May 2009 - loved-up new mums and/or sleep-deprived zombies this way please

[pulapula]

Here's a nice new thread for us to share our experiences with our new LOs.

Right lets see if I can post without accidentally deleting it! Meant to come back last night but then got snared in by Britains Got Talent.

Its taken me ages to get throught the thread and so I could be here equally long if I named checked everyone. Do feel a special mention must be made to blotted for managing her JOBBY.LOL. That was probably a couple of days ago now though!

llare I too am Wiiing and Davina-ing. Agree the Davina workout is a little mild. Was expecting something a little more strenuous from her so topping up with the Wii gets me sweating!

Re relations.No chance here until I've had my 6 week check. And have to say am not looking forward to either! With a third degree tear, I think it will be like doing that first no2 after birth. Just gotta grin and bear it. Also, do you "do it" with LO in the room with you? With DS 1, he would go to sleep in his carry cot downstairs at 7pm or so and then me and DH would nip upstairs for a bit of nookie a bit later, before taking DS1 up for the night at about 11pm. Couldn't bear the thought of doing it in the same room!

R is doing really well and chubbing up quite nicely. We are topping up still at every BF. Sometimes he will feed off me for 45 mins to and an hour, and still want a bottle of about 3oz afterwards. Am clearly not producing enough but at least he is getting some breast milk. I can see that it is coming out now which is good but its a faff doing both at each feed, especially at the night feeds. So reckon the BF's will be on their way out in the next few weeks. Am pleased that I have been able to give him some breast milk as I was convinced after the disastrous start he would end up without any. SOme is def better than none!

Congrats also to any new arrivals in the last week too.

Back soon I hope!

hi everyone,

just wanted to let you all know me and baby Lewis are home now. he was born on monday (25/5/09) at 10.20pm weighing 6lb 10.5oz(a nice lil one) he is so lovely such a happy baby and really relaxed he sleeps alot! and big brother Matthew is being a very good boy and loves his new little brother (very early days though as we've only been home a couple of hours)

birth story in short is- waters broke 3.15am on 24/5/09(sunday morning) labour didnt start so was induced monday morning at 10.30am(one dose of prostin-cervix still closed) contractions started but very weak and irregular, was put on synto drip at 4.30ish contractions started coming 4 in every 10mins, had epidural as planned at bout 5.30pm, was 3cms dilated at about 6pm, couldnt feel any pain still having contractions every 2-3mins. 6cms dilated by 9pm but very stretchy so the midwife said. was sick twice! 10cms by 10pm started pushing at 10.05pm (couldnt feel a thing still) and Baby Lewis was born at 10.20pm to tears or anything. placenta delivered 10mins later. very lovely experiences and also not in to much after pain which is great. i was shocked at his weight because ds1 weighed 7lb 11oz and was expecting the second one to be bigger, but he is so dinky and cute its lovely. he was born 6 days early. im so relived to no longer be pregnant, ive just giving birth but i feel the best i have 9 in months

Lewis was tonuged tied so have had trouble feeding and am quite sore now so have decided to go with expressing like i did with ds1 (which i had planned too anyway) but he had the snip this morning and is now sucking fine and feeding well on the bottle. sleeping very well to, but i know that probley wont last too long so enjoying it while is does. dp is off work now till june 14th so we have lots of time to settle as a new family of 4, have had lots of visitors already today, but as im feeling ok its not been too bad. seeing midwife 2moro.

have not had time to catch up so congrats on any others new arrivals

Congrats matthewandbumpsmummy- guess you need a new MN name now lol.

matthewandbumpsmummy - congrats!!
Great that Matthew has responded well so far and also good the Tongue tie got sorted quickly too.

Hi everyone, we came home yesterday and it is very nice to be home. i've quickly realised how tired i get trying to do normal things around the house and have to keep reminding myself i only had the cs 5days ago and need to take it easy. So DH is being a star and cooking, mainly occupying ds and looking after us all.

The breast feeding is working this time and i can't tell you how delighted i am. DD (still to decide name ) is generally feeding every 3 to 4 hours with some cluster feeds thrown in for good measure in the evenings either between 8pm/10pm or 10pm/12am followed by a 5.5hr sleep but my left nip is a bit sore & bleeding.

i was wondering frazzle Re the silverettes... i really think i'm going to have to buy some as sometime right at the start of getting started with breast feeding i must have done a wonky/bad latch and i'm still struggling 5days later to get my left nip to heal. I've been using lansinoh and had to start using one of the medela shields during the feeds on that side or i other wise hit the ceiling when dd latches on! I had thought it was improving but today i noticed my nip is still bleeding a bit The only thing putting me off buying the silverettes is not the cost (anything to get stop the pain) but the fact that when i wear silver it can make my skin go black/green colour! Do you think the silverettes would do the same to my nips?

sorry not to name check everyone but I'm struggling to keep up with both threads atm. Huge congrats to all with new arrivals and if i get the chance later i'll pop back on to catch up properly. Off to bed for a nap atm in advance of tonight's cluster marathon feeding session...

