Ttc first baby catch up with our babies!

[Fivebyfive2]

Just putting this on in case anyone wants to catch up? We're all at different stages, so might be able to help each other out?

@Delilah7 @RanchoRelaxo @MrsR16 @thumper59 @trashkitten10 @Bostonfern @crossfitgirl sorry I know I'm missing people, I'm blaming newborn brain!

I'll leave the link on the 'pregnancy' catching up thread xxx

@MrsEG - that’s exactly it! I said to DH that I feel like I’ve failed and let him down already but he said that if it wasn’t for me, we wouldn’t have gotten him to the hospital so you’re right; we need to be kinder to ourselves.
I don’t know how you coped with that with twins - you’re amazing!
I’d say it’s definitely put me on edge and I’m monitoring everything now.
What didn’t help was that when Finn was born he was on the 9th centile and nobody told us, so I had no frame of reference for his weight gain. I’m now happy to report he’s gaining weight well and is actually now between the 50th and 25th centile!

He seems pretty well in himself, it’s just this potential reflux voice issue. I’ve got a feeling it’s probably not as bad as I’m making it in my head but I’m just bitten from the weight thing I think.

The HVs aren’t coming out and there aren’t any clinics on. The docs have been amazing and have said that it’s a really isolating time to be a FTM so to call them whenever. They’re very supportive so we’re lucky in that sense.
I tried to talk to the HV once about the reflux and what wheezing would sound like and she said “it’s hard for me to define that for you so speak to the GP” after the text before she’d said his whistling noises were nothing. Talk about a 180!!

It sounds like things get easier as they get older though?

Today's big mystery... How is it my son can sleep through having a Coughing fit that included me practically throwing him on my shoulder, but if I geeeeentlyyy put him in bed like he's a bomb about to detonate, he is instantly awake as if I've chucked cold water on him?!! 🤔

Also, another pic of Joe... Can you tell his dad is home this week?! First with the game control, now this 😂

@MrsR16 thankyou that's so kind 🙂 I'm
Not sure where it's from as it was a present, but I've had a little google of 'initial jogger sets' and loads of sites come up that do them 🙂 hope your well.

@Fivebyfive2 he is so cute!! Don't they grow up quick!

@ELW85 you are doing amazing ❤️. Freddie used to be so loud too- he grew out of it at maybe 9-10 weeks. He also used to cry after feeds. Sometimes he'd still be hungry sometimes he'd be spitting up- he also grew out of this at 10-11 weeks. It's scary when they're so small but it doesn't last I promise xxx

@mrsEG they are just wonderful!! Glad they had a better day yesterday after the nasty jabs!!

@fivebyfive2 - haha! He’s gorgeous and I can’t believe how big he is now 😊

My thought of the day is how much Finn enjoys farting, and how he’s holding his head up and rolling over already.
He’s changing so quickly, like a different baby every day!

@thumper59 - thank you so much for your encouragement, it really means a lot! I’m currently trying to figure out if his voice sounds hoarse or if it is just these grunting noises...his cry definitely doesn’t sound it and I’m thinking that’s the same as his voice but takes more effort so if there was anything sore, it would be in his cry too.

It’s SO good to hear they grow out of it all. Can’t wait!! How are you and Freddie doing? Xx

@ELW85 now Freddie does talk a lot, his groans and grunts sounded nothing like his 'voice'. He used to always sound like he needed to clear his throat? It used to freak me out! Especially because our first day/night in hospital he was full
Of mucus and kept choking on it and it put the fear of god in me! They are weird little things for the first 3 months or so! Then they turn into screaming shouting mini humans!

We are great thankyou, a bit fed up of lockdown but what can ya do! Hope beside the worrying your all well too, unfortunately you go from worrying about one thing, to another and I'm led to believe this lasts for the rest of their life! I remember when I used to show jump and my mum wouldn't watch me I'd say I don't get why and she'd say you'll understand one day when you have kids of your own! And I totally get it now 😂 xx

@Fivebyfive2 bahaha I love it - everyone can picture my baby with the face of Judi Dench in Bond! Your evening routine sounds really good. Love that he's more of a morning bath kind of man! Do you go in with him or does he have a baby one? I get in ours with M and it's lush, but she really likes bathing otherwise I imagine it would be very stressful . Joe is looking as dapper as ever in the latest pic.

