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??

Morning all

Nellie - Blimey how frightening, hope all is better now

LES - Glad you have such a good boy, Ben is better than Sam so far, but things have a nasty habit of changing on you when you least expect it

Well me and Ben have a cold, my throat is killing me, luckily I can take the cold and flu tablets seeing as I am ff. Well I'm not sure whether it is his cold (struggling to suck and breathe I think) or the fact that the colief drops ran out and it was back to infacol yesterday but he didn't feed as well yesterday and was very unsettled and crying all day. I struggled to get 3oz down him at each feed and that was spaced over an hour each time It also seems that every 3 days he is particularly bad which co-incides with him not pooing for a day, he then really struggles to get it out. Other than that things seem to be going ok, I'm averaging 5-6 hours sleep a night, a feed with Ben takes about two hours in all by the time he has settled afterwards, oh for an 8 hour stretch

Had a lovely moment with Sam this morning..... NOT, for once I gave him his bath this morning as he really needed one Came downstairs to see Ben as he was crying, went back up to be confronted with a poo in the bath... lovely

The HV came out yesterday to weigh Ben, he has put on another 10oz's this week, that's a total of 1lb 5oz in three weeks, he is now 10lb exactly.

Ooops gotta go, crying baby again, I wish he would lie nice and quietly between feeds etc, no reason why he should be crying now... bet he stops as soon as I pick him up

hi all

mrsF-happy 3 week aniversary

oh dear about the poo, not the same i know but my cat keeps weeing in her water dish, didn't mind so much when she wasn't spilling any but now she just pee's in the general direction i think, weirdo! think she wants attention!

well, had a bad night last night, Shannon just wouldn't settle, serves me right for being smug yesterday that she was going every 2 1/2 hours, really must get some colic drops or something to try.

have got cleaned up this morning so now need to decide whether to go for a walk to shop or try and nap, hope everyone is ok

Ladies I'd appreciate your help here if you have time! Not read new posts yet - will catch up later but hope you're all well...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/49/412813?ts=1193402288450

J20 - pmsl at your rant after LES's post about off to change another mucky bum and letting your tits hang out!!!! Hope all settles soon honey - can't be much fun not getting rest when dd is on halfterm x

ejt one tip I was given to help Adam suck (actually when was starting bf but works for bottles too) was to put your finger in their mouth and massage their palate until they start to suck hard. Leave for a few seconds until they have a good suck going on then remove finger and insert bottle. Works a treat with us. Good luck!

Nellie - glad they have sorted you out. Antibiotics are fine for bf by and large but they can make your lo more colicky so be prepared! I was on Augmentin recently which contains amoxycillin and another antibiotic - Adam was a little colicky but not as bad as I was expecting so fingers crossed you will be fine.

Can't remember everyone elses posts except the treat of a poo in the bath for MrsF! Just what you always wanted I'm sure!

I have a cold today and don't feel great but not that bad really - Paracetamol are sorting me out.

Off out to meet Choc from the antenatal thread soon for coffee and catch up so might be back later....

EJT; Have you tried "Breastflow" technology from the First Years by Learning Curve bottles (I got mine from Mothercare)..they have a double teat to immitate the breast better than normal bottles. Alex makes the transfer from one to the other and back quite easily..and he wont take a dummy or normal teat at all.

Hi Everyone!
Alex has the darned cold too (so does Dh and me )but he seems to think that feeding continuously will cure him, so has given us almost no sleep for 2 nights now, making my poor boobs (which were recovering) horrendously sore again and he also has broken out in spots (like Mairwen, I think)giving us an idea of what he is going to look like in 16 yrs time, so I'm seconding the request for a cure if anyone has one.
Horrible to say it but despite my fears, we had a great few days while DH was away because my mum came to stay and look after us, which made life so much easier.... she knew just when I was getting tired, when to take him off me and when to leave us alone, she brought me drinks in bed each morning while I was bfing, did all the cooking and sent me to bed early doing the midnight feed herself with ebm to give me a whole 5 hrs sleep!It was bliss! DH tries to help too when he is home but just isn't quite as slick at it..and of course he isnt staying in the spare room so he is as tired as me after one of Alexs' feeding frenzy nights and he has to go to work in the morning rather than looking after me too so doing the late night feeds isnt really feasible...but it was nice having a few days being spoiled by mum
Oh dear he's waking again...I'll try to be back sooner next time

Floria we have all had the cold too! Was given a great tip from a paediatric doc to squirt a few drops of water up each of Adam's nostrils before a feed to clear them so he can suck properly as when his nose is blocked he couldn't. Worked a treat!

