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

not dont worry about the cold. Theyre inevitable. Baby has got a blocked snuffly nose as of this morning (probably because of yhe germy toddler bejng obsessed with kissing her). I would highly reccomend a snot sucker! And saline drops. Snuffle babe is great and its milder than vicks.
Ive been using the snot sucker to clear her nose a bit so she can feed but its so heartbreaking hearing her struggle to breath.

lally is it jusy him going to the wedding? If youre not going id prob just say let him have a blow out. Wedsjngs don't happen everyday and he can make it up to you next weekend. Let mil come round and she could take baby out once fed, whatever tome that may be, and you could have an hours kip (or even just an hours peace and quiet).

Linda thank you for the advice. I have the snot sucker thing at the ready and I have now put the saline drops and the vapour rub into my Tesco online basket ready for delivery.

Lally I agree with Linda, let him have enjoy himself. My dh had one too many on Saturday at the wedding we both went to and wasn't much help on Sunday but I am ok with it. It's the last wedding we are attending this year so just as well. Baby Fran is mostly attached to me anyway but I think it would have been different if she was ff and used to his help.

I wish I could give you all access to my miracle-working MIL! She's changed my life in a matter of days. Baby Z is now sleeping for 6-hour stints with ease. He's barely cried, his skin is glowing and all the dry/peely bits are gone, and he's been treating us to the most beautiful smiles. I guess we're all very happy to be home 😁

Hope everyone is good and not too sleepy!

Just throwing it out there, I don't know if everyone is a Aldi fan but I just got back from the stores baby event. Loads of really good priced baby things, from blankets to a sort of sleepyhead thing for £20

Hi everyone. It's quiet over here!

Baby Fran has developed a full on cold, poor thing is trooping through though. She even gives me a smile in all the discomfort. At the surgery earlier this afternoon she projectile vomited the oral live vaccine within minutes of taking it. The nurse was preparing the shots when she was sick all over her. We have rescheduled to try again next week on Thursday when she is hopefully better from the cold. I bet she will vomit it again next week as she can't for some reason keep anything down that doesn't taste like milk. We have up on gripe water as she vomited that too.

Hope everyone is having a better Friday than us.

@Notyetthere oh no I hope baby Fran feels better soon!

I'm starting to think baby could be getting a cold too - he hasn't been himself all day constant grizling and runny nose and a little cough. He's also only been taking half of his bottle since yesterday 😥

Nat that sounds like it could be a cold. Hope it isnt though and that he us just having an off day. We haven't started Fran on any medicines yet as she isn't blocked yet. She is currently sleeping with mouth closed which means nose is not stuffed yet but I will keep an eye on her tonight. We have Calpol paracetamol, saline drops, aspirstor and the infant vapour rub at the ready. Hope we don't have to use them.

Today is the day my partner is at a wedding. He took the baby this morning so I could get an extra hour asleep and have a shower etc. Torn between going out to break up the day, and staying in to rest / hopefully nap.

We seem to be getting one slightly longer stretch of sleep during the night - 3.5 hours last night. Then a few shorter ones before morning wake up. It would be great if this continues - he's 4 weeks tomorrow so I hope a pattern emerges soon.

Bugger. Dropped my phone; screen smashed. Don't have shed loads of spare cash to spend on repairing it at the moment!

not what oral vaccine was it? I dont remember any from ds1. Fingers crossed all ok for next week

nat dd has been snottery too and ive got an awful cough (that i cant bloody take anything for) dd seems to have only has the snotty nose for 2 days and she can breath again better now. Just double check with the calpol and ibuprofen coz i think they mighr onky be suitabke after 3 months old but i canr remember. I know snuffle babe is ok from birth though and the saline droos are fab for unblocking (wven if they hate you for it at the time lol)

Linda I believe the oral vaccination is against rotavirus; a tummy bug that causes diarrhoea and sickness.

We gave Fran Calpol but not the ibuprofen as advised by our chemist.

As for the cold, Fran is very snotty but she is trooping through it. The saline drops are a godsend! I have also used the aspirator; very satisfying when you suck out a massive snot.

Spin Yes that is buggery. Can you put on a screen protector for now and continue using it till you can fix it? I have been dropping mine a lot recently and dh yesterday mentioned that I should probably get insurance for it; it's more expensive than my car! I currently have a massive cover on it, ugly but it does the job for now.

