June 2020 Babies - newborn snuggles, recovery, milk and night feeds!

[LillianFullStop]

First post natal thread for June 2020 babies! Looking forward to seeing our birth club thread members here soon!

@lillianfullstop Thank you! Tagging in so I can observe and join in later on when my baby is born xx

Warming my seat up here too for when my baby’s born!

Checking in xx

Checking in , we have our tongue tie appointment for next Friday . Just got to get through the next week then hopefully feeding will be be much more comfortable !
Emcs recovery is slow going but at least managing to walk around more now . Can’t believe baby j is a week old tomorrow it has flown by !

Thanks for the new thread!x

Hi! Joining in! First night home with baby E. No sleep was had until about 2am, then we realised she was a bit chilly and she settled once she got an extra blanket. Back up now for another feed.
She's feeding really well, I just have to pay attention to her latch, as she's tending to be a bit shallow, especially on the right.
I've been a bit more sore overnight and, oh my goodness, the wind I've had!!

Can I join? First night home with baby last night after 3 nights in hospital. It was actually lovely being in my own bed with husband here to help - not sure what others post natal experiences were but I found it very unsupportive. Was in pain following emcs and stressed and emotional ftm and basically left to fend for myself.

We had similar experience to you @MissisBee - he just wouldnt settle in his snuzpod last night despite having no issues in crib at hospital or moses basket. At first we thought it was being apart from me or hunger, but about 3am we finally realised the sheets were cold and waking him up every time he laid down. Just a tip for anyone with same issue - make sure sheets are warm before you settle them at night!

@MJ2196 I'm 13 days in and definitely feel like I've turned a corner on recovery from ELCS. Still very achy and stiff when I wake up but as I get moving it feels better throughout the day and I'm still taking paracetamol and ibuprofen.

@MissisBee glad you're home with bub! I find the wards were so hot so it's a big change in temperature coming home. Are you swaddling or using a grobag? For now we've got a muslin wrap for DS and if it's a cooler evening we put an extra cellular blanket on top.

Anyone trying to express at all? I'm only getting 20ml out of one boob and barely any out of the other. I have history of mastitis, abscess and biopsies on that one so not completely surprised it is not producing much milk. It's so hard to find the time to do it along with everything else!!

@Girlinajumpsuit it's so good being home! I was allowed home day 1 post section. The hospital care I had was great though. There were 2 of us in a bay, staff weren't always there, but always came to help when we needed anything.
I have to say, my recovery this time is amazing compared to my first section. I have to remind myself I'm only day 2 and not to overdo it. On day 2 last time, I could barely get out of bed!

Midwife was out today, E has only lost 4oz (5%) and I feel like my mill's beginning to come in. She's regurgitating quite a bit but is very content.
We had her wrapped in cellular blankets last night, but have a wee grosnug swaddle we might try tonight.

I'm 8 days in now and slowly starting to get the hang of things. No routine as such yet but his feeds are starting to get a bit more regular and he occasionally cluster feeds. I've got 1 very sore teat which I'm giving a break today by expressing for DH to feed him later. I've managed to hand express about 100ml throughout the day which I'm pleased with. Breast pump is on order. I didn't get one in advance as wasnt sure what I'd end up doing.

He also slept pretty well last night which was glorious. I got about 5-6 hours sleep through the night overall and was so grateful for it! He's taken a while to get used to his crib and pram etc but he's sleeping in both now and also enjoys his bouncer. We've been out for a few walks and even made it around the local little market for half an hour yesterday. After so long of isolating when pregnant I felt real freedom yesterday! Loving every minute of my baby, even the long nights. 💙

@LillianFullStop i found just expressing really hard. Sorry probably not what you want to hear!! If you can try and save a few ounces before the operation as formula can only be had 6 hours before but i think breastmilk is 3 hours ( you'll have to double check the timings) which made the fasting period slightly less painful for everyone!

We are having lots of sleep issues with little miss. Some good nights some horrendous nights!! We used a gro bag last night and she slept so much better but has also started cluster feeding in the evening which has made a difference. She's 3 weeks on Sunday and i definitely remember that being a turning point with my son so hoping its the same this time!
She definitely seems to be starting to understand the difference between night and day as she settles after her night feeds but during the day shes usually awake after a feed. Not missing our 2am partys!

She hates the bouncy chair which is annoying as my son loved it and spent alot of time in it!!

