This thread is for parents who's baby was born July 16h-31st 2009
Your moderators for this forum are as follows- Astrolady ~ Administrator Onyx ~ Senior Moderator MistyFying ~ Senior Moderator Nelle ~ Senior Moderator Olive~ Senior Moderator
There are many issues that you will encounter as a new parent. We have put together this list of useful articles and threads in order to assist you with some common questions or issues you may have, and to provide you with bit of extra support that we all need as new parents:
Please contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) or a Lactation Consultant if you are concerned that you may have breastfeeding and/or supply problems, and before the introduction of solids.
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Last edited by Olive; July 24th, 2010 at 09:03 PM.
Arlea Rose was born on Friday the 24th at 6:39pm, weighing 4770g (10lb8).
We had a few extra days in hosp in SCN due to her blood sugar being a bit low, apparently is not unusual in larger babies.
We arrived home yesterday & are settling in very nicely apart from feeding hiccups, I have severe oedema in my breasts which will hopefully sort itself out in a few days...
looking forward to seeing who else will join me...
Blake Adrian was born on the 29th of July, weighing in at 3410 grams (or 7 lbs 8). We discharged ourselves on day three after his birth (c/s) as I found the midwifes were so busy they could hardly assist me with anything I couldn't do myself at home. Not the best cloud to bring our son home on, but hey - we're both happier for it .
Wow Jasp - you baked Arlea well!!! Congratulations on the birth of your precious daughter! I hope the oedema has settled down for you.
I had a visit form the hospital nurse on Friday, my BP was up & she was worried about pre-eclampsia, after a couple of days of strict bed rest it is down today & my fluid has settled also.
now the trick is going to be to get her back on the breast, the fluid was so bad she couldn't feed & I have been full-time expressing for the last few days. Things are definitely improving though.
I agree you are often better off at home. home things are going well for you & you are recovering ok.
There must have been more babies born in this time?
Lol - I think I saw an announcement from 2 others that would fall into our category.... Farmgirl and I just saw Sophie Roses' announcement too. I guess time is restricted for us all to post - I only just had breakfast at lunch time lol! But in my defence I did put a meal in the slow cooker so dinner time will hopefully flow a bit easier tonight!
I'm just trying to sort out feeding - and I'm going to try the lactation cookies that was posted by Sally. All I need now is for DF to return from the shops with the Brewers Yeast - unfortunately he is with a mate so I hope their coffee time isn't interrupted by urgent need to increase my supply!
I'm b/f, then comping (S26 - so far DS only takes about 20mL's of that, so not too bad), then one hour later expressing. Hopefully that, with the lactation cookies will help supply. Then we just need to master attachment .
I had PE with DD, it was horrible. So you're in the all clear for that? Excuse my ignorance but I thought you could only get PE while your pregnant? Don't tell me it can rear its ugly head after birth too! Grrr.
Are you finding b/f easy? Is this your first child?
Yep, i thought you could only get PE while PG too. Apparently not... it's a risk for up to 6 weeks I think. I seem to be all clear though, my BP this morning was 125/85. It's still a bit higher than normal for me, and my fluid is back up a bit today, but it's nothing like PE - thank goodness!
This is baby number 4 - and our last I think!
BFing is a bit tricky atm. Because of all the fluid ... I had it really badly in my breasts and she couldn't attach at all. So atm we are fulltime expressing & when fluid has settled - very soon I think - we will be trying to get her back on the breast. In fact I have been trying yesterday & today but not having much luck.
She is stirring, due for a feed - I'll finish this post later!
Hi all,
Congratulations on the birth of your little ones!
Daniella Rose was born on the 29th of July at 8:20 am after a couple of days of labouring. We have only been home a couple of days as when I was ready to leave hospital on day 5, Ella was transferred to the children's hospital high dependency unit. She didn't poop until day 6 so she needed some tests done. Now doing reasonably ok but being watched by paed carefully.
I'm glad to see I am not the only one having b/f issues. I have a very low supply so am comping too. Ella is now up to 60mls a feed as she isn't growing. Very disappointed as I struggled with my first born too. I am aiming to make it to 6 weeks and then will probably go to the bottle.
Are your bubs sleeping well? Daniella is awake most of the night due to wind. She seems ok during the day. Am hoping this will settle soon. Not sure what is giving her wind because I am avoiding onion, garlic, anything spicy etc. Any ideas?
