December 2007 - Santa's come early for some of us...

[Housemum]

Thought I'd start off the new thread as I've never started one before - congratulations to those of you who are on here now - hope I'll be joing you in the not-too-distant future!

My boobs are softer too, although are still much bigger than usual. Also had some smiles here but am just convinced it?s wind!

Sorry MM, congrats on little Ediz, Sure you?ll be on here to tell us all about him!, and good luck lizzer for hospital apt.

We?ve put DD into the nursery now, the little grunts and snoring was keeping me awake and this morning I feel so much better for it, after the 2am feed she slept until 7am. Has anyone else shifted their babies into their own rooms yet or am I just very cruel!

Have started to think about it Ambi, but will prob wait another couple of weeks yet before shifting her out (she is 2.5 weeks now). I think at about 5 weeks is pretty reasonable. We moved DD1 out at 7 weeks and realised we should probably have done sooner as she immediately started sleeping thru from 11pm to 6am

at those with babies that sleep longer. Actually had a better night last night as DD2 slept from 9:45pm to 1:45pm, which is the longer stretch she's ever slept for.

Going to ask HV today to watch me BF and see if she can help determine what all the tugging and twisting is about...

Good luck lizzer!

Ambi - we put dd in nursery from day 1 and so glad that we did, she is soo noisy. Had to turn the sensitivity on the monitor down because she grunts and mumbles so much!!

She is generally sleeping through the night now (she's 5 weeks old), from 10pm-ish to 6/7am-ish. Don't know if this is anything to do with being in her own room?

Ambi - We are going to put Ethan in the nursery in a couple of weeks i think. He's sleeping in the moses basket in our room and he's sleeping fine, the only reason we are moving him so soon is that he's running out of room in the basket to have a proper stretch out his arms hit the side and sometimes wakes him up.

Well a slightly better night last night, in as much as ds didn't need to be paced up and down for hours and settled after his feeds, even if it was mostly just catnaps. The downside to that is that he has been attached to my boobs ALL morning from 5.30ish and I have only just managed to have a shower! Still I'd rather big feed fests than big scream fests-at least I get to sit down/doze while he is feeding!

Ambi DS will be in with us for the forseeable future mainly because he will have to share with dd. Don't want to disrupt her by going in and out for the night feeds, but then again if he is like her he'll still be having night feeds at 19 months so perhaps I shouldn't put too much on that! I need her to get used to the idea of going into her bed first too! DD is such a light sleeper I'm really dreading when they have to share but maybe it won't be as bad as I'm anticipating...

Amani - Martha very rarely sleeps for more than 3 hours at night, but when I spoke to the HV about this she said that was good for a 5-week-old fully breastfed baby so don't worry too much. I feel as long as she is settling quickly after feeds (which she has done for the last few nights, while she has been swaddled in her Miracle blanket), I can cope with feeding every few hours. You will probably find that many of those with babies who are sleeping longer at this age are bottle fed.

BTW she also twists and turns on my right breast - have no idea what that is all about but it could be the positioning (ie she likes to hold her head one way so only one boob feels comfortable to her) so am going to try feeding her in the "rugby ball" hold on that side for a while.

Our baby snuffles, gruffles, whinnys, turns etc while she is settling at night so might have to move her into her own room sooner or later. Trouble is, that means I have to sleep back with my dh and put up with his snoring instead not sure which is worse!

BTW we "did the deed" about 4 weeks after the birth - can't say it was the most wonderful experience of my life but felt good to be getting back to some sort of normailty and I think DH was grateful!

Martha has been smiling for a week or two now (she is five and a half weeks old) - her whole face lights up, it's lovely. Mostly at me - I guess instinctively she knows she has to please me over everyone else as I have the boobies.

Claireybee - sounds like you are having a tough time of it. I do feel for you, it must be tough as you have your dd to look after as well. I hope things start getting easier for you soon - if he is colicky it's meant to peak at about 6 weeks so hopefully soon.

Hollybobs - sounds like you might be experiencing the 6-week growth spurt, when they often want to feed a lot more and won't settle so well. I wonder if we're getting that too - she had been feeding quite nicely every three hours but today it seems to be every two-hours and she still seems to want more....

Thanks Clara, it is wearing when he just won't settle but there does seem to be a slight improvement (also where I am starting to distinguish between the cries). Am thinking of taking him to the cranial osteopath because he just seems really tense all the time, is difficult to settle and only catnaps rather than going into a deep sleep. Hopefully that will help but if not at least I'll have tried. Have always regretted not taking dd when she wouldn't lie on her back-who knows, she might even be sleeping through now if I had!

