July 2017#7 - The One Where We Have Sleepless Nights and Master the Art of Eating Food One-Handed

[Notyetthere]

Link to the last thread;

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/2962422-july-2017-6-labour-here-we-come

@ButterflyFree great that the check went well and hilarious that baby Z left his mark!

@Lallypopstick lazy pj days are definitely well deserved when we can get them!

@Mawita I'm also on antihistamines as I came out with an itchy rash all over but started on hands and feet- did you have a c-section? Glad you're feeling better now though!

Thanks @Lallypopstick - hope you enjoyed your duvet day!

@Mawita Sorry you've been having a rough time with all those ailments to contend with. Regarding being awake/alert a lot of the time, Baby Z has just started doing this in the last few days. He used to fall asleep almost instantly after every feed (if not during) but suddenly he's started contentedly staying awake, looking around, observing his surroundings a lot more. I think he might be having his first developmental leap, which may also explain why a 90ml bottle no longer satisfies him as of yesterday, so I've upped his feeds to 120ml.

Baby Z is 4 weeks old today and what a memorable day it's been to mark the occasion! I was cuddling him this evening in the armchair and he suddenly pulled his head back and looked directly at me in such a way that I instantly burst into tears. I finally felt that 'rush of love' everyone talks about. I finally cried out of pure joy and emotion for my beautiful little boy 💙

As if that wasn't enough, I put him down on a flat cushion on the floor for tummy time a little while later, and he only went and jolly well rolled over!!! TWICE!!! Once to his left, and once to his right; as if to make sure that I knew it wasn't a fluke!! Proud mummy moment right here 🙋🏼😍

@nat123 no c section. Natural birth. By the way scary stuff with the silent reflux glad you are all ok, I had a scare a week back where he chocked too however he was able to cough it off the moment I lifted him forward. Couldn't close my eyes the rest of that night though...
@buttlefyfree I love how baby Z left his mark in the doctors office. also sounds like he is having a great 4 week anniversary! Also good to know he is also alert and awake even after increased feeds.

Back to slee now I am starving but can't bring myself to eat...

See you later all.

Hi all :)
Hope everyone is well.
I'm still racked with guilt over this feeding. Jacks been on formula and some breast since Monday and I've already seen a huge difference. He settles better, he sleeps longer and I'm happier and I'm not dreading the hunger ques and clock watching. So why do I still feel like the worst mum of all time?? :( I think it's because I could actually feed him, he was putting on weight it was just so uncomfortable and he never seemed full. Please someone tell me it gets easier x

Holz, it gets easier, honest. 5yo DD is great. There are many many forks in the parenting road before you. You haven't taken the one you thought you would here, but the road still stretches a long long way ahead!

Having said that, if it is really upsetting you and you are fixating on it (been there done that), get yourself assessed for PND.

Thank you. yeah to be honest I'm feeling pretty down about it, I thought it would pass but seems to be getting worse. I just wish I could kick this. The point of stopping bf was to enjoy my time with him but I now just feel like he won't love me as much!

@mawita yes defo more alert and shelk be 4 weeks on monday. Im trying to go with the EASY routine.
Eat
Awake
Sleep
You time
She usually wakes so i offer boob. Then shes awake for a bit then i boob again and she drifts off (but often spits the boob out then slowly closes her eyes..as opposed to ds who would only ever sleep with a bokb in his mouth).
She stayed pretty much swake for 3 hours the other day. We were at a funeral so she was getting handed around at the wake. Now she smells like burbery perfume thanks to one friends cuddles lol. Need to give her a bath so she smells like baby again.
holz im sure it wikl get better but speak to someone if its affecting you. It doesnt matter if you "can" breastfeed. Its about wanting to and whether that effects your well being and in your case it was having a negative effect. If its any consolation ive found that a lot of the ideas i had about parenting choices with ds1 ive since changed much to my suprise. And hes a well rounded 2 year old regardless.
Things like...my kid will never have mcdonalds, we wont resort to tv for 10 mins peace, he wont be getting in my bed ever (hes just growing out of doing this at night). Xx

Not catching up on this thread much. I pretty much just use the facebook group now. If anyone still wantd to join just pm someone and we can friend rewuest and add you in.

@holz trust me he is absolutely fine. Feeding is only one part of motherhood so don't feel he won't love you. Feeding is a combination of things your smell, your heartbeat, your voice, your warmth. All of these things you still provide with the bottle. The breast is just a mechanism and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I find that for me it depends how I am feeling. So if I am tired, upset, ill I give him the bottle. He is happier and so am I. Then the next time round I give him the boob and we are both better for it. Do get some help write all you worries down and maybe burn them of read them later it helps you realise sometimes these feelings come from exhaustion/hormones.

