January 08 - shiny new-year babies!

[Naetha]

Thought I'd start this thread now as I think there's already a couple of people to go on it, and I know there'll be an awful lot more!!

Will update when I get a chance

Sorry for errors - am doing this 1 handed - C won't let me put her down today - obv cuddly for valentines! Meant Ange not Age.
btw naetha - am conc about making sure it's gone as this is 2nd course of antibiotics for this - 1st seemed just cystitis but when those drugs were finished for few days was overwhelmed by how painful back and stomach pain was in night and had to return to Dr. How do I make sure it's gone - do i need to go to drs for test or just judge by symptoms - sounds like you sadly may be a veteran on this issue.
Ayrshire- this was always your thread - welcome back to it and us.
Gingeme - lol re book - I think the problem with so many of these manuals is little ones haven't read them too.
Welcome mama!

ROFL MoominMum, not since conceiving ds2! First I was too tired, then I was bleeding, then I had placenta previa, then I was in hospital, then I had the baby and am back to being too tired. It seems such a waste to be childfree and in bed, and not to use the time to sleep!

I took ds2 to the docs this morning to ask about his wierd bulgy belly button and it turns out he has a hernia. Which is not necessarily serious, but aagh. Back to the hospital again. (just for an outpatient appt to assess him).

Sorry I'm not keeping up with the thread, I keep turning round and meeting myself coming back.

BeckyAu - You aren't doing anything wrong. I was in that situation when DD2 was about 2 weeks old. Kept wanting the breast for comfort. I found giving the dummy a great help, even though I wasn't keen on using it, it did give me a break. I've stopped using the dummy now as DD2 is a few weeks older and doesn't seem to need me for comfort anymore. Try and get some rest today hun.

Ang - I was feeling weepy for a good few weeks and it was only when I went to my docs that I was diagnoised with PND. If you are feeling low, please talk to your HV or GP for professional advise (and us to). I found BF contribted to me feeling low and am much happier now mixed feeding. Don't beat yourself up about the whole BF and bottle feeding. Remember happy mum = happy baby.

Anyone doing anything nice for Valentines? We're just at home with my girls but will prob get some take-out food.

Anyone else finding that sometimes the only thing that keeps you going during the day is chocolate?

Becky it is a very similar situation with my DS. Last couple of days I have been getting a lot better at soothing him wrapped in a sheet with a dummy instead of letting him go to sleep feeding - my nipples were getting sore!

Also after his first sleep of the night I lie in our downstairs sofa bed and feed him lying down, we have co slept a few hours each night this way and it just makes me feel so much more rested and human the next day. God knows when I'll end up back in the marital bed ;)

DH has got a nice bottle of wine in tonight but we will also try and go out next week when my mother in law is here. Is anyone abstaining from drink while BF? I'm tending to have a small glass of wine 2 or 3 times a week ... doesn't seem to do DS any harm. BF workshop said it was OK!

Went to BF peer supporters group today and my counsellor met me there, I ended up crying in the room which was v embarrassing though! Anyway it was good to meet other mums who all say things get better after first 6 weeks. Each day at a time! Had to laugh as mine and neighbouring little boy baby were both farting away though!

Hi everyone!!

Nicky 6 - welldone with the feeding!! I bottle and breast too ;-)). George wakes himself up too, another thing that i have found that really helps, is a sleeping bag thingy...its great and you can feed them and put them back down and no change in temperature!! George settles back immediatley now!

toomanyshoes - how come you got it 5 times?? hope i dont! They have given me anti sickness tablets that help with the dizziness, said they were ok with BF?! What cinema did you go to?

Naetha - how did the public transpot go?? Im taking George up town when im better...Dreading the train! George is in a kind of routine now, feeds every 3 hours, but goes 4 at night now..phew! At your 6 week check, i think they will check everything is ok "downthere" and also have a contraception chat? I have seen my doc every week since George was born, so dont need one!

Gingme - hope all is ok at home xx Well done for Georrges sleep! x

Hi mamachris xx

Fluffymummy - Ouch to stitches! I have to go back in 4 weeks to have part "frozen" as not healed properly, hoping it will be ok after that though.

Neuro hi!!

Lillyloo hi xx

Ayreshirlo - congratulations and welcome to alexis xx

Susiemj Think im getting there with the dizziness, dosnt seem to so bad last couple of days xx

Barristermum - Glad Cerys bowels are better! xx

Becyau - Could it be wind thats unsettling her? I remember getting wind cries and hungry cries mixed for a while, will she take a dummy? George wouldnt for ages and will only take a cheery shaped one, will use ot to soothe himself then spit it out?

