August 2007- More boys than girls? Our beautiful summer babies are arriving at last!

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Thought I'd start a thread to give somewhere for Jem, Washersaurus and Bresha to discuss their little ones and make all those of us waiting impatiently jealous!

Who will be next??????

yup me too uki - but not much we can do about it now so just have to hope they both turn out to be nothing.

I do feel sick at the start of feeds - i was told its a natural reflex that your body has - thinks it something different and the reflex is to get rid of it, but once it works out that feeding is not connected to your stomach, the sickness feeling will pass - apparently.

oh that's intresting isn't it, about the reflex/ stomach thing. I never knew that. Learn more things with each baby

Hiya,

another late evening here, Mila still feeding/ sleeping/ crying/ repeat from 7 - 1am. She might have settled earlier but vomited a lot in her bed, aghh! That stressed me a bit as worried she'd been feeding on and off for hours and then emptied her stomach and was franticly hungry but was there anything left in my boobs??

even though they seem very soft and empty there must be something in there, no? she did sleep until nearly 6am then after 15 mins feed until 9.45am. so it's not all bad but very frazzling in the evening. don't have a chance to eat or do anything as she just wants to feed.

Gill - please don't give yourself a hard time about switching to bottle feeding, it must be so much harder with another lo to take care of too. This breast feeding is very time consuming and I can imagine that bottle feeding must make life easier as dad can do feeds too.

The contented baby sleep book is very straight forward advice, from what I've managed to read. It also advises either expressing in morning to give extra feeds in eve or topping up with formula. I'd just like to avoid all the equipment and hassle if possible but I can see Mila may be just extra hungry and it's hard to tell if I'm producing enough milk.

On belly/ fundus issue.. midwife has referred me to physio but there's not a thing I can do until 6 weeks post cs. my biggest prob is 3 finger space between muscle walls, so will just have to pop in to M&S to try on support knickers tomo. I still have a proper 'bump' like 5 months (maybe MrsBadger full term!!)

just want to add on bottlefeeding even dp has said that he'd at least feel more useful if he could help with feeding too

at 'MrsBadger full term' as a bump measure!
(I suspect now is not the time to tell you what size trousers I'm wearing...)

had some success with putting dd down in the pre-warmed moses basket last night as recommended earlier in the thread - the hot water bottle had gone cold by the 3am feed
but I discovered if I take out the blanket and sit on it while I feed her it's warm and smells of mummy when I put it back it so she doesn't quite wake up.

Lovely as co-sleeping is both DH and I get more kip when she's in the basket...

Hola all. Thanks for the book suggestions - will do some ordering or maybe try and do what now seems like a long haul trip to the library!

Like the hot water bottle tip - good idea! You know, I'm such a slacker when it comes to routines already, but in case it helps anyone I'm not sleep deprived at all as I let Nell sleep on my chest when she wakes in the night for a feed - or I put her next to me in bed away from the duvet and pillow. She starts in her cot, but this way I find that I don't get any crying during the night and she sleeps through until 6.30ish. Having said that, I must point out that I know b*gger all about raising babies and I might just be going through a lucky stage . We do get a good bit of crying some evenings though, I as think she gets colicky (if that makes anyone feel better for me getting sleep!).

Hey, anyone used this baby language guru? Just read about it in a mag: www.dunstanbaby.com/?

Btw, Gill - I wouldn't feel guilty if you can't persist with the breastfeeding. Having seen a friend go through hell with pain etc desperately trying to breastfeed and not being able to give herself 'permission' to stop, I've realised that sometimes it just isn't straightforward for some people and your own sanity is more important. Don't know if you've gone through the usual channels for advice and support though - NCT breastfeeding line and La Leche (she said the latter were really good)..

Ooh, this is fascinating. Go to How it works and watch the vid www.dunstanbaby.com/how-it-works/ - shows babies using the same sound for hunger. I'm going to watch and see if it makes sense with Nell...

I'd seen the dunstan thing before but either dd is not v articulate or I am especially stupid as she doesn't seem to do any of the noises they suggest!

Still, I can just about tell the difference between 'bored', 'trying to poo' and 'need to burp' but often mix up 'hungry' and 'wet nappy' (dh can tell them apart) - at least tis easy to check by feeling nappy...

clips of the other noises as well as 'neh' here (cod posted them ages ago when she saw it on Oprah)

Ooh, thanks, Mrs B. She's done the 'neh' and 'eh'... listening out for the others...

Thanks everyone for your support. I don't feel nearly as bad today although I have still felt a bit down. I promised myself that if bf didn't work out then I wouldn't give myself a hard time. I didn't at first so I guess it is just the baby blues. I'm assuming my hormone levels have started to drop as the high I was feeling when Alex was first born seems to have gone. I talked to dh about carrying on and we both decided that it was for the best that we continue with the bottle feeding. I'm sure I'll get over it soon.

