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.

Was talking to my mum the other day and she said in Holland when babys were born they used to not feed them in the night if they were over 7 lbs! They were all taken from mothers and slept in a different room so mothers slept and stayed in for about 7 days and babys were cared for by nurses! If the baby was over 7 lbs they were given water and eventually did not wake in night as were not interested in the water! Cant imagine that happening now Sorry just wanted to post that random fact! Surely that means I could get away with it with a 9 pounder

jenwa - i have heard that too - not about Holland but in this country too. i'm sure gf says something about offering babies water in the night when they get to a certain age/stage/weight. joe often only wakes once or not at all so i know he can go for a good stratch without eating and won't fade away.

heres a question - if baby doesn't wake in night but usually does at least once, should you get up and express or just leave it?? . If he wakes in the night its usually between 3 and 3.30 so i know once its past then that he's unlikely to wake until mornning. I have been getting up at 3.30/4am if joe doesn't wake and expressing. So should i bother expressing or not?? I'm sure i read somewhere on mn that you should but i can't really be bothered!!! Last night he woke up for a feed and i guess as i had expressed the previous two nights there was milk there for him...what do you think...??

loulou - prolactin levels are highest at night, so it's very important to feed/express whilst you are establishing your supply, but Joe is old enough now that it shouldn't matter.

jenwa we have an old formula tin here from the 1940's I'd say, (It was DH's grannys and she kept scrabble tiles in it if you're interested ) and it categorically says to feed babies at 6am/10am/2pm/6pm & 10pm - then nothing till 6am next morning!!! Poor babies - can you imagine the noise?!

oh goodness... can you imagine... as a mother, knowing your baby is hungry and not feeding it? heart breaking

Hope you are all ok. I'm so sorry I haven't been on for a while and not even had the courtesy of reading the posts but I have a baby that doesn't sleep and am so tired... I've created a conversation but thought I'd post my question here too for your input if you can help please please do........

My 4 wk old baby does not settle, screams and screams unless my DH or I allow her to be on us front ways (chest to chest).
She won't settle on her back in her bed/cot and we are at our wits end. I've just, as an experiment put her on her tummy in her cot and she immediately settled to sleep.
Does anyone know exactly why the health professionals say babies must sleep on their backs? I know it is to prevent cot death but why because of their mouths getting blocked by the mattress?

OBVIOUSLY WE DON'T WANT TO PUT OUR BABY AT ANY RISK I'D BE SO GRATEFUL OF ANY ADVICE SO WE CAN POSSIBLY GET A NIGHTS SLEEP?

07mtw - ds has only slept on top of us, both day and night, since day 2, although we have found in the last few days that he will sometimes nap in the daytime on his tummy. We are adjusting to having him sleep on us, but hope it won't last!

It could be that she has some head compression from the birth which gives her a headache when put on her back - have you tried cranial osteopathy to help with this? We have our second session booked for Tuesday.

Have you also tried swaddling tightly? Helps ds when sleeping on his tummy, although I admit it hasn't offered any progression with back sleeping as yet.

Star also has her ds sleeping on his tummy, but has bought an angelcare monitor for extra reassurance (has an alarm which goes off if baby stops breathing).

another not posting but been lurking.

07 - star and someone else had similar probs, they've bought alarm mats that gi under mattress and babes settle on their tummies. sure they'll be along soon to tell you about them. think cranial osteopath helps too but thats a new one on me.

does settling on side work? using rolled up towels to stop falling to front. or a sleep positioner? or swaddling very tightly? someone also suggested putting something that smells of you in the crib before they go in.

07 - sorry you're having such a tough time. Joe will not sleep on his back during the day but does when he is sooo exhausted at night - he does not sleep during the day except on me in little bursts. i would say like others:

1. get an appointment with cranial osteopath (CO). mine has doctorate in paediatric osteopathy so specialises in babies. Check with them if they often work with babies as its very different approach to the work they do with adults. One appointment and Joe has been much more settled at night, going to bed earlier on his back. she may have an alignment problem from the birth ie if delivered quickly, upside down, with cord round neck, too early or late etc etc. there is a recent thread about CO which was linked from home page and there is a charity in London and Manchester(if you live nearby) which offers a good service apparently but check the thread for more info (the thread's called something like CO: is it any good?)

2)Get an angelcare monitor (usually £70) but Star got a second hand one on amazon for £30. It has a motion sensor which goes under the mattress. I have used it with both my two and is a godsend.

You are advised not to put them face down because of not being able to breathe (so turn her head to the side) and breathing in fumes/bacteria from mattress (so don't use a second hand mattress or a really old one, one that's been stored in the shed for a while for example).

3. Joe has been referred to paediatric occupational therapist because of his general unhappiness during day but will let you know if this is worth pursuing when i see her next week.

Hope this helps and big hugs to you both xxxx

CSWS - sorry i'm a bit dim, if he stops taking a feed in the night say for a few days and then wants one again will i still have that milk there, as it were, or will my supply have diminished as milk not been taken for several days in a row?? i have always struggled to understand the supply/demand thing with bf....

the co thread is still under discussions of the day but i have put link here may not work as i'm crap at these things)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=parenting&threadid=641775-I-think-my-baby-hates-me-HV-suggests-Cranial- Osteopath#13103610

Evening ladies. I should definitely be in bed but we've just been sending everyone an email because we've finally come up with a name. Our DD is called: Annaliesa Kate.
I'll put a picture up soon.
07MTW that sounds really tought. I hope you can get some reassurance from others on here and also that some of the measures work. I think it's really hard to do anything when you havne't had any sleep. Do you have people to help you?
Loulou I think if Joe suddenly wants a feed when he wouldn't normally have one then he'll get something but maybe not as much as he wants. Your body will then 'get the message' that it needs to make some more milk and in the next couple of days you'll have adjusted to having plenty. I think your body always makes a bit more than it usually needs (although it makes it all the time) but if baby is having a growth spurt then it needs to feed lots (more often) to increase your supply.
Right off to bed now, Night all!

