is anyone having lower abdomen/pelvic pain when they overdo it and walk too far/carry too much? Tried using sling today and am paying for it now. I had diastasis recti and SPD while pregnant and worried I've done damage by not resting enough, or that the pain is internal rather than muscular. Got 6 week check next Monday so going to try and get physio referral. Will be gutted if I can't use sling as is so handy and love the closeness.

Wishing everyone a restful night tonight. Have come to bed but little guy seems to be wide awake so lining up some podcasts.

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posting, just trying to get sorted into a routine with school runs, DH back at work on shifts and getting to grips with feeding. I have been lurking and trying to look keep caught up though! Ruaridh has mostly made it easy with a few cluster feeding party nights thrown in for good measure. Last night was a 2-6 feeding frenzy! Our boba wrap arrived today and I wore it on the school run. Ruaridh fell asleep in it within minutes. Think we will like it!

So so sorry to hear about the feeding and sleeping issues you are having pear. There is absolutely nothing worse than functioning on no sleep. You too sloth, hope you get some more big stretches of sleep!
cheese so sorry to hear of your loss. You must be a very strong person. So glad you had a good day, especially as Freya made it more special. Massive unmumsnetty hugs.

shan hope you are feeling better. Mastitis is a complete bitch!!

Loving the boob sandwich references! My latch is still painful so will be looking that up ASAP!

Currently have a cluster feeding boy sleeping on my chest then feeding every 20 mins. Might need to grab a cuppa and some choc to get through it!!!

Fingers crossed for sleepy babies for us all tonight!!!!!

Thanks LaineyPops I'm sure glad I can just have a moan on here to let it out!!

Like now. My DH is driving me crazy!!!!!! I went to sleep upright on the couch with the sling on in the living room. I instructed him to keep an eye on us to make sure I was safe with baby and nothing had slipped. He took this to mean "go upstairs and waste 2hrs in the man cave" I woke up at midnight and he was not even in bed catching up on sleep. Nooooo he was messing about in his man cave even though he's complained all afternoon that he's tired poor baby! Arghhhhh men!! Especially my man!! I'm so cross with him because now he's not going to be able to help me at 6am when I'll be desperate to hand the baby over. Why he has to act like the one who never gets sleep I'll never know. He goes "you got sleep this afternoon". Oh yes thank you...thank you for giving me 45 minutes sleep after I have had nothing for the 2 previous nights Idiot.

Anyway, I've stopped using Coleif with DD and she is happier for it. What a waste of money but hey ho! I seem to waste a lot of money trying to fix my babies in the first weeks! I've put her back on Renitidine and now I'm keeping her upright before the first attempt to put her down. Tonight I am trying the Wedgehog underneath the cacoonababy. Doesn't exactly look comfy but we shall see!

How frustrating Pear. But I don't see how that exempts him from helping at 6am. He chose to prioritise pottering about over sleep. In fact even if he was working until midnight, I would still hope he would get up early. He's still getting a decent unbroken block of sleep. You haven't had a sensible amount of sleep for ages.

Having said all that I completely understand if that's a discussion you just don't have the energy for right now. But rant away here if it helps! :)

Am gradually feeling human-ish again. I was up and about for c5hr yesterday which was exhausting so it was a good call for DH to stay at home. Today I will take it easy and tomorrow DD has her first batch of immunisations. A friend is insisting on driving me to the surgery - and she will do any heavy carrying that is necessary too (like DD in her carseat)

Being wiped out like this has given me a bit of a fright though. We always knew that we were reliant on us being well (no helpful family within 4hrs drive away) but this really has drummed it home.

Biscuits you're absolutely right. DH seems to want a full nights sleep with interruption he's just so deluded. I'm sure he was more helpful when DS was born. With DD he's much more... I need to work attitude I do totally get that he needs to work but I'm sure my friends husbands help out quite a bit at the newborn stage and they all work. It's a bummer that DH doesn't can't cook At least he cleans but cooking would be really helpful!! Anyway, after this feed I'm going to pass DD over so I can get 1.5hrs sleep. Lucky me

'Without interruption'

Today is the day I've been dreading

Husband returns back offshore for a month leaving me to deal with 2 year old and baby

I'm not looking forward to bedtimes....

Yikes, a month of flying solo puts it all into perspective Day Is there anyone nearby who can lend a hand?

Pear am sure he would love a solid night's sleep. So would we all! We have young children. It's a given that sleep is broken. It's a given that we're tired.
DH has only got up once or twice with DD. But religiously gets up for DS if he wakes. And batch cooks for the freezer. We share the chores between us.

Am thinking about trying to express milk so that either of us can put either child to bed. Is anyone expressing? Haven't a clue about what volume of milk to aim for. DD is 9wks today and probably weighs c10-11lbs

Does anyone have any information/ experience regarding stopping bleeding, sex and the pill? Basically I'm 3 weeks+ 4 days postpartum and although only lightly bleeding..bleeding. Starting to drive me a bit mad and the urge to have sex with OH is becoming unbearable (whether I'd be able to handle actually doing it is another story) Last night he was really up for it and tried it on without realising I'm still bleeding. Obviously I need to start thinking about contraception before we get to that anyway and wondered if I started taking the pill whether that may stop the bleeding aswell? Please please be the case

Biscuit

Can't help on expressing front as I don't bother find its easier to just feed myself , expressing I find is a hassle

My mum will come round one day when husband away to help me do some ironing I also have a cleaner who comes once a fortnight but apart from that nope no one to help

It's just me, toddler, baby and two stinky dogs .

My only worry is bedtime as baby not keen on bring out down in evening and toddler hates sleep so it's a challenge with two of us let alone one ahhhhh 😂

Am sure you will get into a rhythm Day. How old is your toddler? Ours has just dropped his nap and I have to say, it makes bedtimes much quicker now. If I had to pit them both to bed, I would feed DD whilst reading to DS. That sounds quite idyllic. It wouldn't be. DD would squawk through most of that feed & DS would want to be cuddled. But between boobs and a sling, am sure we'd survive. We have built the cot in DS's room already so there is somewhere safe to put her (ultimately they will share anyway).

Christine I wouldn't have thought the pill would stop the bleeding - it change the flow but I don't see how it could magic away what's still waiting to come out, if you see what I mean.
So long as you use some form of contraception then you should be fine. I haven't taken the pill for many years so can't recall how quickly it takes effect, is it a week?

Typos galore.
Put, not pit.
may change flow.

christine I could be wrong but I was under the impression the bleeding is partly to do with the "wound" where the placenta used to attach so it's not hormonal and wouldn't be stopped by the pill. For the same reason, they don't advise sex for a while due to the risk of infection. I think that's right but someone else may know more. I also think that there's a thing about the pill & breastfeeding- there's some types you can't take. The hospital gave me an info pack when I left but I can't totally remember what it said (and not sure where I've put it to check!)

Just had a little Google and hormonal forms of contraception (I assume that includes the pill) can increase the bleeding.. I'm not breastfeeding anymore so that's not an issue. Just so ready for this part of everything to be over. Not gunna moan, I'm very happy and enjoying every second of motherhood (the part where she threw up all over her Moses basket this morning whilst sleeping in it, not so much!) but everything! We just always had a very active sex life and if I'm completely honest I'm feeling quite insecure about us atm. No real problems and he's brilliant with us both, just feel like because he's not attempting sex or rushing it, I'm starting to feel like he doesn't find me attractive anymore or that he doesn't want to have sex with me. Deep down I know it's not the case and appreciate him being so patient, I can imagine it would feel horrible to be under pressure to hurry up and be ready again..just miss him not being able to keep his hands off me