July 09 - Sore ladybits and melons for tits! [grin]

[Quiltedrose]

Ok so there's only 2 of us so far but felt duty bound as the first July delivery to start the thread off!

'Pop' in when you're ready!!

hi all, i finally found you

im new and in need of your support. been so nice reading your posts, i dont feel so alone now

I gave birth to my DS 08/07/09 he weighed 9lb exactly and was born by emergency c-section.

I am coping ok now but at the begining it was very hard. He has had colic and we tried all sorts. We are now on coleaf drops and gaviscon infant.

I hate the crying, such a painfull cry, really upsets me!!!

He gets really bad tummy aches and only seems to poo every 3rd day!!!

He feeds every 2-3 hours day and night. i have been so tired, but i hear it can only get better.

Had 6 week check and all is good

cant wait to chat to you all

Hi gemgem, glad you found us and someone pointed you in the right direction .

Congratulations on the birth of your ds. Are you recovering from your c-section ok? I had an emergency one last time and an elective one this time so i know that can make looking after the baby even harder because you're recovering yourself.

The colic is really hard to deal with isn't it? and there is nothing you can do to help them . Glad you are coping now and the colief and gaviscon are helping him

Are you bf or ff? My ds is ff now (was bf for first 3wks) and is feeding about every 3hrs.

Oh and yes it does get easier. Ds1 was sleeping through from around 8wks so i'm really, really hoping that in the next few weeks Noah does the same {wink]

Hi gemgem good to hear from you. You will get loads of support on here, there is always someone to talk to and to get advice from. Glad things are getting better for you. I always think the forst 6 weeks are the hardest and after that things seem to settle and slot into place sort of! My ds Max is 6 weeks on monday so I am hoping for light at the end of the tunnel!

Phoenix my other 2 slept through from 9 weeks, I just can't see Max doing that. We had a good night last night though, but nothing like the 5 hour stints the ohter 2 were doing by now. He goes 2 to 3 hours between feeds.

He has become very spotty again, having cleared up nicely. Its all over his face and now spreading to his chest and back. Does anyone have any ideas. Could it be the ff milk he is having in the evening? DD had a cows milk allergy but I can't remember what the symptoms were, I think it was more sicky than rash?

Anyway, hope you are all enjoying the lively weather xx

phonix Hello i am recovering fine from my c-section. the scar is very neat. i was in alot of pain for the fisrt 2 weeks and now im fine.

I hate that he has colic its so painful for him! cant wait till 3 months when they grow out of it? he is better but still has some painful feeds and does not enjoy his milk.

i am bottle feeding and have done from the start. maybe if i had breast fed he would not have these problems?

how many hours is classed as sleeping through? the most lucas has done is 5 hours. But hope 8 weeks brings more sleeping at night

patchybob Hi there Yep everyone says the first 6 weeks are the hardest,so i have got them out of the way so things are going to improve now im not very sure about what the rash could be. i will look it up and see if i find anything.

The weather is great, which we love as nothing better than getting out and about. Lucas is quiet when he is outside, he loves it xx

Hi all not posted for ages - but just had a read through and sounds like you're all having similar issues.
DS having some really bad days - yesterday couldn't put him down from 9am til 10pm - cried and fussed to be fed all day. I'm exhausted! Plus the feeding in the night 3-5am then 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 ... shattered. Plus toddler DD wanting the attention. Just need sleep and time to be an adult again.

I read through the baby list and realised I had the fattest baby in our group!! 10lb6oz - he's now 11:12 at 4 weeks. No wonder he feeds a lot. I'm determined not to switch to formula but it is sooooo tempting.

Largeglassofred ... I am bowing down to you!! You've exclusively BF twins to 8 weeks! Amazing - well done you!!!

bonzo ride it out. Sounds like a growth spurt to me. DD2 feed every 2 hours daytime and 4 hours night time when she did it. Settled for a while now but took over a week.

patchybob dd2 has a rash too. think it's either heat rash or to do with fabric conditioner. Is red pin pricks (but she's not ill with it) tried a wash without softener (only usea bit anyway) and seeing if it improves. that said it seems to be getting better minus the bottle of formula we were giving (see below)

lactose intolerance DD1 is lactose intolerant and was determined to think that dd2 was "normal" but the introduction of 1 bottle caused havoc day and night. colic in the middle of the night, disgusting mucusy poos etc. Awful. Using the SMA LF that we used with DD1 and it's settled down again. Decided whether it's L intolerance or not, will stick with eh SMA LF anyway cos for 1 bottle a day, does it matter as long as they are settled? Can work it out later on. Anyone else got experience of this or is it just me?

