April 2005 babies!!!

[Gem1355]

Hi

Howz everyone doing?

Darcie is doing well but losing abit of weight after she put it on after inital weight loss but okay other than that.

would post a picture but don't know how!

verso - some friends of mine swore by those swings. So much so that I bought one on ebay - take a look there - there were lots when I was looking. haven't used it much yet but I'd say worth a try with Anneke. My only concrn is whether you really want them to fall asleep in there...

Verso, I spent a fortune on two doldinino highchairs that have a motorised rocking motion. It is good for keeping them entertained for a bit while they are happy and awake,but when they are fretful it does nothing, as they want to be held. I know other ppl find them really good tho, but I would check out how good the motion is. Ours don't rock that well at all, especially as we have natural wood floors that are rather uneven in places.
Gem, I would be really tempted jsut to try the hungrier baby milk if I was in your shoes, and maybe keep trying with the water - it may be thirst. The only prob is that some milks, esp sma can cause constipation. I think you will find darcie will calm down sooner or later tho, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Also, regards dummys it is sometiems worth trying a few diff ones to see what they prefer, I tried three or four before the twins decided they love NUK ortho ones!

someone has recommended tommee tippee cherry soothers to me. saying it has a longer teat so baby controls it better. haven't tried it yet.

Verso: Having mum there is a mixed blessing. I am in the throes of lone parenthood as dh works away in scotland while Maya is in her fussy stage. I don't have any relatives in the UK as I was born overseas. MIL lives over an hour away and she works part time and child minds 2 other g-children. Wishing desperately I had someone nearby who could visit for a few days at a time to help out.

Last nite, in desperation for some guidance and regaining control, i am attempting the Gina Ford regimen. I got an email from an aunt in the US who shared a piece of wisdom from my great grand father who accomplished a lot for an orphan boy. He used to say: If you love your child, be hard. that is Gina all right.

Gem - my dd was taking a similar amount to Darcie - i was recommended (unofficially) aptimil extra (for hungry babies) by my hv and a mw on the nhs helpline. It's meant to be most like breast milk. It worked wonders, no constipation, dd was chunky but not fat and never did reach 9oz bottles! It's the most expensive milk but i saved about £2 a box by buying it from the babt clinic (ask your hv about it).

ds is currently on normal aptimil - have just had hv around and he's got oral thrush so has lost some weight, as he's got plenty of cover (does that mean fat?) it's not a problem!

this time around I'm also being shallow mother - i also have plenty of cover which doesn't look like it will be going anywhere for a while. Also skin seems to have stretched - could tie a bow in my tummy!

Hello Ladies
I've just spotted this thread and since I can finally join it now I'll definitely be keeping up to date on how you are all doing. Sorry - no idea about feeding at all. I'm still getting used to the idea of having a baby at all, and luckily breastfeeding is going well, I think. I'm lucky if I'm up and dressed before 11am and remember to put the washing on so I hope to start getting a bit more organised soon.
I've posted a picture of Evie in members profiles - she's a poppet although she has got a decent pair of lungs on her as we found out last night......!

HI

Hope everyone is well?

Well i changed Darcie's milk to cow & gate blue for hungrier babies and she's having 6-7ox a time about 5 times a day and has settled better!

She is getting lovely chubby legs which i absolutely adore!! and she is gaining weight every week so is good!!!
Has got a bigger wardrobe than me which i'm none to happy about!

Hi Gem - glad to hear Darcie is sorted - that sounds a lot better for her - and you! Considering changing from Sma - Ryan seemss to get quite windy at times. trying to type 1 handed cos he's having a cuddle!

HI

Darcie is doing alot better now she is on cow & gate, today was great she is in her moses basket on her tummy at the mo(thats the way she sleeps), went in to check on her and she was holding her head up high to see her teddys in the back went to get a camera but she couldn't hold it anymore (not alot of strenght yet)

Hi everyone. Finally catching up with you all! I'm finding it hard to find time to log on and by 9pm when DS and Maddie are asleep I can't stay up any longer myself! Everybody's baby's seem to be blooming - I think we must have the smallest though as she is 7 weeks tomorrow and weighed 8lb 7oz at her 6 week visit to the HV last week. Guess she's small but perfectly formed, of course! In her defence she did start at 6lb 6oz so she's got some catching up to do.

