April 2018 babies

[Aspenn17]

Hi!

Any mums out there with April newborns? If there is already a group going please point me in the right direction!

I’m a first time mum with a 2 week old little girl looking for some people to chat to with similar aged babies!

@fieau I tried the hot water bottle trick and it worked great! I’m struggling with the 4am one though and just filling it up again while she whinges

@possibiliTea. We have basically given up on trying to get him back into his cot after the first wake up. We've just rearranged our bedding so he can sleep inbetween us with out any bedding or pillows near him. Still makes me really nervous though.

I am having a very hard time with night times, and just sleep in general. Even if I try to sleep during the day when he is napping it makes me feel really anxious and worried? It's as if I can't relax or switch off because I am so on edge waiting for him to wake up and want feeding or comforting again. I cried pretty much as soon as I woke up this morning and have cried on and off all day.

@Fieau I know exactly how you feel with the anxiety of them sleeping in case something happens, I never fully switch off, and im alwayd half awake just incase he starts to cry.

Like you I've spent hours crying, due to lack of sleep, crying because I can't comfort him, crying because he's crying and I don't know why.

Have you thought about talking to someone about how you are feeling?

I had my final midwife visit yesterday so spoke to her about it (and cried). She said it sounds like anxiety made worse by sleep deprivation. She said she could refer me to mental health but would be quicker to go through GP so I'm going to make an appointment. She suggested an app called head space in the meantime and suggested at the weekend I sleep in another room and just have my husband bring the baby in to feed. I think we will try that as I literally woke up crying at 4am when it was time to feed again last night as hadn't slept for any stretch longer than an hour and a half.

Also just going to try and get into habit of napping with baby as much as possible.

Hi everyone! DS was born 22 April. What even is sleep? Is it a thing that people do!? I can't remember!!! Feel very low most days. Hope this gets better.

I'm sorry everyone is struggling so much, definitely tell midwifes/health visitors to make sure you can get all the support you can.
I have an app called the wonder weeks which tells you when they are having leaps (basically when they learn new things and get fussy). It's great cos it is pretty spot on and helps me when he starts to get fussier than usual so I can kind of have a reason for unexplained fussiness

@Sam I'll check out that app! I'm pretty sure Joshua is in the middle of a leap at the moment, he's very fussy in the evening, feeding every 2 hours from 6 onwards and is generally unsettled.

Got him weighed today, he now weigh 4.04 kilos! So relieved to know he is getting enough milk from me! Sadly he's coming down with a cold, which he has caught from me, so he's even more unsettled than usual, I barely slept last night I think I managed to get him down for about 4ish hours, and I think I got about 3 hours sleep, husband slept soundly through all the screaming as per usual.

Been given some tips to get Joshua to sleep better tonight with his cold so will see if they work!

I also have wonder weeks and so far it’s been spot on, my daughter is 5 weeks today so in the middle of her first leap, whilst her sleeping/feeding hasn’t been too different she is suddenly much more aware, looking at toys and our faces when we talk to her more, she’s started a bit of happy baby chat and I’m sure she is on the verge of her first smile.

She’s putting on weight very slowly, she is in the 9th percentile but I’m not sure why. I thought she was feeding really well but now I’m wondering if sometimes she is just sucking for comfort like a dummy? 🤔

@Aspenn17 do you notice your milk coming through when she isn't feeding/coming out after feeds? If so I'm sure your supply is enough, and if she is putting on weight I think that's all you can ask for! She might just be a little baby 
My wee man seemed to be putting loads of weight on, but the past week he has only put on 0.03kg even though he feeds loads, I think the weight gain can just be a bit all over the place?
@amysaurus87 It's a great app - the only downside is you realise there is a lot more fussy periods than non fussy periods 😂
I'm also jealous of all those losing weight, I lost some but still have a lot to go and the scales haven't moved in a good few weeks!

The health visitor came yesterday and has recommended a support group for new mums which meets today, so I'm going to go to that even though I'm quite shy and feeling very nervous about going some where alone with the baby!!

Went and met some friends from work for lunch yesterday though which was lovely, really helped me get out of my own head. Hoping today will be as positive.

@Fieau how was your group today?

@Sam91TRS15 it wasn't really what I expected... A bit more touchy feely than I am comfortable with and the other babies were all quite a lot older. It probably did me good to get out of the house, but he slept the whole way through it and all I could think was "I could be at home having a nap"

Oh that's a shame, though I'm the same - I hate touchy feely! I had a baby group with DD and the main girl was dead set on singing silly songs for the baby's and toddlers (who almost never listened) when really all we wanted to do was have a cup of tea and chat.
Maybe worth giving it some time and going back once baby is a little bigger and not napping so much?

