Sept 08 - newborns, milk, nappies and all the rest ....

[Sassafrass]

Hope noone minds me starting our post natal thread now that the babies are arriving so quickly.

Arrivals!
28-May - Johnworf ? Katherine, 1lb 8oz
30-June ? KashaSarrasin ? Felix, 1.39kg
26-July - Jenbot - DD, 3lb 6oz
11-Aug - Crabby - Lilah 2.34kg
13-Aug - Sassafrass - Katie Rose, 7lb 2oz
20-Aug - Sunshinemummy - Effy Marilyn, 6lb 3oz
22-Aug - Talia1 - Anna, 6lb 2oz
26-Aug - Jenpet - Samuel, 3.166 kilos (about 6lb10oz?)
28-Aug - Potxola - Lorea, 7lb 6oz
31-Aug - Digitalgirl - Alfredo, 7lbs
1-Sept - Debithescot - Andrew, 8lb 10oz

Hello ladies.
COLIC! That is what Lorea has. Great! I am trying the gripe water today.

i have mastered multitasking. i am currently feeding ds, typing and most importantly, eating pick n mix, all at once.

got a bit smug yest and was boasting that ds2 had had to be woken at 7.30am 3 days in a row so this morning he got me back by waking at 6.15, grrr.

lollipop that sounds like dd, and I just don't know what to do. We always have a really difficult time from 10 pm to 2 am where she is non-stop demanding feeding and screaming in frustration. She throws her head back and screams even when she has a mouth full of breast, and punches me with her fists and fusses and cries. She seems so exhausted, and we know her tummy must be full, so we try to put her down but within a few minutes she is screaming again.. the really hungry nyeh nyeh gnarr cry, and I just can't leave her to cry. If I put her back on the breast she grabs it like it's her last chance for food ever, so she really is acting hungry, but then she shoves it away and screams. 2 nights ago she was sick all over me when I tried to sit her up for a rest / burp, and it even came out her nose, poor thing.

Also I just know I am not producing as much milk at this time of day with this non-stop demand, and I end up crying from exhaustion. I now express a bottle in the morning (when I am "full") and give it to her during this crazy demanding time at night. She still demands food even after 1-2 hours on the breast followed by the bottle (100 ml) so I then give her both breasts again and try to rock her to sleep. Some nights this has worked, other nights she is hungry again in an hour... Umm.. help... Foxy...? anyone..? I am thinking of adding a bottle of formula to help us through this night time demand, as tbh expressing 100 ml earlier in the day is hard work when I have so few reserves left. Not sure if my instincts on this are right, given lolli's experience with over-feeding. Plus I don't even know where to start with the formula thing. She is 4 weeks old and bf from day one. Any help appreciated.

afternoon all - I really should be catching some zzz's alongside DS after his fussathon last night, but first an MN catch up!

birth control - we're going back to condoms, used the up until ttc and I don't fancy popping pills again while my body clock is all over the place. Am not planning on getting pregnant within the first year, but if it happens it's not the end of the world. Need to save up for the next maternity leave first though.

lollipop it was me who asked about leaky bed sheets - thanks for the pampers tip!

foxy interesting article. the more I read about co-sleeping being beneficial the better I feel about it. doesn't stop me craving a better night's sleep though! I do get some cuddle time in bed with DH when DS is on my side of the bed and DH spoons up against me to support my back. It's lovely all being snuggled up together in bed.

ponymum the hungry/fussing thing could be wind. where she's still hngry but is uncomfortable because her tummy's full of gas. or it could be a position thing, where she's not comfortable with the position you're holding her in. DS did this, as soon as I started using a pillow to support my arm all the fussing stopped.

went to the mother and baby screening at the cinema today. DS was very good and was either feeding or sleeping so I got to watch the film all the way through. yay - feel a little bit more human again!

