January 09 - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4......and we're off

[fourlittlestockingedfeet]

Here's a brand new thread for the early party poppers!

Congratulations on getting your VBAC books...enjoyed your birth story. How do you pronounce Aoife?

Rray- I carry group B strep, I didn't know I had it in my first pregnancy. It comes and goes. I tested again at 36 weeks and it showed negative. MW just told me to check baby carefully for the first 24-48 hours and look for signs of fever/grunting/not waking/not feeding etc... I think its something that shows up pretty quickly if your baby is affected, it means if you have another pregnancy they'll offer you antibiotics during labour to prevent the GBS being passed on to your baby.
Also DS is similar...sleepy in day sometimes and more wakeful at night. Last two nights have been a lot better, you could try keeping her alert for little stretches after she feeds during the day...change her nappy, take a layer of clothing off (for a short time!), let her stretch and wriggle about. If she wakes at night and you only fed her anhour before maybe check her nappy, wind her, cuddle her for a bit before offering a feed... It seems to be working with Jude..although its all a bit hit and miss at this stage!

Tree- You are a brave lady doing all that travelling..hope you have a good weekend!

Am wearng pre-pregnancy jeans today...hooray...(although the top button is very much undone) but REFUSE to wear anymore elasticated/maternity/stretchy clothes!

Feeling slightly less exhausted too. trying to get the hang of manouvring a toddler and a baby, got given a Kari-me sling, which is great. Got a phil and teds buggy off ebay and its a bit of a hefty thing compared to our knackered old maclaren, so am holding of using it til I have too...we live in a basemment flat, so its a pain in the arse getting everything and everyone up the steps!

FLF- If you fancy a broadway market coffee sometime in the next few weeks give me a shout...I feel ready to interact with the real world again!

Hope everyone is doing well, loed reading your birth stories Moose and qumps... right ..need to catch up on this thread.

hkz - if you've got any tips on how to manage 2, please pass them on!!
dh is around a lot at the moment, and my mum is still on hand too, to take ds out for a walk in the morning so we get an hour or two just with Rosie, but I am not looking forward to having them both on my own.
Rosie doesn't like being put down (read - screams blue murder when she is not being cuddled, even when asleep) and ds (who is nearly 2yrs) is used to getting a lot of my time, wants to be carried lots at the moment too. He isn't the kind of child who will sit quietly next to me while I breastfeed (thanks, helpful bfing counsellor, for the suggestion!), iykwim..
How is everyone else with 2+ doing it? (she asks with slight hysteria in voice)

i cant believe that baby is nearly 3 weeks old. he has been quite unsettled this morning - not sure why? probably i did not wind him enough. my nipples are feeling quite used and abused

sometimes i feel like i can breastfeed DS2 until he is a few months old. but at times, i feel like giving up already. DS1 is a bit clingy today.

Spink- dd1 (21 months) also has no intention of sitting quietly next to me while i breastfeed....there's been a lot of cbeebies of late... carrying the baby in one of those fabric sling things helps, at least you have two hands free...its all pretty chaotic. Just went to the park and DD screamed blue murder in the pushchair all the way there...I got lots of 'I wouldn't let my child make that sort of noise' looks, but tbh I don't even notice the noise after the first 30 seconds of a tantrum, just sort of zone out to somewhere more peaceful. Am lucky as DP normally looks after DD, so she is used to all his attention while I'm at work, so that hasn't changed for her.

heron- know what you mean about the nipples...they are under full attack at the moment. Lanisoh seems to be working quite well at keeping them in a functioning state.

Hi all - just wanted to come and introduce myself. I have been lurking on the Jan 09 antenatal threads for months now but never actually posted anything!

I now have a one week old DS (Jamie) who was born last Friday 23/1 at 11.57pm, forceps delivery in theatre as he was a little bruiser and weighed in at 10lb 1oz! I can post my birth story if anybody is interested?

I'm a first time mum and am already feeling a bit out of my depth if I'm being honest, particularly after a sleepless night like the one we just had!

Anyhow, that's me! I'll try not to ask too many questions

Hi Floridagirl! We love a good birth story

Sore nipples and sleepless nights and a toddler who hates you breastfeeding... hmm sounds familiar no solutions. Toys, snacks and cbeebies before I start... am slowly zombiefying my daughter but won't last forever eh... god I say that a lot lately!

