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!!!!!

Morning ladies xx

I am sooooooooo tired today - Abbie is a little star sleeping well and feeding great BUT ds4 - ARGH!!!!! He didn't sleep as a baby - the only 1 out of the 6 - and he was over a year before he slept all night - now he regularly wakes in night and is ready to play.....very tiring!! So last night was up with ds at midnight and then Abbie was up at 3 then ds was up again at 4 and then again at 5.30 and then Abbie up at 6 - ds now up for the day so no more rest for me

minipink im so with you im very tired to
samuel has slept great for ages but he has 1 grumpy period in the day lasting approx 5 hours well last night it was from 11pm -4.10am my dh kept waking up trying to help but there was no point he has to get up for work
the he woke for a feed at 5am 40 mins sleep so far i was near to tears then and said to dh you have him and crashed out he fed him put him to bed and went to work
sam is still asleep in bed how lucky are babies
minipink how old is you night owl ds then?

Hi all,

SK- Wow... they look idenitical!

Libralady- Glad you enjoyed your Nans party.. 100yrs old wow!
Rest up today though!

Libra1975- Lovely pics.. cant beat knitted blankets

Had a few tears yesterday (in front of my parents) as Abigail was very unsettled and i couldnt seem to soothe her. Settled eventually but the hormones made me feel such a bad mummy for not being able to calm her. Much brighter and better now after a good sleep -Abigail went from her 10pm feed through the 3am!

Off to the clinic today. Check up with the midwife then being signed off from them and over to the midwife.

Had a nice suprise this morning!.. thought id pop on the scales just out of curiousity and im back to my pre-prenancy weight! Was really really as we have been eating really bad lately..ie Takeaway the past 2 nights!
Plus Abigail is only 11 days old so im quite a happy bunny today

soz- meant from the midwife to the Health visitor

Really should proof read my posts first!

hi disney - ds, Mackenzie will be 3 in October and is a very loveable little boy but OMG such a live wire and hard work

how are you feeling disney?

Morning all, got a question on slings - I want one of those ones where you can breastfeed with them (for the journey to bahrain - airport and plane etc). Has anyone got a baba sling? www.babaslings.co.uk/why.htm

Hope you're all good. disney, how are things today?

Thank you for all the compliments.

LL - I honestly don't know how you juggle eveything! Glad your DH was able to take over for a little while.

Disney - any chance you will be able to have a nap today?

Mini - glad to hear Abbie is being an angel, is this normal night behaviour from DS4 or do you think it is a reaction to Abbie?

DM - sorry don't have any experience with slings but await other peoples replies with interest as we are thinking about buying one. Also very of your move to Bahrain, I was an expat-brat (Kuwait) and LOVED it.

Pigley - very of pre-pregnancy weight but my extra weight is all self-inflicted (after 10 years of watching what I ate and exercising I went kinda mad in the first trimester, oh oh all trimesters).

Last night was a goodish night, A was still up every 90 minutes but I have learnt to feed lying down and last night I just fell asleep each time I fed him, saying that I don't want to co-sleep as I like a glass of wine with my dinner and also if I did it on purpose I think I would be too terrified of smothering him or him falling out of bed.

libralady - you sound so much more chipper today, it sounds like you let off some much needed steam at the weekend and let your hair down too - good for you!

Minipink - what a nightmare! I can't function properly without sleep and don't know how you do it with other kids to look after too. At least with a baby I can grab the odd catnap when he's sleeping. Hope DS is better tonight. Thinking of you.

Disney - your DH sounds like such a love. Glad he helped you out, you must've been at the end of your tether! I hope you can get some sleep today sometime?

Pigley very of your weight. I bought some uber technical scales that track weight loss and body mass index etc to motivate me to lose weight. I've been eating really healthily, going for walks, doing sit-ups and breastfeeding and I have only lost 800 grams in a week and am still 2 stone over my pre-preg weight 10 weeks after giving birth. Libra sounds like you subscribed to the same philosophy I did

donutmum - good idea re the sling. I don't have a babasling, but have a Close sling and apparently you can breastfeed in it (haven't done so though). SK and isaidno have the same sling - guys have you breastfed in yours?