@MrsEG She'll be 10 weeks tomorrow, so I think it's about time we tried to get into a bit more of an evening routine. Yours sounds really good and sensible, I'm going to shamelessly steal. You're an absolute super woman managing to do it on your own some days btw! Oh I love their latest pic, what a gorgeous pair. Sorry you had a crappy night - I'm sure it was just the jabs and they'll be back to sleeping through again in no time. In the mean time...coffee and naps!

@PippaPug we had a love2dream swaddle but she hated it! The velcro one seems to be working quite well for now fingers crossed. Your gorgeous guys look like they're loving them

@MrsR16 LOL I love that - chewing on the wings! Your evening routine sounds pretty chill and nice. It's good he just naturally falls asleep around the same time every night too.

@ELW85 "a weaker version of me" - I get it, I really do, but you are so not. You are a STRONGER version of you - you grew and birthed a human being and now you are existing on little sleep, your body is still in major recovery mode, you've got a brand new shiny newborn to look after...and yet you're getting through every single day. I don't think we give ourselves enough credit to be frank.

How's everyone coping today? It was my birthday this week - I was expecting it to be shit to be honest, but it was actually really lovely. DH made a video of friends and family wishing me a happy birthday, we got a walk on the beach and I ate my weight in Thai food and cake. Oh and M only woke up once in the night - result! Today was the first she projectile vomited though...which was an experience! xxx

@thumper59 - that’s exactly what it sounds like! So reassuring to hear this too, so thank you 😊

Yes lockdown is so odd isn’t it? Trapped in a baby vacuum has it’s pressures but enjoying the extra time with DH due to him being furloughed!
I 100% second you on the ‘should have listened to mother’ thing. We’ll be saying that to ours in a few terrifying years 😂 xx

@purplefig - thank you for your wonderful words. You’re so supportive and are totally right; I need to take some of my own advice and be kinder to myself.
I feel so much better than I did. I know there’ll be good days and bad but it’s all progress.
More importantly; happy birthday!! How was your cake and I really hope it felt like enough of a celebration on lockdown- you totally deserve it! Xx

@purplefig We’ve had a projectile puke today! All over my shoulder and the sofa. Ruairí could not have cared less about the whole experience he just sat there and grinned at me. Happy Birthday! It’s mine in June and I’m starting to think I’ll be going nowhere either. Your DH sounds like he did a fabulous job! Feel free to steal the bedtime routine - it’s worked wonders for us. They slept 7:30-6:30 last night! My NCT pals call me the baby whisperer haha. I just love a routine! I don’t think I’d be coping on lockdown without one.

@ELW85 That’s fab you’re still getting doctor support. It’s so weird isn’t it. Sometimes I wonder what I’d be doing right now if COVID had never happened. I try and snap myself out of it as I can really upset myself! Yep - in my experience they get easier to handle with each passing week. I felt like I came in to my own literally the past week; I feel like I’m totally tuned in to them now, and they seem more settled and alert than ever.

@Fivebyfive2 Fabulous pic of Joe! DH has already had the boys in their Ireland rugby onesies!!

Entered a whole new world of dread today- freddie now rolls over in his cot and sleeps on his belly 😫 was awake watching him on the monitor from 5!

@thumper59 oh no Freddie!! My niece is a tummy sleeper. They say aslong as they can easily roll themselves back over its fine. Its only dangerous if they get themselves in that position but then cant get out of it if they need to. My sister was petrified though and she got one of these monitor mats that go under the covers/mattress. If the baby stops breathing an alarm goes off so you know and can go in and help. It never happened though! Her daughter is 2 and still sleeps on her belly now!

Hi ladies! We had a bit of a night! Joe still has a cough and blocked nose and last night kept waking himself Coughing and was quite wheezy. Called 111 just to be safe. After 3 separate people calling us back, we were told to go to A&E to be safe! It was sooooo quiet there, a bit eerie! Paediatrics saw him straight away. His temp was OK, chest is clear so we just need to watch him closely and take him back if he gets worse. They didn't mention corona while they were checking him over.

Dr at good hope was great, she said if his chest wasn't clear they might keep him in because of how he sounded. But when it was clear, she was happy to send us home. She was very understanding, said without listening to his chest there was no way to know what it was, so we were right to bring him in.

