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!

Also like @Blizy i have another child and it was really unfair on him that feeds were taking an hour at a time. Hes been a superstar about the baby so don't want to push my luck!!

@Gigitree I'm undecided on whether to switch just to formula. At the moment I am able to express a lot of milk but due to all the breast pain am seriously considering trying to get my milk to dry up which seems a waste but I just want to feel normal again without all this tightness and engorgement and worry about getting mastitis as I can't express every 2-3 hrs.

Hopefully I will have an understanding GP as I'm starting to feel very down about the whole thing.

@AndddddHerewegoagain it’s so hard isn’t it? I’m a FTM so I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must be with another little one to consider too. At the end of the day my little one thriving is what is best for all of us, and seeing how much happier and more settled she is now just proves formula is what she needs to even if it’s not what I wanted for us.

@Pegase please remember that your mental health is so so important too! I had a very kind midwife say to me yesterday that even just being able to bfeed Grace for the first 5 days means she got all the good colostrum which is the super important stuff and to hold on to that.
Sounds like you’ve done everything you can to keep giving your little one breastmilk and they’ve had so much of the important early stuff so please don’t feel like it’s been a waste if you do go down the formula feeding route.

I’ve now eaten my words from when I was pregnant and even got myself a tommee tippee perfect prep machine.

If I’ve learnt anything from being a FTM through labour and the early days, it’s that you really cannot predict or control how things will go and if you can let go of your ideas of how things would/should be then it’s much easier to go with the flow and enjoy the special moments ♥️

@pegase are you feeding then Expressing?

I was but now not feeding just expressing which is making me engorged all over again so praying that will settle.

@Zoey92 I had a second degree tear as well as an episiotomy. I am 13 days post partum and would say I am basically almost back to normal down below.
The lactulose really helped as passing hard stools in the first few days would've been a nightmare.

@Gigitree its a real juggling act but she's so much easier than my son was

he was born with a cleft lip and palate and really struggled with colic and reflux. Poor kid. Felt like we were thrown into parenting on extreme level. 😂

Oh gosh @andddddherewegoagain that really is being thrown in at the deep end parenting wise isn’t it!?

Thank you to all who replied.
I think I'm still in a daze from labour 😂 i haven't processed it all.
But little one is thriving & going every 3hrs for feeds...i wont jinx it as nightimes shes perfect too.
Midwife coming tomorrow to do heal prick my anxiety is through the roof about it

@AndddddHerewegoagain we had colic and reflux with our first - it nearly broke us!

Morning all - hope everyone managed some sleep overnight.

Thank you for all the tips re: wrecked nipples. The last couple of days I've aired them out, smothered them in Lansinoh before and after feeds, and rubbed in breast milk. This seems to have worked as the blistered/scabby looking bits have nearly gone, and they're feeling much less painful. I was on the verge of giving up as I was in so much pain so this feels like a miracle! I'm on day 6 in case this helps anyone else.

@BabyBird20 I'm glad you found feeding improved over time and that you're now able to wait for your little one to wake for feeds himself. My milk is in now so hoping things get easier.

Saw mw yesterday and baby has lost 9.75% of birth weight. She recommended just sticking with what we're doing, waking every 2-3 hours for feeds. Has anyone else had a borderline large amount of weight loss which rectified itself naturally, without adding in formula etc? I'm hoping it's just due to the c section and milk only just coming in. I'm back there tomorrow so she'll re weigh to see where we go from there. She's a very chilled, slightly sleepy baby (with slight jaundice), but does seem to feed well and goes to sleep very settled afterwards. Starting to feel paranoid that she's actually just lacking energy or something. So hard to tell.

@Pegase Hope the gp can get you sorted on meds today if you do have an infection. Sounds really tough but hopefully today will be a turning point.

Morning guys.
Out of interest where do you plan to go out to on first proper day out with baby? Also how old will baby be?

My DS is 1 week today. I was planning maybe a little venture next week if weather nice maybe picnic with other kids?

@SearchingTheSkies your journey with baby so far seems incredibly similar to mine! I had the c section, awful nipples, late milk and he lost 9.75% body weight! He was also slightly jaundiced and very sleepy to start with which the midwife said was normal for everything he'd been through. We had to do 3 hours max between feeds for a few days, he didn't quite gain enough straight away Cos I was readmitted to hospital really poorly with an infection but once I was home and milk established he gained nicely and we managed to stick with breast. They discharged us last week from midwife when he still had 3.5% to gain! He's still quite chill and sleepy but more alert in between times now and will not sleep anywhere but on me or DH now after sleeping in his crib early days! Argh!! He's 19 days now!

