October 2007 - the golden piglets have landed

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I couldn't find a postnatal thread - not sure if I am just missing it with post-childbirth brain! Anyone else around??

Inzi - your other thread has got Aitch hot under the collar....

Alice- Oliver is 3.9 so he's very slef sufficient in the bath!

I fill up the baby bath and put it on the carpet. Then fill up the big bath. I get Oliver undressed and he gets in the bath. I then undress and bath Henry. I dress Henry and VERY quickly wash Oliver's hair. Then Oliver gets out and dries himself. We go into Oliver's room where I then b/f Henry while Oliver gets his bottom half dressed and I then help him with his buttons -while making sure Henry doesn't rip a nipple off if I stretch over to far!! I then read Oliver his 2 stories and Henry is quiet while he feeds. Tuck Oliver in then go into the living room and put Henry straight to bed. He lasted 25 mins last night and has done 25 mins so far with only a little shouting. I didn't bath Ollie tonight but I will do Henry from now on so he gets used to the routine we set for Ollie.

choc - wow! that isnt much sleep is it? i was worried marcy was sleeping too much to start wth cos she sleeps so much more than my other two, so i was ocnstantly prodding and poking her to wake her up, but now i just let her sleep when she wants to and she is a much happier bunny!!! have you tried (prob stating the obvious here, but) just putting rebecca in her room or somewhere quiet after she has been awake for about 2 hours to see if she just drops off on her own. i know it prob sounds daft to you, but i REALLY believe that babies can get overtired and get really worked up and then never get off to sleep. none of mine could ever stay awake for more than 2 - 2 1/2hrs at a time without starting to get overtired. just a thought!!! otherwise, take comfort in the fact that she is obviously VERY intelligent and just wants to take in everything that is going on around her all the time and not miss out by sleeping!

inzi - i agree that it sounds like it could be trapped wind. if i give marcy a bottle and wait till she pushes it out, i then try and wind her but sometimes she seems frantic for more but wont take it, so i lie her down on her back for a few mins (and she normally screams) but then when i pick her up she burps and then is happy to take more milk.

choc- i have just read alices post, she said rebecca is a very contented little girl! fab! dont worry about the sleep!!! who needs it anyway!!! sleep is over rated!!

alice - you are lovely aren't you!??!! you can operate on my boobs any day!!!

Hello all

Gemma, Kitti, Stefka, everyone, sorry you're finding it hard. I would be the same but my DH is brilliant - he has much more patience than me and gets up willingly a lot at night. I agree it's really hard and even given that amount of support I was ready to cry at 5 pm today when I realized that Rebecca had gone all day with just the 20 mins sleep Alice witnessed and I really wanted to sleep and couldn't because she was wide awake and carousing. She hasn't slept since, either, for more than 15 minutes. We've tried putting her in her basket in our room, Greedy - she is good and doesn't cry for a while, but eventually she does and she doesn't sleep. I rang my mum earlier and she said basically I never slept either and didn't seem to need sleep. So I suspect Rebecca just doesn't need sleep much - problem is that Mummy does!
For all of you struggling with unhelpful DHs - have you thought of going out for a brief while and leaving them to cope?! You could express milk if you're bf and just walk around the block or whatever...
Also going out: Gemma, you had a section, didn't you, that makes it harder because you're less mobile. I am scared to go out for very long because I can't bf in public without a pillow (well basically I can't bf without a pillow fullstop!) so I feel the same in some ways - maybe try making little trips, just to the supermarket or even just a walk round the block? or a car-ride? something small?

I echo Alice and Ejt: we're all trying and we all end up making decisions we mightnt have wanted because los don't do what it says on the tin and we're all exhausted. But that's what life is like and we're all doing our best.

Dal - sorry to hear about the cracked nipples when expressing - you are doing so well - I wouldn't manage through cracked nipples!

