May 2007 - The babies are arriving!!

[aprilmeadow]

Thought i would start the offical May 2007 thread as it is May and we have now had our first offical May baby - even though we have 6 naughty babies who queue jumped and arrived in April .

Probably be a while before there are many messages but a least we have a thread now

Thanks for the info LKB, I'll have a look for those fennel tea things in Tesco when I go later.
15 feeds - wow your lo sure is hungry! Ruby doesn't feed that often tbh but has quite a lot when she does. She was last fed at 7.30 and she hasn't wanted any more yet.

Morning all,

Wel..not a good night..Mae was awake every 45 mins, but wont feed much as yet..just grizzly and unsettled..am hoping its just her adjusting to the world, but will ask midwife re feeding today..just not sure she is taking enough formula...F Feeders..are you just using normal newborn teats?Or is there anything else advisable?..Anyway she finally went off at 5am for 2 hours...but Lily got up at 5.45 ready to start her day....so am off to Tesco in a minute for a bumper pack of Pro Plus!

Can you get the colief in normal shops Lups?We tried Infracol with Lil, but it was no good really so am thinking we wll probably need to get hold of something for Mae in the end..

Hope you have a better day Abby...

yeah 15 feeds = insanity let me tell you, but no other option at the mo as she needs to put on weight so it's on-demand and unfortunately at the most she takes 2.5 oz, normally only 1oz or 1.5oz at a time. Pls let it get better soon....!!!

Scoot, sounds like a busy night, perhaps Mae is just a little unsettled at her new surroundings?

Abby its great that you are sounding more upbeat and that Ruby slept so well, I am

My turn to feel a bit today. J wouldn't settle for a couple of hours between 1 and 3 this morning and was up and down between 3 and 7, so am exhausted and made the dc lunches in a daze, I'm not sure what they actually got, but peanut butter and jam featured quite heavily

Anyway the HV has just been, J is a monster clocking in at over 10lbs. As HV goes, she is a little odd but listens to me and makes some good suggestions and she turned up on time! She rates the cranial osteopathy highly so I am going to give it a go with J next week, to see if that will help him sleep better as he can only manage a maximum of 2.5 hours at any one time. Also she says I have nipple thrush which is making the bf more uncomfortable than it should be and she looked at my tummy and thinks I have an infection as it still quite swollen well above the scar area and is quite sore to touch. So I now need to battle with the appointments system at our local health centre to try to see the doctor tomorrow, in between watching ds1 on his sponsored bike ride and picking dd up from school. Hopefully I'll feel better after some antibiotics and a hair appointment

DS1 has some pronounciation difficulties when he talks and the HW wants to refer him to audiology to check he doesn't have glue ear and then have some speech and language therapy too. I was really impressed that the HV actually listened to my concerns and agreed with me, I thought I might have a battle on my hands. So its all go in the Cam household..

Hi all. Scoot, sorry you had a difficult first night I bet Mae is still wondering what on earth has happened. I've seen colief in Boots before but I'm not sure about supermarkets. Ruby is ff and I have just used the normal newborn teats. I've had no probs with them but she has a really strong suck so I daren't give her any bigger for fear she'll choke!
Cam sounds like you've had a busy night/morning! It's horrible when they have an unsettled night isn't it. We have been really lucky with Ruby at night to be honest, I can't complain at all about lack of sleep. You sound like you're really in the wars, try crying down the phome at the drs receptionist, I've found it very effective in the past!
Well, Ruby has been an angel today. I woke her up to feed her about 10.45 and she took about 80ml which is actually quite a bit less than usual but she seemed full. We had lots of stops for winding which were successful. After a nappy change and a little bit of play time she was actually awake for about 35 minutes after her feed without one cry!! I've put her in bed for a nap at 11.50 and at the moment she is awake but not crying. I've not given her the dummy to see what happens. I think she's beginning to work up to crying but hopefully it will just be a little tired wimper that won't last long. Fingers croseed....

Blimey Cam..thats a whole lot to think about..love that you are getting your hair done in the midst of it all..thats style that is!(but actually prob very sensible as important to have some time for you as well)
Try to take it a bit easy though hon..if you get a min..

Good luck with the feeding Lilkel..Mae not doing great either today-she wont take more than an ounce either..DD1 has decided to join in as well as she wont eat anything at all and had just lobbed her lunch at my Mother...its all going very well chez Scoot

Hi all

Really struggling to keep up with you chatty lot still.

Congrats Scoot on the arrival of Mae.

Had Callum weighed yesterday and he is a whopping 11lb 3oz - he didn't get weighed last week but 2 weeks ago was 9lb 7oz so thats not bad going!

