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

Hello all

SOH I'm so happy to hear M went 3 hours - good baby! Please look after yourself though lovely, eat and sleep as much as possible to keep your strength up

TYG sorry to hear about the masitis, sounds painfull.

Scoot, hope Lily gets better soon. How crap for you to all go and get ill when you've just had a baby. Like you don't have enough to be getting on with without the entire household coming down with illnesses! Thinking of you all

Huge welcome to JanW and big congrats on the birth of your (very late) baby, already being naughty eh! They do keep us on our toes. Mine has just started screaming - oh the joys!

lilkel, oh poor you Glad you are of to see gp if you are feeling this down. I really hope you start to feel better soon, we are all here if you need to talk. Don't worry - be happy (((BIG HUG)))

MrsJB, my goodness I think I would have given up with all the problems with bf, well done you for sticking with it all though.

Now for my rant! Lottie's dad came up. Enough said? No? I would much rather entertain my dogs arsehole than have that effort of a being around me again. It did not go all that well, and he ended up leaving early. Between him yelling at me, thinking he owned my house and doing whatever he wanted in it (helping himself to food and drink, slamming doors, yelling at my dog etc) and generally having not changed one bit in nearly a year we both decided it would be best if he just left early. If he wants to see Charlotte again he'll have to book into a B&B cause I can't have him staying here again without him meeting an unfortunate accident! Prick.

On the plus side of things I got C registered so she is all official now (in Scotland you only get 21 days to register a birth) and her weight is going up. On Monday she was 7lbs 14.5oz so am guessing she will now be over 8lbs! My little chunky monkey On the down side she is a little madam and loves attention and to be held. So much so that it is impossible for her to just go to sleep, oh no no. She wants entertainment before hand! Babies - PAH!

Hi all

Welcome Janw and so sorry to hear of your probs lilkel. Hope the GP can help.

Not much to tell today. C did take the 4oz of expressed milk yesterday evening and I have 3oz already today for this evening. DP enjoyed giving it to him.

I shouldn't complain but he has been asleep nearly all day today. I woke him last night at 11 for a feed which he had then slept until 4.20 had a feed then slept until 7.30 - was awake for about an hour. Went to sleep on school run until 12, had a feed and was awake until next school run at 3 and is still asleep. Actually typing this I am now worried he is sleeping too much! Do we ever stop worrying?

TYG - hope you feel better soon.

Oh I spoke too soon, Mathilda went back to 2 hourly feeds throughout the night and has been doing so ever since. Just had a bath together throughout which she smiled and flapped her arms with glee. She's a real water baby. She's definitely feeding properly at each feed, sucks well and has gone from the 25th centile to the 75th in 5 weeks. HV thinks she's just a prolific guzzler, apparently I was the same as a baby according to my dm. DH has been at home today so have eaten extremely well. Have eaten two bowls of cereal, a bowl of strawberries, raspberries and kiwi fruit, 2 bananas, three cheese, ham, rocket and spinach sandwiches, a flapjack, a bag of apricots and an onion. Also had a multivitamin, an iron tablet, two smoothies, two litres of water and three glasses of fresh orange. Do I pass? Having steak, spinach and mash for dinner with watercress and rocket salad. I may burst in a glutton-induced mess.

Just to clarify: I do not think badly of other people who use dummies, just myself. I'm my own worst enemy.

Kel, I'm glad you answered your own question, you're right if you're worried you're not 100% then you're not and you're catching it before you're unable to recognise this fact. Eat well, try to sleep well and talk to us. Here's hoping you are back on the up very soon.

