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

@algerbraic could be reflux. The clicking when feeding will prob be causing wind too. Try feeding and then keeping them upright for 15 mins or so afterwards. Gives milk chance to settle. Feeding every 2 hours js relarively normal amd it's also around this time theyll cluster feed or feed regularly to increase supply. Might just have a baby that likes to feed little and often. But if theyre bringjng most of a feed back up will be hungry again quickly (my first was like that! Every hour and a half to 2 hours and would often projectile vomit most of the milk back, but i had no idea about reflux then)

Its seems baby linda has decided that feedjng every hour sounded like fun eurghh
Why she chose 10pm to try thus out is beyond me. Bloody babies

@nat2311 The countdown is into the home stretch now! 14 hours and 12 minutes 😍😂 You're absolutely right though; beforehand it felt like 25 days would be an impossibly long time to be apart, and in the first week I really wasn't sure how I would survive it, but look at us now... Baby Z has come on leaps and bounds, is exactly 1 month old today, and the time has flown by. I'm so excited for DH to see how much he's grown and developed in the flesh - I've been sending him endless photos and videos while he's been away but of course it's not the same.

Been a hectic weekend getting everything packed and ready to fly back to Dubai tomorrow, and whilst I'm extremely excited about being reunited with DH and going back to our home, I'm starting to get really nervous about the travelling part 😩 I feel like we have soooo much luggage and it's stressing me out, plus I'm worried Baby Z might have a meltdown on the flight. He's usually impeccably behaved in public but it's a 7 hour flight so he's bound to have a few crying fits during that time. At least I'll have DH with me to help out. I'm sure the trip will go smoothly but I'd really rather have the ability to teleport and just be there with a push of a button!

Rhodes welcome back. Baby Fran is exactly the same with the evening cries even after your checklist. She has been like that for the last 3 or 4 weeks. She is 7 wks + 4days today. The cry sounds different from the "feed me" change me or rock me to sleep" cry. I can only describe it as a yelping cry like she has been pinched and responding to the pain. I just hold her, gentle rock and pacing the whole time till she settles. She normally falls asleep after the long cry. She didn't have the evening cry on Saturday (was with my mum all day feeding on ebm while I attended a wedding) and barely cried from the discomfort on Sunday. Fingers crossed she is getting better but I'm not hopeful. Not just yet. Despite all this, she is gaining weight but it would be nice if she wasn't in discomfort.

I took my manual pump to the wedding to relieve the engorgement during the day. I underestimated how long it would take me to fill up. I felt a wet patch on my dress just before they brought out the main course. The venue were very accommodating and gave me one of their meeting rooms for privacy to express. I expressed 300ml in just 15mins and boobs were still quite milky but enough to buy me time to have the main and dessert. I then expressed another 300ml during the bit between speeches and first dance. I dumped all the milk as after 4 glasses of champagne at welcome drinks, a glass of wine with meal and sipping on dh's whisky, I didn't think baby Fran would appreciate that milk. It also would have been outside the fridge for way over 6hrs.

Algebraic sounds exactly like baby Fran. She will sick up while lying down even long after a feed. I have resorted to holding her upright for long periods of time and even then a little milk might come out with a burp.

Baby Fran has been smiling loads and looks at people directly and smiles at them. Sadly I don't remember when the smiling started. At the beginning she smiled in her sleep. Now she smiles and sometimes chuckles in her sleep.

My lochia stopped 3-4wks postpartum. can you tell that I am very vague with when things happened?! Most days I can't even remember how many times baby Fran woke up the night before. I have gone back on the minipill despite ebf and definitely more than every 6hrs. More like every 1.5-2hrs during the day and every 3-4hrs at night. I just dont to take the risk just in case ovulation sneaks up on me!

Horrendous night for me, little one waking up every half hour to an hour wanting feeding. Longest stint was one of two hours. How are other babies doing for sleep?

Finding myself getting a bit annoyed at my partner. I know there's little he can do when the baby is hungry, but last night he went upstairs to watch a film for a couple of hours and left me alone feeding. I had to remind him he'd put some washing in but he still didn't get it out of the machine. Yes, we're all tired and I want him to have some down time, but things need doing first.

@ButterflyFree hope the flight goes well for you. Bet you're so excited to get home and see your husband now.

I'm in awe of people like Not who are managing to have a social life. I barely leave the house most days. Though if anyone could have the baby for me, I would definitely use the time to sleep.

I'm in awe of Not's boobs, let alone her social life! Admittedly I'm not missing feeds to do this, but between feeds I'm getting about 30ml in 15mins.

Good luck for today, butterfly.

Lally, last night was pretty good for us: went to bed at 10ish; woke to feed at 11:30 & 2:30, then stayed asleep till 7. (I think - we're cosleeping so it's a big of a haze.)

