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!

@Pegase I'm sorry it's so tough, my first few days were horrific and my nipples were blistered, cracked and bleeding so had to pump to give them a break!! The lansinoh cream combined with keeping my boobs out in the air for hours on end sorted the damage and I'm still experimenting with different positions to get comfy. He was latching ok but seems to have got really lazy overnight and does a really shallow latch and I get milk everywhere!! It's not an easy journey is it!! 😬😬

@MissisBee your description of them being angry and guarding the boob is spot on!

@Pegase sorry you are having such a tough time if you really aren't enjoying it it's ok to weigh up whether this is what you want to do remember fed is best but hopefully you are just having a particularly difficult day?

I'm on day 3 so tears have started today miwdwife came and showed me how to hand express as they are getting too ful for her to get on I'm preparing myself for another rough night.

I've had 2 naps of about an hour one just now I smother lansinoh on and leave boobs out to air x

Been having increasing pain throughout day despite not feeding. Baby's tongue also white so think we actually have thrush. Will have to go to GP on Monday.

@BabyBird20 that's what DS was like! Can't believe the difference this time, and not expecting it to last.
I found this article really informative for getting a good latch established www.carolsmyth.co.uk/breastfeeding-resources/posts/2017/december/having-problems-with-getting-a-comfortable-latch/
Jelonet dressings (from chemist) and silver cups supposed to be really good for nipple healing.

Looks like my bj journey is over before it really began. R was breast feeding like a wee pro initially, she then lost 13% of her birth weight and I was advised to top her up wit expressed breast milk from a bottle. She then began to develop a pretty rubbish latch on the boob. She still
Did however have good breast feeds. Then she admitted into the hospital and she hasn't had a decent bf since Thursday. She refuses the boob now, pulls away screaming at it. I've tried lots of skin to skin, bathing with her and nipple
Shields. But nothing is working. I am expressing for her and will continue to do so as long as I have the hospital breast pump. I' m sad that out bf has come to an end after such a good start.

She might reestablish still @Blizy if you continue the skin to skin? It's only been a few days. I expressed and bottle fed entirely with DD1 and looks like the new baby unfortunately is heading the same direction. Happy to give tips if it is a route you want to go down.

Thanks @pegase, I've been trying since Tuesday with no improvement. I'd love for her to re establish but it won't happen. I feel terribly guilty that I'm pretty much abandoning my ds who is 5 in attempt to get Rose to breast feed, it's not fair on him, he deserves some Mummy time too.

@Missgemini x

@Blizy really sorry that you are struggling this is my first baby and bf is literally a full time job when going well can't imagine how difficult it would be with a child already so he kind to yourself x

Thanks @mrssunshinexxx

I've had less than 2 hours sleep tonight. The boy is not keen on sleeping, so we're just here doing a cycle of bf, staring at the ceiling and repeat! So tiredddddd. The hubby has given up and is now asleep. We just have to sleep during the day now (theoretically!)

@Blizy really sorry to hear about your little one being in hospital. I have also found breastfeeding difficult, but have only managed to continue with a lot of support from midwives etc. Thinking of you both x

@Missgemini tonight has been good here and wow did I need time to be the night before was hell plus was my first day home after section so mega pain too
I'm sure tonight will be different again

My husband goes in spare room at night as he can't really do anything then in daytime she is so much better so he can deal with her and I nap a lot in bed it works well at the moment
Love my midwifes

My husband has just been saying that we need a sort of rota about who gets up when. I pump as well as breastfeed, so he can wake up and feed the boy without my involvement potentially. I just cannot hear the baby without waking up. Perhaps I need to learn to let the husband deal with him sometimes.
I hope you continue to recover well. It was an interesting first 2 weeks of recovery for me (had a vaginal birth, but was induced, with ventouse and episiotomy). Feeling much better with each day.

Labour is brutal isn't it 😬
@Missgemini I was in labour for 26 hours before section
Glad you are healing well I am v independents struggling to let hubby look after me but feeling better each day
I just came upstairs twice for an hours nap and a shower gives him bonding time x

@Blizy I'm sorry you're having difficulty. Have you been in touch with your infant feeding team or La Leche League (who work evenings and weekends)? They might have useful advice and tips to help

@BabyBird20 our experiences this far sound very similar. We've done similar re: DH and a bottle. We did it a lot with my toddler, where I would go to bed and he would do the late night feed. We've done it once so far with Charlotte, where she slept downstairs in her carry cot with DH keeping an eye and when she woke, he gave her a bottle and got her back to sleep again and brought her up later. I had 2-3 hours sleeping upstairs on my own. We're probably going to do that more as I won't be staying in bed as long in the morning any more since DH will be back at work soon.

Congratulations @MissisBee @Mj2196 and @SearchingTheSkies

@Busylizzie85 our toddler is like this. DH and I are both average and both sets of grandparents are on the short side but our toddler is tall (his torso is so big we tried him in a 4-5yo t-shirt this week and he's not 3 until August!).

Glad she was reassuring and supportive. My midwives have been really good

@Pegase sorry to hear you're having lots of pain and discomfort. I was like this at first, though without the tongue tie etc. I hope things improve. My nipples took a while but seem fully recovered now and it's a bit easier.

