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??

Thanks ejt. Today's actually been a bit better as a different midwife came who was nicer than the others and she helped DD to latch on and it all seems to be working a bit better. I've given the cracked nipple a day or so to heal now and, although it's still sore, things are looking up.

Ouch about your wound. I've been told mine is "gaping" a bit which I'm not happy about at all but the midwife says that as long as it doesn't get infected it should heal up ok. I hope yours does too.

Alicet - I've rediscovered the joys of wine too. I had a glass last night and a glass tonight. It's amazing how little wine it takes to make me feel tipsy having been tee-total for 9 months!

hi just a quicky now i found you all again.......... how is everyone?????????

I'm ok thanks for asking

Tired but then aren't we all Off out shopping today without kids, can't wait

MrsF enjoy the shopping!

Missbumpy - glad bf getting easier. And yes it is very easy to get tipsy now I agree!

Well I'm feeling much better today. Decent sleep (although predictably fragmented) again last night. Lovely walk accross the park for a coffee this am and chilling at home feeding Adam now while Sam sleeps. Hope the rest of you are having a good day

Hi
Can't believe how difficult it is to get on the computer since Alex landed
He has finally regained his birth weight (12oz in the last 7days!)and been signed off by the mws but is eating me alive!...my poor nipples are in absolute agony....if things dont improve soon I will resort mixed feeding but having finally caught up on all your posts I dont feel so bad about the idea now. My mws had managed to really guilt trip me about even bottle feeding expressed milk saying that Alex would get confused between nipple and teat and go off bfing!..they even disapprove of nipple sheilds because "they dont stimulate the breast enough and could lead to lack of milk in the following days"...I've decided that a Mum who nearly screams when he latches on and is not only no longer enjoying but rapidly going off bfing is less use to Alex than one who uses nipple shields (though he doesnt like them)and isnt dreading his next demand feed...
Is anyone else still struggling with hormones? Dh had to go to Sweden this afternoon and won't be back until Wednesday night, I went to the door to see him off and burst into tears and now feel really guilty for sending him off worrying about me when there is nothing he can do, it is his job, and it isnt as if it is a surprise to me, I've known about the trip for weeks, in fact it was supposed to be a 5 night trip and as luck would have it the last 2 nights got cancelled last week so I get him home sooner...but I still turned myself into the local water works! I'm assuming it is the hormones..or perhaps it is the sleep deprivation...which ever it isnt the normal "me"...
Oh dear, his lordship calls...I'll try to be back later.

Floria the hormones hit me on Friday night so know how you feel!

Plus I fed Sam using nipple shields from 2 and a half weeks till 5 and a half months with a bottle of formula a day. So b*llocks to your mw who says its not possible. Plus as I saw it then I had nothing to lose as I would have given up if it hadn't been for those measures. Hope things get better for you though honey. Will be thinking of you while your dh is away too - it will be hard but he will be back before you know it...

J20 honey don't know how you do it!

Hi all

alice-neither do i sometimes, but i think i prepared myself for being on my own, although i too am struggling with bf, and not even being able to give dd1 a bottle to feed dd2 once in a while is hard, however, my lovely friend had both girls for me last night while i went to a party and i left a few bottles of expressed, i was only meant to be out for a couple of hours but ended up coming home at 1.30am rather tipsy it was a great night though, so good to be allowed to have a drink and see my feet when i looked down, and compliments on my rather great looking cleavage at the moment

certainly paid for it today though, Shannon was having 4 oz every couple of hours last night so i ended up having to feed her through the night too, and she has been wittery and feeding all day and i'm so tired and hung over! definately going to bed soon, love to everyone and keep up the good work

Evening all ... am just on my way to bed!

The one glass of wine is enough to make me feel like I've had the whole bottle at the mo'!

We tried dd on a bottle of ebm last night - not terribly successful - although that may have something to do with her feeding almost constantly from 6.30am to 10.30pm yesterday ... I was exhausted, and so was she, poor love! - will keep persevering though - the thought of dh being able to give the late evening feed while I snooze is enough of an incentive!

My sister came over this afternoon, took one look at me and dh, and took both ds and dd out for an hour - dd was asleep, so we put her in the pram, and ds took his bike - they had a whale of a time at the park! It's times like this when I really appreciate my sister: most of the time, she just drives me nuts!

I had definitely forgotten what a treadmill the first few weeks were - I'm glad I'm not the only one bursting into tears at the slightest thing!

My wound is still gaping a bit, so I'm going to give the MWs a ring back tomorrow, and ask if I can pop up for somebody to check it.

Glad we're all surviving ... in one way or another!

