May 2008 - we just couldn't wait!

[thefortbuilder]

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

pazzaplustwo _ how are you getting on with your girls (lovely names!). Been dying to hear from you and how you're finding things.

I'm sure you are super busy, but let us know how things are when you get chance.

GCG xxx

HI all,

I am making the most of being able to come on here and post lots while I can.....I'm sure this is the calm before the storm....Cerys is so good.

Had a fab night last night, I fed her at 9:30pm, then she wanted a little top up at 10:15pm. I managed to persuade DH to an early night as we've been going to bed about midnight after her last feed. She then didn't wake til 3am for a feed, then 8am!!!
I few people on another thread have suggested I shouldn't leave her a slong between feeds, but she is obviously happy and content, she put weight ON this week, so she is obviously getting enough food, and she has plenty of wet and dirty nappies. DD1 was the same, fed very infrequently but always had good weight gain etc. Think I am just v lucky.

We've just had a short walk out and went to church, all the old dears were loving the new baby, and during the service the priest said a special thank-you to the Lord for the safe arrival of Cerys and it nearly made me cry!!!

Think I will join pina in the sunshine and go out in the garden!

pina I think boobs are just as painful whether you breast feed or not, when the milk comes in, probably worse for non-BFers as at least if you are BF you can get lo to ease the pain a bit when they feed. I hope yours settle down soon. I'm glad to hear Evie is doing so well.

GCG xxx

Just wanted to say congratulations to you all. From May 2007 xxx

GCG - bollocks their just , youve done it B4 - no diff to how DD1 used to feed your just lucky your boobs obviously work v well

GCG - you obviously have gold top mummy milk! Why wake a happy, sleeping baby??? DD is beeter than DS was, I get 3 - 4 hour stretches at night and more frequent during the day.

Pazza - your girls are luverly so cute how they cuddle up together.

We've been in the garden this morning whilst DD slept. DS and I were just pottering about and having fun in the sun - fab!

Such a lovely day

GCG - if it ain't broke.....etc. Just give thanks and enjoy it!! (and yes - my first time BFing)

Doing well today. Had bit of a hormonal day yesterday; we had 3 lots of visitors plus a midwife visit, tbh none of the visitors did anything to help, I looked like sh!te and just felt miserable. Big crying episode in the evening. However am much more balanced today.

Shall I tell you my guilty secret? I'm trying Gina Ford. Day 3 today and I have to say despite my scepticism so far it's working brilliantly. Not following her advice on BFing and expressing (the second of which is completely beyond me right now) but following the timings and Leo's settled straight into them; he seems much happier and hardly ever cries - we shall see if it lasts! His last feed is generally around 11pm, then one around 3ish and then one just after 7am, so we're getting a decent amount of sleep.

I decided we'd try it and just see how far through each day we got - if we had completely fallen out of sync by 10am I wouldn't stress, just try again the next day and if we're half an hour or so ahead or behind not to worry either - but actually he went straight in and it seems to be suiting him. So I know it's a bit of a confession round here, like eating Mars bars in bed or something, but there we are... if it works, I will just keep my guilty secret quiet!!

Boobs a bit sore again and I am worried a bit about thrush, though I'm sure I'm wildly overreacting. Have some tiny white bumps on areolas which is what's got me thinking; and apparently the fact I was anaemic after c-sec and also given anti-biotics make me more at risk. Anyway, we'll see how it develops. Have HV coming day after tomorrow so if no better will ask her. It's not got any worse since yesterday, anyway... trying not to be neurotic about it.

Well, according to the "schedule" I should be keeping my beautiful boy amused and alert right now, not typing to you all, so you can see how rubbish I am!! Bathtime in half an hour, God preserve us....

just checking in to get this on my threads lists again! hope all ok and will catch up later this evening

xxx

casserole If you are finding GF works for u then go 4 it. I've never even read the book but denny uses it a bit (like u, not mega strict) and said that with my dd1 she seemed to naturally fall into gina's routine, certainly dd2 feeds at similar time to your lo.

thanks all for the vote of confidence on the bf issues.I'm happy enough. I certainly can't complain at dd2 who is so far the perfect baby .

soz about teenage text spk but i am typing 1 handed & v frustrating!!!

gcg x

Hello you lot - hoping to join you very soon!

Casserole - just wanted to say that we followed GF and DD was/is such a settled and happy child - do whatever works for you and stuff what anyone else says! We're proof that GF worked for our family, although I'm under no illusions that it works for everyone. Don't feel guilty!

casserole just quickly - we couldn't do gf with ds1 as he was too small and too prem but settling into the timings nicely with it this time. you just have to cherry pick which bits suit for you and if it doesn't quite work then don't dothat bit if you don't want! the key is to be flexible otherwise if it starts not working (you have the odd bad day) you can tear your hair out over it - i had a good friend who ended up with pnd after trying to keep at it when it wasn't right for her or baby, but laods of other friends who have done brilliantly on it!

xxx

Hi, good on you Casserole- it doesn't matter what you do as long as it works for you!
When I had a shit night in the first week I got my Baby Whisperer book out, which really reassured me. I had intended to leave the books to one side this time, but what I read made sense to me, explained to me what was probably going on and stuff to try.
I'm having a long evening on the sofa, trying to catch up on here while Jas has wanted to feed from 5.30-almost 9 pm now! Everytime I put her down I get major complaints and she latches straight back on properly! I'm just hoping she won't puke (we had first vom last night, hope its not a new habit) and might have a long sleep tonight, fingers crossed.

