FEB 08- Sore nips and no naps continued!!!!

[sarahmikeharryandrosie]

Hi Ladies thought i wouls open the thread but i have no imagination- hence the title!!!!

Leesmum - I wouldn't worry about the appearance of your milk. Bm does have a bluey tinge to it. If you expressed after you'd fed the lo I'm sure you would find it would be creamier as you'd be getting more hind milk. Which teats are you using on your bottles. I think the reason some babies like bottles are that they get the milk faster than from the breast. We still use the slowest teat when lo gets a bottle so he has to work just as hard for that as he does for a breast feed. James will do fine on formula, so the only real question is what you want to do. If you decide you want to keep bf get help, if you decide to switch to formula then just remember how well you've done to feed as long as you have.

Poblets - nice to hear from you. I think there are quite a few of us on this thread who are familiar with the joys of 3 year old boys. My 5 year old has calmed down a lot lately and ds2 seems determined to take up the mantle!!

I took ds3 to baby clinic this morning to have him weighed and ask about the frequent poohing. She asked if I was eating anything different which I'm not. So she said if the pooh looked and smelled the same just to keep and eye on it. I'm not too worried but I find it hard to believe that the frequency could have changed so much without any reason.

Anyway, hope everyone's doing ok today.

Haystones crossed post with you. Saw your other thread and I'm sorry you had a bad experience with the hv. I'm sure your lo is fine and is just a big boy (was he big at birth?). I do think you're right to get reassurance from the gp though - just to set your mind at ease! We were using infacol but have stopped now and lo seems fine. I think wind generally eases off between 3 and 4 months.

Looks like they're a few of us going away this weekend - heres hoping the weather improves.

Yes, fingers crossed for the weather! He was 9lb 8oz at birth so has never been a littl'un! My ds has some days where he poos constantly and others where he rarely does any so think it's all a bit random. I'm sure my diet hass some influence but I haven't worked out how yet!
Have put more photos on my profile- I genuinely think he's just a big boy rather than 'fat' or 'overweight. He's in proportion, perfect and all mine!

Leesmum- DD arches her back, and screams occassionally during feeds. I find that if we stop feeding, and walk round the house for a little bit, she calms down. She doesn't neccessarily feed straight away again, but feeds ok after a little break, say 20-30 mins. My HV reckons she does it because she's not that hungry. We were feeding on schedule, every 3 hours, now feeding on demand as and when she wants it. Don't know if that helps.

Princess- also told DD got murmur, am going 1st July to see the consultant. Not that worried about it, as have been told most will grow out of it. Only problem is our appointment is at 9am, which means we have to leave at 7:30 to get there on time, if we lucky.

Lucy- have you heard any more about the house?

Rozzy - lol at your crappy day pun - sorry it was crappy though!!

Poblet - great to hear from you. consistency is your best bet with DS1 (says she who is CRAP at consistency!)

Leesmum - sorry I have no idea what is going on with your milk - though mine looks very watery especially at first - perhaps best to ring a lactation consultant. Great advice sallyforth!
Katherine really IS remote - I'm only going to Sydney and Byron Bay where family are - though I would love to see Kakadu and Arnhem land one day.

Haylstones - are you exclusively bf? if so then don't worry re weight - my DD1 and my niece were HUGE and they are both gorgeous average size teenagers now!!

Hello all- i am very envious of you all going away!!!! not such luck here with lack of money and job etc!!!!!!

Went to get Rosie weighed yesterday and she is 14lb6.5 oz at 16 weeks and perfectly on the line- HV was a PITA though- however i told her am happy and i have no real concerns and she didn't know what to say to me!!!!

Haylstones- He is your child so don't worry too much i was always told as long a they follow a line they are ok seek some more advise if your worried!!!

DS is driving me insane all he seems to do is cry, moan, winge and throw tantrums- even when out at a fab soft play centre today- i feel like i have the worst child in the world sometimes. He wont share and when he has his mind set he acts like a spoilt brat and kicks and screams!!!![he4 had time out 4 times today whist we were out and still carried on!!!

oh well i am sure its just a phase but very embarrassing!!!!

n e way enough of my moaning hope you are all ok- cannot wait to get to work and leave dh to the moaner tonight!!!lol

SMHANDR, am sure it's just a phase, my dd still has days like that sometimes.
I'm exclusively breastfeeding ds and have calmed down (a lot) so am not too worried now about his weight.

omy- dd2 should have done gcse's last year but had a bit of a meltdown and refused to go to school from the end of year 10. She ended up doing year 11 at the college where i teach but didn't do any gcses, she did animal care instead. She is doing a BTEC course this year and taking some gsces as well so it's a bit hectic. She probably needs more help than some as she has very little confidence and no experience of exams. I'm sure support and massages are just as good (i know which i'd rather have if i was taking exams!!).

