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.

Jenn from the way he screams it could be sour milk !

Pula good idea for the rugby hold... will try tonight as I night is the worst time and expressing will be more difficult then

Thanks for the reassurance. Hopefully he will get used to the letdown. To be fair, I have managed to spray the inside of the new car, the sofa, bed etc etc. and it reached quite a distance so no wonder it is a bit overwhelming for him.

Belgian Thanks my love!

You guys should read the fun I've had today - click here for the shenanigans but be warned it's long!

How are we all doing today?

Evening ladies. Coming on with some good financial news!

I saw on the BBC news on Sat morning about childcare/busy bees vouchers continuing whilst on ML, for those of us having babies post Oct 08. SOme of you may already know this, but it seems that some employers are unaware of the changes. But basically if you received vouchers from your employers for your child care before going on ML , and did'nt opt out to calculate your SMP, your employers should pay the equivalent of whatever you were contributing either to the voucher scheme or salary sacrifice. This applies when your pay goes down to the basic SMP.

For me, this means that my employers are now paying for DS to remain in his nursery! I emailed them about it on Monday. They had already seen it and I had a letter today confirming that they will be paying the equivalent of my salary sacrifice ( which was the maximum of £243 per month). Makes a BIg difference!

Its fairly complicated and has taken me a bit of time to get my head round it but I thought I would post about it just in case any of you were unaware of this recent change in the law.

blotted I read your shenanigans. Hope you've enjoyed the post stress chocolate. You deserved it.

Better go. C is trying to latch on throught my clothes and trying to eat my arm as well

LadyHelen- that's interesting to know. I get 6 months full pay and then 3 months SMP and am in a childcare vouchers scheme (£243 pm), so from what you're saying, they will pay £243 a month for my final 3 months- that's good. must contact HR!

LadyH thanks ever so much for that info. Causing much happiness in this household as it will make a big difference to us (my mat entitlement is rubbish!) Pula - 6 months full pay is fantastic !!

Any news from Grumpy?

Funny story for you from today. Went to a Mums and Babies group this morning, and a lady who had a baby 3 weeks ago turned up... without her baby . Am i being horrible thinking that this was a bit weird?!

Glad to be of assistance. If you look on www.daycaretrust.org.uk
all the info is there if you want to go armed with the law.

blotted, what a day! so glad it turned out ok in the end.

llareggub, dd1 had tongue tie. i was told it was unlikely to cause speech probs but she was having feeding difficulties so got it snipped. another thing to think about - licking ice cream cones!

tummum, i had a spray issue with BF with dd2, used to get embarrassed when BF in public or in front of friends. don't know why it's different this time but not as noticeable - maybe H copes with it better than dd2 did? anyway, i know what you mean.

all, thanks for your reassurance earlier about BF, H's weight gain, etc. i've just been having a low self-esteem day.

day was a bit of a write off - dd2 sent home from nursery with poorly tummy and runny nappy so all i did afternoon was change sloppy smelly nappies, poor DD! then our washing mach broke; that's along with tumb dryer which broke a week ago. not cheap replacements. anyone ever have theirs repaired? not sure it's worth the risk of a £60 call out fee .

hope everyone's having a good night and LO's let you have a stretch of sleep.

tummum, that's really funny!

tummum- I can't imagine going anywhere without my little 3 week old. And why go to a baby group without them lol!

alapala, great BS and congrats! funny about the doc knowing good English .

Fi, hope you're feeling better after AB and hives!

Grumpy is teasing us on the antenatal thread......

Hi ladies.
I managed to walk to town today, had lunch with my sister, and then caught the bus back, didn't want to over do it. I'm going to walk up to the library tomorrow, let DD pick some new books with her very own library card, which she's very proud about lol

J's feedin routine was a feed between 11pm and midnight, then he'd wake around 4am for another, and then go until around 7am/8am, over the last few days he's not kept to that at all though, I'm going to bed around 11pm, so it worked out perfectly that I'd feed him just before I go to bed, but he hasn't wanted it,so then he's waking up around 1am screaming for food, and then again at 4am... Jael X

Phew... What a day!
Saw GP today despite DS slight weight gain, had it booked and thought she would just check him over and send us home to get on with it. However, I've always thought this particular GP too thorough and after today she definitely is!!
She acknowledged he's put on 1.5oz in 48 hrs and seems healthy in every other way but she referred us to the paediatrician at the hospital and said they'll probably suggest formula top up.

Had a nurse, a SHO and a registrar all look at him and find nothing wrong. They did a few blood tests (poor little mite was like a pin cushion as one in his hand, two in his right heel and one in his left heel). Registrar said as long as he doesn't drop below his current centile (9th) then he's not overly worried.

BF counsellor came by and did decide that he has a slight tongue tie though which she and the registrar decided could be snipped next Tues. I've decided to get it done as I don't think doing it can really do any harm and he doesn't seem to be able to stick his tongue out hugely far.

Registrar has also asked me to express and give 45ml four times a day. BF counsellor agreed that this might be a bit much to expect and said it took her a week initially to be able to express enough for one feed!

We've compromised on agreeing to give 30-45ml of EBM after an evening feed. She got me to try their electric Medela pump and I got 30ml out after having fed DS so there can't be too much wrong with my production! Came home via Boots and got an electric Medela pump.

That's my update anyway! Will go and catch up on everyone else now...

