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!)

Morning all. My first day too without any help and its the easter hols but dd1 has been taken off for the day by her godmother and daughters to the farm so I get to break in gently.

Hedge and meep - well done on giving the bf-ing a good try but, as you know, its not the end of the world. Meep - I think if you feel a weight has been lifted then you've done the right thing. You shouldn't be crying every day as a result.

I am currently still bf-ing much to my surprise - Lara is 4 weeks on thursday. Mind you, the HV is coming to weigh her again tomorrow so if things are not sorting out then I will introducing some formula at least. I have one really painful side and L has a whte patch in her mouth so am going to ask HV to check whether its thrush given I was on quite a lot of antibiotics at the start.

Love all the photos of everyone and their babies.

We had our first proper day out yesterday - it was my mum's 65th so we all met up for lunch and went to a park afterwards. Slowly beginning to feel life returning slightly to normal (whatever that is !!).

Can I ask how the scars of c-sec people are healing ? Last time all the MWs etc were complimenting my scar - asked who did it, said how well it was healing. This time, I have one bit that hasn't healed yet and is a little bit bloody at times. I'm applying tea tree oil to it and fairly sure its not infected but its annoying.

Right really must get on and write some thank you notes whilst Lara is asleep !

Meep Glad to hear you're feeling happier about your feeding decisions. It's such a personal thing and you really have to be happy if your little one is to be happy. Just in case it's of any interest, I have found Clare Byam-Cook's "Breast Feeding without Tears" DVD and her book "What to Expect When you're Breastfeeding...and what if you Can't" very helpful. It's good for everything from exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding to formula feeding. She's brusque and practical.

Just adding myself to the list:

17/01/09 : FlannelCat - Girl- Bettie Violet
19/01/09 : Fififlores - Girl - Lola - 2.73 kg
21/02/09 : Laumiere - Boy - Gabriel William Thomas Robson - 7lb 14oz
22/02/09: Ceedub - Girl - Freya - 8 lbs 1oz
23/02/09 : Titchy77 - Boy - Charlie William - 4lb 10oz
26/02/09 : Mandy73 - Boy - Felix - 2.5kg
28/02/09 : Twocutedarlings - BOY - Alex
01/03/09 : Lolianja - BOY - James Mark Nicholas Andrew - 9lbs 8.5ozs
01/03/09 : Dinny - Girl - Romilly Violet 9.1lb
01/03/09 : auntyspan - Girl - Lydia Violet - 8lb 8oz
03/03/09 : goldmother2b - Girl - Natasha - 7lb 3oz
04/03/09: [due 15th March] littlemisskiwi - girl - Bethan Sian - 6lbs 14oz
05/03/09 : MissModular - Girl - Melissa Jane - 8lb 11oz
06/03/09 : Beetle73 - Girl - 3.32kg
06/03/09 : [due 12th March] - HopingCat - Boy - Matthew Bryan - 6lb 15oz
07/03/09 : CaptainKarvol - Girl - 7lb 12oz
07/03/09 : [on EDD} - emma2617 - Boy - Luca Stephen - 7lb 9oz
09/03/09 : jollyjoanne - Girl - Mae - 7lb 30z
10/03/09 : [due 1st March] - Honey - Boy - Harry - 8lb 7oc
10/03/09: Slickbird - Boy - Nicholas Edward - 7lb 13oz (Due 28th Feb)
12/03/09 : [due 13th March] - Wheelybug - Girl - Lara Florence - 7lb 1oz
12/03/09 : [due 24th March] - pipsy76 - Boy - Alfie - 7lb4oz
14/03/09 : [due 7th March] - babyinbelly - Boy - Lucas
18/03/09 : [due 20 March] - Yarnie - Boy - Spike - 7lb 2oz [Age: 30]
21/03/09 : [due 9th March] Lizziemum - boy - Robert DD1 5yrs and DD2 18mths [Age: 39]
22/03/09: [due 25th Marh] - TheHedgeWitch - Girl - Isobel Marie (Izzy) - 9lb 3oz
23/03/09: [due 28th March] - meep - girl - Rosie - 7lb 12oz
23/03/09 : [due 19th March] - laweaselmys - girl - Molly - 7lb10oz
26/03/09: lollipopz - boy - Joshua - 8lb3oz
30/03/09: lilymolly - boy - Matthew Jack
04/04/09: spookymadmummy - girl - Lauren Louise - 7lb 15 oz

wheely I am the same - beautiful healed scar with dd1 - this time it is weeping and bleeding andthe top layer just hasn't knitted together. Also don't think it is infected but it isn't nice. Maybe it's because it's our second one - more old scar tissue to heal?

thanks you and yarnie for your kind words about bf. It is so hard and I am so disappointed but I feel like I can get on with things now and I certainly have a much more contented baby. It's just a PITA having to sterilise everything but at least there are no more tears!

