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!!

Well, I have finally got Bertie off to sleep, I think he is using my boobs as a dummy, he sucks for about ten seconds then sleeps for ten seconds then sucks then sleeps... and so on... and the sucks get less frequent and the sleeps more so. But as soon as I put him down, ping! he's awake again.

Dh suggested we put him in his bouncer and that seems to have done the trick, he is making some noise, but it ain't crying, so I'm happy to leave him for now. Otherwise I'll need another tube of lanolin pretty smart quick!!

I have a video player upstairs though, so it's not too bad, and I still have some videos although most stuff is DVD now... two Jon Pertwee Doctor Whos, and Harry Potter (the second one), as well as Neverending Story. Don't know why but I feel I can't watch grown up films when Bertie is around, how silly!!

Contraception? Well until these stitches have disolved it'll be abstinence all the way!! Good old sheath has always worked for me so will stick with that I think!!

Yes I wonder about Booboo as well, maybe she is still baby mooning? You don't think someone on MN upset her do you, sometimes some of the threads on here can get a bit vicious?

I wonder if Bertie can't sleep now because he had a nap for four hours during the day, perhaps I should have woken him?

Those of you who are bfing, do you do it when baby "looks hungry" or do you do it to a timetable? Would you wake your lo if they slept for a long period during the day?

Dh thinks we should give him a dummy, but I have read you're not supposed to before three weeks, in case it interfers with their latching on? Is that true?

Diva your dreams are brill, was Ron Weasley in this one as well?

Dolly how old is your dd1 again? How do the two of them get on?

Kiwi I tried the "smell test" a few times but his poo smell just doesn't seem to permeate a liner, a thick reusable and a wrap!! So I have to take it off to look, and it is rare that it isn't full!

What does everyone look like? Well I would hazard a guess that TheBlonde is blonde, lol!!

What is the reason behind not using baby wipes at first, is it to do with the chemicals or something? I have to say, I use them upstairs at night and he seems fine?

Although he is only 1 week old tomorrow ... omg, a whole week has passed, I never want him to grow up!!! I feel guilty now for wishing he was a bit older with a sleep pattern!

Ladies I'm just rambling now! I think I'm a little tired, but there's no way I could sleep!

Oh, if you're interested, here are my photos ! Am going to spend some quality time with dh now.

Sorry to anyone I've missed, I do read all the posts but I am still getting into the swing of things atm!!

Bertie is asleep!!

Had the scariest thing happen here tonight.I was giving Deanna some water and she started choking.She brought alot up and went rigid for a moment,I thought she was having a fit.
My mum paniced which didnt exactly help the situation and was telling us to go to casualty.
Now DH is very stressed with her trying to interfere all the time,its hard living with parents.

Oh Shanks must have been a real shock, glad she's okay.

Shanks that sounds a bit of a fright. Hasan has choked a couple of times but he wasn't too bad though so I wasn't alarmed. It is difficult with family, you need their help but it can all get a bit much. Anyway sounds like Deanna is doing really well though.

Mossy the pictures are brilliant. I don't think they can sleep too much could be wrong but I think if they sleep well in the day they sleep well at night. Looks like Bertie has the same navy babygro as Hasan, does it have Harry the dog on it?

I used cottonwool at first but I'm on the wipes now too. They are just so handy!

There wasn't a peep out of dd last night (yippee) though she got up at 6am. Ds2 was trying to climb in with me last night but I settled him back in his own bed. Hasan kept squirming until I cuddled him in my arms all night

I've got a sore back these days.
I have a yogalates dvd and I intend to start watching it...then I might even start doing it!

Mossie - I just feed Toby when he starts doing that goldfish impression. You know, sort of opening his mouth and smacking his lips together. Or when he starts headbutting me!

I think we must be on a growth spurt today, becuase he fed from just after 3 until 5.30 this morning - usually the middle of the night feed is only about 15 minutes. Hope he doesn't want too much more when he wakes again because both sides still feel totally empty now!

mossie - fab pics.

no more - three is our limit - dh is off for the snip soon. I am getting too old - had enough hassle this pregnancy with other people let alone in another 2 years or so.

