The March-ers 2019 - Baby Talk #1

[Angelmiracle]

Congratulations to all the mamas with their new babies 🌸

Now the fun really starts 😄

@toastfiend - baby boy - 28/01/2019
@TheWanderlust - Baby girl - Althea - 7lb6oz - 16/02/2019
@PurpleFlower1983 - Baby girl - Matilda - 17/02/2019
@Wineandchoccy - Baby girl - Lois - 6lb12oz - 19/02/2019
@Harley8888 - Baby boy- Logan - 7lb4oz - 01/03/2019

@Gronk27 I'm noticing how big Charlie is getting these days as my arms ache when I'm winding him. Have to keep swapping sides much to his displeasure. Perhaps try changing sides every so often to give your bad arm a break,

So we're trying to establish more of a bedtime routine now with Charlie as he's struggling to settle at night and keeps waking up a short time (45mins to an hour) after his ghost shift feeds. We've started using the sleeping bags which he seems really content in. I'm currently doing the first night feed and just wondering what other people do when it comes to sleeping bags and feeding/winding. Do you leave them in the sleeping bag when feeding and winding so you don't disturb baby afterwards putting them back to bed? Or do you remove for feeding and put baby back into it afterwards for bedtime? Tonight I've kept him in it and unzipped the side to get to his back for winding him over my shoulder as the 2.5 tog doesn't let me get a good rub on him because of the thickness if that makes sense.

@ballanj I keep the sleeping bag on and if I need to wind I do like you just unzip.

Dd is feeding for ages tonight and my eyes are struggling to stay open.

@Wineandchoccy it's hard when the feeds take so long. I'm not breastfeeding but Charlie will easily take an hour during most night feeds to have his bottle. Pretty sure he spends the first 15 minute just chewing on the teat!

@ballanj I just I do the poppers on the shoulders and pull the back and front bit down to feed and wind.

@ballanj she won’t settle on my right! Maybe need to practise more!

@ballanj I leave the sleeping bag on too. I put the sleeping bag on her at 7.30ish and don't take it off unless needed until about 6.30 / 7am.

This is definitely a good problem to have and I feel bad writing it, but my almost 9 week old baby has been soundly asleep since 10.30pm and I've been awake since 4am unable to go back to sleep. I woke up as I was leaking because he's missed a feed (he usually wakes twice in the night) and have just been looking at him sleeping so peacefully for the last 45 mins wondering when he will wake up or if I should cut my losses and go and pump. He is definitely alive as he's moving occasionally so I'm not worried, other than it's annoying that he is giving us some of the best sleep we've had and I can't benefit from it.

Morning hope everyone and babies are well.

@cardboard33 my little one slept from 11-5 last night then went back at 5.45-8.40 so we had a good sleep too. Feels amazing. She's formula fed not breast so no advice.

Ladies who have had their period was it really heavy?

Wow, those sleeps are amazing! We had 11:30-4am which i thought was good, then 5ish to 8 so another feeling refreshed! In the past few days he has become so much more alert, playful and smiley, i can't believe how fast they change!

@cardboard33 what time did he wake in the end?

@kee80 my first period was really heavy the first 2 days with a huge blood cot which was kinda gross. After that it was much more normal and today is day 6 and its pretty much gone.

Has anyone's baby had their 8 week jabs? We had a letter through yesterday but the appointment isn't until 15th May when he'll be 9 and a half weeks. Is that normal or too late?

For those of you who have had your period already, how many weeks pp were you?
Also, has anyone else thought about contraception yet? I can't take anything with oestrogen in it due to stroke mimicking migraines so I was looking at the IUD but haven't had any experience with it or known anyone who has had it.

@AssumeItWasSomethingClever i was 6weeks and 6 days pp when i got my period but breast fed for 2 weeks then ff after that so not sure how much of an impact that had. I didn't expect to get it so soon. In terms of contraception we just use condoms so no advice sorry

Wow so jealous of those sleeps! (But so happy for those who are getting sleep!) We got a full 6 hours in one go a few nights ago, thought we were getting somewhere but was too hopeful! Yesterday he slept from 10am - 4.30pm with two feeds in between, then I kept him awake as long as possible to try and get him to sleep at night but he slept from 11.30pm - 4am with two feeds in between and still hasn't gone back down so 🥴 I have a very large iced coffee!

Contraception wise we have just used condoms so far, only had sex twice since birth but I'm only 5.5 weeks PP. Not even sure I should be or wait until 6 weeks check as I had a csection? But it didn't feel painful or cause any problems, was actually lovely to be intimate with DP again (without a huge baby bump in the way).

Absolutely dreading first period, not even sure when to expect it but could be soon reading your stories so to you all!

@melissa112 thanks for that. I'm on day 2 and it's really heavy.
She's also got her 8 week jabs on the 15th she will be 8+1 weeks. Doctor advised me to get calpol and give it to her straight after.

