Septermber 07 poppers.....please meet here!

[dal21]

Hi ladies - cannot see a thread for the sept ladies who have popped. Thought I would start one (hope I havent been totally blind and missed one already set up)

we can share our trials and tribulations of our LO's here!

Hello ladies and LOs, nice to join this thread! I've been meaning to watch that programme after realising everybody else has seen it. HIWBB, hang in there, the dread is a feeling I had for months with DD1 - I found many other new mums felt it too. Great diatribe, kinki - DH changed a nappy for the 1st time last night and informed me 'if we share the burden, it might be easier'. Hmm. After 9 consecutive nights alone downstairs with her, 'the burden' was indeed eased. Not.
Josephine is still asleep most of the time (she's now 10 days old) but has developed a belter of a cry esp at night. And the BF is horribly painful - much worse than with DD1, the engorgement needed painkillers and expressing, and the left boob managed to crack and bleed. It's now BLUE with bruises, urgh! I'm keeping going, esp after seeing my (er) rear view in the mirror today (haven't seen a full-length mirror since July!) Think I'll be BFing for the next 2 years!
Better go, DD1 mounting another prodding attack on sleeping baby!

Hello all, Anna is 9 days old today and the days are flying. Am starting to feel anxious about DH going back to work on Monday and having to cope with school runs and baby. At least I will have some time to rest while boys are at school. She has been feeding almost 4 hourly in the day but then seems to need more frequent feeds in the evening and then gets a bit unsettled. DH is working his magic on her as I type, he seems to be sort of chanting and carrying her around and she has stopped crying - weird!

Very sorry to hear about those of you suffering with the blues, these hormones are a killer and sometimes it really does take a while for them to iron out. I have a feeling I will be an emotional basketcase next week when I am all on my own so have huge sympathy but no real advice for those of you suffering. The first 3 months really are the hardest though, so just imagine that by Christmas you will be feeling much better, I hope that helps a little ????

sophus - just read your post properly, you poor thing, I have never heard of that before - hope it clears soon!

toadstool - DH has been in the spare room since we came home from hospital and was complaining that ds1 woke him up at 5am this morning - I just gave him a look and he soon shut up!

Hi everyone, I'm really chuffed to finally be joining you here on the postnatal thread - never thought I'd make it!!

We're all doing pretty well at five days in; Paul is gorgeous and seems fairly good-natured, and DH and I are slowly getting used to our new life and responsibility. I've had a skim through the thread in between feeds, but sorry if I've missed/forgotten things here and there. Huge {{{{hugs}}} to everyone who's having a tough time, particularly Hopey and PLP .

I'm feeling ok at the moment, though things are very up and down. It's so odd how quickly your emotions change; one minute Paul's sleeping like an angel and I feel like a brilliant mum and that everything's easy; the next minute he's wailing for no apparent reason and I feel absolutely useless. I've found that the worst thing so far - the unexlained crying. Not that Paul is a terribly cry-y baby (I don't think), but I just can't cope with the feeling that there must be something upsetting him, but I don't know what it is and I can't make him stop.

The breastfeeding has been tricky, too. Dal, I was so interested to hear about your experience - I had exactly the same, where the hospital MWs told me I really needed to give Paul a formula top-up the night before my milk came in, because he simply wasn't getting enough food. I wept all the time they were giving it to him, and for the rest of the night, and felt like a total failure - I couldn't give birth to him 'properly' (he was ventoused), I couldn't deliver the placenta 'properly' (needed manual removal), and now I couldn't even feed him 'properly'. The MWs were wonderful - so sympathetic, though still firm that the formula was necessary - and tried their utmost to reassure me that BF wouldn't be affected, but god I was upset. They were right of course. I think it's really true what they say about the 3rd day blues - I've never thought of myself as an 'emotional' person, but I just cried and cried.

Anyway, BF has been ok since then, touch wood. One major panic when Paul started throwing up blood this morning - turns out it was my blood, from sore nipples, but there seemed to be loads of it. Lovely community MW seems to have sorted out my latch now, though, touch wood, so hopefully the nipples will begin to recover.

Sorry about the long post, but it's so nice to chat to you all again!! I'm off to bed soon, hoping for a good night tonight (night-times are not when Paul's at his best...) but I'll be back when I can. Loads of love to everyone - wishing you all good sleep vibes !