Anyway hoping she will settle now so I can get some shut eye.
Jeremy Paul arrived at 10:50am Saturday 25th July!
He was 4.2kgs and 58cms long!! MASSIVE!! His older brother was 3.740kgs and 52cms at birth!
I achieved my VBAC that I had hoped for but did suck down FOUR tanks of gas and BEGGED my midwife for an epidural numerous times and also for a c-section as I was having severe leg cramps at the end of every contraction when I was pushing and that pain was WAY worse then the contraction pain.
I had hoped to birth in the bath with this baby but towards the end there was meconium so they dragged me (literally since I couldn't bear weight on my right leg) out of the bathtub and I ended up giving birth on my right side on the floor which ended up being VERY comfortable for my right leg.
My contractions started at about 9:30pm Friday 24th July, we were admitted to hospital just after 3am Saturday morning, and Jeremy FINALLY arrived at 10:50am! DS #1 was WAY longer (first contraction at 8:30pm Saturday night and he wasn't born until 12:15am MONDAY morning) so I was relieved!
We were discharged about lunchtime on Monday and I came home to AMPLE help as we had both my parents and both of my husband's parents around to help.
Jeremy is settling in VERY well. I had MAJOR feeding problems with DS#1 (attachment issues which then caused cracked, bleeding nipples) which didn't resolve until about 8 weeks of age so I was a bit nervous about how things were going to go second time around. However, from the FIRST feed in the birthing centre Jeremy seemed to have the idea of what to do and latched on perfectly and fed well. My milk came in on day four (as opposed to day 8 with first son) so that helped as well.
He lost the usual weigh in hospital (about 400 grams) but by the time the midwife weighed him when he was 10 days old he was up to 4.6kg!!! So he gained back his birth weight and another 400 grams on top of that!! AMAZING! He never wore 0000 and won't be in 000 very long either. In fact, I'm not even sure he'll wear all his 000 clothes before he outgrows them as well!
My parents headed back to the states on Thursday and my mother-in-law goes back to Brisbane on the 25th so then the boys and I can finally work on settling into a daily and weekly routine that will work well for us. Thus far I've returned to mother's group but haven't been brave enough to go to playgroup yet. I think I might wait a couple more weeks for that as we have a busy few weekends coming up and playgroup is on Monday.
My MIL turned 70 yesterday and we are having a surprise birthday party for her on the 16th and then we are having a dedication service for Jeremy at church on the 23rd followed by a luncheon!
I am hoping to be a part of this group for a long time as I think the information we can share with each other will be helpful!
Oops, Jeremy is awake from his nap - I had more to say but I'll save it for my next post!
I am mum to Alannah May who was born on 27 July at 4:30am. She was 6lb 12oz and was born fairly quickly. I was induced and went from the first 'real' contraction at about 1am, waters breaking at 2am and fully dilated at 4am. The pace of it all took everyone by surprise.....I had an epidural because we thought I was about 3-4cm and I was getting to the limit of what I could handle and assumed I was still a few hours off being ready to push. Turns out I was actually 10cm and had a fresh epidural just in time for pushing
Everything is going pretty well for us so far, feeding is getting better. In the first few days after getting out of hospital my nipples were cracked and bleeding and quite uncomfortable but a post natal clinic appointment with a lactation consultant got us on the right track and it is much better now.
Alannah is proving to be a pretty good sleeper so far. Every now and then she has trouble with wind and takes awhile to get to sleep but mostly she drops off pretty quickly.
I hope you girls that are having BFing trouble see an improvement soon - it is not easy but everyone tells me it gets easier! Thinking of you.
Well, DS#2 is having a feed at the moment and DS#1 is out with daddy so I have a few minutes to write again!
I just want to encourage those of you who are struggling with the b/f! I had a very rough time with DS#1 but stuck it out (had cracked, bleeding nipples due to poor attachment) and we enjoyed two years of breastfeeding! I hope everyone in here who is having a rough start sees lots of improvement very soon.
