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

I'm going to get a parcel (does a little jig)

MJB I was speaking to one of my NCT crew today who is expressing and she said it makes a huge difference when in the day you do it. She said her best time is first thing in the morning before the feed. I've also heard its good to do it at the same time as feeding as the let down has happened and things should be flowing more smoothly so do try different times & good luck! My GP also told me that milk gets less rich thoughout the day and to have a calorific snack at 5pm to ensure its as good as possible....queue to break out the scones & brownies...!

xx

Ha, that explains why I always want to stuff my face at 5pm, what a great excuse

MrsJB, I tried and tried to express before but only ever got a thimbleful and it would only ever work in the morning for me. Is it an electric pump? They are meant to be better aren't they?

nope BBC did not work tonight! She did fall asleep at 9pm which is an improvement on last night. I think she has been sleeping too much in the afternoon's so tomorrow i think i will try and get her down for a nap at 10.30am and then go for a walk with her just after lunch and try to keep her awake in the late pm so that she can go to sleep at 7-7.30ish.

Thanks SOH for the info on the slings. might give them a go

Lots of love to you Lwatkins..i rememer i had days where I felt I wasnt sure I wanted DD1...Was so tired and hormonal and unsure of what to do and felt she would be better off without me..am sure I will get that this time too..but it does pass and you are doing great im sure of it..

Hi to everyone else..have hit the wall re being knackered now..Lily has been very clingy understandably all day so I took her out to a soft play centre for a bit and have been clambering up the play frame and down the slide..perhaps not the greatest idea the day after giving birth I know realise..got home to find DH looking exhausted as he got up most in the night with Mae,so he went for a sleep, whilst I tidied round and had some time with both my girls..
Mae has fed a bit better today and has been a bit more sleepy-which I hope bodes well for tonight, but I fear may not!
We are just turning in now..
Oddly its my arms that are tiredest..I must have been clinging on to the handles on the bed during the labour like billy-o!

night all

I'm just sitting here wondering what time to wake C up. He woke and fed at 6 and was awake (fed again at 8) until 9.30 and is now sound asleep. I never know whether to just go to bed or wake him, so I am sticking with waking him at 11 ish then he tends to go through til 4 (sometimes).

DP goes to bed at 9.30 as he gets up at 4.30. He is definitely missing quality time with C as he doesn't get home until 6.30 and I don't like sitting downstairs by myself.

Thinking of going to a local baby group tomorrow but as I have to have DD1 at school by 7.30 and it is DD2s birthday I think I may be stretching myself. Still not driving so my dad has to be here by 7.15 to take us. This all of course fits round C feeding - LOL - not sure we will be up, dressed and ready to leave the house at 7.20 am.

Hi all have had a quick browse of posts but havent caught up properly sorry

LW dont beat yourself out I have to agree with the others its perfectly normal what your going through, we all just want whats best for our kids so its normal to feel we arent doing enough or could do more, glad Lottie is doing well, and A is 9 weeks and still isnt registered lol, I find hv's really judgmental and annoying - also quite dippy!! glad i dont have to see mine again

AM sorry bc is not going to plan probably just a glitch, I have corrie sling, not the fleece one that soh has, A doesnt always look like he should be comfy in it but he purrs away so he must be

A is now 7lb 8 and effectivly 10days old lol, we were discharged from the hospital yesterday, his hips were checked and his head and he measures 48cm, so still tiddly, that mentioned he did try and wee on the consultant

I am back on the buggy trail, after all my troubles with the micralite I asked for a refund which was a result actually, I paid £129.50 because it was the last 1 and it had no raincover, have since been sent new one including raincover, and the carrycot broke so micralite agreed to send me new 2007 model - however took forever so they agreed to refund of £314 yipeee £190ish profit!! think i want a M&P Pliko Pramette, anyone had/ got one, went into M&P yesterday and it feels quite nice and well padded

Right off for a shower while little man is asleep

Hi - sorry, this might be a bit of a flying visit.