Sophus, I'm glad you saw your Mum, so sorry to hear how weak she is becoming, so sad. Have you got a video camera? Have you been filming her with Linus. It would be so lovely in the future to show Linus the film. Also sorry to hear you're going through a tough time with your skin wassit. Not good at all Big hugs to you lovely. x

I too watched the parenting programme the other night. I guess we use something between the 50's approach and Doctor Spock. For us, routine is quite important from early on, especially with having other DC to consider. It worked quite quickly with both our other children and I'm sure it'll work with Niamh too. HOWEVER, I wouldn't dream of leaving a baby to cry for prolonged periods of time. But sometimes, they need to just be left to fall asleep, eg when they're overtired/overstimulated. We had to do that with Niamh yesterday, she'd been awake for hours, and you could see she was shattered (pale face, red rings around eyes) and nothing we could do for her would settle her. In the end we put her in her bed and she cried, but every couple of minutes we'd go and check on her and put her dummy back in. It only took about 10 minutes for her to fall asleep.

HIWBB stupid hormone update: Am feeling fairly good/in control of myself this evening. Much the same as I did yesterday evening. Clinging on to the fact that these 'lows' I'm experiencing aren't all day lows. That's got to be a good sign!!? Had a chat with 'wicked' stepmum earlier on phone for just over an hour and she really cheered me up. She's brilliant, she can talk for England! Everyone adores her, even people who've just met her. She said that she'll come up and stay again when DH goes back to work week after next. What a star. I'm really looking forward to that.

Holly, how are you? Hope you're feeling ok. x x x

Hello peeps! Thought it was about time I joined you all over here

o, finally got some half decent sleep last night! Yippeeeeee!
Half one til half four then Lucy had to come to bed with me as, after feeding for nearly an hour and finally looking sleepy, she puked the whole lot back up and was wide awake again, poor thing! So, into bed so I could, at the very least, doze while she fed again (and it was very chilly by that point too )

The routine with DD1 is going Ok, but am v glad I've got DH here to help out, he's been an Angel, although he's getting v stressed out and his temper has got v short with DD1 (and is back on the cigs after only a few days Am def not happy about that one!)

Any who, hope you guys are all doing well and getting plenty of sleep!

Haven't had much of a chance to catch up but will try tomorrow during the day to read some posts

xxx

Me again, just to let you know that I've added a picture of Paul to my profile in true proud mum fashion .

Hi ladies - just popping in the check how the ladies who popped early from the due Oct thread are getting on! Having mine by elective cs on tues so all getting a bit real now!

Hi Lisa and dal! Although tired you both sound like you're loving it which is great.

dal read your post about how ryan is more cranky now and just wanted to share what my hv said about ds1 when he was this age.... Apparently when they start to become more wakeful during the day (which is at about 2-3 weeks) they do become more cranky and difficult to settle and also become more wakeful at night. So unfortunately just one of those things I think rather than relating to anything you have or haven't done. She told me this when ds was still really calm and sleepy and then literally a day later he became cranky like ryan and I was glad for her warning!

Morning ladies from the house of coughs, colds and endless snot - me, DH and the DTs have some sort of stinking lurgy and I feel all headachey and pants - so far little Millie seems ok so I hope she doesn't get it. DH is a bit of a baby when he is poorly and is doing over-theatrical coughs and groans, not getting any attention though. The DTs are being much braver but very feverish and listless - thank christ for CBeebies - how did parents cope with sick children before it existed!

Welcome SparklyGothCat and congrats on Callum, hope is is doing well in SCBU, sounds a brilliant weight for being quite early.

Dal and Canadianmum - good luck for monday when your DHs back at work, I'm sure you will be fab.

Sophus - so sorry about your poor hands, sounds so painful, I hope they are starting to ease a little bit. I am so glad that the trip to see your mum went well and she got to meet Linus, though I'm sure it was quite an emotional day for all of you.

Toadstool - ouch with the BF, that sounds so painful, your poor boobs I hope things are settling down for you a bit.

Kyala - lovely to see you over here at last, glad you got a bit of sleep, very precious commodity for us lot these days!

HIWBB - thanks for the hormone update and bless you for still having a sense of humour about it when you are so up and down - what a top chick . Glad that the lows are not lasting quite so long and so pleased that your stepmum is coming to help out again.

Mrs Bumblebee I know what you mean about emotions up and down. I was high as a kite one minute then wailing that my mum thought I was a horrible person the next (not sure where I imagined that one from!). Luckily DH is very good and says very little just listens, gives me unlimited hugs and goes to the bakery to get treats. I seem to be settling down a bit now so hopefully the wretched hormones sorting themselves. Sounds like you are doing really well with the BF despite a rocky start, glad the Mw helped you get Paul's latch sorted - the difference between agony and ecstacy! Hope your nips are recovering, have you tried Lansinoh - bloody brilliant if you don't already have it.