Welcome Janw. I agree with what the others say, don't worry about routines just yet. My dd didn't know day from night for the first two weeks and I just went with it, fed her when she wanted and just followed her lead. If you worry too much about routine at this stage you miss a lot of the signs and cues your baby portrays. Give it time and you'll find that a natural routine emerges or you'll better recognise your son's needs and can try and build a routine around that. He has a tiny tummy at the mo as well so it's definitely better to feed when he asks and remember he doesn't know he's separate from you yet so the best thing you can give him is lots of cuddles, skin to skin contact and talk to him lots when he's awake. In terms of entertaining, I think you should do a jig and an acrobatic routine . Seriously, from birth little babies like faces so position yourself about 8 inches from him until he locks his eyes to yours and chat to him, make exaggerated movements- big eyes and mouth, poke out your tongue and he'll not only start to copy you but will try and 'talk' back- flapping arms, working jaw, getting excited etc. Babies also love being massaged/touched gently. Use some baby oil or special massage lotion and when he's warm, full, clean and content you can rub his arms, legs, tummy and back for a short time (they bore/tire easily!) and talk to him/play music at the same time. Babies also love music, dancing with mummy, being sung to and some love baths (don't need soap at this stage, just water). Sorry if you're doing all this already. Babies are so much more interactive than some people give them credit for. I'm a loon and talk to my dd all day long, sing to her in public, dance round with her, point tractors out to her etc!

Ouch about the mastitis. Had a blocked duct which was bad enough, but full blown mastitis is hideous by the sounds of it. Have also completely healed my nipples and thankfully breastfeeding is no longer painful although when M stops feeding every 2hrs I suffer enormously as I make enough milk to start a dairy and engorgement takes about 1.5hrs. Also started to 'spray' everywhere after a feed due to seriously efficient let down.

Lwatkins how was the ex prat with Lottie? Sounded useless on every other count I have to say. Did you put him on the birth certificate in the end?

Cam, MKG and Scoot sounds a bit of a sickly nightmare for you three atm. I hated M having a cold, really felt for her. Here's hoping you and yours are all healthy soon.

AM, I am dreading vaccinations. I couldn't cope with the heel pricks or the bilirubin test M had, I left the room and cried like a twonk. She's not a crier at all and she screamed until she couldn't breathe which I hated. Will have to do it though.

MrsJB, tis great news about the weight gain. Jorja's way of telling you she's content and thriving I think. Definitely bath with her, I absolutely love it and so does M. You can feed in the bath too, the warm water really stimulates your milk supply so perhaps your morning or evening feeds could be in the bath, nice and relaxed for both of you.

Abby, I've got a sucker too. She's forever rolling over trying to suck her mattress/the carpet/the cat/a bit of fluff/her hand/me/DH etc! Luckily when she's not hungry she quite happily sucks her fingers to get to sleep. She's great at sucking your neck too when you're carrying her.

Hello everybody else. I'm going to watch Crystal Maze on Ftn. Exciting, huh?

Evening, all three dc are fast asleep, bliss In a vain attempt to get J to sleep for more than 2 hours at a stretch, he is now asleep on his side, with his mattress propped up at an angle and has a towel wrapped in a sheet on either side of him to stop him from rolling over and has been saline dropped, after all that effort he must sleep

Welcome JanW, I can only repeat what SOH has so eloquently said. My bf babies have all found their own routines with time, the only thing we have stuck to is bathtime and bedtime, mainly to keep ourselves sane. My best friend is a routine freak and swears by a routine from day 1, I just don't feel comfortable with that. So I guess you have to find what works for you, dip in and out of as many books as you can find and pick and choose the techniques that you feel most comfortable with. And feel free to rant on here with us

Sorry about the mastitis TYG, hope it gets easier.

April, hope Ella isn't too unsettled tonight after her jabs.

MrsJB you sound a great deal happier, I am quite envious that you have managed to express so well, I would love to, but have no idea how I would find a single spare moment. Its great that Jorja has put on weight. Did you have a good day out?

Sky I am but you are right, you still end up worrying that too much sleep is not good

Kel, sorry to hear you are not feeling so good, I hope the GP listened to you and has given you some solutions.