Loved the birth story Books - what an epic birth. Good on you for getting what you wanted. Must be very empowering.

Grr to those of you in pre-pg clothes! I wish! Am seriously considering dieting but daren't compromise milk supply, maybe in another week. Have lost about 9lbs so far, but want another 2 stone off. Only half a stone over pre-pg weight but had a bit to lose before that too. Feel like such a frump and nothing fits nicely. Really getting me down.

i am the same not looking forward to having them on my own dd1 is 3.5 years @ the end of feb.
dh has been off this week and mum is over mon and tues. will have them on my own from wed, then dad over on thursday. then on my own fri.
dd1 is very demanding luckily dd2 is very contended

question about expressing milk. i express enough milk so that someone else can give baby the night feeds. will this affect my milk supply during the day? i have only been doing this for the last few days.

Not sure heron - think it might going on what tree and my midwife have said about night feeds being important as your prolactin levels are highest then. Someone else will tell you for sure soon.

I also have a question about expressing though. Do I have to do it now if I might want to in the future? And when should I start, and what time of day is best to do it?? I'm not fussed for others doing feeds but there will be one day in March when I have to do business stuff and will be away from DS for half a day so will need to express. If it's just the odd day would it matter if I just bought a carton of formula for that one feed I'll miss and then express in the toilet to relieve engorgement? All so new...

And what are people doing about dummies? DD had one but she was formula fed. With the new SIDS advice I'm tempted to give DS one just from a SIDS prevention point of view - he doesn't need it (yet) for settling though so seems crazy to consider giving him a sleep prop which we'll only have to get rid of later. He is in sleeping bags (hated being swaddled) so would it even be beneficial for preventing SIDS as not like he has sheets to get caught in?

expressing - ok, well the place to go for really good and evidence based information is www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html.

I THINK that usual advice is to wait til milk supply is well established before tinkering - so, at 6 weeks. Having said that, with ds I was expressing much earlier (from 4 weeks) and was told that the best time to express was first thing in the morning, as you tend to have loads of milk in after a night time production bonanza. I used to feed ds on one boob and express from the other at the same time - him feeding stimulated let down from the expressing boob whiçh should mean I got more milk more easily.

Lenni - don't think you need to express now to 'prime' your boobs for expressing later. If you're only going to need to provide milk for a bottle once or twice, formula could be a good option - depends how easy you find it to express I guess.

the morning is the best time to express cos i find that i have lots of milk. i feed DS2 at around 7am and then i express. i get around 150mls.

i do the night feed - the 10pm, so the only feed that someone else give is the 1-2am feed. and DS2 takes the expressed milk from that morning.

i really hope that what i am doing does not affect my milk supply. but if it does, well, i am not going to get too upset about it. cos being tired was resulting in my milk being low!

books I had 2 baths a day in neals yards mothers soak plus a couple of drops of both tea tree and lavender.

I also started arnica 200c twice a day the day after the birth - I'm absolutely psitive that it really made the difference.

Have had no trouble or pain with stitches.

Rray if I were you I'd call my gp or mw to discuss the strep thing, they will probably be able to put your mind at rest. If it helps DS2 was the snuffliest, gruntiest most snory baby in the world (he used to keep us awake!) apparently it just took a while for his pipes to clear out all the gunk. Elizabeth is a sleepy baby too, I frequently have to wake her for a feed and she is never awake for long. She also thought daytime was 1.30am to 5.30 am for the first week (interesting as that's the time I used to be unable to sleep in the third trimester. She gradually got the idea though and although still sleepy in the day, now sleeps better at night (windy tummy allowing of course).

Excuse typing am one handed with baby on shoulder!

moose, I second the arnica.

re pumping, I'm also waiting for 6 weeks. Then its good to try and keep up at least a bottle a week. With DD she was taking them, then we left it 6 weeks, and she never went back on them... still can't drink from a bottle! Very funny when the nursery tried, they couldn't quite believe it!

hkz - lets do it! If you've got both, the museum might be a better bet as at least its contained and has door staff!