Alice, thank you so much for coming and bringing a delicious lunch and being so nice! And for your present for Rebecca and for the jeans, which are really comfy even post-section: thank you! I can go out looking a bit decent now! Sorry Adam didn't care for his jabs. He's so cute! really lovely.

Am trying to relax with a glass of wine while DH entertains our unsleepy daughter (at some point she will sleep..! she must sleep...!) and sending you all happy vibes from here. Mantra: we are all doing as well as we can...

Choc you are doing bloody great. I would be going insane with such little sleep. I was serious about the offer to come and take her out sometime...

Greedy thanks for you kind words. And I hope I never have to operate on your boobs because I hope you don't need it!! . Glad Marcy seems so content. Choc was great with her little girl too - very calm, putting her down to sleep, cuddling her, everything. Rebecca barely made a noise - just wouldn't sleep!

Agree with Greedy that if she's happy she prob doesn't need it. I read somewhere that some babies get by on catnaps rather than longer sleeps. Prob is YOU getting the sleep! Take all the help you can get to give you a break during the day I would say - get dh to take her for a walk tomorrow and Sunday between feeds so you can get some sleep. Good luck!

hey everyone, tried expressing again, managed to get about 5 drops from one side and only a hint of milk from the other side, just a tiny drop that wasn't big enough to drop off my nip, was gentle with that side though cause of the crack, am encouranged by the 5 drops though so gonna express every time ds feeds and see if it improves, had a god milk supply before so hopefully i can get it back... I really sympathise with those of you who's dh are not hekoing enough, like choc my dh is brilliant, helps with everything and even does more than me sometimes but he takes the attitude it's the least he can do after watching me go through labour! Even though my dh is so helpfull i still get overwhelmed/tired/emotional so i really hope those of you not getting enough support get some more soon .
Polarmummy - have tried rugby hold, lying down, sat up and several combinations of pillows, all seem to be roughly the same for me regarding pain levels but thanks for the advice glad it worked for you . Hope everyone is coping ok, starting to look forward to christmas with our little angel ...catch ya later

Hi All!
Good on you Dalrymps for persevering. Have you tried gellonet to help healing for the cracked nipple? I hope your flow increases soon...personally, I seemed to have very little milk at first (Alex slept a lot)and so expressed a drop or two every hour or so, within a surprisingly few days I was dripping ( sorry if tmi )

Question for anyone who can answer; Alex was midfeed last night, sucking for Britain,and suddenly mid-suck he threw everything back up...the sickness took him by surprise too..it made him choke, came down his nose and went everywhere (sorry tmi again)....could it just have been a sudden bout of wind thaat could be avoided in future by more frequent winding or could this be the start of reflux? Any suggestions?
As you say..you think you have everything sussed and then they change the goal posts!

got to go...my lord and master calls again xx

Hi All - just tried to catch up on the last couple of days but have already forgotten most of it!

Those having BF probs - I really feel for you as I've been going through the same sort of thing. The midwife came today to weigh Jacob again and he's gone from 8lbs 2oz to 8lbs 11oz in 1.5 days! The midwife says she thinks that the last midwife's scales must've been wrong because he can't have put on so much weight in so little time. If that's the case, then I'm really annoyed that such a stupid error could have caused us (well mainly me!) so much upset. However, I'm HUGELY relieved that J is back to a good weight and I can start breast feeding again...tried today and don't seem to have to much problems although am still expressing so I can top him up until he's at least back to birth weight..

xx

That's really bad collywobbles! I am glad he is ok though.

I am going to try and go to bed. Fingers crossed I get some sleep! Wishing you all a good night.