@MsMiaWallace you're braver than me 1 week in! I only left the house for midwife clinic the first 2 weeks! Finally went on a trip to my parents house for the day this weekend and it was fab!! 😍 can't wait to get him out for walks and things now!

@Zoey92 the heel prick is no bother at all. My midwife advised me to put a pair of socks on her in advance so her feet would be nice and warm. E hardly squeaked at all.

@MsMiaWallace we've been out for walks most days since she was about a week old, maybe out for an hour max (park, coastal path type places). We've had my parents round to visit once but not planning to meet anyone else at the minute

@MsMiaWallace we did our first walk on day 5 (I had really bad cabin fever and was desperate to get out for 20 mins) and he goes on a walk most days, weather dependent. I've taken him to our local little village market twice now too which was nice. Only out for less than an hour though. And I've been down to my mum's once where we sat in the garden for an hour. I don't really know where else to go as I don't want him in shops or near too many people, not just for Covid reasons but also because he's not has his jabs yet.

Thanks @SearchingTheSkies - been prescribed antibiotic cream for C section scar which is seeming a bit dodgy and thrush tablet for breasts so hoping some of that has an effect.

Am starting to feel v low so have decided to give up on the bf/expressing definitively. I just can't take the pressure of it and it is stopping me enjoying the baby. Feel gutted to have 'failed' at bf twice now but I pushed on with the expressing for DD1 for too long at the expense of my mental health last time so this time I know I need to step back from it.

@Zoey92 I was advised to feed while the heel prick was done. Just got a raised eyebrow from the babe but no crying!

@MsMiaWallace on day 6 we went to dp parents and had half hour in the garden but I could barely walk 🤣 then Last week( at 2weeks)we had a day out ,we went for a walk along the beach front . Dp took dd on the sand which was lovely for her as she’s been feeling a bit pushed out , I sat on a bench with an ice cream lol

You haven’t ‘failed’ @Pegase you’ve done your damn hardest to try and make bfeeding work but your happiness and mental health is so important and you being happy is more important to your little ones than formula vs boob.
You’ve given baby all the important Stuff from the early days so that is amazing and you should hold on to that.

Sending you lots of love as I know how it feels to try so hard to bfeed, it just didn’t work for us and seeing how much baby Grace is absolutely thriving and so much happier/more settled is all the reassurance I need that we made the right decision to move to formula.

@pegase @missisbee she was no bother at all bless her.
Little chunk only lost 1% of her weight too

She stirred alot last night but didnt do a poo yesterday shes getting her wind up and letting it out other end too.
Any suggestions anyone? Or am i fussing
Midwife was not worried she just said to expect a poo explosion soon 😂

Sorry to post again but don't want to speak to anyone IRL right now. Baby has had diarrhoea today and had to go to hospital to be checked over - just because of age / being pre- vaccinations I hope.

I couldn't go with her as not allowed to drive due to C section so have had to stay with older DD and DH has taken baby in.

Feeling at rock bottom today. Being treated for possible incision infection, thrush and now baby is ill too. Not sure how much more I can take.

@Pegase Sorry to hear that must be awful not being with baby . I hope she is okay and your taking care of yourself as much as possible . Can I ask have you been bf at all & you been given antibiotics for your incision infection ? I have and they have given Jamie horrific wind& diarrhoea also

Oh @Pegase that must be so tough, sending huge love and hugs. You have already overcome so much and it will get better!! Hopefully baby and DH will be home ASAP and all well. Have you spoken to midwives about how tough you are finding it? Don't suffer in silence, they will be able to support you. We're all here too if you need to rant at any time! Xxx

I’m so sorry to hear this @Pegase sending you lots of love! As the others have said please mention how you are feeling to you midwife or health visitor♥️

@Pegase so sorry to hear. Thinking of you and baby x

@SearchingTheSkies my baby didn't poop on day 3, so I called midwife on day 4. When she came over and weighed baby that same day, he was down 10.5%. My milk was only coming in on day 4, so midwife suggested bf and pumping to top up between feeds. When baby was weighed on day 5, he was only down 6.5%. On subsequent visits a few days later, he went on to gain a substantial amount of weight. Was well over birth weight a week after the initial weigh in.
Essentially, milk coming in makes a huge difference. Good luck!