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.

CSWS sorry to hear about DH's contract. Do you think he will be able to find anything else quicky?

Loulou Sounds like you are having a hard time too, the screaming just gets so depressing hope Joe settles soon.

He'll speak to contract company tomorrow so will know more then. We suspect that he'll get work reasonably easily (is very skilled), but will prob involve more travel, so seeing even less of us, and may be on only a little more than half the rate that he earns now, and the contracts are likely to be shorter term, so we won't have the security that we have had.

Olive why won't he treat you as well?

do you think you could express the milk and bottle feed her until the thrush has gone if its painful? I had to do this the weekend after DD2 was born because i was so sore (but not with thrush) it made it alot easier for me and it was alot better after a couple of days and i could go back to feeding normally

thanks girls, we have tried the swaddling but he doesn't like that and the muslin and hot water bottle in the basket. will have to keep trying i think.
as to the wind have tried baby massage and the windmill, i did a proper course with dd and learnt how to do it then, but it's not working yet, saying that the poor love was farting for england last night in bed, you have never heard the like from such a small person!!

am so desperate for joe to settle during day (has slept for all of 10 mins today so he's really grumpy) am considering controlled crying and gina ford but is 9 weeks too young??? what do you think??? anyone else tried her routines??

loulou i feel for you ds3 was like that and i know how hard it is. with ds3 i did do controlled crying (i'm afraid i have no idea about gina ford i have never read her books and don't know what her methods are ) its hard going but it does work

i hope your ok x

I feel for you too loulou. I haven't followed Gina Ford but find her routines ridiculously regimented and unrealistic.

I have, however, done controlled crying (GF didn't 'invent' this), but even the guy who devised the method wouldn't advocate doing it this young (6 months is earliest suggested), and I'm afraid that I do believe it's too early.

Have you tried the close carrier or something similar where he can lie in a cosy position across you whilst you walk?

Will he go in a pushchair at all? I used to walk 3 times a day to get dd to settle. Sometimes she'd cry for a few minutes but would normally settle eventually, even if only for a short while.

4andnotout
I have thrush right now. It's painful and itchy. Just got a new crem... daktarin... and (FINALLY) fluconazole - a tablet! They are supposed to treat mom and baby both but I can only get my gp to treat me since I have the obvious symptoms. only one may get it but you can pass it back and forth. Perhaps we should get together and between the two of us we'll have treatments for all 4 of us

My nips arn't too bad yet and im still feeding dd4, i should have the hv visit soon (haven't seen her yet!) so will ask her!

4andnotout & star my bf counsellor was adamant that both mum & baby should be treated even if only one showed signs of thrush as otherwise you will pass it back & forth between you. But I think docs take some persuading on this one.... See the babycentre article on it here it mentions both of you needing to be treated at the same time.

Thanks for the replies. I kind of knew it was too early. Parents have been using controlled crying for more than 30 years but that doesn't necessarily make it the right thing to do! I did use it with DS1 but he was a lot older. Not keen on gina ford but all those who have followed her regime seem to swear by it. I'm not sure how it would fit with ds1's slightly more flexible routine re: baths/bedtimes etc. I also can't work out how you get them to settle in cot/crib for their naps without using controlled crying - this bit appears to be missing in her books and her regimes start from birth (i couldn't have done this anyway as we were in hosp). so is she advocating using controlled crying from birth, do they fall asleep really easily as they are so small or is it too late to start using it at 9 weeks? very confused

CSWS - i can't afford a close carrier - i have a sling but Joe won't really sleep in it for long. He won't lie in the pram and he'll only fall into light sleep but wakes after 10/20 mins of walking. it also means that i get no rest as i'm walking with him. At least if he falls asleep on me for 20 mins i can lie down.

He's asleep now and does really well at night but i can get nothing done during the day and ds1 is seriously losing out as i get to spend very little time with him. His behaviour has been shocking for the past few weeks which is really unlike him but not suprising. We are tyring not to get too cross with him but its hard going for all of us.

Joe hates the car seat and screams on most car journeys. we live in a really rural area with no shops etc for at least 6 miles so have to drive everywhere. i am getting too embarassed to go to local supermarket as he screams the whole time we are there unless i am carrying him - try pushing a trolley whilst holding a baby!! I keep forgetting to take the sling with me and it does help for brief shopping trips but would like to be able to do someting else other than carrying him.

Sorry for the rant/whinge/moan but am knackered and think i have a cold coming too. Hope your babies are more contented than mine. Off to bed with some lemsip
xx

Just v quick post as on way to bed.
Paracetamol, 4Head stick to rub on, and olbas oil on pillow myjob.

loulou - I think that GF advocates the 'extinction' method, whereby the baby is simply left indefinitely to go to sleep by itself .

I'm with you on not being able to use the pushchair or the baby seat things in trolleys - ds won't go in either yet either, so it's slings and carriers all the way for us. I'm sorry that you can't afford a close carrier . Would you be able to hire one instead? I've not looked into how much they cost that way, but iirc BigMamaSlings does a hire service (if it's not them then someone on MN will know who it is).