M&L'sMummy Welcome home! Congratulations on your new wee boy (he's gorgeous!)

Fi Congrats on your successful breastfeeding! Has your DD got her latch sorted now?

Good evening every one,

Hi fi Nice to see you're home. Take it easy. A c/s is major surgery. If you find those silverettes, let us know if they work as well for you too

Congratulations matthewandbumpsmum. Lol at the needing a new name. Glad to hear your labour was a good experience. Have you tried baby L to the breast after he had his tongue tie snipped?

relations After ds we did it after 5 weeks, after dd1 after 6 weeks. This time around I'm starting to feel urges now too but I'm a bit worried about my perineum. The scar feels a lot thicker than after the other 2. Actually I can't remember feeling a scar at all with the other 2 and this time around it feels all lumpy and thick down there. Haven't had a look yet though.

C is wearing her first cotton nappy today. It looks so bulky compared to the ones she was wearing before.

We've got to go to post natal clinic tomorrow. I think they do them for women who aren't discharged yet, but otherwise fine. It's a new thing, so I wonder what they'll do.

I'll have a look for that Davina post natal DVD. I actually need something gentle because of my pelvis, so it sounds just right for me

I think I've finally got the hang of the wrap sling. I've realised why some of the newborn holds don't seem to work very well in either sling: C is just very tall for her age. SHe's also very heavy and my back is hurting from carrying her around all the time. Another reason I'm trying to encourage her to settle in the pram a bit more.

Went to the 3 shop to get a replacement phone and it turns out that from tomorrow I qualify for a free upgrade, so I've got to go back tomorrow .

Hello all!

fi - glad you're home, and don't do too much.

matthewandbumpsmummy - congratulations!

re relations - with DD1 we didn't try for about 8 weeks I think, my episiotomy was (well, felt!) huge and I had problems with my stitches so was too scared for any action. I also discovered that I had a few hormone-related problems (caused by beastfeeding) that made the whole thing not great until my periods returned 13 months after DD1 arrived. This time I had a lot fewer stitches and everything feels very different...we haven't tried anything (A is still in bed with us!) but I feel like I could fairly easily. It'll be interesting to see if I have the same hormone imbalance stuff going on this time, no early clues yet.

Another ok day here...DD1 has been fairly good again, only a few monor tantrums. We had a terrible night last night though, A was awake and wanting feeding every two hours. Two week growth spurt?!

A was in cloth for a few nappies today. Not every nappy because a)the bucket got full b) we were out for some of the day and c)I couldn't quite be bothered! Some is better than none, right?

beastfeeding? breastfeeding of course.

real nappies We've done some muslins yesterday and tonight. I'm not as happy with them this time as I was with ds. I'm wondering whether to just go straight to the birth to potty OneLife nappies, or maybe use larger wraps. I think I'll try that first. And flipping they are both going in the same bucket! The only reason I would consider a second bucket, is most of dd2s are done in our bedroom, and dss are done in the bathroom quite a distance from our room.

Am relaxing with a large glass of wine, having walked my socks off at the Trafford Centre today. I bought some new Birkenstocks as my old toe post sandals have rubbed terribly after only wearing them a short time. I wore them to death last summer and the year before when off on mat leave with ds. I still have rough skin from them. I bought these in Schuh and am getting them delivered.

Detsy Close Baby sling here is a demo Helpfully the English website only has downloadable instructions in Italian! The pictures are useful though.

bedtimes If dd2 will settle in her crib then she goes down once the dc have had their stories, which they get while I'm nursing her. She went down about 8.30 tonight. No doubt I will bring her into bed with me in the early hours so I can sleep and nurse at the same time.

Belgian have you tried You Tube for sling videos?

Relations Gees no. Breastfeeding really buggers up my libido too. Probably why it has taken no time at all for me to get pg when we start shagging again when I'm reducing the bfs. I'm going for Mirena coil and Dh is going for the snip.

Detsy sorry posted the wrong link

matthewandbumpsmum Well done and congratulations. Your dss look lovely.

