October 08 - The Here and Now.

[CantSleepWontSleep]

The story so far....

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz - Induction due to rhesus sensitivity, G&A.
12th Sept (Due 6th Oct) - iuseantiageingstuff - Boy - Fred William - 8lbs 13.5oz - Induction due to high BP.
14th Sept (Due 14th Oct) - twinklytoes - Boy - Samuel - 7lbs 4.5oz - Em C-Sec due to grade 4 PP.
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs - Just beat induction for PE!
20th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - kookiegoddess - Girl - Reya Marie - - Induction due to OC, epidural, 3rd degree tear.
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz - Fast and furious hospital birth.
22nd Sept (Due 10th Oct) - Lozza70 - Boy - Sander Gene - 7lbs 5oz - Em C-Sec due to raised BP and high ALTs from liver.
27th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - accessorizequeen - Boy twin - Felix - 6lbs 8oz -
27th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - accessorizequeen - Girl twin - Bridget - 7lbs 7oz -
1st Oct (Due 29th Sept) - WombFor1More - Boy - Harvey James - 8lbs 13oz - Homebirth, no pain relief.
2nd Oct (Due 4th Oct) - annwoo - Boy - TBA - 8lbs 7oz - Amazing birth!
2nd Oct (Due 30th Sept) - sambrads - Girl - Brooke - 7lbs 9.5oz -
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz - 36hr labour, ventouse and stitches.
2nd Oct (Due 8th Oct) - Alexa808 - Girl - Tienette - - Planned c-sec
3rd Oct (Due 5th Oct) - rosebury - Boy - Austin - 9lbs 2oz - Delivered at home by dh!
3rd Oct (Due 6th Oct) - Bethoo - Girl - Maia - 7lbs -
3rd Oct (Due 6th Oct) - hoff - Boy - Oliver - -
3rd Oct (Due 19th Oct) - MrsTittleMouse - Girl - - -
4th Oct (Due 2nd Oct) - 1sttimer80 - Boy - - -
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz -
5th Oct (Due 29th Sept) - plusonemore - Boy - Alfie Thomas - 8lbs - Induction, epidural
5th Oct (Due 2nd Oct) - MrsBish - Girl - Rachel - 8lbs 8oz -
5th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - hedgepig - Boy - Oliver - 6lbs 3oz -
7th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - Emmsy1 - Girl - Amy Louise - 5lbs 12oz -
7th Oct (Due 2nd Oct) - snowymum - Boy - Rowan Michael - - Home water birth
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz -
8th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - 07mumstheword - Girl - Freya Mae - 7lbs 12oz -
8th Oct (Due 16th Oct) - moodywren - Boy - Hayden - 6lbs 9.5oz - Homebirth
9th Oct (Due 27th Sept) - Pidge - Boy - Arthur - 8lbs 14oz - Homebirth
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz - 4 day induction with 1 hour established labour!
11th Oct (Due 3rd Oct) - usuallytooshytochat - Girl - Megan Leah - 8lbs 2oz - Homebirth with ambulance crew!
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz - Homebirth.

What about the bouncy seat? Is there anything wrong with letting ds take a nap in there?
I just found out that he will sleep an hour and a half in the bouncy seat... the thing that lays back but baby sits in it and you can make it vibrate.... well, he's starting to stir now... trying to make a poo.... that always wakes the poor little man. He struggles so much. ANyone else's lo's struggling like that? seems like he pushes and pushes and then sometimes not even anything in the nappy!

jenwa dh and I were laughing about your comment a few days ago about formula and wanting to give it to your dd "just in case something were to happen to you"... because that is exactly the way that I think! I always worry about stuff like that and wnat to make sure all is sorted just in case, neurotic about having everything clean and tidy and the "wasting time" comment... I totally get that. my DH was like, "is she your long lost twin???" ha!

Hello ladies, I haven't had time to post on here for ages, but it's good to catch up with all your news. Very jealous about your full night's sleep Loulou! Trouble is if Stanley slept that long, I'd probably be awake and poking him just to check he was OK. After a few days of non-stop feeding, he slept for a couple of 3 hour stretches last night which was lovely.

