February 2019 babies - thread 2

[Celebelly]

New thread, ladies!

We are at 10lb now at nearly 15wks. She seems to have doubled in size all of a sudden.

I feel shes changing so much every day. Not this tiny baby anymore. Shes this playful sassy little thing.

@Notquiteagandt - I'm with you. Emma seems so playful and giggly these days. It's Brill! X

@Yakadee lovely isnt it. melts my heart to see her playing with toys. Although she is getting cheeky. She now finds it the funniest thing in world to splash me when bathing her 😂 cant wait for the future seeing her grow and develop and getting even more playful.

@Notquiteagandt - it's amazing! I have a 3 yo son and he's just fab (most of the time 😂). Lovely seeing their little personalities grow x

Those of you who are bottle feeding what size teats are you using? We were on size 1 but feeds were taking ages so we changed to size 2. He seems really unhappy with the 2's spluttering and bringing his milk back so we've gone back to the number 1's but it takes so long......

@maxiflump1 - we're on 3's and the first few seemed a bit quick for her but she's fine now we're a week in. X

I’m in the same position @maxiflump1. Baby A would tolerate the 2’s so we are staying on 1’s which results in a super slow feed! She has silent reflux so it’s probably for her though.

That should be won’t tolerate the 2’s!

How funny, I just came on here to ask how to know when to change teats! I tried 2s a few weeks ago and it made her splutter a lot and then refuse her bottle 🙄 I think I should try them again, feeding her seems to take ages!

Have another bash at bigger teats, they get used to the faster flow quite quickly and it's sooo much better to have a 10 min feed as opposed to a half hour one!

How's she settling back at home detachable? Hope the nights are going ok

Had a hospital appointment for the reflux and her eye birth mark yesterday. They’ve given her omeprazole to try as ranitidine didn’t help. She’s huge (7.2kg/almost 16lbs at 14 weeks) so clearly not affecting her weight gain... I still don’t know if we overfeed but she lets us know when she’s had enough and doesn’t finish bottles at night so I hope she’s just growing more sharply than others and will taper off. She has a huge head and short legs so maybe it’s just the weight of her massive brain?! 🧠

Although they’ve said her birthmark nothing to worry about they still have to refer her to moorfields for them to monitor it. It’s so frustrating when they say it’s nothing to worry about but then get more appointments to go to! I’m hoping her cardiology one in a few weeks will be the last appointment at Homerton and I never have to go back there again. The dr today said she could just about hear her murmur but doesn’t expect it to be an issue at the echo. The consultant was SO nice and gave us her hospital phone number just in case we ever are worried about anything.

Sleeping here is getting better although now she’s started to stretch out we don’t know when she’ll be hungry so it’s quite confusing during the day as she’s trying to catch up. I’m so sad that she’s made all this improvement and in a few weeks it all goes to shit by the sounds of it. What are you supposed to do during the sleep regression? That might be a stupid question but is it just waiting for them to resettle themselves each time they wake up? How do they get better at sleeping again? How long does it last? The book I have isn’t that helpful.

I’ve had a few breaks, things really reached boiling point at the weekend when DH was meant to be giving me a break but he was too tired and I ended up taking her out for 4 hours whilst he slept. He took her out on Monday for a bit and my dad came on Wednesday and took her out so I’ve had some little breaks. DH finishes the project he’s on next week and then has 5 weeks off I hope.

We are using a mix of 2 and 1 teats but mainly 2. DS2 took them no issues, we actually started using a number 2 teat just at bedtime when he was about 8 weeks old as he kept falling asleep after barely having any milk.

powkin don't obsess too much about the 4 month sleep regression. I did the same with DS1 and it never even happened. He carried on sleeping well. Obviously all babies are different, but it's not a "thing" that happens to every single baby.

@powkin As @Lookingforadvice123 said, don't stress about the 4 month sleep regression. It doesn't happen for every baby.

I did have it with my eldest, but it took me a while to realise what was happening! I just fed and settled her as I normally would, but it was just happening more often. She did end up in bed with me some nights as that was the only way she would settle.

I can't believe 4 months is sneaking up so quickly!

@Lookingforadvice123 fingers crossed! We are only just about getting towards longer stretches so it would/will be very demoralising!

My period came back 2 days ago, 1st 12 hours was very light and then over night the pain was like being in labour again, absolutely horrendous. The blood loss yesterday and overnight has been alarming too. I use a moon cup which for a normal period I change in the morning and evening, maybe once in the day for the first few days, but it’s usually not full. I’ve changed it 4/5 times in the last 24 hours and it’s been really bad. Woke up to go to bathroom and it was all over my pyjamas. Back pain today is horrendous too. I’ve literally just got to the end of a nasty cold and now this :( I know it’s the first one so was going to be worse than normal but it’s a bit alarming. It does almost feel like my uterus is shrinking down more, I swear my tummy looks different (still fat sadly)!

Going to try baby cinema this morning for a relaxing sitting down activity, let’s see if BB will comply again. She was pretty good the first time!

@powkin glad I managed to get some time to yourself. DH and I are off out tonight for the first time post baby. Going for a meal and to see Bill Bailey. Hoping DM and DF can cope with putting 2 DS' to bed!

