May 2008 - we just couldn't wait!

[thefortbuilder]

for everyone who's popped already and congratulations to us all!

LM- I have also started uses wipes already the huggies ones that say as good as water and cotton wool. DS2 has been fine.

Baiyu: sorry you are feeling bad with DP being away. I hope your family are able to help at home. At least you aren't on your own.

Same YCBS it must be hard during the week

Hi

flick - thanks for the advice, he's not due to come home for another week, I stayed on the postnatal ward for 4 days after he was born so I could be near him, but then I asked to be discharged as I have dd to think of too & she has been very unsettled with everything going on I couldn't abandon her for 2 weeks really. Also dh isn't allowed to drive because of his seizures so we were relying on lifts & taxis for him to get to the hospital so now at least I can do the driving to & fro.

AussieSim - congratulations!

Baiyu - It's understandable that you're finding it hard on your own, the first few weeks can definitely feel overwhelming sometimes, must be even more so for you not having your dp there. It does get easier though once they start going longer between feeds etc, and it sounds like you're doing well.

PLEASE come and talk to us cos me and pregnabrain are getting LONELY!!!!!!!! xxxxx

Both threads are very quiet now, I suppose we are all busy with our new babies. DH went back to work today and I managed to get all 3 DC dressed, feed including myself ready by 9am for DD to go to school. I am very impressed with myself thought I would really struggle and I only had to wake up at 7:30am. Maybe beginners luck as DS2 slept for most of the time.

DS2 was 2 weeks on monday and I am getting at least 3 or 4 hours between feeds, so I am finding life with new baby very manageable. Now needing to get DS1 and DS2 down for a nap so I can have a sleep aswell if I can get the timing right.

HV came on monday and said that my cut was inflamed(C-section) so took a swab and I am waiting till tomorrow to see if I have an infection. But I feel fine, so who knows. Gonna make an appointment to see doctor to check if I am ok to drive-fingers crossed.

Hope we hear some more announcements soon.

Sorry have just copied this message from antenatal thread as nothing else to say

Hi all, finally found 5 mins to catch up!

Baiyu - thinking of you lovely, keep your chin up and he will be home soon.

Flcik - I have to leave DD to wail for a while sometimes, because DS is so little still and needs me. No harm done.

Indigo - hope Jamie is doing ok and can come home soon.

Well, poor DD has reflux not the sicky sort thank goodness but she is now on Gaviscon for the forseeable future took her to the Dr as she was grunting and struggling to breathe when she was lying down and apparently this is because of the acid she was bringing up. Poor little girl, still DS had it as well so I know that the Gaviscon will help.

Sorry, forgot some people - baby brain...

Mitchell - well done on the school run. We didn't wake up til nearly 8 o clock today (including DP) and poor DS was whipped out of bed, dressed and in the car to nursery in about 5 mins flat!

LM74 - LOL at communion in the pew DD did a big poo just as we were going out the door today they do pick their moments...

grrr 2 nd attempt at typing, just lost long reply (so actually you're all lucky!)!
YCBS- hope you get breastfeeding advice from someone coz I thought giving supplemental bottles wouldn't help you make more milk, only feeding more'd do that?? Not my area of expertise, but really hope it all works out for you. I can't imagine how tough it must be with your DP away as well- hugs. My DD2 is very 'attached' too, today is the first time I've not had her in my arms or grandmas- she's not so keen on DH as she prefers to be wrapped around a boob ( not fussy who's!) but she only sleeps at night in bed with me, and if I want a restful nap its easier if I take her with me rather than listen to DH struggling with her. I find I REALLY need some time without her on me each day, even if its just me in the shower and she's somewhere safe and crying (can't hear her while I'm in the shower!) gosh, aren't I a bad mother already?! She actually fell asleep on the changing mat today, so I've started worrying she's sick again. I don't really think she is, she's feeding and doing nappies, its just odd for us that she's sleeping alone!

Indigo- you've got so much on your plate right now, glad you can do the driving but hope you're ok with doing so much. Really hope you'll all be home together and well soon.

Cotton wool vs wipes- I have one pal who used wipes from day 1, no problems ever. Another pal who 18 months on still couldn't use any wipes, only cotton wool, and had rashes so bad she'd been to A&E! It just depends on your LO, I guess.

Mitchell at your organisational abilities! I only have to get me and DD2 up and that's just too hard some days!

