July 2005 babies

[AussieSim]

Welcome all those with fresh new babies. Oh the joys and tribulations. Post the lot here!

I hope I haven't overlooked a previous thread here for us. Anyway, here goes.

DS2 was due 3 July but arrived 29 June, 9lb 6oz. He has been growing nicely and is 4 weeks old today. I am breastfeeding and have already had mastitis and thrush but am pushing on with it. Biggest problem is sometimes he sleeps too long in the day and then wakes up a lot in the night, not that he stays awake for long, just long enough to feed and go back to sleep. The Midwife says that I shouldn't worry about his lack of wakefulness for the moment in the absence of any other issues, and to see how he is going around the 6 week mark. She also said I should wake him up during the day, which I have been reluctant to do, but I think I will have to do. Anyone else got an overly sleepy baby who doesn't seem to be growing out of it quickly enough?

wow, everyone's so busy.

hope your tonsilitis is better pm, how horrid for you. isn't swimming wonderful, mb, i managed to go quite a lot on holiday. it's the only form of exerise i can bear. am really keen to get back to swimming at the gym when we get home, but not sure how to work out the logistics - i don't want to put dd into the creche.

dd is most certainly not sleeping through the night, lolasmum - ha ha, i wish. she feeds a couple of times, but literally for 10 minutes each time & then straight back into her basket with no fuss. can't complain. ds was much keener on staying in bed with us (& still is, at 3.5....).

dd is so much bigger, her face is much fatter & she's so long! lots of cooing & smiling. i think she should start working out what her hands are for soon, but i've forgotten everything since ds! we're up wtih my parents & having a very lazy time. well, i am - ds is being wildly entertained & dd is being cuddled. bliss.

re parenting strategies - we don't really have one! we muddle along, no disasters so far. tend to the attachment/pick them up a lot/don't let them cry school of thought, i can't do routine to save my life.

what's a dora disco?

today i feel ferociously protective. we're having our big party in a few hours - for dps
40th and vin's 0th...about 40 people + kids are
coming. i've got my mum on sentry duty to the nursery and a very short list of who can actually touch him to minimise stress on him. but i am practising under my breath nice phrases like 'i will take him now - too much stimulation and he won't sleep tonight/he is too little to understand what is happening'

rather than what i can now tell i will actually feel: 'f!$! off and leave my darling alone you cack handed lump of weirdness...' And I don't think that would go down well with his great grand ma....

sigh

deffo keep the number of faces v. low if you can, mb.

dd gets a bit mad if she meets too many new people or gets held by too many new people etc. Can affect her for hours afterwards.

One strategy is maybe to show him off when he's asleep (dd is unphased by everything once she's in the land of nod), or else declare he's got really bad diarrhoea, LOL....

hello everyone and glad to hear everyone is well and happy!
darling D is thriving apart from being cranky in the afternoons and evenings- she is very windy and hiccupy and we have a few stressed hours every day trying to get those burps up. I am definitely going to try cranial osteopathy now as several of you seem to be having some luck- plus I hope they can sort my back out which is still very painful and I still can't carry The Beauty around with me for too long.
I still keep thinking that someone is going to come to the front door and say 'fun's over, we have to have her back now', I still look at her and don't believe she's mine!
dh went back to work last week which was very strange, and hard work. I am being very naughty as I don't seem to be able to make myself good meals and I am snacking rather a lot still- I am starting to feel like the weight is creeping on! Must wean myself off the jaffa cakes eventually...
anyway, The Beauty is calling for some grub so happy Bank Hol everyone! x

Anyone's babba in a grobag thingy yet ?

Mine is, hub. She was in a 1.0 Tog when it was hot at nights, but now it's so much colder she's in a 2.5. Not every night as we only have 1 bag in each tog rating and if she possets/upchucks on the shoulder it's out of action until I've washed it

grobags are fantastic. being a lax 2nd time mum i put dd in one about a month ago when i don't think she quite weighed the 10lbs she should have done. definitely bigger than that now though, & she sleeps really well in it. despite being not quite 9 weeks i think we might need to move onto the next size soon. you can get proper grobags for £12.50 in tkmaxx, or there are some in the mothercare sale at the moment.

Thanks. As soon as dd hits 10 lbs, I think I'll try it. We've got one of the 'Euro' ones (Bébébag by Candide or whatever).. not sure it shares the same '6 week / 10 lb' recommendation... hmmm..

Been trying to get her to sleep for over one hour after her feed (at midnight).

buggerpantswahwah. Feed / Cuddle / Wind / Rest > Bed / Dummy (woops) / Dummy (woops) / Dummy (woops) / Dummy (woops) arghhhhhh.

OK: Do you have any tricks ? Cuddle till she's asleep and then put her in bed ? Do any kind of night-time activity (ie. toys of some description just so her mind has had a little 'stretch') ? Give a tad more milk (bottle feeding parents) ?