BWmum - Georges routine sounds very similar to yours!

George is being a star now! he will sit in his bouncer for around an hourish!! have maaged to sit and have dinner every night that way...he is awak most fo the day and has a sleep around 12-3...wont settle until about midnight really, but not crying so cant grumble. he feeds around 6, then 9 then 11..then will sleep thru till 4-4.30, so finally egtting some sleep. |I think he will drop the 11 o clock feed soon as he only really takes about1-2 ozs then anyway!

Hoep everyone is well, and would lovce to make a meet up xxx

hi all. haven't popped in on this thread for a while, so have just spent the best part of an hour catching up! have spent most of half term visiting friends, or being visited. dd and ds1 have had 10 days off and it's gone so fast!

am v proud of myself. not one disposable nappy went in the bin last week, and yesterday i had a lovely load of terries on the line. a neighbour said to me how nice she thought it looked. hooray for sunshine to get them dry though. much better than having them on the airer indoors.

Patrick's still being a little sweetie most of the time. he has days of being a bit of a velcro baby, and has been cuddled that much this week that i suspect next week may be a challenge, but i shall just use him as an excuse to do no housework!

we're sti;ll co-sleeping, and as the cot is buried in stuff that needs putting away, i guess we will be for a while! i'm quite happy with it tho, i s'pose it's what suits us.

feeding's going well, Patrick was 9lbs 7oz when he was weighed last week. not bad going i think. no bf groups this week-have been too busy, but am looking forward to going next week.

i know someone mentioned a meet up - i'd love to meet some of you, but am too far to get to crouch end - does anyone else live in west yorkshire? Am in halifax if any northerners fancy a meet up.

right, off to watch Ratatouille with the kids and dh. romance is not dead in this household, honest!!!

love and hugs to all.

Morning all !
Well too much to catch up on but just wanted to pop by.
Welcome LOLO
We still co sleeping still here although Martha going down intially for couple hours in moses basket so we getting there. Second the idea of swaddling it definately works.
Well had nice night with dp last night he cooked lovely meal and i got chocs and champagne. We put dc's to bed and Martha sat happily watching us! Hope everyone else had good night.
Well have just free cycled all my nat clothes so def no more lo's here but do feel quite about them going, although was sick of wearing them!
Anyone doing anything nice at weekend ? We out for lunch with all dp's family on Sun for sil b'day , then it half term here next week so might not be around too much.
Take care all LL x

Have posted this on the Products thread as well ...

Ooh! Have just had a call from askamum.co.uk and I have won £300 John Lewis vouchers! Made our day!! So what to spend it on!!!?

We are struggling with our travel system - it is a dinosaur Quinny Formula (predecessor of the Buzz). I got it second hand as it goes with our car seat. Even so it weighs a ton and DS doesn't seem to like being in the carrycot bit anyway. I am now thinking of getting a Quinny Zapp, the lightwieght stroller which you can also use with our car seat. But it seems to get mixed reviews and i can't use the buggy bit til DS is 6 months. I don't need a travel system as we have a good car seat but otherwise does anyone have a recommendation for a good lightweight buggy that you can use from birth.....

Good afternoon ladies. I have had a break through re co sleeping and George not using me as a dummy. I have just read Becky and Barristermums post and would like to give you some of my new found wisdon curtesy of No cry sleep solution book I have by Elizabeth Pantley. I tried this Wednesday night and last night and had eight hours sleep in two slots. Ill type it as it is in the book. Give it a try. She says to try it for 10 days to see the improvements.
Baby is awake and nursing vigorously.
Babys eyes close, and his sucking rate slows.
You gently remove your nipple.
Baby roots.
You try holding his chin, but hell have none of it.
You put him back on the breast.
Count: one thousand, two thousand,....ten thousand.
You gently remove your nipple.
Baby roots.
You put him back to the breast.
Count: one thousand,two thousand,....ten thousand.
You gently remove your nipple.
Baby moves a little, and you gently hold his mouth closed.
Baby doesnt resist; hes nearly out.
You place baby in bed.
He goes to sleep.

I did this from 8-9 Wednesday night and went to bed when George did and slept till 1. He fed till 2 then went back to slepp in his moses basket till 5.16 then I took him in bed with me till 7 ish. Felt realy goos yesterday.
Last night was a bit different as he fed from 8-10 as he just didnt seem to be sleepy but once he was he slept till about 1.30 fed for about 25 mins then slept in his basket till about 4 where he fed and I changed his nappy and took him in with me.
Brill give it a try

Well done Gingeme will have to give it a try.
Wow Angechica what you going to buy with that ?
Well i see Ronnie had her baby so the end of the due in Jan thread !
Has Mrs Mc not been on since she had her lo ?