Fikelly Welcome home

jenn I did find an instruction video for both the wrap and ring slings and they were very helpful, but C is just so big that her head always seems to stick out much further than the babies on the videos. I think it's just because she's taller and heavier than the average newborn. She's pretty strong, so she'll be able to hold up her head soon enough for me to try some other holds. I did have her in the Moby today and she dropped off within seconds after having spend all dinner time crying.

relations I don't have the libido problem with bf, luckily, but I do have it with the pill (it works in 2 ways with me ). So I'm going for the ordinary coil again. I had it between dd1 and C and it was the best thing I've ever had in terms of contraception.

My lochia came back this evening. It's quite red too. I think I might have been overdoing it with DH being away.

Right. Off to bed now. Hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep and the lochia will settle again.

morning [stumbles through rubbing eyes]

really good job i went to bed for a nap 8pm yesterday. dd woke at 10pm for expected cluster feed.. but turned into an almighty marathon session! she fed with very few breaks until 2.30am! i was beginning to lose hope she'd ever stop.. i haven't got to the stage of latching her on without seeing what i'm doing etc and i'm finding it easiest sitting up rather than lying down. so stayed in bed and caught up on pre recorded telly. she did a poo & wee explosion half way through too which went everywhere lol! and had me wishing she had the early warning signs of wee like ds

have had a flake and glass of milk for breakfast after seeing tummum status on fb going for the chocolate after her 4hr session yesterday eve.. inspired food choice imo esp as was back feeding at 5.30am.

no nookie here but thinking about it.. dh will be ready for it anytime i have the urge. he's not expecting any until i'm recovered from the cs and really in the mood though.

please someone tell me the bf marathons are not an every day thing?!

Mine are fi! Do take it easy after the cs won't you?

G slept until 4am but DS1 woke at 5am despite his new blackout blinds. I've had to keep him amused with paper bloody mache this morning as he gets really stroppy without constant entertaining. I am using time out with him a lot at the moment and I really feel that all I do is tell him not to do things. But today has been a lot better than other days and we are off to a very energetic toddler group soon so that should tire him out, thankfully. It's in Stratford so if I'm feeling brave we may wander through and look at the canal barges.

MATTHEWAND CONGRATS and welcome to the thread!!

Am in awe and a bit at those of you who have resumed 'relations' (pmsl at relations). Am slightly nervous this time as had my first vaginal birth and it looks all mis-shaped and ahem...huge....

LLARE big sympathy re early wakenings. This has happened to my previous good sleeper dd. I woke up to her singing to her teddies at 4.50am. She managed 40 minutes before screaming for me. The early wakening started when she got chicken pox over Easter and I don't know if it's that, being a big sister, or the lighter mornings (despite blackout blinds) that's causing it.

REAL NAPPIES - I am currently using disposables, but did you know some councils give incentives to use reusables - in terms of free nappies or money back to all? Our council offers money back if you have bought some already, or alternatively a free taster pack of reuseables. I recently sent off for my free taster pack. Might be worth checking if your council does a scheme too.

Who asked about bedtime? SPANGLE I think it was you but my memory is poor so apologies if not. At the moment, he is with us downstairs until 11ish, but I intend to take B up to his moses basket after his 6/7pm feed, from c 6 weeks. This last week he has started to have a long-ish sleep from then to 11ish. We did this for dd as a starter for the bedtime 'routine'. It gave dh and I some time together without me jumping up to look at every single snuffle.

Have a good day all. I've a pg friend coming over for the day

Fi - welcome back and well done on bfing

It does sometimes feel like one never ending bf marathon but DS actually fell asleep on DH for 2hrs last night!

Llare - hope the weather picks up and you get to enjoy Stratford.

Today I have a friend coming to visit for a couple of hours. We don't see that much of eachother these days but have known eachother since we were 2yo!! We went to playgroup together!! She has a DS of 2.10 and a DS of 0.7. Will be good to see them all.

I am taking it slow.. making sure to keep my strength up to just heal and do breast feeding. i'm finding dd is normally feeding for about 45/50 mins every 3-4hrs with a cluster feed between 10pm & mid night. last night it was 10pm till 2.30am.. that i found hard and nips were getting bit sore.

Re bedtimes, thanks Reggiee and pula DH & I have decided to bring it forward gradually and see how that goes. H is often still quite perky in the evenings though does nap through a little more now. Because I'm with H all day I'm more inclined to get him to bed earlier than DH, who gets in at around 8.30pm so the evening is the only quality time he has with H.