FloriaTosca - thanks for te advice re expressing, gives me some hope. My ds once has done the mid fed vomit through nose/choking thing a few times, usually just when he's sallowed funny combined with trapped burp, happened more on ff but did once happen after a bf too, he also choked a few times during me bf him on his favourate boob but the bf councillor said this was jsut cause of a fast let down relfex and is nothing to worry about, maybe that was it, fast let down made him choke a bit then just threw it up? hope that helps but thats just my experience so may not be the reason at all? All i know is it scared the s**t out of me and dh when it happened but we've hardened up to it now, till the next worry!
Stefka - know you'll be in bed now but hope you get/got some good sleep , ds due his last feed before bed now so better go prepare it, catch ya later

Colly glad Jacob is OK.

Muppet meant to say earlier thanks for letting me know how you manage with 2! I guess its probably a bit easier as Ollie can help. Sam is pretty good once he's in his bath but very definately wants a cuddle and book before bed - would eb difficult to look after Adam then too... Will have to see!

Dal - good luck restarting bf...

Floria - I wouldn't worry about Alex being sick just the one time. Its probably like you say - a bit of wind. If it keeps happening it could be reflux although my undxerstanding of this is that its more commonly frequent small vomits after a feed rather than enormous ones like that? Can't claim to be an expert though - good luck!

Well last night I did Adam's late feed and got Sam up this am while dh did the rest of Adam's feeds (like CHoc and dal I am very luck y to have a lovely helpful and supportive dh - don't know how I would cope without him!). Sam has been sleeping till 7 / 7.30 lately only this am he only went and woke at 6!!! Gutted!

Anyway off to play with him now....

Morning all. Sorry to hear you had an early start Alice - it is horrible when you think you have got them into some sort of routine only from them to decide to change it.

Floria - hope the sickness was a one off. Dareh was sick right on my boob once - not nice. I think he got to excited and was guzzling too quickly.

I had two pain free feeds on my right hand side - was delighted and thought I had it sussed on one side at least. This morning it hurts again and I really don't know what I am doing differently. It's driving me insane!

I was back on the sofa bed last night. I don't know how my DH sleeps through his own snoring - it's so loud! He has a cold right now which is making it worse though. This morning he finally suggested that he be the one to move to the sofa bed!

Had a good night though - Dareh went down at about 11ish and didn't get up until about 6:15. He woke me up at 4 squeaking for about an hour but I think it must have just been wind as he didn't wake up. He's noisy when he has wind - he's a noisy baby.

Morning all

Well my little Henry managed 1 1/2 hrs in his bed last night after our new bedtime routine wehay!!

I did the bath, story bed thing and got him in bed for 7 and he woke up at 1/2 8. Hope tonight goes as well

I fed him at 9 then went to bed and dh did the 10pm feed -he had 6ozs after have a boob only an hour before- boy does he cluster feed in the evening. Dh did the 2 oclock feed and then I fed him at 5am so not to bad a night really.

Are having breakfast with Ollie which is lovely to have him to myself as dh is still in bed with Henry -recovering from the late feed as he puts it We are going to Oliver's schools' christmas fair later and are then going to the jewellers to sort my wedding ring our that had to be cut off when I was expecting H. Are also going to look at necklaces for my christmas pressie as dh really tries when it comes to jewellery but mostly misses the mark completely with my taste!

Hope all of you had better nights with b/f, plenty of water and plenty of rest. Try to cut out the stress and leave the tidying to those men of ours.
x

Stefka -glad your man has seen sense about him sleeping on the sofa!!!

Good luck with the nips today
x

Yes I am glad he has seen sense too! It was such a hassle moving myself and Dareh into the other room.

My DH works over the weekend too so I am still stuck with the tidying up unfortunately. I managed to get a bit done though so I am pleased.

alicet - I haven't tried the normal cow and gate, but the comfort one is supposed to be more easily digestible for them

Thanks for the reassurance...though Alex has been very colicy from day one, he isnt a very sicky baby, so it was as Dalrymps said, very scary...and messy, (I had to strip us both off where we sat, wipe off the sofa as best I could and jump into the shower with him)It hasnt happened since, so hopefully it was just fast let down, guzzling too much and trapped wind...I just hope it doesnt happen again, I'm not sure the washing machine can take it!!!