Anyway, can hear rumblings from upstairs so better sign off for now. Have a good one. x

Hello everyone, Have been catching up with all your news and it is good to know there are lots of us going throught the same things at the same time. Little Amy is mostly doing well - she has an eye infection but is getting better with antibiotic drops. I am having my first morning on my own with the two children and am being a bit overrelient on CBebees for DS but apart from that we are all surviving. DH is only working one day next week thank goodness so a bit more paternity leave to enjoy. He is being so good with DS and it is lovely to be spending this time together.

BF seems to be much harder this time round. Still really painful to latch on - although that is improving a bit now. My milk seemed to take ages to come in in any volume so had long long feeds for a few days but again the supplies seem to have increased in response. Now the problem is that Amy will spend ages latching on without suceeding. Last night she was trying to feed between 11 and 2 and really only had a few decent sucks in that whole time - rest of the time spent screaming. In the end I put her in her cot swaddled (like Claire Verity on bringing up baby) and she went to sleep in 10 minutes and slept till 8 this morning. Perhaps she wasn't hungry after all and just exhausted. I know she can latch on - maybe there is too much milk now and that is making it difficult. Can't wait for all this to settle down and breast feeding to be easy again. Keep fantasising about formula but then I think about all the sterilising etc and I am sure it wouldn't be that much less exhausting in the long run

HammerHeadShark-We both have a little Millie!

Hopey-How you doing? Im feeling so much better thankyou.

Sophus-Your hands sound sore you poor thing! And what a chore having to wash it off before you touch Linus.

Having a panic about money but doing ok apart from that!
Oh and im feeding constantly...

Hi everyone - tons of posts, glad to see we are all managing to pop on.

Sophus - sorry to hear about your hands, hope they get better soon!

Canadianmum - we are both in the same boat on Monday. lonesome for the first time since LO's have arrived. I am sure that it will be hard but I am actually looking forward to it in some ways. Will try and start implementing something like a routine. I have figured out that a really good way to start stretching out time between feeds is to take Ryan out for a short walk in the pram, so will hopefully start feeding him for longer and get back towards 3-4 hour between feeds. Also - have stopped picking him up as much as I was as I have started to realise which cries are over tired cries vs hungry/ wind etc so have started to try something similar to Hopey of settling with dummy and checking on him every few mins.

MrsB/ Toadstool - glad to hear we are muddling through the bfeeding - how long are you planning on keeping it going for?
MrsB - you are giving yourrself a hard time unnecessarily - I had a csection for goodness sake and you did far more than me, I have no qualms about how i delivered. We should all be proud of ourselves with becoming mummies! That is no mean feat!

Hopey - you sound heaps better! Glad to hear your stepmum is coming back to stay, I am planning on heading to my mums next weekend.

Alicet - thanks for sharing that with me, makes lots of sense. I was warned that Ryan would most likely go from his 4/5 hour sleeps to needing feeding more frequently as he became more alert and gained strength. I am grateful as he is gaining lots of weight and that is because of how well he is feeding, so have to look at the positives. Glad to know I am not the only one. He is still a very happy baby - so I am still very grateful.

Hammer - thanks for your positive thoughts, Much needed. (Unlike my SIL who has just visited and warned that the only reason the last 3 weeks have flown by is because I am not on my own - gee, thanks, and that the next few months will seem much harder)

Nettee - hang in there! I am similar to you, fantasising about the formula thing, but I have to say that the sore nipples have started to get better in the last 24 hours. I am determined to persevere as I am sure it is only a matter of time before they toughen up and in all honesty - just cannot beat the convenience of ready to go food anytime of night or day!

Holly - am thinking of you and hope everything is going well.

Apologies if I have missed anyone else off. Hugs to all.

feeling so much better today, seem to have found a regime which keeps the worst of the pain in my hands at bay, plus I now have cotton gloves (v.sexy) so I can handle linus w/out risking getting steroids on him.
every day feels a little bit more normal but DP goes back to work on monday also so I shall be left to my own devices, having been waited on for the past two weeks.
hope everyone is enjoying their weekends.
xx

Millie is good thanks Kinki. The only issue is that she is feeding absolutely constantly but I know that is normal and is happening to most of us! During the day I don't even manage to get dressed now DP is back at work but have to go out monday to see doctor because of bladder infection where I had catheter in hospital so will have to get myself organised.

She is gorgeous and my lovely mum is looking after her tonight so we can have some rest and sleep. I have expressed loads of milk for her but I know she will get through it. She weighed 8.8 at birth and 2 weeks on she is 9.1!

