Babies Born April 2008 #2

[alittlegrubi]

Sharon A post about yourself is not selfish. I've had days like that too - can't say why I'm sad but i am and if DH asks what is wrong do I want to talk I say no because I think I'll blurt out something that really isn't an issue and cause more problems.

[chelle66]

Sharon, I FEEL the same way...
alittlegrubi, yep, I just say its nothing too, in fear I dig around and start something I just really dont have the energy to finish!all cos of feeling so emotional and wanting to put a reason to it...ah sleeplessness has alot to answer too!

[Nettie]

Grubi - I know exactly what u mean by not wanting to blurt out something. My DH always wants to know what's wrong when I'm 'blue' but I often don't know or it's too many things to discuss it.

Very tired here at the moment. Am hoping to sleep when Liam does today, but not sure if it will work. He sleeps fabulously in my arms, but not in the bassinette!

DH has gone out for a few hrs and NOW I have to go to the loo. Sheesh!

[alittlegrubi]

We attempted to attend the Babes in Arms movie session today. Remind me not to take 2and 3/4 year old with me again. Thought he would love it being that the movie was Ironman and just as it started to get good, he picks up the popcorn and says "Wanna go home, pop porn go home, drink go home?" and then half way home he starts "I wanna go watch ironman scary movie" Grrrrr!!!!
Greer was great she slept through the hour and a half we were there for.
Nettie - I know it can be hard, but let Liam cry while you go to the loo, he wil be okay. Have you tried laying Liam on his tummy for a sleep, I found with both of my bubs tummy sleeps worked where the reflux would wake them on their backs.

[Beatrix]

Grubi- oh i have taken my two to the movies and its more of a game for them and the eldest only goes for the popcorn. :rolls: still you did well in attepting it with a 3 week old.

well MJ is finalkly startoing to sleep otherplaces besides in my arms !!! for the last two nights she has slept in her pram. we still have progreesed to the cot but her pram is acctually a bassinet pram so i guess its the same as still sleeping in a bassinet but with wheels and a handle!

Nettie- oh dear the timing!!!!

Sharon- how are you feeling today, remember feel free to come and whinge and cry in hear as much as you want. if you want to talk i am most of the time on msn mummynessa@hotmail.com

oh man massive let down and i am now soaking wet lol and it was cause my middle child was crying!!

[Sharon19270]

Beatrix thanks for your msn details, will add them to my contacts, I don't get on there too often because when I do I stay on for hours LOL. Still feeling really down and wanting to cry all the time, but put on a brave face around my friends, DH sees straight through it though. That's great that MJ is sleeping in the pram, at least it gives you a break from holding her all the time.
alittlegrubi i'm not worried about blurting out something that would seem rather trivial under normal circumstances because I know that DH realises that my emotions are pretty much out of my control atm, it's just that it is really difficult to be specific about what is actually making me upset. As for the Babes in Arms session at the movies, I take my hat off to you for attempting it.
chelle66 if I give DH the 'nothing' response when he asks what is wrong, he knows i'm lying and will say so, and that's usually enough to get the tears flowing, followed by him giving me lots of hugs and reassurance, then if Oliver is awake and whinging he will take over.
Nettie it's hard when they don't want to sleep anywhere but in your arms, Jordan was like that too and I found it very frustrating.

Had another bad afternoon yesterday with Oliver, he basically screamed for nearly 2 hours after vomiting after his bottle, DH walked in the door at 6pm to find me very stressed and crying, he took oliver off me, settled him down and an hour later he was asleep, DH then took Jordan and they went off and did the grocery shopping, I really do appreciate how much he is helping me atm, and love his so much. but, it has got me thinking as to whether Oliver is having reflux problems, he won't vomit after every feed though, so I am also wondering if he could just be making a piggy of himself when he has more than a 100ml, but I thought that since he was 5kg and only having 6 bottles a day, he should be having 120-150ml per feed anyway.

Oh, I don't friggin know, there could very well be no reason for his screaming at all other than to send me insane!

[alittlegrubi]

Sharon Greer has about 2 chucks per day at the moment and smelling her breath it isn't reflux as there is no acid smell. I was thinking it was overfeeding, but I'm with you - who knows - I'm going to try the Brauer's Stomach Calm or Colic Relief but if they don't work I'm going with the "just to drive me insane" theory too..