Right................. off to express (should also be writing thank you notes/unloading dishwasher/binning dead flowers/getting the washing out the machine.............)

Afternoon all, why does the day seem to go so fast with a baby, I am supposed to have picked up my prescription and DHs contact lenses and been to asda instead I'm still sat on the sofa feeding Mae.

Hello to the newly joined mummies and to Kanga who may nearly be a mummy by now. We now have quite a long list of members.

Although I am still managing to breastfeed I have always been quite laid back about it, but I am a little like that about everything. I just go with the flow generally and if formula or mixed feeding worked better then I'd go for it. I certainly won't be making anyone feel guilty for their choices.

Hedge really hope you are starting on the road to recovery.

Hedge Sorry you've had such a crap time, hope your on the mend now and feeling better.

Meep I really think you and I were separated at birth! We have such similar situations and experiences. I had all the same probs with the BFdn and have probably just given Fat Boab his last feed and I do feel sad about it. But as I was crying constantly for four days and dreading every agonising feed, there had to be an alternative, esp when you have other kids. Unfortunately, I don't have DD2 at nursery any more which is making things hard as up most of night one way or other with the two wee ones (DD2 is teething again), but I just have to keep telling myself that it will get easier. To add insult to injury, DD1 (8) is off school for two weeks and is already bored....arrrrghhh!!!!

The bags under my eyes right now take some believing. I can't believe Lolianja is going to be modeling in a couple of weeks! I can barely get a comb through my hair!!

ha ha slick, I was just saying to my dh that I look like I have aged 20 years! I don't actually have the energy to care what I look like and just flop about in pyjamas and a big cardi!

It helps to hear that you have had the same sort of problems. Makes me feel like I haven't just "given up". How is life with a baby and a toddler? Have you got c-beebies on all day?

After her bottle of formula last night Rosie slept for 5 hours. I know that this won't be the norm (she was probably just so relieved to have a full tummy and was also catching up on all the sleep she hasn't had for teh last few days) but I feel like a new woman as a result (I don't look like one though )

Got to go - Rosie calls........

Hi Everybody,
Lovely to see everybody on the other side - good luck Kanga and Grinningbee, you're so close!!
I've added us to the list:

17/01/09 : FlannelCat - Girl- Bettie Violet
19/01/09 : Fififlores - Girl - Lola - 2.73 kg
21/02/09 : Laumiere - Boy - Gabriel William Thomas Robson - 7lb 14oz
22/02/09: Ceedub - Girl - Freya - 8 lbs 1oz
23/02/09 : Titchy77 - Boy - Charlie William - 4lb 10oz
26/02/09 : Mandy73 - Boy - Felix - 2.5kg
28/02/09 : Twocutedarlings - BOY - Alex
01/03/09 : Lolianja - BOY - James Mark Nicholas Andrew - 9lbs 8.5ozs
01/03/09 : Dinny - Girl - Romilly Violet 9.1lb
01/03/09 : auntyspan - Girl - Lydia Violet - 8lb 8oz
03/03/09 : goldmother2b - Girl - Natasha - 7lb 3oz
04/03/09: [due 15th March] littlemisskiwi - girl - Bethan Sian - 6lbs 14oz
05/03/09 : MissModular - Girl - Melissa Jane - 8lb 11oz
06/03/09 : Beetle73 - Girl - 3.32kg
06/03/09 : [due 12th March] - HopingCat - Boy - Matthew Bryan - 6lb 15oz
07/03/09 : CaptainKarvol - Girl - 7lb 12oz
07/03/09 : [on EDD} - emma2617 - Boy - Luca Stephen - 7lb 9oz
09/03/09 : jollyjoanne - Girl - Mae - 7lb 30z
10/03/09 : [due 1st March] - Honey - Boy - Harry - 8lb 7oc
10/03/09: Slickbird - Boy - Nicholas Edward - 7lb 13oz (Due 28th Feb)
12/03/09 : [due 13th March] - Wheelybug - Girl - Lara Florence - 7lb 1oz
12/03/09 : [due 24th March] - pipsy76 - Boy - Alfie - 7lb4oz
14/03/09 : [due 7th March] - babyinbelly - Boy - Lucas
21/03/09 : [due 9th March] Lizziemum - boy - Robert DD1 5yrs and DD2 18mths [Age: 39]
22/03/09: [due 25th Marh] - TheHedgeWitch - Girl - Isobel Marie (Izzy) - 9lb 3oz
23/03/09: [due 28th March] - meep - girl - Rosie - 7lb 12oz
23/03/09 : [due 19th March] - laweaselmys - girl - Molly - 7lb10oz
26/03/09: lollipopz - boy - Joshua - 8lb3oz
29/3/09: [due 26th March] titmouse - girl - Layla Joy - 6lb 13oz
30/03/09: lilymolly - boy - Matthew Jack
04/04/09: spookymadmummy - girl - Lauren Louise - 7lb 15 oz