I've got good cover for DD for the next week, so I won't have to do two on my own for at least another 15 days.... those of you who have to do it earlier, one word. Respect. And another. Bribery. Actually DD does leave me alone for BF'ing thank god, though H only takes 15 mins so its no so bad and I do let her watch cbeebies on the computer if she complains/demands it. Apparently its very easy to breastfeed whilst reading the older ones a story . Maybe this will take some training, or you need a special 'only when breastfeeding' book or toy for them. Will let you know if I find something that works. For the moment in our household its divide and rule so we have one child each, with very short periods of both (an hour or so), just to get used to it.

i thought it was okay to express after three weeks? so confused... though i think i may have an over supply of milk and that expressing might not be a good idea in that context... c gets quite windy and unsettled in the evening (by which i mean screams blue murder for hours) and i've been advised that it might be because she has to gulp down the fore milk because it's coming down so fast...

books - i have a sitz bath (a sort of blow up basin which fits over the loo which you can sit on and bathe the pertinent parts) and i use a few drops of tea tree oil in it - no time for using the bath. it stings a bit but feels much better afterwards. can't recommend the thing highly enough, even though it makes me feel a bit elderly and infirm (the shop i bought it in seeming to deal mainly in aids for the immobile elderly). also, congratulations and seriously, an epic birth story

i think there are a few new babies who i haven't extended a welcome to - too obsessed with my own small girl, when not in a state of collapse - rray, miss j, looseyc, floridagirl, many congratulations and welcome to your small ones!
also, some excellent birth stories on here, makes my own look a little meagre...

think i may be being summoned by the infanta.... see y'all later

Stripey I have the same problem, fast let down and over-supply of milk. Had it with both the boys and they had colic from hell. Elizabeth seems a little more proficient at controlling the flow, but still manages to get all windy and upset. She was doing this in the middle of the night after cluster feeding all evening, but now seems to have moved it forward to evenings. Apparently in some cases it can help to express an ounce or so of foremilk off before feeding.

I had to express this morning as woke up in agony and engorged thanks to madam demanding extra feeds and then sleeping for four and a half hours. I decided to express off one side and feed off the other afterwards and got 6oz in 10 minutes of pumping! I used to be able to pump a 9-10 oz bottle in about 10-15 minutes with the boys and DH would feed them as much of it as they would take at their night feed which really helped them to sleep longer.

All mine have only fed from one side per feed, which is ideal as I just express from one side at the same time every day and it gets incorporated into the production cycle so to speak rather than creating any extra demand.

I wasn't intending to start expressing yet, but having seen how much milk I can express already I may think about it now.

MW and HV came round yesterday, Elizabeth has regained her birth weight so MW has finally signed us off.

Elizabeth is currently sleeping in her swing for the first time with it switched on. She hated it at first, but didn't mind sleeping in it while it was stationary with the heartbeat simulator playing. I am so relieved, her brothers both lived in the swing when they had colic and it was an absolute godsend. I was starting to think she was never going to like it.

Got my last two furry babies back from the kennels last night so we are a complete family again. They barely seem to have noticed the baby and just glance in her direction occasionally if she makes a noise. To be fair the two old ladies have seen it all before when the boys were little, but our lurcher is a big softie and still quite young himself, plus he'd never met a baby before so I'm relieved he wasn't phased (sp?) by it all.

DH back to work full time on Monday so am sure I'll be all tearful then. Mind you he was supposed to be on half days last week but 3 out of 5 days didn't make it home till 2.50 pm!

Oh yes, re over supply of milk. Does anyone know where I can find out about donating to neonatal units. I did ask at the hospital, but none of the midwives knew.

Seems a shame to have excess milk and not put it to good use.

moose and stripey, same here with lots of milk and fast let down. DS chokes and splutters, just like his sister did at the beginning of a feed. Thing is, can never be bothered to express first, feel like I'm spending enough time being a milk cow! Have you tried the fennel tea to help them with the colic? I've started it early this time with DS and haven't had any episodes yet...