Welcome Gem

Just a quickie as DS has been on the boob ALL BLEEDING DAY!!!! It hurts and I am fed up.......would love advice. He now weighs 13lbs 6 at our check up on Fri and he is only 7 weeks! When does this feeding end? He has been like this most days since about 3 weeks. We are suffering from a shallow latch (9 bf people have checked it to date and have said I need to ride it out and wait for mouth to get bigger etc) and of course the tongue tie which he is still learning to stick out. It means on the days he decides to cluster I am in agony by the end of the day. And sometimes the only thing that settles him to sleep is me. I have tried 3 diff types of dummies and that doesn't work. Anyone else on the same boat?

I am also letting my 2 other LO's down a bit by not having playdates or many outings. At least the weather has picked up so they are in the garden.

Sorry to moan, just one of those days.

misspaella sorry you're suffering so much. Must be awful. What you really want is someone to tell you a magic cure for it, not just "ride it out!" I remember dreading feeding dd1. I distinctly remember latching her on once with a wooden spoon gripped between my teeth screaming in agony! Needless to say, it didn't last long after that! Hope it improves soon.

moby wrap THANKYOU to whoever recommended this amazing thing! It has saved my sanity!

Hi Gem just reading this thread will totally reassure you that you're not the only one! I know it does for me. No one tells you quite how difficult the first few weeks are, or if they did i took no notice! Second time round i'm finding the baby stuff so much easier, its dealing with a displaced toddler thats difficult!

Millie and I are both spotty! i'm not normally, it must be all those hormones still. talking of hormones i keep having some really fruity dreams! still not managed to do a gillyan yet!!

I'm also suffering at night still, 2 feeds mostly but being woken finally at 530 by the grunting! i have to bring her into bed to stop it.

hey misspaella have you thought about getting the tie cut? I know it sounds barbaric but may be an easy way to get round the feeding problem. My sister's son has a tongue tie but she didn't know it affected feeding until he was about 5. But he struggled to feed and was on and off and exhausted all the time. She wished someone had told her about having the tie cut as she would have done. I actually cut my own tie thingie by accident once as a kid. I think I was trying to lick my own nose (don't ask ... a competition with my sister or something) and I felt a splitting and it was that flesh bit and it had split about 5 mm. It didn't hurt and it healed really quickly.

Alternatively have you tried pumping the milk and giving it in a bottle for a couple of feeds a day? It is easier to get it out of a bottle for the baby - so he can get at least one easy / quick feed and it will still be breast milk and he may not be so tired - and neither will you. Just a thought.

Quick post before i go to bed, Bonzo - I think MissP has had her ds' tongue tie cut twice.

Pathcybob A good website about milk allergies, as the rash could be that?

www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthissues/foodintolerance/foodintolerancetypes/milkallergy/

but babies get rashes for all sorts of reasons. Heat? dribble?

Baby achne is again quite common and is a reaction to being out in the big wide world rather then the protected environment of the amniotic fluid. These look like any adult spot and should be cared for in the same way as mik spots.

hope that helps. Lucas has a rash on his arms and has milk spots but i just use boiled water to clean.

missp Going to see a lactation consultant might help? i feel so sorry for you. how brave! i did not even try to bf! make sure you use creams on your nipples, i hear kamillosan is good. x

Arrrrrrgh HEADACHES!!

Anyone else? Absolute killer ones, every bloody day all day and paracetamol only just takes the edge off (but am living on it).

Agony. Have stopped taking my Pregnacare postanatal in case that was contributing but really need some advice here or just some company in the headache club. Was crying last night cos they are just so awful.

It's in the forehead and worse for moving or doing anything remotely strenuous - includes pelvic floor exercises, which are hardly exactly strenuous!
Help.