I think that it will improve and I just need to remind myself that it is going to happen, there isn't much more than what I am doing that I can do to help her, so just go with the flow and stop stressing, because she will pick up on that and be worse than if I can remain calm.

It is great that you have DH to help. Mine is very much the same, helps out when he can, will carry Greer around to keep her quiet, changes nappies, does some of the housework and the grocery shopping and sometimes takes Logan to his parents to give us both a break from having to deal with two kids.

Beatrix I'm sure the popcorn was the best part of going to the movies for Logan. He did ask for the popcorn to go home too. He was so overstimulated by the experience he was a pain at the shops when I stopped in to get nappies and he wanted to go in a trolley - which I can't push - then I had to chase him around the carpark to get into the car - we had a screaming match of I want trolley all the way home - I had to calmly tell him to stop crying and calm down and we would talk about trolleys or he goes to bed, made him a bottle sat down on the lounge and half way through the bottle - out like a light. Next Babes In Arms Session will be Mother and Daughter time only, at least until he is old enough to sit through the whole thing.

I foolishly mopped - wipe over mop - the floors this morning as SIL is planning to pop in and she'll do it if they look like they need it so I wanted to get them done and I was careful about doing it, but I'm a little sore now.

I am like most of you and get better day time sleeping if Greer is held, but she will sleep in her bassinet some times, find she sleeps longer in there if I put her on her tummy.

I always thought that if you breastfed poos weren't meant to smell - or is that just stink? Greer always smells when she poos and she just has so got to go change it.

[Nettie]

Sharon - that sounds just like what Liam was doing and the Brauer's Stomach Calm has worked wonders.

Grubi - DH keeps talking about seeing the next Indiana Jones movie and we think we'll go in turns so that one of us is with bubs.. might be easier!

*sigh* Liam's awoken again, so I'll go get him and put him in the sling I reckon!

[alittlegrubi]

Nettie - if you can go at 10.30am on a Wednesday to a Greater Union Cinema they have Babes in Arms Sessions - so people are expecting there to be kids and baby noise. If you can feed just ebfore you go they sleep through for the most part - it's going with a toddler that is the hassle. You can hold Liam throughout the movie - take that in turns instead of having to go alone. I went with DS when he was a baby and got to watch all the movies from start to finish.

[Tarnee]

Hi All

Sharon - so sorry to hear that you are having a tough time at the moment . Just remember it will get better. A friend said to me yesterday 'the train wreck does end!'.

Grubi - I didn't even know about 'Babes in Arms' movie sessions. Have just found out when one is near me and I am going!! Sounds great. But I agree, it wouldn't be as good with a toddler running around too.

I went to Child Health yesterday to get Charlotte weighed. They were really good - gave me heaps of time to answer my questions BUT Charlotte had only put on 115g in the last week. (she is 4465g now). First, I can't believe that she is a month old and is still smaller than some of you have given birth to (she seems so big to me now). Second, she feeds like a trooper and is not sickly or anything. I feed her every 2 hours during the day (unless she is having a big sleep which only happens a couple of times a week). So now I have to try and feed her for longer each feed to try and get her gaining more like the 150g/week that they want. I am not really too worried cause she put on 730g and then 250g for the first weeks out of hospital so maybe she is just having a slow week.

Then we got to talking about sleeping. They suggest that you should put your baby down before they actually go to sleep, so that they can learn to settle themselves. HA!! Fat chance of that happening. I am lucky to be able to put her down after she has been to sleep and not have her wake up screaming!! For example, I just fed her at 11.30am, she was pretty milk drunk and very very sleepy, I put her down and came onto the computer, I just walked past (20 minutes later) and she is wide awake!! She has been awake since 8.30am this morning and if she doesn't go to sleep soon, we will have one very cranky, over-tired baby on our hands (not to mention that I am yet to have breakfast, a shower etc).

Also just wanted to let you all know about a different 'gripe water' that I was recommended and am currently using. It is called Marina Infant Mixture. It is all natural and doesn't contain alcohol (which Gripe Water does (look for ethanol in the ingredients)). It is working really well so far - and the only drawback is that you can't mix it in with a bottle and that you have to give them 4ml (which is quite a bit and takes a while with a syringe) before each feed. For more info Natural and Alternative Medicine - Morzone Pharmaceuticals.

