July 2008 - Now our babies are arriving let's have a thread to talk about them...

[minipinkscottish]

Hi ladies
I know there are many of us still to pop but thought it would be nice to start a thread that we can come to once the LO's are here

Abbie is 4 weeks and 3 days old today and my due date isn't here yet

Abbie is doing great - eating and sleeping and very content. The feeding was hard going at first as it is very frequent with her being early but I think you actually get used to being tired

Someone (sorry can't remember who) was talking about bottle and bf together and nipple confusion. Well all the times I have bf I have done so exclusively even when it was very difficult - I am stubborn As Abbie was early and lost a good bit of weight the mw advised topping her up with ebm through a syringe. This was tough as I was bf then trying to express only to bf 1 hour later - so I gave her formula to top up. Giving her the milk in a syringe became difficult as they tended to spurt the milk too quickly at times. So I gave her a bottle to top up( Tommee Tippee - closer to nature) and it was great!!

I bf her all day and then top up after bf at night to get a bit longer sleep - it's working - she is putting on weight and no nipple confusion

sorry for huge post - hope you will all come over and join me!!!!!

Hi everyone

Just a quickie to share this wonderful poem about newborns I've rediscovered- it makes me get all teary:

Baby, I lie and gaze on thee
All other things forgot-
In dreams the things of earth pass by
But awake I heed them not.
I hear thy soft breath come and go,
Thy breath so lately given,
And watch the blue unconscious eyes
Whose light is pure from heaven.
-Anonymous, 1860

I found it in a book about baby massage when I went to classes with ds1- now re-reading the book and found it again, it has exactly the same effect this time round! (i.e. me thinking about how beautiful and gentle my wonderful teeny boy is and how just lying and looking at him is like a little moment of clarity away from everything else. Then I cry cos I know it'll be over so soon and he'll grow up too quick . Blimey when will my hormones settle down? Oh yeah they won't I'm a mum! )

(PS if anyone is thinking about doing some baby massage, I can soooo recommend it. It's a lovely thing for both parent and child! "Infant Massage: A handbook for loving parents" by Vimala McClure is the one I've followed and it's a nice read as well as teaching you how and why to massage your baby)

Will go and catch up on rest of thread now!
xxx

Hi all. I too had a bad day with littlun yest. he was feeding constantly, hourly if not more. he's 3 weeks now, so I guess it was a growth spurt. he's back to every 2-3 hours today, which is better except now I have boobs full of hourly demand milk!! and he only slept for about 1 1/2 hours all day, and wanted to be held all day. I was shattered and tearful and grumpy and reading up about PND. I think I was just tired. he's up every 2 hours through the night, which is beginning to tell on my sanity.

have asked my mum to come up for a few days next week, if only to take some work off my hubby, who is also knackered. I'm not good at asking for help.

I have also had mastitis for the first time. not nice. was shivery and sweaty and hot. and had a sore boob. it responded to antibiotics quickly though. now I have one sore nipple and one ok side, though felt a bit chewed after marathon feeding yesterday.

sorry about long post. Cass.

cass- sounds like you've been through the wringer! poor thing, and mastitis on top of it all. Don't give up..you're in good company. That's great that your mum is coming to help out.

I've lost the plot. Last night DS would not settle and cried for 4 hours with little 30 minute intervals. He'd been feeding voraciously one and off and had a full belly. Kind of brown/green foamy nappies. I read that after a growth spurt it can cause you too make too much milk, and so all they get is milk when they feed and not the nice hind milk that gives them the normal mustardy nappies.

I was so confused and tired, we took him in to be examined at 2am. 5 min of wailing in his car seat and he pulled this loud eBarney Gumble belch and was smiling and kicking the rest of the time. He just wanted a ride in the car and a good burp. As soon as we got him home..back to screaching again. Maybe it's just too hot in the flat and he wanted some fresh air. Ask my bloodshot eyes and he won't settle for a nap today either. ugh.

poppy's not settling well today either, but I'v egot her strapped onto me now in the sling and she's dozing.

a big poo, a bath and now she's fast asleep in bed!

I think unsettled is par for the course at this age, I think I remember the other two being like this just wanting to be held all the time. I am so tired I am dizzy am just going up to bed in a little while, have had another bloody migraine today as well and have fallen asleep twice when feeding B am also a bit p-ed off with DP I don't think he gets it, I think he thinks I am a bit of a hypochondriac or something but he's very low on sympathy. I only had the baby 2 and a half weeks ago, have been anaemic and have the other two to look after two but because he gets up before I do he thinks I shouldn't complain oh and because I don't rush out the door to go to work. OK he works hard but so do I. Sorry think I am a bit emotional as well.

libralady - I don't know how you do it, I honestly would be telling my DH that he needs to cut back on the cricket and golf and help you out, you poor thing you cannot do it all by yourself and don't worry about not posting you rant away

mcchesers - good to hear from you sorry to hear A hasn't been that well, it passes don't worry

cass66 - sorry your having a hard time too these growth spurts are hard aren't they? Glad your mum will come and help out though

isaidno - I think it were you I was talking to about Close slings mine arrived today, got the natural one thought it wouldn't show the sick as much, looks very long and scary haven't had the chance to try it out yet.

minkus - lovely poem it's so true they do grow up in the blink of an eye

anyway hope everyone else is doing OK and managing to get some sleep

SK - the sling is long - I have to tie the extra fabric behind me!; but Bethany will love it I'm sure. Let me know how you get on with it. (mine's charcoal - wasn't thinking about the sick!)