Banana - I saw your thread on the feeding section. I hope things are improving for you.

Ooh Annie and MrsBadger, I mentioned dunstan baby language a week or so ago, we love it! James says a very clear "Neh" when he's hungry, which helps immensely. He only has to mutter "neh" in the night and I sit up and feed him, no screaming necessary!

He also says "aah" when he says wind, I'm not sure if that's the exact word dunstan baby language uses but James always uses it when I haven't winded him, then I wind him and he does a huge burp!

He doesn't seem to have a particular cry for anything else, he seems quite happy to sit in a wet or dirty nappy, so I've had to get into the habit of changing him after feeds, or every three or four hours just in case!

He's a good boy though, doesn't cry unnecessarily, it's only ever food, wind, dummy, cuddle!

I don't blame you for sleeping wih Nell, Annie. It's so nice sleeping next to them, you both sleep better and longer. They say that in countries where babies always cosleep with their mothers, there's no such thing as SIDS. All I know is it makes us happy (and drives dp mad!)

lo has had half an hour sleep since 2.12am. this is getting worse rather than better. oh well only another two and a bit weeks till dh gets back and he can help.

might be able to sleep later today. i hope.

hello ladies

Caitlin Iona born on Wednesday 29th 10.55pm at home, lovely birth, contractions started properly at 5pm after a few days of the odd one. Got in the pool at 7.30pm when the midwife arrived and told me I was 8cm, hurrah. Then laboured in pool, stood up for a few minutes to do the final push, all hunky dory then transfer by ambulance cos placenta wouldn't budge and had to have spinal to get it out, yuk. Apart from that though I'm very happy with the birth and our gorgeous little girl who is busy doing yoda impressions with granny at the moment.

Utterly knackered, wish ds would wake up a bit later than 5.30am, what will we do when granny goes home? Also beginning to view ds as danger zone as he's a bit hitty when he's tired and nearly clonked her one yesterday. How do I police this when its me and the 2 dc.

Also have boobs the size and weight of cannonballs. Cant remember, how long does it take for them to disgorge and get a bit more normal?

Congratulations Hesetta, just seen you have a Caitlin too.

HI ALL

GREAT NEWS at u/s no lump seen, not sure what the lump i can feel is but at least it was good news, and i'll confer results with dr. next week. so relieved.

conker and ichy- have you had LO's weighed to check that they are putting on enough?
probably sound like an old you know what, but
maybe they are not getting enough at myself.

Dunsten convert here too, dh has it pinned to fridge

big congrat's boobooma- well done at your lovely birth, Is there really such a thing????
What about the pain????
My ds is wacky too, not at LL though, but at us had the worst day ever with it, time out, all toys taken away, nothing helped. Not sure what to do, as he just doesn't get it's wrong.

Congrats Boomama - another nice homebirth! Can't help on the boobs thing - mine aren't behaving themselves at all, one minute they're huge, the next tiny!

Itchy - I used the GF book with DS. we only really started the routines when he was about 10 weeks old, as I couldn't face the 7 am start. If he was alseep I left him!! I'm thinking about trying to start it earlier with Evie, but finding it hard to keep her awake... and bugger, she's just woken up....!! Now I can't keep her asleep! the key is the sleep times and the settling alone thing- DS is a dream at snooze times, and still has 2 hours in the day, takes himself off after lunch.. fab. he settles from 7.30 til about 6.30 now and has been really easy to settle since we introduced the routines.

All I would say is don't get too hung up on the rest of it. You're a second time mum so you know the score, but I did get rather obsessed, adn would be in tears if he woke too early or went down too late etc.....or didn't feed at the righ imes. the weaning stuff is good too. mind you, I was severely depressed too, so maybe that didn't help!

my muscle wall has not joined up either, its about 2 fingers - my gp said wait for 6 week check then they'll refer me to physio. in the mean tim, the bump is not shrinking.. its just a really funy shape...

Mrs Badger, glad the hot water bottle worked for you. We have the same problem after 3 am so will be sitting on DD's blanket tonight, thanks for that tip.

Conker, we co-sleep too, it sounds like you are doing fine to me.

Itchy, have you thought about expressing after the morning feed then letting DH give the bottle after the late feed , say about 11pm. BFing is time consuming at first isn't it but you know it will be easier soon, I think you are doing great.

One thing that makes DD sleep better is if I eat loads of protein during the day, I think it makes the milk richer.

Need to go as I'm feeding whilst typing and its breaking my back!

that was a nice positive message there ineedsomesleep - are you getting lots of sleep?