I know I should be sleeping now as he is asleep but I really have lots to do. It is DD2s birthday tomorrow and I have pressies to wrap, plus DD1 is going on a PGL adventure long weekend tomorrow and I still have a bit to sort out. It sounds bad but I really don't know how I am going to manage without her !! She is a bloody good help for an 11 year old and enables me to have showers and cook tea while she looks after the baby! I am sure she will have a lovely time though even if she is panicking about the 10 metre high swing!

Sky, sounds like Callum is putting on weight really well! As for us, had our weigh-in today and....drum roll... we are up! Nearly back to birthweight now, so pleased. I desperately needed some good news too because all the demand feeding has been taking its toll on me! (and poor DH who has to listen to me moan about how tired I am, he deserves a medal, or at least a power tool)

ROFL at your daughter Scoot. My DS has taken to protesting at teatime also, throwing his spoon on the floor with real "feeling" - a right little budding drama king he is. Perhaps we live parallel lives you & me?

Speaking of power tools (ooh err), next weekend is Father's Day...what are you all planning?

Just running in and out to say to those with crying babies SLING, SLING, SLING.

I know there's a worry about 'spoiling' but you can't spoil a baby at this age. They don't know they're separate from us yet so just want their mummies. My massive sling collection has saved my life- hands free and baby is extremely content. She sleeps very well at night too and can settle herself. If she does wake up in the sling and cry all I have to do is shuffle from side to side in the manner of a middle-aged aunt dancing to the Time Warp or perhaps a postnatal woman needing the loo and she drops straight back to sleep. And nothing beats that warm, snuggly feeling of having your baby curled up on you as you get on with the mundane task of washing up. Oh who am I kidding, I don't wash up, I watch dinnerladies on DVD and eat chocolate.

And feeding 15 times a day is nothing! Mathilda's having a growth spurt and managed 19 feeds yesterday. That'll be why she's putting on half a pound ever few days. We should have called her Olga and bought her a shot put for when she's 12 weeks and able to lob it.

Hello lovelies

I'll never catch up with all the gossip so I do appologise, but just to say a huge congrats to all with their babies. Is that everyone now? Does anyone else think that May flew by, here we all are now in June with babies!

Well I met my HV for the first time on Monday - what a strange breed of human they are! Mine didn't introduce herself to me for 10 minutes. She walked in, sat down, started asking very personal questions about me and my family before she had even told me her name. It turned out to be Hazel, nice to know eh?! She got very shirty with me for 2 things, the first was the fact that after 2 weeks I hadn't sorted out maintenance payments with my ex yet. Well, I've only just started being able to walk like a normal person again, and have a demanding newborn to get used to. Not to mention the fact that my ex hasn't even seen her yet, thought I'd get that issue addressed first before I jump on him for money - and he isn't working atm - AGAIN! I haven't even got C registered yet fgs, so sorting out money with ex isn't top priority! The second thing was the fact that Lottie's cord hadn't fallen of, and this is my fault how.....? She rather aggressivley started cleaning around it with swabs trying to make it seperate and C was screaming her head of - I felt like going for her throat! It fell of that evening.

Lottie's weight had gone down when weighed, having said that she was due a feed and had just done a HUGE poo! She was down to 6lb 10.5oz on Monday, HV didn't seem worried though. I am. According to her bf babies weight can go up and down all the time. C has loads of wet and dirty nappies, and guzzles like there is no tommorrow when feeding. So I'm really confused, why is she loosing weight? HV coming back tommorrow to weigh her again, I hope it's gone up. I can't handle seeing that woman twice every week.

Still feeling a wee bit all over the place, can become really tearful suddenly over silly things. Then I have days where, as bad as this sounds I feel I'm not paying Lottie enough attention - I'd rather ask someone else to watch her. Then I have days where all I want to do is look at her and cuddle her. I think I'm cracking up! I just feel sometimes that I'm not doing good enough, that someone else would do a better job of looking after her. I was so prepared for her with all the material things she would need, but looking at it have been completely unprepared for how I'd feel about everything. I love her so much and want to be a good mum, but just feel like, for some reason I'm doing everything wrong.
Everyone comments on how content and happy she seems, and what a good baby she is. And she is. So why do I feel like I'm messing it all up, when it's apparant to everyone that she's doing well? I feel as if everyone knows how to care for MY daughter except for me.

Lwatkins lovely lady that you are, I order you to stop it. I don't think there's a mother on the planet that doesn't feel that they're not doing enough. God, I imagine Mathilda being ill or in pain and it's like a knife through me and I just want to protect her. At least 17 times a day I wonder if I'm doing the right thing and if somebody else might not do a better job. I'm still in my pyjamas fgs. She's smiling, gaining weight, seems happy enough and is alert and bright. Do I relax? No chance. Be nice to yourself, you're still recovering, you're tired and your world has turned upside down. You're doing so well I promise you.

