Due Dec 2023 - part 6

[Nclktnntt]

Follow-on from part 5 heading into delivery and motherhood.

@Charlielechat mine has soaked the bed before! Noticed if he's been unsettled and cried a bit makes it more likely as suck air in crying. Also if I suspect he's feeding for comfort I think he takes more than his tummy can handle. Mine only does it badly once every few days, but brings up a noticeable amount most days. Not inhibited his growth, still wet and dirty nappies.

@Charlielechat my LO has quite bad reflux so brings up quite alot with most feeds. We’ve actually had to start using gaviscon cos she was in such discomfort with the reflux! Wee scone. Any advice for constipation caused by gaviscon? 🙄

@Charlielechat my daughter often spits up after feeding too. Have to hold her upright for at least 15 mins to try and reduce it, but from what health visitor said it's quite normal as long as she is gaining weight. We are struggling with gas at the moment. She isn't sleeping well because she is struggling to get gas out so we are very tired at the moment and in no sort of routine at all, as she can feed every hour some times and then others can go 2-3 hours. Hoping it will get easier as we move towards 4 weeks old.

@RG84 sorry to hear baby has been unwell! We’ve been having a hard time too. it is really draining and upsetting, I hope you’ve managed to get some rest and you’ve got plenty of support around you!

My LO is 6 weeks too and has been back and forth to a&e, the GP and admitted onto the children’s ward 3 times since Boxing Day. Turns out he’s got pneumonia which they missed😩 thankfully he’s on the mend now!

Another one here struggling with reflux. Was prescribed gaviscon but hard to give before every feed as baby is breastfed and didn't seem to be making a huge difference other than creating constipation. Baby has now been prescribed omeprazole which is just one dose in the morning so much better. Only on day 3 today so can't report whether it's working or not yet really but she used to cry and get agitated all evening before all the way until she went down for the night. However, the last two evenings she has been comfortable and settled.

Anyone else struggling to stay on top of housework ? Or am I doing something wrong 😬

No advice on reflux. But housework. Lower standards or do while baby is awake. Stick them on a play mat/ in the sling tell them what you’re doing plenty of entertainment for them at this age and means you get to enjoy nap time/ sleepy cuddles without feeling you should be doing something else.

I'm not doing it! He'll only sleep on me so I'd have to do it while he's awake and miss out on his smiles and giggles and playing with him. That's more important. My DH and I can do the essentials when he's home from work and the other can be with baby. There's a lifetime of housework, but only a few weeks of snuggling your newborn.

I've been out the hospital 13 days and managed to hoover and clean only yesterday! It took 2 of us about a week to take the Christmas tree down and unpack the hospital bags! My husband helps keeps the kitchen clean and tidy and does most of the cooking.

I manage to wipe and clean the kitchen and keep the kitchen area tidy(ish) and clean everyday, but no, you're not the only one at all. The mess will be there tomorrow, don't stress about the housework.

I prioritise having a shower and a nap if I need one over cleaning/tidying the house lol - saying that it's not dirty but just not as polished as it normally is.

@FlyingHighFlyingLow totally agree with you, housework can wait, especially in these early days when your baby needs so much physical contact.

My house is an absolute tip at the moment, especially with a wild toddler running riot 😁DH and I take turns cleaning when we are both home together, but during the week when he is working and I have both children very little is getting done!

Hi ladies!

Question for you - I'm just shy of 6 weeks postpartum after a c section. Bleeding has been very low throughout and mostly spotting only. Two days ago the spotting got stronger and yesterday I felt a bit of sharp pain, followed by bleeding I could feel. But then again calmed down. Today I again felt a bit of pain, following by another gush, but now bleeding is very period like
Exclusively breastfeeding (along with expressing to give one bottle a day)
Wondering if this is okay / normal… anyone else with such experience?

@mks1110 Hello! I’m 4 weeks post c section and started off with heavy-ish bleeding for the first 2 weeks or so but the past two weeks it has been super light. I was told the bleeding should only last 6 weeks so if you’re starting to have heavy bleeding it might be worth calling your midwife?? Not sure if it makes any difference but I breastfed for 2 weeks and now combi feeding with bottles so I pump 4 x a day.

Hi everyone, just checking to see how we're all doing.
How's your recovery from birth and the postpartum stage going?

I'm struggling with the lack of sleep. I'm looking after our little one majority of the time (and all the nights), and finding it difficult.
My husband helps with a feed and nappy change from time to time when he's not working and grandparents either live too far away and the other side seems to only be interested in showing off our boy when we're out in public...

Hi @Beans1982 sorry you're feeling you're having to the majority of the caring, especially at night! Are you formula feeding, combi or expressing when you say your partner helps with some feeds?