ponimum - DD is the same, as was her brother, when she has wind/colics, because in their minds/experience they think that having milk will make the tummy ache go (as HV explained when I had DS) so you get that frantic/crying/pulling feeding - DD had an attack this morning ( she gets windy when she feeds too fast and has a bad habit of sucking with her mouth "closed", taking in just the nipple) and finally fell asleep on her tummy on my lap, and when this happens I just put her down in same position on her basket/cot as if I put her on her back she wakes up and the screaming starts again (I know all the rules about putting babies on their backs etc, but eventually she turns to her side by herself and at least she sleeps, plus I'm always around). Oh, and despite all the throwing up she has put on 11oz in a week, so far 1.3kg in total (she's 1mo).

ponymum

Link for you....

www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

The evening fussiness is the cluster feeding usually to increase supply when baby begins to need more milk and your body does not yet produce it.

The baby can get frustrated because your body can take a couple of days to catch up. If you introduce ebm, but particularly formula your body does not get the vital signals at this time and won't keep the pace with your baby. SOME people can get away with it, but the risk is that the baby increases their intake of formula as the grow rather than bm.

Best thing to do is prepare in advance, settle yourself on the sofa with a snack, drink, remote, phone etc and have a nice 4 hour cuddle-feed.

Just enjoying some vicarious baby action by snooping on this thread! I am off to King's for a check on the baby since I'm now 11 days overdue, hopefully all will be well and baby given time to come out when good and ready (which seems to be in no hurry!).

Looking forward to joining you ...

Moonlight I completely agree with the crying thing, what you said makes sense. I had someone tell me to let my DS cry for a while during the night for a short time to get him to wait for his feeds, what rubbish, all this does is wake him up more, aggravate me and wake everyone else up in the house. So I feed him when he wakes, no point in letting him cry, just drags it out even more. Plus, it would break my heart to let him cry when I know he is hungry!

Last week I had really really bad baby blues, to the point I thought I was getting really depressed. I was crying most of the day and night for 6 days. BUT........... My MIL arrived last Wed for 2 weeks from the states and is staying with us. So, for the last 3 nights, she has done the night shift, giving me and DH 8 hours sleep. Now I know the main cause of my state of mind was sleep deprivation and I feel almost back to normal now, how amazing. The night shifts are mainly down to me under normal circumstances as DH works from 8.30am to 6.30pm 4 days. I know she won't do it every night she is here, but she will do it whenever we ask. Might ask tonight again!!!!!!! lol

Warming he oven for your the cake eandz is baking you.....

sorry it was foxytocin who posted about the crying

will i ever poo in peacce again?

just had ds screaming like an abandoned orphan whilst I tried to go to the loo, great time to run out of toilet paper. oh the hilarity...

Hi guys

I am still here. Trying to keep up to date with you lot. I can defo relate to alot of your worries/ problems such as over feeding, colic, birth control and seperation anxiety etc. The list is endless!

Welcome back sunshine . I am Being really hectic at the mo. I seem to think I am superwomen and have taken alot on. I am aware I have to be careful i dont crash. Euey is doing really well and I am enjoying having my boys .

I will keep in touch. Wishing you all lots of sleep xx

Thanks for all the advice on the night time feeding frenzy / screaming problem, and thanks moonlight for the link - very good.

I had a really good talk on the phone to my GP and she was really encouraging too. She said at this age there is no such thing as babies getting so called "bad habits" so I should just do whatever I feel is needed to settle her. It may be lots of cuddles and not much sleep! She suggested some different winding / sleeping / cuddling positions to help get her through this phase. We will also get her weighed in the next couple of days just to settle my mind that she is getting enough milk, and get my latch checked.

One interesting thing she said was that parents often feel they have to know what is causing the upset behaviour. But at the end of the day whatever it is is a phase, and you may just have to get through it while making sure your baby is getting lots of love and basic needs met. You might never put your finger on what the actual problem is, but it will eventually pass.

mum2beagain - I've just had a friend stay overnight whojoggled A for a couple hours while I slept, then massaged my feet while I fed him, took him for a couple hours at night and then this morning looked after him only delivering himto me for feeds.