@mynsmeislinda I like the sound of the Easy he is so alert and awake now, don't know why I expected him to sleep so much still.

He is also grunting loads so have upped his feed and today he seems more content less grumpy. It's scary how much he is eating....

Weve had quite a bit of noise making. Grunting and squeaking. Was truig to trezt myself to new clothes now that ive founf my pre preg jeans fit but she kept waking up in thr pram whilst i was at the trsfford centre. Saved me some money i guess. All i managed was collecting my levis i bought that they turned up for me and 2 tops from holister.
Bought both kids new socks and then ended up with a bath toy for ds in boots even though i only went in to buy maternity pads (because bastard lochia is trolling me and clearly hasnt come to an end like i thought. Almost 4 weeks pp but it lasted 6 with my first so i shouldn't get my hopes up)

@Mawita Baby Z is the same; sooo much more alert, spending far more time awake and trying new sounds, facial expressions, movements... and the feeding is unbelievable!! He used to be satisfied with a 90ml (3oz) bottle but suddenly it clearly wasn't enough for him anymore and I was having to immediately make a second bottle. So I upped his feed to 120ml (4oz) and he was still draining it in one go and then fussing for more. Been giving him 150ml (5oz) today and finally he seems satisfied at the end of the feed. I'm sure he's having his first Wonder Weeks leap - Baby Shea is probably going through the same! It's hard work but it's so exciting 😍

@butterflyfree I have been so preoccupied with his not sleeping that I just disn't think to check his development now I will.

Seeing your videos I now realise that you are right and he has so much more strength in his head also he looked at me and smiled for the first time at the weekend. Hasn't happened again but I am convincend it wasn't gas.

I have the wonder weeks app but it says he is still not due any developments is there anywhere else where you are getting this info from? I miss my day by day development app from pregnancy. Is there one for baby?

Also slight grump, since I've been sick this week DH very kindly offer to do the night shift today so I could sleep and recover however he did the 11 pm feed and I just had to wake him up for the 2:00am feed he gave him half a bottle and put him back on the cot... then asked me to take over as he is 'knackered' ugh. So here I am feeding him in the middle of the night regardless. Very annoying!!!

@Mawita Wonder Weeks also says Baby Z isn't due his first leap for another 17 days (since they tell you to enter the due date rather than the birth date, and they base it on that) but considering he was 16 days early I'm guessing he's hitting the leap based on his actual birth date, so a bit ahead of the app's calculations. Could it be the same case with Baby Shea?

I'm also getting weekly development update emails from BabyCentre which are quite interesting and informative. I got them all through pregnancy and they've continued now after birth (I adjusted my settings from his due date to his birth date so the weekly updates are on time).

Sounds very much like Baby Shea is going through a leap as he's behaving in a similar way to Baby Z. How amazing the first smile!!! 😍 I'm so looking forward to that moment.

We've just finished the first leap and are getting some consistent smiles. Particularly when we "BOOP" her on the nose head control is definitely getting there and we're awake a lot more.

I forgot how much fun this can be ❤️

Also the grunting tends to climax when I put her down after a night feed. Thought she was awake or something but she tends to trail off.

My lochia is back and very very bad. Not enough for me to phone hv straightaway but I may Monday. I don't feel like I've overdone it though. I can't really just relax either with a newborn and a toddler anymore than I am ...as much as I'd love to 🙈

Oh @glitterglitters how magical those smiles must be 😍 I feel Baby Z is preparing to spring his first one on us soon; he's focusing intently on my face every time I smile at him and is trying to move some facial muscles in a new manner, so hopefully that gummy grin is well on the way. How amazing would his timing be if he saves it for our reunion with Daddy on Monday?!

Plenty of nighttime grunting over here too. Difficult for me to sleep beside him even when he is sleeping, because he's so noisy I'm constantly convinced he's waking up.

How frustrating about your lochia 😓 mine keeps trolling me too. I had 5 days clear and then had what I really thought was my first postnatal period for a couple of days, but then it turned pinky/white again and stopped, so I really don't know whether I'm coming or going. I feel for you; don't know how you manage with two little ones and the lack of downtime it must afford you. I'm lucky I've had plenty of time to put my feet up and just snuggle with Baby Z while he feeds and sleeps. Going for quite long daily walks in the park but other than that I'm not doing anything too strenuous. I just wish I knew when it would clear up by!

@flitterglitters very frustrating! Hopefully it doesn't come with any cramping. Also how fun on the consistent smiles mine are more random. Remind me how old is your little one?