we're finding BF-ing a trial but getting there slowly. the real blessing of ending up with a c.section was that I was in hospital for 3 nights and had a huge amount of help with feeding, steep learning curve especially when you are tired all the time!

anyone elses baby sleeping all the time?

Keep panicking that ds will be awake all night if I let him sleep all day, but theres no waking up, he feeds every 2 hours then sleeps, maybe being awake 30 mins every few hours or so

I know it great and peaceful, but is it normal?

Welcome to the other side titmouse !!

Lily - I seem to have the other issue with Lara. She doesn't really sleep much at all in the day. That said, I remember being worried with dd1 that she slept too much - its quite normal when they are this little to sleep all the time so don't worry.

meep - I guess you must be right about scar tissue etc. You just wonder how/when it will heal.

Well I got about half the thank yous done (that includes though some that had been done already) and even posted. Just psyching myself up to do dd1's tea and bedtime on my own for the first time. wish me luck, I'm going in. ....

oh and lily - yesterday Lara did sleep a lot as we were out and about in the car. Given she doesn't normally sleep much in the day, I was really worried it would mean she'd be up all night. She did wake up to feed a bit more than normal but because she'd slept so much she hadn't fed so much in the day so I think it was hunger rather than too much sleep.

Oh, and on the breastfeeding front - anyone who is having issues with breastfeeding and is based in London, I can highly recommend the breastfeeding drop in clinic at St Mary's. There was this brilliant woman there when I went and I have been feeding much better since following her advice. The clinic is on Wednesdays and I happen to know she won't be there this week, but will be there next week.

lily Rosie has slept all day - wakes every 3 hours for food - has a huge burp then straight back to sleep! I will check in tomorrow and let you know the night goes.

This is a total change for me as for the last few days she has been awake constantly and on my boob for hours - guess she wasn't getting enough out and now she gets as much as she wants from the bottle and is sleeping better.

Am managing to express quite a lot of milk at the moment - so will hopefully have a stock ready for tonight.

good luck wheely - I will have that joy tomorrow night - yikes!

Hello everyone finally feel like i'm getting to grips with being a mother of 2!

Eleanor was 2 weeks old on sat and apart from fussing and screaming over 1 feed of the day (or night) she is doing really well.

BF going well, she put on 2oz week 1 and going to baby clinic tomorrow so will be weighed then, i'm sure DD1 was weighed loads more by mw's etc!

DH back at work, i'm looking forward to no playschool and not having to do the run on my own for a bit, saying that have lots of visits to friends planned to keep her occupied.

If anyones doing the list please add me (i'm rubbish!) Eleanor Bree 7lb 4oz born on 21st on her date!

Well Matthew woke up at 5pm and stayed awake until 8pm!! now him and dd are both fast asleep!!

Me going to be very soon
Struggling slightly with bf, cant seem to get a good latch on and its hurting, so will ask midwife tommorrow.
Also stiches really hurting now 7 days after birth and I seem to be producing loads more lochia. Also weeing every 5 mins but only producing a dribble, may get them to check for water infection tommorrow.