BTW my milk looks 'thin' too but ds weighs 18lb 2 so it must be fine!

Haylstones - if he's in proportion then he must just be a big boy. I'm sure hormone problems wouldn't make him longer just wider.

Omy/ginger - that must be horrible watching your dd's going through all the stress of exams - they're lucky to have supportive mums!

Evening all,

The counselling last week was really good. The counsellor wants to concentrate on making me feel better about myself first of all and then eventually everything else will follow. I felt really good afterwards and have got another session booked for Friday. He said that i am under alot of pressure from DP family etc and that me feeling better about myself will give me the confidence to stick up for myself.

Henley isnt very well again. Hes had a cough and runny nose since tuesday last week. He was given saline drops and paracetamol but theres no change. Took him back to the the GP today and hes now got a chest infection so hes been given anti-biotics. Hes not eating and when he does hes only taking 3oz. He usually has 6. Hopefully, once the ABs start working, he'll take more.

I was weighd at the docs too. 3 weeks ago i was 14lb 7oz and today im still the same. Im actually quite happy about this as we went to Devon last BH weekend and i ate loads so being at the same weight has made me feel a little happier.

sorry, was ment to say 14lb 4oz.

Ladies!!! Great excitement here. I think I'm getting a nappy bucket for my birthday!! Was in Homebase looking for said item today when DH called and suggested I "wait until after the weekend...." Here's to the best birthday ever.

I've had a very intense Malcolm day (DH only just got back home) but it was fun - I managed to keep him entertained all day as well as some gardening, cooking dinner and tomorrow's lunch, tidying house, decorating the baby side of the bedroom with those sticky stickers (which he absolutely LOVES) have a meeting at the climbing wall to arrange setting up a creche, feed LO every two hours all afternoon and do proper bedtime (Amazing Grace x 20) instead of his usual falling asleep in front of TV. Hoorah.

Princess - how frustrating to have your weekend scuppered by a bit of absent mindedness! Bggr. Nice to know your DH managed to have his Top Gun moment (one of my favourite films - planes and romance-although not a Tom Cruise fan )does his job not provide enough excitement? The flat spin sounds like the most appropriate part to me!

Glad the session went well and was worthwhile Miss Natalie - doesn't help with your LO being ill hope he gets better soon.

Hi Poblet! Hope things continue to improve.

Leesmum - hope milk is normal! Haven't expressed for ages so don't know what it looks like these days.

Omy - GL with the flight! V brave but I guess you've got to go and see your family haven't you....

Hi everyone.

Thanks for thinking of me.

Feeling a lot better and more relaxed as Katie and I got back from France last Thursday. We stayed with my parents for 2 weeks while DH stayed in London to work. Katie and I go back next Thurs for 2 weeks while DH attends a conference in San Francisco. I could go with but don't want to go without Katie and don't want to stay in a hotel/ do a 12 hour flight with a baby. We then go back to France (DH, Katie and I) for a week in July.

Not really had time to post.

I've got hayfever and I think Katie has too: sneezing, coughing but otherwise she is ok.

Hi all,
been soooo long since I last posted on here. I never ever seem to have time to sit and read and type!

Sophie is doing well, nearly 14 weeks now. Had her weighed last week at 12+5 days and she was 15lb 10oz. HV wasn't too concerned but she did make me feel guilty and upset when she said that feeding a child Hungrier baby formular is like feeding steak and kidney pie to them. So now I have swapped back and LO is really unsettled between feeds. She does sleep from 9pm to 8am though just wish DD1 did that too!

Having to think about trying to find a job... has anyone gone back yet? I am thinking of doing a healthcare assistant job at the hospital so I can do 3 shifts of 12 hours to get as much time with children as possible. Thoughts anyone?

Hope everyone that wasn't/isn't well are doing ok. I am going to make an effort to read back a few weeks and catch up.

Take care xx

Arhian - no news about the house and we're due to move in on friday, I am worried sick

Leesmum - From what I remember, your milk is supposed to have a blue-ish tinge when your milk supply becomes established. As human milk has a low fat ratio compared to cows milk it will look quite watery but this is completely normal.

missnatalie -glad the counselling went well and I hope your LO gets better soon.

Gil - sounds like you had a very productive day, you must have been really pleased!

samsmam - can't believe your HV made you feel so awful like that, if LO is healthy then I don't really see what her problem is

No news on the house is (hopefully) good news. We tried ringing the estate agents to find out what was going on yesterday and they didn't answer the phone at all which is very frustrating
I can't believe they cashed the admin fees cheque then took 2 weeks to get off their arses and do anything

Ginger - animal care BTEC sounds great! - I have a niece that would be perfect for. Experience really does makes a difference with these exams - DD1 is quite chilled about them as she has done 'pre-mocks' and mocks already. In fact she is outside deadheading the daisies right now when she should be studying for science tomorrow! I hope your DD does really well - it will boost her confidence to have got through these blardy exams.

