Newborn to 1 Month, November '04

Hi

Following in the same vein as the August/September thread I thought I would kick start a new one for those of us with 'new' newborns or due very soon!

My gorgeous daughter Grace was born 24 October and is now nearly 2 weeks old. I can't believe how fast it has gone! I started off breastfeeding her and she took to it quite well but because I lost a lot of blood after giving birth I found it took a lot out of me and my milk was very slow to come in. So she is now on formula and doing well, gaining weight steadily. I felt very emotional when I gave up breastfeeding as part of me didn't want to do it, and I started feeling those old familiar feelings of guilt and failure like I experienced with Harry. I didn't think I would feel that way this time, as all through the pregnancy I was prepared to bottle feed if breastfeeding didn't work out, but there you go. I enjoy bottle feeding though and still feel that closeness at feed time.

So far Grace has been very settled, generally sleeping well between feeds. Fingers crossed she stays that way! Harry has been great, he is really lovely towards his baby sister, giving her kisses and gentle pats on the head. So in all things are going good and I feel generally well, except for the usual tiredness!

Bon

Yay Grace for being a beautiful settled girl. I know what you mean re: feelings for not breats feeding. I am glad you still feel close.

(sorry i know i shouldnt be in this thread!!)

Hi, I geuss that this must be where I should be posting now. I don't seem to have much time for BB at the moment, its amazing how much time a tiny baby can occupy. I'm really suprised by how chaotic the first week or two seemed but things seem to be settling down a bit now and DH and I are beginning to adjust to life as parents. At the moment I feel like I have the breastfeeding under control but the first week was really quite painfull and stressfull so there were a few moments that I thought about formula. I'm glad I stuck with it though because Yasin seems to be thriving and I just couldn't imagine heating a bottle at two in the morning. Also it gives me a good excuse to just sit down and put my feet up every few hours so I think that it is good stress relief, also when my extended family/in-laws are getting on my nerves I just say that the baby needs feeding and go and hide in another room for a while ;) .
Bon, I'm glad to hear that your little Grace is sleeping well. Most days Yasin does too but sometimes he has a grumpy day and then he is impossible to settle. If he does go to sleep he just wakes up again and needs settling all over again. Yesterday we took him to my PIL's place because it was the end of Ramadan. Big Mistake!!!! When we got there he was asleep but then his cousin (3 months) started screaming and he opened his eyes to check it out, the second his eyes where half open my MIL stuck her face about 3 cms from his and screamed "the baby's awake", if he wasn't awake before he was after that and from there it was all down hill. He looks so sad when he can't sleep that it makes me sad too.
DH is harrassing me for help with the housework so I'd best go and lend a hand.
I hope we have more girls in here soon.

Hi dachlostar

IKWYM about family getting on your nerves. My MIL has a tendency to take over when we take the kids to their place. Fine in theory but it gets so frustrating sometimes! Especially when she does things I don't like, like give Harry coke to drink after I have just told him he can't have it.
I know she probably doesn't mean to but sometimes she makes DH and I feel like she knows better than us how to look after our little ones. Mostly I just try to ignore it though.
Anyway, gotta go sort out dinner!

Bon

Hi Bon, I hope you're well and so is little Grace.
We just had a visit from the early childhood nurse. Yasin has put on 1kg and grown 3cms so I'm really proud of him. \:D/
He has a bit of a sweat rash in the folds on his neck and under his armpits. The nurse said that cornflour will clear it up. I'm hoping she's right because I don't want him getting itchy rashes that will make him grumpy. He has some pimples on his face as well but they're not going anywhere until all the hormones from birth go away. When he sooks his pimples go red!!!
He seems to be sleeping better today, maybe because the weather is a bit cooler. DH and I both hate hot weather so I geuss that he might take after us in that regard. DH is annoying me a tiny bit because every time Yasin is hard to settle he looks for a reason and usually seems to find one in something that I've done. He doesn't seem to understand that all babies are sometimes a bit sooky and hard to settle. Last night I felt like I had two babies on my hands!!!

Hi

Its hot here in Qld too - around the 30 degree mark every day and Grace also has sweat rash around her neck and on her tummy. I am using non talc baby powder on it. You can also use nappy rash cream but I find that just collects in her rolls and I have to wipe it out. She has pimples on her face too.

Wow at Yasin's growth, that's great! It's good to know our babies are growing well because it means we must be doing something right!

My DH is the same with settling. I think it's a man thing - they need to find a reason for everything because if there is a cause then they might be able to find a solution. If DH is holding Grace and she starts crying he takes the easy way out and reasons that it must be something he has done and then hands her over to me. Too bad if I happen to be doing something!

We are taking Grace and Harry to get pixi photos today. It's probably one of the few times Grace will wear one of the frilly dresses she has been given. They are too impractical for everyday use even though they are gorgeous!

Bon