The screen is shedding tiny shards of glass, so: no, not really

I've got an appointment to get it fixed at 0840 tomorrow morning. We're not skint - £136 isn't going to mean no food or anything like that - but it's still a PITA. It was in a case, which flew open as it bounced down the steps

DS is still only about 3.3kg - quite a long way to 4kg and Calpol-land. He'd better not get any colds until he gets there!

not ahhh an aspirator...ive been cakking them snot suckers because u didnt knkw the proper name..aspirator dounds better lol
Hmm maybe ds did have that..2 years is so long ago lol

Now I can drive again (after c-section), I did my first fairly big outing on my own - it is not fun when you're driving on a motorway and your baby is crying!

Does everyone else manage getting out and about? I think I was getting myself too fixated on catching up on sleep, so staying in, but then the days feel really long and I just got frustrated constantly thinking about sleep if that makes sense - when I'm actually functioning ok with what I have.

That said, I would like some longer night sleeps soon!

I've never heard of snufflebabe but will definitely get some!

@Lallypopstick i made the break today too and went out on my own also after c-section and drove. I timed it round feeds and he slept the whole time I'm dreading it when I'm on my own he cries! I have a mirror so I can see him though which makes me feel better! I felt very proud that me and baby survived without drama a solo trip!

I would love more sleep too! I'm now doing all weeknight feeds as OH is back at work properly which I'm fine with but wow I take my hats off to those of you breastfeeding that haven't had a night off yet!

I've done quite a few trips out but make them as quick as possible. I hate it when she's crying in her car seat but equally when she's quiet or asleep I worry something's wrong with her!! I have a mirror but haven't set it up yet - must get round to it!!

I did my first public breastfeeding on Saturday when I met a couple of friends for lunch in Prezzos. Glad to have popped my BF cherry.

I seem to be coping with the lack of sleep ok. I'm getting 4-6 hours a night and not having any naps - I've never been one for napping so find it impossible.

Ive been out quite a bit and mainly on my own as dh only had the 1st week off. 1st proper outing was when she was 2 week old to bf group near me...just for adult company really. Been to trafford centre a couple of times.
I pretty much go out every day and only stay in if im catching up on house work. I didnt have a csec though, id be so stir crazy if this was only just able to go out now at 5 weeks.
Ive had 1 nap in the day the other day after a particularly rough night but generally i havent done any day napping. Might feel better if i did but i just don't make the time. She napped for about 3 hours this afternoon and i chose to work in the garden when i could have been sleeping

We've been out loads but dh is on annual leave and baby us sleeping well/hasn't really cluster fed. I've managed to do a solo trip to the park. Toddler walking and baby in carrier across the busy main road.

We've been out for lunch a fair bit and dinner once, a castle, Ikea, town, walk in the woods etc but I wouldn't have been anywhere without dh. I've not driven in over a year due to mega anxiety. That's going to be my next hurdle to get over.

I think I'd be happy to take them out to the shops by myself now. Managed to get a rucksack for a standin change bag if the baby is in the sling. That's made me feel a lot more confident.

I was a bag of nerves a week or two ago though. Crying and full on anxiety about it.

Have been reading the thread and meaning to respond but something keeps happening to distract me (mainly baby wanting feeding!).

I'm struggling with breastfeeding and low supply. Baby L gets so hungry from 5-8 that she wants feeds every hour, massive 120ml feeds! I just don't have that much milk so she gets frustrated at the breast and there are tears all round. I spoke to my MH nurse today and she said it's likely because I'm not doing the night feed when milk hormones are highest. I've asked to come off the meds that make me zonked at night and prevent me from doing the feed. The MH team have said they will review at their weekly meeting on Thurs. Going to take fenugreek and drink some fennel tea to hopefully boost supply.

How is everyone else getting on with feeding and life in general?!

I had anxiety about going out with Baby Z when I was in London; it just seemed so daunting and like such a hassle... I did go out every day with him either in the pram or in the Ergobaby carrier but only for walks to the local coffee shop and park. My car in London is a Fiat 500 so it definitely wasn't practical to go anywhere further afield - impossible to fit the pram in the car and it was a struggle to get the car seat in the back. But when DH came we ventured to Westfield for lunch.