It's silly, I knew there was hardly any chance it was corona, but kept thinking 'we've done everything right, if he's got it when other people have been swanning about... Grrr!!' 😂

Question - we have the nose sucker from a Tommy tippy set, but it's way too big for his tiny nose!! Does anyone know where I could get a small one?!! We tried the drops last time he was snotty, but didn't seem to do much.

At least it's Friday! Xx

@MrsEG - it’s so great to hear that you feel that way! I’m looking forward to coming out the other side of it all!

@fivebyfive2 - that’s awful, I’m so sorry you’ve been through that. How are you all today?

We had SUCH a rough night last night at the 6pm feed.

He basically screamed the house down after a full bottle and kept showing what I think are hunger cues (hands up to mouth). Ended up trying another bottle about an hour later and he had all of that. When he was sat forward (before the second bottle) he was fine but trying to sit him back, he went mad.
Anyway, had the second bottle and was fine. Put him in his crib, on his back, fine. No crying, just lying there gurgling.
Today he fed fine through the night, although half bottles. This morning, full bottle, spit up.
I’m paranoid his voice itself is a bit hoarse this morning (his grunts etc aside) so I’m on tenterhooks listening out to hear that.

Tempted to try the Gaviscon but also hoping to avoid medicating if I can help it.
And seriously can’t wait for this to get easier...

@Fivebyfive2 Oh bless you, I’d have done the exact same thing. I had the boys in A&E when they were 2 weeks old with sodding colic. How is he today?
We use the snuffle babe nose sucker and it’s fantastic. The boys don’t mind it going in or anything either!

@ELW85 oh hun sounds awful. I would try not to worry too much - even if it is reflux there isn’t a huge amount they can do - my friends little girl has it (she would bring up every feed) and they just switched formula. They just grow out of it eventually. You’ve done the right thing - if they puke a lot just offer more. This was my situation yesterday!! Luckily the sofa survived!! I just made him another bottle about 20 mins later once his belly had settled.

@ELW85 one other thing I just thought of - have you considered changing formula brand? We originally used Aptamil and the boys bought up a lot. I switched to HiPP Organic and the change was immediate. The projectile pukes are few and far between now thankfully!

@MrsEG - thank you! I’m hoping he grows out of it sooner rather than later. He didn’t bring up anything after the second bottle so I’m totally confused.
He’s just had his bottle in 2 parts here and red faced crying again, kicking legs. Not a clue.

We’ve been on HIPP from the start; pleased it’s working for you!

Wow I haven't been on here in ages, I can't believe how much all the babies have grown! How is everyone doing?

@Fivebyfive2 I had planned to stop breastfeeding at 6 months but I decided that it was going so well and it was so easy I would carry on for a while longer. His feeds take less than 10 minutes now as he's got so efficient at feeding so it's way quicker and easier than sorting out bottles.

I'm finally used to Dex being in his own room, we moved him a few weeks ago and I hated it! I still miss having him next to me though. He's desperately trying to learn to crawl, he's mastered commando crawling so he can move around really quickly when he wants to but he hasn't quite got the hand of coordinating his arms and legs together to crawl properly.

@stormtrooperjulian - OMG look at him! Gorgeous!! How old is he now?

@MrsEG - wow, that photo!! He looks pretty pleased with himself 😂

@stormtrooperjulian He is so gorgeous. He’s so grown up! I feel you - I’ve had to put the twins in their nursery at 12 weeks due to lack of space and the first few nights it was like they’d moved out. I sat and watched the monitor all night. I bet he’ll be crawling so fast! I remember my niece we used to say she was doing the ‘slug crawl’ before she really started crawling - having a good wriggle but not quite going anywhere!! He’ll be on the move before you know it :) How are you all coping on lockdown?

@ELW85 Sometimes when the boys have a huge puke we offer another bottle and they drink it and keep it down. I’ve never quite figured out why they bring up the feeds they do; but stopping to burp frequently always helps Ruairí. He’s so bothered by his feed being interrupted haha, but I easily get a quick burp out of him then get him back on the bottle and he’s so much more settled then when he’s finished. Feeds really were such hard work in the early days though. Especially those 3 whole weeks haha when DH was back at work before lockdown and I had to feed them both alone. All three of us would be in tears! I promise, it gets easier, it really does. You sort of have to hang in there and survive the first 10 weeks!

@stormtrooperjulian, hiya! How old is Sex now, sorry I can't keep track... I think I'll end up being the same, both with carrying on breastfeeding and with hating putting Joe in his own room!