Re periods mine still haven't returned and baby is 15 weeks today. I was breastfeeding until 7 weeks so think that's delayed it a bit. Bit worried though as I've had an abnormal smear and have to go for a colposcopy. I've already had some abnormal cell lasered 4 years ago and don't really fancy it again!!

Still no period here either, baby is 12 weeks Sunday! I last actually BF at 8 weeks and had to express once or twice the following week, so we'll see!

@maxiflump1 I breastfed to 6 weeks so yours might be imminent. I called 111 as the bleeding is a bit scary. They said to go to the hospital for medication to stop it. I’ve lost about 150ml in 24 hours I think. We had protected sex once and they’ve said could be ectopic pregnancy.... umm don’t think so. I’m under investigation for a heart condition so think they are being extra cautious.

Im 15wk ebf. I had 3 periods in 1st 6wks then nothing since. They where alot more painful than previously. My body is clearly a joker!!

Still EBF. Nothing. I don’t expect them back until I stop bf - so probably next summer! Haha!!!

The sleep regression destroyed me with DD as she was shocking anyway. DD2 is like the magical unicorn baby who has now been self settling for naps since 10 weeks, an hour awake and the a nap like clockwork and sleeps for 4 hours in a block in the afternoon and wakes once at night. Not sure how I’ll cope with the shock if she starts waking at all hours tbh!!!!

You don't have to move up to size 2 teats if you don't want. Dd didn't like them so stayed on newborn teats until she came off a bottle after her first birthday. Just see what baby likes.

I don't really remember the four month sleep regression with dd. I know she woke more frequently but it's a distant memory now (possibly from lack of sleep 😂). It's hard at the time but doesn't last forever, they eventually start sleeping longer again by themselves.

Ugh I hope we don't get four month sleep regression here! (I did notice it's mentioned as a possible symptom of leap 4) Baby has just started to settle herself to sleep, is having really good daytime naps and usually only waking once in the night. I'd really struggle if she stopped being so good!

We did have one bad night this week but I didn't freak out (well done Sertraline... definitely working) and my mum had her for me last night so I could catch up on sleep. (not risking another meltdown!) Thanks for asking @sunday38 😊 overall I'm SO much better. My appetite is pretty much back to normal and I'm sleeping much better too. Haven't had a bad day yet this week and generally I feel back to my normal self! Praying I continue to get better quickly. The care from the GP and mental health hospital has been absolutely amazing - best experience I've ever had from the NHS.

Tried the 2 teat again this afternoon and she finished her bottle 😯 will have to buy some more and swap them all over!

@powkin my first period was heavier than usual and also felt like labour pains again 😣 not fun!

Those of you who do baby groups/activities, what sort of things do you do? The MH nurse wanted me to go to a group arranged by the hospital but I'm a bit nervous (not good at meeting new people). Was wondering about trying swimming but it feels like a huge faff (how on earth do you get yourself and baby dry and dressed after?!)

since2016 please share your wisdom with the day time naps?! DS2, just like his bro, is fantastic at night now, sleeping a solid 9 hours but sometimes close to 10, quick feed then back for another 2-3. But in the day - just like his big bro - it's car/carrier/pram only. No chance in the crib.

I ended up doing what was I guess a form of gentle/no cry sleep training with DS1 at about 6-7 months for naps, basically shushing/patting him in the cot to get him to sleep. It was hideously gruelling (not because he cried, but because it would take 30 mins to get him to sleep for a 20 mins nap!).

It was worth it as since then he's been an excellent self settler/napper and still has one a couple of times a week now, no issues. But I can't face doing that again with DS2, would rather crack it early!

@lookingforadvice123 lol I have none!! I’ll be honest - I do let her shout a little bit sometimes but not for any longer than 5 mins and only because she won’t sleep anywhere else now (other than the sling but that’s not the best habit) and not if she’s distressed.

I’ve been religious about putting her down though. More than I wanted to but DD1 was so hideous I couldn’t bear the thought of going through that again. We have white noise, a dark room, sleeping bag and sleepyhead. But she won’t sleep in the car - without screaming first which I find utterly traumatic and stressful, and even if she does eventually fall asleep she wakes almost instantly once it stops. Occasionally in the pram - but requires a lot of walking and with DD1 still in the buggy (we walk a lot) were hardly using it.

Basically luck of the draw I think. She barely feeds to sleep either and I’m BF. I mean wtf?

@detachablehoof We do baby sign language and it's really good! Baby massage classes are worth doing too.

@detachablehoof I'm so pleased you're doing better now. We're doing tiny Talk (baby signing) and swimming this time. With dd we did a music class (Little notes or monkey music) and swimming. With the music classes we'd chat while waiting to go in but baby signing is an hour session with about half of it signing and the other half social time. Something like that might be good because it's a timetabled part of the class so most people stay but you could leave early if you're struggling. I find it hard to talk to people I don't know but found that easier than going to a playgroup and trying to start a conversation with a random mum. Swimming is fun but there can be a lot of crying when everyone is getting dried and dressed. We've swim at a special school which is great because the water is warmer and there are beds with raised sides to change the babies on (nicer than a changing mat on the floor - which I've also done).