Ses I'm definitely going to get DS's tongue-tie snipped. Will you let me know how it goes? You'll probably find that you can express more milk at a certain time of day. Last time, I managed to get around 80-120mls in the morning but could usually manage around 20mls during the evening. I haven't expressed this time but I might give it a go over the weekend.

DS2 was weighed today and he is now 9 pounds 12, which is exactly the same weight DS1 was at the same age. Isn't that odd?

We're off to story-telling at the theatre tomorrow. Lunch is provided which makes life easier!

Any news from Grumpy yet?

jael grace has changed her routine over the last few days... her 2hr feeding session has suddenly switched to early evening. You just get used to one routine... think i can cope with this and suddenly it's all change again. Glad to hear you had a potter into town too... i'm enjoying being out and about too but like you trying to pace myself. Hard to do when it's so nice out

ses I suppose it's good to have a thorough gp although ds ending up with multiple pin pricks must have been hard to watch him go through

i'd be really interested in how you get on with the medela pump.. I fancied getting the electric medela swing pump. The only thing to stop me buying one already was my doubt of whether i'd be able to bf this time.

As of tomorrow g will be 2wks old and i'm chuffed to say i am managing to bf (albeit with a very occasional formula top up of a couple of oz). Soon i hope we won't need to top up at all as currently i think my boobs are now the size of small planets!!!

I'm so glad i wasn't on the ante natal thread earlier when grumpy was teasing everyone with her news... the suspense would have been unbearable!

momino I've still got the hives but think they're fading a bit. It's worse when i get hot as they get very itchy then and if i scratch any of them they join up to make even bigger itchy ones. At one stage this afternoon i looked like i'd fallen into a huge bed of nettles as they were v angry looking & everywhere from my scalp, neck, boobs, tummy, legs, feet and even my toes hopefully they'll be gone completely within a few days.

xpressing - I've stopped doing this as i haven't found the time to. I've got a Medela mini electric which feels so cumberson and loud. I might try to express again as it would be nice to have DH give a bottle at least on the weekend.

Jael, makes me smile about your DD getting her library card, how cute .

ses, llare, go for the tongue snip. it's so minor a procedure. LO will not remember and you get to BF them straight away to calm them as need be. DD1 was fine soon after and fed much better.

going to sleep now whilst i can. see you in the morning.

Hello all. Sorry not enought time to catch up with everyone individually, please don;t be offended if I haven't mentioned you by name!

alapala - lovely birth story, and lol at your DH! ANd a big yay to no stitches!

ses - what a palaver with all those checks and expressing instructions! Hope the snipping helps all those whose LOs are going for it, I've heard nothing but good things from those who have experience of it.

LOL at all the BF spraying - got that here too, but only from the left side! Incredible how far it travels.

All mosly fine here. A is still very quite unsettled a lot of the time, but we did have a better night last night - she slept from about 11:30 until 4am!!! A record, and I'm sure it won't be repeated. She was in bed with us, because despite our best intentions to get her in her basket (sounds like a dog! I do of course mean moses basket) I always fall asleep when I'm feeding her and only wake when she next wakes.

I'm taking A (and DD1 and myself) to the chiropractor today, see if helps with the general grumpiness. I have her in the sling a lot because settles her, and it's easier to play with DD1 with both hands free.

Morning all. Proud Mummy boast alert. G slept 11pm til 6.30am. Hooray ! And I managed to express 9oz because my norks were very melon like after missing last night's feed. Not quite sure what to do with the milk, so I popped it in the freezer, but I really like the security of having a back up option, especially as G spews up formula normally. Feel a bit like a prize dairy cow though; expressing is hardly lady like !

Also, I visited the GP this week to get some treatment for my piles after being bullied into going by my DH. Actually it was fine, no exam necessary and the stuff seems to be working well, so I am hopeful that I won't be in excruciating pain when I next go. Here's hoping.

V. excited about Grumpy's news

Might make a celebratory lemon drizzle cake to celebrate sleep, milk and new arrivals. Or I might sit on my bum, drink my cuppa and mess around on the internet !

tummum- not surprised you are proud mummy today! well done G. That's amazing.

My DS2 seems to have regressed and is feeding every 2-3 hours even at night. Seems hungry and unsettled. As its classic growth spurt time i keep feeding him, which leads to more wind and poos which unsettle him- vicious circle. He is never sick so i assume he needs all his feeds.

Sorry to not name check but I have a quick min and want to ask a BF question while it is on my mind!

Right so, thinking how what I eat affects my milk, how long does it take? Say I were to eat something really spicy at 6pm...would S get that at her 7pm feed, 9pm...2am (times just made up lol) or the next morning, or what? Just not sure and she has seemed weird twice and I just wanted to try and trace it to what I have eaten and just not sure how far back to go iykwim?

Also, what if I were to have food poisoning do I need to stop BF?

Will come back later with something more sane to add to the group lol

Hi EBsmom my experience has been about 6 hours between eating and milk G doesn't like. My understanding is that it's actually quite rare for something you eat to affect your milk, but I did eat an extremely hot chilli dish (so hot DH couldn't eat it). I don't think having food poisoning would affect your milk but I am not sure.

I think I have figured out the screaming (which has now extended to the other boob)... he's actually tired and doesn't want milk . Basically I am trying to feed him whenever he cries and that's not a good plan as sometimes he is tired. I am hopeful that I will be able to get him into a sort of routine soon-ish so that I can plan my days better.

Pula you must be shattered doing all of those feeds. Hopefully it will be over soon.