Those suffering from painful boobs; I just want you to know that when they say things get better at 6 weeks it is true, though Alex is now 9 weeks it has taken me 'till now to realise it...I got through by telling myself if I did 6 weeks I'd be happy I'd done my best..then upped the ante to 8 weeks..now I'm aiming for 12 but it looks a lot more achievable than the next 24hrs did back in the first few weeks when I seemed not to be producing enough, was suffering from mastitis and horribly painful nips. Hang on in there if you can, those of you who are suffering at the moment...it will pass.

Sleep for us is a different matter though Alex was fantastic last night, had a big feed at 8pm, topped up at 10.30pm and then slept until 3.30am! That is a record for us ! DH did an ebm bottle with him then so that I could have my first decent nights sleep in 9 weeks, though he only took 4oz and then took a while to go back to sleep but he then didnt wake untill 6.35am....the only problem with him going so long through the night is that I needed get up to express

Anyone elses lo suffering with colic? We seem to be helping it with a combination ofcolief drops, massage and...here is the controversial bit...holding out over a potty! The mw/hvs dont approve which is why I havent mentioned it before but I have been doing it a few weeks now, doing a nappy change when we come to the natural change sides/winding half way point in a feed but before I put the clean nappy on, I hold Alex in a sitting position over a potty for a few minutes to help release any wind... but already he has got the idea of having a bit of a push to relieve himself just about every time we do it...it is quite amazing...where I was using 12 (or more) real nappies a day, now we are down to less than 8 (I can now see how my Mum had me and my brother out of nappies at 9/10 months!)... but more importantly Alex isnt suffering half so much with colic...just thought I'd pass this on to anyone interested in giving it a go.

Stefka - glad you've managed a couple of painfree feeds. Also at Dareh's sleeping!

MrsFish might have to give that a go then! What size teats are you using as I remember you said its thicker than normal...

Floria - glad you've found a way to manage Alex's colic! Never heard of using pottys this early - where did you find out about that and why do the mw and hv disapprove? I would say sod them if it works - who cares if its controversial?

Both boys asleep at the mo - one in his bed, the other in the hugabub so having a calm moment!

Alice, your Adam is amazingly good at going to sleep in the Hugabub!

Stefka, I would have insisted on DH going to the sofa ages ago! You are brave. Glad you're having some painless feeds and glad he has decided to decamp to the sofa...

Floria, I'm amused by the potty idea! It sounds mad and yet I can't see why mws/hvs wouldn't approve... it doesn't sound like it would impede anything...

I confess I lost it last night. At midnight DD still hadn't slept apart from 20 mins max when Alice was here yesterday and max 15 mins similar later in the evening. DH took her out in the car at midnight, she went to sleep, woke up as soon as he stopped the car, and yelled. She was massively overtired by then and determined to stay awake. I was hopeless - by then I was shattered and angry and couldnt think straight. I was on the net looking up insomniac babies and there was nothing about babies just not sleeping at all, it was all about routines. I dont mind no routine - just wanted a little bit of sleep! Anyway DH persevered and I lay in bed and couldn't sleep because I could hear her crying but couldn't bring myself to go to them either because I was so zonked. Eventually she went off just after 2 and managed to sleep till 5. I was so relieved at those hours sleep that I really enjoyed the 5 o'clock feed, sitting watching rubbish on TV at the same time... I felt bad this morning for being so negative last night but I was just so tired!

Today we've been out in the car and she has had a nap, a good nap, hallelujah. I've stocked up on easy food from M and S and got a free bottle of Cava. Life feels easier! Oh and I had more of Alice's lovely food for lunch which also helped.

OK, feed time now. Hope you're all having a good Saturday!