My husbands back at work and when little one has a witching hour or 3-4 from around 10am I find it so difficult- I've just brought a baby carrier so I can still get things done, like wash my face. My husband helps a lot though after work and usually ends up cooking because what I started earlier in the day didn't get very far 😂

We've settled into a routine where my husband does the feed before bed and the first wake up and I do the middle wake up and then depending on the time if it's around 5:30 our LO wakes he'll do the morning one if it's later or earlier, I'll do it.

Myself though with PP I'm not doing so great - kinda. My scar got a slight infection, so having to try cleaning and putting cream on that 3 times a day (easier said than done), and I still can't breath in or laugh without serious pain and the doctors don't know why so want to scan my kidneys and do an xray of my chest, I've decided to go private and get the scans done quicker but they need the referral from the doctors which so far has taken a week of the doctors saying they've done it and the private practice saying they haven't received it, so I'm losing my tether with it because I simply just want to be able to breath and laugh again! It's been 2 weeks already! Other than that though I'm ok, I've had the odd wobble, esp when I've not managed to shower, clean my scar or wash &sterlise bottles (I have an emergency one that lives in Milton) and he's going to want another feed soon.

Are you managing to have any time for you? This is the hardest part but we have to try and find time for ourselves. I try to get outside each day, even if it's a 10 min walk around the block, but to get out the house at least once a day is my target lol.

@Beans1982 how many weeks pp are you?
it’s still early days so know things will get easier.
mum in a similar boat with my husband- he doesn’t help much during the week even in evenings as is busy with working late and then at home too. It’s tough as it means by Friday I’m exhausted but I know once baby starts sleeping in longer stretches it will get easier. I also had to bring it up to my husband as it will be good for no one if mum is burnt out.
also I agree to getting outside somewhere once a day (even a walk to the shops makes me feel better)

I hope you have a better week this week. X

Similar boat with significant other! Ended up having a chat in the early hours of Saturday morning because I was so tired!! Said I can’t do it all on my own. Since then he’s done more to help.. but I hope it continues. I don’t think the dads appreciate how difficult it is during the day with a baby. It’s non stop some days. Especially since my baby is a bit colicky! My partner also doesn’t persevere when trying to settle her so he often comes into the bedroom to get me when I’m trying to get a few hours sleep!! Once she drops one of the night feeds it get a lot easier - that’s my hope anyway!

@Nclktnntt hope you get your scan sorted! That sounds like a nightmare. They make it sound like you have lots of support when you come out post op but it’s amazing how quickly that disappears when you need help. I had different issues with mine in that one of the outer stitches hadn’t been done very well so it opened up and was seeping around week 3. It of course happened after I was discharged from the midwives over the phone and hardly anyone had checked my wound. Tried all the numbers but all were unhelpful, directed me to 111 even though I should have still been under the midwives and hospital as under 28 days, so ended up at our local minor injuries hospital and saw an amazing nurse who re-dressed it after cleaning it all up and using iodine. It’s now so much better and closed up. She wasn’t impressed with midwives as they hadn’t even trimmed the stitches. I’d been so busy thinking of our little boy I hadn’t thought about me until then.

We are nearly 6 weeks PP and I’m definitely a lot better in myself. We’ve just had our best nights of sleep too. Saturday night he did 3.5 hours between feeds and last night after done cluster feeding in the evening he went 4.5 hours in one go. Still feeding on demand so doing smaller stints during the day but that’s okay as long as the night time ones are better. I’m lucky that my parter has been able to help me a lot and my mum has also helped. We are using formula milk now so we prep the bottles for the night and stick them in the fridge ready so we just need to warm them and had infacol to help him with the wind. Last night we started using a mini fridge upstairs so we didn’t have to come down to get them and we moved the warmer up, it made night feeds so much better. Also recommend the warmer pouch so that if you’ve warmed a bottle and they are due to wake in the next 2 hours you can put it in there to stay warm and it’s ready to go when you need it. Our little one gets very cross if you are slow with food so this has really helped us. He’s currently taking 120ml each feed but sometimes he’s been able to take 140 and he’s taking over a litre a day, we just don’t want to overdo it as otherwise he just spits it up. Does that amount sound right? I’ve seen so many different guides but we just go on what he wants and can take and he’s putting on weight and seems happy now we are getting the wind out.

I agree about being more chilled with the housework. We are just doing the basics as otherwise it’s too much! My mum came and did our bathrooms which now look amazing so that was a huge help. We just focus on washing, dishwasher, keeping surfaces clean and sterilising the bottles. Is anyone else using the UV one from Tommee Tippee? We’ve found we can do 4 bottles and all the parts in one session which has helped massively so we can build up a stack of bottles ready to use. Anyone else already have a pile of clothes that their baby has outgrown? We seem to be in a phase where he’s outgrown the ones that fit him the best but doesn’t quite fit some of the bigger ones yet in the 0-3 clothes as they are on the long side so he can get his legs up!

