Babies Born April 16th-30th 2009 #1

[Mama2two]

SareBear, I used a nipple shield a couple of times to give my nipple a break ( had quite a nasty graze that's only just starting to heal) and it still hurt a little but it did take the edge off. They are all quite big, I thought it would be too big for DS mouth but a couple of minutes in he got use to it. I have read in my bf book not to use them too often though and the book suggests to do what you did in that you start them off with the shield then when your more comfortable take it off and let them finish. To get my son to open his mouth wider i stroke his bottom lip with my nipple and when he opens up i quickly shove him on. Would be a good idea to go to the bf clinic. I also use the lansinoh nipple ointment and find it nice and soothing. Poor us hey.. I hope we sort this breastfeeding thing out soon.

Ozzie, That's lucky hey. We moved 2 weeks ago and i learnt that our old house was completely flooded out, so im counting my blessings. I hope it stops long enough for me to get some washing dry though i have 3 clothes horses going at the moment and poor Oliver has nothing to wear .. Wow go Elijah on the weight gain, i haven't had Oliver weighed in about 2 weeks, i haven't been able to get out of the house with this mastitis bout but i'm taking him in on Wednesday, he seems bigger, we'll see hey.

Berrme, How did your massage go? I've never had one but it's my birthday soon so i might drop a couple of hints around because i would love to try one.

Oliver has been so good today with his sleeping. We slept together all afternoon into the night lol. Then i had to get up and make dinner and he woke for a feed then was back to sleep. I'm so lucky. He is so beautiful hehe.

[berrme]

Sarah, I haven't had enough trouble to be much good with bf advice, but I did find early on with Byron that he didn't always open up wide enough. Like mama said, rubbing the nipple on his chin or on his nose would usually work. I also made sure I had hold of my breast with the whole areola area squeezed out in front of my hand so it could be shoved quickly and easily into his mouth. They aren't always good at getting the nipple far enough back when they are little. I have found that they get much better as their mouths grow.

Mama... that was really lucky about your move! Has anyone moved into your old house yet? Have to feel for them a bit.
I managed to get all the clothes done Thursday, but the pile is huge again now. The nappies have been on the line for 3 days now. I am down to about 10 clean ones so hopefully they get dry this morning or the boys will be in disposibles for a day or 2 I think I am going to buy a dryer for these occasions. We have managed without one for all these years but I think the second child is going to make it just that bit too hard.
The massage was lovely. If you aren't bothered by a stranger rubbing you then you should try it. I know a couple of people who don't like it because it is a stranger touching them. I like to get a massage and facial together when I am getting spoiled. Can't really get a facial at the moment thou cause my eye won't close. DH almost always gets me some sort of beauty therapy voucher for birthdays, xmas etc. Not very inventive but very much appreciated!

Ozzie, it would be great to join in one of your meetups. When I am a working mum I work at Pine Rivers High so I know the area around there pretty well.
I have to drive over sometime this week to pick up my hug-a-bub. I had to get one ordered in because I didn't want to pay for the pocket.

[nellnell]

OMG Nell... never thought of asking DH to do that. What a fantastic idea! I'm going to ask him to do it cos it'd be sooooo interesting to see what you don't see when it's about you.

Oh yeah, it was hilarious. I found out things I didn't remember saying and the very interesting noises I was making. He kind of did a funny version with serious bits in between, but it really was lovely to have his point of view. I wrote my version to our DD so DH did the same. Here are a few snippets from DH's version of DD's birth nearly 2 yrs ago. Just for a bit of a laugh.

....we headed into the birthing room (when I first saw this room I thought it was where you get ready to give birth ? I was a little shocked to find out that the gym mats, trapeze, toilet, bathtub, stools, balls and lounges was where the grand final was played)......Mum was really starting to get her vocal chords in tune with the local wild cats, Tasmanian devils and rutting moose. One day you will understand this!.....

I don't know if I mentioned my Bell's Palsy in this group yet... but it will be 4 weeks tomorrow since I woke up with a paralysed face. Hopefully it won't be much longer! All my blood tests are normal again too, so I am feeling good.

Wow, Melanie - I didn't realise. Do the dr's know what caused it? And so soon after giving birth. Hope it improves and you are back to your old self sooner rather than later.