(Usually it's feed > bed no probs... maybe this is just universal karma ??? )

hmmm... dw now has her... and we're giving some extra milk as apprently dd is hungry... not sure this 'cut back a bit' lark from the HV (supposed overfeeding) is really helping our sanity, LOL. Think I'd rather have her a tad chubby and a big grin across my face, like this:

Night.

I dodn't even read the instructions on the grobag so had no idea about the 10lb thlng

Hope you got some sleep, Hub! I keep things v quiet for the night feed - dim lighting, no chatting etc and she generally goes back to sleep v quickly.

We've got ds in a growbag too. Has been for about 2 weeks now and does sleep lots better for it. I am still using our 1 tog bag with a baby gown underneath (nappies won't fit under a vest) and I find he is much better especially during night feeds. Last night ds slept from 9 pm until 4 am (btw Hub, please don't think that is boasting as we then have a marathon feedathon from 4 til 6 - about 3 times I think last night!)

In terms of tricks, I have been keeping ds with us downstairs either napping in moses basket or in his bouncy chair in between feeds and then taking him up to bed with us at 10ish. Over the last few nights I have noticed that if I feed him to sleep at 9 he stays asleep untill the small hours of the morning ( usually longer if fed a bottle). Last night I fed, changed and growbagged him and then put him in the moses basket in our room and left the light off and had no probs at all. I guess you could say we've done it in stages really. I agree with Mrsd re: low lights no talking if they wake up. I feed in bed at night (because I'm lazy, not because I'm particularly ap) which is also good for low stimulation too.

Speaking of sleep, dh has been really worried about us sleeping with ds at night and so we have ordered a bedside crib for him. Hopefully it will last a bit longer than our moses basket which he will have to come out of soon as it is starting to wobble every time he moves around in it .

Merryberry, I hope your party went well and vin wasn't too disrupted by all those people.

Pamina @ Dora Disco - like the sound of that .

Will have to go and catch up on all the rest of the posts now. I have been trying to post for ages, just never get a chance to with 3 children in the house! Back later.....

Yes h2d i keep it comatose too: dim lights too. i smile but don't speak. i say shhhhhh-shhhhhhh and pat in time with the shhh-shhhhhh. i wait until the tension is out of his body and lay him down again if he cries again i repeat. most repeats were 14. goes down now with 1-4 repeats.

vin cries a bit before every sleep. very different to the OW cry or the FEED MEEEEEE!!! cries. Yes its a cry but not one with wellie. I am coming rond to the belief that crying before sleep is how they get rid of tension. So I don't mind it much, and just try to pass on to him how calm and safe I feel, without stimulation. It works for us cos he's even getting to be shh-shh-able with just a calm hand on his belly in his bed - ie not even pick up sometimes.

I always get in there quick tho'. I don't let him cry for more than a couple of minutes. We have gro bags but don't use yet: he's barely been anything less than boiling since he was born and where is sleeps is not cool...but we have them and will get going on them as soon as the rooms come down below 21 degrees. I just have him in a long sleeved/legged reasonably thick babygro instead. And on hot nights a short one.

xx

Oh dear, didn't realise about the 10lbs thing! Bessie has been in a gro-bag since she came out of hospital! She was in 0.5 tog one to start with as it was very hot(and again last night) and cooler nights shes in the 1 tog one. I've bought some extra ones from ebay. They were between £5 and £6 each and in really good condition. I think now the grobags are helping to settle her in the evening. When we take her upstairs we have low lighting, change her and put her into her grobag. She then has a feed and almost always settles immediatly into her crib which is by her bedside. However agitated she is when we're downstairs, she always seems to settle pretty quickly upstairs.

Harriett - poor you with your back. I can't recommend the people I saw enough. They were fantastic. If the link i posted doesn't work, and if you're interested in them, let me know and I'll CAT you the details. They specialise in babies and pregnancy (and post) related back problems.

Hope your party went well Merry Berry.

Both children are quiet so I know need to do some work....

Hi Everyone. Hope you all had good weekend. We went camping with some friends. It was really good to get away and Violet was a dream, no huge crying sessions which worried me. Didnt want evicting from the campsite for waking everyone up!

Well done to all those growing babies. I have no idea what Violet weighs. Seems that because she is my 3rd i dont get any after sales service so to speak! HV coming today for 6 week check so suppose they will weigh her then. She seems fine, although Ihave now managed to convince myself that she is so unfazed by life and such a 'good' baby that there is something wrong with her. Her birthmark continues to grow, I am going to speak to HV today and see how I can get someone else to look at it. It does concern me although it probably shouldn't. I am sure the over worrying is possibly part of my baby blues which seem to come over me in terrible waves for a couple of days and then pass as if nothing has happned. Sure it will settle soon. Anyone else suffering with them?