I'm starting to wonder if some of the things I am eating could be upsetting Jeremy's tummy. My MIL put some chilli in two of the meals she made recently, then my FIL bought Subway yesterday and there were jalepenos on the sandwich (I didn't realize until I ate one) and last night we went to a thai restaurant for dinner to celebrate MIL'S 70th bday. Jeremy was awake for two solid hours last night/early this morning trying to feed, grunting, groaning and finally he did two big poos and after that I settled him back to sleep by rocking him and giving him a dummy and then he slept for three hours.
What kinds of foods do people find most upsetting? I know the big culprits tend to be onions, garlic, chilli, chocolate and caffeine but are there others I may be eating and not considering?
In a totally unrelated topic... anyone else's babies starting to get very dry, flaky skin? I know it is normal... just wondering what people are using? if anything? I was thinking of putting some sorbolene on him after his bath tonight.
Yes, B has flaky skin, as you said, totally normal! Nothing to stress about - we just moisturise it after every bath, and occasionally during the day if it irks me enough lol!
Our feeding situation is what I refer to as controlled chaos he he...I still express, and actually have found this second batch of lactation cookies to have increased supply slightly. We have really cut down on the b/f as B just seems so unsettled afterwards, but when we give him a bottle of 'top up' he's fine afterwards, and attachment has improved too. So it's kind of a mixture of everything - but as long as he is gaining weight I'm happy.
I must ask...was anyone elses bubs born with teeth??? B was born with two lower ones.
B is not even two weeks old and already DF is talking about number 3 for us!!
I hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying these early days in our precious babies lives!!
Is anyone else doing birth announcement cards? Or am I over the top!
Hi everyone,
Hope you are all doing well and are getting some sleep.
Well on the b/f front things are just getting worse. Even though I am on motilium I am slowly drying up. Have done everything the lactation consultant told me to do but nothing is working. I am supposed to be expressing an hour after each feed but have to admit I am not good at this. I have a toddler and an unsettled newborn, by the time everyone is sorted I need a rest. Anyway am doing it as often as I can. I was really upset about my supply yesterday but am feeling better today. I will b/f until I completely run out and then just full time bottle feed. For all of you who are struggling with sore nipples etc, I am feeling for you. Hang in there. It will be worth it in the end.
Dry skin - Daniella has that too. Yes perfectly normal. I am using some Johnsons naturals moisturiser. Used it with my first as well and it is nicer than sorbolene. Ella loves it when I rub her back with it. It really settles her.
I too will be doing a birth anouncement card for friends and family. Not too over the top. The birth of a bubba is so special so I want to share it with everyone.
Anyway, better go Ella is almost due a feed. Have a great night everyone.
DS#1 is asleep and DS#2 WAS asleep!
Which brings me to my big question for tonight...
How often do all your babies poop in a given day?
Jeremy has hardly slept all day long...
total of 2hrs 45 mins in the last twelve hours
and it is mainly because he poops EVERY time he feeds.
I do remember that James pooped every feed as well and perhaps that is why James was such a bad sleeper and Jeremy is seemingly turning into a bad sleeper.
What do people think about this???
Should I alter my diet and see if anything changes? Or is his gut just seriously active? I feed him and he falls asleep but then as soon as I put him in bed, with in about 15 minutes, he wakes up crying and does his poo and sometimes a big burp as well (though only if I forget to burp him which I did tonight)!
I'm just wondering if I should do a semi-elimination diet. I know Dr Sears has a SERIOUS elimination diet (which I went on for about two weeks when James was about 14 months old) but I am not sure I want to go that strict again. When I am on that diet I can only eat turkey, rice, pears, zuchinni, and sweet potato (if I remember correctly).
So what do you all think? Any thoughts, comments, ideas would be greatly appreciated! I would love to write more but Jeremy is still crying (DH is doing the nappy change) so I need to go see if everything is okay.
Hi everyone... wow, it got busy here! Congratulations to you all on the arrival of your little ones.
alz, sorry to hear of your supply problems. I had supply issues with DS1, he was fully ff after 8 weeks. DS2 I fed for 14 months. I don't have any supply issues atm but I do worry about it. I think the best you can do is all you can do to... we are giving them a great start As for wind, I think pretty much what you mentioned, cabbage... I have some Brauers colic relief, I haven't used it yet but am thinking about trying it soon!
lilprecious, we had the same thing with Arleas clothes! We had to sort through what fit her & get rid of a bit. Thankfully we had an idea she would be bigg-ish, so we didn't have too much 0000 stuff. Dry skin.. I am using the Gaia products. Arlea had very dry skin due to being so overcooked, she is still peeling. I think the best cure is time, in the meantime a bathoil or moisturiser. Poos... I think for BF babies anything goes really. A doesn't do it much, she doesn't have any problems like constipation, just doesn't need to. I do think anywhere from 3-5 a day is normal. A usually has one every 24-30 hours though. That diet does sound very strict! Is it to identify what gives bub wind?