Finding the sleepless nights a bit of a grind now. Poor Maddie seems to get wind around 3am and things just degenerate then until 7am when DS gets up - aaaggghhhh. Feel a bit like Dorian Grey - the more blooming and healthy she looks the older and more haggard I become. I'd also forgotten how long my disgusting mummy tummy hung around for (literally!) last time. I still look about 6 months pregnant and haven't much hope of losing any at the moment as am too tired to do any exercise and can't diet as am b/f (my excuse ). Wondering if I will ever be back to normal again but I do remember feeling a bit like this last time and at 7 weeks am right in the thick of it. The magical 12 week more settled mark is tantalisingly close...

Lockets - I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's baby Jacob I'll try to remember him when I'm complaining about lack of sleep etc... might give me some perspective.

Bronniemuldoon - I have to say I like the sound of a 'more settled' time - particularly if it's at 12 weeks, which isn't that far off. Please tell me you're not making it up! I'm glad I'm not alone with the mummytummy thing too. I have a friend locally who already looks like a twiglet, which does make me feel slightly inadequate (and spherical) from time to time.

Most of the time I don't really care, but I am getting very tired of wearing the same three outfits all the time (I refuse to buy more clothes in a bigger size so I'm wearing my maternity stuff buttoned up). In the light of Locket's post, I suppose this is very trivial of me, but it's how I feel sometimes...

Gem - glad to hear Darcie is a bit more settled now she's on the blue C&G!

Thanks for the feedback about swings etc, everyone. It turns out Anneke was getting DH's cold, which I think was the main reason for her getting very fussy... poor thing sounds awful when she's all snotty .

Sorry to hear about your friends little boy Lockets, made me think how fortunate i am and how special Jack is.

He was weighed on Thursday and was 10lb 4oz. I cant believe how quickly time is going by - he will be 1 month old tomorrow!

We had a few sleepless nights and restless days last week due to colic, but seem to have eased it a bit with the use of Infacol. Still sleeping in 3 hour segments, but at least thats better than nothing.

Been shopping today to try and find an outfit for Jack's Christening on the 5th June (also my first wedding anniversary). Have had to rule out most of the pretty floaty dresses as they cling beautifully to my jelly belly . Have definately got to get my gravity walker out as i want to be able to wear something pretty, and i refuse to go up another dress size just to get something to fit nicely.

Hello, glad to hear all the babies are doing well and am also glad that I am not alone in the jelly belly department!! Keep waiting for it to shrink down a bit more naturally but think I must accept that it is blubber from over indulging for nine months Weight watchers is calling!!
Freya is lovely and seems to sleep most of the time. Wakes every 3 or 4 hours to feed then passes out again mostly. Only negative is that she is impssible to wind and then immediately you lie her down she vomits. Whole house has taken on the aroma of milky sick as have all my clothes! Using infacol (which she hates - screams as though i am torturing her when i give it) but not sure if it helps much. Merlin - interested that you are thinking of changing formula to alleviate wind. I am also using Sma, do some formulas make babies less windy than others? Would definitely try another brand if so as she gets so uncomfortable when I can't get it out of her.
Any other first timers slightly alarmed at the ammount of time spent discussing burping, poo consistency and nipples to anybody else with a baby!?! I'm sure I used to have other topics of conversation and a fairly interesting life - What happened!!!!

Lucy99 - LOL at the selection of conversation topics! I feel sorry for all my friends and work colleagues, in the last 12 months they have had to listen to me ramble on about my wedding, then 5 weeks later i fall pregnant, so they get that for about 8 months and now they get a blow by blow account of what Jack has been upto!! What can i bore them with next

Hi all - Lockets sorry to hear about your friends little boy - that's so sad.

Glad to hear everyone is doing OK despite the sleepless nights! Not sure what Ryan's problem is at the moment - he's all over the place at night - last night had me awake from 4am and just would not settle, not particularly windy just more interested in looking around the bedroom!