I've not bf in my sling, although I believe you can in the first position. Poppy likes the upright position. How do you like it sweetkitty?

Sorry to hear that everyone is so tired. It is harder when you have older dc as well. I must admit I quite often nod off for half an hour in the pm. The DSs haven't done anything terrible while I rest my eyes - yet! Poppy sleeps well at night - waking 2 - 3 times. Because I feed lying down it's no bother really. I hardly lose any sleep myself and she goes straight back off because she's all cuddled up to me.

Hi Peanut - what you just wrote about the colic is exactly the same problem I had with DD. It is funny how it all comes back...eventually. I also used to let her cry for max 5 mins and unless she was very hungry she generally sorted herself out (usually wind) and then promptly went back to sleep. It can be hard letting babes cry and 5 mins can at times seem like such a long time, but it usually only took a minute or 2 and then she settled. I am having the same problem at times with Rafferty - thanks for jogging my memory. Will try this tonight!

Glad to hear all the babes are so healthy and keeping us all on our toes! Louis has no discernable pattern to his sleep/feeding other than having 2 periods of wakefulness (first thing for about an hour and around 5pm for a bit longer) and going about 2hrs between feeds. However last night he amazed me, I fed him at 8.30pm and put him to bed in his moses basket in our room- then he next woke for a feed at 2am- 5.5 hours! I was so pleased I woke dh to tell him but I think he was less pleased at being woken up. Do wish the little chap could have told me in advance though, I would have gone to bed at the same time as him . Sadly from 2am he was awake every 2hrs ish as per the norm but there we go. I d need to sit and have a think about his sleeps/cause & effect etc but finding the time is so hard.

I'm waiting to hit "the wall" of tiredness- don't feel to bad at the mo despite being woken every couple of hours. I'm getting my 8 hours of sleep but it's broken up into 2 hr chunks with 20 mins of being awake in between.

Does anyone else find it impossible to nap during the day? Just as I get myself relaxed enough to drop off he wakes up! Was the same with ds1.

Plus all other second /third etc time mums- are you "missing" your elder children too? I am really missing the one-on-one time I used to spend with ds1, I miss his company and the little things we used to do together. He's been great with Louis and that makes me feel even more sorry I can't send as much time with him alone, I'm so proud of him.

Uh oh Louis needs feeding, hope you all have good days.

Minkus - that is exactly how I feel about DD. She is great, but I miss doing our things with her. DH working from home on Wed and have said I am going to take DD to lunch and park - just the 2 of us...girly time!

Peanut - forgot to say thanks for your advice, I will be trying that tonight.

Cilc- timer set at 5 minutes!!

Minkus - lots of lol about waking DH.

If you lot haven't seen it take a look at this thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/1375/577334?pg=1

It's fantastically funny.

hiya guys

quick questions, where do you babies sleep at ight? mien is sleepign in the bed, as i fidn it easier to breastfeed her, but im not sure if this is a good habit to put her into?

also, my breast are reallly sore, and swollen, feel lumpy..and im sitting in hooded top- could it be a sign of mastius? ( however u spel it)

oh yeh ho do i knw if my breast empty out?

and oen is larger then the other one?

hmm sorry for all the questions

gtg- feed time!

mummy2bsoon - there is a HUGE debate about the merits/disadvantages of co-sleeping and also a huge list of rules to protect your LO if you do decide to co-sleep, if you post a thread on the sleep forum people much more knowledgeable than me should be able to help.

mummy2bsoon - Poppy starts the night in the moses basket at the side of my bed, but ends up in with me by morning. I feed lying down, and try to put her back after her feed but I often don't wake up until she cries for the next one!

You could try massaging the lumpy parts as they are prob small blockages. Mastitis makes you feel ill and flu like, usually with hot red patches on the breasts. If you suspect this you need to go to doc asap for antibiotics.

