June 08 babies - I know there's a few of us about!

[isaidno]

Thought I'd start a thread inbetween breastfeeding, laundry and bossing DH about tyo do stuff!

Let's make a list of members!

ISAIDNO - baby girl; Poppy Elizabeth; born 18 / 6/ 08; 6lb 4oz

1st photo is huge - sorry!!

BDQ I feel the same as you do about routine - sometimes read other peoples' posts and think I am being rubbish, but I like you was one of the last 'batch' and so I guess we're playing catch-up!

essie it's good to hear that the general consensus is that a routine isn't really practical so early on, gives me hope!

I am ridiculously pleased with myself because I successfully managed to get out to the bf support group. A was an angel and slept all the way through it. I feel so much better for getting out and talking to other people, even if it was just about babies! I'm going to try and make it to some more groups now - I think the key thing was to take the plunge and plonk A in his car seat despite the screams at the beginning!

Allnew, BDQ, as an experienced mother (only 5 weeks!) I reckon if your baby is 2-3 weeks old you've achieved a great deal if you're both up and dressed, and you've eaten breakfast. Even now I find breakfast being a bar of chocolate at 11am .

HV visit was good - Iestyn is gaining weight well, and she reckons there's no nipple confusion going on - bf was well established, and he was a very good feeder anyway (could he be anything else with my moo cow milk supply?!) so I'm reassured.
He's 8.1 now! (I know, some of you gave birth to bigger babies than that!). But even better news, my weight now also has an 8 in it (first figure - I'm not 18 stone or anything) so I'm heading towards my pre-preg weight. I reckon it took a bit longer because my boobs were holding 100oz each or something similar .

HV did say 'oh, your milk must be settling because you're not half as big as you were when I saw you last.

BTW, who would have thought it? I got Iestyn to sleep before 10pm last night and it was such an achievement that it puts finishing my PhD in the shade...

Debs, glad the wedding went well. I did think of you, but then I got distracted and had to go and feed the baby! Also good that both yours and his outfits worked well. Wow, having 30 people to stay, I would be exhausted. D is not taking two boobs at the moment, only 1.5, and am still not sure why. Am paranoid that she will start waking up more at night as she is eating less during the day at the moment ... I guess we'll see.

Needahand, sorry - I forgot to say well done on the job. When do you actually start?

Essie, wow weight gain and corresponding weight loss. So are you not the magic milk woman any more? Shame!

BDQ, Re routines, I (and am a real routine advocate) would totally agree that it's really not practical till about 6-8 weeks. All you can do in the early days is try and separate night from day for them IMO, and then gradually introduce some structure.

All new, very impressed you got out of the house.

Essie I only made an effort to reply to all because I haven't been here for days and there was so much news to catch up!!

BDQ that was my worry if I had given birth on my due date (like yours) because to be fair I was expecting the last one on the thread to be ignored as it is hard to post with little ones isn't it. I wasn't expecting anyone to be left on the antenatal thread which is why I wasn't keen to split the thread early on.

allnew, bdq when I had DD I was doing really well if I managed to get dressed, washed and fed by 5.00pm so try not to worry to much!

No routine here for us. I should be so lucky if I managed one! You should have seen the mad dash this morning to get DD to nursery before 9.30 and have all 3 of us fed and dressed by 8.50 (the walk takes about 40/45mn). Still gutted I am not loosing weight with all the walking I do.

HV just weighted SJ and he has put on 300g...since Friday..usually that is roughly what he puts on in a week!!! Chubby little monster! No wonder I feel (litterally) (spelling?) empty sometimes

Debs your boys look very handsome in their tuxedos and Ethan looks soooo cute!

UDC, don't worry, the girl's still got it. I breastfed in a cafe on Sunday and sprayed a window lightly with my milk...

Darn it - will have to come on more often to be able to respond to everyone. Massive post alert:

Neenz - Did you get the news you want? If you do get pg, promise you won't forget us for a new antenatal thread.

Essie - Well done for spraying the window, DH pretended to be asleep when Ryder was crying this morning so I sprayed him! (DH had promised to get Ryder out of his cot and pass him to me to feed so I didn't aggravate C section problems anymore than necessary).

