March 09 - The spring babies have sprung

[jollyjoanne]

Thought I'd start us up a post-natal thread for the new mummies of March 09 (or thereabout!)

Happy Easter Girls

Well we are over run by eggs!! as i am sure lots of you are to, DH has bought me the biggest Belgium chocolate egg i have ever seen its at least 14" tall .

fearless sorry to hear that you are battling with colic, did you see the U tube link i posted on your thread? as regards to your diet i personally would only cut things out if it actually helped. Did you cut everything out of your diet all in one go? from the list your gave on your thread there is an awful lot that your not eating . With DD1 i found that i could have dairy in moderation, the main NO NO with her was beans and it appears that Alex also gets a day of green poo and wind if i eat them, we found that out yesterday after we had KFC for our tea on Friday.

Happy Easter Y'all!

Hedge and 3Cute your bubbas are gorgeous!

Meep So sorry to hear about your wound being infected, it really is the last thing you need.

Regards to alcohol and BFding, I have read now several times that the amount that actually filters through is minimal and I have a friend who is a scientist who actually did caluclations on it and proved this to be the case. In addition to that, if it makes you feel better/safer, you are better to feed first if possible and then drink as by the time the baby is ready for the next feed, it will be well absorbed by your system. This of course depends on A: The Baby and B:The amount of alcohol!

I can never get past more than 1 and a half glasses at the mo anyway and the fact that we are up most of the night with Fat Boab gives me no inclination to drink more. Personally I wouldn't be drinking every night anyway, so I don't really need to worry. That and the fact he's on the bottle now.

I'm pleased I have made it in to one of my pre-pregnancy jeans but not the really good ones!

Happy Easter everyone - keep eating the eggs, it'll keep your strength up .

Not much to report here. Lara seems to have got into the habit of going to bed with us, having a good-ish stretch of sleep (4-6 hours) and then feeding but then being really unsettled for the rest of the night and waking every 30-60 mins. Hmmm.. we have started giving her one bottle of formula a night so am thinking of moving it to the middle of the night as my theory is she only has enough milk to take the edge off her hunger and so then keeps waking up so she might get more if its a bottle as its easier ?! It wouldn't be so bad if she went back to sleep quickly but she then gets really windy and I am useless at winding her....

She's a month old today though ! Can't believe where the time has gone already.

Happy Easter! Have already consumed one egg for lunch - mmmmm - healthy diet

Can I just say that my favourite baby moment is when they get all milk drunk and crash out on your shoulder with their wee face towards you brething little milky breaths in your face. Love it, love it, love it!

My folks have taken dd1 away for the day - it has been such a relief as dh was struggling - he's now been in bed for most of the day so hopefully that will help him recover.

I have done nothing, as instructed, except feed, burp, change and cuddle Rosie.

wheely have you tried sitting Lara up to burp and kind of lift her up under her arms so her tummy stretches then bend her forward. Normally works here. Rosie is the opposite of Lara - constant feeding in the evening - then going for 3-5 hours stretches once she has finally gorged herself of enough milk to get through the night.

I know that bf wisdom is that formula will not make babies sleep any longer than breast milk - but I know Rosie has slept better since she went onto bottles (am sad that that is the case - but it works for us)

sorry for those of you battling with colic. Dd1 was a 4am screamer - really tough.

We did take her to a cranial osteopath and it worked well - but it was mostly because her wee face and head were very squint after hours of being stuck in my pelvis. But I've also heard really good things about what they can do with colicky babies.

thanks for the burping tip Meep - I do something similar but don't think I lift her arms up. Will try that ! Lara is about to start her feedathon and will probably feed fairly constantly until about 10 to 10.30.

I too have always thought the same re formula and sleeping (and still do) although I have to say, dd was managing 6 hour stretches on bf-ing but if the second half of the night doesn't settle down I think I will find it hard to resist more formula which is probably v. selfish but we'll see how moving the bottle feed goes first !

A(nother) qu for those who had c-secs. When are you plannig to drive -did you wait 6 weeks last time (for repeat customers) and if so are you this time ? Last time I drove at 4 weeks with blessing of insurance co and doctor. This time am a bit sorer so haven't been dashing to be driving but dd1 has a party I need to get her to when I will be 5+4 weeks post c-sec and it would be so much easier to drive (would probably have to get taxi otherwise as would involve getting them both on train - no pushchair access at station - and then onto tube).

wheely after 1st c-section I was driving at around 3/4 weeks

This time looks like I'll have to wait until my wound heals and who knows when that will be!

I reckon if your wound is fine and you are fit and well and raring to go then you'll be fine to drive at 5 weeks

meep/wheely I was also driving after about 4 weeks after my first section, but this time I've hung on until 6 weeks (today - hurrah!) as the consultant warned me that the infection would hold up the healing. VVVVV frustrating though.

DD1 is really struggling with the chicken pox bless her. She's got several really nasty ones round her niff-naffs (as we call them) and she's very uncomfy. Keeping up with the calpol and piriton, and using Eurax cream three times a day - anyone else got any other suggestions?

