Babies Born August 16th ~ 31st 2009

[issy02]

Hi ladies,

Trish - hope your night is better tonight.... They are bound to have some rough ones...we all get them! Yes we have been very lucky with Lochie so far, he sleeps wonderfully, only up once a night for a feed then back to sleep till morn...im soooo hoping that continues but I know things can change so quickly and by week 6, it could be a completely diff story...
Oh and wonderful news about Alana's weight...sounds as though she is a healthy thriving baby girl...good work mumma!

Nadine - great news about Mia being more settled...Im sure things will be much better for you now.

brekalilly - Hi and welcome...congrats on baby Theo...

Koru - would also love to hear your birth stories...infact would love to hear everyone's birth stories! They are so interesting! Hope Orla is great...by the way, love the name (im irish and a bit bias...Lochlann is also Irish!)

Hi to everyone else!

AFM - Well, we are hoping and that Lochie continues his wonderful sleep patterns. He sleeps so well and we feel very rested. He was also weighed on tues and he has put on 340g is a week and is now 5kg. So he ofcourse looks huge for a 2 weeks old. We are still having attachment issues, but he is such a trooper with the nipple sheild. Im expressing twice a day to keep up supply but am throwing it away as Lochie doesnt seem to need the top up. Its criminal throwing away a full bottle of EBM daily, wish I could donate it to a milk bank but we dont have one in adelaide. Anywho...we have an appointment with the lactation consultant on tues so im hoping they can give me some tips on how to attach this wee man! Even my mum who is midwife cant get him on without the sheild...he's a bugger! Well, thats it for me, hope everyone is doing great!

Issy

[Saffi]

Just popping in to say hi to my late Aug belly buddies and see how you are all going. Sounds like all the bubs are doing well with weight gains.

Immi is 6 weeks old tomorrow. We are settling into being a family of four. DS seems to like his little sister and we haven't had any jealousy issues. He is throwing some huge tantrums but he is nearly 2 so I guess that's to be expected.

Seems like I am not the only one with a windy baby. Like Mia, Immi appears to have about 80% of the silent reflux symptoms. She cries much of the day, only settles when we hold her and can only get her to sleep when feeding or by bouncing her and even then she only sleeps for a few minutes or so. She does a bit better overnight, but still up every couple of hours. Am seeing the paed tomorrow so hopefully he can tell me what is happening. Didn't know about the lactose overload so that is something to try also. Using Brauers colic remedy at the moment but I don't think its doing anything.

Anyway, didn't come in here to complain.... I'll try to pop in from time to time and say hi, but as you know life with a newborn is so busy.

[kitty.kat]

Hello everyone,

I'm only new to belly belly but im so glad i signed up!!

I had my baby girl Lillia on the 26th of august 2009 she weight 7pound 14 (3.656kgs) at 5.28am!!! Long labour but such a beautiful healthy little girl!!

[Butterflyqld]

Using Brauers colic remedy at the moment but I don't think its doing anything.

Saffi: I am using Infants' Friend, I am not sure it is working either. Joshua is exactly like Immi. I was going to try Brauers next. Josh has got tongue tie which is being cut next Wednesday so hopefully it helps with the wind.

Kitty.Kat: Hi and welcome!

[brekalilly]

Hi all!!

Well, my little boy is now 2 weeks and 2 days old! Firstly, I'll tell you all about the labour.

I had to go in for induction at 7pm on 30th Aug (15 days overdue...) and the gel did the trick. I started having contractions at 1:15am and asked for gas about 2 hours later. I managed to hold out until the OB came in to see me at about 8:30am and then when he told me I was 5cm dialated, I promptly burst into tears! They all tried to tell me that was really good progress and they wouldn't have been surprised if I was only 2cm but I think they were just trying to make me feel better!! I did need the waters broken at that stage and the OB told me that despite him knowing I hadn't wanted one, I would need an epidural or I would risk ending up needing an emergency caesarean. Needless to say, I took the epidural which was done at abou 9:15am! I did manage a couple of naps, throughout the day and after pushing for around 45 mins, I asked for some help. Turns out, Theo was a little stuck! They used the forceps and suction to move him a little and after that, I pushed him out without too much trouble. He was finally born at 3:31pm! I had thought I was having a girl (just my guess) so I was a little surprised to see he was a boy! Anyway, he got 9 for both his apgar scores so I was really happy! Oh, and most importantly, 9lb 10oz and 53cm, and yes, stitches...