A qu for the C-section survivors - when does it stop hurting? I've been fine for a while but something is definitely hurting my stomach muscles on the left hand side. So much so today is a stay at home, so nothing, rest day. Could this be them healing / coming back together? DS = 4 weeks. Am seeing GP pn Thursday but just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this.

We're doing ok without a structure (only one nightfeed, always at 4am) so am scared to implement GF or any other routine....but DS is only just sleeping now, he has been awake since 10am today. He really doesn't sleep much during the day. That's not good is it? Or is it? I don't know!

Those of you more organised than me may find the baby whisperer site is useful for example routines: The baby whisperer

Great photos Debs. We've got an eve only wedding invite for end of August 65 miles away. Don't know whether to not go, go with DS or go without DS. If we go with DS, we could get some dressed up photos of us all.....yours are great. Decision will probably depend on whether I can find a big enough tent to wear. at your weight loss Essie, my current dress size contains an eight....and a one.

Allnew/BDQ - Essie is right: "you've achieved a great deal if you're both up and dressed, and you've eaten breakfast". I had breakfast at 12.30pm today and DS is 4 weeks! Ah well, hopefully it'll help with the weightloss... And am waiting until DH gets home in an hour to have a shower! I am truely a Slummy Mummy.

Well, after the GP examined Isaacs mouth - she was not sure if he had thrush or not, she examined me and I have 'deep thrush' in one boob so I have taken one dose of antib's this pm and have to take another in a week.

allnew/BDQ In order for me to eat I have to put LO in his carseat and head into town in the mornings as he is really unsettled then. It means I am getting well known in my local costa coffee. and see my earlier post about the looks I got when I went out in DH's boardies and a vest yesterday. HV thinks it was because there wasn't enough fake designer goods in my ensemble as I was wearing a similar thing today - although as DH was off work they were my boardies rather than his.

Too all those asking about routines my 4 week old does not appear interested in a daytime routine but does tend to go down in the evenings at between 10 and 11 (when we go to bed) then wakes between 2 and 3 and then again at between 5.30 and 7 when he gets snuggled up in bed with me. I cannot get a routine in place during the day due to his continual growth spurts, he has put on 1lb 12oz since being born I HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO A MILK MONSTER so Essie I can totally agree with feeling like a milk producing machine.

Was feeding last night and he pulled off and there was a spray of milk over his head and straight onto the duvet!!!

Thanks all for the reassuring comments, and lol Essie at the spraying milk!

I'm finally able to express more than 30ml, and managed 75ml today . Never thought I'd get so excited by such accomplishments!

Thanks for the advice on Alex and his feeding but I'm getting really confused about all this sleeping malarkey .

One school of thought is that the better they sleep in the day, the better they sleep at night, another is to limit their daytime naps. But how do I do that? I don't think I could bear to wake him - surely if he's sleeping then he needs to sleep? I know I'm v new to all this so any advice gratefully appreciated, but I'm not sure how/why I'd want to wake him. Won't he just naturally get into his own routine when he's ready? Or am I being really naive?

For example, tonight he's just had a huge feed and is lying on his mat having some kick about time and will probably fall asleep in about 20 mins or so. Meaning he may well sleep through til about 11pm, then feed again and hopefully sleep through til 3ish. Completely different to what he did last night. How important is it for him to be doing the same thing at the same time each day when he's 5 wks old? Or is it just personal preference.

Help! I'm lost! Thank you x

Hedgehog - why has your GP given you abs for thrush? Won't that aggravate it?

LOL that any of you could even THINK that I would be happy to be pregnant again! I gave birth to twins 11 weeks ago you know!!! . So yes, I am happy that I am not PG.

Re routines: Sponge I wake my twins all the time. They feed at 7am, 10am, 1.30pm, 4.30pm, 6pm and 10pm (and then once in the night). They sleep at 8-9.30am, 11-1.30pm then cat naps in the afternoon before going down for the evening at about 7pm.