Our gap is 2 years 4 months each time ( between dd1 and dd2 and then dd2 and dd3) - not planned that way just the way it happened.

i tend to wake dd3 for a feed but she has a touch of jaundice so we are not to let her sleep too long without a feed. she seems to be a bit more content today. Sun and Mon very unsettled and I had very little sleep.

i use reusable wipes - I still have 3 in nappies so wipes become very expensive. Have reusable nappies for no3. make up a solution of her bath stuff some olive oil and some boiling water in container, put wipes in - ready to go. Just dry pail and wash with nappies. Have a few in a ziploc bag for going out. Just cut up old flannette sheets, towels and added some cheap face cloths.

Mossie - lovely pics

On the bf, I try to avoid feeding constantly but if it's clear that only feeding will do I bf her. I will wake her to feed her if we need to go out and it's been a couple of hours since she fed.

Yesterday I didn't have time to feed her before taking DS to nursery (his first day!) so ended up feeding her in the church hall.

I think they don't recommend dummies cos they think people will give the dummy when they should feed the baby. I don't think it causes confusion.
Mine refuse dummies!! I'm hoping DD will find her thumb like DS

I'm very impressed with those of you using reusables. With 2 in nappies I am creating considerable landfill now

Sazzy I started using wipes when dd was toilet trained felt bad scrubbing her little botty with dry bog roll! Did use them when out and about from about 18 mths as well.
I find the paper (little green earthlets one) nappy liners excellent and you can wash them several times and they make great wipes.

Mossie like Bertie, Finn is a thumb sucker, but lacks ability to get thumb in on his won just yet aside from odd time he is held and finds it.
I find he often wants to suck and gets truly pissed off when floods of milk comes out...
So you take him off cos he's fighting your boob, then he howls as he still wants to suck, so you put him back...
ad infinitum LOL
DD found her thumb at around 5 mths, I did use a dumym for her as she had reflux and we lost the dummy as she found her thumb.
Finn will have NONE of a dummy though.
Anyways he is getting better we had 11pm (10 minute feed) 2am (25 mins feed and settle) 6am (15 mins feed change) and down again til 8am
He has now sunk into his coma like morning nap where he goes for 2-3 hrs
BUT HV is due any minute to rouse him.

Went out with do last night for a pint and a meal - Finn never woke although had lovingly expressed 2 oz, but once he's down he stays down for 3 hrs of a night.

Was bliss, was happy to get hom after 1.5 hrs though
Small steps

Shanks glad Deanna is ok, scary when little babies have things like that happen - ds used to have convulsions as a tiny baby and child. The first one was truly heart stopping.

Rosy it is indeed the same baby gro. That's Asda price, lol!!

Lunar ikwym about the goldfish, and as for headbutting, you can tell he's proper hungry 'cos when anyone else picks him up he starts headbutting them and rooting around for a boob!

Eids that is not a bad idea about the reusable wipes. I am still on the ones I got free in the Bounty pack at the hosi, but I cn imagine it'll get expensive after a while. This sounds like a stupid question, but what sort of container do you put them in, like a jar or something?

Blonde I am going to wait another week or two before giving him a dummy, just until I can work out whether he is actualy hungry or just wanting to suck something. Will start experessing at the same time, so will need to teach him to take a bottle too.

Dh strangely is actually looking forward to when I express, because he says he sometimes feels a bit "useless" if Bertie is screaming because he's hungry, and he can't do anything, whereas I have a secret weapon to keep him quiet if all else fails!!

Oh do you have a name yet?

Piffle impressed that you got out last night! Dh and I are going to take him out in the pram today for the first time, just up the road, but as you say, small steps - well in this case that's a very small step!

Any of you who are bfing and have massive boobs, have you bf in public yet? I am really nervous 'cos my entire boob comes out of the bra when I feed him, and round here bf is not the done thing, but sometimes it is the only thing that will quiet him and if I'm out and about and he's wailing... what do you do, do you have special clothes to cover up and if so what? I would be mortified if anyone said anything, I mean I'm quite feisty normally, but would not want to start something if I had a tiny baby with me!!

Mossy when I was in dh's restaurant in cork I fed the baby under a lightweight shawl. On sunday in sainsburys I fed the baby in the little banking nook. People here are really stuffy too and I want to be discreet.