SOH, at this rate you'll end up having an iron OD

DH comes back from his spy mission tomorrow and we have some lovely visitors coming from the USA who we are hoping will become J's godparents so it will be very lively tomorrow. Also ds1 got a referral for next week to see a speech therapist, I expected to have to wait an age so I am very happy

Evening all

Well Alana May is finally 'officially here' in other words we registered her today

Had HV come round yesterday to weigh her again after the mess up last week where she had supposedly lost weight again and gone down to 6lb 13oz, according to the HV she now weighs 7lb 9.5oz I find it hard to believe she has put on that much weight in just a week, its makes me even more certain that the HV got it wrong last time

On a positive note i mentioned to the HV that I was concerned about the damp we have in our home, our kitchen was only done in Oct and already one wall is black (didnt even get damp in there before ) She asked a lot of questions ie which rooms it was in, how bad, what the council have done about it previously, if either boys have suffered with their health as a result etc and she is now going to write a letter to the council about it. As it is such a huge health risk to be living under these conditions we are hoping they will move us, they have already tried to fix it before and just ended up masking the problem and after a year it came back again. She also advised me to go to the DR's with ds2 as he has started coughing really bad at night even though he doesnt have a cold, she thinks it could be linked to the damp and if so then it will strengthen our case. My neighbour had similar problems to us in her old place and as soon as her youngest was born the HV wrote to the council and within 6 months they had moved so fingers crossed we finally get somewhere this time. We would prefer to buy our own house but prices are so high we cant get a mortage to cover it so unless we win the lottery we are stuck.

Talking of winning the lottery I had a shock yesterday. I bought a Pirates scratchcard and after rubbing it off i found 3x £88,888. I looked at it over and over again and yep there was definately 3 of the same, my heart was racing, i saw my dreams of owning our own house coming true (dh would only need to get a mortage for £50,000 in order to cover the rest of the price), if i hadnt been holding A i would have been running up and down yelling for joy. I grabbed my mobile to phone dh who had just left for work and was about to dial his number when i re-read the letters under the numbers and realised one of the £88,888 was in fact £8,888 It had looked exactly the same as the others no mattr how many times i checked it, i had even read the letters under it but in my excitement I must have misread it. So im still skint after all and im no nearer buying a house than i was this time yesterday. I was so disappointed but at the same time felt so silly, i was just glad i hadnt told dh before i realised my mistake Next time i will make sure i pay more attention before i let myself get excited. (im the woman who gets excited when she wins £2 on a scrathcard so you can imagine what i was like when i thought i had won £88,888 [grin)

Congrats to MadeinDevon and JL and welcome to Janw!

And to all of you who are feeling under the weather i hope you get better soon!!!

Hi Guys,

Bit taken up with my Mum and sister here so not getting on as much as I would like. Have been reading through to see what everyone is up to.

SOH - DH is going away to Boston for 3 weeks on the 9th of July so you are very welcome to come down and stay with me for a bit - would love the company. We can introduce the Matilda's to each other, make sure we eat well and just mooch. I'm dreading them going home but at the same time looking forward to being able to set my own routine.

Lilkelbel - how you feeling? Must be tough with 2? We should catch up for coffee although I know neither of us are driving at the mo... Did you get to the doctor?

Scoot - I know the pants you are talking about. Very slimming although I still can't get my ass into mine - need to lose a bit more weight before they work. I haven't worn makeup for days or done my hair and keep wearing the same clothes that I can easily breastfeed in and just don't care. Going to go into work tomorrow and show Tilda off...

The hardest thing I'm finding is my brain isn't working. I cant remember anything andhave to write stuff down otherwise I forget. Going from being a project manager to this is really hard - when does it get better.

Love to everyone else. Welcome Janw

Does anyone know where i can get some little summer hats and knickers for Alana?

The only shop near me that used to sell them decided to close down a year ago, typical, all the time i only had boys i could find lots of little girls things and struggled to find decent things for the boys, now it seems its the other way round.

Hi All will catch up tomorrow when i get some blessed peace from dd, she is driving me crazy lol, yippeeee preschool tomorrow for half day

Anyway just wanted to update you on dp, we went to the docs and she said his score was really high and he was definatley depressed, she said at this stage it is so bad that councelling wont be any good because he has been like it for so long it wouldnt be worth using up his nhs allowance until he can start to think better, so he is on anti d's, he already feels like a weight has been lifted by admitting it and having someone listen (except me) and to have a reason for him feeling like this, so back to the docs in a month, we did laugh tho, the pills are supposed to act as mood lighteners and we both pmsled at the thought of him being all jolly

sorry had to post and go as he can in and would die if he knew i was discussing it with "strangers" even tho we have all shared some intimate moments lol

More good news, I have just swopped my powertrack for a loola with extra set of covers, which will be getting sold as they are pink, dont think Arlen would be too impressed with me altho they are gorgeous, so as much as I love my powertrack to bits I have to admit i need a smaller buggy for public transport so hopefully when i am back on the financial straight I will get another one

Hope ev1 is well, like i said will catch up tomorrow, night night

Pebble, we used to have some like these for dd when she was tiny and they were great.

