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.

Myjob - as ds won't sleep except on us, he goes to bed whenever we do. Last night he then spent from 10pm-midnight screaming, but tonight he's just calmed down from 2 hours of distress, so hopefully we'll get to sleep earlier.

Myjobismum. Both DD's were wide awake in the evening and then slept through the night from about three weeks.
William seems to be heading in the same direction. He goes to bed at the same time as me. Although for some reason it takes nearly an hour to get sorted. I'm sure it only used to take me 10 mins

What is the difference between normal post feed vomit and reflux? is it any particular amount or is it the style of vomit?

I hope everyone is coping ok. The sleeplessness takes alot of getting used to!!

my baby has a DEEP sleep from about 5pm - 10pm sometimes he wakes earlier but i wake him to feed after5 hrs as he's still only 6lbs. then he's up every 3hours for feeds after that through night. any suggestions on how to move that deep longsleep to later in eve so hesleeps more of night?

DD sleeps most of the day and is then awake in the evening, she then comes to bed with us. She would only sleep on me but I have been wrapping her up tightly in a blanket which has been working quite well. She's not been to great this evening as she has a cold She keeps crying for a feed, having a couple of sucks and then spitting it all back out again.

Our first day without DP went quite well, DS was really good

Myjob - now its my turn to apologise, i didn't mean to make you anxious with Joe's bedtime. you'll be 'pleased' to hear that Joe was up til 10pm last night and them slpet til 3am and then woke at 7am. I think it might be his anaemia that is making his sleep so well. The doctor told us that one of the signs of aneamia is sleepiness. he's asleep again now which he's never done before (and he fell asleep in his carry cot whilst i was giving ds1 his breakfast - so it was really noisy). I'll let you know after Monday if he keeps this up but i don't think he will (loulou sighs).

Star Joe slept heavily late afternoon for a while but i just kept him awake for a bit by playing with him and moved his sleep on to 7pm ish.

purpleflower sorry to hear about dd's cold - if her nose is blocked try nasasal drops from pharmacy. Its just saline which you put up her nose. Joe gets a blocked nose cos when he's sick, milk comes out his nose as well!! It works a treat to clear all the gunk out.

ronshar i think reflux vomit tends to be more in volume and they tend to arch their back afterwards and scream cos of the stomach acid burning their throat and tummy. They also tend to be sick between feeds rather than just straight afterwards. There are loads of reflux threads on here to check out if you're worried but i find it hard to tell a reflux vomit from a 'i've eaten too much cos i'm greedy' vomit

my job - that sounds soooo familiar - i have had headaches on a dn off this past week and i think it might be sleep deprivation that caused it....naomi did well to sleep from 1 til 7 though she must have been knackered after being awake so long. I notice that Joe does this at least once a day, he feeds for ever and then finally gets so full that he 'passes out'. he's asleep again now, i am convinced its the anemia that making him so sleepy (otherwise i'm in for a long night). I'm off to check out the ante-natal thread to see who has been born...

Hello ladies. So many babies on the other thread now! They're really coming thick and fast.

Me and DP took baby Stan out in the Close baby carrier today into central London to meet some friends for lunch. It was lovely to do something normal rather than being confined to the sofa, still in my PJs, feeding and I feel like it's given me a lot more confidence to go out and about on my own with him.

Myjob Sorry to hear you're not feeling great. I've had some wicked headaches this week too. I think it's the tiredness. I did manage a pretty good sleep last night and feel so much better today. It's amazing what a difference a few hours sleep makes. Here's hoping you get some kip tonight.

Loulou - Sorry for confusing you over the blood transfusion! Good luck for Monday anyway (it IS Monday isn't it??).

Wishing everyone a good night tonight.

can you bf in public with that close baby carrier without exposing yourself to the world? desperate for something as am quite modest... does it really make it discreet?

myjob i'll join you on that rollercoaster too. joe up till 11pm last night feeding all evening. finally gave in and gave him some formula as he had had two hours of feeding off me, 4 oz of expressed milk from freezer at 10 and then 2oz of formula on top of that!!! He finally fell asleep with me watching MOTD. he did sleep for 6 hours after that before he woke again but i'm worried that we are heading for having to give him formula at bedtime like i did with ds1 as i think my milk was a bit 'weak' by the end of the day - any tips from anyone gratefully received!! I'm not anti ff btw i jsut want to do this myself iyswim

Also don't forget myjob that when they are 3 to 4 weeks old, they have that growth spurt that keeps them up for hours maybe Naomi was having a growth spurt for a few days?? Thsi also tends to coincide with a real hormone slump apparently so no wonder you feel a bit crap...more chocolate is the answer!!

Star - don't worry about feeding in public, most people are so embarassed that they look away immediately and no one sees anything!! It is a bit tricky feeding in public. I try to find a quiet corner and use a blanket over my shoulder to hide anything. You shouldn't be ashamed to feed in public though (oh and in Scotland its illegal to ask you to stop bf in public now - is it the same in England?)