@LillianFullStop I’m glad your feeling better hopefully won’t be long for me then ! Dreading dp going back to work tomorrow. I went for a walk round the block yesterday & had to go lie down afterwards .

I expressed around 50ml in total last night ,it was hard Work but my nips were glad of the rest 🤣I have a pump ready but hoping we can get to Friday without needing it . Baby was hysterical in his snuzpod but sleeps fantastic in his Egg carry cot (safe for overnight sleeping) we get 3 hour blocks at night 🙌🏻

@AndddddHerewegoagain little man also hasn’t taken to his chair yet , gutted as my dd lived in hers only way I got things done 😂

@LillianFullStop expressing is hard work! I had to with DS and so hard to find time to fit it in enough times. One tip I have is don't watch the bottle as you're pumping or set yourself target amounts - it just adds to the stress and is counterproductive

Just popping in so I can pick this thread up when my baby is here 😍

I've just got round to sorting out my sling wrap and trying it out. Absolute game changer! Baby's fave position is on my chest anyway so now I'm hands free. Even went to the loo in it! Haha

Hi hope all the ladies and babies are well. My little one is 5 days old now. We've been having feeding issues and she dropped 13.5% of her birth weight. So we are on a feeding plan of bf and top up of expressed milk or formula. The main issue is she doesn't wake to feed, it can take 2 hours to wake her, by that point she is frantic starving and won't latch. It's been utterly exhausting! However we are experiencing our very first cluster feeding session, she's been latching and feeding like a pro since 10pm!

Yay to the cluster feeding! DS was a sleepy baby - stripping him down and changing his nappy usually got him perked up for a good feed.

It's normal for the cord stump to be a bit stinky, isn't it? It's nice and dry and there's no redness or anything.

Yes, Freddie's cord was smelly and gross. Fell off on day 6. Just a little scan there now.

As for feeding, I hear you. Think we've had our first growth spurt as we've had a tough 36 hours of sleepy feeds where he doesn't latch properly and then waking all the time because he's still hungry. However, had my HV appt (video call) this morning and I've been reassured it's normal and he's doing well. It's so hard to know, isn't it?! Oh, and of course he's back to being an angel again today! I've been managing to hand express at least 1 feed a day for a few days but my pump arrives this afternoon so I can't wait to use it. Hopefully it works for me. I like the idea of always having 1 feed in the fridge for when I'm on my knees and just need to hand him over to DH (like I did at 5am this morning!).

Can I ask how often your bf babies feed? Rose tends to feed every 3-4 hours and sleeps soundly between feeds, is this enough?

E is probably averaging every 2 hours. Has gone 3 hourly at times, but I'd be waking her if she went any longer at this age.

About 2-2.5 hours. Through the night it can be even more often which is killing me. Sometimes they aren't proper big feeds though, just a few mins then some comfort sucking.

Theo is feeding around every 3 hours. Sometimes more during the day and at night he seems to like a 5 hour nap much to my delight. I asked the midwife and she said no need to wake him up for more frequent feeding as he has put on weight already; I think if your baby is losing weight they perhaps need to be woken more often for feeding..

@Girlinajumpsuit my dd sounds
Very much like your little one. She does feed well once latched on, I just wish she would wake more easily.

@AndddddHerewegoagain it's so hard to keep up and even harder to increase supply! He's managing to at least get 30ml a day from me I hope that is enough to help his immune system when DD goes back to nursery and starts bringing all sorts of viruses back (nevermind Covid!)

@MissisBee I think you're right the times I pump watching TV I get more and faster! Other times I sit and watch it takes forever!

2.5 weeks old now and feeds have increased to 60ml. Expecting it to increase to 70/80/90 gradually but seems he's a bit of a snacker and will still only take 60 and just have a shorter gap in between feeds. I miss the 3 hourly feeds! He's going 1.5 or 2 hours instead and just won't take more than 60ml.

@LillianFullStop thats a fantastic amount! I really struggled to find time to do it with 1 child let alone with a toddler as well. Your doing amazing
With feeding have you tried pushing him a bit to space feeds out? Both of mine fed every 1.5/ 2 hours but i started taking them for walks for that 2-3 hour which kept them settled and then they would have a really good feed which meant they didn't get hungry again so quickly. Snacky babies are so infuriating!! But still adorable. Maybe tru and push the bottle back by 15 mins each day to build up time between feeds ?