Re: Cranial Ostopathy on babies. Aoife is a bit unhappy at the moment. We had her at the osteopath on Tuesday. Seems she got a bit squished before/ during being born. Her palate is a little compressed on one side so she finds it hard to feed on one side (yes, that means one effing sore boob). Also her limbs are very tense and her diaphragm hasn't opened up properly so she gets hiccups about 5 times a day and her neck is tight on one side - which fits with the funny position the registrar said she was in when I was at the hospital. That said, she's still a very good baby. She's just sort of uncomfortable when she's awake and has to be swaddled when she's asleep. She finds it hard to burp, so has trapped wind a lot. Bought some Infacol and that's helping a little. She's not sleeping too bad at night, considering, but mid morning and mid evening she gets quite upset with everything. Poor little thing. Osteopath worked on her Tues, trying to open out her limbs and reckons she can have her sorted out in three sessions and said it was great that we brought her in so early. She'll work on diaphragm and head/ back over the next couple of sessions. Aoife had a sleep yesterday afternoon, unswaddled and flung her limbs out, which is showing some progress and she is getting a little more contented as the week presses on.

I gave in and gave her a dummy as well. Well sort of forced it on her in the end. She's very sucky and the osteo said it was her finding her own way to comfort herself and also to help fix the palate and align the bones cranium (the fontanelles move when babies suck), so rather than let her gnaw on my boobs and make them even more sore (well the right one - left one, bizarrely is perfectly alright).

Just need to work out how to get more areola in her mouth on the right hand side. I think I might have to express on that side a bit first, where possible, to make it softer round hte nipple.

SOH - DH bought a Babasling, and the position recommended for newborns looks like the one on the page you linked to. I couldn't help thinking they look squashed and uncomfortable, but then I suppose babies and adults have very different bone structures don't they?

TYG did you just look in Yellow Pages for an osteopath for A. I've thought about looking into into for R as she seems to be uncomfortable a lot. She too is a very sucky baby but she flings her arms and legs around all the time. I've never known a newbron baby who moves so much. Her neck is really strong and she can already hold her head well. I think she'll be rolling over really early as she likes to lean over to one side already. Is it very expensive to have the cranial osteopathy? I would pay anything if I could to make her more comfortable but many is a bit tight at the mo and I'm worried about it costing the earth. I would also be worried about finding a reputable one who doesn't try to fleece me.

Abby, I got a recommendation for an osteopath from friends with tots and from the HV herself. One session with mine will cost £26, take 45 mins and the HV said they like to do about 3 sessions. I don't think J has any specific problems but I am interested to see what she says and if it will help him sleep for longer periods.

TYG I am glad to see it has made a difference to A. Is the sore boob definitely a latching problem, not a sore nipple? If it is a sore nipple it could be nipple thrush?

What about baby massage classes, has anyone done these before or considered it?

DS1 did a sponsored bike ride today, very cute to see 20 odd 3 year olds tearing around on mini bikes with stabilisers

Mathilda has been rolling over since 2 weeks. HV didn't believe me until she put her down to undress her for weighing, looked away, looked back and she'd wriggled off. She can get from one side of the sitting room to the other in a continuous roll. Naughty mummy also takes great delight in putting her on her tummy and watching her commando stylee wriggling across the floor looking for milk no doubt. Not normal our Tilly, I swear she'll be doing track and field within a month. I thought you had at least a couple of weeks of putting them down and them not moving out of sight. Hoped she'd be bookish and still like her Mum, but no she's going to be all runny and jumpy like her fidgety Dad.

MrsJB, I really sympathise with the bf. Honestly, it is only in the last week that it has become bearable. I've only kept at it as I'm stubborn as they come and felt like I'd let her down in so many other ways where the birth was concerned, I was determined to give her at least this. At first she was a terror and very, very lazy. I had the worst cracked nipple, it bled so much, blistered and then my ducts blocked. I'm the opposite to you I think, I make a lot of milk so M has worked out that all she has to do is lick the end of my nipple and it falls out, anything more is too much of an effort at times. The tongue thing definitely sounds like the problem we had. You need to get your little finger on top of her tongue and press it down into the bottom of her mouth to show her what she's supposed to do. I think a lot of babies mistakenly think they need to suck when in fact it's a kneading motion they should be going for. And I had to feed her under my arm all the time for the first few weeks as it helps with the latch when they're positioning their tongue wrong. Keep latching her off, pressing her tongue down and then latching her back on. Tis such a faff but it worked for us. Plus waiting until she's really hungry, not just rooting out of mild interest helped as she worked harder. I don't mean leave her to cry before I get shot, DH just played with her, jigged her about and sang to keep her occupied for an extra 20 minutes after she had started rooting. When she did feed she latched on properly as she was a lot keener. Keep at it, I admire you for persevering.

