March 2007 - even though it hasn't actually arrived, some of us have (iyswim)

[CallieNewMum]

Here we go girls - Amie, Kiwi, Dixia, Flannelettepyjamas, we can start comparing motherhood notes on this one and wait for the others to arrive one by one. Although I suspect the other thread will be our home until there's critical mass. To those of you still waiting to join the post-natal people - get a move on!!

not broody here - we have our family now. I was before dd3 - felt like I needed one more to complete our family.

weightwise - no idea how much I put on this pregnancy but still have months of a gym membership to work through. So will get back into that slowly after my 6 week check up.

I still look rather pregnant but figure I only had dd3 last Friday - time for tummy to go down yet.

Better go and get sorted dd1 and 2 have swimming lessons today and I told dh I would come with him as they can be a handful. Dd2 only started lessons by herself last week and was quite distressed by it - so figure it is better I was there. Need to get out - not one for hanging around and doing nothing.

Bethoo I was a bit like you the first time, many many moons ago. I still don't do badly on the stretch mark front, got sallow skin.

Ee my nips are still sore 2 weeks on. You'd think by the fourth breast feeding palava they would be tough by now!

Jay I don't want to wash away my baby's smell either aren't they delicious?

Hope dd gets better soon Jay... I hate having things like that hanging over me... do you ever give her vit c supplements? Sometimes i do for my older 2... it seems to help and if it doesn't at least you feel you're doing something!!

Eids - impressed as ever at your energy... it's not even a week since your section!! Must be that Brisbane air and sunshine!!

Sorry you're feeling blue Mistie... hang in there... i really remember the first 3 months being quite hellish with my older 2... we just forget how hard it can be. I am trying to be really kind to myself and not expect the world... just get through the first 12 weeks and you'll be feeling better soon i'm sure - and don't beat yourself up about the bfing... if it's not working for you then switching to formula or combining the two is better for baby than having a mum who isn't happy... i struggled to feed dd for several months - tolerated is a good word as leo said - so i know how you feel.

Good tips on avoiding mastitis piffle - i could do without getting it again and i might try getting some different bras.

Evenhope - would echo all piffle's advice re mastitis - just concentrate on massaging away that lump (hot baths/flasnnels really help the milk flow) and if you can bear it, either feed or express from that side. You can also change feeding position so that your LO feeds directly from the affected area, which will help clear it.

Rosy - I have one fab nipple and one sore one, which is taking ages to heal Also think I have breast thrush which is agony, but am self medicating with fluconazole atm.

I am going to give it two more weeks and if I can't shift the thrush, bottle feed. I fed DD for 18 months so can't belive I am having such probs this time!

Foxy - if you stop bfing does the thrush just go then? How do you think you got it - was it the abs?

Muppet - its was definately the ABs - I've had it 4 times previously while BFing and after ABs. Its much worse than the mastitis (the pain level in excrutiating). Am self medicating with flucanozole but also going to get some natural anti fungal supplements.

I just hate this so much I love BFing but the thrush is so painful and its quite tricky to shift.

Foxy - it sounds horrid - does it actually set up inside the breast itself then or is it just on the skin outside?

Muppet - starts on the nipples (moist and warm) and can work its way into the milk ducts. When feeding, feels like broken glass passing through nips and needles passing through milk ducts. It is truly horrible.

Most people don't get it however - just me (and Eids has had it too in the past)

Hello girls

First time for a proper post, though not a read through the whole thread I am afraid. I need to buy DH and DD some birthday presents so need to use my 30 mins of baby free time sparingly! I'll be back if I can get my jobs done quickly. Bugger, she's just woken again so this may be an even shorter post. Tried to type one handed last night and very frustrating!

