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!

How are the nips? Did the thush clear up?

Kind of a half reality here at the moment Tree, think I'll manage a week of this and then will have to hit the real world again. DD permanently attached to DH at the moment as seems to have gone off Mummy a bit, but I'm quite happy with that for a while. Gives me a bit of time to recover, and it won't last, Daddy is far too unreliable!

My milk is just starting to come in now, and DS seems to be feeding quicker this evening than earlier on today. Has gone back down after just 15mins on the boob so am going to try and get some sleep myself now. Am sure he'll be up again soon.

Do you know what I can put on nipples to help them not get sore before they are sore iyswim? MW today said to save lansinoh unless they are cracked/sore and use vaseline. But can I feed him with the vaseline on or do I have to wipe it off first?

Hi LenniEd. Try Kamillosan, used it both times with boys and never had any problems with soreness or cracking. You can put it on before and after feeding and don't need to wipe it off before he feeds.

2nd kamillosan, and the old reliable bit of your milk. It's a natural antiseptic and gets into the tiny cracks you can't see [or feel hopefully] then let it dry in air.

Hope no milky hormones [seem to remember feeling like I had man flu!] attack you and you have good zzz's.

You've done it, you have delivered and have children. Whoa bonkers!!

I used Lansinoh for nips, which is pricey but fab!

Lenni, just read your birth story; fantastic and inspiring! Well done.

Ordered some kamillosan with the tesco shop - thanks ladies.

Thanks FLF - hope yours will be ready to read soon

Am a misery on the antenatal thread, and I wanna move over hear. If I get here and whine slap me will you?

hello everyone! just posting a quick one so it is easy to find you all.
Rosie starting to snuffle so I'm going to get boobs out..
x

thrush is gone nearly. just left with a horrid pins and needles feeling after feeding. now doing 2 side feeding instead of one which seems to work better and hang him out for longer. stanley currently asleep in his big cot for first time. looks so tiny.
i used lanisol but had cracks so clealry didn't work. def helps with pain though as seems to act as a barrier. don't have to wash off. also used shields when i was cracked.
is no whinging allowed on this side?!

Not from me qumps I've bent everyone's ears on y'other side!

You should all have a good nipple chomp comparison thing going on though! That sounds horrid big style.

Hopefully more beds will be taken soon. Moosey not heard of for...ooo...30 mins so hoping for great things there!

Will bring lovely muffins when move in to thread x.

i literally can't stop eating so muffins v welcome. dh got love handles as big as mine so we have binned all the junk and done a healthy shop today.
dh went out to pub sat (v unheard of) and was hungover all day yesterday and useless. he felt so guilty he has done everthing today and taken ds1 out twice so i have just had stanley. its been bliss!
dare i say it but think getting the hang of bf. he has done 3 hour stretches today and can easily cope with that. does have ff at 10/11. not that it makes him sleep any longer but gives me a rest.
got jaundice clinic tomorrow and have to take a poo ane wee sample. normally i am covered in both but sods law i will be waiting for them tomorrow...

ooh, so want to join you over here .

won't be long flf.
periwink tell your birth story here!
spink whats the 'crack' with your boobs? (laughing at own joke!)

qumps lol at the dreadful joke... bit of everything with the boobs - it is pretty toe curling when she's feeding, got a big bleedy crack and I had the mother of engorgements which is just going down now... although my armpits swelled up and are pretty lumpy and sore now even when the boobs have deflated.
Had positioning and latch checked out by a few people now including the bf counsellor and they all say it is fine. The latest theory is that I have particularly sensitive and big nips (hurrah!!) which together with Rosie's small mouth and barracuda like suck = pain. Had the same with ds and eventually, maybe because he and his mouth just got bigger? it became bearable at about 4 months. Lots of nip shields, expressing and crying (me and him) before that. Gutted that it looks like the same thing is happening, and that there doesn't seem much I can do about it. I really loved bfing with ds once we got through the first few months, but don't know if I can do that again... which makes me feel a bit
I guess we'll see.. (as you can see, I am in favour of whinging )

has anyone tried silverettes (I think that is what they're called) - the silver nipple thingies which are supposed to help healing??

Spink - I'm with you on the big nips thing... unfortunately for me its just the right one that's big apparently - nothing like being lopsided for the old self-esteem eh??! And it now has a little crack so wincing a bit on that side. Seen bf counsellor today and she said he would just have to grow, latch is fine so looks like we're in the same boat

Fortunately he's back at birth weight today so looks like its going ok apart from my poor enormous right nipple Who was it who thought pg was unglamourous? Blinkin bf much worse when you've got all and sundry examining your larger than average nipple!

