October 2007 - the golden piglets have landed

[Mumpbump]

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

hi everyone!

finally doen my birth announcement!!(its a long one!!)

have finally decided today to give up expressing and to put scarlette on teh pepti junior full time.its beena hard decision because i wanted more than anything to bf,but shes simply not taking to it,she falls asleep when i put her on and sometimes doesnt even latch on and gets stressed with herself.

we need her to put weight on,so it seemed the best thing to do.(was expressing and giving her taht but was taking about an hour to express enough for her feed and sometimes didnt even get enough)

so im sitting here with boobs ready for popping but trying not to think about it too much!!!

hoep evyones ok!!!

hi missbumpy congratulations you poor thing-it is hard, but it gets better, hope you are getting plenty of support?

buffy-you've done brilliant so far! don't be too hard on yourself, once you've accepted your decision you'll feel better, it sounds like the best choice to make for you and lo

well Shannon/Willow has put 9 oz on since she was born 12 days ago, mw said she's a pig!! and that i need to eat more because she's not getting the calories she needs thats why she's constantly feeding. talk about bl00dy contradiction! oh, and still havent decided on the name! will have to by 11am tommorrow.

right i am off to bed, just wanted to reply to you both and send {{big hugs}} to you both

oh missbump-what did you call her?

Thanks J20.

I've been getting some good support and advice on MN.

She's called Rosa

missbumpy - congratulations on the bith of your daughter. I empathise with what you are going through, it is exactly how I was with ds1, I had a full episiotomy too, it took me about two weeks to start feeling normal again so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As regards bf it is torture imo for the first few weeks BUT IT DOES GET BETTER. Nipple shields were my lifeline, without them I would have given up in the first week, also I started expressing so every so often I would give him a bottle to give my nips an extra rest. Of course this depends on your child, luckily Sam took to both very well

Buffy don't be too hard on yourself, at the end of the day you have to do, what is best for your baby

J20 I prefer Shannon, couldn't you have Willow as the second name? Ben has put on 11oz in 12 days so I have a little piggy too, although he is only having between 3-4oz per feed, 6 times in the 24 hours.

Just a quick gee up to all you bf ladies... IT DOES GET EASIER I bf Sam for 5 months but you are tied to your baby 24/7 and the sofa. This is the reason why I didn't want to bf Ben especially with a 2 year old in tow, I just knew I wouldn't be able to cope with it. I did the first 24 hours in hospital and I was intending to do a week or two, but became so sore I stopped earlier. The only reason I am regretting not bf is the fact that I lost weight quicker and my tummy went down quicker, but the benefits I am finding atm are outweighing this. I weighed myself this morning I have just hit the one stone lost mark, so still have a long way to go to get to pre-pregnancy weight, but hey, 9 months to put it on, so at least 9 to get it off, I just need to keep telling myself this. The quicker I can recover from the c-section the better, can't wait to hit the cross trainer

I had a fab night sleep last night, probably the best in 6 months 24 hours in on the colief drops and Ben is so much more settled between feeds, also dh did the 8pm and 11.30pm feeds last night, I was in bed asleep by 8.30pm, he bought Ben in to the moses basket at 12.30am I woke up briefly but then went back to sleep and Ben didn't wake for his next feed till 3.15am (although it was 5am before he went back to sleep - he just seems to have a very awake time about then) I then dozed off again and woke up at 6.45 the next feed. I just feel so much better today, also Sam is at nursery all day so I intend sleeping at some point today too

ANYWAY - YOU ARE ALL DOING A FAB JOB WITH THE BF AND YOU DESERVE A medal

Hi all ...

another fan of colief drops here ... midwife suggested them, and they've made such a difference already!

missbumpy - congratulations on the birth of your baby!
Couple of tips for you - re stitches and such ...

• get some witch hazel and drench your pad in it - it's very soothing on the stitches.

• also pour a jug of warm water over your bits after you've been to the loo for a wee - that really helps too - put a drop or 2 or tea tree oil in it.

• get yourself some lactulose from the pharmacy - it'll help with the constipation / trauma of doing a poo ...

I had a 2nd degree tear this time and lots of stitches, and those things have helped it heal really nicely ... can't even envisage ever having sex again mind!

Mrs Fish - so glad the colief drops are working for you too ...

j20 - Personally, I like the name Willow best - it reminds me of a character out of a film (can't remember which one though!) However, as someone who has named her child with a name that most people have to ask how to say it (!), then I'm probably not 1 to take much notice of!

buffy - so glad to see you back ... your birth story is fab!

alice - hiya - hope your infection clears up soon ... and I hope that Adam's colic settles down - I can heartily recommend colief drops if it doesn't!