I started getting them into the routine by feeding them every three hours. Some BF babies won't go 3 hours tho, but mine easily do. Once the feeding routine was going well I tried to get them to sleep and be awake at the times Gina says. Getting them to be awake was most difficult. They wanted to be asleep whenever they weren't feeding, but then were up a lot in the night. We used noisy toys, taking their clothes off, jiggling them, shouting at them . It took a week of very hard work to get them to start being awake more. But now they are great.

I rang hosp today about Esther's hernia op - they said the earliest she could be seen was 12 aug - 3 weeks away. GP on call said she'd need to have the op within 2-4 weeks and that was 10 days ago. So will ring back tomorrow to see of I can plead with consultant to see her sooner.

Spongebrain - I think it depends which plan you follow as to whether to limit daytime naps or not. I have personally never woken a sleeping baby, but then have never really managed to follow a proper routine either. Hence ds1 woke to feed once a night from 6 weeks and dd woke every 2 hours until she was 20 months (yes really, I just got used to it in the end!) Jamie feeds every 2 hours or so during the day and also during the night. I can't physically feed him more during the day as then he will be permanently attached to my breast, I am just going to have to wait it out until he sleeps better. Ho hum...

Essie glad to hear that other people think that a routine is too much to ask for early on!

Deb - really glad the wedding went well. I had big plans to make sure that we put Struan down in the bedroom after 7pm-ish this week to start distinguishing night from day, but of course he started his 7pm - midnight crying routine the very same day!!!

allnew - well done for getting to bf support. DH and I failed to get out today (which means I have to put of the great jeans hunt for another day).

Needahand and Penguin - am so far managing to get dressed before lunchtime, but I suspect that will change when DH goes back to work. He'll be off for another two weeks thankfully.

Sponge - I'm still figuring everything out too, so no great advice on the napping front, but I do try and wake Struan if he hasn't fed for more than 3hours. Its really hard to wake him up though. He has been known to fall asleep mid-sleep. Neenz - you sound very organised, but I imagine with twins you have to be! I take my hat off to you

Right, have to go and sort out a feed. Am delighted to report that (up until now anyway) Struan has been much calmer this evening. He gets EBM anyway, but I tried some skin to skin earlier which helped. I also managed to tie his black/white book with mirror on the front to the inside of his moses basket and he was really interested in that for ages. He even flicked through the pages [grin}. Ok, so its one of those padded pram books, and it only has three pages, but I'm definitely claiming that he read his first book at 16 days old

debglad wedding went well.. will check out photos.

pp lol at milk machine..edie is some kind of milk munt too..keep looking at the baby book (only book I read now..) and thinking where tehy get the estimated feeds from for weight as edie on way more than that for last few days and to try and give her any less equals world war 3.

Looking forward to medical appt as get a chance to nap on way into /out of town while dh takes care of baby..fingers crossed get some answers adn news is good

crap - isaac just used his foot to delete my beautifully crafted post so short version

rolf have been given fluconazole

SBBP no routine her either

Poppy hope you get your answers tomorrow.

BDQ, Hedgehog - one of your babies is reading, the other is computer literate (with his foot!!). I fear for Iestyn, as even his nappy repetoire is a bit limited . He can fart different notes though so perhaps his talent is music...

Tried a repeat of yesterday's Amazing Sleeping Baby Trick with my Mum here, but I suspect she overdid it on the dummy. She kept putting it in despite me telling her to let him cry a little ('so cruel'), but she kept giving him the dummy all the time and then took it out 5 minutes before his 9pm feed. He then didn't feed properly at all and hurt my nipple with his silly sucking - I'm annoyed because he was feeding well all day. I feel bad because I should be grateful for the help. I guess I'm just tired. He's actually in his moses basket now but fussing a bit. Fingers crossed though.

Oh - after I put him down, Mum pointed out that the Tesco guy (due 7-9) hadn't been. I found that he had phoned, and he was lost. When he arrived he was clearly stressed, so I asked him about his day and got a 15 minute story. Poor kid - 21, and his first day at work! So I've done something good in calming him down a bit!

Neenz (and other routiners) I think your method is sound. Iestyn is feeding every 3 hours, so I'll work on the naps. This evening sleep thing (if I can repeat it 2 nights in a row!) is a step in the right direction too.