Mostly feel bad for dd because I feel like I am always rushing doing stuff with her (even changing her nappy etc) because ds is crying! Also where he is so sensitive to sound if I have finally managed to get him to sleep I'm always telling dd to be quiet (solved slightly by putting him upstairs to sleep but house is not at all soundproof!). Not really fair on a 19 month old and I know I should be getting him used to noise but otherwise he just doesn't sleep and I can't do anything. At least I am taking her to toddlers/out for walks in the mornings (apart from today when he was attached to me) so she gets to let off steam then. Also I am making a real effort to play properly with her when he is sleeping so hopefully she isn't feeling too neglected. Just don't look at the state of my house, something has to give and I'm afraid the housework is my least priority!!

Am also going to try the cradle hold in my sling again-he hated it before but if I can bf whilst wearing it it will make days like today easier!

having a bad day - ds1 has been at childminders for 2 days so all I had to do was sleep, ds2 has refused to settle - I'm so bored of being at home, pacing the floor, am far too tired to have him in the sling constantly because quite frankly how the f**k does that help me catch up on my sleep, I domn't want to be on my feet all day - to be honest I've just cried most of the day - this sucks....

loucee - took ds2 to chiro as it helped ds1 after his immunisations, ds2 was born pigeon toed with a kink in his spine so it was reccommended this time

Oh and venting on mumsnet also helps me to cope with it! I know my posts tend to be a bit moany but it does help me so sorry!

Insy I know exactly how you feel-am usually ok during the day but it's the nights where it gets to me. Sorry you are having a bad day, hope he sleeps well tonight for you. The sling is brilliant but there is only so much pacing you can do before you fall down with exhaustion isn't there? What time does your dh get home? Will he be able to relieve you for a while? I find if dh takes him for even 20 mins it really helps me (and the little bugger usually settles far quicker for daddy anyway!)

Oh well HV was not very helpful - asked about the tugging and twisting and mentioned that DD2 only feeds for about 10-15min frequently and she said 'it all sounds normal'...

oh and DD2 is also slightly 'tounge-tied' and will need a further follow up at the six week check up.

Got a text from MM - she's struggling with BF too.

Hey everyone, sorry to hear of your los who don't settle or are feedin constantly - can sympathise as ds is like this at times as well!
Visited a friend who's ds was born 4 days after mine, but weighed in a 9lb 2oz, he's massive compared to Daniel!
Off to the docs tomorrow to get my dodgy left foot looked at again.

hi all,
sorry to hear of struggles- it seems to be so variable day to day, eh?

millie has been a joy today- she has a new noise- a 'coo' when i am talking and she is smiling loads. colic- pah! i am now pretty sure it was/is trapped wind and she is so much better- although she still hates burping. took her to work and she was so good- iwas so proud.

Incy hugs. is there any way your DS2 would stay asleep in the sling if you prised it off you onto your bed? thats what I had to do with DD - sometimes worked. How about lying down to feed him to sleep does that work? Really feel for you, definitely need your DH to take DS for a while when he gets home, you need a break.

Amani - sorry to hear HV couldn't give any more info on the tugging. DS has done it twice today and each time I've removed him and walked round with him over my shoulder and he's let off a huge fart then the next time it was an almighty burp. Both took about 15 mins to come out so I'm convinced ours is a wind prob.
Does your DD do this at every feed? How about phoning a BF councellor? One might come out to your house?

Suey - glad the colic has gone.

Bouncing - didn't know you had a bad foot, hope everything is ok?

DS has been really sleepy today but we've stayed in all day except a 15 min walk. Please someone reassure me it's ok for a 3.5wk old to sleep a lot some days? He's usually awake for a good 1.5 hours in the morning but today just went straight back off. I am super paranoid given his start but he doesn't appear to have a temp or look ill it's just the sleepiness (he is easy to rouse though).

Loucee -I did something to my foot when I was 7 months gone, feels as though there is something loose there, gp suspected my arch might have partly collapsed, but without an x-ray (which they wouldn't do when I was pg) didn't know what. Thought it might be pg related so was advised to wait until after ds born and see if it cured itself, if anything it is worse, so can;t walk very far as it hurts!
Suey2 - Awww makes all the hard work so worth while!!!

Ds (3 weeks today!!!) was quite vocal this morning and he has been so alert today, and I think I got a smile, probably just wind as it is early but his eyes kind of creased up as well! He is just so adorable! Nanny has him at the moment and he was staring at her so intently. His eyes follow me around as well
Spoke to DH he is missing us soo much! I miss him too, can't wait until he comes home tomorrow.

Well another bad night... just when I thought we were getting somewhere!!

DD was awake from 2pm yesterday afternoon, she kept falling to sleep but then would wake up and just start screaming (before she'd even opened her eyes!) She threw up all of her 7pm feed so fed her again at 8.30pm and tried to put her down. She managed till 9pm and then just started screaming her again. She settled down about half ten & we thought she was asleep for the night but then she woke up again at 11.30pm screaming. She'd been sick over her sheets & had to change her as her clothes were sopping . Gave her another feed but she only took 2oz, threw quite a bit of it up and then went to sleep. Woke up at 5.30am this morning. She's taken her feed & seems fine but I'm worried that she's coming down with something. DH reckons she just worked herself up so much crying that she made herself sick .