Tilly is GORGEOUS and I am completely in love with her. She is fair (if a bit yellow) and alert when awake. She has slept for 3 hours stretches most nights except monday, when she was awake from 9.30pm til 2.45am! I was a wreck yesterday but had a kip in the afternoon and am now much better. Her big sister is getting used to her and is now even patting her (a bit hard!) when she sees her and saying "hello Tilly". I am still large of tummy and huge of nork but I don't really care too much. I llok frightening naked but keep telling my self she is only 10 days old and so I can't really expect to be back to normal yet. Plus once I have had my 6 week check I can go back to WW and lose the lard that way. BF makes me lose weight quite easily (thankfully - as I eat like a small family when feeding!) and WW plus BF should do the trick! Need to do some exercise so might take the girls out in the double buggy as a starting point.

Hope you are all well and happy with your LOs. I had a quick look at the AN thread last night and there were 5 brave girls left on it! Won't be long before we are all over here.

Love to all XXXXXX

Happy to report that I'm feeling much better today. The ABs have kicked in. Just as well, as DD has decided she just wants to feed continuously and screams every time I remove her. We usually get this routine at night, so I'm hoping that a day of it will make her sleep (how foolish is that?!)

Woke up in the night from an odd dream and had a shock of what/who is that under my arm.. just for a second I completely forgot I had a baby and was really shocked that there was something in my bed Is there such a thing as post natal dementia?

Fox - much sympathy on the thrush front, have you tried consuming the "good bacteria" yoghurt stuff? I am drinking them at the mo' in the hope of avoiding it
(had it with DS for weeks on end)

TheBlonde - how did you get rid of the breast thrush in the end with DS?

Jay - glad you're feeling better now

Dolly - Tilly sounds lovely - 3 hrs not bad for a newborn!!

Fox - the thrush eventually went with both of us using the Daktarin gel but it did take a long time

MIL suggested Gentian Violet but apparently it's messy and stains everything

Fox, one of my nipples feels as you described thrush. Are there other symptoms so I know if its thrush or just a bruised sore nipple from bad latching on?

The dts had their one month check today. they are doing really well. The conjunctivitis it turns out is not conjunctivitis but blocked ducts and very common in new borns, doctor said if the eye white is red then it would be conjunctivitis but the eyes are just weepy and gungy (sp?).

Leo has a red birthmark splodge on his back, we saw 2 doctors (not worth explaining why), and one told us to watch it to be sure it doesn't grow, if it does we should have it removed, the other reassured us that it would disappear in time , I'm not bothered about it but I'm sure Leo wouldn't want it to get big.

As for the bad wind they both have the doctor said it is because they feed too fast and has given us something for them - Iguess the swiss equivalent of infacol.

As for weight, I was almost back to my normal weight a couple of weeks after the birth but now I am steadily gaining weight, starting to think that chocolate and biscuits has to come off our shopping list, i have absolutely no control at the moment !

Jay, I feel the same about having another baby, I really don't think my body could cope with it after this pregnancy.

Eids, very, very impressed that you are doing so well after your CS, be careful that you aren't doing too much, it may creep up on you later.

I'm really, really tired today and begging my little ones to sleep long, I hope the anti-wind medication works! Good night all, wishing you all peaceful babies and a good night sleep !

Fox, I meant to say that my nipple/breast pain isn't as bad as you describe so maybe its ok.

TheBlonde - which ones do you use - I could do with trying that! Am taking acidophilous capsules but unsure how many to take...

I'm on the Muller Vitality at the mo - they were on offer in sains

Hi everyone !

Hope you and your babes are all doing well.... looks like there are lots of joys to await me... thrush, mastitis, standing on the scales... oh joy !

Well Amos is now 2 days old and is very lovely. Our family is now a very eclectic mix of boys... DS1 has brown hair and blue eyes, DS2 has blonde hair and green eyes and Amos has black hair and brown eyes. What a gene pool !

He is feeding well and, touch wood, sleeping for at least one stretch of 5 hours at night. My milk started to come in today so hopefully that will help him go longer between feeds.

Walked to the pub with DH and babe to have a celebratory half pint ... my back feels very crooked. Has anyone done Pilates before ? Think I might need to tone my core ... or whatever it is that pilates is meant to do. Certainly feel a bit coreless at the mo.

Anyway will catch up with all your news soon. Hope everyone is doing well.

Thanx TheBlonde

Laidback at Amos's 5 hour sleeps!!!