Funny how it works - getting him to settle is the big issue here, not keeping him awake!

Bed for me too now.

penguin c section pain stopped for me maybe 10 days ago. Am now at 5 weeks. I had pain in right rather than lhs . Mw told me that they pull the muscles apart on side rather than cut for main incision which can be more painful to heal.

hedgehog thanks for posting your non-routine. Peter is just about identical, you have made me feel much better. He is very awake and feeding loads all day but sleeps well from around 11 pm. To get him into a routine my challenge would be opposite to neenz: how to get more daytime sleeps in. Tried gina bath and bed routine tonight initially a calm baby but still awake now! Think he is just mega hungry judging by speed ebm was drunk.

Evening all.
Neeze so glad your not preg wow what a thought!
Though I do wonder who will be the 1st to get preg again on this thread lol!

Sophie sorry you want to leave us I will miss you, Ive not been very good at posting directly to anyone or have much time to read.

I have seen you all talking about weight, I have lost quite alot still got a stone to go, but im sick of people saying how much I have lost and how quickly!! well so would you if youd not had to veg on the sofa with your new born! Cherrish every pound and every stretch mark as they have help you in providing you perfect little babies, I cant look at my body with out being disgusted at it for what I did to my beautiful baby.

I would do anything not to have to follow a routine just now, setting the alarm to make sure i dont miss her medication is horrible especially if you have been up all night.

I have posted some more pic's, I dont think they uploaded too well with the size change.

Thank you for all your support re donations and well wishes. Can I say that when you are finished with your baby equipment, bouncy chairs/prams/newborn cloths if you arent going to do anything with them please dontate to your local neonatal unit. You have no Idea how much of a difference a vest or a sleep suit makes. Big clothes are also rare as people only think of pre terms. And a bouncy chair really helps children like Olivia.

Anyway had a good day today at the pediatrician(sp) Olivia is making really good progress and her movements are really good, more controlled, she is calm and has less involuntary movements. She also isnt going ridgid showing signs of spasticity. Obviously she will have motordevelopent/control problems but it seems as though they will be less severe. Speech and Languae Therapist coming again next week for a feeding time to see what we can do. Also she is being booked for another EEG check on the electrical activity we may get to reduce her drugs if she is no longer taking fits and everything has calmed down Unfortunately she didnt respond to the finger puppet but not too worried about that. I can see her eye begining to react, we have had a smile or two and she is still very young and drugged.

Im thinking about writting a book to myself so in years to come I can read it back.

Sorry for the marathon post

Good luck tomorrow Poppy

Great photos Deb. I like your dress (and obv your boys are lovely too!)

I've been trying to take advantage of DH and the DSs' absence to try to get the girls into some sort of routine. All I'm doing with DD2 is quieten things down from around 7pm. There's no point in me being scuentific abour it as there's just too much going on most of the time. I'm doing the same thing with DD1 and staying on the landing until she goes to sleep. Last night I was up till about 11pm with DD2 but this evening DD2 has been asleep for about 2 horus so far .

Sponge - DD2 sleeps a lot during the day. I don't tend to wake her for the sake of establishing a routine. I move her if I need to (if I'm going out or think she'd otherwise be eaten by her sister) and if that means she wakes up so be it. She's not bad at night so I'm not trying to "fix" anything, ifswim. I think if she was driving me bananas with colic, awful nights or whatever then I'd be more likely to want to intervene.

Josey - Glad Olivia is doing so well - all so much better than the initial prognosis isn't it? Thanks for the suggestion about passing on baby things to the neonatal unit. It wouldn't have occured to me to give them non-prem clothes. Do they need just vests and babygros or could they use "outfits" too? We've been given loads of really sweet little summer dresses for DD2 but with the crappy weather lots of them will be virtually unused and she's almost outgrown them.

I'm so sad to read what you say about your body. Even though it wasn't your body's "fault", guilt is a natural (if very cruel) part of grief. Wish I could help...

What fabulous photos Josey, I love seeing your other dcs with Olivia, they are clearly thrilled to have her home and be able to play with her! She is so gorgeous and I'm so glad she is doing so well.