Hope everyone is having a wonderful easter

Thanks to everyone for reassuring me we aren't setting Rhys up for life as a sociopath (or worse, Republican!) by not insisting he sleep in his bassinette. Guess we'll keep going with the bouncy-chair and chest sleeping for as long as we need to. Although DP has been doing the hero's portion of the nights, and that will have to stop after this week, as he'll be heading back to work. Eeeeeeek. Then it's just me and the little man. Double eeeeek.

fearless, where's your colic thread? Would love to read what people are saying. And Rhys is sporting a crop of lovely pimples as well. I'm going to make DP indulge in some photoshopping!

Speaking of photos - a couple of eyes open piccies on my profile now!

thanks meepand aunty. I'll see how i feel nearer. At the mo I'm still a bit internally sore on one side if i do too much so it might be more sensible to leave it...

Lvely photos corgi - must take more of Lara. Its true what they say about second ones and photos.. Mind you I was number 3 and don't think I've ever seen a baby photo of me !

Another qu for bottle feeders. It looks like I am going to move to topping up in the night as seems to be only way L will sleep (won't bore you with my disasterous night last night). At the mo I have the pre-prepared bottles with disposible sterile teats but the cost a fortune and not easy to get hold of. So, what do you do at night now they've bought in these new guildlines. I'm probably going to use premade cartons. Is it ok to sterilise a bottle when I go to bed and use it as and when ? I guess it won't be sterile but v. clean (probably cleaner than my boobs given the rare showering chan ces I get !!).

wheely I still make up about 3 feeds in advance. I do the whole letting the kettle boil then waiting half an hour - then make up the bottles and pop them in the back of the fridge. TBH I would also make up bottles with just water and add the formula when I needed them too (handy when out and about with one of those formula dispensers.)

I think if you sterilise a bottle and it stays in the unopemned steriliser it will stay sterile for a while (shoudl be in the instructions)

there are lots of threads on here about not sterilising at all - and in America they just put them through the dishwasher! But it is difficult to step away from teh steriliser when it is your own wee baby!

gorgeous wide awake photos corgi - he's lovely¬

Right - I'm off for a sleep. Rosie has her first cold (at only 3 weeks old ) courtesy of her big sister and has been crying loudly for the first time ever - very unsettled - and is finally asleep so I am going to try to as well.

thasnks meep. Sorry to hear about Rosie's cold.

feeling less hopeless this afternoon. This morning was feeling prettymiserable abouyt the whole breastfeeding malarky as L just feeds all the time when awake and she doesn't sleep much so just worried its not working for her (and its not for me !) esp as she settled twice last night on formula and slept better than she has done since birth.

Does anyone's baby be awake and not screaming for food (or are they still sleeping a lot ?). Maybe I've just forgotten the joys of a newborn !

wheeley I make up about two to three feeds in advance, but for night time feeds I have a sterilised bottle (I sterilise it about 8pm and the feed is about 4am), a carton and a flask of hot water to take the chill off the feed. No problems yet (fingers crossed).

Once DD2 has finished the feed I nip downstairs and put the opened carton in the fridge for emergencies the next day!

I'm not ashamed to say I didn't like breastfeeding at all. I know to some people that might sound selfish, and it is on some level. I'm so much happier bottle feeding, and I think Lydia is too. She had 4 weeks of breastfeeding, I did want to get to 6 weeks but I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

Managed to get out today but DD1 very unhappy and itchy. DH back at work tomorrow - NOT looking forward to it!

Wheely

I make up 5 bottles of boiled 4oz water and keep in the fridge until needed. Then heat in the microwave (about 25secs) add milk powder and shake.

Unfortunly none of my 3 would/will drink milk either fridge or room temp, so i have always had to heat.

aunty you did better than me - Rosie got 2 weeks of exclusive bf - then mixed feeding for around a week and now is totally onto formula.

aunty I wanted to enjoy bf - I didn't. It hurt - all the time

wheely Rosie will last 10 mins max awake and not wanting food - but that is normally after she's got something in her tummy. Other than that it is milk, burp, wriggle to get out any wind then sleep. If I'm lucky I get a big blue eyed stare while she follows my voice!

Don't beat yourself up about the bf. You have to do what is right for you, for L and for your family life. And this is coming from me - the one who cried every day for 6months because I couldn't bf dd1. As a good friend said to me - be kind to yourself.

Evening ladies.

Sympathies to all of you struggling with breastfeeding.

I feel almost guilty as Dd3 is sailing away (9 days old now) on the breast. Having said that, I breastfed Dd2 and expressed and fed Dd1 so have done it before. I do remember how tricky it was though.

She is still sleeping huge lengths of time too... 8 hours a night although she does cluster feed in the evening for about 4 hours!

As a mum of 3, I can safely say it does get better. I think I must be relaxed after doing this all before! But I have bucketloads of sympathy for those who are struggling with feeds and nights.

Hey Meep, Wheely - I am not bothering to sterilise when me and Penelope do move on to bottles (exclusively BF-ing at the moment).. partly from what I have read on here, partly due to other countries not bothering to do it and partly because DH did microbiology at uni and doesn't feel that sterilising will massively make a difference to Pen, so we're going to avoid the faff altogether.