Belgrano how long have you had the headaches? Can't remember what birth you had but sometimes an epidural can cause bad headaches? Could be tiredness? I get terrible migranes but that goodness they haven't come back yet...they will though. Have you tried those forehead strips? Tried them when I was pregnant and they were ok. Your gp will be able to tell you what you can take. I was allowed to take some migraine stuff when pregnant and am sure there is alot more you can take now. There is no point suffering as it is so debilitating. Hope you feel better.

gemgem83 thanks for the advice. I saw my health visitor today and she has given me some oilatum (sp?) Plain aqueous cream has helped his face but his face is awful bless him. she said it is unlikley to be the milk as he would also have other symptoms.

We are all off out tonight. We have arranged a blind date for a friend of ours with a friend of a friend, they were both to nervous to meet on their own (ah bless) so we are all going out together! Should be a laugh watching them. All the kids are coming aswell so it wount be romantic...just funny! First night out for Max!

Evening all
missp I feel your pain - we're still having fussiness and thrashing on the breast. Working through the Kellymom list for fussiness and fretting, colic and 6 week growth spurt cluster feeding. Trying breast compressions at the moment which hopefully ought to speed things up a bit for Hetty if I understand how they work correctly, so if the let-down or milk flow is slow it should help. Would it be worth a try for you? Wouldn't do anything for shallow latch I guess, but may speed the feed up? Alternatively I'm contemplating numbing the nips with lashings of Bonjela prior to each feed - only kidding!
spotty child here too - rang the out-of-hours GP service on Sunday who said it was probably a virus - after a thorough examination at pram pushing group today the general consensus of opinion was heat rash - she's fine in herself and the boob fussing has been around much longer than the rash so I'm not relating the two.
Better go - she's screaming the house down in DP's arms. She'll want the boob again but it's like feeding a baby alligator

Has anyone given contraception a thought? I had my 6wk check today and the doc asked me but i don't know what to go for. He gave me a leaflet about Implanon. It sounds ok, has anyone on here had it? I started a thread here to ask what other people have

Noah had his hospital appointment today. What a waste of an appointment that was. It was basically to tell me the results of his kidney scan, they were fine and then she looked at his hand and said something like 'oh yes that looks the same as it did when i saw him after he was born, ok we don't need to see him again, he's fine' Could they not do that over the phone/by letter?

belgrano have also had stinky headaches. Are you BF? Need to drink 16 glasses of water a day allegedly.. well double your normal amount... which for me is like 3 glasses a day Am hopeless but been really good recently. I can drink a carton of juice a day. Expensive but as my mum put it, you're not paying for formula!

rashes dd has one all over her face and chest but seems well. Suspect the heat She's a sweaty little bod!

activity Poangs are great, not just for BF! I bought myself a wigey cushion to feed with but the best use has been to have it round behind my back when I've been feeding to try and correct my posture. That said my back also killing but dd is not the smallest of cherubs and all this slinging prob not helping!

phoenix contemplating IUS as due to lactose intolerance can't take the pill and don't want an implant/injection as if it disagrees with me I can't take it out. (have had bad problems with the pill making PMT worse!) Even tried the pill patch for a while but hated taking it off (OUCH!) and everyone thought it wasa nicotine patch!

colic I may have mentioned it before but just in case those of you suffering with colicy babies I highly recommend cranial osteopathy. My ds had severe colic till 14/15 months when we finally caved and took him sceptically to the osteo and we have never looked back for us it was like a miracle cure. I sympathise wholeheartedly with you as it nearly broke my marriage up it was so stressfull.
contraception I really don't know what to go for as I think we will preob be going for no4 fairly soon... (yes Alfie is an Angel at the mo!)
gem helloooo!
bigbabies Alfie is more than filling all his 3-6 month clothes. Everyone thinks he is about 6 months when they coo in the pram where is my little newborn? Will tell you how much he weighs later in week as he is due jabs and I have my 8 wk check
bonzo think it was you who said about baby not liking the phil and teds. Have you tried swaddling whilst in it (or horror of horrors putting them on their front) Alfie will now not sleep on his back at all which is causing me a few issues with prams and car seats

wind any advice on winding? takes me ages to get Ds wind up, what am i doing wrong? he gets so frustrated, he crys for his milk so i give it to him them he is in too much pain to drink it so crys even more!! i dread feeding time, especially at night.

