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?

Maybe cut down on the formula? Its apparently impossible for a baby to overfeed on breast milk. Goto go dd2 crying (for a chnage).

Merryberry - 6 week check - with my first I had an internal examination. With my 2nd it was just a chat really. Not sure what to expect this time round. Depends on your pregnancy and birth I suppose.

MrsD - good luck with the MRI.

pinkmama - get well soon.

Well I am just about coping with 3 although evenings are hard as ds2 is unsettled and often I am carrying him around while I try to get the other two to bed. dh does help with winding but won't carry him about. He is making the dinner though which we often don't have till 10pm but worth waiting for.

Latest problem is dd carrying baby. ds will manage him no bother but of course dd wants to do it as well. I'd put him in the big cot thinking it was safe and she managed to climb in and carry him all the way down the stairs . Think I may have to get some stair gates up or evolve another pair of eyes somehow...

I posted a pic of Paul - had a right faff getting the file small enough. It wasn't the one I wanted but will try another with my camera setting at a lower quality. This one he is 3 days old.

Paul

He's beautiful Eulalia, this might sound daft but what a lovely shaped head! xx

mrsd - do hope next week's results lay all (most ?) worry to rest.

dw is STILL expressing, but is actually trying to cut back her milk supply (wth difficulty) as she doesn't want to get any more mastitis. She's spacing out between expresses, not pumping at night, only pumping when very full, and then pumping only till flow reduces rather than until breast empties etc. etc.... despite this no signs yet of any slow down though, LOL... she fears, most probably wrongly, that if she were to attempt the breast again, she might get mastitis so doesn't want to try. I think the logic is faulty, but it's her body and her choice really, so I will just be a useful lump offering hugs and support.

Not sure what proportion EBM / formula we're running with... Maybe 2 out of 6 feeds EBM ??? Not sure really. I agree it's easier to take to the bottle, and it's tempting to tease them to take 'just a little more' (especially I think with prems who you desparately want to fatten up and be strong IYSWIM).

Current discussion in the house is on holding / putting down / picking up / responding to every whimper / rocking to sleep / going for walks / letting her settle yadda yadda yadda. Trying to figure out what works and what is best for all three of us. Anyone want to declare Attachment Parenting / Gina Ford / Baby Whisperer / gut instinct ???? LOL

(X-posts, Eulalia, my composition was interrupted by dd)... Paul looks like a cutey pie.

I wonder, if a professional photographer took headshots of all the babes against a white background (ie. no blankets etc. to offer clues, all faces same size, same angle, eyes closed, whatever), if we'd be able to spot our own babe, LOL... only reason I ponder this is that we got a birth announcement card the other day and the babe looked just like Camille, and IMHO Camille looks (ish) like Paul...

Is this just a dumb bloke thing ? LOL

(Maybe it's also just the picture size, the 18kb limit on MN topics makes all images fairly small).

flyyyyyyying visit, Vin to feed: from 9lb5 to 10lb11 in 14 days, go BOY!

Great news Merryberry!

Regarding head shape. All my kids have small heads, as I do so look quite neat. ds1's head was right at the bottom of the centile chart at birth (he popped out no bother). Also C/S babies do look 'prettier' at birth as they aren't squashed through the birth channel. But yes I do think he is gorgeous - his skin is a lovely colour.

hub - yes I think babies can look alike to some extent. I found a better picture and will post one when he has his eyes open later. It's good the way you can replace the picture on the thread, however you can't replace the text beside it. I'll have to post pics of my other two now that I am in full flow...

Anyway here it is better picture of Paul taken on my birthday.

OK, OK, he looks different to dd, LOL

good news on the feeding front mb.

i can't keep up with this thread any more! sorry to hear about the tonsilitis pm, & well done to all these growing babies.

had my coil fitted. no pain at all, & i'm so happy not to have to think about contraception for 8 years. dp said that wasn't long enough.... i went for the non-hormonal one, felt like i needed a break from them.

talking of which, i seem to have my period. dd is 8 weeks & fully breastfed - how unfair is that ? i didn't get it 'til ds was 10 months, but i was on the mini-pill then. i guess that explains why i was so bloody grumpy last week.

Noooo hc, how unfair.

Paul's gorgeous, Eulalia! He looks so much like a little boy, doesn't he?

hub - I thought that to get rid of mastitis you had to feed often? Or am I wrong? Good that she is still expresing and seems to have plenty of milk. Would try to get dd to take the breast though as your dd may reject it if she gets too used to a bottle. Expressing is such a lot of work and if you have a big strong baby (which yours certainly is now) then let baby do all the work!

We subscribe to attachment parenting if you want to give it a name. I have (and do) sleep with all my children, carried them in slings etc and they haven't become 'spoiled'. I think with your first you do obviously give that child more attention. Gut instinct is probably best but don't worry about spoiling them at this stage. I am just so glad I always responded to ds crying as we didn't know he was autistic till at least 3.5 years old and the official diagnosis was later than that.