She only had one poo yesterday and I know that she gets cranky when they're not regular so wonder if it was tummy ache upsetting her. Does anyone have any cures for constipation? HV recommended squeezing a slice of orange into some cooled boiled water but I'm not really comfortable giving her that - isn't citrus fruit acidic? Surely that's not good for her little tummy?

Sorry to hear of everyone elses struggles, I can totally sympathise. Just keep telling myself that this WON'T last forever!!

Holly - sorry to hear you had a bad night! Citris fruit can make poos runny hence your HVs suggestion. Not sure what else to suggest!
Is she ff? If so maybe just giving her some cooled boiled water? Hopefully someone else will come along with better ideas, I heard prune juice is supposed to be good.
Well ds managed to fool me into thinking we would have a good night!
I took him up to the bedroom at 8.30, changed his nappy, got him ready for bed and fed him. He was still wide awake though, so I tried putting him in the Moses basket anyway. He stayed very quiet so I went downstairs, not a peep out of him - went to bed myself at 10pm, he was out like a light! However he woke up half an hour later, and then proceeded to want feeding for the next hour and a bit. Eventually put him down and he went to sleep, and got a good couple of hours asleep until he next woke up. Then for the next 4 hours was feeing every hour, not really settling, so I was only getting sleep in 5 min bursts! Fed him at 4.30, was rocking him to sleep and must have fallen asleep with him on me because next I knew it was 5.20!! Fed him again, put him down, and we managed to sleep through to 7:45. Was a bloody tiring night though.
He is now wide awake and alert again...

bouncingturtle - thanks for that. Maybe I will try the orange. Yes, I'm ff and I've tried the water but she spits it straight out again. Will keep perservering...
Sorry to hear you had a bad night too, at least you can look forward to your dh coming home today. I don't know what I'd do without mine!

Beatrix is coming up 3 weeks and for the first time today took me completely by surprise by being alert and not nodding off within 30 mins of waking...so much so that I let her get over-tired then spent the rest of the day struggling to get her to have a decent sleep and in the end resorted to driving around for about 1.5 hours at 4.30pm which worked as then managed to get her down to bed as normal by 7pm

Will have to take more care from now on to look for signs of tiredness and put her down to sleep regularly.

Maybe related to having quite a good night last night sleeping from 3am to 7.30am after feeding at 10pm and waking at 2am.

Hollybobs - Ethan has been quite sickly over the last day or so as well and he's ff.
I dont know if its because he's getting greedy though and having too much.
He normally takes 4oz but yesterday he seemed really hungry and wanted feeding every 3 hours, normally he goes 4 ish hours.
Last night i warmed the milk up and gave him 5 oz at 9.45 and he slept until 4.30 but was sick quite a bit after his 4.30 bottle and has been sick again after his bottle at 9.
He's also not keen on the water and wont take more than a couple of sucks from it.

fifisworld - I sometimes wonder if I'm overfeeding Holly because they say that being sick often is a sign of that. She's also put 10lb each week for the past couple of weeks but the HV says she's doing great & is on line on that chart thingy. What age/weight is Ethan? Holly is 6 weeks on Sunday and at her last weighing on Tuesday was 11lb 2oz (she was 8lb 14oz at birth). She's been having 4oz every 3 hours but generally sleeps from 10pm/11pm til 5am/6am so is averaging 7 feeds in 24 hours (28oz) which I think is about right for her weight. I keep wondering whether to feed her more less often but then I worry that she'll just sleep so much inbetween!!

Hollybobs - He was 8lb at birth, 8lb 4oz when he was 10 days but hasn't been weighed since, im taking him on tuesday. He was 5 weeks yesterday.

Sometimes he's happy with 4oz, sometimes he wants more.
I'm going to try alternating his feeds, so give him 5 oz for bed, then a 4oz and see if that makes any difference.

Hello all,

Insy, so sorry you're feeling sad, I hope you feel a bit better today - I can't imagine how hard it is for you, or anyone with toddlers for that matter..

Thanks to everyone who wished us well for kidney problem, there's a bit of an update. The doc and consultant have been talking and now they want us in hospital on Tues as there's a scan that must be done at a month old. Because his right kidney is now slightly dilated too they are going to investigate fully. This means being admitted to childrens ward and he's going to have a canula put in his hand then radioactive stuff put in and scanned to see how his bladder and renal system is working. I just keep looking at him and thinking poor poor litte boy, I hope he's not in pain and what a horrible day we'll have on tues. If they take him off me I'll be distraught I hope we can stay while they do it, I can't believe he's going to have nuclear medicine, he's so young