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.

pulapula would your DH be open to a bit of expressed breastmilk in his eye? It does wonders for eye conditions and while you have it on tap, why not use it?! How is your mastitis? Have you tried the old cauliflower leaves?

I've got another clingy baby so I got the babasling out and it worked amazingly well. Not sure how I'd feel about using it on a hot day. But DS2 seemed very snug and happy in it, although I didn't get an awful lot done while he was in it as I was so scared about bumping his poor little head!

We've got a busy week planned for next week including our first coffee morning which all feels a bit stereoptypical SAHM but hopefully means I will meet some local mothers outside my NCT group.

I'm meeting some ex work colleagues for lunch which I am excited about because last time they saw me I was size 20 and now post-pregnancy I am in a pair of too big size 16 jeans! I am thrilled to have lost another 4 pounds and I am convinced it is the exercise and the stress of trying to run a 2 year old into the ground. DH has promised me a shopping trip to buy some clothes that actually fit instead of these silly jeans that are too big. I now actually weigh less than I did on my wedding day 5 years ago. Happy days indeed.

llareggub, great news about your weight loss!

hope all are well tonight.

harper has gone to sleep without her usual 'tanking'. i offered but she just bobbed on/off, tried the other side, bobbed on/off so i put her down with a dummy and she settled herself (settling herself is a recent accomplishment). i'll be interested to see if/when she wakes up tonight without her usual cluster feed in the evening.

belgian and others: i'm so glad you influenced me on the co-sleeping for the mid of the night feeds. H woke at 2ish and then at 5 so i took her into bed with me to feed while i slept. it was a bit more difficult last night since DH was back in our bed for the weekend but he's really careful about rolling around.

I couldn't get through the nights without co-sleeping, to be honest. It is bliss to feed in bed and drift off to sleep again!

Evening all,

llareggub- DH wasn't too keen on having some expressed milk in his eye!

Feeling a little better than I was this afternoon when i got a temp and shivers again. Could be the paracetemol, ibuprofen, ABs, expressing off the sore boob, belladonna (homeopathic remedy) or a combination of all of these.

belgian- i didn't ask the doc on the phone what prescription she was giving me for thrush, but was a bit disappointed to find it was canesten cream as some people on my other thread said it wasnt much use and it wasn't what was mentioned in that leaflet you sent, and there was nothing for baby. Oh well. I can always go to my docs on Monday if things aren't improving.

The co-sleeping works for me - from 2 or 2.30, S is in bed with me (if not earlier). I made DH change sides of the bed the other night so i could feed lying down with me between S and DH, but have fed S in the middle of the bed too. DH seems to sleep on his side right on the edge when he knows S is in the bed, and I keep my arm around S too. I think sleep is more important for now.

I remember with DD pacing the floor for up to an hour to get her back to sleep and DH remembers patting and shushing for 40 mins and then she'd stir as soon as he got back to bed! DS1 was much easier, I would nappy change him, he would feed one side, I'd swaddle him and then do the other side, then 5 mins on my shoulder for winding and back in his basket , with his dummy sometimes if he needed it. He was SOOOO easy.

Pula What a rubbish day for you and DH. Hope that you both feel much better tomorrow.

Llare well done on your weight loss. I am v. as am in size 20 jeans purchased 2 weeks ago. They are feeling less tight now but I am not helping my cause with the humungous amounts of chocolate, biscuits and cake I am eating. The trouble is I am feeling tired lots so crave sweet things to keep me going and boost my energy. I keep starting the days eating well and then fail in the evening when I am knackered but G is feeding and feeding and feeding.

Monimo how did H get on with the sleeping? G tends to go down at 10.30 and sleeps really well until 5-6am, , has a top up then sleeps lots in the morning. I'd really like to move his timing so he sleeps in the evening rather than all morning, but he's not really settled into much of a routine yet to make this possible.

MIL is visiting next week and I am getting stressed about it already. She's already on my case about feeding G with formula as a top up to "Make sure he's getting enough vitamins etc." FFS !!!

Morning ladies and babies!!!