Lups, good to hear your dp is getting himself sorted out, it must be a weight off both your minds.

Our convoluted sleeping position last night paid off, J slept much better than the night before so we shall try it again tonight.

We have a hectic day of visitors so just off to make sure the house and kids look presentable Have a good day.

Pebble - boots for pants and hats

lups - i've a loola and i love it

more later as the little milk bat mewls

xx

i've either got a completely different routine from you lot, or you all duck and hide when I come on....

Morning all,

SOH ? lol at ?planned? days out. Now I?ve got 2 LO?s, I?m incapable of getting anywhere on time! I think people allow a 15 min leeway if you?re trying to get a baby and toddler out of the house at the same time . Hope so, anyway!!!

I?ll add to the ?take it easy? cries. I think that if you survive each day, having done no jobs whatsoever, for the first 6 weeks, you?re doing well. Don?t beat yourself up about what doesn?t get done Iron rich food ? have you thought of lentils? They are so easy. Just chuck a load into a pan of water for 20 mins then add them to anything else you?re eating. If you need some easy recipes, let me know. I?m a lentil queen!! Oh, I also find cereal bars great for portable energy boosters.

If it makes you all feel better, my Bad Mummy Moment yesterday was taking DS2 to a friend?s, forgetting his rain cover and having to cover his body with a Sainsbury?s plastic bag (classy bird that I am), to stop him getting soaked in the downpour!! Obviously, he slept through the whole experience.

I seem to have a different issue with b/feeding ? each feed takes about 45mins for a 20min feed. He spends the majority of his feed trying to do a poo, but can?t drink at the same time. Typical male ? can?t multitask!! Feeding therefore involves him lying on my lap, going redder and redder as he?s straining away. Only when he?s been will he feed. It?s quite frustrating.

Jonhab lol at the sainsburys bag pmsl hehehe

Any advice on posseting - well throwing up whole feeds actually, this is happening at least once maybe twice a day

Just realised how close the summer hols are OMG how will i cope, only just managing now and thats dubious on some days

lups -re the possets - is it projectile or just v large mouthfuls...?

we went through a week of it with L...

the projectile thing for me was after me having any beer (even half a guiness) with no food . it could also be an allergy to something you have eaten or a large air bubble right at the beginning of a feed.

large mouthful - again could be large airbubble or too rough/quick winding. I've taken to doing the sit up and pull thing on my lap, if thats not successful i give her a minute sitting up before popping her on my shoulder or trying the bear in tree position on my lap - think thats actually a more gentle one and its easiest on the arms so you are more likely to continue until you get a burp/posset.

sorry for going on.
xx

BB it is defo projectile, I had a bra full of milk which wasnt pleasant the other day, ewwww, I am bottle feeding so it wont be a food from me issue, he was always very windy in hospital whn he was tube fed they always removed alot of gas from him before his feeds, just dont really know how to stop it, maybe will give hv a call, I know you can buy prethickened milk but its bloody dear

Right just spoke to hv, she said he still has immature gut, try and make him go 3 hrs between feeds even if it means sticking him in the garden, if not to try stay down milk and make sure he is sat upright for at least 30 mins after a feed - basically he is being a greedy little baby and is overfilling his tummy lol!!

you cab give them teasoonfuls of cool fennel tea for the wind - i've been drinking it to go through the breast milk and i think its helping

Hey hey

SOH yes he was a prat in every respect. He was good with Lottie, totally in love with her I think. He had a huge wad of £20 notes in cash that he said he'd been saving up over the months for Lottie. He left with all of them and didn't come up with anything for her either though. He's Mr all mouth no action. Talks big but can't follow through, you soon learn to just nod your head and have zero expectations with him. Though I have no doubt he loves C to bits, he hasn't done anything to prove to me that he has grown up, that he is mature enough to deal with the situation or that he can provide for her. I think in all honesty though he cares for her a great deal, I truly believe that he is too selfish to be a father. Time will tell, but I cannot stand him and just get wound up by him. So lord knows how I'm gonna make the situation work. C is still far too young to be away from me which means I HAVE to be around him when he comes to see her. But we just end up fighting!

