FEB 2010 Valentines, pancakes and BABIES!!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Here it is, then - the post natal thread for the Feb 2010 gang - let the poo/bf/nappy rash/sleeplessness/crying

OMG whatdoIdonow!! conversations commence...

I'm trying to take a leaf from IC's book and type one-handed while BF, unfortunately it's my left hand .

Lerryn's two weeks today and I'm still in shock at how much time she takes up... Looking back at my days of ML why didn't I heed everyone's advice and ENJOY the restful days?! Of course I love having her but it is just 24 hours, non-stop round the clock babycare.

I'm very confused by her erratic feeding habits, she sometimes feeds three or four hourly and sometimes (like tonight) will barely leave the breast. I assume she's taking comfort rather than is hungry? The MW said that you can't overfeed a BF baby but she is a little greedy one, I have my doubts...

I think someone (IC?) asked if anyone was using reusable nappies, we are, so are washing a load each day as well as all the clothes she's soaked through as the outers often leave a small gap where wet nappy touches clothes. Gluttons for punishment...

Good luck to all with sore nipples etc. Personally I would just like about a week's worth of SLEEP...

fizzi try tucking the edges of the nappy in the way round the legs. Also everything needs to be snug which is probably tighter than you think.
Nothing should be leaking thru. check on the nappy thread loads of nappy ladies with great advice might have more ideas.
Also are the nappies sodden maybe try changing more often if they are.

Sorry if sound bossy but used to sell real nappies and get quite passionate about making them work for people.

hi everyone.

Just popping in to say hi while there is a quiet moment in the broon household. I haven't read all the thread, but will try my best to keep up....

DS1 is in bed and DS2 is asleep in the wrap sling. I never used one for ds1 but hands free nursing wasn't so essential with just one child. I am actually typing two handed just now

DS2 is sleeping really well at night. I got 3x3hrs out of him for the last couple of nights which is manageable, especially given that I'm not likely to get afternoon naps myself for very long.

Feeding is going well too. I have so much milk! DS1 is coming in handy to help when I get engorged although he wants to feed all the time. I have told him that he can have quite a lot for another week or so, and then we are only going to do milk at bedtime/morning and maybe once or twice through the day. It is weird nursing them together. DS2 is like a mouse nibbling on one side and ds1 like an elephant on the other!!

I am feeling that everything is coming together nicely and then I remember that my foot feels like a brick on the end of my leg and that I can barely walk other than round the house without my ortho boot. If it wasn't for the ankle, I really feel that normal life would probably have resumed by now.

Anyway, I hope you are all getting on ok. I don't get much chance to get on MN these days, but will try my best.

Ah, great to hear from you, mawbroon - glad it's all going well, ankle notwithstanding (see what I did there?!)

fizi I echo the nappy advice - if all is tucked in and the nappy is done up snugly, you should hopefully avoid leaks.

raindrop - the Pop-in nappies I'm using are working well, but for one thing - ongoing nappy rash. Olive oil works best at stopping it from getting out of control (better than the various creams we've tried), but we can't get rid of it. Any tips?

A much better night last night - and indeed day before that. I've reluctantly conceded that DD's latch isn't efficient enough and therefore she's not getting as much milk out of me as she needs. So I've started expressing again to top her up with EBM and stop my supply from running down. Seems to be doing the trick - a lot less fussing and she's sleeping (and napping) better. Bloody expressing, though.... hoped I'd finished with that. Never mind.

not sure how hot you can wash pop in. but wash a couple of times as hot as possible with no detergent. You mentioned before she had had thrush? It might be lurking in the nappies so the above should kill it off.
Fleece liners will wick moisture away from her skin or silk liners are really hypoallergenic.
as she was a bit early her skin will be more sensitive to the elements so it will prob sort itself out in time.
HTH

Thanks raindrop - I'll try what you suggest.

Great to hear from the newly joining mums!

I've finally managed to put DS into his Bumgenius yesterday! So now it's reusable during the day and disposable at nights (the time to use the Pampers supply!). no leaks so far but he is an heavy wetter so get soaked very easily, I am now trying with 2 baby inserts... story to be continued.

We are roughly into a routine, DS feeding every 3 1/2 to 4 hours and sleeping mostly during the afternoon and night.

fizy if you think your LO is feeding just for the comfort of suckling, have you try a dummy? I use one (even if I sweared I'll never use one) and it gives DS the comfort to settle down during the night and between feeds.