Will try the protein thing - I havent been as hungry as I thought I would be but the HV said to make sure i ate anyway to keep up energy levels and milk supply. Have been very thirsty though.

Uki - great news about the lump being fine. About last night - he wasnt wanting to feed the whole time that he was awake - just lying there awake, but when i put him in his cot so i could sleep, he would cry again in about 15 or so mins, but he was certainly putting on lots of weight last week - 2oz a day for a week and a half - hasnt been weighed for a week but notice a difference in him, so sure he is still putting it on. Away from home for three weeks, but dad is a GP so going to go up to his surgery maybe on wed and get him weighed. I suspect he is either having a wee growth spurt, or just hasnt quite sorted out night and day. Also wouldnt be surprised if he is slightly unsettled at being in a different house with different people from the ones he was used to etc.

Hopefully tonight will be better - cant be much worse anyway. Got a wee sleep this afternoon to help. Do agree that bfeeding is much harder than i anticipated - but i do really enjoy it once i have had even a little bit of sleep. And lo does lots of smiles and giggles in his sleep so i cant help but stop being cross at being so tired when i watch him do that.

Hi all hope we are all coping ok!
Baby is doing well with sleeping, feeds at 11-12ish then 3 then 6 so not to bad ( at the mo)

Questions for you - when did your stitches start to get better? One week today and they are driving me INSANE!!!! I know its cause they are healing but when did you all feel normal down there again!!

Gah, baby crying every time I go near laptop... Pink, just wanted to say that for me the one week post stitches were the worst! I think I'd turned over badly in bed and pulled them (yeeowch!) but in any case, they were really sore just before they started coming out. The whole area is absolutely fine now, not painful at all, so it will get better but it's really tender while it lasts. Try lavender/salt baths and dabbing on witchhazel on some cotton wool, doesn't sting.

D'oh, James determined to cry for apparently no reason (just been fed, winded and changed and passed to daddy for cuddles) better go!

Uki, great news, love! Panic over, eh?

Hi everyone

Quiet here at the moment, DS1 watching tele as he starts his first day at school tomorrow so said we would have a tele/movie day today, so excited that me not so little baby is going big school, i feel i may be a little emotional tomorrow and also a little
DS2 - asleep in Moses basket, so have a little while to wash up and attempt to do some ironing

UKI - Great news about the results, weight off your mind now

Banana - thank you just need someone to tell me it wont hurt forever - i had stitches with DS1 but couldn't remember how long they took to heal! Managed to have a look with a mirror today and they stitches look darker so i think they are dissolving.
I have my Midwife coming to check them today as she want to make sure all the blood flow is back to where it should be so i can see the end of the pain!!!

Hope everyone and there LO are well and we are managing to get some sleep !!

My lo is four weeks old today, and my stiches still hurt a bit. Ran from my parents door down their drive to the gate yesterday - not very far - maybe 100m - and the stiches which had been feeling ok started hurting again. Dont think i will try running again till at least 6 weeks.

Sorry if tmi - but has anyone else got piles after labour? I am on iron pills 3 times a day and i am trying to eat fibre and drink lots of water but the iron mucks up your stomach a bit and bowel movements are quite painful, and making the piles very painful. Anyone know of any remedies?

Lo awake again last night from 2 -4 then 5 to 6 so i took him downstairs at 6 and handed him over to my dad who always gets up early, and went back to bed for 2 hours - was great to sleep without having to listen out for the baby as i knew he was well looked after - and amazingly didnt need a feed so uniterrupted sleep.

sometimes i feel like i am such a bad mother though cause he seems to cry a lot when i am around - he seemed to be a happy baby last week, but this week is much more grumbly and crying more. Maybe it will better when dh gets back as he can take him for bits during the day so i can get some sleep. anyone else feeling down about things?

morning all - well we had our first nappy with 'poop all the way up her back' last night. she'd just had her bath and was having some milk. didn't realise that someone so wee could produce so much poop

Uki - that's great news about your lump, what a relief!

boobomama - we never leave DD1 with the LO. she loves giving baby kisses and cuddles but is very heavy handed when doin it. she's also got a fasination with eyes at the moment and keeps trying to touch baby's eye.

it's very hard work when the 2 of them are here (DD1 is 2.7) and we've had the naughty step, no treats, iggle piggle getting taken back to the shop etc. but i think she's just testing her position in the family! we've also been trying to make sure that each day we have mummy DD1 time and daddy DD1 time. at weekends mummy and DD1 go out for a morning or afternoon together.

fortunately we are in the position where (at the moment but will change in a few months) we can still afford to send DD1 to the childminders a few days a week so that i can have a relatively peaceful day just looking after one.

sorry that's tunred out to be a long post!