He's going well, no routine yet of course, but a very happy baby, doesn't really cry when he wakes up, just makes noises to let you know he's awake. He's had some good and bad sleeping and feeding days, but generally good, the maternal health nurse said he put on the amount of weight in 3 days that they like them to put on in a week so I don't think I need to be concerned about his eating habbits! Next visit is tomorrow, can't wait to see how much weight he's put on! Oh, am battling a cracked nipple on one side too, but hopefully that will heal since I'm expressing. We'll see how we go!

Anyway, sorry I've rambled on for so long hope you're all going well!

[kitty.kat]

wow brekalilly sounds like you had a pretty full on labour.... I thought mine was interesting... mine started off with my water breaking when i was shopping at woolworths around lunch time... then it was midnight and the midwife said i was only 3 cm dialated... the contractions got worse and at 4am they said i was only 6cm dialated, all i could think of was how much longer is this going to be i was so exhausted.. then at 5.28am i finally had her.. being my 3rd child i thought i would be easier but obvious not!!

Im still trying to get use to having a newborn again... theres been a few ups and downs especially with breastfeeding.. hopefully we will get in a good routine sometime soon

[Saffi]

Butterfly - the paed we saw today says that colic remedies don't work, but they don't do any harm either.

Further to previous post talked to the paed about Immi possibly having reflux. He said that a lot of the things Immi was doing was typical for a 6 week old baby and that in the next few weeks she should settle down a bit. He asked if she settles when I demand feed and hold her, if she does she probably doesn't have reflux as a baby with reflux wouldn't settle. He did give me a script for Losec in case she doesn't settle down.

Otherwise she is doing well. Is a little bit small so he supports formula compliment feeds and also thinks I should work on my supply.

[Butterflyqld]

Butterfly - the paed we saw today says that colic remedies don't work, but they don't do any harm either.

Further to previous post talked to the paed about Immi possibly having reflux. He said that a lot of the things Immi was doing was typical for a 6 week old baby and that in the next few weeks she should settle down a bit. He asked if she settles when I demand feed and hold her, if she does she probably doesn't have reflux as a baby with reflux wouldn't settle. He did give me a script for Losec in case she doesn't settle down.

Otherwise she is doing well. Is a little bit small so he supports formula compliment feeds and also thinks I should work on my supply.

Saffi: Thanks for letting me know. This morning I just rubbed his belly which calmed him down.

[~Trish~]

Hi everyone!

Saffi - I hope Immi settles down for you soon, it's so hard when you feel so helpless . This will all be a distant memory soon (that's why we go back for more LOL!).

Kitty.Kat - Welcome to the group and congrats on the arrival of Lillia! Your labour sounds very exhausting, I hope you recovered quickly.

brekalilly - Wow, your labour sounds full on! I'm glad Theo arrived safely in the end . He sounds like a dream baby!

Butterflyqld - I have used Brauers Colic Relief with all 3 of my kids, but it only really worked well for DS1. I should try it a bit more with Alana, I'm using Infacol atm which does help. Wind is such a problem isn't it?! Alana loves her tummy being rubbed too, it is one of our main settling techniques

issy - I hope Lochie has been continuing to sleep well for you and I hope you are having more success with attachment. He looks like such a cutie in your ticker photo!

Nadine - How are you guys going?

AFU - All is going well. Alana is a pretty happy, placid little girl. She has started smiling and she tries to chat as she smiles, very cute . I love how newborns try to smile and their whole mouth goes round LOL! She's doing pretty well overnight, last night she went 6 hours between feeds, bliss! I look forward to the day we drop the middle of the night feed, it sucks getting woken up in the middle of a deep sleep. Our day naps are interesting, she generally doesn't settle for her first nap, I think she gets so windy after her first feed that she can't get comfortable. The other naps are a bit hit and miss, but we'll get there eventually. Most late arvos are spent with me wearing her in the Baby Bjorn while I get dinner ready, etc. DS1 was always unsettled at that hour too, at least it doesn't last forever!

I hope you are all surviving and getting some rest!

[Doing my best]

Hi everyone,

Just popping in for a quick hi while I have 2 quiet children and DH at work...

Will be back later for personals, I have been reading how everyone is doing but haven't had the time or energy to reply (I got quite sick last weekend with a mild flu, and DH went back to work this week) so it was a hectic week, just going from hour to hour..

For those who don't know me, I had a little boy Fraser on 24/8 by c-sect weighing 8 pd 14 oz. I also have a 22 mth old toddler.. Fraser is going pretty well, and growing nicely. He is a lot more alert these last few days spending more time awake looking around. Trying to smile which is cute..