Nice one not thats a good lot of milk!!
Guidlines have changed in the last year or so and you no longer have to pump and dumo if youve had a drink. I know it wouldnt have been practical to store it at a wedding but its good to know alcohol is ok (maybe not an absolute bender but a few drinks is fine haha)
@lallypopstick night time sleeping is hit and miss. Sometimes she'll go 3or4 hours and others its every hour. She slept for 5 hours during the afternoon the other day..wish she could do that at night! Although it did mean i had to pump to help my sore boob. Gor an oz in 5mins then i stopped. Under my right boob feels like a big bruise so im trying to keep milk flowing to prevent it turnjng into mastitis or something.
I dont really remember how much we woke up. I dont tend to look at my phone and if we can feed lying down we both just sleep

Ooo butterfly nearly time to fly!! Im sure baby z will be super for you. I often found baby slept well on a flight, might be the low hum thats like white noise that keeps them asleep.

Oooh you guys have all been busy. I am now convinced that was return of my period or at least a last little bit. I've been out stomping the pavements with the kids after seeing some horrendous photos of myself and trying to shift some weight. I would have "overdone" it I think but nothing happening.

Yes. The random letdown in the most annoying of places is rather I remember with dd1 I was in Wagamama and had just had a bad experience with a waitress because of the table she wanted to sit at (sounds daft but the height of the table meant If the baby woke I'd struggle to feed her. If that makes sense). Cue me crying in embarrassment my sister laughed at me the other day as we were in Costa and I got that telltale tingle and just started pushing my nipples in and continued our conversation. My 19 yo dn looked utterly ?!?!

Sleep is good but to reassure those who are struggling everybody I know who struggled in the early days ended up having a brilliant sleeper. Dd1 slept well for the first four months and then I ended up finding myself asleep in her cot 12 months later or loving on an air mattress in her room for two months.

She now sleeps beautifully. Though it's a bloody head fuck at the time.

I don't know about anybody else but this is whizzing by. I feel like the last 5.5 weeks have happened in a blink.

@Notyetthere - sorry to hear baby Fran gets this too, Baby Luna makes the same yelping bark cry. She can't really be consoled. DH cycles her legs and massages her tummy. We've been using infacol religiously and that seems to be improving things. Though there are slight streaks of orange in the sick on her sheets which I've read can be bile so I'll be taking her to GP later this week if that continues.

@ButterflyFree I'm sure baby z will behave for you but hope you have a good journey!

Our nights are hit and miss - he's been taking 6oz every 4-5hrs but last 24hrs has only wanted 3-4oz every 3.5-4hrs. Annoyingly my stomach pain is getting worse and back constant painkillers and kept waking me up 😖

We also use infacol too and definitely noticed an improvement.

We also had our first proper projectile yesterday- I think baby was as shocked as I was 😂

I've started recording my calories. Boo. I've got about 30kg (best part of 5 stone) to lose to get back where I was before I got pregnant 18months ago. Two christmases and three pregnancies hasn't gone terribly well for my thighs. Aiming to do it by this time next year - it's my 40th so using that as a target.

Good luck @spindelina you plannjng on anything kn particular for the weight loss? I got on the scales this morning and it was much better than i thought. Im only a pound heavier than before i has ds1 but still would rather be another 4lbs lighter than that.
Im in my old jeans but my belly still feels loose and wobbly. Not sure if its just coz im only 4weeks pp and it will shrink or if this is it and i need to rmbrace my new mum tum.

Thanks! I had lost about 20kg with mfp and Fitbit before it all fell apart! So I'll do that again and see how it goes.

That's what I'm doing too @Spindelina I've roped dh in as well. lost 3kg this week alone from dropping a certain red packages beverage from my life!

Pm me if you fancy done challenges. I've got about 40kg to shift 😭😵

I dont have a fit bit but my samsing phone often tells me i need to walk more

So, yesterday morning we were reunited with DH, and this morning the three of us landed safely in Dubai!

Baby Z was an absolute angel on the flight. He only needed one nappy change and two feeds (the first one during takeoff) and he didn't cry once in the entire 7 hours we spent up in the sky. Or even during the extra hour it took to get through passport control and collect our baggage (all 105kg of it 😱) for that matter! Such a little star bless him.

We are now at my in-laws, and MIL immediately scooped Baby Z up, gave him an oil massage, bathed him, fed him, swaddled him better than any HCP had ever managed to, and he is currently sound asleep in a crib all by himself. Magic. I feel like MIL has totally revolutionised my parenting life in a matter of about 30 minutes! And now she's sent me off to bed to have a much needed nap after all that travelling.

Hope everyone is doing well ❤️

Its brill when you have a lovely useful mil isnt it!
Shes the only one i entrusted my pfb to until recently.

Oh @ButterflyFree so glad it went well.