Lucy - B*?@DY estate agents!!!

Natialie - your councellor sounds like they have got the right idea! Feeling good about yourself is definitely the key to life! Poor Henley - no wonder he doesn't feel like eating much if he has a chest infection I hope he feels better VERY soon!

Gill - A NAPPY bucket for your birthday!!! how life has changed!

Lovemymum - great to hear you are fine. France - mmmmmm

Samsmam - 12 hour shifts sound knackering - good luck with the job hunting.

Am trying to get my head around packing and preparing for flight - though i have a horrid cold and a sore back so I don't feel like doing anything at the mo - hope cold gets better before flight and hope LO doesn't get it!!

On plus side just spoke to my lovely brother in sydney who is going to pick me up at the airport at 5am!!! and take the week off work to see me. Can't wait to see his kids who are 4 and 7 - last time I saw them was 4 years ago!

Just a quickie to let you all know that i'm off out soon to see a BF counsellor(sp?) Thanks for all your advise and at least i'm not the only one with Murky Milk!!

I've got to go, i'll be back on later to let you know how i got on xxx

How did you get on leesmum?

Lucy- hope you've heard from those estate agents. xx

leesmum- how r u? How was it with the BF counsellor?

Been into work to speak to the area manager. She gave me a call last friday, and asked if I could work the Saturday, as they were desperate

Anyway, I went in to have a chat about my maternity leave. Never mind the fact she turned up 15min late, when she did turn up she only spared me 10mins in total. Told her I wasn't ready to come back to work, so have extended my maternity leave till october. But I really wanted to discuss my hours. She basically told me they got enough relief pharmacists, so I can't do relief. So I told her I wanted to reduce my hours (am contracted to work 46.5 hours a week) and she basically told me it was to early to discuss and to call her back in september . I want to sort work out now so that I know what I'm doing with regards to childcare and everything. aaaarrrggghhhh

oh oh Arhian, sounds like you need some good advice re your rights! why don't you start a thread in the work topic.

oh oh Arhian, sounds like you need some good advice re your rights! why don't you start a thread in the work topic.

Well i went to see BF counsellor this morning and she was lovely, very helpful and understanding. Well she watched me feeding lo (well trying to feed him!) and she said that my latch and positioning was fine but that lo was incredibly frustrated and she thinks it might be a nursing strike because he is getting used to (a) how quick the milk flows from a bottle and (b) the amount of milk he gets in a bottle v's how much he is getting from me.

So anyway she said there really is only two options, either get rid of formula and keep putting him on the breast every two hours to get a good supply established again or switch to formula. She also said that milk can often look a funny colour and that there probably wasn't anything wrong with it otherwise he would have been being sick or have an upset tummy.

So we are going onto formula, i would have loved to carry on mixed feeding and if i'm honest i enjoyed that little feeling of having some time to myself while Dp gave james a bottle. But i am dreading having to faff with bottles in the night, lo has already had bottles this afternoon and seems quite content and i think i've relaxed a bit more now that i've finally made my desicion.

Thanks for all your lovely advice feb ladies, it is always welcome and always listened to xx

Now i just have to morph into Dolly Parton/Jordan over the next week or so

leesmum, big sympathies, i know what a struggle it is when feeding gets less and less bearable and such a hard decision. well done for making a decision on it. one piece of advice-don't hand express off more than you possibley need to as it stimulates production, use a breast pump instead to relieve the discomfort/pain. also cabbage leaves. and apparently there is a homeopathic remedy which stops milk production-you can ring ainsworths or helios for advice and buy from them, they'll send in post-wish i'd done that as am still producing some milk-makes process so long and miserable. if it's any consolation, i have had so much more energy since stopping, and more time for dd (don't know if she appreciates it though, she keeps asking for balamory which she only gets when he is feeding but now too short to get dvd out). good luck with the big boobs.
arhian that sucks, people can be completely unhelpful re childcare.
hope the massage works omy.
lovely to hear from you lovemymum and samsmam.
am diving into bed before feeding time.

leesmum - it's great that you found the bf counsellor. Sorry to hear you've been having these problems, and that she wasn't able to help you keep mixed feeding, but it sounds as though you're doing the right thing for YOU and James. Would it be possible for you to keep doing one feed a day for a while? When your boobs are fuller (having missed some feeds), would James feed better or doesn't it make much difference? I just wonder whether it might help prevent you getting so engorged. I went from full b'f to full FF with DS in 1 week and it was agony. Best of luck with it all!