Anyhow, must run now and bath DD, but hopefully back tonight or tomorrow to write more..

[~Trish~]

Hi everyone! How hard is it to find the time to post in here?! I barely have time to scratch myself these days LOL.

Heather - Sorry to hear you have been sick . There is nothing worse than being sick and having to care for other children (one being a newborn). Alana and I both got sick with a cold when she was 5 days old, it was so hard to cope.

All is still going well here. I took Alana to see a paediatric chiropractor today just to get checked over. Both boys went as babies too and they fixed up some major problems, I love our chiro! She has a twisted sacrum which I guess is normal when you have a big baby, and her shoulder was out a little. The chiro said the twisted sacrum can cause wind issues and Alana is very windy, so hopefully she will improve now.

I'd better run, she's just woken! Sorry for the short post, I hope you're all doing well!

[Nadine]

Hi Ladies,

I am so sorry I haven't posted in here for so long. Life has just been very busy as you would all know too well.

Mia is going ok. We had a pretty rough time in the first 3-4 weeks but she seems to have settled down a bit. We give her infants friend and I think this helps her. She is a very windy baby (passes wind alot) but that doesn't seem to bother her much anymore. I am not sure if it's because of the infants friend or because she is getting bigger. She has been doing one 5hr block at night which is nice but last night was 4hrs. I believe she is going through her 6 week growth spurt atm (started yesterday) so today I have been offering the breast every 2hrs. So far it has worked well.

We also bought a swing. Hubby went back to work yesterday so the swing has come in handy. I actually have my hands free and Mia goes to sleep in the swing. So anyone that has a baby that only goes to sleep by rocking etc, I would recommend investing in a swing. Soooo worth it!

As for routine, we have none, which I hate. But I am accepting that I need to wait untill she is atleast 3-4mths old before starting one. Atm every day is very different LOL. The only thing I have started is a bath and massage in the late arvo early evening so she starts to know when bedtime is.

Kayla is coping pretty well. I feel sorry for her because I feel most of the time all I am doing is tellign her to "be quiet" or "wait untill mummy has fed Mia" etc etc. Mia is a very sensitive baby (apparently I was too LOL) so noise doesn't go down well when she is trying to feed or go to sleep.

So that's us atm. Taking one day at a time. I don't know how anyone with more then 2 kids or a small age gap does it!!!! My hat goes off to you LOL.

[~Trish~]

Hi Nadine! Sounds like you have been doing it a bit tough. I'm glad things are settling down a bit for you, it will get better and better, I promise! Swings are great aren't they? Our swing was a lifesaver for DS2, it gave me that little bit of extra time to get things done. I also love our Baby Bjorn atm, I can get dinner, etc. finished while Alana sleeps (it's her fussy nap hour so it's easier just to wear her LOL). I too feel sorry for my boys, I'm always telling them to be quiet! It doesn't really work though .

All is going pretty well with us, I contacted a baby sleep Dr via email regarding day naps and he gave me some advice that so far is working well. I was struggling to get good day naps out of Alana and I don't have time to rock her off to sleep and go in and out of her room all the time because I have the two boys to supervise too. He gave me great advice, including not keeping her up more than about 40 minutes at a time. If babies get overtired they are much harder to settle off to sleep and they don't sleep as deeply which keeps perpetuating until they barely sleep and are really unsettled. Since changing my ways she has been sleeping so much better and I am feeling much less stressed.

I'm looking forward to longer stretches of sleep at night though! Last night I fed her at 8:30pm and she didn't feed again until 3:30am, then again at 7:30am. Our best night yet, hooray for only one overnight feed! I won't hold my breath that she'll do it again tonight though LOL! I hope she is learning to go a bit longer though, I might start feeling human again sometime soon.

I have put my business on hold atm, but I'm still operating online (processing online orders). It has been so busy for some reason! I'm getting at least one order a day which is such a pain because I have to package it and get it posted. And lots of people want to come in and pick their goods up which is another pain again! It's so hard to coordinate feeds and sleeps around customers, especially when they don't show up or are really late, grrrrrr! So somehow I am still running a business amongst all the chaos, it's ridiculous, but I don't want to shut the website down because it will take a long time to build things up again later. Poor DH has heard me rant and rave about it a lot

I hope everyone is doing well, come and post in here when you get the chance!