GCG- v impressed with you and your gold top! I'll second and third if its all wsorking just enjoy the sleep for as long as you can....

pina- hope your stitches went smoothly and your feeling a bit better. Hope the boobs settle quick for you!!

Hey Pina, thinking of you, sorry it's a hard day today. Be kind to yourself - you're knackered and sore and it's no wonder you're feeling less resiliant. Hope you manage to find something that soothes her soon and then get yourself to bed while she sleeps!

If it's any consolation I think itchy often means it's healing??

Thanks to all with the nice comments about CLB - it is still working just bizarrely well here so yeah, we're going with it but being flexible when we need to be.

HV tomorrow so will ask about boobs then. If my left one hasn't fallen off by then that is!!

ps mumofk - marathon feed! My longest has been just over 2 hours so fair play to you! Did you get your long sleep??

hello all

just thought i'd pop in and check out the new surroundings and wish you all well.

can't wait to come over to your side now!

re DICLOFENIC - I was given this after dd's birth and reacted really, really badly to it. It stopped me sleeping, made me panicky and anxious and even caused hallucinations. Can't remember who's on it, but I'd definitely ask for an alternative if i were you. i'd never go near it again after my experience and know a couple of other women who've had similar.

good luck with the feeding and sleeping!

pina my stitches itched like hell both times and healed really well

more later sam wailing

xxxx

HI all,

Couldn't post yesterday as we had a busy day. Had to go to MIL's for lunch as it was her day off. When she came last week she kept telling me that DD2 needed feeding , which reminded me that she did it with DD1 and it REALLY wound me up, esp if I knew they didn't need feeding, but she just has a way of making me feel that I should feed my child if she says they need feeding (she's had 3 kids and has 9 grandkids). Anyway, I fed DD2 as soon as we got there, so she couldn't start telling me she needed feeding, so she just moved onto the next thing......

HER "Is she warm enough Sarah? her feet look really purple?"

ME "yes, she's fine, she's just has a very deep pink colour skin tone, the MW commented on what a lovely colour she was the other day. She also said I was wrapping her up too much in this heat and told me just to put her in a vest"

HER " Well I think she's cold, go and get me that blanket and I'll wrap her up a bit"

ME "Really, I think she's fine"

Five mins later I come back into the garden and she has her wrapped in a sheet !!!!!!

Anyway, I'm sure there will be more MIL moans in the weeks to come. We had just got down to seeing them less, but now we have a new baby, it's back to 1-2 times a week .

pina I too had to do an extra feed last night !!! 2am then 5am instead of just 3 or 4am. Not complaining of course, esp as I remembered to feed lying on my side, so I just dozed as she fed anyway.

DD1 seems to have a bit of a cold today, she sounds all husky, bless her. All cuddled up with Daddy on the sofa right now watching the jungle book .

Right, best be off. I need to ring Denny to see how her DH got on having the snip this week !!!!!

GCG xxx

Just checking in briefly. Dh took ds to school and then carried on to Asda with dd - he has a very long list.

On his way out, he threw our battered copy of GF at me and said - "don't you think we should try to get this sorted?"

Not sure whether to agree or fume really

Anyway, Martha is a dream during the day, going up to 3 hours between feeds, but from midnight she's decided to cling and feed constantly until 5am.

The other 2 never did this - they fed and went back to sleep.

OTOH I have no cracking, pain or blocked boobs unlike with the early days of feeding the other 2 - MArtha is textbook breastfeeder, which makes life so much easier.

She's still very hairy - I've had to buy a brush!!!!

Martha hasn't been weighed since birth which I delighted about - m/w seems very chilled about her progress - only asking about nappies and alertness - hurrah!

The only other ishoo is my feet and ankles are still enormous and puffy - worse than during pg. My SPD is still very sore and on some days, worse than pg too (which is saying something!) I'm taking A Lot of paracetamol, but m/w says that's ok.

How's everyone elses aches and pains?

This is the first time I've had no stitches and that's made a huge difference to my recovery (and my trips to the loo )

Off to find my purse now - Cut4cloth (now Frugi) has loads of gorgeous organic baby clothes in their sale so I'm spending on big bottomed soft comfy clothes for my new girl. Disposables are leaking all the time, can't wait til she's a bit bigger to get into her bomb proof Totsbots

GCG at your MIL.

My mum was like this with my first - she used to poke him at night if we were staying with them "to make sure he was still breathing" and wake him up

cgc my mil knows best about absolutely everything - as does my bil who has a total of 0 kids - in summer when ds was born (2006 july stinking hot!) he said "don't you think you should put a hat on him so he doesn't get cold???

bobsmum sorry to hear about your aches and pains and ds with GF! I am actually doing pretty well with aches and pains etc although we are 7 weeks down the line now. only thing is that i get a real hot sharp pain in my right knee if i bend it or put any presure on it with i think is a ligament so going to see docs next week about it as really don't want a wrenched one there!

spent the afternoon in the garden yesterday planting some lavender plants - ds1 was "helping" and having great fun! ds2 had lots of nice kicking time outside as well which was great, although he managed to end the day with dirt in his hair think ds1 may have had something to do with that