Forgot to say that ds was weighed today - 4 weeks old tomorrow. He is bang on 9lbs. He's put on over 9oz in a week

Eulalia: We've been bottle feeding basically all the time, aside form the bf attemtps in the first couple of weeks. dw prefers this and is happier with this. I think it's a pity, but can see her reasoning and will support her in her choices. You're right about feeding through mastitis - it is the right thing to do. I think dw has had enough though so will space out expressings, skip night pumps etc. to try and curb her supply. Perhaps everything will come together bf-wise for number 2 ????

Interesting to hear about the co-sleeping and slings etc.

One of the concrete examples right now (re: parenting strategies) is that sometimes after a feed, Camille goes straight to sleep, and only wakes up 3 hours later for MORE FOOD (bless her little cotton socks)... and other times, she'll feed but then still be very much awake and a bit agitated and cry a fair bit (despite play activities, winding etc.)... I'm inclined simply to pick her up and huggle her to sleep, which sometimes works, but often she will need the added motion of me walking around / rocking for her to settle...

Would AP suggest (a) she'd probably be in a sling after a feed anyway, and (b) it's fine to do whatever rocking etc. she needs and with time she'll grow out of it and not become addicted to rockinghugsfromhub2dee IYSWIM !

Hub2dee, the conversations you and Dee are having re parenting strategies sound familiar from when our ds (now 2) was a baby. I think we went with what felt right for us and the baby - as Eulalia says - gut instinct is often the best. In my experience, now having a second, they both very much wanted and want to be held a lot as babies. However, as I have ds I do put her down to sleep either in her basket or on our bed during the day so I can give him some time. We hold her, sometimes I need to walk around with her or I feed her to send her to sleep. This stage passes so quickly so I would just enjoy dishing out the hugs.

Just scrolling through these posts and i think Hub2dee it was your birthday yesterday. Hope you and the family got to celebrate.

Mrs Darcy, sorry to hear you had a bad day - hope the rest of the week is easier. Good luck next week.

It is the time of night when dd wants to feed forever so must dash.

Eulalia - forgot to add that Paul looks gorgeous and very content.

Happy Belated Birthday hub2dee - what did you do on the day?

latearrival - any news on the name front yet?

All my kids were awake at 6.45 this morning (groan) never mind will get them to bed early tonight. May even walk to school this morning as its a fine day.

hub - that is great that your dw is keeping up with expressing and if she is happy with that then fine. I had a lot of trouble iwth my first - took a good 6> weeks to sort him out and was expressing, formula top ups and breast as well. I used to get him to take the breast at the start of the feed and also afterwards but it was a lot of work. Fortunately by 8 weeks he was completely breastfed. I've heard of people here on Mumsnet who have expressed for months basically till baby is weaned.

There are lots of websites on AP if you have time to have a look. Books also. They'd say that babies need close physical contact and yes they do grow out of that need.

How's it all going petals?

Um, from what my nappy brain can remember:

we're doing tracey hogg type childcare, cos I really rate her approach when i catch her on the box. and she straightened us out with her book when we came home in full 'accidental parenting mode'. Just to be told that eat, play, sleep is more useful as a 'routine' than tother way round was a massive breakthrough for me and dp (play the muppet theme toon to fade as we walk into the sunset...) Oh - does this mean I'm a hoggette?

Is school back then Eulalia? My summer flew when I was having that baby. I suppose the london traffice will grind to a halt next week then...

Feeling any thinner yet HC? I'm eating like a horse but still losing a bit each week. Went for my first postpartum swim today. Dp was at home and minded the Vinlet for me. It was glorious, glorious. I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow, but there you go. Just so good to stretch out in water and feel my mind go blank (no rude jokes here thank you)

So I saw the GP yesterday and she cou;dn't get me out of that consult fast enough. I swear I was in there for 90 seconds. And so unless she has some sort of kinky super powers I didn't get my lady garden checked . All she was interested in was me NOT GETTING PG AGAIN!

Happy belated b'day H2D. It's DPs 40th tomorrow an the big ole party on Sunday. Have a really nice Bulgarian lady steam cleaning the house pretty much downstairs as a one off, the helium has been delivered for the balloons etc etc (can I suck on that for a squeaky voice while BF I wonder). Mind you, DP is not actually talking to me since lunchtime cos he is so sick of the jokes about him having his last day in his 30s today.

As I said to Vin: naughty mummy

TTFN

Hub, I bought lots of parenting books, but never got roudn to reading any properly. I took offence to the Gina Ford one when she tried telling me at what time of day I could have tea and toast! I've definitely gone for the gut instinct approach, and talking to other Mums. So, Hub, my advice is to do what feels right for you. I was also thinking about your dw and her wanting to cut out the breastfeeding. Your dd has had a mix of breast and formula for what must be about 8 weeks now. That is more than a lot of babies have even though things haven't been easy for your dw. Hope you had a good birthday by the way and that Camille slept extra well at night as her present for you!