You don't have to see your health visitor by the way. The weight checks can be done at the clinic- your hv is there to support not judge. And everything I ever read said 'do not interfere with the cord or try to encourage it to fall off'. Sounds like a nutcase.

Nobody's prepared for motherhood, it's an enormous thing. I wish I could come and take you and C out for a cup of tea and a big cream cake. I might be inside your computer, but that doesn't mean I'm not here for you or not willing to listen. You can always email me and we have phones in Norfolk.

Thanks SOH, that's so lovely of you! God, what a freakin mess I am! Some days I feel ok, then I have a day like today filled with spontaneous fits of tears and feeling like a shit mum. I think it's like everyone says, don't try to be a supermum. But you do, and when you just get too tired to do anymore you feel like crap and like you're letting your baby down.

Have just been in to check on her, fast asleep with her legs wide open - such a lady! She's been 4 hours since her last feed so must go and wake her to feed her but don't have the heart to do it!

LW I think every one of us on here understands how you are feeling. A is my third baby and yet I still go through the 'am i a good mum' thing. If im not worrying about A, im worrying that im not devoting enough time to my ds's. On top of that im always thinking of the jobs that need doing around the house Its a viscous circle because if i leave the jobs for another day i feel bad that ive not done them which in turn makes me think i must be a bad mum then A will go through a stage where she wont settle and i will spend time sorting her out which then makes me worry about neglecting the boys. Some days it can really get to me but on other more rational days I see that im doing ok, the boys are happy and getting enough love and attention, the house isnt the tip i imagine it to be and im doing the best I can-im only human afterall

Worrying is a big part of being a mother and I think it helps us to be good mothers, if we believe we are perfect 100% of the time we would could neglect certain parts of motherhood IYKWIM (It made sense to me when i thought it but couldnt put it into words-post natal brain!!)

As for the weight loss Ive had that with A too. She eats well and is so contented (most of the time) that i know she is getting enough but when the hv weighed her yesterday it appears she has lost 4lb since last friday the hv weighed her differently to to the midwives though so im not convinced she has lost that much weight. Us mothers can tell if something is wrong so dont worry about it, you know your LO is feeding well etc Good luck tomorrow

Cam am for you! Hope you get a bit more sleep, DS1 is ok and the thrush goes...it all happens at once doesn't it?! At least you have a decent HV!

LW - chin up - sounds like you are doing a fab job and little lottie is very lucky to have you as her mum!

Pebble...surely not 4lbs??!!

OOOPs meant 4oz I would be worried if it was 4lb she had lost

Hi all. LWatkins I know how you feel about swinging from emotion to emotion. I'm on my 2nd and it doesn't gey any easier regards worrying and thinking you're doing a bad job. As you may have read I had a terrible day yesterday. Ruby just cried solidly and so did I!
Today has been a different day altogether. We have been out and about a lot and this seems to suit Ruby much more than staying in. Dh and I went out for lunch with some firends and she was as good as gold in the pub. She has fed well (as usual) had some reasonable awake times without crying and has slept fairly well. She actually settled herself to sleep in her own bed by herself this morning! I feel a lot more positive than I did this time yesterday, partly thanks to you guys being here when I needed you!
For those of you who ff is it normal for her poo to still be like green/yellow slime. I thought ds had more form by now, more like a proper poo! I do wonder if the f I am using doesn;t entirely agree with her.
I am enjoying a little peace now as dh is bathing ds and Ruby is bathed fed and I think asleep!

SOH, what sling do you have? I purchased a freedom pouch thingy from ebay and havent a clue how to use it! I put Ella in it and she didnt look massively comfy.

LW, you sound like you are doing a fantastic job. You are giving her the best start you can by feeding her. Dont worry about not having registered C yet. You have 6 weeks to do it, however, the sooner you do it the sooner you can claim Child Benefit as you need to send C's birth certificate. I think its 18 pounds per week. They do back date it

Sky, Callum sounds like he is doing brilliantly

Cam, hope you are having a better day today and that you are all feeling better.

Scoot, hope that day two was better for you all.

BBC is not going so well took til 10pm to get her to sleep yesterday and she doesnt look remotely tired and not helping matters is the fact the ds doesnt want to go to sleep as dh isnt here. However, i am not giving up on bbc and hope that i can get back on track shortly

LW - I'm sure you are doing a BRILLIANT job I can only echo what Pebble says, the worrying about whether you are a good mum or not continues, most often for me when I am yelling my head off at DD because she won't brush her teeth or because i feed them both something quick and easy instead of some gourmet meal or because I do the washing up instead of reading them a book and giving them all some attention!