My mum came to help and let me go back to bed until next feeding time- I love grandmas who are happy to sit on sofa and cuddle for 2 hours (and until I had DD1 I didn't get on with my mum at all!) and she took away a basket of wet washing to dry and a load of dirty washing to wash as well. Our boiler has packed in so no heating for radiators to dry everything, and our washer is the expensive way to heat water to wash, so today I love my mum loads!

If you get a moment please send eviction notices to my germs please- today I've got a new sore throat, temperature (though hot flushes handy as no heating), headache, etc. I'm a sceptic but I'm trying to contact a homeopath- I can't think of anything else to try and as these are all viruses conventional medicine can't help. I bought everything the health food shop staff recommended for me yesterday, but I'm just miserable with being poorly all the time. Sorry, moaning and complaining over, will brighten up now!
Hugs to all new arrivals and OMG at holding legs together, what a rotten end to a hypnobirth!
My husband has just bought a 'new' car, locked all the keys in it and pulled the door handle off. Going to go laugh at him!

podglet ds1 had secondary reflux after having a cold - produced acid from all the snot he was swallowing - we had gaviscon for a little while and it worked really quickly - fingers crossed it sorts your lo out very soon xxxx

not much else to say - tough night last night although the start was my own fault - went to bed at 915 not doing a feed so up at 1015 for feed, then 130 but he wouldn't settle till 3am, then back up at 530 for small feed and cuddles!

but managed a 2hr nap this afternoon!!!!! so feeling better and more human now!

xxx
ps eviction notices on their way mumofk

Re: breastfeeding (also posted on ante natal thread)

Hello! Am just dropping in to say that I've written an article on "Ten Things I'd Tell Myself" if I could go back in time to when I was a new mum struggling with breastfeeding.

It's here if any of you want to take a look.

Hope you do not mind me posting on your thread but maybe it might help someone.

Best wishes, Sally (from Feb '08 thread)

birth announcement

Thought I'd better join you!

Alistair James arrived very quickly (3 hrs from 1st feeling something painful) on Thursday 22nd 9lb 2oz. He didn't even wait for the midwife to arrive, she was on her way to check me out and got there 10 mins later.

Was planning to go into hospital... Good job my husband works from home. Although he was only there for the last 15 mins and that was because I shouted to him from the top of the stairs I needed him RIGHT NOW! Unfortunately he was in the middle of treating a patient and had to go back and finish the root canal treatment once the midwife turned up. All a bit dramatic, but all was good in the end, without the trip to hospital.

I'm now pleased we hadn't got round to getting a solid wooden door to his surgery to soundproof the house. Although the carpenter was lined up to come today... So if the baby had been any later it would've been a completely solo birth.

Pina- slings, my addiction! I'll try to be brief.... firstly excellent website is www.thebabywearer.com]].

What do you hope to gain from using a sling? I find my ring sling is what DH will choose to use (always helpful!) but isn't a hands free option at this stage, more 1.5 hands free. It is also the easiest to 'bung' Jas in quickly, so handy when dashing into shops from a car, etc.

For proper hands free I love my moby stretchy wrap, but if I'm using it with the car I need to put it on before leaving the house, or be sure I've somewhere dry to spend afew minutes putting it on when I get there. I was able to do proper digging in the garden with Jas asleepin it, and it passed the 'unloading the dishwasher' test! I've not found it too warm, either.

My other wrap, also proper hands free, is a mai-tai style. Jas sleeps in it fine, but as its less fabric (and i don't put loads of layers on her) I worry about her being cold if she's outside my coat. Its quicker and slightly easier to put on when out- even in the rain! But as my MT is an ebay home made one, it has unpadded shoulder straps. Its a little less comfy than the moby (the moby spreads the weight really well, good for bad backs) but I think padded straps would make the difference.

I've met a few people put off wearing baby coz of baby bjorn or tomy front style carriers- all I can say is all the carriers I'm talking about are waaaaay more comfy- with DD1 we tried one of those and struggled uncomfortable for a few months, and it was such a revelation finding comfortable carriers.

I've met other sling people to ask advice from (I'm really a newbie!!) on Yahoo, so you can look there for advice too.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now

another terrible night! woke at 12 then 230 then 430!

aaaaah at least we have childminder coming today and hope fingers crossed to hve better night tonight!

xxx

Having a shitty time, struggling with BF. Feel such a failure cos I fed DD1 OK (although admittedly it was a struggle in the beginning, think I've just forgotten).