Thank you everyone for the food/BF info. Good to know

Pula God, how aweful for you and your DH. I really hope things start to improve so you don't have to wait until Monday for more medicine

co-sleeping I am also a fan I usually wake DH and tell him she is between us and to be careful. He then rolls over to his edge and does not move until I poke him and tell him she is back in her bed. Must be nice eh? lol

I am sooooo PO at DH at the moment. I think a lot is my mood but still. Yesterday he was going on about 'getting it on' so I actually managed to wear something somewhat sexy to bed. I was in bed by 10, watched tv and BF S until nearly 10:30. I then told him I wanted to go to sleep soon. He proceeded to watch more tv until after 11:30. By this time I told him I was going to try and get some sleep. As I was lying there he then tries to make a move! I was so annoyed by this as I waited for him, made an effort, and yet I had to wait for when he wanted to and well he can sleep through the night, but I can't so I should not have to wait up for him surely? Grrr...

And then, this morning. I know it is his day off, however I have had to deal with both LO's all week and it would have been nice when DD1 started screaming at 6am if he went in and gave her a book (as this is my tech so I can BF baby S in peace and get DD up when I am done) but noooooo. He just let her scream knowing I couldn't get up, so by the time I got up to get her she was ready to get out of bed and I had a headache. He is currently still in bed as I feed everyone (but myself). Where is my day off or my lie in, or hell, my break?? I would like to know any job that you have to work your ass off from 6am to midnight...and be on call in the night too!!

Ok, rant over...going to go slap my DH awake mwah ha ha

Hope everyone is having a good start to their day!

Morning!

Well, I knew it would be too good to be true that H could (technically at least) sleep through two nights on the trot. I went to bed at 11ish leaving H conked out on his playmat (bad mummy I know, but bizarrely he seems to settle himself really well on the playmat - when he rouses for a grumble he just bats a couple of toys and is straight back to sleep). DH was up late and tried to put H to bed when he came at 1.30am but unfortunately H woke up, so did a quick bf, then he was up again at 2.30am quite definitely hungry again, then 5.30 then 7.30. Hmph.

We're not co-sleeping but H is in his moses basket right next to the bed so I can just pluck him out. Fortunately he self-settles quite well, occasionally needing a cuddle or a pat on the tummy. I do generally put him between us if he wakes at 6-6.30am as he's too awake to go in his basket but seems happy enough to stare around the room while we doze.

Emmabemmasmom men can be infuriating! I don't think it's entirely selfishness, it's that they just don't think ahead in the way we do. Perhaps it's not all men but my DH is like this. He looks at me a bit when I say I don't want to watch a film starting at 10pm, say, because I know then wouldn't get to bed until 12.30am and will be woken again 2 hours later. Well done you for getting your sexy gear on though!

pula hope you & your DH are better today.

Spangle Exactly! I just don't think he thinks like I do. Yeah, ok, if I go to bed at 9 I don't expect him to come to bed then too. However, I am so tired and it would be nice if he came in and watched tv and cuddled me or something just to spend some time together. I am also the same with movies and whatnot. He also laughs at me when I start shutting the house down for the night and heading to bed at say 8pm lol It is a 2 way street though and I do try and stay up to do things he wants to do. And yeah, I have to think ahead and last night when I finally got S to sleep it was my chance to get it on so to speak. I hate having to 'plan' it, but you kinda have to jump when you have a moment(no pun intended lol).

Anyway, thanks for the reply and even though I wish it were different sometimes, I am glad I am not alone And sorry to hear you had a rough night too. Baby S is also not really in a schedule either so I have no idea what night I will have from day to day! Would be nice if they could hand in their schedules so we would know

spangle emmab My dh can be the same. Now we've got 3 he is better in the morning. I suppose he knows it's a struggle to feed no1 and no2 if no3 wants to bf. But evenings he does the same. He doesn't seem to understand either why I don't want to start watching a film at 9-10pm.

pula I hope your breast is starting to get better. If your pain is inside your breast she should really have given you oral treatment for the thrush. Like you said, best to see your GP on monday and take all the info with you so you can get the right treatment.