[organicem]

SareBear, I used a nipple shield with my first until she was about 6 months old because at first her mouth was too small then once it was big enough she just never wanted to attach properly. Even though they are not recommended for extended use, it didn't seem to affect her, she put on weight normally and I b'fed her until she was 14 months.
With my new little one it actually hurt more to use a nipple shield so for the first two weeks I mostly expressed and fed her expressed milk until engorgement dissapeared and now she latches on well and I only get pain on one side for about the first minute (it feels like she has teeth). Like others said, touching your nipple below their mouth usually gets them to open up wide. If you are having trouble getting your nipple to shape, then you could express for a few minutes (save the little bits of milk to give you a night off in the future) which will bring nipple out, I found this makes attachment easier even now if little one has had an extra long sleep and I end up engorged again.

Good luck.

[Ozziehoffy]

Sarah, I still have probs with Elijah opening up wide enough, he prefers the "slurp" method if he can get away with it lol.

Wow Mama... that would suck if you were the new person for sure!

Melanie, if I'd known you were after a HAB would've sold you mine from Oskar... hardly used!! Oh well, I will get around to selling it one day lol. Let me know when you are coming over this way and we'll see what we can arrange. Usually Oskar sleeps from around 2-4pm so I generally do things in the mornings... around 10ish cos I can't seem to organise myself any earlier with the two of them! I'll pm you my mobile number.

Nell, pmsl @ your hubby's version. Very funny.

ooooooh hungry bub AGAIN... better go for now.

[berrme]

Gee wizz Cass, always the way isn't it. I didn't really know I wanted one until I stopped at Bubs and Grubs and they were selling them for less than I had seen them on the net. You should put yours on ebay, I had a look on there ages ago when I was first looking into carriers and they were getting almost as much as they cost new.
I never get going before about 10 either. Not unless I have to for some reason. I am awake by around 6 but then I am just lazy and disorganised. I don't know how women go back to work when their kids are this young. I couldn't do it even if I wanted to.

Nell, It must have been very amusing to listen to you during labour. Everyone kept commenting on how quiet I was... I just shut my eyes and took deep breaths. The middie nick named me the quiet achiever.
Apparently any stress or trauma can trigger Bell's Palsy, so possibly child birth. I was a bit more stressed though because the preeclampsia showed up after the birth, so my bp was up and my bloods were dodgy. Didn't make for a relaxing first postpartum week. It seems it isn't nearly as uncommon as I originally thought, since I got it I have met a number of people who have had it in the past. Shouldn't be too much longer before I am 'normal' again.

Just want to tell you all that we DTD. It took a couple of glasses of bubbly to relax me enough to stop worrying about my repairwork but it hardly hurt at all. It is such a relief to have the first time out of the way!
Byron woke up right in the middle though. Luckily he always slams his bedroom door as he comes out so DH threw on a robe and put a video on to distract him for a while. Children have terrible timing! I hope we haven't scarred him for life.

[mustangsachy]

Hi everyone - sorry i've not been around - i've just read the last page of posts so sorry there aren't many personals.

hope that you're all going fab

sarebear; I use the nipple shield non-stop. DS didn't learn to attach correctly (me either - as didn't see lactation consultant in hosp til last day) so by day 4 my nipples were bleeding. He's still not great at attaching, he'll stay on for a minute or two but then pull off and gets frustrated so on with the shield again. he's been putting on about 300 gm a week though so I figure it's ok to keep going with the shield until we can get the bf thing down pat.

nellnell; that is so funny about your DH's birth story. what a GREAT idea to save them for your children when they are older. kids love hearing that stuff. I know i did from my mum.

Berrme; is bells palsy the same as cerabal palsy? (sorry if i've asked you before). hope that you're back to 'normal' soon. I agree with the carrier comment. Lachlan wants to be close all the time which is lovely but need to do things so i'm in the market also - but ebay is just as exxy as new. so now i'll go buy from shop. to DTD. DP and i had a HUGE fight last night over that as he keeps saying things to insinuate 'hurry up'... i think he's being insensitive. I told him i'll do equivalent to him what happened to me and see how much he wants 'it'. I'm not sore much anymore but i need a bit more time.

Well, i think lachlan has colic. every night from maybe 7 until 11.30 sometimes later he's very fussy and crying almost non-stop. wants holding upright, patting. offer boob - don't want, won't sleep. it's v distressing. he's on colic relief by brauer whch workd to start with but very restless again last night. does anyone have any tips? I've also heard of 'wonder weeks' which scare the Sh@t outta me to be honest

besides that lachlan is wonderful and i'm getting used to being a mum. it's tiring and emotional but worth every second.

x