DS wears a vest and sleepsuit during the nights and a vest + outfit during the day, as I think it is good to make a difference between the day and night, like watercress said.

Samuel is starting to wake up now so it'll be feeding time!

Sleepsuit vs Babygrow... I think they're the same thing but not 100% sure! We have little Mothercare nighties called bundlers for night time. They make nappy changes much quicker which is great. Speaking of nappies, he's outgrown his first size already

DS wouldn't settle at all last night, he just seemed to have the most awful trapped wind and I couldn't get it all up in a burp. Just when he seemed to settle he'd wake up and cry Managed to keep my calm til 6am when Tesco opened and went and got Dentinox Colic Drops (read MN in the night looking for advice!) which seemed to ease it straight away and we got a couple of hours kip. Whew.

My ring sling arrived. It's ok and have managed a one handed breastfeed but I think I'd still like to try a moby or some other stretchy wrap sling. Hmm this could be one of those endless searches...

The wee man is calling, gtg feed here too!

the other thing to remember when swapping between reusables and disposables(same day/night system here Gurnsey)is cloth does get really wet.
Using fleecr liners (have bum genius got fleece lining? bit out of touch with all the diff types out there now)keeps bubba feeling dry.
i can wring out my terries after taking them off sometimes DS can pee for britain, but his bum is always dry to the touch. Not had a puddle in the wrap yet but it was known with DS2.

We are using bundlers too they are fab for night time nappy changes.
Gap have ones in 3-6 month size if anyone is looking for bigger sizes, alot of places just do newborn size.
DS grew out of those in the first week he is 12lbs now at 5 weeks where has my newborn gone .

hi all and congrats to Mawbroon. We're with you all on the tiredness and we're only 3 weeks and 2 days in! It isn't helped by DS1 having really bad conjunctivitis which has meant that he has had two really bad nights alongside the feeding/burping/changing rituals.
Did my second full day with both children on my own today and it was a very long day (hence sitting, catching up on here while DH tidies the kitchen!). Had to put eye drops into screaming DS every two hours and gaviscon into the tiny one as well. Didn't really feel like I had time to enjoy them today-just moved from one nappy change to the next administering meds in between . As DS1 is still infectious, I get to do it all again tomorrow as he can't go to the childminder. I did manage not to cry today though and only forgot to brush DS1's teeth-personally I think this counts as a success!!
Wishing you all a good night's sleep.

Hi all,

Six weeks in tomorrow and feeling more tired than ever. Having cranky windy nights which often means Otto is awake from 2am til 4 then again at 6. Before I would sink into an exhausted sleep as soon as he went to sleep but now I'm not able to get back to sleep that quickly. DP doesn't help much with loud snoring just at the wrong moment

My days are good though. Putting Otto in his chair has been a breakthrough, he is much happier awake or asleep and we even get to eat dinner!

Still on the EBM top ups, weigh in tomorrow and I am seriously worried about bursting into tears if he has not out on any or much weight again, may have to give in to formula. Sorry to hear you are back to this regime IC, it's quite exhausting but glad your DD seems happier so at least it feels worth the hassle.

Anyone else with one or more toddlers around feel like the days are just whizzing by in a blur of childcare runs, nappies, BF and more nappies? So much for the babymoon, poor DS!

I think its time to for me to start thinking about all the cakes and biscuits I managed to inhale over the last 9 months and try shifting the 2 stone that wasnt actually baby......(however thinking is all i will probably do) does anybody know of a gym in South London with a creche?

Clappedout, I have a 3.5yo as well as the new baby, and the days whizz by! I 'm definitely more focused on the toddler than the LO, and had to explain to DD1 today that I couldn't turn her story tape over as I was giving a bottle. When her bottom lip started quivering, I explained that when she was a baby I only had to look after her and wasn't she lucky to have had such undivided attention?! She seemed to accept this and has been a bit more tolerant since!

Managed to catch up on some sleep last night by going to bed at 8:30pm. DD2 repaid us by angellically only waking up at 12:15am (I put her down at 7:30pm), 3:45am and then 6:30am. I should really have got her up then, but she seemed to want more sleep, so by 7am she was asleep again and didn't wake up until 8:15am! I'm assuming this is a one-off, though she does seem quite happy to go down at 7:30pm each day so I do get a bit of time off.