My right boob is bigger than the left because Poppy seems to favour this side so it makes more milk.

should add keep feeding as much as poss as this will help shift blockages.

its only on one side,i cnt keep feedin on taht side?

also i havent got the red hot patches, but everything else...

hi guys

well of to bristol childrens hospital tomorrow for the first of many trips for samuel
tomorrow is his 2 hernias and his heart check up as he keeps going blue still very mucousy and sicky we are hoping to get the all clear to take the boys away to great yarmouth in 3 weeks time,due to sams heart problems we have to take all meds all his notes and always know where the nearest hospital is
fingers crosed we can go as i know they want to operate quite soon,my dh and myself have already spoke about it and im going with him when he goes from the beginning till the end im the last voice he will hear and the first when he wakes its important to me.
anyway of to get dinner for the hungry lot

mummy2bsoon - sounds like you might be "brewing" mastitis. Check your temperature regularly. Otherwise, just keep getting baby to feed until the lumps go. Other things to do include a hot flannel on your boobs and massage from outside of boob toward nipple in a clockwise fashion - start at 12 noon at the top and then go round in sections. Lean forward to do it, and maybe in the bath. If you start getting a temperature or you get the shiny patches, go straight to the docs. Mastitis is awful.

Hi All,

Haven't managed to catch up on the thread yet just came on for a huge whinge. I am finding life really really hard just now. Calvin is a total nightmare and just wants fed constantly, he refuses a dummy and wants a bottle in his mouth to fall asleep with. He hardly sleeps at all at night and takes ages to settle as he suffers so badly from wind. I have been trying really hard to bf (with the aid of nipple shields as I have flat nips) but I am so kankcered as I am only managing about 2 hours sleep a night and he wont' always latch on (does the sharky thing and fights me off with his fists) that my milk is drying up _ despite using the breast pump as much as I can.

I hate to sound ungrateful but I am pretty miserable at the moment - if I wasn't already on anti-ds I would definitley need them by now. He is a gorgeous wee boy but such hard work - so much washing to do as well as he pukes so much. Dh is helping as much as he can but he is always shattered anyway because of his previous head injury.

When is this going to get better? I remember the first 3 weeks ebing really tough with DD (but only because she was starving as I couldn't bf properly but didn't know at the time) - I keep hoping it will get better soon (he'll be 3 weeks tomorrow) and I know rationally that it is because I am over tired but arggg! It is so tough just now.

Anwya sorry for the me me post just needed to vent a little - hope everyone else is well and bubbas doing fine.
xxxx

rumpel - sorry you're having a rough time. I remember people saying to me with dd1 'it'll all settle down' when i was having a total nightmare, and me thinking yeah right and hating them for saying it! - but i do remember it got better by about 8 weeks with her!! as in, some sort of routine, fairly long stretches of sleep.
Sounds like you have it hard what with the feeding and a sicky baby. Don't beat yourself up if the b/feeding doesn't work out...
Have you spoken to anyone re the puking? dd1 had this and she had reflux and had to have medication ( Gaviscon!) but didn't get this until she was 7 months - and it started at 6 weeks!! It wears you down i know.
Hugs and sympathy...

oh, donutmum - i've b/fed in my Close sling (sorry keep going on about it, just think it's fab!)Worked pretty well and there is a lot of loose fabric from the ends plus the wrap bit so you can drape this around the baby for warmth, discretion etc!
Question for those with older dcs: dd1 ( age 2.2)is being a total nightmare re staying in her bed at the mo - she just refuses even when really tired, and bounces out of bed the minute she touches the mattress... we've tried everything - rapid return, sitting with her, special toys, light on, light off, ignoring (!)threats ... i know she doesn't want to be in her room while mummy and daddy and baby are in our room. I just don't know how to get her to stay in her bed. Put her back in cot?? Will this pass?

purple - i dont really know what to advise but we will be keeping s 2.5 in a cot for a fair while yet to prevent this

i just cant take the extra stress!