Afternoon all - just a quicky as got my doc's appointment shortly...

BeckyAU - don't worry about your LO not wanting to sleep in moses basket at 3 weeks - Ben was exactly the same. At that age they're so changeable, what they love one day they seem to hate the next. I think 3-4 weeks was the week when Ben slept on me exclusively! Now he's much better though and sleeping in his moses basket every night except for dozing/cuddle time once DH has got up for work (6:30ish) until about 9pm so I can have a little extra sleep!

Barristermum - make sure the doctor takes a sample to test if it's not going just to make sure it is a UTI and not something more sinister. I'm surprised he hasn't asked for a sample already given you've just given birth... Maybe I'm overreacting, but it's best to nip these things in the bud

I've stumbled upon a great way of stopping Ben's flailing keeping him awake when he's tired - I know it sounds cruel, but I just hold his hands very tightly down by his sides for about 30 seconds, and if he's genuinely tired, he will usually be asleep or at least much calmer by the end of the 30 seconds, and not start flailing again. I guess it does the job of swaddling without needing the blanket. Going back to the above paragraph, will probably stop working in a couple of days! I'd also second trying a dummy if they're using your nipples to comfort them. Ben fought it a few times, but loves it now - sometimes you just have to ram it in and hold it there for about 30 seconds while he squirms (again - please don't report me to social services!) then he realises he likes it and starts sucking furiously!

Well, I gave in and finally used some formula the other night - I used the hungry baby stuff (as there's no denying he is a hungry baby!) and was rewarded with 5 and a half hours sleep, and a great big green poo!!! He had completely drained my boobs with cluster feeding through the evening, yet still took 3oz formula on top of that. I'd like to say it's a growth spurt, but it's been like this for two weeks now. Still going between breast and bottle feeding (mainly EBM) fairly easily, although the bottle is much easier - the only drawback is that 2 minutes when he's hungry (he goes from fast asleep to screaming his head off with hunger in about 30 seconds) when I'm boiling the kettle to warm the BM from the fridge up to a decent temp. He will quite happily take it at room temp, and has had it fairly cold a couple of times he's been that ravenous!

The only drawback with all the expressing is that I have RSI in both my wrists from hand-pumping so much! I'm considering getting an electric pump - any recommendations? I'd love to hire an industrial type one (although DH will make even more "dairy cow" comments!) but after a brief look on t'internet they cost about £40 a month to hire, while the single electric ones cost about £50 to buy. At that cost it'd be much cheaper to go on formula...

Oh - product update of the week - tommee tippee breast pads (the super absorbent comfy ones) are on half price in Tesco at the moment Tesco also have a breastfeeding style top that's a fiver - fits a treat and shows off that cleavage as well I'm not on commission I promise, I just hate to see a good bargain go to waste!

Thanks for the product tip. Going Tesco tommorrow and love the sound of the breast feeding cleavage top.
Green pooh ha ha I remember that when changing ds4 to formula. Looks like toxic waste

Had bad bad night sleep last night and it wasn't even due to DD2. DD1 woke up at 3am and cried for an hour. Nothing we could do/say/sing made her calm down, then suddenly, she just stopped and for the next hour started singing nursery rhymes and pushed away all our efforts to rock/soothe her to sleep. She wouldn't even let DH go in the spare room to sleep, as she wanted us both there. Eventually she fell asleep as 7am! My poor hubby went to work with about 4 hrs kip.

Sipping a lot of tea to keep me awake today...

Hi everyone, hope you all have slept better then I.

Off to find some choccy...

Naetha - it's pricey but I recommend thisone. It's very easy to clean and use and you can use it as a single. I've even mastered the art of expressing off one boob while feeding from the other! Having a double also saves a load of time when you can do both boobs. My very nice MIL bought it for me. Have you got one?

Does anyone know where I can buy a step to rest my feet on while bf? It sounds poncey but I'm getting backache from balancing on tipee toes. Toilet trainig steps are too high as is an old box i tried. I think it needs to be about the height of two telephone directories - which is what I'm trying this afternoon!

angechica - congratulations - hauck infinity is very light but i don't think they do it at JL. i've heard good things about loola.

gingeme - thanks for tip = will try it.

amani - hope you got a kip this afternoon.

naetha - sorry if tmi - did you have any after pain with your UTI. I've had 2 courses of antibiotics and a clear urine sample but it still hurts a bit down there. any ideas?

we're happy here today as baby put on 280g in the last 10 days. hooray! new HV better - i can't understand her way of speaking though - which is kind of handy as i concentrate on the answers to my questions and the rest washes over me.