Hi everyone - hope you're all well. Just to say that I am now home with my gorgeous girl, Madeleine Rose was born on Fri and weighs 6lb 8oz (you'll remember we had a section partly due to concerns about her predicted very big size ........she is tiny, a bit too early really but just stunning. Worth every bit of pain I am now feeling as I recover (had bad reaction to spinal and drugs but it was the magical birth I had so hoped for after last time). Hope the rest of you are ok - will catch up properly soon. take care

Hiya All

I feel for all of you who are suffering from sleep starvation lol I imagine it is hard. I am lucky Zachary has his last feed between 10.30 and 11.30 and then sleeps through until 7am. the other day he slept until 8am. He is very alert through the day and very vocal although he doesn't cry, unless he is being changed, he is just so contented and coo's a fair bit. He is gaining weight but must have him weighed soon. He has finally got into new born clothes lol and has also progressed into his crib rather than his pram. He is also bf regularly BUT i have found a formula he gulps down like it is going out of fashion Aptamil, apparently it is closer to breast milk than any of the others so dp and ds1 can help with the feeds now...means i stopped feeling like daisy the cow lol.

Hope you are all ok and I will catch up with you all again very soon, i have amazed myself at just how organised i am with Zachary.....now where did i leave him???????

LES! do you want me to hate you?!

Shannon doesn't know the meaning of sleep, i thought they slept 16 hours in a 24 hour period! i'm lucky if she goes an hour and half between feeds at the moment.

i've got a lady coming on wednesday to make sure she's latching on properly as she doesn't like my left boob and its so hard to get her to latch on on a night, probably because i'm tired.

my hv was here for nearly 2 hours earlier trying to persuade me to have someone to come and help me, like home start i think, but i reckon it would make things harder as i'd want to get cleaned up and feel i should entertain her when she came, even though i know your not meant to.

anyway demon baby calls again, hope your all ok

Congratulations Nellie and welcome to Madelaine!!! Lovely name and delighted you had such a positive experience... I am now 3 weeks down the line from my section and feel much much better than in the late days of pregnancy so you will be feeling fab soon too I expect...

J20 - your post made me remember some advice I was given when I was bf Sam and he refused the right side much like Shannon is your left. My mw said to try the 'rugby' hold which fools them into thinking its the opposite side - thats where you hold you lo under your arm and latch them on from there. Its also good if you are grazed on one side of your nipple as it relieves the pressure on there to allow it to heal. might be worth a try?

LES green with envy that Zach sleeps so well!

ejt - sorry to hear you're feeling emotional too honey. It is hard work isn't it? Your sis sounds like a star though! My parents are being similarly wonderful at the mo - doing Adam's late feeds and getting up with Sam in the morning and stuff...

Well things OK here but struggling with the thought of how I will manage once I am on my own with both boys. Adam currently feeds pretty constantly in the morning and early evening which is just when Sam needs the most attention. Any advice? At the mo I think if this pattern continues I am going to have to wean Adam off the breast as I don't really see any other way that I will manage. Waiting for a week or so to see if he settles down when I stop the antibiotics. Really enjoy bf when it goes well but don't want to neglect Sam... Any tips would be very gratefully received.

alicet - sorry I can't help, its the exact reason I decided to ff Ben, I just didn't think I would cope with the amount of time it takes with Sam around too. I hope you find a solution

MrsFish might well be deciding to take the same route as you. I think whatever time you manage to bf whether for one feed or a couple of years will do them some good and what Adam has had already is great. If he settles back into being a more efficient feeder when I stop the antibiotics then all well and good but if not I won't feel bad about it. If I can manage to keep up a few feeds as breast then all the better. I don't know - maybe in a couple of days all will be better in which case I'll carry on but we'll see. So much more to consider when you have an older one already.

alice-shannon is like that on an evening, feeding, pooing, being sick, feeding, pooing..... maybe introduce just the one ff in a morning? can't really think of anything else, sorry.

thanks for the advice about rugby ball hold, had forgotton about that.

alice-just a thought, have you considered trying a dummy? and my vibrating boucer chair has been a godsend.

btw anyone else using reusable nappies?

alice - the ABs screwed mine and Mairwen's systems up too ... once you're off them, things should settle down after a few days. Mairwen is no longer screaming after every feed (Thank Goodness!)

BUT ... if you decided that you just can't sustain bf with Sam to look after too, then don't beat yourself up about it! I'm fortunate in that Rhydian is at school - I'll have a taste of what you're going through next week when he's on half term holiday!!

j20 - if they are offering you help, then please accept it!
I will be using washable nappies - I'm just waiting for the number of nappies needed to calm down a bit - also for me not to need a clean towel after every shower!! Are you using them?

Mairwen gets very overwrought if she's not in bed by 7pm ... you'd think the world was ending! Mind you, I'd rather have it this way around - she'll now wake every 3-4 hours through the night for a feed: at least I get some blocks of sleep ... I had nearly 4 hours in a row last night - absolute bliss!