I am not surprised you lost it with so little sleep. I am so thankful that Dareh is such a good sleeper. I don't think I could cope with pain and no sleep. Have you thought about a sling? I have a coorie sling and Dareh falls asleep as soon as I put him in it no matter what state he is in. I think because it reminds him of being in the womb. Glad you got a bit of rest - enjoy that lovely food!

She likes her Hugabub but she doesn't go to sleep in it Stefka... she just looks up at me with her big wide eyes... she's gorgeous though so I forgive her her insomniac sleep terrorism. Oh and she has napped today. So she is improving!

Hi all!

Floria- I have heard of using a potty early on as my Chinese friend does with her little boy and says most chinese people do. It was amazing to see, she put him on the potty and he just went for a wee...he must have been less than a year, 6 months? Apparently the Victorians used to do it too as, those with boys will tell you -I'm not sure about girls- as soon as you take the nappy off and the fresh air gets to their bits then ooooooo they need a wee. It saved on the washing of nappies.

Choc/Floria - Ollie had bad colic when he was little and I remember the only reason he slept was he had worn himself out crying. He didn't sleep at all during the day. (I remember one woman telling me that was a sign of intelligence to which I remember replying 'I don't care if he's intelligent, I just want him to sleep' She looked at me as if were a nutter ) The colic seems to go on forever but I can honestly say it will stop. With Oliver he was colicky on the Tues at baby group and then on the Wed he just stopped. Just like that. From then on he had a nap in the morning, one in the afternoon and carried on sleeping all night. Nothing seemed to console him we just had to wait for him to grow out of it.

Well, we went to Ollie's Christmas fair and it was packed. I felt very uncomfortable and closed in so we didn't stay long. We then went out to luch and had a 2 course meal -get us!!! I even b/f Henry halfway through whilst eating my chips. My wedding ring is being fixed and have picked out a lovely necklace from dh for me for Christmas so all in all a really good day.

Ollie hit the pesky Jack Russell with a wooden coat hanger to which the pesky Jack Russell growled back at him so Ollie is now upstairs after having been told off and now the zoo trip tomorrow is again under threat. -I told him to put the hanger down and not poke the dog but he ignored me and did it right in front of me!!!!

Have nearly finished writing the Christmas cards and now have the mamouth task of finding peoples' addresses and writing a catch up to those I haven't spoken to since last Christmas!

Take care all,
x

Choc - You have one independent lady there!!
Henry loves his hugabug so much I have to be careful when I use it so he's not awake at the wrong time!

alicet - I am using number two teats on the bottles

Ben had his best night so far, a feed at 6.30pm then he slept till 3.30am didn't capitalise on the sleep though as Sam woke at 12.30 having thrown up all over himself and his bed changed it all, cleaned him up, settled him off which took till 1.30am and bless him he did it all again poor thing, finally got to bed at 2.30am before waking again to feed Ben.. Not sure what the matter was with Sam but he is as right as rain this morning.

Just need put Ben's last feed off a bit till about 10pm now and he should go through till 7am I tried a dreamfeed the night before, feeding him at 11.30pm and he went till 7am but it was a very unsettled time between so I didn't get much sleep. He definitely sleeps better the first part of the night from 6.30pm onwards

He has slept loads today though, I hope he will still sleep tonight

MrsFish sorry to hear you had a rough night - soul destroying when the lo's sleep and you still don't isn't it? Glad Sam better this am though.

Choc not surprised you lost it - was surprised at how well you seemed to be coping to be honest. I don't think anyone should worry about losing it from time to time - this is the hardest job you could ever do (although admittedly the rewards are also far greater). Glad she seems to be sleeping better today...

Lots of hugs to the rest of you x

We have had another pizza express night. Dh is all smiles because Arsenal just beat villa and I don't feel too tired despite a pretty rubbish night last night! So all good! Tonight dh is doing the late feed and getting Sam up in the am - I think after doing it last night thats the harder option even though Adam is more unsettled in the early hours - I cope better with being unsettled in the night but being able to have a lie in. We'll see anyway!