Nicewarmslippers Stan is three and a half weeks now and still only falls asleep in the boob or in someone's arms. I'm trying to make sure he has a couple of naps during the day in his moses basket though to get him used to it. He wouldn't sleep in it at night at the beginning so he's now sleeping with me in the bed. I haven't had the energy to get try and get him to sleep in it at night, as I'm just happy that we're all getting some sleep. I worry that I'm setting myself up for problems too, but I do enjoy our nights together.

Hi all, still no name for ds ? we?re totally manic here, everything going ok with ds, but dd is teething & has developed a nasty chest cold. Went to the docs today & she?s been given heavy duty steroids to help her breathing & antibiotics & if things don?t clear up overnight we have to go back tomorrow. They are worried about asthma as dh has had severe asthma since a child . I'm feeling bad we didn't take her to the docs earlier, but I hadn't realised how bad her chest actually was. Also now we?re coming down with colds...

Slippers ? dd was only ever put down asleep after being bf to sleep but she settled herself for naps from about 13 weeks and gradually the nighttimes sorted themselves too. She is now a fantastic little sleeper (when she?s well).

Star ? the way I get ds into his moses basket at night is to feed him on the bed lying down & let him doze off & sleep for 10-20 mins the slide one arm under his back and the other under his head & carry him flat to the moses basket. When I put him in I also keep my hands around him for a couple of mins (usually touching his hands/skin) so he doesn?t realise the change! Last night between feeds he slept in his basket ? absolute bliss!!!

Star - i have no idea what i did last night to make Joe sleep. I promise i did not drug him or knock him out!! The only thing that we changed two nights ago was to put an oil-filled radiator that you plug in, in his room as it gets really cold in the middle of the night which may have been disturbing him. Now he's toasty and warm (maybe too warm??. he's also older and he's a big boy (11lb) so that may all help too - and yes aubergenie i went to check on him twice in the night as i was sure something had happened (even though i could hear him snuffling and stirring). I woke at 4am and was convinced for about an hour that he would wake so still had disturbed sleep though it was my fault. He's in bed now but i don't know how long he'll stay there, he's been up twice now with wind since 7.30 - we'll see.

To make you all feel better - Joe does not sleep anywhere during the day except on me or in the sling. I have a serious pain in my left shoulder from having him lie on me all the time and the sling digs in on that side as well. I bought a swinging seat today in the hope that he might settle in there for a bit. He won't even sleep in the car as he hates his car seat with a passion. Serves me right i know

loulou shame you cant recall.... i wasgoing to follow every step you took andtry it with Quinlan.
He slept 4.30pm-8.30pm today... now feeding... hoping for more sleep
will try your suggestion ekka
shame naomi doesnt like the seat myjob! That is a beautiful name by the way

I have 2 bags of 60ml in freezer.... so... not great. Just finding it difficult to expressa lot/enough. feeling really, really about returning to work. im taking a bit extra - until 4th december. He will be 8 weeks. So 1 1/2 weeks then winter holiday for 2 weeks. been trying hard to spend as much time as possible with my friend who will look after him at her house just to get him used to her ... and reassure me

and yes, naomi It was on our girl names shortlist just in case sonographer got the sex wrong

no worries i think about it every day
If I didnt have my best friend looking after him i wouldgo live in a cave with himif i had to

been up every 1 1/2 hrs to feed since 11pm. so exhausted want to give up breastfeeding. It hurts, i'm sore, he cant get enough and dh cant help!

Oh star honey . If you really want to give up bf then do, but remember that formula isn't a magic solution, and you could end up being up every 1.5 hours having to prepare bottles as well as feed. Have you tried feeding lying down so that you can rest at the same time? Also remember that it usually gets a lot easier around 6-8 weeks, as your supply should have settled by then.

Do you say that he's not getting enough just because he is feeding so frequently? I really don't think it's uncommon to feed that much. Ds did 2 2.5hr stints last night, and then fed 5 times between 2:50am and 5:30am!

The thrush will obv be making you more sore. Have you managed to get your prescription yet?

I was sitting in the dark at the same time thinking exactly the same thing as you Star.