Aunty - where exactly are your niff-naffs?

As for awakeness... Pen was 3 weeks yesterday and she is definitely more awake than she was in the first week, but I would still say she sleeps 75% of the day. The other 25% she is feeding or staring at lines on the wall / my boobs, DH's silly faces. He keeps saying he's seen her smile but I've told him that's not possible! She still only cries when she is hungry and when she's trying to fart / poo (and those ones only last a couple of seconds until she either gets a boob / let's rip!) and so we're pretty relieved that we haven't had to interpret any other cries yet! She's waking at 1 and 4 in the morning for feeds and then gets up with us at 7, which is nice.

Went to Baby Gap today and bought loads of new clothes for Pen which aren't pink - think DH was getting a bit sick of all the pink stuff! Even bought her some jeans and a hoodie with stars on the trim - totally gansta!

Hope everyone is doing ok. Seems like there are only a few of us around at the mo'... anyone heard from Kanga yet?

Happy Easter all. Mae is 5 weeks today.

Still managing to breastfeed here and not really finding it too hard, I don't find it uncomfortable or anything, however it does take forever and then it only feels like 5 mins until the next feed. But I will have to see how I am feeling ina few weeks and whether Mae is still putting on enough weight.

Mae is managing to sit up awake for a little while wihtout crying or anything she will watch the tv and make slightly amousing faces at me and DH and even some little noises. She was even humming the other day. However, she does have a range of crys and one of them is just a cry to not be left on her own or if she isn't getting enough attention she is going to be a proper little diva.

Corgi Mae is sleeping in her pram at night, it is smaller than the moses basket and she seems to find it better at night I'm not sure why - she sleeps fine in the moses basket during the day but not at night. But for her first week we left her to sleep in the bouncy chair quite oftern becos she couldn't seem to get comfy anywhere else.

Love all the new photos - we have some gorgeous babies.

And my sympathies to those who are suffering with infected C-secs.

Oh and does anyone know how long I can give Mae infacol for? she's gone through 2 bottle already? She does manage to sleep most nights now we're using it, but she still suffers horribly when she has wind her whole body seems to tense right up her legs curl up and her hands become fists.

Thanks everuyone. I think Lara heard me moaning about her and has actually been much more settled today. We've been out twice which has also helped my cabin fever. That said she's just started her nightly feedathon which started about 6 and could last till midnight.

I'm going to try and persevere until her next weigh in which is in 2 weeks i think, albeit with night time top ups if necessary. I'll sterilise the botgtles in advance and use cartons - I know what you're saying boobz and am sure you're right but can't help sterilising but am not going to sterilise on demand as a compromise . She's fine tasking it at room temp and in fact had some ebm straight from the fridge the other day as she was yelling so much.

Meep/ Aunty - no feeling guilty now. As you say you have to do what works. I think I'll go back to some of my antenatal postings on the subject when i was feeling more level headed about it all.

Spooky

Don't feel guilty about being able to breastfed. I just don't produce any milk so for me it not an issue.

Does anyone else have a noisy baby. DS seems to grunt,moan and snore all night, he's like his daddies little echo . I would put him in his own room but dd2 wont give up the cot.

Meep That's my favourite bit at the moment too, when they are on your shoulder and try to look at you or when they are zonked on your shoulder and you can stroke your cheek against their soft cheek. Ahhh, like velvet!

Aunty I agree, no point in feeling guilty about not BFding. Better a happy mummy for the babies and children than a greetin, depressed one!!

I'm really surprised that some people aren't sterilising bottles. I haven't read the threads, but I did mention what MKG had said about the dishwasher (I don't presume that's ALL Americans!) to a few MW and HV's and they were ALL highly dubious and didn't think it was a good idea not to sterilise in the first 6 months. Especially cos milk is such a bugger for listeria. I find sterilising a pain in the arse and my hands are a mess from it I have to say, but I just don't feel I can take the risk when he's so wee. But that's just MHO.

We are having a bit of a hard time with the wee man at nights, we're up a lot with him and I don't know if it's def colic, but he is struggling with wind, feeding and general restlessness. I think tho it could be because he still has thrush on his tongue that we haven't been able to shift and I think he is taking in lots of air to avoid the teet hitting his tongue. So I'm going to call the dr tomorrow and see if he can give him something else as the gel just hasn't worked for him. We were trying to avoid him having something he had to take as he is so little, but if it's not going and his tongue's sore then that's no fun either.

I am trying to wean myself off my MIL who is leaving at the weekend to go home. DH is driving her back to Wales. I have been practicing at doing more and more with the wee ones on my own (ie having to leave one to cry!). She has been such a massive help that I will be bereft and have no idea how I will make tea (dinner)for everyone as that is when all hell breaks loose. Maybe I will be able to make it, but it won't be at tea time!!

Lizzie DD2 and now DS are both hellish grunters. I mean really, WHAT is that?!!

P.S. - Any word from Kanga? Checked the old thread but it seems dormant. Hope she's finally had her fifth and just doesn't have time to post. Let's face it, with 5, who would...?!