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!)

Oh my after a normalish night on Thursday, where Matthew was up every 3 hours, last night he slept from 8pm till 1.45am
then had one feed and slept till 6am

I felt so good and sleep nourished, that I put him back to bed, and left him, dd and dp in bed and walked the dogs

APols for typos, am exhausted!

Gabriel finally went to bed at 9pm last night (up since 8) and slept til 2.30, had 2 quick feeds at 3 and 5 and then had his 'whinge time' (where he sleeps but cries or grunts in his sleep so anyone in the room doesn't sleep!).

So far since day has been:
5-7 am whinging
7-8 sleeps (so I get DS1 up and dressed)
8-9 feeds
9.15 - 10 feeds
10.15-10.30 feeds
10.45-11 winding
11-11.45 feeds (this is a fairly average daily pattern until he goes down for the night, I've been losing about 1-2lb a day)

He's asleep now but will have to get him up as he's asleep in DS1's room and DS1 needs to nap. Gabriel's 9 weeks today, when the hell does it get better?

Have tried formula but Gabriel will only have it if you deny him food to the point that he's screaming hungry and loves the breast so much I don't want to deny him.

laumiere Gabriel sounds like Rosie.

I had two blocks of 2 hours sleep last night - then 1 hour then awake from 5.30am on a mission to drink milk! Am exhausted - have just managed a wee nap and she is still asleep (almost 4 hours).

How do I get her to sleep for 4 hour stretches at night - aagghh!

lily can I swap with you? I want to be sleep nourished!

Jimmy is similar to Gabriel and Rosie.

6am - 7am - feeds
7am - 8:30ish - sleeps
8:30am - 9am - won't generally sleep so I try and amuse him.
9am - 10am - feeds

etc etc. He feeds for the last time at around 10:30pm (up to an hour or so later on a bad day) and then starts to squawk again at around 6am. So I think we're pretty lucky on the whole! He's spending increasing amounts of time awake during the day though and has a tendency to whinge a bit when left for more than a few minutes on his own, so I'm spending a lot of time with him in my arms - against recommendation (sign me up to the Antichrist mothers posse!)

Got back from Paris the day before yesterday - shoot went well (as predicted eye bags will require rigorous Photoshopping) and we managed to keep schtum about the little one in utero although I suspect they were suspicious as to why I was permanently on the verge of collapse and turned down booze. We spent a lovely afternoon in the Jardin du Luxembourg (do a Flickr search, it's beyond heavenly even when busy) and did, I'm ashamed to admit, spend more than we could afford in Jacadi.

Think I've got my head around having another now. I'm still not exactly over the moon but even as a staunch atheist I think perhaps it was meant to happen. Which makes me feel a lot better.

10.30pm (even 11.30pm) until 6am - wow loli that would be heaven!

I am shattered. Had 2 birthday parties today - could not miss either.
The new mum knackeredness is hitting me a bit, Plan on a day of nothingness tomorrow if I can. The Dd's have been primed that we will be having a pyjama day!!
Nights are going quite well, L wakes up now usually once a night (think she is having a growth spurt) and if DH has gone to work I let her cosleep after her feed.
Can't believe she is 3 weeks old already...

hello everyone. I just can not find a moment to ever get on mumsnet now. How does one small baby do this and turn the whole household upside down?

We have named her Annabella Freya by the way!

As far as feeds go, it is all a complete blur, as I can't remember when the last one was or how long her sleeps are. My only strategy at the mo is to feed her as much and as often as she likes during the day. This seems to result in a couple of 4 hour sleeps in the night. She is only 18 days old so I don't expect a routine yet.

I have noticed that she has a couple of sessions in the day, usually when I am cooking, eating or clearing up or putting everyone to bed, when she will not be content without me, or my boob to be precise.

Life has its moments doesn't it.

If I can get both dds asleep in the afternoon I grab a nap too as I am deperately tired like all of you. I ditch housework for late at night when things are peaceful.

The boys are back to school, so quiter during the day, but crazy every morning. Love weekends!!

Happy Anzac Day, any other Aussies out there...

a couple more pictures on profile...

I will try to be back sooner if I can
xx

can't spell either, I meant quieter in the day.

kanga that yawn photo is gorgeous. Am going to keep camera trained on Lara so I can get one .

Sorry to hear of all ther exhausted people. We'recurrently doing ok - not as good as the other night but nothing to complain about. But, last weekend I was sobbing with exhaustion so it can turn v. quickly (both ways I suspect !).

Hello,

Have added some pictures of baby George et al to my profile.

Can't post properly now as he has just started sirening but will try to return soon!

Best wishes to all...

x

Well I was far too smug this week.

Matthew decided to wake every 2 hours last night to be fed, and I am bloody well exhausted!
DP got dd and him up at 7am and I had a lie in until 9.30 when he wanted feeding again.