Re bf-ing marathons I don't know whether to be smug or worried, but H only feeds for 15min max though he does often want more an hour later when he's been awake. Obviously more of a snacker (like his mum ). I've tried to see if he'll have more in one go but he's generally not interested. He's been putting on weight though so I'm not really concerned.

LOL at beastfeeding... we call H 'the beast' sometimes because of the noises he makes when he's waking up! Poor child.

Had an awful evening last night. I thought the jabs hadn't had much impact on H as he was fine when we got home, just played, snoozed and fed for a couple of hours. But then he woke up from a nap and screamed and screamed and screamed He didn't seem to be in pain in his leg or have a fever so I'm not sure whether he was in pain or traumatised by the memory. Eventually he dozed off on me but every time he roused or I tried to move him slightly he screamed again, poor little soul. Fortunately he calmed down by 11pm so we had a normalish night.

Hi all
fi - no idea whether silverettes would make your nips go a funny colour. I always thought that discolouration came from 'cheap' jewellry not proper silver? dunno, but i'd say give them a go. I have history of severely damaged nips with past 2 babies and every time i get a wee bit sore the silverettes seem to help . Look v weird tho! You must clean them morning and night with a paste of bicarb of soda and water then express some milk inside first before sticking them on. I phoned up to order mine and received them the next day. www.breastfeedingheaven.co.uk

hello everyone else. typing one handed and arm gettibg sore now so back later.
giggling at 'relations' too.
oh and belgian tell me more about normal coil - had mirena before but didn't like it.
and my scar from tear with dd1 is quite obvious and lumpy. scar from tear with dd2 is invisible almost - even tho both were 2nd degree - no stitches.
have a good day x

btw loving the apprentice too. anyone else addicted. bit sad really but its the highlight of my week!

frazz i heart the apprentice too! And really love Your Fired over on bbc2 afterwards aswell. It is now the highlight of the week now that Lost has finished! My name is LadyHelen and I am a telly addict.

Had dreadful night last night with R. He woke every 2.5 hours crying for food. BF for a bit ( but was too tired to do more than 15 mins). Then gave bottle and he wouldn't have more than 2oz, and I know its NOT because he had enough from me because he was doing a lot of sleeping at the BFs rather than sucking. He also wouldn't wind and so inevitably when put down he was v restless and whiny with his legs pulled up so I knew he had wind to get rid of. So he was awake at 1am and 3.30am for over an hour each time. In fact at 5am, I had to hand him over to DH. DH was upstairs and found him READING!!!! He has insomnia again at the mo but I must admit I was a little bit put out to find him READING when I had been struggling with R. He did redeem himself a bit this morning by making DS1's packed lunch for his day out with his cousins.

Belated congrats to fi and matthewsbumb on the new arrivals. Let us know when you have a name fi.

Here's hoping for a sunny day today and tomorrow!

hi all. just waiting for sainsbury's shopping to arrive. then hoping for a long bath with tea tree oil (still little sore in both passages). thinking of 'relations' makes me cringe a bit. i'm feeling sharp twinges in the fanjo when i do a long walk and wondering if it's the stitches area . i'll ask the GP at my 6 wk check if it doesn't go away.

frazz, ladyH, I'm an apprentice fan as well and kicked DH out yesterday to watch the footie at a friend's house (though I told him he needed to socialise). i didn't get to watch bbc2 afterwards as was too tired but will watch on iplayer later.

I had a dreadful night as well and think it was because Harper has caught a cold. she's quite chesty and seemed to have trouble breathing with lots of nasal sounds. She woke up for a feed about 2.30am but when i put her back down, she kept waking up about every 10 minutes. i brought her into bed which helped a little, she may have needed a cuddle. now, she's a bit clearer and brighter after a good morning nap. wish i'd had a morning nap but went shopping - stupid as York is heaving with half-term crowd.

Matthew&Lewismum,not sure if I said, but congratulations! Hope all is going well.

off the subject, cakes: any of you baking experts could give me advice? i made choc buns the other day which were lovely but quite heavy. what do I need to do to make lighter cakes? increase/decrease liquid? add another egg? if anyone has a good recipe for lighter fairy cakes, would be so grateful. i may have enough energy today to do a little baking.

Hi all just popping in to say hello and thought you might like to know that there's another birth announcement (from rosielady's dh) on the AN thread. Can't copy paste as on phone sorry but all is well apparently.

Congrats matthewandlewismummy and rosielady.