Hope you are well xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Just wanted to check in and say hi - life is so busy with 2DS! Thinking of you all but no time to catch up properly i'm afraid.

I hope those with hormonal issues feel better soon and sending sleep vibes to all our gorgeous babies!

Alex has been gaining about 1 oz a day but i'm feeling it as bfing every 1-2 hrs during the day and 2-3 hrs at night! Last night was particularly bad Alex was really suffering with trapped wind and wouldn't settle after 3 we finally calmed him around 6am and DS1 woke up! I can't believe he's 2 weeks old tomorrow - it's going so fast xx

Evening all! How is evryone getting on with their LO's, its amazing how many september babies there are
Arben and I are getting on well, but he does get very aggitated by his windy tummy. I've heard camomile tea(v.dilute) is great for helping but not sure if he is too young, 3wks, has anyone heard bout it and how old they should be??

kelmcd, I give Niamh Infacol before each feed. Apparently it takes a couple of days to build up in their system (according to my midwife) but it worked with my other two children, so I'm doing the same this time. HTH

I started Liam on infacol last night too. I have lots of trouble getting his wind up. The mws & hvs keep saying you don't have to wind bf babies but this little boy farts louder than a foghorn! I think he's in pain with it as it goes round. Dh remembered how infacol worked with ds1's colic, so we're giving it a go. I'm also going to ring the (cranial) osteopath tomorrow. They worked wonders with both ds1&2. I'm hoping they'll help with his slow feeding, constant hiccups and his bad wind. None of it is major, I just think he'll be more settled if they could give him the once-over. With ds1 the results were instant, with ds2 we got results over a few weeks (took them for different reasons to Liam though).

Evening all, nice to see LOs are thriving! Sophus, that sounds horrible, I'm glad you're coping so well with it, considering your other stresses.
Dal, in answer to your question, I BF'ed DD1 until she was 14 months old, but that was partly because she refused the bottle. I don't know how long I'll last with Josephine - it's been much more difficult this time round, her latch is either poor or keeps slipping (I leaf through Jack Newman's book in the wee small hours, hoping for inspiration!). I'm ringing the NCT bf helpline tomorrow, to see if they can advise on this latch. I'd like to bf for at least a year, though - we'll see.
Took J. out to the zoo today in a Coorie sling, easiest option in the wheelchair by far. Amazing how many people stared, obviously the sight of 'new mum in wheelchair' outdoes the furry animals as an attraction! I'm hoping against hope to be walking by the end of next month. Don't fancy crutches though - awkward, to say the least...
Waves to all!

I was feeling well and truly sorry for myself, then I came on here only to realise that I'm not the only one going through all these things - phew!!

We've had a very difficult day - Cerys has always suffered from wind but for some reason she has been really bad today. I still haven't figured out which cry is which but I'm quite sure its been the wind today as well as being over-tired from not being able to sleep from the wind waking her up. I'm so paranoid though - what if there's something more serious wrong with her and I've missed it!? We had to do an emergency bag change on Friday due to it leaking everywhere and I keep checking it but I can't see any potential leaks anywhere (she seems to know and gets uncomfortable if it leaks). If we weren't going to Southampton tomorrow, I would have called the doctors but it seems pointless, especially when I can't actually say whats wrong, just that she keeps crying! We've been using infacol for a while now too but I'm thinking of trying that 'Colief' - anybody tried that one?

I do simply adore Cerys and she is soooo gorgeous but I have to say I reached a point today where I was so tired that I didn't want to get cranky with her. I ended up in tears so I got DH to look after her while I went and had a shower and got dressed and had a break for a while - of course, she was fine for him!!

toadstool - lovely to see you! So glad you managed to get out, I'm sure you'll be walking in no time!

HIWBB - glad you're feeling a bit better and that your step mum is coming to stay and help. How is DH getting on?

sophus - so pleased the journey went well and that your mum got to meet Linus. Such a shame she didn't get to hold him but so lovely that they met... Glad to hear that the gloves are helping.

HammerHeadShark - hope all the coughs and colds clear up soon, have you tried ecchinacea?

Thanks mrsbumblebee, so pleased I'm not the only one swinging from feeling fine to feeling awful all in the space of a few minutes! Glad you've got your latch sorted out - the blood must have been really scary!