I then had to deal with the house downstairs whilst dp was in charge of the very demanding 3 year old and new born did not have time to tidy up

Loving the new pics Kanga and Ellie.

Am a bit peed off as I hadn't had a break from the kids for weeks and DH said I could come through to my folks for a rest, as of Friday night and immediately got the stinking cold that DD2 has had, and have been in bed all weekend. Not quite the way I was expecting to 'rest'. Have gone through a box and a half of tissues already. Still, it has also given DH an insight into my daily life dealing with all 3 and now he knows first hand how hard and tiring it is. Not that he didn't sympathise before, he did, but at least he actually knows what it's like.

Oh well, hopefully I'll be better just in time to go back and start all over again (still feeling like I need a break...).

Do I sound sorry for myself??

Kanga and Ellie the photos are lovely.

Slick hope you feel better soon, and that the rest has done at least a little bit of good.

Mae is fine, not getting loads of sleep but have at least got a little bit of routine with 3 hourly feeds, a bit of winding, a bit of chatting and a bit of sleeping before it all starts again.

Have been trying the odd bottle of formula becos I am off out on Wed evening and so will be leaving DH in charge, and next week I am having the first of my keep in touch days at work. Mae seems to get it everywhere, she doesn't object to the bottle but she just doesn't seem to be very good at it. Not really sure what we're doing wrong.

Mae sounds like Gabriel, he tends to dribble a lot when feeding from a bottle, I guess it's just another skill?

Mummy Antichrist report: gave G 1 tablespoon of baby rice last night, he ate the lot and wanted more! Waiting for a poo to make sure his system can tolerate it. Feeling less bad since DH reminded me we tried DS1 on solids at 8w too (it was 4 months after he was born but he was 2 months prem).

Lulu, don't assume they sleep any better on formula!

lulabellamama

I have felt wretched today, very weepy and sad. I am sure its down to sleep deprivation and sheer overwelmingness spl?

Does not help that BF is still agony on one side and that dd (3) is obv feeling very insecure and follows me around all day.

laumiere

Really dont want to be a total nag, but I think 8 weeks is way too early to be starting solids, really not trying to be a pain, I am all for listening to your baby etc and would support weaning at say 17 weeks but 8 weeks? Really?

laumiere
just seen your other threads, and it seems you are suffering a little bit with the constant feeding and it sounds like you are exhausted bless ya

It also sounds like you could really do with some specialist advice for the bf and for your symptoms of tiredness and weightloss.

Sorry to come across as nasty and interfering, but I am really only concerned.
Weaning at such a young age, can be really bad for a baby.

Really hope you dont take too much offence at what I have said x

lily

No offence taken, went through exactly the same with DS1, although he ended up on formula at 4w as he has a medical condition that made BFing hard. We certainly aren't intending to do much more at this stage than occasional baby rice. Will be trying the doc tomorrow for the BF woes, I expect they'll recommend formula.

lula
We looked into the risks with DS1 (more of a concern as he was prem) but it was the best thing for us. As I think I said before, it seems to run in the family, DH had rusks in his bottle from 10 days, I was BFed and on baby rice from 10 weeks. Paeds for the babies think it may be connected to the blood sugar disorder that I, my bro, my dad and DS1 are confirmed with, it means we burn calories very fast.

Another weepy one here! Had a blub on Saturday - dh is still not fully recovered from the mumps and he decided to have a nap just when both dd's had woken up from theirs. I was exhausted from Rosie being awake all night and also from dealing with dd1 on Thursday and Friday after her being sick as well. Felt totally overwhelmed! On top of that one of dd1's wee friends has chickenpox and I just know that that will be the next ilness in the meep household - sigh!

Sorry to hear about the hard time you're going through laumiere. I have to say that I am strongly with lily on the weaning this early, even if it is just baby rice. Milk has the most calories for them at this age. Glad you are going to see your GP and hope they can suggest something different for Gabriel and for you ...... so I will step away from the topic (also don't want to cause offense - just conscious that there are a lot of first timers on here)

lula formula may not make much difference to feeding patterns. With Rosie it initially worked like magic because she wasn't getting the volume of milk she needed from me. Now that formula is the standard she can still decide to wake every 2 hours for a feed. Is Michael 4 weeks now - if so is this not a growth spurt? You should try posting a thread in the bf section as I am sure someone there will have better words of wisdom than me.

Saying all that , if you do switch to formula do not feel about it.

7 weeks today and Mae's eyesight seems to have come on leaps and bounds she is totally fascinated by the plastic toys which hang on her swinging chair, she keeps trying to hit them - not always managing but it is fun watching and she now talks to them a bit too! We were a bit worried about her eyes as her daddy's eyesight is so bad and I wear glasses too.

glad you're feeling happier lula and that that the gaps between feeds are a bit longer.

I have to admit that dh is now doing Rosie's feed at around 11pm and it has been a life saver for me as it means I get around 4-6 hours sleep in one go. Could you express one feed a day so that your OH can help out?