Morning ladies
Amelia-Grace was born 24th june 4.33am 6lb13oz
Woke with pains every 3/4mins 2:10am, waters went at home 2:40am, arrived at hosp 3am & by 4am i was 10cm & pushing 🤦‍♀️ no time for pain relief unfortunately.
2nd degree tear couple stitches due to fast delivery.
Anyone that had a tear how you find recovery, i know it only been a few days for me & shouldn't expect miracles 😂

Morning guys, mind if I join you?
Moving over from the June Birth Club thread. My DS Toby is a week old tomorrow. (It would have been his due date tomorrow).
He's absolutely lovely & I'm sleeping better now than when I was pregnant!
Sorry if I'm rubbing that in!

Congrats @MsMiaWallace @Zoey92

Can't help I'm afraid @Zoey92 I ended up with a section sure someone will be along to help soon are you able to lay on your bed with no knickers on for a while on a towel perhaps I think in general 'airing' anything is really good ? I've been doing it with my boobs to keep them from getting sorer x

Congratulations @Zoey92 and @MsMiaWallace!

I can't comment from recent memory I'm afraid, Zoey, as I only really tore with my 1st, but it did take 2 to 3 weeks at least from what I can remember. I'm sure someone will be along with more recent memories to advice and support better

@Pegase I'm now wondering if we could have a bit of thrush too. At first I thought the fussiness at the breast was to do with a possible fast let down, but now I'm not sure as I've got some pain in my breasts even when not feeding, especially in my right breast and straight after she's fed from that side. She has white in the creases at her groin, which doesn't really want to go away and of course, white in her mouth, though I haven't tried to get rid of that thinking it was just milk. I did ask the doctor we saw about her heat rash on Wednesday about the white in her groin and she said it didn't look like thrush so I don't know.

Thrush spoilt my breastfeeding journey with my toddler so I'm already a bit anxious about getting it again. She's not been settling very well in the last 2 days, except last night due to co-sleeping and one sleep this morning, otherwise she's just had to sleep in our arms.

@Zoey92 I had a really quick labour too and also got a 2nd degree tear. Baby is 3 weeks and 2 days old now and things are finally starting to feel more normal down below but definitely still not fully healed. I bathed in plain water every day (baby came in with me then whilst DH dried and dressed him I topped up the hot water and had a soak for a few mins) for the first couple of weeks and found it gave me a lot of relief. It was nice to feel really clean there too. I also used witch hazel on my pads to help healing which my midwife advised and it was really soothing. I'm definitely still not fully there but after 3 weeks I do feel better x

@HaichMal I have no idea really - I have an absolutely burning nipple on one side with stabby pains. Last night it was so bad it was keeping me awake and bringing tears to my eyes. Could just be damaged but I have been being so careful with using ice gel pads, silver nipple cups etc and not felt like this that I now feel sure some sort of infection must have set in to make it so bad so quickly. Will have to call GP and see what they say.

Have given up bf altogether as a result and now just expressing so feeling awful and emotional about that.

@Pegase hugs have you tried 111 or La Leche League since they work weekends? It might be a good idea to get it seen/treatment sorted ASAP. I'm not at the agony stage at the moment, but I definitely remember it from just the other week when my nipples were really sore so I can completely sympathise. I did not want to breastfeed at that point. Try and be kind to yourself and think positively. If you get some treatment sorted ASAP then you can perhaps try and reestablish soon and at least in the meantime you can express.

@Pegase and @Blizy I empathise so! Unfortunately on our day 5 midwife appointment Grace had lost 17% of her birth weight, so we ended up being readmitted to the hospital for an overnight stay and put on a feeding plan. Initially they wanted me to bfeed and then top up with formula, then they wanted to see how much I was actually producing so I had to express and then give her that followed by a formula top up. Unfortunately I think the stress of everything, including being in hospital without my DH meant I was producing practically nothing. I never really felt like my milk ‘came in’ I never got that rock hard/ engorged feeling they talk about, so it seems I just am not producing anywhere near the amount baby Grace needs.
So after many many tears and lots of anxiety we’ve had to switch to solely formula feeding 😞
It’s been so hard and makes me so sad that I couldn’t give her what she needs, but she is so much happier and more settled now she has a properly full tummy - it’s like she’s a different baby.

@Zoey92 congratulations love the name! wow that is a fast delivery! Mine was a very slow early labour but then it went very quick in the end, baby Grace was 9lb 1oz so I had a third degree tear. I think a few pages back on this forum the lovely ladies gave lots of tips for healing from a tear/stitches.

I have to say the healing process has been so much easier and less scary that I anticipated. The first wee and number 2 are terrifying, but once you get past those it’s actually not so bad.

Make sure to keep the area as clean and dry as possible, I have found using those flushable toilet wipes have been more soothing than toilet paper (especially the horrible hospital TP), I use just plain water in the shower to clean the area, and make sure you’re changing your pads as often as you can.
I was given lactulose by the hospital and it’s been amazing! Helps everything move along so you’re not sat straining which would not be ideal!

But my overall message/advice is it is much more bearable than you think! ♥️

Too many people to tag but i had the same thing @Gigitree i was feeding dd and then 20 mins she was screaming again and drinking 5 ounces of formula. I was exclusively feeding her but she had dry nappies so i obviously wasn't giving her enough and she was lethargic all the time

Since I've stopped feeding her shes been drinking 6 ounces of formula so think she was getting an ounce off me at the most. So annoying as i was expressing 4 ounces at a time in the first week and the amount has dwindled to 1 ounce in 4 weeks. A couple of times I've had nothing and she's just screamed at my nipple. Unfortunately the same thing happened with ds and also my mum and sister got less and less milk despite exclusively feeding.

My son has thrived on formula so trying to not feel too sad about it.