SK / isaidno - had Florence in the Close sling most of yesterday, fed her in it a few times while out. She really likes it although screeched loudly when I tightened it with her in it! I must look odd with these long dangly ends floating behind me..
Floz had a good night but I feel shattered today and am in loads of pain in my back and down my arms and legs. even a hot bath hasn't helped. Perhaps due to lots of walking and holding Florence yesterday - it was a lovely day though, Mum took me out for lunch and then I went to weekly meet up with baby friends.
Grey and rainy here today, so going to cosy up on sofa with paper and baby and do puzzles with dd1 in between. That's theory anyway!!
Cass - hope you feel better soon, please accept any help you can get! Mum's can be brilliant (MILs, on the other hand...!!)I guess one day we'll be pitching in to help out with our babies' babies...

Nice to move to the "post" thread! Only went 5 days over but was determined not to be induced so glad it was no longer.
Isla is taking to a three hourly day routine, feeds round 7:30, 11, 2 and 5, then a topup at 7 before a last feed at 11. We let her wake us up in the night, but if she's not stirred by 3 we force her. Just my luck her ravenous milk-coming-in day was that really hot Monday! Oh well, we've survived week 1 without DH and I fighting. He's being fab doing the chores so I'm worried what'll happen when he goes back to work next week!
I have mixed feelings about imposing a routine on such a little one, but I suppose it means the milk production knows what it's doing, and I stand a chance of getting some structure and the odd thing done!

My internet connection was down yesterday and most of today, have been panicking as unable to get my mumsnet fix! Have had a frustrating afternoon as dh took dd1 and dd2 out so that I could sleep when Bryony did, but she screamed most of the time and didn't fall asleep until 5 minutes before they came home, so I didn't get any rest and had to cope with a screaming baby on my own for 3 hours!

Big sympathy to everyone else who's feeling sleep deprived.

On the plus side, my vacuum cleaner is now fixed, so I can get rid of some of the dog hair that's sitting on the carpet looking at me whenever I'm feeding!

Had 4 friends round for coffee yesterday, there were 11 children here, so still have plenty of tidying up to do before the next lot of visitors arrive tomorrow. it's the last day of dh's paternity leave tomorrow too, so I will be getting anxious about coping on Monday when he goes back to work and I have the 3 of them on my own.

Have now added some pictures to my profile

3 gorgeous girls ponto - you must be very proud xx

Lovely girls ponto.

Can't believe how emotional I am at the moment. My Nan has reached the milestone of 100 years old today. Better head off to bed ready for the celebrations later on, press, photographs and party!

hi all hope you are all having a good Sunday it's raining on and off today here very annoying. Yesterday we had our first family meal out Pizza Express! then wander round Glasgow, all 3 were well behaved, B slept in the back of the P&T all the time we were out and DD1 and 2 shared the toddler seat on top. I got a bargain in Mothercare 2 Elle Mcapherson feeding bras for £24 should have been £64 but they were half price and on buy one get second half price, they are lovely and comfy too. Fed B at 11ish last night and she slept until after 6 had a feed and went backt to sleep until we all got up at 8.15am this morning double she is a absoulte madam though I put her in the bedside cot about 6 inches away from me she wakes up and cries, move her closer so she's sleeping next to me she sleeps! I wake up every hour to check on her though, DP says he has seen me half asleep checking her I think you are always aware they are next to you. Looks like another cosleeper.

ponto - your girls are beautiful, having 3 girls is lovely isn't it I suvived my first week on my own parts were hard though, I think the hardest is when B is crying wanting held and the other two need you too, I found that getting up half an hour earlier has helped with getting them all to nursery for 9.

libralady - Happy Birthday to your Gran that is fantastic 100!

Fenlondon - glad Isla is doing well and your both happy in your routine, I have no routine whatsoever I just go with the flow and evenutally we all find our own routine.

Right lazy Sunday coming up (as if!)

ok ladies..after a brief chat with a mate of mine back home, he told me about a CD he used to settle his son called "womb sounds" and I thought I'd give it a shot. bless my bloodshot eyes if it didn't work a treat! I mentioned about our bad ass baby monitor having an AUX setting and you can plug in say an Ipod or CD player and play any of your own tunes.

I downloded itunes "womb sounds" and plugged it in and the little man was out for the count in seconds for a good four hour stretch. Just something to think about for those of you going without sleep.

great idea mcchesers! We used to have a womb sounds tape, but it's been lost / broken. Poppy seems able to manage without it. She's having a sleepy day today, after yesterday only dozing for 15 minutes at a time!