I'm in utter admiration of those of you doing the reuseable nappy thing. I'm feeling quite the slummy mummy in comparison, with my disposables and formula ways.

To be honest Dh is on nappy washing duty as they get done in with his rugby or gym kit everyday. So the clean nappies just appear in the basket and the dirty ones disappear out of the bucket.
I also lie in bed and feed the baby the majority of the day, didn't get up till 11am today. So slummy mummys here too. Dreading DH going back to work.

Hi All,

I did go into labour on the day i posted on the ante thread (3rd) at 15:00, but she was stubborn and didn't come until Fri 5th 18:25, despite midwife telling me she should be out by thurs nite at the latest. Very tiring in the end. On the plus side, the sleep deprivation before hand meant i haven't felt as tired since the baby arrived as i thought i would (already well practiced).

We named her Esme (Esmerelda Ruth) and she weighed 6lb, 12.5oz coming in 8 days late.

Apart from being long, the labour wasn't too bad actually. It felt like when your drunk, and you can only remember flashbacks the next day. After over 24hrs stuck at 4cm, had a ARM, two hrs later hit transition, with a 2 and half hour second stage. Ended up with a 3rd degree tear, and she was a back labour (which for some reason i assumed i just wouldn't have). Also had a asthma attack on the gas and air (and needed a nebulizer) which i think set things back quite a bit. That meant i had to go without G&A when it got going properly again which was a shame, as it was amazing. In the end made do with a reduced shot of diamorhine (as i'm only 5foot). hmmm, this makes it sound a lot worse than it was. Was in three days (post natal) in the end, as it took just over 2 days to perform the required functions.

6 days later, things are going well, breastfeeding seems to be nicely established, just hoping it lasts. Have got past engorgement. Just waiting for the reusable trial pack to arrive and then another mini adventure starts. Still not out of PJ's yet, but i stupidly didn't buy any nursing tops (but a friend had given me loads of nursing nightwear)

Will catch up on everyone's stories later, so sorry for sending out well dones etc.

Hope your all doing well

Just thought, am i supposed to be on Mar thread if she was born in Mar. Just i never posted on the Mar ante-natal thread so am not sure, am so confused ...

Hi All

I am totally a slummy mummy - DH is still doing most of the chores and I'm still spending ridiculous amounts of time in bed..

But that doesn't include much in the way of sleep...

Speaking of which, I'm doing some gentle sleep training (as far as you can with a six week-old!) to try and transition DD from sleeping on me to sleeping beside me or - even better - in her side-car bed. She did well last night - slept in both situations AND on her back, which was progress. Wish I'd slept as well - her racketty REM sleep kept me up part of the time and maternal anxiety did the rest when she was quiet.

flying, did you get a Cocoonababy in the end? I'm considering getting one for our LO. Quite a lot to spend for only a few months, but I figure I can resell it on when we're done. Anyway, a review would be very interesting!

ClimberChick, I had DD in Jan, but figured we had been due in Feb, so I stuck with the Feb crowd - feel free to stay in the Feb club too, especially as you've been getting to know us!! And congratulations on the arrival of Esme. (reiterated on the AN thread...)

ClimberChick congratulations and off course you can stay with us!

I have swapped the normal formula for a 'hungrier baby' one as DS had decided last night that he wanted to feed every 2 hours!! So today is the start of a new stage (I actually can't remember how many stages we have done for the last 5 weeks ); fingers crossed that it will work as I don't know what to do with his appetite!

Lucky you if you spend most of your days in bed! I just can't, my mind goes around all the stuff to do re. house chores and baby caring... today, it's gardening as I'm dying to get rid of the weeds which have invaded the front garden... I AM OFFICIALLY MAD!!!!!

Hello everyone. Isn't it hard finding a spare minute to mumsnet?

Congratulations to climberchick (you must stay with us) and mawbroon so glad you got your VBAC in the end.

First let me say how utterly envious I am of those of you who get to stay in bed and/or get a nap during the day. Make the most of only having one dc while you can. My dd had her birthday last week so we had to organise a party for 20 four yr olds on top of getting her to her usual swimming/ballet/tap classes.I get a bit sad sometimes that I don't get to spend the same time with Sam that I did with her when she was tiny, because I am always rushing around.