C had a good night, except for being a bit colicky in the evening until 10.30. She slept from then until 3.30 in her crib . I put her back after her feed and she slept in her crib until 6, when I took her into my bed. It's funny how she settles so well in her crib at night, but not in her pram in the day. I ended up with extremely full boobs and after her 6 o clock feed I couldn't sleep from the discomfort in the R one, so I ended up getting up to express at about 7. I managed another 65ml, but because ds kept disturbing me (for stupid things like, DD1 touched my food and now it's got germs ) I couldn't get anymore off.

llare Well done with the weight loss and for sticking to the healthy eating and excercise regime. I bet you'll be a glamourous size 10 before long

Well today is DH and my 1st wedding anniversary. Our plan was for DH to do the village fun run and the dcs to do the 1k children's run, while I cheered them on, but the weather is truly pants, so he's gone while me and the dcs are at home. When he's back we'll probably go out and do something fun.

Happy Anniversary Belgian, have a lovely afternoon.

Pula, hope you're better today and having a good day.

tummum, after settling without her usual cluster feed, Harper woke up at 2am, fed for 1 minute and fell back asleep so put her back in the moses basket. she woke again to feed an hour later but i fed her on my side in bed so we both fell asleep until she woke for a bigger feed at 5amish. it seems she moved her cluster feed from evening to middle of the night.

otherwise, DH woke up right before 5am, couldn't sleep so walked the dog, hoovered and cleaned the kitchen/lounge/dining room, did the washing up, etc... all before 7am and .

lovely DH but I'm with the rest of you about sex vs. sleep. however, being pulled this way/thatway by 2 toddlers all day, constant feeding and cuddling a newborn, i don't want any touching or cuddling from DH at the end of the day. i need my space and my sleep. i really hope this changes when BF finishes. I'm so [green] of emmabsmom for getting into something sexy but just don't have the desire. Poor DH deserves it though. is it normal to not have the desire? i'm hoping it gets better but know i have to make an effort soon.

Thanks momino for your wishes.

In terms of sex my DH is always good. After every one of our dcs he never asked for it or even mentioned it at all and waited for me to make the 1st move. Even now he hasn't mentioned it yet. I feel much more tired than after the 1st 2. Not sure whether this is because having a 3rd one is more tiring or whether it's because last 2 times I was early-mid twenties and this time I'm early 30's. The desire is slowly creeping back though, I even dreamt about sex last night . I'm iffy about doing anything before I have proper contraception sorted though, so I think DH will have to wait until then. I do try to dress nicely during the day. Mainly so I feel like a real person, not because of DH. Momino It is normal not to have the desire at this stage. For many women it takes months to come back. If you're tired all the time it's only normal, isn't it.

Oh and can someone tell me to get off eBay before I go bankrupt. There are just too many cute baby things out there and off course to balance things out I have to place bids on stuff for ds and dd1 too

Pula How are you and DH today?

belgian happy anniversary

pula hope you and dh are a bit better today.. sounds like yesterday was truly dreadful for you both

emmab well done on even contemplating some nookie! it was your dh's own fault he missed out.. maybe next time he'll learn to grab the opportunity when he's offered i do agree that on the whole our dh's don't forward plan as far as we do.. and it's taken the arrival of grace for him to even think of getting up to see to ds when he wakes up. he's realised i can't go into ds and bf at the same time..

g has changed her cluster feeding time too it's now 3am - 5am.. managing to do most of it lying down now which is a lot easier.

should have read that before posting.. meant arrival of grace for my dh to think about going into ds!

Afternoon all,

Well I am feeling much better (the pain on BF has pretty much gone, breast is just a bit tender to the touch or if moving my arm too much). But DH's eye is worse than ever, so he is back to the eye hospital tomorrow morning. The house was a right tip this morning, and laundry piling up so i decided i needed to get DS2 to sleep not on me. Took an hour to settle him for a 35 min nap this morning when i rushed around hanging out washing/emptying dishwasher and then another 45 mins to get him down just now (although i fell asleep during that whilst he was on my shoulder ). Hope he sleeps longer as I need to have lunch and hang some more washing...Should get off here really!

I started taking my mini-pill on Tues but with all the sickness lately, i completely forgot on Thurs, Fri and Sat, but as there's no chance of nookie round here with us both feeling rough, i will just start taking it again in a few days...although think we're both too tired to do anything.