Today is our moving day back to my parents house. Didn't think I'd ever be moving back there as a married woman with a child, but for now it is the best option. Baby L decided last night would be a great time to start hourly feeding so poor DH has been up all night and has carried boxes etc down 3 flights of stairs. We're now in the car and he has to unpack it all into storage! He really has been a superhero throughout all of this.

You really do realise how fab (and sometimes infuriating too!) your oh is after having a baby.

@ButterflyFree glad the journey went well and your mil sounds like a dream!

@Algebraic I hope the move went ok! I'm glad you've got such a supportive OH. I don't think anyone wants to move back in with a parent but sounds like it's right place for you and your new family to be.

I've been going to and from gp as I'm still having pain on my right handside of my stomach when I went back today I was sent to a&e as they thought it was an appendicitis! Thankfully they've ruled that out but have referred me to gynae to have a scan and see a consultant in the morning as they now think it's my gynae issues returning already! I have endometriosis and have cysts in the past so they think it could be that. I haven't even had a period yet so it hadn't even crossed my mind that it could be gynae! 😭

Butterfly I was wondering how you got on with the journey. Glad it went very well. You are lucky with your MIL when it comes to baby Z. I'm not sure I would get the same from my MIL.

I went to a funeral yesterday with baby Fran and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. Slept throughout the car journeys. She cried the entire service so we were outside pacing rows and rows of graves trying to calm her from crying. I missed the entire service. She then cried uncontrollably on and off (but mostly on) at the wake. I wished I could have left sooner but FIL drove so had to wait for him. She then cried for the rest of the evening when we got home until she fell asleep at 10.30pm. Not a good day for baby Fran. Today has been much better. Different baby. Maybe she doesn't like being around lots of people. Too much stimulation.

I have now also got a cold. Very worried baby is going to get it. Nhs website says continue as normal as by the time I get my symptoms, baby would have already been exposed. Hope the antibodies are working hard in her. I can not not breath on her or wash my hands as often as possible as she is attached to me most of the day. Also I think I kissed her a few times bse I forgot I am contagious; almost like by reflex. Fingers crossed she doesn't get it. To make matters worse she has her 8wk immunisation on Friday. I might have to extend the appointment if she gets the cold.

For those working on their fitness, I will join you in that effort. I am back to below pre- pregnancy weight but I was overweight then so still need to lose a good 15-20kg to be within a healthy weight range. Current bmi at 32. My gym membership gets re-activated next month so I will focus on cardio and increasing core strength. I think my belly muscle split is about 1-2cm but I will need to check it again.

Nat hopefully they get to the bottom of what ails you at the scan tomorrow. Thinking of you.

@Notyetthere I reckon baby Fran probably picked up on the sadness of the occasion. It sounds crazy but they pick up "vibes" in my experience. We always found that if either me or dh were (even subconsciously) unsure of someone dd would go crazy. She would happily be handed around otherwise but family members we had issues with or friends of other family members we weren't 100% comfortable with = total meltdown. They're surprisingly sensitive to emotions these little things!

Also don't worry too much about the cold. I've had stomach bugs, bad colds and tonsillitis and the babies got away scot free it had vague symptoms for a day. There is a from birth chest rub called Snuffle Babe which is fab though.

@nat2311 what a nightmare 😓 I really hope that it all gets sorted sharpish. Not what you. need with a new baby at all.

The toddler has had a horrendous tummy, think from her molars. Had to hose her down before bed last night, and has been waking up 30 minutes earlier each day screaming. Hopefully the discomfort will pass but it's tricky juggling them in the mornings with dh heading to work. I'd snuggle her all day if I could but so hard with the baby.

Oh not sorry to hear about your cold, hope you feel better soon and baby fran doesn't catch it! I bet that made for a very stressful day at the funeral . Glad to hear she's better today.

Also would like to join anyone working on fitness. Weight wise I put over 3 stone on by the end of pregnancy and now, 5weeks after birth, I'm still just over a stone heavier than I was pre pregnancy. I'm keen to get rid of it as no clothes fit me, I'm sick of seeing myself in the same jeggings and top (which I wore mid pregnancy) but I don't want to buy new clothes. Re activated gym membership for next week for when it's 6weeks pp but haven't had gp appointment through for 6 week check (do they send for you or do you have to make the appointment??)
I have had to buy new gym wear in bigger size but just tried it on and can actually see knickers through the material they were that stretched across my arse. So il have to size up again.
butterfly so glad flight went well for you! You mil sounds amazing!!
nat really hope you get some answers from your scan

@nat2311 hope the scan went ok.

I'm trying to decide what's reasonable to ask of my partner this weekend. He's at a wedding and I would like it if he didn't drink much (or anything) and came back pre-8pm. I'm concerned that not only will he be useless on Saturday, but that he'll be hungover on Sunday too. He has suggested asking his mum to come over so she can take the baby out in the pram and I can nap for a bit, but he doesn't feed or sleep in any sort of pattern so that could be hard. I think I need to borrow your super MIL @ButterflyFree!