Going out for a meal tonight with my family and then going to visit mt gran and aunts tommorrow and go shopping. Must go get ready and make sure C is fed and watered otherwise she'll scream bloody murder in the resturant!

Have added more pics to my profile, if anyone knows how to add more than 10 pictures can you let me know cause it's not letting me!

Speak later lovelies

ty bb as i type i have just been covered again, and that after making him go 2.5 hrs and he was starving will try the t, where do i get that?????//

LW he sopunds like my dad a total let down, i have nothing to do with him but thats my choice, C is very cute

sainsburys, holland & barratt...

ty xx

Hi everyone,

just dashing on while my guzzler has a quick nap. Thank god we got his tongue tie fixed he is feeding so much better now and it is becomming an enjoyable experience esp as my nipples seem to be healing.

Still cant get over the fact that I am now a mummy had to make an appointment for Archie the other day and when I said my son it really hit home that I am a mum! Loving it.

How are you all have been trying to keep up with the thread,

Lupins really glad your Dp is getting help asking for advice is the first step to being able to deal with it all.

LW you did the right thing by allowing your exp to meet lottie, I guess you might have to bite your tongue alot and continue to let Lottie see him, then you can always reassure yourself that you have been fair in respect of him getting to know L.

Sorry to hear there are poorly ones hope you all feel better.

BB my DP goes back to work next week - god knows how I will cope but if you are around maybe we could meet for Lunch as long as you dont mind me turning up in my pj's.

SOH hope you are doing ok I can only reiterate what the other girls have said.

Cant remember who was having the BF problems but dont beat yourselves up over it you have tried your hardest and thats what counts.

I know I have missed out loads so hello to everyone else.

u r on jw. my first day without dp was hell - think L really missed him and the sound of our voices (wasn't used to permanently talking to her at that point and she didnt like the silence). she cried on off for 5 hours and kept feeding to pacify which i think made it worse as she didn't get a proper feed or sleep and had pr
erma wind . bad mummy. also he had done the winding so i just put her down after each feed as was knackered enough and didnt realise the importance...but you live and (hopefully)learn.

call, txt or email - am booked up weds & thurs but other days are free. good luck
xx

Hi all

Cam, thank you we had a lovely day out. We packed all the bags we'd need the night before but it stll took us an hour and a half to get us and 3dc's dressed, fed and in the car. lol
We took my brother his dg and their dd to Royan for the day. It pseed with rain all the way there, we went to the Jardins du Monde, beautiful gardens, orchids, butterfly house and bonsai trees, the rain stopped after lunch and we had a lovely day finishing off on the beach before stopping for a macy d's on the way home. Jorja was a dream all day, slept, ate and slept some more.

LW, ex does sound like a time waster, well done you for letting him see her but don't let him mess her around. She is just gorgeous btw, lovely photos.

lg&t, so glad you got your secret stork pressie finally. Thank you post office for keeping it all that time.

Lupins, sorry A is not keeping all his feeds down, poor thing. pmsl about your bra, sorry.

Jonah, loving the carrier bag thing.

Pebble, hope your HV gets you a result with your move.

We are doing well, Jorja is much happier. Last night I fed her in bed as the MW suggested, she latched on well but she took an hour and 20mins to get enough before she was full. She was feeding all the time too, except a few burp breaks, each time she fell asleep I sctatched her foot to wake her and she started off again. The time didn't matter though and it was a lovely feeling to have her back on the breast again.
This evening we had our first bath together, it was so nice and she loved it. I felt real LOVE for her all of a sudden in the bath, she fed in there too for a while which she seemed to enjoy. Not that I didn't love her before obviously, but we haven't had alot of time together just the two of us since she was born and with our bf troubles it's been tough to bond. It really clicked this evening.

I hope scoot and mkg are feeling better.

waves to everyone else>>