Glad all going well for you otherwise

Hi all,
Have to tell you all my friend who had the 9lb 6oz baby 1st time round and was ENORMOUS this time, a week late and was given a growth scan at 40 weeks giving an estimated 8lb 9oz weight....

.......had her baby today, a little girl, a week overdue...

11 and a half pounds!!!!!!!!!
2 hours
3 stitches

.....ain't she amazing????

OMG muppet!

Hope you are all having relaxing weekends. Wil all of us suffering from colds in this house thats not really an option here. Adam had a 3 hour sleep, a 2 and a half hour sleep and a 2 hour sleep last night and settled well in between so I should feel great today. Trouble is he's so bunged up he was coughing and spluttering and shouting without waking all night so I was up and down to check on him. Feel like shite today - hopefully he gets better soon.

BIL SIL and their dd have been up for the weekend - it was great to see them all esp sil out of hospital and doing great. Their dd is a gorgeous contented little girl who is making me seriously think about switching to bottle feeding - so think in many ways it is much much easier. Not the time to decide though when shattered as Adam not sleeping great with his cold. Things that didn't matter so much to me last time like wanting to be able to predict when he will be hungry and being able to see what he is eating matter to me more this time with Sam to look after too. GOing to see hiow things go over the next few days but suspect I will certainly be adding an extra bottle or two in there even if I don't decide to give up completely.

muppetgirl ... ! and congrats to your friend!

alice - do what you have to, girl ... you don't get any prizes for bf ...

Well, I tried alice's finger tip (rather dh did), and I'm pleased to say that it worked!! Mairwen now takes a bottle beautifully!
However, she's feeding pretty much constantly between about 3pm and 10pm - including the ottle of ebm, which I express first thing ... but the upside of that is that she then sleeps for a 4-5 hour stretch (which means I can too!)

Was just sent this in an email - thought you might all appreciate it ...

TO ALL THE GREAT MUMS

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.
'Why?' my daughter asked.
'Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs' I replied.
At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, 'Mummy, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart.'
I was thinking quickly. 'All mums know this stuff. It's on the Mummy Test.
You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mummy.'
We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information.
'OH... I get it!' she beamed, 'So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy.'
'Exactly,' I replied back with a big smile on my face.

tee hee ...

Going to go and have a nap now - dh has taken ds to his cricket game, so I have a free hour - I must spend some of the time sleeping in the afternoons when Mairwen does - I think my milk supply is really low in the late afternoon / evening, which is why she's feeding so much...

love to all - hope colds and general lergy abates soon!

Hi everyone - sorry to hear there are so many colds around. alice and floria you must be feeling pretty crap; hope it picks up soon.

Alice, don't beat yourself up about the b/f thing - do what you need to do. It is so different second time round isn't it? And that's great to hear your SIL is doing so well.

Muppet - your friend has my utter admiration!

ejt, hope you're getting some rest. I think I'm having the same problem with my milk too; aftenoons and evenings are a feeding frenzy!

I ended up back at hospital yesterday with my infection - it was so so painful so thought it best to get checked out. I apparently did the right thing cause it was gaping and full of infection - they wanted to keep me in for a few days for i.v a/biotics and get a scan, hoping I would get a bed in the maternity ward so I could bring Madeleine. But I begged them to let me go home; my DS has only just got back to normal from me being away and the thought of being back on a maternity ward was just too horrible - hot, no sleep, desperate to get home and into a routine etc. So the consultant said if I was determined to go, fine but it has to be checked every day. Have to say, it has got a bit better, less stuf oozing out (sorry - tmi) and no blood now and less painful. But God I could do without it!! The things we do!

Anyway - hope the rest of you are getting rst and having a good weekend.

Nellie and ejt thanks for your supportive messages. Have to say I'm increasingly feeling a lot less bad about the idea of stopping bf. But a big part of me will be very sad if it comes to that - when it works (and it seems to during the night as he feeds efficiently and settles well after) I love it. And this is the last time I get to do it. But certainly know there's more to being a good mum than that and if its stressing me out and restricting my time with Sam then it will be the right decision. Adam tends to have a feeding frenzy in the morning and early evening so I think from tomorrow I'm going to introduce a bottle first thing to see if that helps. Evening I can cope with as Sam is in bed and he has a bottle at about 11. Will see how that goes over the next few days....