Since being back in the UAE I'm so much more confident about taking him out and about. I have a big 4x4 here so that makes life much easier for transporting all the paraphernalia that comes along with a small baby...! Everything here is just bigger and built to accommodate a large pram... the parking spaces are wider, the lifts are huge, the malls are spacious, so I've no qualms about taking him anywhere with me now really. I also got a mirror so I can see him in his car seat while I'm driving and it's brilliant. Very helpful indeed.

Now that we're settled back here I want to get him a better/more permanent car seat. We have the Mima BeSafe iziGo which came as a set with the pram, but it's not the most practical. Any recommendations ladies? I'm hearing great things about Maxi-Cosi but no idea which model to go for.

Dh installed the mirror for me yesterday right before I went to the weight clinic. I don't know whether it's calming or upsets me when I see her crying. It was nice to see her face though when I was at a red light.

Fran only measured having put on 1oz in the last 11days! She has dropped down from 30th to 25th percentile. I'm not worried yet but I will have her weighed more often in the coming weeks. She has become more sicky in the last couple of weeks so I'm not surprised.

Like Glitters I have been out loads with dh and by myself a few times. Dh had 5wks off(2wks paternity & 3wks annual leave). I have fed her at the pub, a castle, the park, several cafes in town, m&s cafe and in Boots while pacing the ails to calm her crying while dh completed the shopping. We've been to a birthday party and a funeral and fed at all of them. I was most uncomfortable at the funeral; I can't put a finger on it but the older generation at the funeral seemed to be uncomfortable with it. They didn't say anything but stared a lot and not in a nice way.

Algebraic Here is to hoping that you can get a nightly feed in soon to improve your supply. Also glad to see that you are getting on well. Feeding Fran is going well on one part that I seem to have enough milk supply and a very good let down. On the other part, baby is a very sicky one and spits up a lot of her feeds so I have to be extra vigilant to ensure she keeps enough of her feeds down. I am monitoring it through nappies as it's difficult to see how much she is getting. Her weight gain has slowed down but not a concern. Yet.

Glitters if you don't mind me asking, what is the root of your driving anxiety? My mum has a similar anxiety but it's limited to a fear of driving on A rds and motorways. Basically a nice long stretch of rd ahead of her brings out the anxiety. It started as she was weaning off steroids after a severe bout of pneumonia. It's is sad as her life could be easier if she could get on the motorways. 2-3hr train and bus journey to visit me when driving would be 35mins. 4-5hr train/bus journey to see my brother at boarding school when driving could be 1hr15mins. A physch friend of mine has recommended cognitive Behavioural therapy to help her try to get back on the highways; I just need to suggest it at the right time; last time she lost it with me when I brought up the subject. She used to love driving, very good driver and I know she misses the independence driving anywhere afforded her.

I think the driving thing is a double thing, I was in a nasty accident when I was younger in Cyprus andtgecsecond is a bit weird but I've got an eidetic memory. Exams etc I've always nailed because I can remember facts and figures, passages of texts like . It means though I often struggle with more practical things, so although driving becomes second nature I get flappy and make mistakes. Also dh kept criticising my driving when I first passed (only a couple of years ago and not in a mean way) but would say I shouldn't drive too far, now I've passed NOW I learn to drive and I was doing ok but had a white van man, on his phone nearly ram dd1 side of the car. Then I found out I was pregnant with dd2 and it became a bit of a "thing". We're getting a newer, safer car next year and I'm planning on taking some refresher classes. If I HAD to drive (kid was ill etc) I would but I mainly just don't want too. 🙈

I hate driving too @glitterglitters ! I just find it so stressful. I've never driven on the motorway and don't really plan to. I'm happy enough doing local journeys so could get baby somewhere if necessary. I plan to walk a lot, will help shift this weight.

We're still suffering with wind over here but colief drops have been helping. Have asked for them on repeat aS they're so bloody expensive!!

Ps - bet that eidetic memory comes in handy! Bit of a pain that it causes you trouble in other areas

I hate driving the little one at the moment because there's nothing worse than him crying in the car and I can't do anything about it! He sometimes settles but we had to pull over earlier today to calm and feed him, even though he'd been fed 10 minutes previous.