Hiya ladies!! Hope everyone well, just a quick post to check in (Alex going to need fed soon, alread making squirmy noises!!!) and to see how everyone is doing. Unlike most / all of you we are exclusively formula feeding, and yes i know, i do feel a bit guilty but couldn't feed dd1 at all despite huge efforts so decided to save myself the nightmare this time and go straight for bottle. There are a few advantages! at 5 days she's already in a pretty good routine, i got 7 hours sleep last night (4 hours then 3)and i know what she's taking. Hope you don't all think i'm a crap mum though!
Anyway, need to go and feed the little monster, will check in soon!! love to all and thanks for all your kind congratulations, lolo xx

Hi all

Feeling more and more like a normal mum. Nathan had his first bath today, quite scary, glad to have the nurse watching. He seemed to like it although he was massively distracted by being starving and trying to latch on to his clothes, the towel, his fist..anything.

After that he was a bit too fractious and tired to breastfeed properly, and after a while I got stressed so we decided to let daddy give him a top-up by bottle, which worked fine. We left him completely zonked. Oh, and he does a fine line in belching, has me in stitches .

He now gets fed 4 hourly, which is a trick they use in hospital to have babies awake for their feeds so they learn to suck, rather than get tube feeds. Twice today Nathan had just the breast without top-ups down his tube, so we are doing really well. It helps to have a breast feeding worker on hand three days a week with tips and support.

Having been warned about his vision, we can't help but notice that Nathan is very busy watching the world around us, and the nurses are noticing it too. We were told that very early on babies see from a different part of their brains, but he seems more rather than less focused, looking at daddy coming in, the nurse walking past etc. We live in hope.

Sorry for the long rant. Glad to be back with you (If you will still have me!)

xx

Aarghh...!! Wrote a massive long post, then the 'puter crashed and I lost the lot.... ...so just a quickie from me for now

MadMouse - fab to hear from you, and even better since it sounds as though Nathan (and you and your dh as well) is doing brilliantly...of course we want you here, and I'm so grateful you're managing to find the time to keep us updated, as you must have so much else on your mind right now. I really hope Nathan continues to go from strength to strenth

Naetha : 2 things: 1) I use the same pump as Susie (the lactaline from Ameda Egnell) - I bought it from them direct before i had ds1 (in retrospect that was a hugely optimistic purchase, as there was no guarantee i'd be bf-ing ok, i suppose!) and its brilliant - I can express about 10ozs in 10 mins on a good morning and its quite easy to hold both pumps in place with one hand and read the paper with the other!! Must admit, I;ve never attempted to bf at the same time ...am in awe of Susie's skill!!! Oh, and Am Egnell were fab about replacing the main motor unit when mine was nearly a year old and just started sounding a bit cranky. Definitely worth the money
and...(and please don't call social services on me either...)
2) the microwave. Yes, I know, everyone bangs on about hot spots in the milk, but basically that just means you have to avoid overheating it (doh!) and give it a good shake before you use it (double doh!). We find about 25 secs and a good shake is perfect, so after 4 months of faffing with boiling the kettle etc with ds1 before dh realised this, this time there's none of that. It falls into our new list of "things that you really wish someone had told you when you had your first baby", alongside being able to sterilise stuff 12 hours ahead of needing it (eg breast pump stuff) instead of as you use it.
BTW, the Ameda Egnell pump (apparently) shouldn;t go in a microwave steriliser, you need a plug in steam one. Don't know if thats true or not - we were given a steam one so have always used that anyway.
OK, off to have a bath, promise to catch up soon (I seem to keep saying that at the moment).

Barristermum - meet up next week? Text me

Gingeme - well done!

Love and hugs to everyone else...sending you all 'good night' vibes xxx

fluffy - can I just ask, when you get 10oz how many times would you have fed during the night? I only get 4-5oz in the morning but will have fed every two hours. Just hoping that's the reason (although you can tell me otherwise!) I'd love to produce more.

Feeling a bit down about the weight issue. I haven't lost anything in the last couple of weeks. I was a size 10 before getting pg and now am an 18. I don't think I look really bad and I'm not sure why I'm bothered as dh finds me attractive (or says he does) but I am

Sabela has developed the habit of pooing in the middle of almost every feed! v. annoying

p.s.

Welcome Madmouse! Hope Nathan liked his bath> fingers crossed his sight is better than they think.

Lolo - whatever works for you! This job is difficult enough. I'm still giving sabela top ups (sometimes f sometimes bm)because it works. She takes this even after having both boobies. But when I read on here of some people;s bf marathons I feel bad. I've got a kind of prolonged marathon though, having been on 90 minute / 2 hour feeds for a month now. I couldn't cope without the bottle top ups, I know it.