Boys back in front again- 37 babies so far -19 BOYS and 18 GIRLS

BORN

1 APRIL 2009: SpangleMaker, BOY - Harvey, 9:55, 5lb 12oz, 35+3 (first child)
23 APRIL 2009: LoobyLou36, GIRL - Matilda Rose, 5.53am, 8lb 3oz, 38+4 (first child)
23 APRIL 2009, Reggiee, BOY, Ben, 7lb 8, 39 weeks (DD age 22 mo)
24 APRIL 2009: EmmalinaC, GIRL, Niamh Elizabeth, 9.56am, 6lb 2oz, unplanned vbac! 38+5wks (DD aged 2.4)
29 APRIL 2009: llareggub, BOY, George, 8am, 7lb 9oz, VBAC (DS1 2.5)
29 APRIL 2009: gert2a, GIRL, Edith Ann Elaine, 10.14am, 7lb 10oz, ELCS (first child)
30 APRIL 2009: Jael, BOY, Jacob, ELCS (DD aged nearly 3)
1 MAY 2009: 1stMrsF, TWIN GIRLS, Amelia Carys (7lb 6.5oz) and Georgiana Bronwen (6lb 12oz), c-section 14.06 and 14.07
2 MAY 2009: Divedaisy, GIRL, Sofiah Rose, 00:47am (DS age 6)
2 MAY 2009: Momino, GIRL, 04.05am Harper Grace, 8lb 1oz.(DD age 3 and DD age 1.5)
2 MAY 2009: Tummum, BOY, Gethin Thomas, 9pm, 9lb 1oz (2 DDs)
2 MAY 2009: LadyHelen, BOY, Rufus, 2.15am (DS 3.7)
6 MAY 2009: Aquababe, BOY, Ethan, 4:51am, 8lb 6
6 MAY 2009: YawningMonster, GIRL, Clare, 9lb 5 (DS already)
8 MAY 2009: bekkaboo, GIRL, Evie Mae, 7lbs (DS age 2)
9 MAY 2009: Daizydoo, BOY, Jasper, 2:08am, 8lbs (DS age 2)
9 MAY 2009: Ses, BOY, Owen Edward, 10:17am, 8lb 9oz, born by section
11 MAY 2009: Belgianchocolates, GIRL, Claire, 4.49am, 9lb 10oz (DS 7, DD 5)
11 MAY 2009: Dandylioness, BOY, Hector Frank, 6lb 9oz, 1:25, emcs (DD age 4)
11 MAY 2009: Flippineck, GIRL, Angharad, 11:15am, 8lb 3oz (DD1 2yr1m)
12 May 2009: Pulapula, BOY, Samuel James, 4:16pm, 8lb 3oz (DD 4.5, DS1 1.11)
14 MAY 2009: Jennster, GIRL, Rachel Mary, 8lb 7oz (DD1 3y 4m DS 22m)
15 MAY 2009: Detsy, BOY, Archie, 8lb 5oz
15 MAY 2009: Emmabemmasmom, GIRL, Sara Addison, 9.45pm, 6lb 5 (DD1 aged 2)
17 MAY 2009: Blottedcopybook, GIRL, Greer Valery Charlotte, 7lb 11oz, 7.35pm (DS1 7y11m, DS2 3y2m & DD1 2)
17 MAY 2009: Febes, BOY, Rueben Cornelius, 7.52 pm, 6lbs 15 (DD aged 1)
17 MAY 2009: Cloveofhislife, GIRL, 00.39am, 2 DDs already
17 MAY 2009: htheh, BOY, Monty, 4.59am, 9lb 12.5 oz
18 MAY 2009: yawningprincess/rubysmom, GIRL, Darcy Victoria, 6.40pm
20 MAY 2009: cotedazur, BOY, ??? , 9.15am
20 MAY 2009: frazzledoldbag, BOY, Hugo, 2.40p[m, 8lb 15oz, (DD1 age 7, DD2 age 2)
21 MAY 2009: SausagenMash, GIRL, Martha Rose, 2318
21 MAY 2009: MiniMenace, BOY, Isaac Michel, 12.55pm emcs, 7lb 3oz
22 MAY 2009: Fikelly, GIRL, no name as yet, 9lb 7oz, 11:37am (DS 2y9m)
25 MAY 2009, MatthewandLewismummy, BOY, Lewis, 10:20pm, 6lb 10.5oz (DS1 3.11)
27 MAY 2009: Rosielady, BOY, no name as yet, 7lb 3oz, 2.37pm