Nellie - sorry to hear you have been having trouble with your wound. Hope all continues to get better - getting it cleaned and dressed regularly will be just as important as the antibiotics so make sure the midwife is seeing you regularly for that.

Ejt glad my finger sucking tip worked! Great she settles for so long too despite the mammoth feeding frenzy before the!

Little guy has just woken so off to feed him - might be about later x

HI All (waves hanky from a distance)
Its a good job that the only viruses that can be passed on online are computer ones..you wouldnt want to be meeting us in the flesh at the moment; Alex and I had a bit of a sniffle last week,nothing dreadful just a bit of a cold...DH got back from Sweden late on Weds and by late on Friday had started moaning that he had caught our cold but on Saturday he got much worse than us; bad throat, utterly bunged up, coughing up lumps (sorry tmi)and a serious sense of humour bypass....well over the last 12 hours Alex has got seriously cranky, keeping me up all night sneezing and coughing/cholking being sick after a feed (he almost never parts with any of it normally)and obviously a lot more poorly than he had been and I have started with a dreadful sore throat so I guess DH picked something up on the plane and has passed in over to us rather than him getting our bug...I have some saline nasal spray so will try alices trick next time he fancies a feed but everything else I have in isnt suitable for tiny babies...the Karvol decongestant cant be used until 6 months and even calpol cant be used under 2 months...I feel so useless not being able to help him, poor darling...and his milk spots look worse than ever!
Hope everyone else is having a more enjoyable day than me today.

Floria just to let you know calpol can be used safely in tiny babies. The same paeds doc who advised me about water up the nose said you can give 15mg of calpol per kg baby weight (so 4 kg baby can have 60mg which is 2.5mls of normal calpol). They said it tells you not to give before 2 months as poorly babies before this should probably see a doc. Because of my experience I was happy that Adam only had a cold and nothing more serious so was happy to give it to him. One of those things you would need to decide for yourself but its safe if you want to try it. If you had any doubts about how Alex is better to see your doc as obviously I couldn't reassure you on this without seeing him though...

Sorry that was a bit rambly!!!!

Hope everyone else is doing ok. Our colds seem to be passing and after a slightly unsettled night Adam has been much more settled this am after the formula. Might just be fluke - who knows - but I feel better! And dh took both boys out this am for a couple of hours so I could sleep which was great.

Off down to Durham this pm to pick up a little tikes police car I have bought for Sam from ebay! He is very into neee naw cars as we call them so should be pleased! Its his Christmas pressie but we're going to let him have it now as he will still be too little to understand Christmas and we thought spacing it out a little will be no bad thing!

Just to add that dose of calpol can be given every 6 hours

Hi all

Everyone seems to have colds or worse - I've had possibly the hardest few days of my life. DD woke on Saturday feeling ill - got steadily worse until I took her to see out of hours doctor around lunchtime. She was wheezing and weak - she has asthmam, but rarely suffers with it. Doctor thought she needed observation in the paediatric assessment unit at the hospital. I had to leave her there to go and fetch Huw so that I could feed him. When I got back found out she'd been admitted to the ward. It was painful wathcing the poor child try to breath. By the night, she was wired up to drips, on oxygen and heart monitor in the high dependency unit. God, it's been a nightmare. I haven't be able to stay with her because of feeding Huw - have just been going back and forth between the two of them - feeling super stressed about being away from whichever one I'm away from at the particular moment. Thankfylly, my parents have been great and have been there for Eve while I go to feed Huw. And Dh has been great at looking after the young man at home.

Glad to say DD is much better today, but they're still not letting her home until tomorrow at the earliest.

On the positive side, DH passed his driving test today - he's gone to the supermarket now - we had all but run out of food. So much better now he can drive unaccompanied!

Take care all - thinking of you all when I have a chance

A x

Apricott honey that sounds awful. Really glad Eve is getting better now. Know a bit of what you're going through as Sam had bronchiolitis last december and had to be in hospital on oxygen. That was stressful enough without needing the high dependancy ward and without having to juggle 2 children. Hope all continues to improve and you are managing to look after you too xxx

Apricott - to hear that dd has been so poorly - hopefully she'll bounce back fairly soon.