I also have crooky back from bad posture when Bfing! trying to correct posture but keep hunching over all the time

Fox, I think I've got thrush too - between bleeding nips and that, bfing was so painful I had to stop (because I can as he's really bottle fed) over the weekend and just expressed a bit by hand, and even that hurt. Iv'e started again now, but when DS is chewing (that's what if feels like!!!) it feels like he's grinding glass in my nipple, and the area quite a long way back from the nip also feels tender. It also feels hot and I get a burning sensation between feeds - I was also getting shooting pains through the breast before but that seems to have stopped. I wonder if I've had this pretty much all along as it's always been painful. I did ring the surgery on Tues am to get an appt but couldn't get through and that's the only way to get one on the day. Am now wondering if I can hang on till next week when I've got a contraception appt with my GP who is always very sympathetic.

Evenhope - much sympathy on the mastitis. Glad you're feeling a bit better today. It is absolute hell, isn't it? I had exactly the same experience as you - one day of shivering so badly my teeth shook together even while lying under a duvet in heated room, followed by a day of raging heat (but was at least glad to be warm!) and aching like I'd been hit all over with a cricket bat. Nice.

I'm about three/four pounds off my pre-pregnancy weight, but I only put on about a stone and a few pounds - the one advantage of missing most of the last trimester maybe. That said, I definitely need to tone up the tummy. But then I'd have to start exercising for that to happen, wouldn't I?

cor Laidback I was chuffed at getting 3 lots of 2.5 hrs a night!!!

I've popped up a few more photos as Finn has changed so much in a few days.
He is having long awake periods where he sits and smirks with little sparkly mischief eyes. He is the most affable baby, he tends to feed at 1, 3 and 6am, good feeds, not always needing a nappy change so is often done and dusted in 15 mins in the night. Then at about 7.30 he wakes up eyes open and just gurgles happily.

It is the BEST way to wake up.

Finally ankle swelling has gone!
And best part of post natal - getting a glass of wine and not feeling iffy about it!

Right I must go to bed now!!!!! hope all the babies have a good night xx

Piffle, lovely pictures.
Laidback your boys sound like a lovely mixture.
It is amazing how different and unique each child is. Amos has brown eyes early. Hasan's are still blue, at the moment he doesn't look like dh's baby at all! lucky he trusts me Hasan is very pale skinned but ds2 was like that and darkened after a while. My ds1 has big bright blue eyes with a fleck of brown in one eye!

Fox how old was Monti when he had the over night eye change?
Hope everyones sore nips heal soon. My sis had an awful time with thrush. she was raw.

Callie youi poor thing - I wouldn't wish thrush on anyone - but your symptoms sound like thrush.

You can buy Canesten Oral capsule (Fluconazole 150mg) over the counter - that should help. Says not for BF mums, but it is OK, just has no license in UK (it is used on prem babies etc so is OK). Also, buy Daktarin cream for your nips, and Daktarin gel for baby's mouth - that should bring some relief

Rosy - he was about 5 days old - but they actually look blue again now however DS1's eyes DID defo turn brown on day three - he just woke up with deep brown eyes!!

foxy - you can use the gel on your nipples - save having the cream and the gel. That is what my Gp recommended when I had it with dd2.

cracked and bleeding nipples - get lansinoh cream - swear by it. My nipples have been horrid with dd3 getting sorted and they have just cleared up very quickly.

lansinoh cream

my prob now is piles had them at the end of pregnancy and now they are really really bothering me... oh joy oh bliss - seems i get one prob sorted ( sore nipples) and another presents itself oh well - no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

I had truly forgotten just how much time you spend in the gp's and chemists in the year after you've had a baby.... unbelievable!

Is it true that another sign of having breast thrush is a white coating on bubba's mouth? - which means they have oral thrush? Samuel does have it but i can't work out if it's just milk... plus i get the impression i'd KNOW if i had it cos it sounds excruciating?

Well done to everyone who have sleepy babies... marvellous.... very too!

Samuel has turned into midnight party animal and so has to sleep off his excesses in the day!