Sagres glad to hear the BF & sleeping is going well for you! Those LCs are great aren't they... I had serious attachment issues with DD1 & it totally killed BF for us. It's so good to get it sorted early.
Leesa i can't believe your bub was born with teeth! In answer...nope none of mine ever were. I imagine this is fairly rare? Lol at your DF talking about number 3 already! Nice that he's obviously enjoying it Birth announcement cards... I am planning on it. I had already started designing them before she arrived, thinking a headstart would be good. So far I have done nothing more - there is just no time! But yes I am planning on it. I am going to make it a combination announcement / thankyou card.
AFM...still expressing, I have plenty of milk, the freezer is filling up. I am being very careful as I am so worried about my supply (having lost it with DS1) - BUT I am spending about 7-10 hours a day expressing I am sick to death of it! Can't wait to get her back on the breast. I am determined to stick with it though... I know from past experience a bit of effort now does pay off in the long run .. it does get easier.. but OHH it's so hard right now!
My fluid has all gone I think, I lost 12kg in a week and I feel pretty good - apart from sleep deprived! The time spent expressing when I could be sleeping and she is getting harder & harder to settle to sleep too.
Dh goes back to work tomorrow & I'm a bit worried how I will manage all the expressing without another set of hands to help feed & settle her. I need to be doing more skin-to-skin but there's just no time! Well, we will see how we go I guess.
UGH!
I have the beginnings of mastitis in my right BB and I'm NOT happy! Who knew that my champion feeder would be the one I would have this problem with?? Both the GP and the chemist assured me that there is no way to know what caused it. I could have picked up something during the few days when my nipples were grazed, or it could be due to the fact that I'm co-sleeping and sleeping almost exclusively on my right side (though I do alternate breasts for feeds), or it could be that Jeremy isn't emptying the right BB enough when he feeds. Who knows...
So I have a prescription for antibiotics which I will fill at lunchtime tomorrow if I'm still running the fever. Both the GP and the chemist wanted to give it 24 hours to see if it will resolve itself as it is minor at this point.
I hate having fevers - so far this one is only giving me the chills and I hate feeling cold all the time. I just gave Jeremy a BIG feed while we got James ready for bed and tucked in and I think he did a good job of emptying the right BB because I really had to work to wake him so he could take the left BB which was quite full as with my trip to the GP (which is thankfully around the corner from our house) he went 4.5 hours between feeds which is VERY long for him.
So DS#1, DS#2 and DH are all asleep in the bedroom (we all four still sleep in one room) and I just took a long, VERY hot bath and put a hot, wet cloth on my right BB. I also tried to hand express both BB's and I could get milk out of the left BB and nothing from the right BB so I hope that means he drained it well.
I certainly hope no one else in the group ends up with mastitis because it isn't fun. I would go to bed right now (there is never anything good on TV on a Monday night anyway) except for the fact that I'm starving even though I just ate dinner two hours ago. So I'm off to fix myself something to eat (have no idea what yet) and then if Jeremy is still asleep I might catch some shut eye. Oh, except I should stay up until 10pm for my next dose of Panadol so I guess I will go to bed after the next feed.
In other news, the elimination diet I mentioned in my previous post is one that Dr Sears developed to help parents determine if foods are creating the sleep problems. The foods on the list are the blandest and least allergenic foods known to man. But I forgot to add that you can have olive oil as well for fat. I think I mentioned I went on the diet for two weeks with DS#1 when he was about 14 months old and I actually liked it even though it was so strict. He continued to wake the same number of times though even at the end of two weeks so we stopped. Turns out he finally started sleeping almost all the way through the night (he occassionally wakes for a drink or to have the covers put back over him) when he turned THREE! I'm really hoping Jeremy doesn't follow in his footsteps!
I hope everyone is well, babies are thriving, and some of us are getting at least a little bit of sleep. I'll check back later...