@butterflyfree you are so right the app is wrong and babies are moving through first leap i stopped looking at that app since it didn't give me any info. Been reading just now and found it really useful. Doing a few games and tests tomorrow while on his awake time.

Thanks guys :) hoping it'll go soon. No cramping or anything either 🤷‍♀️

Baby glitters is over 5 weeks now and was three days late. She seems to be doing things ahead of her sister did (though only a few days).

No rolling though. Dd1 didn't do that till 14ish seeks!

Rolling took forever with ds because he just would not tolerate being on his front. We worked on head control in the sking instead lol
Dd is 4 weeks on monday but weve had a bit of smirking today when i was singing and again when i stroked her cheek. Not done it since.
The wonder weeks app was accurate for ds and he was just over a week late. Nothing useful in here for dd until she hits the first leap and she was on time.

Lochia is lingering on grrr. Hope yours gives up soon glitters its not just your first period is it? Im really hoping bf delays mine but she doesnt feed as often as pfb so not getting my hopes up

Hi all, I've just had a major catch up on the other thread and this one.
Hope everyone is doing well!
We are currently in the "relentless crying in the evening" stage..... we have been for the last 2 weeks actually (she's 4weeks 2days old) It's so stressful when you've ticked every box (fed/winded/changed/bathed/rocked/infacol/changed to dr browns bottles etc) and she's just crying/screaming until she's bright red for sometimes hours! but I know this stage will pass. She only calms if we go for a drive in the car (me and dh have become regulars at the local Starbucks drive through at 11pm) or white noise is sometimes successful!
She's so happy in the day it's like I have 2 different babies!
She's put on weight well, birth weight 8lb 5oz and by day 19 (last weigh in) she was 9lb 13oz and its day 30 now and I can tell she's bigger. She's really heavy to hold and feed I end up with a pile of pillows under my arms for support.

butterfly ahh baby z rolling over already what a clever boy! 💙 He's looking very cosy there in his sleepyhead!

That's annoying about the lochia returning glitters hope it eases off for you soon! I'm sick of wearing pads all the time now!

My wound from my episiotomy is so much better after a very bad start, all healed and plucked up the courage to look at it in the mirror 🙊 Looked Really neat after originally being left with a gaping wound where stitches had come out.

Lovely to read about some of you getting potential first smiles, nothing apart from windy smiles from baby Rhodes yet as it's normally followed by an adult sized trump or burp!

@rhodes2015 that must be so frustrating hopefully that will stop soon and you'll all get your evenings back!

I think my lochia has pretty much stopped and have downgraded to a liner which is slightly better than a pad! But I've definitely had some cramps the last few days so hoping it's not my period returning already :(

We've definitely had a couple of non-wind smiles when we've been singing to him he's a month old today.

@ButterflyFree are you counting down the hours to DH's return? I know it must have seemed forever for you but those days seemed to have flown by! How much has changed for us all in that time!

Mine has stopped now. Wondering if it was my period

Seems very early and although we're ebf we've been giving some expressed milk (is that still ebf?) about an oz or so most nights, and she has a dummy and has been sleeping through pretty consistently (sorry please dont hate me it'll stop soon I swear!) so very few night feeds.

It's completely vanished now. I have been out and about today (nearly 6 miles of walking) if it pops back it's lochia and over doing it. If not period is back 🙈

glitters my midwife said EBF works pretty well as contraception for 6mo as long as you have less than six hours between feeds. That sleeping bf through thing might bite you on the bum!

We are so far from sleeping through! Three hours at a stretch is a bit of a novelty - though we did have close to four last night for the second time ever.

Its possible glitters. Thr less you bf the more likely it is tjst its your period :( i know of a couple that werent lucky enough to escape them. And yea ebm is still ebf. But i think substituting feeds even for ebm can effect periods returning. Dont feel like ill get lucky and have 14 af free months again. Ill be having the coil put straight back in if periods come back!!
My right boob feels bruised to touch on one side and underneath. Got my pump out for the first time coz it was sore and baby linda was fast asleep. Got a full ounce in 5 mins which i was pretty impressed with...ive put it in the fridge for now with my pump but not really sure what to do with it lol

Having a difficult time with feeds for baby L. Yesterday I managed to breastfeed all day and do one night feed at 1am. Then DH gave her 2 formula feeds and I fed her again at 7. Yesterday she could only latch right if we fed lying down. Otherwise she makes that clicking sound and sucks in air. I'm thinking she has reflux; she frequently brings up feeds, arches her back and is in a lot of discomfort. She only likes to feed in small amounts and is still feeding every 2 hours. (She's 24 days). She brings up milk while lying down even quite some time after a feed. Have to change her crib sheet everyday.

Any advice? Hate to see her in pain