Hi everyone... sorry for lack of presence but it's all been a bit overwhelming since Thursday as I know you will all understand!
Haven't had time to catch up on the thread but just wanted to say hello and hope you are all surviving. I am absolutely in love with 'baby babycakes' as we are calling him for now (unbelievably OH is now having second thoughts about the name HE wanted all along which I think really suits him!) but so, so tired and sore.
30 hour labour ended in ambulance ride across welsh hills (OW!), episiotomy (OW) and ventouse, which was all a bit frustrating as we got so, so near - he just wouldn't come around the final corner and I was too tired, and there was the 30 minute ambulance ride to factor in from the MLU to the hospital.
3 days have passed in whirlwind of feeding (no milk yet but he LOVES to suck) and visitors (too many). Having dilemmas about where he sleeps and if he should have a dummy - he just wants to comfort suck and can't use his hands.
Have to run as can hear him about to start crying, but will try again later!
Hope you are all well.. xxx

booksgalore i get despondent and sad at about 9pm to midnight too. i think its my threshold at the end of my day. i do some yoga as soon as DD goes down and get to bed soon after myself.

heron22 the more you express or baby feeds, the more your body produces milk.

lennied expressing in morning, i read, is best but i'm thinking what difference does it make when you're feeding every couple of hours. i use to be against dummies, but now wish DD would take it. she sucks her wrist and gives herself a hickey. she really chomps on it.

moosemama you can freeze breast milk for up to 8 months. it is a shame waste it. can you really donate it?

missjackson we are still co-sleeping and it works great. specially when DD wakes in mid night. i wake as soon as she stirs and feeding starts right away and everyone is happy... i usually fall back to sleep while feeding.

DD has been living in her sling these last two days. she simply refuses not to be held by me. she's melancholy for the most part. hope it passes. on the plus side, DD is smiling that smile babies do before they've figured out laughter. its so lovely

hope everyone's weekend was nice.

hi chefswife, about expressing, so it does not matter when i express? cos i do all my expressing in the daytime. i hope to increase my milk supply this way.

i think baby is going through growth spurt at the moment - he is nearly 3 weeks old. is this when it happens? cos the last 2 nights, he took all 150mls of expressed breast milk in one sitting!

and this morning, after he finished with one boob, i tried to express more from that boob, and there was none left.

i have not heard about the not expressing before 6 weeks - ah well, too late for me now, cos i started expressing at week 2.

is ok to drink softdrinks like sprite when breastfeeding? how about a glass of wine?

heron I heard the trick if you want coffee/ wine etc was to have it the moment you finish one feed - then you've got 2 or 3 hours for it to leave your bloodstream before the next feed... in theory.
Can't barely find time to drink a glass of water let alone think about glass of wine! another lifetime....

chefswife we have co-slept last 2 nights which tends to be my instinct anyway, but OH is worried about bad habits etc... plus I don't sleep that well worried about duvet etc (even though it is way down around my waist). But every time I get him into his basket next to our bed he wakes up again and won't settle until he has more nipple - he likes to fall asleep on the breast... which I suppose is natural.

I don't know, I just feel a bit torn between instinct which is to never put him down and let him suck for 2 or 3 minutes every time he makes a sound, and another side of me which needs 10 minutes to have a bath and tidy up! and sleep!!! Had amazing precious 90 minutes sleep this morning, and then another hour after a quick feed... am obsessed with sleep.

Sorry for self-indulgent waffle - I need to find 20 minutes to catch up with thread and find out how everyone is doing. Sending you all hugs... has everyone had their baby yet? *dog?

missjackson try not to worry too much about sleep habits just yet. He is too young to be able to establish habits so just go with whatever makes life easiest for you. DS has only just started to settle without being fed and he's nearly 4wks now. Most of the time he falls asleep on the breast. Has your milk come in yet? It will get easier to put him down once he's got a full belly. Plus a hot water bottle in his bed and a bit of your milk expressed on his sheet will make him think he is still be held next to you.

DD co-slept with us until 7mo - you get used to the duvet round your waist thing, and you get to sleep more easily as you become accustomed to having them in bed with you. I haven't had DS in bed with us though, he is in a co-sleeper crib attached to our bed instead. Do whatever feels best. We never had a problem with putting her down in her own cot after we stopped co-sleeping (only stopped cos we wanted our sex life back to normal!) so don't worry too much about bad habits. Their habits are more easily broken than they appear at the time. When I look back on getting rid of DDs dummies it seemed like an impossible task at the time but actually it was very easy.