Oh and thanks for all the kind wishes- it was very miserable yesterday but its amazing how quickly those ABs can work as i feel so different today. I just felt sorry for my DB and SIL who visited yesterday - we weren't much company and at one stage, I think me and DH were both asleep on the sofa .

blotted- i just took another look at your DHs photos of Greer- its really lovely to see. I love the one of her in the bath- so chilled!

Glad you're feeling better today dollybird, hope your DH feels better soon too. Thanks for the compliment about the photos - I'm really enjoying it so far.

Hello all - v quick post, what this about sexy gear and getting it on. My goodness have you all started having the SEX thing again?? I freaked about having to insert a pessary the other day - never mind something bigger

pula you poor love (tho you story about your tragic morning did make me smile - hope you both feel better soon!) The other homeo remedy which is supposed to be brill is pulsatilla which you take with the belladonna - i used these when i started with it a week ago - brilliant and worked v quickly.

My pelvic infection has cleared up - thank goodness and am feeling much better

A still feeding roughly every 3 hours and def co sleep thru the long wee hours - i don't intend to but just fall asleep with him so easily....and he settles so much better with me.

Belgian (and others) I think I have the same problem - v windy, gripey baby so he feeds v well and then if i try to put him down he squirms and kicks and trumps and grumbles. Also not done a poo of any note for a few days but i think this is ok for a bf baby? Will check with HV tomo. Ok he's grumbling, I'd best go and de grumble him

Talk soon x

detsy no sex here yet.. although dh says he's keen for whenever i say i'm ready! yes it's normal for bf babies to sometimes not poo.. i'm sure i read somewhere that breast milk is more efficient/digested easier meaning less poo altogether.

evening all. just getting ready to watch the apprentice and having takeaway curry tonight (very lazy).

Harper went down tonight at 730pm with very little fuss, this is the 2nd day in a row that she seems to be settling well in her basket. detsy & belgium, she usually squirms, trumps, grumbles , etc like you mention.

I've done nothing differently but really believe that at some point babies just 'get it', ie this day/night, life thing. etc.

hope all are well tonight and that babies let everyone sleep .

detsy second Fi with the poo. DS once went a whole week without pooing. C is starting to go less and less. The amount she produces is also quite little in relation to the amount she feeds. Look at us doing all this baby poo talk!

Last night I made the mistake to bf C when she was actually just tired and a bit colicky, so I think it just made things worse and worse, you know one of those viscious cycle things. Anyway once I realised what was going on I stopped offering her the breast and she settled about half an hour later. The good old tummy rub worked a treat with her . She's over tired again, but I'm not going to fall into the overfeeding trap again. I'll see if I can settle her without feeding as she only fed an hour ago.

DH has had way too much to drink today. We went for 'a' drink today after the run with his friends that also ran. The drink turned out to become 10 in DH's case. All on an empty stomach as we both had no lunch. So by the time we went for our anniversary meal (with dcs), he was v. drunk and virtually falling asleep at the table. The dcs were tired and grumpy and I wished we had just gone home and stuck a pizza in the oven. It would have been easier. Maybe next year better?

Happy Anniversary Belgian - sorry to hear your DH was a bit drunk for your anniversary meal. Men, eh?

S went all day without a poo (rare for him, but when it came tonight, he was swimming in it ).

Momino - S decided to do a 6-8pm cluster feed tonight rather than just a normal feed but bet he still wakes at 10 for more.
He also cluster feeds 10-11.30 usually by which time i've given up on the thought of settling him back in his basket, and end up co-sleeping. I have also found the last few nights, its been me waking him up in the night as i'm uncomfortable- i'm sure he could go longer. But there's no point me delaying feeding him when my breast is so sore.

DH is now getting ready for work tomorrow... with his eyes closed on the sofa I on the other hand have been very organised as tomorrow might just be my first ever morning school run without dh, so I set the table and pre-prepared breakfast and I've made the lunches and prepared the dcs school bags. I'm normally never this organised. I usually do it all in the morning while rushing and shouting at the dcs that we're going to be late if they dont hurry up.

C is asleep now too. I'm starting to slowly but surely realise that she might be one of those babies who sometimes just need to cry themselves to sleep. Feeding her just seems to make her more and more unsettled this time of night and rocking doesn't seem to do anything either.