The good news here is that ds had a much calmer night. Slept for 3 hours in his crib, had a feed, slept for another 1 hr 15 mins in crib, had another feed, slept for an hour in his crib (these short sessions are a bit tedious, but poss not helped by him having a cold so being all snuffly), then had another feed and stayed in bed with me, but propped up on some pillows rather than being held (I hadn't expected him to stay like this, so had very little room left in the huge bed for myself!) for another couple of hours (stirred a couple of times, but a quick 'shhhhhh' from me was enough to settle him). He then had a big feed and then came downstairs with me (tried to prop him on pillows again, but he wasn't going for it) and was held whilst sleeping for a bit, and then put down in his moses basket where he still is!
I think the dairy must have all cleared now, and the gaviscon is starting to take effect.

csws hooray for you getting some sleep Hope your DH gets good contract soon.

loulou I have been feeling very sorry for myself but after reading your post I realise I am very lucky if a little sleep deprived and deafened by screaming I do at least get some restbite. I have read Gina Ford and find it very confusing & there are gaps missing I mean how do you stimulate a 4-5 wk old baby if they are screaming for hours enough to settle?
I have also read the baby whisper book & watched some of her programmes on sky, she has similarities but also massive differences. I've completely confused myself but am trying to take the best bits that suit me and my families current routines i.e 3 yr old dd's tea & bath time etc.
I also do online supermarket shopping is that an option for you? Good luck and hope your cold gets better.

myjobsmum hope you are feeling a little better today.
loulou hope things perk up for you too.
CSWS sounds like you've had a miserable time, glad you got some rest last night and good luck to your DH getting more work.
My DH works for RBS so we face an uncertain few weeks till they announce the redundancies - he's smack in the middle of the office most likely to be affected . Also, where I was poorly after Jessica was born he's been working from home a lot, and looking rough and tired when he's in so we're hoping they'll take account of the last few years excellent work and forgive a few rough weeks - trouble is capitalism doesn't always quite work like that does it!
Jessica is 4 weeks old today! Can't believe how quickly it's gone - especially considering how long all the individual nights are

pepper sorry to hear about your DH, mine works for RBS as well, but is in line for a promotion so hopefully we will be ok.
i'm very tired today, we went to see lee evans last night and didn't get in till 11:30. i was fit to burst when we got home. alex did not like the bottle though, he has 5 1/2oz when i was out and mum had to practically force it on him, poor thing fed like a demon when i got back and i didn't get to sleep till 2am!

oh and forgot to say, when i was leaving mum decided to change his nappy, she took it off and he has a little fart, the next minute he let out the loudest fart and had a massive poo that shot out at about 100mph and splirted poo all over himself, my mum, the sofa (which is cream!) and his blanket which was over the back of the sofa! it was funny and disgusting at the same time

So this is where you're all hanging out? Going to take me a while to catch up on all the posts and hopefully learn some useful tips from all of you who actually managed to have your babies in October

I think you have to take all the bits that apply to your family lifestyle (from GF and other advisors) and hope that they work for you, i did try GF with DD1 but worked it around my routine and she did really well, I did the controlled crying, it is heartbreaking but knowing they will eventually sleep is worth it although who is to say that after an hour of crying they would have stopped anyway whether you pick them up or not I dont think I ever let DD cry for too long as it is distressing but I think she eventually realised she was tired or wore herself out and fell asleep! She always had a witching hour (as we called it) when we wanted out dinner and I never enjoyed that as I was tired and hungry! we put her in moses basket upstairs and let her cry on and off but could not enjoy our dinner so would not eat until she actaully settled which she would eventually, I think sometimes they do just want/need a cuddle and there is nothing wrong with giving it to them.
I think I have prob rambled abit there but basically I think you just do what suits you and fits in with the way your family is. It is good to be able to know your baby will feed at certain times (not always on the dot but around the hour give or take half an hour) but not all babys are the same and they also have growth spurts.

loulou have you spoke to your HV about your worries? Can they check joe over and make sure he has no aches or pains in his back as you say he does not like lying in his pram or car seat? Could he have some discomfort somewhere?
With DD1 she never slept for too long in the day, she had what we called power naps and after 10 mins would be alert again, is frustrating at times but she was in a better routine as she got older and really needed her sleep.

DD2 finally had poo again yest and it was explosive again! DH did not want to change her and was glad when I did, he said he was not confident even though he changed dd1 plenty of times

Right off to get grapes for DD1 who keeps running in and asking for more food!!!!

Oh anyone know why some peoples boobs leak more than others?? Mine seem to pour even though I am feeding DD2!!!!!! Pads are soaked all thie time!

hi ladies i am still alive but busy what with two babies and a new man hardly have time anymore. have not read thread star6 are you still breast feeding as i know you were having difficulties?
hope everyone else is ok.
mine is a screamer...