Now off to bed ...

Oh, am I right in thinking there's a Rhydian on the X Factor? What's he like? He's not allowed to stay a Rhydian if he's a t0sser!

alice - just a quick one. Don't worry about how you will cope when you are on your own until it happens! Babies change their patterns so quickly everything could be different in a week or two . My dd's were just under 2 yrs apart and dd2 had reflux, so fed, vomited and screamed for most of the 1st 6 mths. Somehow I managed to bf and although at times I felt dd1 didn't get all the attention I'd have given her if she'd been my only one, she is a great girl (now 7) who doesn't seem to have been adversely affected by it! I'd second the dummy / rocker chair suggestions, and also there may be times when you do just leave ds2 in a different room having a cry, whilst you pay attention to Sam. It sounds harsh, but it's ok. Tonight I was baking gingerbread with my girls when ds woke wanting fed - he had to wait 10mins until I had the baking finished, and it was ok. I think it's just how you manage when you've more than one, but it's a bit of a shock with your 2nd, when you never had to make your 1st wait for anything. Hope that helps. I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you all.

Ejt-yes using them in the daytime when i'm at home, mainly because i bought them so i need to get my moneys worth! although it is a little counter productive as she poo's every time i change her nappy so i'm having to change her a lot and quite often its leaking on her clothes because its so runny! what happened to bf babies only pooing a couple of times a week?

re; the homestart people, apparantly they watch the children while you do chores or chill out for a couple of hours, which is all well and good, but when dd1 is at school, usually i can do everything when Shannon is asleep in a morning, and usually grab an hour or so nap in the afternoon, i'm one of them people that just prefers to be on my own in my house, don't like other people messing it up

Hi everyone - hope you're all well. I have a quick question you may be able to help with; Madeleine is now 4 days old, b/fed and still at the meconium stage but today she did a poo which was a lot runnier, still dark green but not any where hear as sticky. (apologies if this is tmi!) she is slightly jaundiced but feeding well so noone is overly worried. do you think the non sticky poo is something to be concerned about??? I thought it was always like tar at this stage....any thoughts and help is much appreciated as I know you all know how much of a minefield the first days at home are! thanks

Hi nellie, Rosie's poo was like that at 4 days too, just before it hit the yellow grainy stage! I think it does lose its complete stickiness before it turns. Hope you and madeleine are well.
Love to all ladies and lo's and bumps x x

I'm a reusable nappy user too;...totbots rainbow bamboozles size 1..Though I have only been using them since Alex hit the 8lb mark as they seemed to drown him earlier and the waterproof wrap acted like a corset on him! Now I have got some waterproof knickers from mothercare which let him bend in the middle better. As to bf babies only pooing a couple of times a week, Alex would like to disagree..a couple of times an hour more like! (well a bit of an exaggeration but every 4-6 hours certainly) I still use disposables when we are out and about and it has been suggested(by mw)that a disposable at night might help him sleep through longer...but in general I'm happy using them.
An for the person who asked about it earlier in the thread (sorry cant remember who)I'm also an "amby nature nest" user too and Alex sleeps brilliantly in it..he has almost no reflux and the colic he suffers during the day is definately better at night when he is in his amby..it has been well worth the money already, settling him to sleep by bouncing it up and down or setting it swinging works like a magic trick!
Oh dear it looks like I'm turning into one of those happy clappy mummy types (on demand bfing, amby and reusable nappy using) ... quick someone pass me the GF book!
Right I'm off to give Alex his 12am feed..hope you all get a good night...except LES who needs a taste of what we are all getting! Good night all!

Hi Nellie!
Congratulations! And Welcome to the world Madeline (really love the name!..it was on our girls list)
As to the poo question; the colour/consistancy sound like normal for this stage to my now expert (a whole 3.5 weeks worth ha ha!)opinion ..if in doubt ask mw but Alex went from tar to green and runny before yellow and grainy...

FT, would just like to say............
Zachary went to sleep at 715 tonight and woke up at 11 for a feed he is no tucked up in his bed sparko........ me thinks i will have another good nights sleep!!! Anyone wanna have me babysit as I am so full of energy????? lmao YOU LOVES ME REALLY!!!!!!!!!!

thanks Floria and HMP - mad to think that I did all this 2 years ago and have total memory lapse - nature is an amazing thing! and thanks for everyone's kind comments about our name choice. To be honest, we really went back and forth with it. It had been our grl;s name forever (family connection) but it just felt funny what with everything going on with Madeleine McCann this summer; just suddenly felt so sad. But we've gone with it anyway and I'm really pleased now. So the positive feedback here helped reassure me! Right - better get on. hope everyone gets a good night.