Rhydian has come down with a terrible fever this evening - he went to the cinema this afternoon with a friend (and his dad), and was very clingy when he got back ... he was in bed sleeping by 6.30 - unheard of! I've dosed him up: hopefully it'll break soon ...

alice - glad to hear things are getting better with you.

FT - you're not having much fun either, are you?

Hoping that all the lergies pass quickly for everybody ... off to bed for me now ... love to all!

Apricott - sorry to hear about your DD, what a stressful time for you, hope she is better and home soon

Floria - hope you are all feeling better soon.

Well its that time of year isn't it, everyone is being ill, I hate winter

I'm off to to the Children's hospital tomorrow with Ben, he has an appointment to check his hips/legs because he was breech. I don't anticipate any problems because he seems to be kicking them about enough

Morning everyone - hope you all slept ok and those who are poorly are feeling a bit better.

Apricot, hope things are a bit brighter with you - my DS is asthmatic so I know how scary it can be and you must be shattered with the too-ing and fro-ing. Hope you manage to get some rest and that DD is picking up.

Mrsfish - hope the hospital goes ok.

Things here are ok - DH went back to work today so just me and the kids from now on! Had lots of oh my god moments yesterday as reality set in, but I think we'll be fine. DS will just have to have less baths and more tv for the next few weeks! Just wish I didn't have this bloody infection - but hopefully that will all start getting a lot better soon. My biggest problem today is that DS is up and wide awake at 5.30 cause of the clocks going back - doesn't help! But hopefuly things will really settle down soon.

right - better go and get more biscuits. I swear, sugar is the only thing keeping me going. Is anyone else still eating rubbish or have you all reverted to sensible eating plans?? Have a good day everyone

Made it on here briefly... Joe has cold/possibly reflux so is not great. Looks like colds are part of the territory with Oct. babies!! DS1 as demanding as ever, but reasonably understanding about bf Joe. Have become even more of a harrassed mother than before!!! Back from France where we were for my sister's wedding. Missed most of it with bf Joe and left when both he and ds1 started kicking off. Definitely feeling a little frayed around the edges. Hope everyone else is doing better!!!

nellie - v. quickly ... I am craving rubbish more than ever now ... think it's becuase I am tired ...

love to all ...

Mump good to hear from you although sorry you're having a stressful time.

Nellie - I am definately still eating lots of crap! Esp cake!!

Mrs Fish - hope your appt with docs went ok today...

Hello to ejt and everyone else!

One handed again! Adam a bit usettled again today but slept pretty well last night although half of that was in with me so I didn't sleep so well. Oh well can't have it all! We registered him today so he officially exists!

Hi alicet - Ben's hips are fine, I was in and out of the hospital in 10 mins, must be a first Ben has slept most of the day today so I expect him to be awake most of the night Off to get him registered tomorrow I love being mobile again, it does mean that DH has taken that to mean he is back at work normal hours now so am pretty much on my own again.

Oh and I am eating crap still too, how on earth I think I am going to lose my baby weight at this rate I don't know. Just waiting for my 6 week check now and then I'll hit the cross trainer

Morning everyone. Mrsfish, glad Ben is all ok and feeing better that everyone else is eating crap too!
We had a terrible night - Madeleine just would not settle to sleep; she wasn't screaming or anything, just wanted to be held all night and would only sleep in my arms. We finally both crashed out in my bed, her in my arms at about 3, only to be woken by her at 3.45 for a feed and then again at 5.30. Then DS was up at 6.30.......I actually don't really feel in a fit state to be solely responsible for 2 kids but this is the reality isn't it?~

Also having problems with my scar - has anyone else ever had an infected scar? I've had a course of a/b's but it is still sore, althought not seeping anything anymore (apols for tmi!) which must be good. Not sure whether the discomfort (which is in one specific place) is to do with recovery from surgery (esp when I'm running around after 2 of them on my own) or it's still to do with the infection. Seeing a GP tomorrow so that should shed some light - to be honest - and I know this is stupid - I am loathe to tell them it's sore in case they get me back in hospital, eps when they can't guarantee that Madeleine would be able to come too etc Really don't want us to be back in hospital. Anyway, if anyone has any experiene of this, I'd love to hear.

Right - I'd better go and find some biscuits to get me through the morning! I'll catch up with you all later