The lovely HV managed to get me a GP appointment this pm and the doc said there was no tummy infection, phew, one less thing to worry about. Now I have meds for the thrush and have made an appt for J to see an osteopath I am feeling more in control again. My dc are both being so good and so helpful, its amazing how helpful a 3 and 5 year old can be, especially as dh, international spy and man of mystery, is not here just now. We went to the park as they were so good at the doctors and whilst we were there the Tesco delivery man called to say he was delivering, oops I had totally forgotten about him so we dashed back just in the nick of time, it was lucky for us he had got lost

BB - a parcel is winging its way to you as we speak

CM - can't believe you had time to do that with all that you have going on ! thank you! very excited! don't forget to send me your address too.
xx

Glad to hear things are perking up Cam! Is your international man of mystery off saving the world? DH is currently working 10am-midnight 5 days a week and he's desperately missing dd and I'm finding it difficult being alone so much. I must make the effort to find a postnatal group in rl as my friends with babies live so far away. It's a tad isolating and I seem to enter a strange time warp as soon as dh leaves. For example it can get to 4pm and I realise I haven't been to the loo, I've eaten only a waffle and a strawberry and my hair hasn't seen a brush. And I've started watching daytime tv. It's getting desperate chez SOH.

AM, I have a few slings. While dd is small I love my coorie and peerie the most. They're here . They're basically the same but the coorie is fleece and the peerie is linen. They're pouch slings and fantastic for a littlie, feel safe when hands-free and make the baby all fetal-like and snuggly. If you're able they're easy to make too, google for sites showing patterns. Otherwise they send great instructions and pictures if you buy direct from them. I also have an ellaroo and a didymos which are versatile but too warm for me to wear atm as they are wrap slings. Isn't the freedom a ring sling? I can't get to grips with them at all!

DD currently in her first 4hr sleep of the night, all cuddled up and snoring. She's started getting baby acne today and is a bit of a sight, poor thing.

Cam, sounds like your feeling a bit better today. Pleased about that.

AM, sorry bbc is not as straight forward as you'd hoped, glad you are perservering though, it will be worth it in the end.

LW, there is always something to worry about and you have to learn to ignore the everyone else knows what to do for my child feelings. They hit us all at some point but only YOU know whats best for L. Sounds to me like you are doing a fab job.
Jorja's cord is still attatched. We are told here to clean it with sterile swabs and an anteseptic spray twice a day. The pedeatricians do give it some roughing around when they clean it, I like to be far more gentle but that could be the reason it's still attatched at 3 weeks old.

We are struggling with the bf, I'm so gutted and so determined to carry on and make it work but she is seriously crap at it.

SOH, what was the tounge pushy down thing to help? When I put my finger in her mouth and she trys to latch on to it, her tounge is curled back on the end of my finger, I pressume this is what she is doing on the boob. You have no idea how cross I am that it's not plain sailing this time, fgs by number 3 you'd think I know the score.

I bought an electric bpump today. In the hope to stimulate my milk as jorja is not doing it well. I managed to express a total of 1oz in 30 minutes from both boobs. How crap is that? At least I'm hoping that by expressing in between feeds it will act like another feed and my boobs will start to produce for it.

Oh well, try, try and try again in the end you will succeed. (or be pissed off for wasting a hundred squid on a bpump and then finding the formula) btw, I have nothing against formula, just can't be arsed with the sterilising, washing bottles, preparing, travelling etc....

Anyone heard from lg&t, just wondered how she's doing?

Night all, hope babies and mummies sleep well tonight.

SOH, that's tough when your dh isn't there at 'bedtime', my dh is always sad to miss bathtime and bedtime, that's his special time with the dc. Around here we go to baby and toddler's groups in local church halls, which have been a godsend, I have met some really lovely mums and it breaks up the day, and when toddlers start to toddle its great for them to have another place that isnt home,where they can mush miniscule bits of fruit and biscuits into the carpet

Dh is on a course learning how to save the world in Hitchin but will be working hard next week in Ghana, what glamour

The slings sound fab, but with J's weight I would have a bad back in no time

BB - its always a pleasure to send parcels

April, hope the BC worked better tonight, I manage bath at 6.30 for all of the dc, one after another, then a story then they all go to bed, J ends up in bed about 7.30, he'll be awake again any minute now...

AbbyLou, i don't think the poo hardens up until you start weaning. I think it's the colour that changes not the consistency.

Hey, I wondered how long it would take us to be discussing the contents of our LO's nappies.
Whilst we are on the supject, pips, where do the pips come from? lol

SOH, eat you must eat!!

LOL MrsJB, where do the pips come from?? I just love it when they start to eat sand...in one end, straight out t'other