Well, I'm anaemic, which is why I've been feeling so sh!t! Need to get hold of some spatone ... Apparently because I bled so much after delivery, and because I've bled heavily ever since (can't wait to not have to wear maxi towels, and polo neck knickers!), then I've sunk into anaemia. Just thought it was me being rubbish!

HV coming this morning - Mairwen had put on 9oz in 11 days last week - let's see how she's doing this week.

Have just expressed for the 1st time (properly) ... dh is looking forward to being able to help out with the occasional feed ... so I'm going to start building up a stock!

Just seen on another thread Lisa has been taken into hospital with gallstones. Baby is with her but she can't b/f as on ab's.

Hope you get them sorted soon
xx

Thanks ejt and MrsFish.

I'm having another bad day DD has decided she likes breastfeeding pretty much non-stop and she's managed to draw blood from my cracked nipple even with a nipple shield on ! I don't know what to do. It just hurts so much. I'm getting better at feeding her on the breast which isn't cracked but the one with the cracked nipple is just agony.

I've just sterilised the pump so I might pluck up the courage to try to express some milk for her to give myself a break.

Obviously I knew that labour would be painful but I don't think it had occurred to me that the weeks after would be so physically painful too! I knew that I'd be tired but I wasn't really prepared for all this.

ejt - I think spatone is a good idea. I was taking it during the pregnancy and I just remembered to carry on taking it the other day. I'm hoping it will help give me a bit of extra energy.

poor Lisa, hope your ok

ejt-think the film is called 'Willow' my brother said the same thing, couldn't remember the name of the film

just a quickie, but i've called her .................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ........................Callie

only kidding, i called her Shannon as Willow is more common in my area apparantly, but my mum reminded me i liked Callie just before i went in to register her, could have killed her!

hope to be back later

Hello ladies!

missbumpy - I would second the nipple shields. Would have given up about 3 weeks in last time with Sam as it was indeed agony. I also found it hard as I hadn't expected it to be so painful - noone tells you do they and it really p*ssed me off as I would still have tried but at least been prepared for it and not felt constantly as though I was doing something wrong. Other tips from me -

Get mw / health visitor to check there is nothing simple wrong with your baby's mouth like a tongue tie. This is unlikely but the reason I mention it is that Sam had a tongue tie and I only found out at about 4 months that firstly they can cause a lot of problems of niupple trauma during breast feeding and also when they are tiny it can be dealt with by swaddling the baby and just cutting it there and then without even needing local anaesthetic. Then you can bf like normal. So something worth excluding even though its not likely.

Like MrsFish says it DOES hurt no matter how well they are latched on for a few weeks but does improve. However have to say I'm using nipple shields this time anyway as I am being too much of a wimp to put up with the discomfort when I know I don't have to and Adam is feeding fine!

Lansinoh cream is also a lifesaver - expensive but worth every penny.

As is this book: www.amazon.co.uk/What-Expect-When-Youre-Breastfeeding/dp/0091856744/ref=sr_1_1/026-4551575-0256424?i e=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192713903&sr=8-1. Lots of sensible no nonsense advice and how to get through the first difficult days. Would probably have given up without it!

Um - have to go check what everyone else said now as my brain isn't good enough to remember!

MrsF - you are doing a fab job of being a mummy too - you have made the right choice with ff and Ben will be much better off with that and a happy mummy!

ejt - glad colief working well for you - will certainly try it but Adam was more settled last night - fingers crossed!

J20 - glad you made the decision in the end!!!

Lisa - thinking of you honey! Had only been thinking last night that we'd not seen you for a while.... J20 are you her text buddy or did I dream that? If not can whoever is in touch with her give her my best?

Missbumpy have also thought it might be worth you calling the NCT breast feeding support line. You don't need to be a member or to have gone to their antenatal classes and certainly up here they are very helpful and non-judgemental - its 0870 444 8708

Well last night I (or rather Mum and Dad!) gave Adam a bottle of formula - he had fed really well from both boobs and was STILL hungry so thought sod it. Mix feeding worked really well for Sam. It didn't settle him immediately but when he did go down he gave me 2 3 hour sleeps with only half an hour between which was amazing. I feel so so much better today. Not going to make it a regular thing yet as the bf for me has been going so so much better than last time but certainly won't worry about doing it again if I need a break or he seems to need it.