Am enjoying it far more than I thought I would though and DD been a little star so far, bless her. I thought she would be awful, still time though eh.

well i am afraid to say today was the beginning of the end. had it with bf and stanley now on 2 bottles a day. i feel v guilty but i HATE it so much it makes me miserable and not a good mummy or a good wife. thought it would be better this time but still pins and needles, can't go out in cold and feeding every hour.... i am a control freak and need to get life back on track. will cry when i do the last one and then be happy its all over!
well done everyone else for persevering. does anyone find bf easy?
stanley got the all clear at jaundice clinic and was 9lb 8oz. little fatty! can't believe he is nearly 4 weeks old.
off to check other thread to see if anyone else is joining us.

oh qumps . its difficult with mixed feeding as I never did it and am a bit of a self confessed BF queen as I was lucky with DD who had an instant dyson latch.. did hurt like hell, but the milk sure came out. I just hope you get a balance that is right for you.. got knows what its like with two as with one you can sit them on your boob until the cows come home and it doesn't really affect anyone else....

Hello! Joining the thread as my DC1 arrived last Thursday. 8lb 11oz, induced due to mystery bleeding, delivered naturally but 2nd degree tear as the little monkey was in a compound position. Post-birth haemorrage thrown in for good measure so I'm still feeling like I have been hit by a truck!

Spinks, can I join in on the whinging?

Qumps, feel for you on the BF, I am finding it so hard and we're only on Day 6. Cue start of whinge... Baby refused to feed and have been on insane expressing every three hours and feeding via syringe every two for most of the week just to try and get food into her, seriously nearly went loopy on lack of sleep, to the point of auditory hallucinations and everything. Yesterday tried nipple shields which is much less traumatic. However baby likes 2 hour long feeds which is exhausting, and now to cap it all I have a mystery white blob at the end of one of my nips! And they both feel like they are on fire the whole time. Oh, and baby blues to boot mean half the time I am feeding her, the poor mite is being sobbed over, so in the good mummy stakes I'm not feeling to great! DH being very understanding but I'm already terrified of how I'll cope when he goes back to work in a week and half... How do people do this??

barrel, I know I'm not meant to be here yet, but have your nips checked for thrush - mystery blob plus burning can be that and if the baby has it too, it could hurt her mouth to feed... look for little white blobs in her mouth too.

Thanks fourlittlefeet - she had white blobs when she was born but midwife said that was normal - pearls of something it was called? Don't think she has any at the moment, at least not that I can tell. Will get the midiwfe on it in the morning though.

Have just had two hours sleep which was bliss! Feeling more fortified to persevere - amazing what a difference a bit of sleep makes... wouldn't say I am quite at rational and functioning human being stage but another couple of hours sleep tonight and the world will seem much better. Poor DH is just about keeping up with my mood swings!

Qumps - oh my god, I hope I can make it to 4 weeks with the bfing! That is a long time to stick it out when it is so so so painful. I'm only on day 8 and thanks to my trusty pump hope I can get to 2 weeks - that's my goal for the moment. my right boob has a huge gash on it that I keep reopening when I try to latch her on. so I'm expressing from that side and giving her the EBM in a bottle. We tried giving it using a cup so that she doesn't get nipple-confused, but though she drinks, she screams all the way through the feed. Think she just needs to suck, iykwim.

Barrel - hello! is the white blob a pale bit of nipple, like a bit that looks blanched, or a pimply thing? I've got a blanched bit which apparently means she is chewing on it and so is a sign of a bad latch. Shame all the people who have looked can't think how to improve the latch as it seems 'fine'. Will call La Leche later today. I want some expert help and while the hvs and mws are great, I don't really trust them.

FLF hello lovely, how are you doing?

hello hope you can all stick it out on the b'fing - it gets sooo much easier and its such a lovely thing when it works!

Hello Barrel lovely to have someone else on here - we're still a bit thin on the ground with people to moan to! Feel like I'm in no man's land.

I'm impressed with 4 weeks too Qumps. I want to get to 2 weeks without making nipples any worse and then I think I'll be ok. Have also got a white patch - mine was a scab but all the lansinoh has moistened it so it is more like a patch of dead skin now that will come away eventually, does look a bit fungal though so if didn't know otherwise would suspect thrush. Think nipple damage and thrush must look very similar, will have to ask mw how to tell the difference.

I'm enjoying the actual feeding part, it's just the first 10 seconds or so that I dread. Have got the hang of getting him on right finally but still takes me a couple of goes on left side. It's the nights when I'm doing damage... too sleepy to get it right.

Spink - sound like you are doing what you need to do to get through with sanity intact, which I think should be the golden rule of child raising. Hopefully it will come good for you soon. Def seek out some advice though - is there a bf counsellor you can see?

little monkey currently sucking the life out of my finger while i type 1 handed.
epic night feeding i have to share just to get off my chest. 4 weeks old and did 1715, 1845, 2115 (3oz of formula), 2300, 0100, 0300, 0500, 0730. last fed at 1030 3oz formula and looking now. seriouly! is that normal? have i blanked this phase out from last time?! where is the 5 hr strech i am promised by baby books?! will i ever sleep again????!!!!