I bf in M+S rest rooms, the chair for bf mums had been moved
it's one room with 5 doors.
One for disabled/parent baby room
3 womens toilets and one mens toilet

The room is good size and the chair is usually in the alcove behind the P+B room
not this time it wa behind the...
queue for the mens toilet
no one batter an eyelid until Finn burped

OMG-if i was bf in a supermarket i'd just flop them out and if anybody said owt i'd point to the dirty lads' mags on the middle shelves of the magazine aisle and say 'shes not exactly being discreet,or are breasts only meant to be for pervs like you to wank over????'at the top of my voice.

obviously i cant do that as im not bf..

Elsie is still faffing about with her feeds,its doing my head in now cos shes not ill anymore so i dont know why shes taking so long to feed and only taking a couple of oz at a time.

I bf in public in week one. Not even vaguely discreetly as in the early days me and baby are rubbish at latching on so I end up waving my boob about until baby opens nice and wide.
However it was a National Trust cafe and brimming with kids so I didn't really care

Mossie - you soon find out where all the bf & baby change rooms are. Mothercare have them, M&S, BHS, some Dept stores, I think even H&M if it's one selling baby stuff.

I'm never worried about exposing breast more at showing everyone my flabby midriff!

Mossie I have massive boobs (more so ATM than usual) and fed DD on a bench on the seafront at the weekend. I was sure someone was going to have a go as there were loads of people about, but not a tut or a murmur. I did end up draping a (clean!) terry nappy over her head but mainly because we were in full sun and I was worried she'd get burnt.

Lovely photos btw

Just popping in to say 'hello'. I feel really up against it atm so keeping an eye on you all but not feeling up to posting much.

I've never cared about feeding in public. I seem to remember feeding one of mine whilst walking round ASDA doing the shopping.
No one's ever said anything, if they did I'd swear very loudly at them. Maybe I look like the sort of person who'd swear very loudly so that's why no one's evr said anything ?

I alway carry a swathe of muslins
Finn is so alert these days he likes to look around while feeding, without letting go of my nipple, damn they can stretch, they'll look like wheel nuts by the time he is done with em... A muslin or 7 keeps it discreet.

Most dept stores will let you have a changing room to feed in if you want privacy btw so long as they are not busy of course

Diva pmsl that is of course what I'd be thinking but I would be scared to say it in case anyone started shouting near my baby.

Kitty you must be a bit overwhelmed at the mo, nice to hear from you though!!

Like the tip about the muslins and the shawl everyone, will also keep an eye out for baby change rooms.

I think I'd feel a lot more comfortable bf in Liverpool than in St Helens though, trouble is it's much further and involves a train!

Hey we went for our first walk with the pram today, only up to the lake at the Pilkingtons building, but it was sunny and nice to get out. Walking a bit like John Wayne though with these stitches!!

Little man looks like he's waking up... best go!!

Mossie - if you pull your top up, I bet no one will notice. They'll just think you're cuddling him. I bf for the first time in public yesterday and no one batted an eye. No one even looked. And I have massive norks

Well Elliot now weighs 8lbs 10oz which I'm quite pleased about. Was a bit touch and go - had to strip him naked in the doctor's waiting room which makes him scream (everyone stared) - and he did a huge wet all up his back poo about 1/2 an hour before and an hour after. Can you imagine if he'd done it while he was naked in the surgery? I'd never be able to show my face again!

Mossie - I wake Elliot up for feeds during the day. He had his days and nights mixed up so was waking every couple of hours at night but going 4+ during the day which is too long between feeds. I gave Elliot a dummy while I was still in hospital and he's never had any confusion (but then put anything in his mouth and he sucks it like there's no tomorrow). I find it helps him get to sleep when he's mithering. It just falls out when he dozes off now and I never give it to him any other time.

Wow piffle - I'm impressed at you having an evening out! I'm getting the hang of going out daytime but I'm not sure I could stay awake to have a pint - I'm in bed by 10!

Shanks - how horrible for you. Elliot used to do this choking thing when he'd stop breathing and go all red and then suddenly splutter again a few seconds later. Very scary. He seems to have stopped now though. Something like that happens and you suddenly realise how very vulnerable they are. Dead scary. And yes, parents can be quite trying. I have recently realised that my mum reorganised my entire under the sink area when she was at my house on her own. Why?!