Have had a lovely morning - took Sam down to the Quayside to see the river and boats this am with Adam in the baby bjorn and have just had a mate over for lunch. Both boys sleeping now!! This afternoon I have a physio appointment about my stretched to within an inch of their life abdominal muscles and then another friend popping over!

Hope the rest of you are doing OK...

hiyah!!

how is everyone?

just a quickie from me,ive just posted in chat section about a sponsored walk my mums organising next june.its for the cf trust,and my mums set up a website with details (not all finsished yet,shes still got some bits to add!)

just wondering if any mnetters would like to join in (for all or just part of teh walk)the more people we can get involved the more money we can raise for the cf trust.

website address is www.walkforhope.plus.com

(cant do links!!!)

Hi all

Just crashing the p/n thread to say hello!

MissBumpy - everyone seems to say bf hurts for a while. Our NCT class had a bf counsellor in and she really encouraged us to ring her if we need to. Also locally there's something called a bf cafe (no idea what it's like) with bf counsellors going there too, once a week, or something...

Mrs F, the weight will come off! Soon.

Sorry to hear about Lisa and the gallstones. Glad she has Jasmine with her though.

Looking forward to joining you all eventually!

Missbumpy - it shouldn't hurt that much!

Get in touch with your maternity unit where you delivered, and ask to speak to the breastfeeding support worker - they should have one - I had similar problems this time around early on, and ended up going in to the unit for near enough 2 days ... I stopped feeding dd for 24 hours (and expressed) to give my nips time to heal ... and syringe fed her while I was doing that.

Honestly, ring someone ... phone helpline numbers are

Breastfeeding Network: 0870 9008787
NCT: 0870 4448707
La Leche League: 0845 1202918
Association of Breastfeeding mothers: 020 78131481

Don't be put off if you get an answerphone - they're run by volunteers, who may have a child crisis at the very moment you phone!

We need tiktok to help you here ....

Hi all

I'm back!

Just skimmed a few of the last messages - it's good to find out it's not just me who's feeling terrible. I had a good day yestreday -0 nipples seemed to be healing a bit, then went to breast-feeding clinic and came away discouraged rather than encouraged. Now have found lump of milk high up on left breast that doesn't seem to be shifting. Baby falls asleep almost as soon as he's on the breast and I'm worried he's not getting any or enough hind-milk and therefore won't gain like he's supposed to. he also seems to ahve lost the ability to latch on properly. Started fine, but doesn't want to open his mouth wide enough at the moment. I'm goingto try massage and expressing to move that bump in a minute. Might call MW too for advice/reassurance, though every time I speak to someone they seem to give me somehting noew to worry about.

Sorry for me-post. Just feeling v down about it all right now.

Looking forward to things getting easier for us all!

A x

Apricott have you tried removing all his clothing before a feed? With sleepy babies a bit of nappy changing, using cotton wool dipped in cold water, before the feed, and then keeping them dressed in a nappy only, often wakens them up sufficiently to have a good feed. A M/w showed me that trick with my 1st and it's working well with this one too!

Katsh

I haven't tried it, but I will. he doesn't like being naked one little bit, so I can see it working, especially with the cold water change beforehand!

A x

Stripping Mairwen helped us too ... I've been utterly ruthless with her: Rhydian was a real snacker, and I was constantly feeding feeding feeding ... this time, I have made sure that she has a proper feed if she's hungry! She seems to have got the hang of it too ... I also change her nappy mid feed - mind you, that's more because swhe tends to do a poo mid-feed than anything else!

I've taken her into work today to show her off ... the kids were all over us both - even the boys were cooing!

I went to choir last night - we were auditioning whilst rehearsing to go to Dubai to sing at the Dubai 7s ... I wasn't picked, but in hindsight, that's a good thing - we'd be going at the end of November ...

However, I've again realised why I don't join the rugby club, although I have a season ticket: I took Mairwen with me in case she needed feeding, we were in the bar, when the following conversation happened:

Jumped-up Jobsworth: Is that a baby in that pram?

ejt: Yes. (expecting a "how old?" or "wow, you're doing well to be back at choir already!")

JUJ: Well, she can't stay here - we can't have children in the members' bar.

ejt (looking round - nobody else in the bar!) What?

JUJ: You heard me, you'll have to get her out of here, we can't have children in the members' bar.

ejt: Oh, ok ... (wind taken out of sails a bit)

Hmmmm ... am about to get a bit ranty and write a letter of complaint about JUJ toclub committee (one of whom I go to church with!) I can (sort of) understand their stance on a match day, but of an evening, when there's nobody else but the choir and their other halves, reall!