I hear squeaking in the next room. I'm being summoned I think. Since 3am she has fed a grand total of 9 times. Definitely a growth spurt I think. I can't get her off me.

Good question by the way. Where do the pips come from?!

Morning all.well it is for me as have only jsut got up and dressed..actually got up at 5.30 with DD1..but I dont count that as wasnt compos mentis (sp?)Parents left this morning..they have been great with Lily I have to hand it to them, whilst we were otherwise engaged, but boy is it nice to have my little house back..I have had a good clean round this morn, and everything is now back in its right cupboard..feel much better..

Much better night for Mae too..she woke at 1 and 4, then 5.30 with Lily..she is taking a bit more milk now as well..am hoping she will continue like this but not counting on it..She seems ver content today though so not knocking it..in fact she has been asleep most of the time..

Think I overdid it a bit yesterday as everything very sore today..but sun has come out so am just going to take Mae for her first walk whislt DH and Lily are at Tesco..feels like our lovely girl has been here forever already!

Glad the osteopath was so helpful TYG..So reassuring when someone tells you there is something that can be done when you are worried about your lo I think...

Blimey SOH, what've you got there?An olympic athlete in the making?!London 2012!

Got a tip for wind - gaviscon - apparently you can give it to them in thier milk, its the powdered variety you dont need to do it every feed but its supposd to be great if they dont like infacol ect

Deffo a latching thing! She's managed to poke a small hole in the side of the nipple with her gum! Ouch. I think it's getting better though. For some reason she won't open her mouth very wide so sometimes I take her off, let her get into a paddy about it and shout and shove the boob in when she's shouting. Once it's healed it won't matter so much. The left boob is like rubber now. Doesn't matter what position she's in, it doesn't hurt a bit.

I rang the place I had acupuncture done about Osteopathy as they call themselves a "healing arts" centre and asked if they had a cranial osteopath who was qualified to work on babies. She's come up on yell.com though, so yes, you could do it that way. You just need to ask if they're qualified in paediatric osteopathy. It's a further 2 year's training I think. For anyone in London or Manchester, there is Osteopathic Centre for Children . My osteo used to practice there. She said it's a little busy - large treatment rooms and loads of kids running around, but I think you might be able to make a "donation" for treatment rather than pay, iyswim.

I'm paying £40 per session -I doubt anywhere would be more than that.

Im glad im not the only one whose LO wont open wide enough to latch on straight away. A tries to suck the nipple into her mouth and it hurts a lot but after a few sucks she repositions into the proper position. She's also got into the habit of licking the nipple before feeding as if trying to decide if she like the flavour Actually i think she was a cat in her former life, she likes licking her hands a lot just like cats do when cleaning, strange girl

A has been very restless today, not sure if it the heat, a growth spurt or just A being a pain lol. She has just gone to sleep for the first time since 3pm, well she did manage a quick 10 min nap while i was at school for ds1's award assembly, she only had about 1hr in the morning too. She also hasnt wanted to be put down for long so ive been struggling to do things one handed for most of the day. I just hope she isnt starting to teeth already, both my boys started at two weeks although it did mean they had most of their teeth before they were 6months, at the moment i cant see anything but will keep an eye out.

Did i say A was asleep, my mistake, I can hear her sqeaking from the other room, i was hoping to get at least 30mins peace before she woke up, i guess i had better go and check on her (she's now crying so dont think she is going back off )

Thanks SOH, your comments made me feel much better. I too really want this to work so I am going to persevere. I have expressed 3 times today only one boob at a time acting like an additional feed and I have a total of 4oz to give her at some point this evening. I keep looking at it in the fridge, I'm very proud of my milk. lol It has definately helped the amount of milk already too, last night she only fed at 3am off my right boob and at 7 am when she was ready for her next feed my left boob was like a rock.
She does seem to be feeding better and you are right SOH, Jorja latches much better in the rugby ball position. I will be sticking my finger on her tounge for a while now and see if that helps too. Thanks for explaining it again, I think I understand now how and when to do it.

TYG, I'm feeling for you, ouch.... thats really great about the osteopath though, I've heard they can do wonders to unsettled babies. I too have given Jorja a dummy, she only has it after a feed, once she begins to suck for comfort I wip out the nipple and stick in the dummy, works a treat. She is not interested in it at any other time though and gags on it. Still hoping she'll suck her thumb.