Thought I was doing OK but went to support group yesterday just to get a prescription for oral thrush (DD2) and they watched me feed and said DD2 not latched on right, which I had my suspicians over but thought I was OK cos not sore. They showed me how to do it properly and I understand the theory but putting it into practice is near impossible. DD2 never opens her mouth wide enough for me to shove my nipple to the roof of her mouth, and is still just feeding off the nipple. What they told me is that she is therefore just getting the foremilk, not the fatty stuff, and she is filling herself full of wind. It explains her being unsettled and her explosive poos (leaks onto her clothes nearly every poo).

I came away feeling all positive, but since then I have tried really hard to do it right, which has led to nothing but sheer frustration (cos I just can't do it) and now, sore bloody nips, which I didn't have before???!!

I am going to another drop in clinc today, luckily DD1 at CM.

I have spent the morning in tears, feeling very de-moralised and very frustrated. I have got to that point when you dread feed time cos of the stress and pain that comes with it. I'm even considering giving up, but I really don't want to.

Hoping to feel better later if I can get them to help me with my technique.

Just gonna read sallyforths tips, see if that helps.

Sorry to be a miseryguts.

sallyforth

I have skimmed thru what you have written, I will read it properly later (DD2 woken up ). It looks very useful though. Thanks for thinking of us .

LM74

Flick: sorry to hear that you had a bad night

LM: Sorry that you are struggling with feeding, it will get easier. Sounds like the drop in clinic will be helpful.

Mumofk: usual info about slings-thanks.

LM74 Sorry youve had such a bad am and feeling so , sending you lots of ((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))). Would it help to have one of the 'GLG' round for some moral support while DH at work?

Fingers crossed for you this afternoon, hope they can suss out the problem for you and it becomes easier. Remember always here for you.

Love you C xx

Poor you LM74, how demoralising for you. I'm in a similar boat TBH as I have had my suspicions that DS2 isn't latching on properly. I've been looking at this site which has lots of good advice (tho' some of the links don't work!) and am going to try and modify DS2's latch (when he wakes up )! - like your DD2 he seems to suck mainly on the nipple rather than taking in the great expanse of breast that I know he should. And like your DD2 he is also windy.

I hope you get some help this afternoon. I fed DS1 for 15 months (!!) so I was sure that I wasn't going to ahve any problems with DS2 - just goes to show that it's as much about the baby getting the hang of it as it is about the mum.

P.s. I'm not sure that the stuff you were told about fore-/ hind milk is actually correct - this suggests that hindmilk comes in automatically after the baby has been feeding for a while, and I don't see how this can be related to a good/ poor latch...? (the Kellymom site is very reliable btw) So IMHO you may have been misinformed here.

Is DD2 putting on weight? If so this is a good indication that you are not doing it all wrong ! It may be that a better latch would stop her getting so windy - I know with DS2 I can sometimes hear the air being swallowed - but I don't think it's necessarily true that she isn't getting the nutrition she needs (which seems to be what the people who advised you were suggesting).

Good luck hon and hope it starts to go better for you soon. xx

hallo everyone else!

flick that sounds like a pretty typical night for us but then DS2 is younger... I generally get 3 hours sleep, then 2 hours, then 1 hour (or maybe 2). Luckily DP has been taking DS1 to nursery so I haven't had to get up early - so if DS2 goes back to sleep at 6/ 7 am ish I can get another couple of hours...

mitchell you are supermum! can't imagine getting everyone out of the house so efficiently. It's as much as I can do to get myself and DS2 out of the house in time to pick DS1 up of an afternoon...

mumofk does this mean that jas is better? Have been thinking about you and hoping you were all on the mend - sorry to hear you are coming down with something else now!! I nearly went to sling meet in HX on Tues but bottled out as I remembered DS2 is only 2 weeks and thought about all those people in cafes/ on buses with their nasty germs (not you of course ). I will go to the next one though so hope to see you there - I really need some help with my ring sling

p.s. I carried DS1 for months in a baby bjorn (until he was big enough for a backpack basically!), I found it great - but I have one of the ones with extra back support as I have a bad back. Just horses for courses I guess!!

sallyforth thanks for your tips and for all the useful links to resources - very good to have this.