Thinking of all of you facing days without your DP's this week xx

As far as bf goes, I've been mixed feeding for a while now - she has about 20mins of 'boob milk' as DH calls it, then up to a couple of ounces of formula milk except for the morning feed when we just give her a bottle so I can do the school run. I completely empathise about the messing around though - in that 20 mins, I'm not convinced Cerys is getting much at all. The cardiologists have told me to watch her breathing when she is feeding and I've noticed she breaths so much faster. I'm worried about it putting a strain on her heart so we might have to swap over to exclusively bottles. I'd do it in a flash if it wasn't for the fact that she loves having her 'boob milk' and really takes comfort from it whereas she doesn't seem to enjoy the bottle anywhere near as much. I'm sooo confused and I don't know what is best for her.

On top of all that, we're off to Southampton tomorrow for all sorts of things. We've got to leave at 8am so I'm hoping her feeds will fit around that (its a half hour drive at the best of times, let alone without traffic!). She's got a 'Micturating Cystourethrogram' and a 'Loopogram Urinary Tract' at 10.30 which is dye being put into her, then xrays being taken. We have to be there an hour early for antibiotics to be administered. Then we're off to see the cardiologists again. I'm dreading it because she was so tired last time and it threw all her feeds out of sync - she was sleeping anything up to 6 hours inbetween the day after which might sound great but I get really worried as she needs to be putting on weight and building up her strength.

Oh my goodness, sorry for such a long post - I just needed to have a moan really and I feel much better for getting it all off my chest. I'll try to post tomorrow but if not, it'll be Tuesday, depending on how we get on.

Hello to everybody else and sorry again for the mammoth post...

Hope we all get some sleep tonight!!!
(((((((((((hugs))))))))))))

hi everyone. plp - fingers crossed for you today. let us know how you get on as soon as you can.

well i went back to basics last night and swaddled ryan - slept for 5 hours and then 4! i thought because he had fought it and tried to get his fists out - he had grown out of it. but baby whisperer said to persevere and she was right!

am toying with trying to implement her EASY routine, not sure if it is too restrictive for us as opposed to going with the flow...decisions, decisions!

Morning all

PurpleLP - really really hope it all goes well for you today at Southampton and all the travelling and investigations do not throw little Cerys out of sync too much. She sounds so adorable and so good and patient considering all she has had to go through so far, bless her. I hope her wind has settled a bit, it must be really hard when she cries not to immediately think it is because of her medical issues rather than just a baby having a cry, you sound like you are doing amazingly, even if you feel a bit wobbly on the inside at times ((hugs)).

Dal - glad that swaddling worked for you and very at that amount of sleep! Isn't Ryan a clever boy? One of the twins used to love being swaddled but the oter one just got livid! Millie sometimes likes it when she can't stop hitting herself round the head by accident and sometimes will not trifle with it at all! Hope your first day solo is going well and you have some lovely one on one with your wee man

Toadstool - hope you get some joy with the NCT re: the BF. Isn't it strange babies are so different when it comes to BF? It must be so frustrating, not to mention painful, to be having these problems with your DD after feeding your DS for so long last time. One of my DTs took to it really well and easily while the other one was always a nightmare to latch on, her tiny head spinning round in the vicinity of my nipple like the exorcist - once she was on I hardly dared breathe for fear of dislodging her. Luckily, Millie seems to be quite good at latching on and feeding, fingers crossed she keeps it up.

We are still all snotty and couging - would love to just take to my bed for the day and snooze, but the DTs are very sad and clingy with their colds. DH took them to nursery this morning and one of them was still sobbing and begging him to stay when he left them. I hope she gets happier with nursery before DH is back at work as i will find it hard to leave her if she is so sad, though I am sure she was fine five minutes after DH left.

Have a good day, buy yourself a cream cake

DP brought me breakfast in bed before he went to bed (he really has outdone himself whilst on paternity leave), i fed Linus, got up, had a shower, got dressed, managed to get us downstairs along with all the gubbins. Now what? Do i just sit and stare at my baby all day? All feels very surreal indeed. Also have to keep reminding myself that i am supposed to be recovering from major surgery so that stops me from being out and about i guess.

PLP - You are keeping an amazing clear head, and i admire you. I get fussy if we go out for a 20 minute walk that it might interfere with his feeds, so i ca only imagine what a day at the hospital would make you feel.

For all of you with BF problems, hang on in there, Linus is a really good feeder, but if he has wind then there is no persuading him and he will just shove his fist in his mouth instead.

Right got to go, the feeding monster has woken and pooped his pants and will want both ends attending to.

My hands are much much better, just loclaised pain now and the blisters are all bursting which although very unattractive at least means they are getting better, and i can bend my fingers and just generally feel much better.

Good luck to everyone else on their own for the first time today - it;s weird isn't it?

S
x

oops sorry meant before he went to work...Doh!