07mumstheword
as some have said, I sleep my ds on his front. How that i'm known for that
loulou recommended angelcare monitor - it's brilliant! an alarm sounds if baby stops breathing and really gives you peace of mind.
Sometimes now ds will sleep on his back... i'm trying to swaddle more but he hates it. but he will sleep way longer and more soundly on his tummy.
My dad said that I was slept on my tummy - with no monitor

cool name smudgey and thanks for the words of wisdom!!

07 - i forgot to mention getting a sling so you can do things whilst he's lying on you. i have a simple ring sling that i can pop over my head and over Joe once he's fallen asleep and get on with things without him noticing.

Try drinking camomile tea if bf - it helps them settle. If ff, apparently you can give them a weak camomile tea in a bottle but i can't imagine many babies drinking that!!

Have you tried bf lying down and then co-sleeping with her on her side once she finished feeding (obviously only works if bfing!!)

Cool name Smudge.

07MTW. That sounds horrible for you and DH. Sleep deprivation is the worst thing about being a mummy. The most important thing to remember is the more stressed you get the more stressed baby will be. Will baby sleep in the pram? Take several short walks everyday as it gets you both out of the house and the fresh air will clear both of your heads.
Is your matress one of the ones with washable covers on it. I make sure that mine get washed at least once a week. More if DS has soaked it with vomit! Clean sheets every day. Then sleeping on babies front shouldn't be a problem.
I would put money on every one of us here all were put to sleep on our fronts by our mothers. I know that myself & my 5 brothers & sisters were.
William is very slowly settling in. Still wakes at 2.30 and 4.30 and 6.30. He doesnt seem to want to feed as much now it is more for a nappy change! Most annoying, how can I stay in bed with one eye open if I have to get up to change nappies. He is still very windy but so far not progressed to colic, so no real crying to deal with just lots of sick and unsettled sleep.

Hello to everyone else. I hope we are all ready for the letter of doom. The injection appointment!aaarrrggg.

Can we talk poo please ladies? Ds' is very different now from when I was eating dairy, and I just want to check that it's normal. It was the colour of English mustard, and contained 'bits'. He was pooing easily 10 times a day. Now it's the colour of French mustard, liquid with no bits, and less frequent (although today he's pooing a fair bit, poss due to chilli beans I had last night!). Now his poo tends to come out with a fair bit of force, accompanied by a good bit of wind.

Does the colour and consistency now sound ok?

myjob - "as long as ... he seems happy and well" - don't think 'happy' is really a word I'd use to describe him generally. He only really spends time feeding, sleeping, having his nappy changed or crying atm, so how can one judge happiness from that? Certainly he's not a baby who lies cooing contentedly. He's not a baby who lies full stop, or at least not without crying or screaming about it. He hasn't managed a sleep of more than about 40 mins in one go since 11pm last night either.

Oh, and 'tbh i think you will soon know if there is a problem' - trouble is we didn't know with dd until she was 16 weeks - everyone we asked just put the fact that she screamed and cried for 20 hours a day down to colic, blamed thrush for her nappy rash, and said that frequent pooing wasn't a problem.

Sorry - not getting at you - just had a tough day.

hello ladies

havent posted in a while still trying to get my head round the whole mrsa thing.

good news on that front sophia is now clear from it thank the heavens.
i will find out next week if i am which im not holding my breathe on as section wound has opened up a little. still trying not to worry and trying to enjoy being a mum for the second time. sophia sleeps all the time still and only wakes once at night which is bliss. breast feeding has been hurting like hell but for some reason today has been fine and havent had no problems. hope u r all enjoying ur babies.

Glad you like the name ladies as we were worried that it was a bit unusual and people would spend all the time saying "How do you spell that?"
CSWS DD poos about 5 times a day at the moment (but she is much younger than your DS) and it looks bright yellow mustard with bits in. It does come out with force though in a kind of squirty way and there is often quite a lot of liquid too. Maybe his gut is adjusting? If you're worried, it's probably best to make a note of frequency, colour etc so if you do decide you want to get it checked out, you have some evidence. Must be really hard when he's not settled. Hope your day got better and today too.
Myjobismum make sure you take out spare clothes with you for when that explosion occurs. We once had to bring DS home in just his snowsuit as we'd used both our spare outfits on a day out! hansnava glad Sophia is better and hope you recover soon. Is MRSA something that 'hangs' around in your body for a while?

Glad you like the name ladies as we were worried that it was a bit unusual and people would spend all the time saying "How do you spell that?"
CSWS DD poos about 5 times a day at the moment (but she is much younger than your DS) and it looks bright yellow mustard with bits in. It does come out with force though in a kind of squirty way and there is often quite a lot of liquid too. Maybe his gut is adjusting? If you're worried, it's probably best to make a note of frequency, colour etc so if you do decide you want to get it checked out, you have some evidence. Must be really hard when he's not settled. Hope your day got better and today too.
Myjobismum make sure you take out spare clothes with you for when that explosion occurs. We once had to bring DS home in just his snowsuit as we'd used both our spare outfits on a day out! hansnava glad Sophia is better and hope you recover soon. Is MRSA something that 'hangs' around in your body for a while?

Just put a couple of photos on my profile...