Hi everyone

Mossy - I BF DS1 everywhere and used to have a cotton shawl thing to drape over my huge exposed booby. I deliberately fed him in public to excercise my "right" to but found with DD and Monti that I'd rather feed at home (although of course needs dictate I do feed outside too or I'd never go out). I just find, as Diva said earlier, that its nicer to feed him in the quiet and peace of my room Feel I get a better latch at home where I'm more relaxed

I think the more people who feed in public though the better...parks are great for feeding

Love your pics - we have two more things in common (apart from sharing a TV boyfriend) we have the same feeding pillow and both Monti and Bertie have that red patch on the forehead. DD had it right across her forehead and eyelids and it used to turn scarlet when she cried (disappeared after a few weeks though). DD went really milk spotty too so I couldn't take pics for a few weeks . Monti has it just where Bertie has it. Bertie is beautiful BTW - and you have gorgeous hair - is it naturally blonde? Sorry that's such a nosy question!!!

Monti wriggled and grunted all night last night. Anyone elses do this now? Must be wind or something though no wind appeared from either end.

I feel totally knackered and away with the fairies today as a result...

wow really of all those babies who sleep 3-4 hourss at a time. Ted will do 2 hours sometimes three max until a feed. He's just three weeks so I'm not imposing any rules yet, although MW suggested I make him wait but I don't really see the sense he just howls and that upsets me more!
PLus he's awake all day apart from a 2-3 hour nap about 11ish.
I am knackered!
can't wait till things get a bit easier.

chocolatepenny - elliot's sleeping has got magically better this week - he's 5 weeks now. it was dreadful when he was 2 weeks and I was tearing my hair out and crying a lot. So take heart - it gets much better very soon

Can't remember who else has a brestfriend but don't you find that velcro strip really annoying? It attaches itself to my cardies and wakes up LO when I take it off

sazzy-my dd1 had her nights and days mixed up for the first 6 weeks,which was a totl nightmare as ds1 was only 11 months old and got up at 8am.i started her bedtime routine when she was 6 weeks and she slept through from then on.

thats why im so obsessed with starting bedtime routines from birth now.i have put Elsie down in her moses basket awake the past 3 nights and left her to settle herself while i come on here and she has slept on average 5 hours from when i put her down.

i got dd2 a cot bed cos i want to put Elsie in the room with her soon but shes too little for a bed still,and i want to put the moses basket in the cot so Elsie gets used to it.dd2 was not happy,she doesnt like change.i normally put her to bed at 7.15 and she drifts off without a murmer,but tonight she screamed for half hour cos she wasnt in her cot

i went to my gp today,she has given me more prozac and is going to try and get me an appt for CBT.she aslo checked my coil and told me i need to do pelvic floor excersises as everything is kind of 'low' down there.i have been doing them,though.i just obviously dont have a pelvic floor anymore.

Diva - I'm embarassed to admit that I have never, during and after three pregnancies, doen a pelvic floor excercise - which explains why I pee every 5 mins

I just cannot remember to do them

Sazzy - I have a brest friend and think Theblonde has one too. I hadn't noticed the velcro strip but I have noticed that if I do the strap clip up nice and tight it keeps popping undone - but I need the strap tight in order for the back cushion to actually support my back (if that makes sense)..

Do you not think its like a small sofa?

DH keeps laughing at it - do you take your out with you? I took mine to the park and ended up wrestling on the floor with it trying to strap it on

anyone else had a period yet? just had my first one, started 3 1/2 weeks after birth - how unfair is that???
we use reusable wipes as well but I just wet with water, nothing fancy
hey guess what, em has gone to sleep in hr basket by herself tonight - yay!!

I'll reply properly to everyone tomorrow - dh is upstairs trying to settle Bertie as he just doesn't seem to want to sleep!!

Not a day goes by without another bf question I'm afraid - maybe a bit too much tmi but my left nipple is now really sore, and there is some skin peeling off. I've been using the lanolin stuff, but it doesn't seem to have done that much. Is that normal or is he latched on incorrectly? If it is normal (have only been bfing 5 days) what can I do to lessen the discomfort?

Will also post this on feeding topic, as I really want to bf him but it's starting to hurt so need some help soon!!