Lucy99 - still sticking with the SMA for now, got a couple of tins to get through! Not convinced that is causing him wind problems though because some days he's better then others.

Anyway, should be in bed really, ready to get up later! Night all.

Is anyone else on here breastfeeding? There's a lot of chat about formula at the moment, and I'm wondering if I'm the only one!

It took ages to get my supply re-established after I was readmitted to hospital, and I also have a very hungry baby so it's been quite hard going... and I have to admit I get tempted to switch to formula sometimes.

My Mum kept making scathing comments last week, and my MIL also made it clear when she was here that she disapproves (she and her partner kept leaving the room every time I BF, which meant I hardly saw them!) so I'm feeling pretty undermined at the moment.

I could do with a pep talk from someone in the same boat!

DH gives a bottle of formula at night so I can get a couple of hours sleep (I don't manage to express more than about 50ml or so during the day as I seem to be permanently feeding her)... all my friends say this is normal, but I'm finding it exhausting.

Any tips as to when this will settle down? The health visitor keeps telling me she's having a growth spurt... but in that case she's been having one for the last five weeks!

Hi Verso,
I'm bfing too, but because I have two of the hungry buggers I mostly express it and give it to them in bottles, otherwise I would almost permanantly have one hanging off me. Although as they get older they are more efficient and do feed a lot quicker.

They are now 2 mnths, and have settled down a lot in the last week. They are going 3 hours between feeds now, and longer at night. They have a couple of top up bottles at night to help them sleep better, but I'm slowly cutting that down, hoping to get them on to 100% ebm eventually.

You are over the hardest bit and hve doen well to get ur supply going strong again, it usually gets easier now. I was worried about my milk for a while as it seemed to be going straight thru them, and they were permanantly hungry, but I tried them on formula and it made no difference.

Plz don't worry about ur mother/MIL neither - u know u are doing the best for ur baby. As she starts feeding less it won't be such a big problem anyway.

I'm b/f too. Maya just turned 5 wks yesterday. A week ago I though I was going crazy as she was feeding all night and sleeping all day. I am alone during the wk so I was at wit's end plus being a first time mum.

In desperation, I began the Gina Ford regime last Thrusday and have regained quite a lot of sleep time and Maya now has a more realistic sleep/wake/feed pattern.

Verso, Gina's book has a schedule to increase your milk supply - it goes along with changing from a demand fed baby to a routine fed one so it may not be for everyone.

I have no idea how long I will b/f for. I am happy I got past a month and now that I am approaching six wks, the golden week for establishing supply, it would seem a shame to get to that milestone and then cut down. I am just taking it day by day. I don't have any family to assist with baby or support or put me off b/f so I guess I have to take the good with the bad.

Hello - another b/feeder here! I think I've been really lucky so far with no problems. Maybe it is because I read so many stories about all the difficulties that might happen so I was definitely prepared for the worst! Evie feeds for 15-30 minutes every 3 hours or so, maybe a little more often in the evening and first thing in the morning. She is pretty voracious though and certainly seems to drain me at each sitting!

I don't mind the bras so much (only 34DD so not too bad) but I have to wear breast pads and ALL my pre-pregnancy clothes seem to show them off! Hmm, very attractive NOT! I have to go shopping and buy some summery things that don't have spaghetti straps and aren't see-through - any ideas? Certainly don't want to wear breastfeeding tops with all those complicated buttons, concealed slits and whatnot. I'm more than happy to just pull up my tshirt!

raindog, I just bought loads of tshirts a size bigger than usual, so easy to pull up and not too clingy to show breast pads. The bigger breast pads are better too, they are flatter so don't show as much.
I also got a couple of tops from M&S thathave a tie bit just below the bust that ties round the back, and is more flowing below this. I untie it when I want to feed, and there is lots of material to be discreet with.

Hi everyone - glad to hear all the babies are thriving!!! Can I just ask how much awake time are your babes having in an average day? Ryan still seems to sleep a lot at nearly 7 weeks and I can't remember what DS1 did!!!

Mine really vary - anything from 3 to about 8 hours. I guess an average of about 5/6 hours then. Thats not including time spent feeding, just the hours screaming or smiling!