Oh, and a funny story about me in labour that I'd forgotten until dh reminded me last night ...

I was in the pool, and had asked for the gas and air - the mouthpiece wasn't jammed on securely enough, and fell off into the water - dh fished it out, shook it and stuck it back on the pipe thing .... but he hadn't shook it enough - apparently I made a very funny spluttering noise (like a cartoon noise! ) when I took my next breath! Apparently, I looked hilarious ... am soooo glad he didn't share that at the time - I probably would have punched him!

Something else I remembered too ... after my contractions (which were intense, and had me mooing and singing!), I kept saying "ouch" ... midwife said that she found it really bizarre that I (and other women) do that, as it seems so mild a response ....

Also need your help on this

Right, see you later ... am now off to eat chocolate!

Hi there! Sorry to hijack your thread but i was just reading out of curiosity when i read ejt's comment about saying ouch during the contractions - I also did and i got quite annoyed with myself, it is such a mild word to use for that kind of pain but it just seemed to fit at the time. My mum and DH found it quite amusing at my choice of words

hello ladies!

One handed typing so apologies in advance for typos...

good to see you again apricott but sorry to hear you're struggling. i would second the stripping off too - and mid feed nappy change. He still seems to be a little erratic on the feeding but feel overall we're getting there...

Ejt read your other thread and would say that it shouldn't be opening up although you are probvably coming to no harm if its clean and pink and not discharging (like mw said). Fingers crossed it heals soon. Have to say i'm shocked they didn't check before discharging you!

Baby brain is kicking in and can't remember what everyne elsre said!

Life plodding on here... Good nights and bad, enjoying mum and dad's company. And today picked up a plate we made with all of our family's footprints on from dh's size 12's to adam's diddy ones! Its cool! Off to chill now...

just popping on to say hello and typing with one hand, the wrong one too.

have been out for tea and knowing i'd have a drink, fed lo before we went, then again when we got there(much to the horror of some of the funeral party that was being held) and then she had 3 oz of expressed milk too. have now had to feed her again, she'll be ok with 3 g&t's wont she?

ejt-ouch to the wound keeping opening, keep an eye on it.

apricott-i'm struggling with bf too, esp on a night when i'm sooo tired, and she's comfort feeding, ring for help, i will if it doesn't improve soon.

hi to everyone else, off to sort dd1 out

sorry meant to say huge congrats to apricot and little Huw

j20 - she should sleep well! I've had a glass of wine tonight - just the one mis making me feel a tad tipsy!

Good for you feeding when out!

Alice - thanks for the advice - I haven't officially been discharged by the MWs yet, but nobody has even asked about my tear since about day 2! I noticed that that end bit was a bit pink right at the start, but in the general horror of examining my bits, I thought nothing of it ... it's only as it's started bleeding noticeably (it's obviously been bleeding before but un-noticed because of the general other gore around - sorry if tmi ) that I've started to get a bit concerned. I'm still pouring jugs of water with tea tree over myself a few times a day... desparate to keep the area clean.

Right going to bed now - Mairwen has fed pretty much constantly this afternoon and evening - I'm going to take advantage (hopefully) of a few hours sleep!

Hello ladies,

Last night fell apart a bit. Adam fed all morning (and I hadn't had a great night's sleep before that) and then all evening and it suddenly all seemed too much. The responsibility of being soley responsible for feeding and therefore pretty much looking after Adam all got on top of me a bit and I got quite upset. Much better today after decent sleep - went to bed at about 9pm and dh gave him a bottle of formula at about 11.30 so I wasn't disturbed till 3am. Then another couple of hours after that and another one in the morning.

I introduced a bottle of formula at night with Sam at about this age and it worked wonders. He didn't feed as well as Adam does but I think to be honest that thats what I'm going to do with Adam too. It means I have the option to offload the responsibility to other people if I need a break apart from anything else. I love breast feeding most of the time, but doing it all yourself is a massive responsibility and to be honest I don't really have the time or inclincation to express regularly with Sam to look after as well.

Anyway hope the rest of you are doing OK - ejt hope your bits are OK, J20 hope your 2 dd's aren't living up to your name, and hope that the rest of you are surviving...

Oh and I have been drinking a couple of glasses of wine often - my health visitor told me last time that its a bit of a myth that you can't drink while bf as so little alcohol gets into the milk you would have to get regularly pssed for it to be a big issue. Too tired most of the time to consider anything even close to pssed at the mo but enjoying the couple I have been having! Have had a small one this evening and will need a glass of bubbles if we win the rugby - although that will NEVER happen so lets not get too excited!