Sam is doing well although he has his first cold already and a really sticky eye. Luckily his appetite hasn't been affected and he is bang on target for his 3 week growth spurt and feeding every 2 hours, as well as cluster feeding for 4 hours in the evening. I am hoping this extra feeding has a positive effect on my own waistline. Although I am only 3 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight my shape is a long way from how it used to be. I would really like to be back in shape by summer.

Oh I recognise the grunts coming through the monitor. My little man is requiring another feed. He sounds like a pig snuffling for truffles when he is hungry Better get myself comfy for another marathon feeding session.

Best wishes to all mums and babies

Poppy seems to have settled into a better feeding pattern again now after the feeding frenzy at the weekend/beginning of the week. The problem now is that I can't get her to settle in her moses basket between feeds, so we've been bedsharing. I feel really bad about it, I don't know why because I actually really enjoy having her snuggled up to me on a night and I love the noises she makes as she's waking me up (I have a snuffly pig also Chinook).

We've started giving Poppy a bottle of expressed milk on a night, only because DH wanted to feed her. He loves it, but she looks confused, as if to say 'daddy, it's not usually you who gives me milk'. She's not taking a full feed from the bottle as she still needs a breastfeed about half an hour after the bottle, but DH is loving it. He didn't ask to do it though as he was worried about it affecting her breastfeeding, which it hasn't, bless him.

xx

Congrats new Mummies!

I slept last night! After 3 nights in a row of DS not settling til 4/5/6am I thought I was going to go loopy. 2 hours sleep in th early morning and 30min naps in the day is not enough for me to be sane. So I went to bed after dinner last night at 8pm and DH looked after LO & brought him through for feeds & did burping/settling. Fed at 10pm, 1am, when DH came to bed, 5am and was awake and conscious as DH got ready for work. Bliss.

I'd love to co-sleep but DH smokes (outside) and the say that's a no no.

I've both got used to the ring sling now too which is much easier. We also tried a dummy a couple of nights ago - but he mostly spat it out as if to say but where's the milk! When he did get the hang of it it just kept falling out every 10 mins but it did settle his screams.

We're also using Colocynth granules - its a homeopathic remedy recommended by the BF advisor and seems to be helping with the wind. Apparently BF babies get lots of little bubbles of air which are harder to shift than big gulps.

We had another 7 hour screaming session last evening / night. I call these the "do you think it could be the babygrow?" nights... because when you are trying every damn thing to calm her there's the ultimate point where one of you in your sleep deprived madness becomes convinced that the problem is The Babygrow.

The up side was that when she finally settled she slept for 5.5 hours! So I caught up a bit. And has been napping all day... she wears herself out poor thing. I daren't wake her to pop out to post the mothering sunday card for my mum, let's hope I can catch the last post.

I've been told on good authority that my very first mothering sunday present will be series 1 and 2 of Mad Men on DVD. What can I say.... my 5 wk old daughter is already tuned into the cultural zeitgeist!

Finally managed to get on the PN thread - yay! Technically my LO is a March baby - but only just - he was born March 1st...can I stay on this thread as he was due in Feb?

Had a v long 48 hour labour with 2 shots of diamorphine - ended up with a 1st degree tear but a v healthy baby boy

It's such a relief to read this thread and find out that so many of you are having the same issues about sore nipples / lack of sleep / inability to get anything non baby-related done, definitely makes me feel less like the only one having issues!

The sore nipple thing is making me dread the next feed which makes me feel like an awful mother DS is 11 days old today - can anyone reassure me that it does get easier? I think his latch is the problem - and I have blood blisters above both of my nipples from where he was latched wrongly and not getting any milk but sucking hard to try and get some - ouch. My breast pump arrived the other day and I was thinking of expressing some so DH can bottle feed - but I mentioned this to the midwife and she said he might not go back on the breast if I do this, anyone got any advice?

Also still sore "down there" - if I stand for any length of time I get really achy. Am doing my pelvic floor exercises but so far it's not helping much.

Sorry for such a whingey post - feel like I know nothing at all about babies when I read it back to myself. But I do keep trying to remind myself that he is only 11 days old and it will get easier as I get used to it.

Am so impressed by all of you with toddlers - wow, how do you do it?!

Sending nipple soothing vibes to all who need it!

Hello everyone, trying a one fingered iPhone post here!

IC yes we bought, or were given, the cocoonababy. I am not convinced. If Victoria wants to sleep, she'll sleep anywhere and if she doesn't, then it's car or pushchair time. It is good though but I wouldn't pay the price myself.

Longer post to come...