Star - I did my first bit of public breastfeeding in the Royal Festival Hall yesterday and I was a really anxious about it beforehand. The good thing about the close sling is that is comes in two parts and one of the bits can be draped over you like a scarf to cover your modesty. It was actually fine, even when a bloke I haven't seen for years spotted me and came over and for a chat just as I'd got Stan latched on. I think a lot of it is in the clothes you wear as well - if you haven't got a breastfeeding top, one of those bump bands over your tummy, or a vest top that you can pull down, stops you exposing too much flesh. It honestly wasn't too bad at all!

I think the Close sling has also got a proper breastfeeding position, but I've only got to grips with the first one so far. CSWS have you trid it yet? I think I'll try and tackle that next week. One thing at a time...!

Thanks for bf in public tips... i think it is just doing it that first time!

I have been feeding all night and day... i feel like a cow in a 24 hour milking factory. through the night less than every 2 hours and during the day he hasnt gone an hour without wanting more and that's after both breasts!! He's 17 days old...what's going on?

loulou formula sounds so good right now just for a bit of a break. havent been able to express because havent had the chance!

star - that sounds like the 3 week growth spurt. people keep warning me about it (I'm a week behind you, so got it to look forward to). I'm planning on getting some good dvd box sets from the video shop and settling in on the sofa surrounded by food!

star - the position I have ds in in the close carrier is the one they recommend for feeding. I think it's generally easier if you are a bit less large of nork than I am (which most people are!). I haven't really tried it yet, but I know that there are MNers who have fed in it.

If it makes you feel better star, ds did a cycle of feed for 45 mins, sleep for 45 mins, feed for 45 mins pretty much all night last night, and this afternoon/evening he has been feeding constantly but still not settling at all. He's now clearly overtired, so is even less likely to settle. I've been trying to take a nap with him since 3pm, but to no avail. Now I feel ready for bed for the night, but there's no chance with him like this. And of course I've had to feed dd a few times today too. Mooooooo!

loulou - I haven't yet met a woman who didn't think that she was light on milk by the end of the day, myself included, but giving formula at that time is the best way to ensure that you are light of milk, as your body won't make it if it isn't demanded by the baby feeding. My advice therefore would be to feed Joe directly at the times that he's demanding milk, and to stop using expressed stuff or formula for a couple more weeks at least. It's generally recommended that you don't express for at least 6 weeks after the birth, to give your supply a chance to establish itself and regulate to what the baby wants. That may well mean some marathon feeds, but you need to trust your body to do what comes naturally .

star - yes that's the 3 week growth spurt for you - its knackering but will not last long.
csws its easier said than done though as i am shattered. have been feeeding Joe for the last 2 1/2 hours almost constantly - there is no milk left although i was like Jordan at 7pm tonight before we started the marathon feed. I didn't realise you shouldn't express for 6 weeks - i was told (can't remember who now) that you should express in the morning any milk you don't 'use' (have only managed this a few times as too disorganised) - will stop for now. Must go and see if DH has got Joe to sleep...he falls asleep and then wakes with wind so i get him up and immediately burps and then wants more food cos he's awake ...grrrr. Will let you know how i get on.....

HELLO LADIES. ah sorry, am moving over from due in to anti natal. baby alexander james was born at home on 16/10 at 8:24pm. delivered by the loveliest mw's! had a small 2nd degree tear. bf going well infact my milk came in on sat lunchtime and i looked like jordan by bedtime!
he's feeding all the time atm so feeling like a cow! his latch isn't so good so he's gulping air and very windy am working on it but he tends to fall asleep really quickly and i can't wake him again, feel cruel. it will come though i seem to remember dd being the same.

It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow and we had intended to celebrate today by meal out but couldnt find a time when he wasnt feeding! DH ended up making a lovely meal which we ate from the sofa while bf
Good to hear other babies are causing sleepless nights, too...
loulou i can relate to that. I feel like every time he wakes up he wants more milk!
I cant wait 6 weeks to express. Need to stock up for return to work.

star

csws may be able to advise. I'm sure you have enough - maybe she's just having growth spurt and needs to cluster feed?
Post on breast and bottle feeding and tiktok will be able to advise as well. I'm so new to this that i dont want to give you the wrong advice.
I'll put a call out for her for you on the thread I started... dont know how to do links, sorry!

I copied your message onto mythread and asked for tiktok's input. it's thread under breast and bottle feeding titled "breastfeeding for a week now... not sure how much more i can take"

Alexa - the best (and pretty much only) way to make more milk is to feed more, as milk production works on supply and demand. It might be worth getting the latch checked by a bfc to make sure that she's getting milk out efficiently though.

hiya,

thanks for the advice csws - joe went to sleep without any formula about 20 mins after i posted. woke twice for short feeds in night and seems more contented....will keep putting to breast in evening and try to ignore emergency formula in cupboard!!!

Off to hosp in hour and am trying to pack a bag in case we have to stay in - keep fingers crossed we don't

Alexa hope feeding is going better - csws is right - keep feeding and the milk will increase, it may take a day or two but it will happen. May be comfort sucking though if feeding for over an hour (?for each breast or both together)

Good luck with transfusion loulou .