I feel SO much better! Various friends have told me that there's precious little difference between exhaustion and PND in many cases.
Helps that A has been much better today, sleeping for 3-hour stretches.Maybe he's no longer poorly, maybe he was picking up on our stress, or maybe just existential angst (as in I exist! So does other stuff! Waah!).

Well after wanting MIL to get up again tonight, I'm having a guilty moment, so maybe I'll end up bog eyed tomorrow. Its hard with Dh working long hours and having 2 other children to get to school. I am bottle feeding which makes it much easier for me to let someone else take control tho.

As for the exhaustion last week, it was horrendous. I really did do far too much in the first few days with very little sleep. It was day 4 that I realised I couldn't possibly do everything myself like I thought I could and broke down. Now after lots of sleep I'm not looking back. One interesting thing and a statement that helped get me through, the midwife told me that sleep depravation is how they crack army recruits!!!!!!! It made sense.

Anyway, I'm now enjoying my little bundle of joy and getting back on track.

The boys want a quick cuddle of Zac now before bed time so take care all. I'm wishing for lots of rest and sleep for us all. x

mum2bagain Yep foxy's definately the expert on such things. I've got a secret crush on her actually, - although tis not THAT secret coz she knows

ponymum Your GP sounds fab

digitalgirl I can confirm that it will be a long time before you get to poo in peace again. It's been 2 1/2 years since my last peaceful poo. Just wait till you get to the stage where your ds comes in and asks you about the poo you are having and then wants to see it

moonlight I think we all have a crush on foxy

Have you ever thought about training to be a bf counselor? Your knowledge on the subject is very good too.

Evening all, yesterday was the first day in months and months that I've not been on-line, shows how much ds has changed my life!!
Got signed off by the midwife, she's very pleased with ds's 11oz gain in a week and after checking my uterus has gone down, gave my belly a healthy slap and said she's done her bit, now I have to do mine! Grrr.
On midwife's advice I went to the GP today about my pile. Turns out its a blood-filled one (can't remember the special name) so she's given me some extra cream to use with the anusol, and some lactulose, but said if its still bleeding/itching in a week I should make an appointment with the nurse to get it seen to. Sounds painful. Hoping it heals first with magic creams!
I've bf twice in public now, so I'm feeling like a 'real' breastfeeder
I've been trying very hard to make ds have some awake periods during the day, coz otherwise we end up with a situation like last night where he's wide awake and wanting to play at 3am. I'm so tired today I have a killer headache.

moonlight's link is a good one, ponymum.

another thing i did with dd1 when she was like tat was to 'shh' loudly near her head wdile rocking her. swaddling helped with the flailing arms.

read this link. it is dr harvey karp's baby bliss book in precis.

here

here is excellent diagram on how to swaddle with any old blankie. near the bottom of document.

oh, those links are good to review if your baby is having unsettled periods / 'colic'.

what is this about people having crushes on my geeky brain?

i am supposed to be training as a bfc with the ABM but is has slowed to a crawl lately.

Theres a piccy of me when i was 39 weeks with dd2 (got a white top and long green skirt), same as when i was expecting DD1 @ 39 weeks (all blue colour clothes). i looked bigger with dd1 than with dd2!...

its on my profile

Ponymum I don't think you need to feed formula sweetheart, I know this sort of behaviour is exhausting and also really distressing to see, but the more your baby sucks the more milk will be stimulated, but it'll take a couple of days to come in. Are you using Colief or gripe water as your LO might have wind. The reason I know mine isn't anything to do with wind is because I used to wind constantly and never once got a burp out. Since changing our routine I haven't tried to wind her once and she's never cried, she just doesn't have wind/colic I don't think, I really believe I was over filling her.

You may also want to try holding her so that she's more sitting up when she's feeding, this can help wind apparently.