[koru]

Hi all,
I've been very slack about posting in here haven't I? My excuse is that posting in two threads is so demanding! tee hee
Seriously tho: today is my 6 week check with my GP. I'm pretty sure what I want to do on the contraception front (will give the mini pill a whirl and see how we go with that) but vaccinations are doing my head in! I really wanted to delay any til after 6 months but this whooping cough outbreak has thrown a monkey wrench in my carefully researched plans. If it came a single shot it'd be a no-brainer but the triple vax is the smallest combo it comes as - or we could go the whole hog with the 6-in-one (which I'm loathe to do). Does anyone know if you opt for the 3-in-one combo over the 6-in-one that is on the national schedule whether you still get it for free or cos you've deviated from protocol you have to pay for it yourself?
I'm also very slack at doing personals I know - sorry I do read all your posts!
Slackness number 3: I STILL haven't written my birth story! Must do it before all the details get lost in a haze......I can barely keep up with my emails and a bit of posting with the few minutes I can snatch on the computer these days......

[Doing my best]

Hi all,

Hope it is so quiet in here cause everyone is enjoying their little bubbas.. I can't believe DS is now 8 weeks. Where has the time gone?

I am starting to function without Nanna naps now. DS seems to have dropped the 10ish feed at night, so at moment, down about 5.30 - 6, then up anywhere between 1 and 2, then 3 hrs after that.. Until he thinks of a better plan, I am enjoying it..

We have lots of smiles and goos and gaas.. For me, I forgot the simple pleasures of a newborn. DD loves having 'Baby'. Always wanting to nurse, and stand beside the change table. She also loves putting the dummy in his mouth every time he cries (and take it out so he will cry and she can fix him, LOL).

DS loves bath time, and anything else that involves DD. As much as she is full on, he smiles when she is near dancing and stuff, he cries if I put him the bath without her, LOL.. Think they are going to be good friends.

Almost time that I can go to bed (am recording something for DH cause I forgot to set the timer). And who knows when I will pop back in. Seem to be forever in a mountain of washing (2 in cloth nappies) and life and social gatherings are just so much busier with 2.

Hope to hear how you are all going soon.

[~Trish~]

Hi everyone!

Great to hear from you Heather! It is hard to believe our bub's are 8 weeks old already isn't it?! Your DS sounds like he is going great . DD loves her brothers too, especially DS1, she will instantly stop crying and start chatting if she sees him LOL.

Alana is going great, sleeping for 8 hour stretches overnight which is soooo nice! I put her to bed for the night at around 7pm, give her a dream feed at 8:30pm and she usually wakes up at 4:30am for another feed, then up for the day at just after 7:30am. I am very happy with that, especially because I have two other kids to look after during the day

Well, she's just woken up so I'd better go feed her. Take care everyone!

[Nadine]

Hello ladies,

How is everyone doing?

Well it is hard to believe that Mia will be 3 months old next week. I am kind of glad though that the hard times have past. We still have no routine as such because Mia still feeds smaller feeds but more frequently (even though she is formula fed now) so slotting her into a routine is a bit difficult. She does have her 2.5-3hrs sleep in the mornings though and the afternoon consists of smaller sleeps or one 1.5hr sleep and a 40min sleep.

We only breastfeed at night now and even then she will have a bottle of formula to top her up. I tried everything (even a supply line) but nothing would get her to latch on during the day. So I made peace with it and she is now mostly formula fed (my supply is slowly dwindling). AF has returned too as a result. Yay, NOT!

I am also pleased that she has been sleeping in her cot at night for 5 nights now. She didn't care one bit, which was good. Now we have our bed back LOL (although she was no dramas in it).

And height and weight wise she is in the 97th percentile (like her sister). At 10weeks she was 62cm long (so she is startign to wear 00's) and yesterday she weighed in at 7kg with only a body suit on. Little fatty. Thing is she doesn't nearly reach the recommended intake of formula a day, so I believe genes have kicked in a bit. Her daddy (although being very thin now) was a chubba as a baby. And he was fully breastfed.

Kayla is going well. Just being a typical 3.9yr old *sigh* PMSL.

[~Trish~]

Hi Nadine! Long time no hear LOL. I'm glad things have settled down with Mia now. Well done on persisting with BF'ing for as long as you did! Wow, she is a great size! Alana was 5.35kg and 60cm at her 2 month check.

I've been chatting a bit in the early August thread, you are welcome to join us in there if you like

All is going good with us. Alana is sleeping well and is a very happy, chatty little girl. She is starting to laugh and she is very social. She has a huge gummy smile for anyone who will talk to her. She came down sick with a nasty cough and cold recently which affected her sleep, but luckily she's back to normal now.

I hope everyone is well!