Lilprecious - Alannah has pretty flaky skin as well, the midwife said it was pretty normal. I don't have a moisturiser for her yet but might get one today. Just using sorbeline so far.
On the poop front, A poops every feed also, I guess I just assumed this was normal? Actually I read in Baby Love the other day that 1-2 nappy changes per feed was all good. So sounds like Jeremy is fine and I don't think there is any need for the elimination diet. I tend to do a nappy change after a feed but leave it for 5-10 minutes to catch those after feed poops. DH forgets to wait and ends up changing her butt twice - he will learn!
Hope the mastitis clears us soon, I have heard it is very unpleasant.
Leesa - teeth already Wow I didn't know that could happen, I've learnt something new today!
Alz - sorry your supply is not playing ball, that must be frustrating. Are you going to try BFing and supplementing with formula or fully FF? I know people who have low supply and have done both for awhile then eventually got back to fully BFing. But come to think of it they didn't have toddlers so they had more time for assing around with expressing and BFing and formula etc.
jasp - wow, you are doing a great job with the expressing - you are a superwoman! Hope you can get her back on the breast soon so you have a bit more time! How did you go without DH? My DH went back to work yesterday and I did pretty well but I had visitors (great grandma) and didn't get all my washing done.
AFM - still going pretty well. I still have one nipple that is cracked and taking awhile to heal but as our attachment is better now it isn't hurting as much during feeds. She was a bit of a ratbag last night, being very stop-start with her feeds and restless sleeping so I think I'll be needing a nap today. DH told me last night he didn't think he was getting much more sleep than I was.....what the? He doesn't even wake up at all for most feeds, and when he does it is for a few minutes when I'm changing her, not the hour+ for the feeding and settling. Hmmmm
Alannah is getting much more alert and squirmy every day and I love her funny facial expressions. She has a cute little stroppy face that she pulls when I am taking her nappy off or when she is trying to attach and it is going wrong and we have to try lots of times. She looks so grumpy but I can't take it very seriously because it is very cute.
Lilprecious - sorry to hear about the mastitus. Hoping that the antibiotics kick in and you are feeling heaps better soon. Can't relate but I have heard its awful. Take it easy and relax when you can (easier said than done I know).
Sagres - glad to hear that attachment is getting better and you aren't in so much pain.
Well my princess is doing well. She is a pretty good baby most of the time which is so different to my son. Ethan was in day care today (he goes 2 days a week when I would have been at work) so we had a relaxing day. I slept all morning which was lovely. Taking Daniella back to the paed tomorrow so hoping that goes well. Hopefully she has gained some weight. CHN said he might tell me to stop breastfeeding and go just with formula if she isn't gaining enough weight. I don't want to yet. Sagres - to answer your question I am formula feeding as well and have been since day 4 under medical advice (that is how low my supply is). I am planning on doing both for a while. If it starts to affect Ethan too much I am going to put Ella on the bottle completely. I don't want him to resent his little sister.
I am coming down with something. My right gland is very sore and swollen as is the right side of my throat. If I'm not feeling better by Thursday will go to the doc. Hubby is being helpful and settling Ella after her night feeds so I can get some rest and hopefully get better soon.
Better go Ella is due for a feed and I want to go to bed.
Night all.
Hope everything is going well for all of you.
The mastitis is clearing slowly and I'm hoping the fever will break sometime tonight.
So sorry to read about some of you who are struggling with supply issues. I struggled with breast feeding with my first son (attachment problems) and now the mastitis with Jeremy but my supply has always been good. I hope the situation improves for those of you who are struggling.
Anyone getting any sleep?? Jeremy's longest sleeps are usually only 2.5 or 3 hours long which I know is normal but I do hope the length of his sleep improves in the weeks to come.
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
Babies born~July 16th-31st 2009 #1
apart from feeding hiccups, I have severe oedema in my breasts which will hopefully sort itself out in a few days...
.
. Farmgirl and I just saw Sophie Roses' announcement too. I guess time is restricted for us all to post - I only just had breakfast at lunch time lol! But in my defence I did put a meal in the slow cooker so dinner time will hopefully flow a bit easier tonight!
.
and I feel pretty good - apart from sleep deprived! The time spent expressing when I could be sleeping
Well, we will see how we go I guess.
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