@AssumeItWasSomethingClever I got mine yesterday at 6+3 days pp. contraception wise we've not actually had sex yet but when we do it will just be condoms

So glad everyone is starting to get some form of sleep!
I can't advise anyone regarding sex front or period front. 5 week pp and still slightly bleeding after section and not had sex yet. Poor DP .

I need advice - I'm struggling mentally with the lack of sleep. I keep having horrific intrusive thoughts about baby, I keep loosing my rag at DP, I cry every day and last night I was so numb when I was in the bath the thought of drowning was appealing- don't feel like that today at all. Possible I have slight PND.
So anyway Iv brought a pump do I can express and DP can do a night feed so I can get some solid sleep what I'm wondering is I’m desperate to keep breastfeeding going and only use the bottle for that 1 night feed, what I was wondering is how would I do this without messing up my supply, would I end up just producing more milk? And would she still be able to feed from me straight after I pumped if she needed to go on? I tried reading it online but there’s so many conflicting articles. And what’s the likely hood of her choosing bottle over breast? And if I wanted to give her a night feed instead of the bottle would I have milk there to do that?
Sorry for the long post
Xx

@shiny888 all the advice i’ve had says BF is supply and demand, pumping would increase basically your supply and if they’re asked for milk they should produce it. There are loads of different bottles we’be tried the calma, minbie and Tommee Tippee. Adela is not fussy. The only thing we struggle with her getting milk from me fast enough but we never properly established BF because of the tongue tie. She does still go on the breast even now.

@shiny888 I breast fed and pumped for the first couple of weeks. I used the mam bottles, she took to them great it did take a little longer to latch on to breast but I'd say only about 30 seconds longer and was fine once on. I only used to bottle when out never at night so can't advise on night time sorry.
Also I pumped whilst she was sleeping and when she woke just put her on breast and she seemed fine getting what she needed

@melissa112 obviously he woke up about 10 mins after I had written that but then we fed, changed etc and he went back to sleep until 9ish. We've got our jabs next week and he will be 9 weeks. They were supposed to be this week but we had to cancel at the last minute as something came up meaning we were unable to take him. I'd imagine that as long as you're in the ball park it won't matter if it's 8.5 or 9.5 weeks, it's not like you're leaving it until 20 weeks. All it means is that the follow up jabs will need to be the week later too, I assume.

@shiny888 we've been doing what you're proposing from around week 3, so 5-6 weeks now, other than my husband generally gives a bottle of formula rather than expressed around 10/11pm. One of the reasons we started was so that I could get a block of uninterrupted sleep. Sometimes we've given two bottles in a day and sometimes we haven't given any, it has always worked out fine. Sometimes I can feel my supply is a little lower or heavier (I've read it reacts to what you did the day before?) but if I've got too much I collect it in a Hakka thing rather than pumping, or just give him a bonus feed when he doesn't really need it to get rid, or if it's too little then we top up with expressed in a bottle. We've had zero confusion with bottles, dummy, breast. We've only used Tommy Tippee bottles as these were the ones we had the most of and he hasn't seemed to complain. I've fed straight after pumping before. He complains a little more as it's not the gush he was expecting but I've also read that the end of the milk is the good stuff anyway as it's more fatty.

@shiny888 also meant to add to please talk to your doctor or health visitor as wanting to drown yourself isn't a normal thing to feel, ever, and you'll find that they will likely be able to offer a lot of support to you and your family. Please keep safe, that's more important than whether baby gets milk from a bottle or from your breasts. If you're dead or in hospital then there may not be a choice available to your partner.

Gosh @shiny888 in my lacking sleep state I missed what you said about PND and how you feel. Please ask for support and remember fed is best and what is best for everyone in the family. A bottle is absolutely fine! You need to look after you too before you can look after others

@melissa112 I have my 6 week check and Charlie has his 8 week check along with his jabs when he'll be 10 weeks! Had to telephone to make the appointment and that was the earliest we were given!

@kee80 my first period wasn't far off what it used to be. I had 2-3 heavy days and was on for 6 days start to finish.

@ballanj mine are usually medium flow first 2days then really light and over in 4 days. This one is terrible, never had a period this heavy. I'm having to change my pad every hour, I literally can feel the blood come out whenever I move! Sorry TMI. I usually use tampons but no chance with this flow

@kee80 I have read that your periods (particularly your first one PP) can be very different to how they once were. I'd suggest upping your water intake and making sure you're getting some extra iron or taking a supplement. Also, NHS guidelines say you should avoid using tampons with the first one as there may be an infection risk, as where the placenta was attached and has come away from your womb, effectively means there could still be an open wound. So you're doing the right thing using sanitary towels. I hated using them mind!

@ballanj thanks for the advice! Really hope this is just a one of and my periods go back to normal