Anyway, just thought I would mention it, since it was a different product that seems to work quite well.

Better go and decide whether to get my 'sleeping' baby up for a while or let her be.

[Fire]

hi all.

we watch our videos at lunch time here, but still interested in the babes in arms movies... maybe one day i'll brave it.

moving back to the family bed soon. feeling nervous because i feel we've got a good rhythm and dont want to stuff it.

dh shaved his head recently and left a mohawk. freaky (he's usually quite conservative that way). anyway, he's about to shave it off. in case i've never said this... DH is amazing. truely incredible. he does everything around here, even when he had a fever of 40 degs and was shivering and sweating (he had taken too much on), he still did both kids while i slept.

i'm feeling very in love today. like that first week - remember those good hormones? love them.

sore back from front carrying. can't wait until i get the back carrier wrap and mei tai.

blah... nuttin' much to say. reading all your posts though, sending warm thoughts.

[Beatrix]

Tarnee- oon the weight gain my dr said that 120g is what they aim for in a week so i wouldnt stess. Babies dont read all the books or any on what they are 'meant' to do.

omg i have found the best dummy to give my boobie a break!!!

[sarah_dobbo2]

Beatrix: What type was it? Am thinking of giving Wyatt one, I swear he used my boobie for that yesterday from 5:45-9pm he just wanted boobie. Am not used to having him on that long. Am really thinking about giving him one...
Cheers
Sarah

[Beatrix]

sarah- they are Nuby Natural Flex pacifier. they have teething nubs, natural flex action that mitate the movement of your breat when feeding and Hygienic Air system. I tried it myself and it actualy does move slighty back and forward as you suck like a booby does. and thy are on special at Target this week 20 or 25% off

[alittlegrubi]

Sarah Lactation Consultant told me to offer my little finger, pad in the roof of mouth to see if they are using you as a comforter. If they cry still after sucking on the finger for a short time they are hungry, if not then they need a comfort suck. It prents you from doing much - but then you'll know if a dummy will help before getting one.

Fire we all want your DH Are you in love with DH or the baby?

Beatrix at babies reading the books, even the mums haven't read half of them.

Tarnee can you give the 4 mls via bottle without mixing it in with the feed. I've seen these medi-bottle things "MediBottle Pediatric Medicine Delivery System Bottle" on ebay from the US that helps with giving medicines.

[Tarnee]

OMG Grubi - why didn't I think of that??? Babybrain. Of course you can give them the 4mls via bottle on it's own. But i guess it would have to be a special bottle so that the 4mls didn't get 'lost'. (you can never quite get the last bit out of the bottle without sucking heaps of air).

BTW - went back after posting to get Charlotte and she was fast asleep - must have heard my rant and decided to make me look silly!!

Also, for those with crying bubs - they are not doing it to drive you insane!!! The child health nurse reminded me that at this age they should be crying for about 2 hours per day - it is their way of releasing tension and communicating. Even when I add up all the little 2 minutes here and there, there is no way Charlotte cries for that long - so I will think myself lucky!! I just remind myself of that when she does cry!

[Fire]

Tarnee, that's crap, very old fashioned (emotionally dangerous) advice about putting a baby down and expecting them to just "fall asleep". Sometimes they do, but it isn't going to happen other than accidentally when what they want is a warm human body - it is an inbuilt expectation, a need of human contact. This has been studied and verified. What health facility do you go to? Next you'll be hearing, "just go in every few minutes, reassure the baby, and leave... soon enough they'll learn... well, they'll learn never to trust us cos we'll never respond to their pleas for comfort" Those health centres need new rule books, seriously. The only thing a baby needs to "learn" is that life is safe, mama is always there, and comfort is there at merely a glance.

HTH. Trust yourself, mama, follow your gut.

This issue is a trigger point of mine, is that obvious? I had to heal my first born because of that same advice. She's still healing... she's six years old.

[Fire]

I should mention, since my last post was a bit short on it, that I'm only talking about crying or otherwise distressed babies. Not contented babies laying on their own.

Sorry, should have mentioned that.