@purplefig, my friend loaned us a baby bath which we're still using. Our bathroom is very cramped, I don't think we'll be putting Joe in the proper bath until it becomes less of a military operation 😂

Happy weekend everyone! Hope you're all doing OK. Joe's longest sleep stretch was 3.5 hours last night and that involved feeding to sleep, holding him for about half an hour because he kept coughing at first and I didn't want him waking up fully and, once down, holding his little hand for 15 mins before I could actually sleep properly as well!

Here is a pic of Joe looking happy and chubby, just because xxx

Hi ladies!
So happy to say I can finally join you all on this thread. We had our baby girl, Alayna, on Friday 24th April, weighing 8lb 3oz (can't believe she's already a week old!).

I had a 20 hour labour, 2 hours of pushing which unfortunately didn't progress and resulted in intervention with ventouse. Alayna was stuck due to shoulder distocia, so they gave me an episiotomy. It got quite scary because she wasn't breathing when delivered, so was passed straight away to the neonatal team in the theatre and it resulted in a NICU stay for her for the first 24 hours. Unfortunately meant DH only saw her for a few minutes until we were discharged as he had to leave after an hour. We got out on Wednesday after we both completed an antibiotics course (I had a high fever during delivery) and are doing really well now 😊

Alayna loves sleeping during the day, but is completely wide awake and alert at night (even after feeds, whereas usually she knocks out straight away). We're trying to swap it round but not sure what the best way to keep her awake is.
Also, did you guys strictly follow feeds every 2-3 hours? I was at the beginning but not sure whether to let her sleep through at night and only feed when she wants to.
DH has been an absolute godsend. I generally wake up for the feeds at night and then he takes over from early morning so I can get some sleep and it's been helping a lot. Not sure what I'll do when he's back at work!
I started expressing whilst at hospital because my milk hadn't come in (midwife suggested it may be because I'd lost a lot of blood). It still seems to be in between the colostrum and breast milk stage so topping up with formula if shes still hungry. Just hope it's working and she's getting enough. She lost some of her birth weight, but midwife wasn't too concerned. She's getting weighed on Tuesday next so hopefully it's gone up!

Sorry this turned out really long.
I hope you're all doing really well! Looking forward to getting involved in all baby talk 😁 still feels so surreal that I have a little one now!!

@ELW85 thank you lovely - I think because I had such low expectations I was pleasantly surprised! DH made me a video of all my friends and family sending me a birthday message and my mum made me a cake and got her work friend who works near us to drop it off outside our door. Felt very spoiled!

@MrsEG I think the key to a successful lockdown birthday is: lower your expectations but have a plan. We had a rough plan for the day (morning coffee and presents, lunchtime walk on the beach, afternoon film and thai takeaway for dinner with Killing Eve) which made it feel a lot less nothing-y. I'm definitely going to steal your bedtime routine, we must try harder this week! Oh my goodness that is quite an impressive puke glad the sofa survived!

@Fivebyfive2 Oh my goodness, what a night! I'm glad he's OK and the medics were reassuring. How're you guys doing now?

@stormtrooperjulian nice to see you again! Dex is looking like such a super duper cute chap - I love his little hat. How're you coping with lockdown?

@LokiCat A huge congratulations on your darling baby girl - it sounds like you guys had quite a ride! I'm so pleased to hear you're both doing really well and settling into new life together. It's insane isn't it?! But magical too! If she's sleepy in the day and alert at night, it sounds like she might have day night confusion (Really common with newborns), but you might want to try some steps to try and get her out of it. Some good advice here: www.whattoexpect.com/baby-behavior/infant-sleep-patterns.aspx. In those early days I fed on demand and there was a lot (A LOT!!) of cluster feeding - I can remember being up with her from 9am - 2am and her feeding pretty much hourly! But it's worth doing because it helps establish your supply. Also their stomachs are so little at that age, they can't take in a huge volume. Once my supply was established (they reckon around 6 weeks) I started to go three hours between feeds and now we're in a pattern with that, just trying to edge it up to four hours! Also don't worry about her losing a bit of weight post birth, less than 10% is totally normal and if your midwife isn't concerned I wouldn't be either. As you said, she's gained it back now so sounds like she's on track. A huge congratulations once again!

I hope everyone's weekend is going well? DH had M for a few hours last night while he did a zoom quiz and I read in bed alone...twas glorious! x