Hello all
Welcome Mamachris - 4 and a half hour sleep - I'm jealous!
Gingeme - sorry your DH is being an arse at the moment. I find sometimes appearing a bit (over)vulnerable can snap DH into being nicer to me, although he's having a hard time of it at the moment at work, so I try and go easy on him!
Barristermum - glad the poo came at last! Sorry you've got a UTI - just make sure it's absolutely gone, as when they linger it can be horrendous, and cause long-term problems!
Welcome Ayrshire!! Love the name Alexis - we were going to go for Alexa if Ben was a girl, and then call her Alex or Lexa/Lexie for short. It's almost tempting to try for another just because I love that name so much! Just ask away with any questions you have - you can be guaranteed someone will have gone through what you're having problems with!
KT - don't know if it's just CS tummies or just general preggers tummies, but my tummy (non-CS) still has a massive overhang (feel like I should tuck it into my belt sometimes!) and is very much a jelly-belly even 6 weeks after giving birth. Other than that, the weight has dropped off, just need to try and find my long lost stomach muscles again! I can just get into pre-pregnancy jeans, but only because they're "under the bump" hipster style ones - I still wear my maternity jeans if I'm not leaving the house! Just remember you have had a major operation (not to mention a long time of being stretched!) and it will take a long time to get back to normal - much longer than the 6 weeks they say. I'm definitely with you on the whole chocolate thing as well! I'm really trying to keep it all to a minimum, but still get through an awful lot of chocoate and cakes every day! I just need to make sure I stop when I stop BFing or the weight is going to pile on!
Fluffymummy - have you found that Tamara's wind is better after she has EBM? I found that because Ben got a better mix of foremilk and hindmilk in the EBM, he wasn't anywhere near as windy and he went longer between feeds as he was actually filling up on the hindmilk rather than filling up on foremilk and air (gulped in because my let-down is so strong). At 2 weeks old she should be taking between 2 and 3oz every 2-3 hours, although at that stage Ben was taking nearly 4oz every 2-3 hours so it depends how hungry they are! As for the lochia, I'm still getting the odd bit 6 weeks on (has never stopped enough for me to stop using pads, although I'm only on pantyliners now). It's certainly been a factor in our non-resumption of "marital activities" along with a baby who is never as wide awake as he is at 11pm!
Lilyloo - no ideas for valentine's! We're not usually big on it anyway (both of us forgot or wedding anniversary last year!) but might be an excuse for a nice box of chocs!
Susie - I love your post at 3am as if it's a perfectly normal thing to do! Just shows how things have changed! I was wondering around the kitchen at 4am cleaning the breastpump because my left boob was engorged and I'd rather pump and keep than have it leak all over the bed! (Breast pads are a bit like sanitary pads when it's your period - very evasive at night, and always seem to be in the wrong place!). Glad Sabela's feeding better, even if it is more tiring, at least you know she's getting a good amount Good luck at the hospital today - hope she behaves herself and the results are good
Well DH was a bit naughty yesterday and threw a sicky (well, a poor night's sleep followed by a massive headache, so half deserved!) and we had a lovely day together. It was nice to have some time together when we're not locked in the weekend routine (go shopping, take remnants of kitchen that are still in the garage to the tip etc) and just chill out together. Loving the gorgeous weather as well - almost feels like spring!
For those of you that are still struggling to get LOs to sleep in their own beds/baskets, I'd recommend trying swaddling, even if you've tried it before and it didn't work. Ben hated being swaddled in the first couple of weeks, but recently he's really been struggling to fall asleep as he always wakes himself up with flailing arms and kicking legs. We've got him to sleep in his moses basket both during the day and at night by swaddling him tightly. Earlier this morning he'd been awake for 3 and a half hours but just wasn't settling, not even on my chest. Within 30 seconds of swaddling him and putting him down in his moses basket his eyes were closed, and a minute later he was asleep. He also stays asleep for much longer as he doesn't wake himself up flailing after half an hour, and will settle himself back to sleep again if he does wake.
Feeding is still a bit of a struggle - he much prefers EBM but it can be a faff as when he wakes up he goes from fast asleep to wide awake and screaming with hunger in about 30 seconds, so it's always a pain having to heat the bottle up from the fridge (I'm always one feed ahead of him usually), although if I haven't got anything expressed, I'll just stick him on the boob. Yesterday he gave my areola a massive hickey by furiously sucking on the wrong bit - was excruciating, and in the 15 seconds or so it took for me to realise he'd latched on to the wrong bit and to break his super-strong suck he'd given me a bruise an inch across! Realistically, I think I am going to start giving him a formula top-up last thing at night as he's always ravenously hungry at that point, and will take 5oz of EBM and still be hungry after that. Still, every day I don't use the formula, I see it as a small victory I can't believe I've got to 6 weeks BF given how close I was to quitting after a week!
Are people managing to get their LOs into any kind of routine yet? generally Ben will go to sleep at 7pm ish, but usually downstairs with us (as DH doesn't get back from work until 6-6:30) or in DH's arms. Sometimes he'll wake and feed on and off, but it depends if he's having a hungry day or not! We then usually put him down at about 11:30 after a good long feed and sometimes a bath, but then he can wake up at any time from 1:30 to 4:30, again depending on how hungry he is! He then usually wakes again between 5:30 and 7am for his morning feed. During the day he can spend up to 6 hours awake (although it wasn't particularly pleasant last time that happened!) but recently I've been trying to make sure he goes down for a nap after 2 hours of being awake regardless of whether he's giving sleepy cues or not. If he's swaddled he'll either fall straight asleep, or happily (well I guess he's happy - he doesn't cry!) lay there for half an hour, then fall asleep.
I do often feel like a terrible mother sometimes though, if I mistake a hungry cue for a tired cue and try and put him down to sleep, then try him on the boob and he feeds ravenously for half an hour! That and the odd nappy I've forgotten to change because I thought I'd changed at a certain time but hadn't! Still, it's all a (steep!) learning curve
His wind seems to be a lot better, and we're actually doing without the infacol and colief (if anyone wants the colief, let me know - it's expensive stuff and got half a bottle left!). I don't know if this is due to the larger EBM feeds, or the result of a cranial osteopathy session we had last week. A friend at work recommended it even if they don't appear to have anything wrong with them just as a post-birth "MOT", and although there wasn't a result immediately, in the last couple of days his trapped wind / straining to poo has seemed a lot better. Got another session tomorrow as well - it's £25 a session for half an hour (first session was free) and well worth it (assuming it is that that's stopped the wind!) as his crying has reduced from about 2-3 hours a day to about half an hour.
Got my 6 week post-natal check on Friday as well - any idea what happens at these? Will I get an examination? (Affects whether I bother to shave my legs you see!). I was hoping to have done the deed by then, but continuing lochia and a demanding baby have put a dampener on that one! For those of you that had oedema in your fingers / carpal tunnel, has it gone down yet? My left hand is still very stiff, especially at night/morning.
Right, better be off now and make the most of Ben being asleep. Apologies for mammoth post, and hope you're all well
Any updates from LuckySalem and Fragolina? Has been all quiet from them recently...