Eulalia, Paul is beautiful. Well done for finally getting round to that champagne.

HC, having periods back is a pain. I was 5 months with dd1, 3 months with ds, just hoping I go a bit longer this time.

LOL Pamina about the belly being like a puppy. Mine too follows me around in the bed. My weight loss has definately come to a standstill and unfortunately about 2 stone heavier than I would like. Might actually have to think about putting some effort in now which is disappointing.

Will try to keep up more regularly with this thread as I find it hard to sit down for long enough to catchup if I leave it more than a couple of days.

Thanks for all input.

Just to clarify that Bad Daddy does soothe / stroke / calm on crying outbursts, picks up if needed too, puts back when calmer etc... it's just last night was slightly marathonesque (probably more notable because she's always so little trouble IYSWIM)... when you've done all checking (temp / nappy / food etc.) it's such a racket, eh...

.. I'm like a bear with a sore head today, LOL.

well the party was wonderful. it was all very grown up having caterers and booze delivered. and very relaxing. it was a good day alround, and dp was given his preferred b'day prezzies of food and booze (mostly booze) to such an extent i think we can go without shopping for several months.

i'll lob some photos up when i have a few more sent in...he and i didn't take many after the 1st hour: too busy hosting....xx

DD's paed appmt went ok - the MRI confirmed what we already knew about, and everything else seems normal. I hadn't looked beyond this appointment, but the paed wants to see her every other nonth, and will send us to a neurologist who will hopefully see her just once.

So far, it's all meeting the "best case" criteria, so I don't know why the appmt has left me feeling so down. I guess they have to qualify every reassuring conmment with the proviso that we still need to see how she develops - but it still scares me silly to hear it. I loathe having these hospital appointments in my diary.

Sorry to be so droopy... my next post will be nice and cheery...

And if I have any more babies, NO MORE SCANS!!

MB - glad to hear the party went well.

Pinkmama - where did you go camping? No baby blues here. I did get them for a few days around 7 days post birth but nothing much since. I think getting back to school and a routine helped ... well a routine with the older two that is... although ds2 is relatively easy there is no sign of any kind of routine with him yet but it is early days. Thankfully he has no colic and doesn't cry much.

I seem to be doing well money-wise with ds2 - every time we go out it seems, someone gives me a pound or two "for the baby". I think this is just a Scottish custom.

Had to go to a meeting last night (I am on the school board). ds woke just before I was due to leave so took him with me (hadn't got round to sorting out steraliser, bottles, batteries for pump etc...) but he was fine and didn't cry. He was passed round and held by various people while I took the minutes and I even managed to write some while feeding him.

Our posts crossed MrsD - glad the scans were normal and hope you are feeling more cheery soon.

Hey Eulalia, I like that Scottish custom- do you have to hold a hat/tin out as well?!!!

if you could CAT me the details Lolasmum I'd be very grateful- I'll try anything!

We have escaped to the country this week, getting some of that fresh air into Dulcie's lungs- plus we get to try out our off-road buggy in style and not just on Hackney Marshes! Plus hope that I can start to work off all those biscuits...
but now dh has just walked in having found some fruit cake- well, it would be rude not to...

on the sleep front- I had a brilliant night last night- I also feed in the near-dark and with no speech- I also try and get that bottle in before she really gets yelling for it, she seems to settle much quicker afterwards. it all seemed to go like clockwork last night so here's hoping for the same tonight! x

so pleased the scan went well mrsd, but sorry you feel down. i find endless hospital appointments & checks very stressful, & that's just for me, not the children so i do slightly appreciate how you feel.

the children & i are still with my parents in york, we're going home tomorrow. i've had such a restful time, i think real life is going to be a bit of a shock! ds is out with my brother at the moment, feeding ducks & playing frisbee. dd is next to me, wriggling, grinning & gurning. she very much enjoyed ds & i singing oranges & lemons earlier, he's particularly good at the chopping off your head bit....

does anyone know when they start to recognise their hands? i know it's sometime around now. actually, i've probably asked before on here, am losing my brain rapidly.

dd ended up in bed with me last night, as she wouldn't really settle. so we all had a lovely nap this afternoon to make up for it. oh dear, i'm really waffling now!

Thanks guys - much better now!
DD recognises her hands and crams them in her mouth and drools over them. She has started smiling too.

Harriett - which off road buggy have you got? I am thinking of one as we live near a beach and I have visions of me jogging along the sand, Cindy Crawford like......

Glad the party went well MB.

I hope you're ok Pinkmama. I'm sorry you have the blues adn hope they go soon. xx

my dd sucks her hands too mrsd. i clearly remember ds kind of seeing his for the first time & staring amazed at these twiddly things on the end of his arms!

oh, & should i buy this buggy ? opinions please!

Oooh that looks nice. I can't remember how old your DS is - is he past buggy board stage?