I meant reading on MN not on this thread.

Becky I am just reading and catching up on the posts and are you sure we don't have the same baby???!!! Ruby is exactly the same three weeks and turned into a night terror... tried everything such as:
Putting in a bouncing chair in front of the tv (works in the day when groughy)
standing by the washing machine on full spin.
feeding of course- spat it out like I was trying to feed her poison.
rocking her/cuddling her etc works until I try to put her down in her moses basket.
Then dad trys.. Thurs night I was awake from 12am until 7am and she was relentless.. last night dh let me sleep and had her from 10pm until 2am, he fed her first expressed bottle where she did 4oz in 5 mins like a little piglet and brought to me at 2am wired.. so I tried swaddling, rocking and then I thought 'what am I doing differently from the day' and the answer was nothing, I was using all the same tactics to pacify her so the poor babe couldn't tell whether it was 2am or 2pm in the afternoon. So I gave her a little cuddle and put her down making sure she spat the boob out so she wasn't hungry, no poo in her nappy and she was warm. She then screamed blue murder for 10 mins (I have a real thing about crying basically it makes my tummy hurt so she isn't allowed to cry which is wrong of me) which was followed by a baby that slept for 6 hours solid and woke up at 8am this morning had a feed and is now the happiest I have seen her.. so the moral to the story is that we are all learning at the moment and we are not bad moms and no two babies are the same.. I have just kept repeating to myself when things get bad that this little beauty has never been born so there is no manual that is going to tell me how to care for Ruby exactly I have to work that out for myself and its going to be a lot of trail and error but then there are going to be mornings like this where i feel like a super mom!.. have a good weekend everyone xxx

Becky I am just reading and catching up on the posts and are you sure we don't have the same baby???!!! Ruby is exactly the same three weeks and turned into a night terror... tried everything such as:
Putting in a bouncing chair in front of the tv (works in the day when groughy)
standing by the washing machine on full spin.
feeding of course- spat it out like I was trying to feed her poison.
rocking her/cuddling her etc works until I try to put her down in her moses basket.
Then dad trys.. Thurs night I was awake from 12am until 7am and she was relentless.. last night dh let me sleep and had her from 10pm until 2am, he fed her first expressed bottle where she did 4oz in 5 mins like a little piglet and brought to me at 2am wired.. so I tried swaddling, rocking and then I thought 'what am I doing differently from the day' and the answer was nothing, I was using all the same tactics to pacify her so the poor babe couldn't tell whether it was 2am or 2pm in the afternoon. So I gave her a little cuddle and put her down making sure she spat the boob out so she wasn't hungry, no poo in her nappy and she was warm. She then screamed blue murder for 10 mins (I have a real thing about crying basically it makes my tummy hurt so she isn't allowed to cry which is wrong of me) which was followed by a baby that slept for 6 hours solid and woke up at 8am this morning had a feed and is now the happiest I have seen her.. so the moral to the story is that we are all learning at the moment and we are not bad moms and no two babies are the same.. I have just kept repeating to myself when things get bad that this little beauty has never been born so there is no manual that is going to tell me how to care for Ruby exactly I have to work that out for myself and its going to be a lot of trail and error but then there are going to be mornings like this where i feel like a super mom!.. have a good weekend everyone xxx

Morning! we had a fussy and cluster feed day yesterday. MIL arriving any moment now for a week, a bit apprehensive about her seeing me unwashed in my pyjamas with my boobs out all the time! Oh well! DH off as well as it is half term.

naetha DH went and bought me a medela mini electric pump but for 55 quid it seems a bit "chatty" to me. Haven't used it much yet, I never seem to have time to express! But when MIL goes home I am going to put the effort in to experiment and see if I can increase my milk supply and try and eliminate the FF we seem to be getting by on just one of those a day now!

it sounds like Nathan is doing really well Madmouse!

Interesting about getting them off the comfort sucking Gingeme! I will try it.

Hi folks,
Well despite all the feeding cerys had only put on 20g (!!!!!!!) so we have started topping up with a ff at 10.30pm after she has fed from me. Am particularly relieved at this as poor mite was feeding ALL day yesterday and wouldn't go to sleep from 7-9.30 - which is v unlike her yesterday evening, especially as she only had a 20 min snooze yesterday afternoon, so brought bf and ff ealrier and she finally got off at 10.30 and slept for 6 and a half hours poor soul, she was so whacked!
btw - turned the engine over with dh on valentine's night and everything running v smoothly! {blush]
Madmouse - SO thrilled at the way things are looking for you.