Contraception im back on the pill now, doc put me on Yasmin. I was going to try the coil but was talked out of it by friends and family who had problems with it.

bonding My DP gets so upset that he cant settle DS. he gives him to me and he stops crying! and i feel so bad. He works alot and i dont know what to do to help the problem? i dont want to be the only one who can settle him!

weight DS now weighs 12lb 2oz at 6 week check, so he is doing well i think.

headaches when i get bad headache i take codine+paracetamol which works and i drink lots of water. also 4head is good which i used when i was pregnant.

colic it was suggested to have cranial osteopathy on DS but it is too expensive for me at the moment. Apparently the way he was born can be why he has colic! if only i could have pushed him out, he would not have these problems!

going out me and DP are having a night out next week for his birthday and DS is staying with my mum over night!!! i feel so guilty tho i really want to enjoy the night but i will worry so much. does anyone think leaving him is bad? he will be 8 weeks. im not sure what to do?

postnatal depression Anyone have this or had this? the gp put me on citalopram 20mg, i feel like a failure!!! why do i feel like that when i have everything i want???

Gem - Don't feel guilty about him staying overnight, the break will do you good. My ds1 started sleeping at my mums on a friday when he was 2week old. He's now 3.6 and he still does. Noah hasn't yet but she keeps hinting that she will if we want her to. For some weird reason i feel more protective about him staying over than i did with ds1

Noah settles better with me than on dh too. Have you tried infacol or gripe water for his wind?

I've just been for my post natal GTT and they said they've changed how they do it now and they only do a fasting blood test and after that i could go home. No lucozade, no sitting around for 2hrs and no second blood test. I was in and out of the hospital within 20mins cos i didn't have to pay anything for the car park. They say if the results ok i won't hear from them, fingers crossed they are

Gem postnatal depression I have this I am not on meds yet as I think mine is clearing so you have my sympathy mine was caused through visitors staying all hours so now that I have put a stop to it it is clearing up So maybe mine was just stress.

But you have my sympathy I felt nothing, like an empty shell like I was going through the motions but there was no one there trying not to let anyone see then when I was alone would cry because I wasn't happy and loved up with my dd and I felt guilty and angry because I felt cheated but my dp caught me and we spoke to hv and just speaking about it made me feel better and being left alone to come around on my own, and now I am mostly happy as long as no one says anything confrontational I feel fine so I hope yours clears up soon there is a thread on postnatal depression somewhere but I can't seem to find it again.

Also I let dp do all of dd baths with ds so that they have a job that I don't do and it lets them bond without me I also hand dd to dp when colicky as she sees me and thinks milk trolley and then ends up with a worse bad belly and she dosn't ask dp for milk so he has a chance to settle her stomach.

contraception I am using a diaphram I get ill with all forms of the pill I have tried and we used it last time and it works really well for us.

colic My dd has this but not as bad as ds hv gave me a great massage that stops her crying when she is colicky and gets the wind up. you put your arm in between her arms and legs with her head resting by your elbow and let her arms nd legs hang like a tiger in a tree and massage her belly and tap her back with the other hand.

Thanks for help on headaches. I think mine were largely caused by Pregnacare....so watch out for them if you're taking it! Agree that it's hard to drink enough water though.

Oliver's dressed in real clothes today for the first time. So sweet! I think he'll be back in a babygro while he's still small enough though. I so love them tiny, don't you all?

Gemgem please don't beat yourself up about PND, I haven't had it but have plenty of friends who have/had it. Its a condition not a choice but it must be really tough. Thinking of you.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a)colic b) fussing at the breast c) a baby alligator to feed - LOL Jetli!!

I've/we've also got thrush of the boob/mouth variety now. [Belgrano scratching at poor sore nips as she writes] I have to force baby to take Nystatin revolting sticky bitter medicine 4 times a day. It's making him gag and cry and I feel awful!

Also I now have something called atrophic vaginitis - basically v sore, scratchy, thrush-like lady bits which are described in doc-speak as 'menopausal' due to levels of oestrogen having dropped cos of bf. They have prescribed Vagifem - oestrogen pessaries which I used last time with DD. However I have looked on internet and they are linked with a drop in milk production and with various cancers! Blardy hell I used it for 8 months last time not realising. Was wondering if anyone here has any experience with this or any natural remedies or simply has ever had it too?

Sorry so long! DD at childcare, so time to MN. Bliss!