@Vsah22 I managed to sell a lot of newborn bits on vinted! We’re the same at the minute, some 0-3 are getting a bit snug but others absolutely drown him.

has anybody has their first normal period yet? I stopped bleeding 4 weeks ago and there’s no sign of it yet. Does it usually take a while to come back?

its definitely getting harder now the newborn sleepiness is wearing off!

Mine is 5 weeks today and last night we had our first disaster of a night. Normally she cluster feeds 7pm - about 10pm which is hard but manageable.

Last night she work at 2am and didn’t go back down properly until about 7am. Absolute shattered and resorted to giving her some formula which I feel a bit guilty about today.

she’s also starting to refuse day time naps so I spend about 30 mins every 2/3 hours trying to get her down.

Fantasising about a full nights sleep!!

At 5 weeks mine went from 2.5-3 hour stretches at night to waking hourly wanting food. Also always hungry in the day, nightmare to get napping. Would be unsettled from 3am until morning most nights. Lasted a solid week then stopped as suddenly as started. Suddenly sleeping 10pm-4/5am, and can fall asleep in cot sometimes without being held. Also within this week started needing 3-6 month clothes. I was on my knees. DH had job interviews so tried to do it all myself as EBF but he woke up to me sobbing holding him at 5am having been up since 3 again because I was scared I'd end up unsafe looking after him. After that he (lightheartedly) scolded me for not waking him sooner and telling him I was struggling and started getting up to hold him between feeds so I could get some sleep. Edit to say since he smiles, laughs, babbles, tracks me everywhere. In addition to the big weight gain. He was unsettled as he had a huge developmental leap.

@FlyingHighFlyingLow thats so reassuring from someone who has come out the other side.

Bracing myself for a tough couple of weeks then but really hoping I get a smile at the end of it!

@Mushroo we are going through the same at the moment, last 3 nights little one has been awake from 1.30 - 5am, so exhausted and have had a few (quite a few) tears on my part. She's so fussy and struggling with gas and just won't settle. Annoyingly she naps really well during the day, have tried to get her to be more awake during the day but she just wants to sleep. Day and night are so out of sync at the moment. Tried all the recommended things to help get her body clock used to day and night but no joy so far.

@GL1987 yup can really relate but even the day naps aren’t great! The best sleep is probably from 7am - about 9:30am, but I have to get up and shower so I can’t even really make the most of it.

I also feel like I’ve tried all the recommended tips. It’s almost like the baby hasn’t read the baby books?!

Solidarity and hoping it passes quickly for us.

My baby is getting up once or twice in the night ATM which I do find more manageable but then again we go to bed quite late at about 11. He can sleep for 3 hours at a time now but it's never consistent - he likes to keep it a surprise for us 🤪so we never know if it'll be 1, 2 or 3 hour stretches at night!
He's 6 weeks old now and think he may have been cluster feeding today - so unsettled and constantly wanting fed. Have introduced an expressed bottle once a day but yesterday we did try a formula bottle instead - went down a treat. He's a greedy boy!
We're the same on the housework and spouse situations. I was feeling overwhelmed with all of the housework and parenting and asked DH to help more, so he has been trying a bit more now. I do wonder if any men can multitask like we do! It's infuriating sometimes!

@Nclktnntt Now just on formula, started out EBF but I found it so draining and emotional both for my LO and myself (he wouldn't latch on properly which made him frustrated and I hated having to force his head to latch).

I've been thinking about getting some kind of carrier, have you had much use from yours? and which one do you have?

We had a better night last night - no screaming or crying, and no crying from me either. @GL1987 I'm experiencing exactly the same as you! my boy is awake and doesn't settle from around 12am ish through to 4/5am, wants a feed every 1.5 to 2 hours (attacks each bottle like he's not been fed for days) and suffers from a lot of gas and lack of daily pooping (goes 2 days before pooping at the moment). But he sleeps a lot during the day. I took him to the doctor today and he's been prescribed baby gaviscon to add to his formula as doctor thinks he might be a bit colicky.

I'm also hoping this cluster feeding phase is a sign of him going through a growth spurt and will ease off soon because he has previously managed to sleep for 3-4 hours at a time (which was amazing!).

@SMG1992 I'm 5 weeks PP tomorrow. Sorry you're experiencing similar in terms of support.

@99SR I feel for you. My husband shared an Instagram post with me that mentioned men (or the majority of) tend to get bored/unable to cope after a short period of time looking after a baby... he does help in other ways though, like cook food and do some of the housework.

Fingers crossed for a settled and restful night for us all! 😴

@Beans1982 I really recommend the Ergobaby Omni 360 for a structured/outdoor sling, it’s amazing. I got mine with DD1 and used it hundreds of times, and again am using it daily with DD2!

I also use a Freerider fabric sling for around the house, it has honestly been such a life saver as baby sleeps so well in there and often for 2-3 hour stretches. We have witching hour between 5-8pm (ish) each night, so I’ve been trying to get her asleep in the sling for around 4:30pm so I can make dinner and get DD1 ready for bed.