Babies Born August 16th ~ 31st 2009

[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!

[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!