Hugs to baiyu and ycbs - it must be so hard being on your own. Hope you are getting some help and support from friends/ family. And LM74 I would be straight over to my Mum's if DP was away for the weekend too! (except she lives four hours away... good job he's staying put!)

indigo hugs to you too - not so long now till Jamie can come home.

podglet hope the gaviscon helps, poor dd.

aussiesim and niknak21 - congrats! niknak, rofl at your birth story, well done to you and DH! I especially like the thought of him dashing back upstairs to finish the root canal once the mw was there...

I have my first day on my own with DS1 and DS2 together tomorrow... yes I know I've been lucky to get out of it so far. Bit concerned as DS2 spends such a lot of his waking time feeding at the moment - if I can persuade him to go to sleep he's often out for a couple of hours, but if he doesn't settle he's at the boob again after a short time. I'm dreading the possibility of having to spend the whole morning feeding on and off and not really being able to do much with DS1. Ah well, it was DS1's birthday this week and he has lots of new tractors and tractor attachments to play with, so maybe he'll just be happy to get on with that all morning... and we shall go for a walk - DS2 always seems to drop off in the sling atm. Fingers crossed!

love to you all, a x

Clinic v useful, but again, fine in theory but it's actually doing it which I am struggling with. I felt such an idiot cos I burst into tears as soon as I got to the clinic . The HVs were really lovely and reassuring. Just fed DD2 again, not easy with DD1 literally climbing all over me. Then I had to put DD1 to bed, listening to DD2 screaming her head off downstairs. I came down and checked her once, she was purple in the face and very distressed, it's so bloody hard. Then went back up to DD1 who had decided to have a stand off about cleaning her teeth, so she got put straight in her cot without cleaning her teeth (better not tell niknak's DH!!!), crying and screaming.

DD2 now still screaming, I don't know why, she fed for 40 mins. I feel all wound up again. Luckily DH on his way home.....

Thanks for all messages of support, esp you denny, love you too matey!!!!

LM74- hugs with the feeding problems- I know how you feel with getting advice, being all positive, then nothing working/making sense when you're on your own. Can you have a pal/partner with you when you see feeding advisor? the person watching often can see better whats going on, so can help after you leave the helpful place. it probably doesn't help you, but I have a flat nipple on one side and to get DD2 to feed on it I pinch the skin behind the nipple ( not in a painful way!) just so i can shove whole nipple in the right place. I'm starting to do it less, and realised she latched on while i was alseep sometime recently (not had enough sleep to know when!) so i'm hoping with the problem you have now your little one WILL learn quickly. At least the problem has been picked up early, I've heard it can be really difficult to change babies latch in later months. Poor you at getting sore trying to fix it though i hope its just one (or 2) bad days. fingers crossed for you both!
and i second what asics says about fore/hind milk and weight gain- some of its definately going right for you! hugs

asics- Jas had a day or so coughing less, and now is coughing more but is staying at sicking up tons only 2ce a day....so she's not better but not really worse! HV coming tomorrow so I'll be after advice, but as she seems so well between coughing bouts, feeding well, sleeping, doing some quiet alert times,mostly only crying if put down (or in car seat...grrr at NOT sleeping in car) I'm leaning towards not worrying too much. I just hope she isn't going to get all the bugs I seem to be getting, another push for me to try to get fixed.
I completely understand about buses and cafes- and with people like me there you would be assaulted by germs! Hopefully next one will be in the fresh air again, and will blow any bugs lurking away...

Well done on the babybjorn suiting you for so long! I assumed they'd have to suit some people, I've just not met anyone who's been happy with them (until now). I usually hear it was good but... Our 'but' with ours was the pain of swapping it to suit DH and me, and both of us seemed too fat for the waist strap to fit/support the right bit, so that bit was always uncomfy, even when DD1 was tiny. I'm glad that they do work for someone though- it'll stop be growling at adverts that I thought were products that hurt people!! (I said I didn't know much about slings...)

And on that line, Pina, I thought Storch's were wrap slings??? I understood that the material was special so it stretched a little but stayed supportive, but this is just me showing my ignornace now. Can you direct me to a website so I can learn more?
thanks

My ring sling is one a friend made, slight padding for the shoulder and a bit of a pocket for where DD's head currently goes. I have to say I can't wait for DD2 to be bigger and able to sit up, coz DD1 was really cute sitting cross legged looking out at the world in the ring sling!
Congrats to new mums,my crying baby needs 2 hands now xxx

pina- found ring sling storch- looks good! (off to browse more slings and drool......)