I will say though that it really really does get easier. I think that you are putting too much pressure on yourself. It is recommended that you should try not to express extra milk for at least 4 weeks as it takes this long for you and baby to get used to each other. I know you have the pressure of going back to work very early but you still have over a month to get things sorted out.
Do you keep your night feeds quiet and dark? You should be trying to make it as clear as possible to Quinlan the difference between night and day. Dont forget you were always up very early so he will be used to that routine.
Without sounding all Gina Ford maybe Quinlan will respond well to a fixed daily routine. Make sure you do things at roughly the same time each day. Feed as frequently as you can during the day and try to discourage the night time playtime. Feed, change, back to bed, no messing about. It is beginning to help with my little boy. Waking time has been reduced to 30 mins at night time. Even if it is every 2 hours
Ulitmately do wht you think is best for you and Quinlan.

Get some freezer bags. Boots have them, I bought some the other day as had to relieve a very large breast.
If you are in a restaurant then why cant Naomi have her lunch too? Unless you are a boob out feeder then no one else will even notice. It is a bit crap having your food cut up for you though. My MIL cut up my dinner the other evening. Rubbish, felt like a kid again.

Things are much better here. I just really hate being woken at night. Both the girls slept through from midnight from 7 days. I assumed this little bundle would do the same. Boys. Just like his daddy, awkward.

It will keep for 24hrs in fridge. It should say on pre sterilised bottle or on leaflet? I would imagine it should be ok. The only thing that may be a problem is if plastic not frezzer friendly.
I agree milk is like gold. Dont waste it
Could you order some online from mothercare.com or boots.com. should get to you within 24hrs?

I obviously meant freezer not frezzer

Hiya,

Star - sorry that you had a rough night and you were feeding a lot but like csws says - ff is not always the answer to getting more sleep. IME they don't sleep any better with formula necessarily although some would have you believe so. Last week when i was ill, Joe had some formula and it made no difference to his sleep but if you feel for other reasons like soreness, getting dh to feed him - then do it. BTW i'll send Joe down to pass on his sleeping tips to Quinlan, whatever they are....only he knows. On second thoughts that will give you two babies to look after..maybe not.

My job - have you got any sealable tupperware pots that you can sterilise with Miltons or hot water??? or i'm sure Boots deliver within 24 hours and tesco deliver quicker than that for a fee! I'd heard you could keep in the fridge for 48 hours but i could be wrong...how long can you keep in the freezer?? I had one boob like pamela anderson this morning and one normal after morning feed so had to wear a baggy sweater to take ds1 to playgroup as it looked very odd. I didn't have time to express but Joe had an extra feed at 10 (having eaten at 7 and 8am) - he's soooo greedy but i think he's learning not to throw up so much as i keep telling him its wasteful!

finally sorted profile out so have put some piccies on - will put some more on later but must get ds1 from nursery....happy halloween

I have also invested in some Infacol. It seems to be making a real difference in the sick levels. William seems to be sleeping much better after his feeds as he isnt in so much pain.

Star lol at long lost twin, yeh we do think the same, I just love to plan and be organised, I just told the MW about planning stuff and if something bad happened and she was laughing about it too. My MW is fab though.
I had such a better night last night. Fed Phoebe some formula and she slept for 5 hours then woke for a feed and had a BF and slept for another 3 1/2 hours and has gone pretty much 4 hourly since . We did put her in the moses basket last night rather than the crib we had loaned and I think she prefered it as the crib may have been too cold what with the wooden bars whereas the moses basket is nice and enclosed, she settled so much better after her feeds.
Do you feed Quinlan in bed star? I dont get out to feed or go downstairs, I stay in bed in the dark and feed and then lye down and let her feed lying and when she falls asleep out her in her basket (like ekka said really)

Thanks everyone. It's comforting just to know that other babies are marathon feeders as well. I just wonder how my nipples will heal with him sucking on them all the time...

I can't sort out how to feed lying down... I've tried but cant get his mouth on the right part... it must have been comical to watch actually... his mouth gaping all over the place and me trying to aim breast... ha ha!

I'm going to take your word for it that it gets easier Think it was just a hard night.

I want to let dh feed him some expressed milk at night sometimes.... he can't take the flow... using avent airflex. Anyone have a better bottle with slower flow?

myjob I thought you could store ebm in refridge for 4 days? Think I read that on kellymom website? mine stays for 4 days...

thanks for support everyone. I really appreciate it