Our LO is 5 weeks old and for the last couple of days has been really clingy, happy one minute and then screaming the place down the next for 10 minutes then just stops and is back to normal.

Eating, weeing and pooing as normal.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

@forest yep! My LO has been doing this as well, thought the screaming last longer than 10mins and he takes a while to calm down.

I think it's because they have a development leap at 4/5 weeks...I downloaded the app that @Sam suggested, called The Wonder Weeks it's really helpful and worth the £2.19 I paid (I'm on android so it might be free on Apple!)

@amysaurus87 I've just downloaded that app! Everything makes much more sense now after reading about the leaps.

Glad it's not just my LO, was starting to feel like I was doing something wrong 🙈

Yep my LO is five weeks today and I've definitely noticed increased fussiness!! He cried for two hours straight last night completely inconsolable, but then slept for four solid hours which is unheard of!

Thank you for the app recommendation I’ve dowloaded it and things make a little more sense now. I think it’s a little off as my LO was 4 weeks early but I think she’s catching up a bit faster and already having a leap now and displaying some of the signs of it.

How’s everyone doing? Today was really hard I think she was fussy because of the heat but basically screamed and cried all morning nothing would settle her

@sam, I don’t really seem to leak unless it’s been a good 4 hours, so basically only nighttime. She’s gained a bit this week so feeling a bit better but still only a small amount.

We had a nice bank holiday, met some friends and spent lots of time outside (in the shade obv!) Finding it hard to keep our bedroom cool enough though, we have one of those Glo Eggs and it’s been red th last few days 😥 even though the window is open and we have a fan on! Hope everyone going through the first ‘leap’ is coping ok!

Found out Friday I have another UTI (2nd in 5 weeks) :( also my tummy still looks huge, not fat as such but still pregnant! Trying to be kind to myself and not let it bother me but it’s been almost 6 weeks, I was a size 8 before and I stayed very fit and active throughout my pregnancy so I thought it would have gone down more by now. How is everyone else recovering?

@Aspen glad to hear your little one is gaining weight even if it's slow, I find it so hard not to worry whether my little one is getting enough milk, especially as I think my left breast is my weaker one as I usually wake up feeling very full in right breast but not left!

I think we might be cracking the sleep thing, the last few nights he's had a feed at 1030/1100 gone to sleep at midnight and slept until 4/5 before waking up for a feed. Naturally the warm weather has caused a few issues but I've been able to get 5 hours sleep in 2 separate blocks the last 4 nights or so!

I've got one of those Gro Eggs as well and ours has been red too, that's with curtains closed all day, fan on at night and it still won't cool down. He's been sleeping in a vest and sleepsuit with no blanket.

Recovery is going well, my stitches have finally all dissolved and I have my 6 week check next week (even though I'll be 7 weeks post birth). The only thing is my scar line is crazy itchy, but was told not to scratch it, any one got any tips on dealing with it?

Our LO has just been sleeping in a vest, keeps kicking off any blankets and feels too hot in anything more than a vest.

My episiotomy has healed well ... even though one of the stitches slipped and I ends up on antibiotics.

Still having pain in my coccyx though, am going to talk to the doctor about it at my checkup.

The warm weather is causing a little bit of havoc! I’m a new Mum but feeling very isolated as just moved to a new area. I’m going to a group on Monday and have posted on MN local but feeling quite down and lonley at the moment

Sorry about that @Allioli - being isolated is my main fear for maternity leave as we don't have any friends or family near us. I'm yet to venture out to a baby group but I'll do it next week. I was going to go tomorrow but discovered there's a sling library session Thursday mornings in town so I'm going to try going to that.

@Allioli, have you heard of an app called Mush? It’s an app for meeting local mums. I’ve been chatting to a couple of local mums on there and have met up with one at an under 1s group. Made it a lot less intimidating already sort of ‘knowing’ someone else. Also see if there are any NCT coffee mornings local to you, the locations are on their website, you don’t have to of done NCT. I went to one in my town and it was just 6 or so mums meeting in a nice coffee shop on a Tuesday morning for a chat.

Hope this mumsnet group helps you feel a little less lonely x

Oo brilliant thank you for your suggestions, LO is 7 weeks I feeling should have started looking earlier as some courses have already started