HC, poor you on the period front. That really isn't fair. Is you dd sleepign through the night? I remember being told that your period shouldn't return until you cut out the night breastfeeds. Is that right in your case?

I took Bessie to here: www.occ.uk.com/home/home.html to see a cranial osteopath. Hopefully it will help with her evening crying and colic. They said she was very congested. They also gave me a 'work-over'. It was brilliant. I didn't realise my back was so tight until I walked away feeling fantastic. I recommend it to any Mums who can get into London easily. They're based in Farringdon. It's a charity and you pay what you can afford/think the treatment was worth. They specialise in children, pregnant women and post pregnancy. We're going back in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to it already. She has definitely been more settled this evening - hence me being on Mumsnet.

Hope everyone has a good bank holiday weekend. It always feels like the last weekend of summer... Especially with Eulalia's talk of new school terms.

Forgot to put that Paul looks lovely Eulalia. I agree with Hub though that they all do look a bit alike. He looks quite like Bessie!

Schools were back here on 16th Aug, however I am in Scotland and we have different terms to England. We finish earlier (beg of July and start earlier in Autumn). Also here we have 2 weeks in October - we are going to Spain then. Just sending off ds2's application form today

Merryberry - glad you are feeling so chirpy. Hope the party goes well.

Lolasmum - great to hear things are going well with Bessie.

Well we finally got round to having that champagne last night. Got the older two to bed early and ds2 had a fairly long sleep so dh and I actually sat and talked to each other for a couple of hours. Off to yet another birthday party today, our friend's son who is 7. HOpe it doesn't rain on the bouncy castle.

Have a good weekend everyone

This thread is so busy and everyone seems to be adjusting to their new additions very well!

We are doing OK although Harry seems to be rather a colicky baby and mornings tend to be the worst and of course meal times as well! I am trying Infacol - sometimes it seems to work other times not. I think the trick is to give it to him a good 5 mins before a feed. I seem to have recovered from all my probs after my c section which is good and seem to be getting back to normal.

Glad Eulalia that you got round to having that champers finally! It is nice to have a "normal" grown up evening once in a while. We had some friends round last night for fondue (great fun!) and I didn't get to bed til 2.00am! DS2 was so good as he had slept from about 8.15pm til about 1.00am when I fed him and then went through till about 6.oo ish which is the best night we've had with him yet. I did give him some bottle top up as I think he had drunk me dry!

Hub: I really feel for Dee as bf never took off for me with ds1 and as you know he was 4 weeks prem like Camille and was in SCBU too. This time round it just worked. I did mixed feeding with ds1 for 8 weeks with more formula and then gave up the bf. She has done really well - next time it will probably be fine. Hope your birthday was fun!

Merryberry: Hope your party goes well - be kind to DP - being 40 is not too bad - my pressie was Harry Once I stop bf we might have a belated alcohol type celebration!

Mrs D: Hope all goes well with MRI results for dd.

Regards to all. Must fly as Harry is screaming for next feed!

Goodnews on the bf this time round webwoman05, glad your recovery is going well.

Thanks for your kind words, Lolasmum.

miss cacklepiggy: I am reading Hogg too, and some bits are OK and others less so... I think probably all 'approaches' have a few good ideas, a couple of gems and a lot which feels irrelevant and pants tbh... glad you enjoyed your swim ! Happy Birthday vinlet's dad.

I did lots of surfing on AP ages ago, and was given Liedloff's Continuum Concept, which I've only glanced at (think the info might be useful, but not sure it's supposed to be terribly well written / easy to read).

Re: birthday - well, the best present was: NO NIGHT FEEDS for me the night before ! We went to the cinema in the evning to see 'Crash' which I highly recommend BTW. It was a quiet one. A 'family' birthday, LOL.

dd - usually more or less angelic screamed for ages and ages and ages last night, at friends' house... quite distressing. Back at ours, she gave us her longest sleep yet, LOL. 'Swings and roundabouts' hey !!!

My dd is usually pretty good but had a ghastly screamathon last night. I am goggle-eyed with tiredness but realise how lucky I usually am with her

Happy birthday all the birthday parents!

Enjoy your party Merryberry.

I'm very glad you're feeling so much better webwoman. A new baby is quite enough excitement without feeling unwell too .

Glad the osteopathy was good, Liolasmum. I took DS1 there and it was brilliant. I think there's one in Manchester but it's not that easy for me to get there. I might have a go when the boys are back at school if DH can take me.

We're going to try champagne tonight Eulalia! We have friends staying (again ) so wil wet Hattie's head.

Anyone heard from Harriett? Hope she's ok.

Thanks for the kind words about the MRI. TBH, I'm much more relaxed now she's born, and trusting my instincts much more. So I'm not particularly stressed about it.