Hi everyone,

blimey i never seem to get the chance to come on here at the mo.

Marslady thanks for the email address I have not had a chance to contact you but I did go see my doula the other day who is also a BF counsellor and she helped loads.

The first week really is hard going isnt it am knackered my boobs are butchered, had a visit to A&E as Archie wouldnt wake up honestly - mad. But all does seem to be getting easier we did manage a little outing to the shops so not all doom and gloom.

Am adding a couple of pics to my prof so you can see my handsome chap.

Still not had time to do a birth announcement.

OH and TYG my doula thinks that Archie has some head trauma after quite literally being pulled out of me after 2 hours of pushing, I know you are in London where is your cranial chap?

have a lovely weekend in the sun ladies.

Hey ladies. Well things are going really well here. Cruz likes to eat and sleep. That's about it. last night he slept from 11pm to 4am snacked and then went back to sleep until 6:30 snacked and finally woke up around 9am. I have to say that he's a good boy and I'll defintely keep him. Had him weighed and he is 1 lb over his birth weight at 16 days old.

I still don't like bfing though. I'm waiting for that wonderful bonding feeling to come over me. But nothing as yet. Oh well.

Did my first workout today. It went pretty well and it felt good to really sweat for something other than crazy hormonal shifts.

Cranial Osteopathy: Children's Osteopathic Centre: 02074905510 They take donations as they are a charity.

SOH, LOL at Mathilda, must have been all the gingerbread Ella is very stong but nothing like your Tilda. She locks her legs if you stand her up, but thankfully hasnt mastered the rolling over yet - i hope to have at least 8weeks left before she does that going by what J did. She does however push herself along when placed on her front. It's quite strange because with J i wanted him to do things 'now' but with E i am happy to wait as i know what i will be in for this time. The only thing i WANT her to do is to go through the night, preferrably before the age of 15mths

TYG, ouch, that sounds painful, i hope that i heals soon for you.

HELLO MRSJB Well done on the 4oz. I cant seem to get more than an ounce at a time which is quite depressing. As a result i have had to change the plans for the hen night and wedding i am going to. Have asked my sister to come to the hen night and sit up in the brides bedroom with E so that i can pop up and feed if she doesnt settle. Then for the Wedding my mum is going to spend the day at the venue and in our room so that i can feed as and when.. Well i guess there is a way round everything.

Cant beleive that Ella is 2mths old tomorrow. Going to get her weighed on Monday - think she should be 10lbs. The fact that i have managed to bf the whole time is something i am very proud of as i didnt manage it last time. Think we are going through the third growth spurt at the mo. She doesnt want to go to bed at night - took til 9.15pm last night - and spent the hour before hand feeding, she is normally a quick feeder.

Hope you all have a good day xx

Thanks mars, will get cracking with that on Mon.

Mrs JB - how often are you expressing and what time of the day? Before/ after feeds? Sorry for all the questions, but today I appear to have a defective boob. The side which isn't sore doesn't seem to have as much milk as the sore side. A is being lazy and sort of hanging off it and not sucking properly - have to keep taking her on and off and I think it's affected the supply. We're going in circles a bit as becuase she's not interested in it, I'm making even less milk! The "sore" side feels full before a feed and the other side feels floppy and "empty". Tsk.

Was thinking of expressing on the "empty" side to try to build up the supply. Anyone know if that's the right thing to do? (As well as keep offering her that side when she's really hungry...)

Sorry TYG can't offer advice on BF as I gave up on that enterprise long ago...

I wanted to remind everyone though about child benefit - get some of your tax back (even if it is only a measly £80 a month)! benefit website

Suppose I'd better get the poor child registered. Must pin DH down on a middle name. I like Aisling, but he keeps thinking of that muppet from last year's Big Brother.

Hi all. Not had much chance to catch up at all today. It's been such beautiful weather we've been out in the garden. Ruby has slept like a trouper in her pram under the trees, she's definitely going to be an outdoorsy sort of girl.
Dh has gone out with the lads tonight dressed as a surgeon in scrubs (don't ask) so I've got the place to myself. C and A are both bathed and fast asleep in bed so I feel rather proud of myself. I've made carbonara and I'm just about to open a bottle of wine - life seems much more normal all of a sudden....

12yg.... do you want me to pop over at all? Obviously not tonight... but as you're just across the way.

I'm seeing someone in Albert Road on Mon morning so could pass by briefly if you like.