Someone was asking a few pages back if anyone had resumed sexual stuff ... well, last night DH and I found time for some mutual pleasuring iykwim. No full sex though because breastfeeding is our only contraception at the moment! (shuddering at idea of baby number 4!)

Hope you've all had nice relaxing weekends.
Libralady - you are under instruction to have a rest after your nan's birthday party!

Hello all, better day today after a bit of a blip yesterday due to tiredness. A has the most bizarre sleeping patterns now, he will go down for 3 hours but after that will wake every 90 minutes for a 10 minute feed at the end of which he will fall asleep but he then won't settle back in his moses basket when I try he screams so I put him back on the boob for 2 minutes, he falls asleep, I put him in the moses basket he wakes up and screams, repeat this 3-4 times. I have tried to keep him awake so he feeds for longer (purely selfish reasons as I want a longer block of sleep for 90 minutes) but i have yet to find a humane way to wake a sleeping baby (even if he wakes himself 2 minutes later).

Had first photo take of me and A taken on Friday where I didn't look like death warmed up and have uploaded it.

LL - Hope you had a great day with your Nan.

Ponto - great pics!

Cass - hope your Mum will be able to lighten the load.

SK - very of both bra bargain and B sleeping!

Mcchesers - think we have the same baby monitor - deffo going to try that.

Still haven't had a chance to read everything but sounds like all is well in MN land. Nate has been really unsettled this weekend, he's been sneezing a bit since he was born but seems a little snotty today, I wonder if he has a cold as he is finding it difficult to latch on and is a bit wheezy when I wind him. How do I know? Not going to the clinic till Wednesday.
DH back to work tomorrow, I had a little cry in his arms today, feel like a bigger baby than Nate! I have my sister in law for the week then my sister the next week so can't complain!
McC womb sounds..what a great idea! I'll get on itunes later.
Gonna attempt to put some pics up now.

Hello everyone, all going well...so far. Rafferty is such a sweet chilled little boy. Our feeding s going well and despite being a bit clingy and loving to be held (all the time if he had his way!), he is sleeping well. Have found every few days he goes through a hungry phase - wanting to be fed approx 2 hourly, but it usually only lasts for for half a day. Little growth spurts I think. Just sort of going with the flow...

After such a horrible pregnancy I am really enjoying him. He has so many expressions and gestures already that make me laugh!

Libra - wow you have sooo much on your plate. Take it easy and don't forget you also have a job!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

nice pics libra; did you knit the blanket?

Thanks My aunt knitted the blanket, a complete surprise but it co-ordinates nicely with the pushchair we have!

Managed to add a few pictures of B and the DDs eventually for anyone who hasn't seen them on facebook (also added more on there) B and DD3 could pass for the same baby it's scary.

Gosh SK DD1 and DD3 are the spit of each other!!!!

OMG SK - Jodie's right - they look like twins! Gorgeous pics.

Libra1975 - lovely photos too. I also like your wedding photo. Also, just a thought as this may not be the same for you... Charlie used to go to sleep then wake up 90 - 120 mins later crying and I used to feed him. Then I read somewhere that some babies cry after this amount of time because of the milk being digested, not necessarily because they're hungry. So I experimented with leaving him to cry for a minute or so and found he would go back to sleep and I would feed him an hour later. As I said, it may be totally different for you guys but it worked for us. I basically contributed to Charlie's colic (which has gone now - hurray!) because I kept feeding him when he was still digesting the last feed.

Gilly - enjoy your sister and SIL.. let them spoil you.

CilC - so pleased to hear that all is going well with Rafferty! You so deserve to sit back and enjoy him now after such a gruelling pregnancy.

Love to everyone!!
xx

SK your girls are beautiful and I agree they are the spit of each other. Mind you I'm in the same boat, Luke is Sam's twin just born 4 years after him.

Had a great day celebrating my Nan's 100th birthday. We had a professional photographer come and take some family portrait photos and we can have one enlarged for her as a present. He also gave us a CD with all the other photos for us to do with as we wish - over 150 so well worth the £300! He was with us for an hour and a half. There are some really smashing photos, so I will try and post some later and put some on facebook as well.

Nan received her telegram from the Queen and the care home had made the most fabulous cake. Afterwards, we left her in peace with her friends and we as a family headed off to a lovely country pub for a carvery meal to celebrate her life. I'd had a couple of glasses of bubbly so was a bit tipsy and giggly. Did feel like a 'release' though of all the tensions that had been building up IYSWIM.

As a result DH had to do the looking after the children as I was 'not in a fit state' well I was but wasn't going to let him know that!

Now he's gone to bed exhausted and I'm up feeding Luke. Can't believe he's 6 weeks old later this morning.

Well Mum's got her hip replacement later today and I know she's been a little nervous about it. At least Nan's birthday took her mind off it.

Now I've just got to keep an eye on my Dad for the next few days. He'll be coming around for meals, it's no more hassle as I've got to cook for us so peeling a few more veggies won't be a hardship.

Right off to hit the hay. Ta ta for now.