Fingers crossed for good nights sleep everyone
LM x

Hi all, finslly back after my computer died!

Gabriel has his 6 week check up tomorrow and we got his first smile at the weekend! Will definitely check about still bleeding (me) and reflux/wind (him) though as having hardly any time to myself at the moment with feeding and winding....

Am a bit worried as Gabriel is as big now as DS1 was at 3 mo and DS1 now at 32mo gets mistaken for a five year old he's so tall... we seem to breed giant kids!

Meep Alas, DD2 does not really seem interested in the tv. I have tried, but she seems to have some weird gene that renders her immune (I reckon DD1 got the all the tv hogging genes actually). Occasionally she will stop to watch teletubbies or ITNG when I remember to put it on but other than that, she's not bothered. We actually went an bought shelves today so we can "Carla-Proof" the house a bit more, because when I'm feeding Nicholas, she's getting up to all sorts, because she can... And OMG the tantrums have fair kicked in. She's so bloody noisy with it. (Mine have all got a 'good voice for theatre' - sh*t for being at home tho - take after DH.

Anyway, on the plus side, Fat Boab has been giving us lots of smiles this last week (4 weeks tomorrow) and the HV said that there is more research to say that they do smile earlier than originally thought.

That's the babies. Not Health Visitors. They never smile.

Just kidding, mine's lovely.

4 weeks slick! I am envious :-)

Morning girls, hope you have all had a good night

Alex (5 weeks) is also smiling tis great!! just when you need something to keep you going. I agree slick he certainly seemed to be smiling from around the 4 weeks, i had just but it down to wind though.

Meep Remember breast is only best for baby if its also the for mummy!! you come first!! there are very few occasions when this happens but IMO, this is one of them.

Lily Hope you stitches are feeling better today, i had stitches with DD1 (lots [gulp] i had a massive episiotomy) and if IIRC at around 7 days they starts to feel sore and quite tight and according to my MW at the time this was part of the healing process.

Alex was a little bugger to settle last night!! he woke at 10pm fed for about 10 mins and then just would not settle!! he just blooming laid there staring at my LOL. Finally at 12.30am he fed and settled at 1am!!......little bugger!! he then slept till 6am!!! though, so not all bad .

We are all off to the park for a picnic, if the weather stays dry, wish me luck girls its my first outing with all 3 DCs alone .

Gosh I've missed so much!

meep just read your posts and had to reply. I gave up bf after 4 weeks - on my third lot of antibiotics for an infected c-section scar and the bm was definitely upsetting DD. I switched to formula and instantly she was a different baby - . The consultant said I could "pump and dump" for a fortnight but to be honest that's not easy with a newborn and a toddler, and my heart wasn't in it anymore.

However DD is thriving (thanks to aptamil!) and much happier. Hopefully the guilt will fade soon!

Lydia will be 6 weeks on sunday - she's nearly 10lb now - but more importantly i can drive!!

Does anyone else not see much of their DH? He gets back from work, gives Lydia a bottle whilst I bath DD1, then I make tea, the go to bed! He stays up and does the 11pm bottle and I get up and do the 3/4am bottle. We barely talk anymore!

Yeah aunty feeling really guilty about DH, we only have one little baby to take care of and already it is like there is no time for the two of us. Fortunately once I have sorted the expressing thing and bottle feeding Mae my mum has offered to babysit for us so we can spend a nice evening together. I am really looking forward to it, although I am sure we will probably spend the time worrying about Mae.

Laumiere I am also still bleeding not a lot but enough to be annoying, only 4 and a bit weeks though but was starting to get a bit worried about it. The midwife suggested it was becos I was trying to do too much, but realistically I am lazy sod so I doubt that is it.

Mae has sort of been smiling I am not sure that the smiling is quite related to actually being happy yet though. It is more like she is trying out the range of faces she can pull. She will stick her tongue out though if I stick mine out, which is quite fun, and I can make her yawn by opening my mouth wide! And she keeps doing the funniest superman impressions as she stretches one arm out at almost every opportunity she gets!

lilymolly how's life with the two? Hope I didn't scare you last month! DD1 is much better now (although she has her moments ) esp since I stopped bf. She can help hold the bottle etc which she loves.

DD2 is a VERY sleepy baby - and such a monkey - she can sleep for 5 hours (if I let her during the day she does this happily) yet at night she won't go more than 3 1/2 hours! Argh!

lily we seem to have awake time just when I want to go to bed - Rosie was awake from 9pm until midnight - with a full tummy and no wind, just checking out her surroundings! She's now following me with her eyes - I know I am just a big blob to her but it is cute! Eventually I just tucked her up in her moses basket still awake and she nodded off to sleep by herself (meep prays that this will last for the next few years but knows this is highly unlikely!)

Had my first morning of toddler and newborn mayhem - my lovely Dad appeared at around 10am to help so I have had a shower and expressed (my boobs were like canon balls this morning - got 2 feeds worth out of them!) so feel human again.

lily if you are producing lots of lochia that is a good sign as it means that you are bf well. When dd had a good feed and fully drained my breast and got the hind milk I would have a (sorry tmi!) huge gush and lots of lochia would come out. The mw said that was great !

3cute and aunty thank you for your kind words - it really does help. That being said I have not felt like crying today and my last tearful moment was yesterday morning when I finally decided taht bf was at an end. So it is definitely good for me. There willalways be a lottle bit of guilt but I am happy and so is Rosie and dd1 was happy on formula too!

aunty me and dh are the same - he gets home and does dd1 bath, I do dd1 story and bed - we then have our tea (usually in front of the tv) then I go to bed and he stays up - and I'm still in the spare room (plan to move back next week once I've got Rosie's feeding patterns sussed!). But my lovely dh is taking Thursday off this week to help with dd1 and dd2 because I am being told not to lift dd1 because of my non-healing wound. (easier said than done) - so at least we'll have a day together.

jolly looking after your first baby can be the toughest job in the world. It is scary, you have no control and it is non-stop! We found the first 6 months the hardest - and friends have also confessed that their relationships with their dh/dp showed a bit of strain with a new baby. It does get back to normal (or a new type of normal) and suddely you are this happy little family unit and it is great!

No smiles here (very of you all getting smiles) but then Rosie is only 2 weeks old!

slick what a pita that your dd2 doesn't like tv! I can normally get half an hour of peace if I put "bubbies" (Teletubbies) on!

Morning all - first morning here with both monkies. DD2 is asleep and DD1 is ensconced infront of beebies (but has painted a 'paint your own dog bowl' - even though we don't have a dog and done some other crafty bits).

HV has been for Lara's weigh in and she has put on 5 ounces in the last 6 days so they are happy with her. She is 4 ounces above birth weight now. Phew.

aunty - Another one who doens't see much of DH. Guess its par for the course. He gets home after I have managed to manhandle dd1 into bed (that was an experience last night trying to read stories with L bawling in my arms), then last night he disappeared to do a bit more work and then we had dinner (in front of tv and with Lara up) and then he is banished to the spare room. I don't know if any of you remember he was very ill about 6 months ago and is still trying to get back fully to work and is still exhausted by the slightest thing and as I am still bfing at the mo there's not a lot he can do in the night so he may as well get some sleep. He feels pretty sad about it but I think we just have to get through these early weeks/months as best we can.

We, or I should say dd1, has been getting the odd smile. I read an article that said that babies can smile a lot earlier than they used to think so am sure its not wind... honest... .

Hi Thanks everyone for your replies.

Bleeding does tend to be worse after/during feeding, so I guess thats a good sign right?

Breast feeding is still painful/uncomfortable, but several mw have all checked latch, and its perfect
My theory is as was with my dd, Matthew is such an effectice feeder literally draining boob within 20 mins, and goes 3 hours before next feed, so maybe his suck is extra strong?

DD is being very cheeky and back answery which is really hard. I have come close to smacking her but have so far resisted but I am shouting an awful lot

I hope it too will pass

Matthew fed every 3 hours last night, so I got a good nights sleep (well 3 x 3hours) so not that bad!

lily - there's been quite a lot of shouting here too . DD1 is 4 going on 14 so we get attitude that i didn't think we'd see for 10 yrs or so. I keep trying to be patient in the circumstances but its quite hard when knackered and a baby is screaming in your ear.

The close sling i've hired for 2 weeks arrived this morning. Fingers crossed she likes this mre than the wilki. to those that have it - do you do the upright or foetal postion ??