Babies Born August 2007 #3

[KirstenFleur]

Hi all!
Kim, don't feel guilty- as others have said, it's the best thing for Hayden at this point. You did well, don't beat yourself up. And Oh, how I'd love to have my hair done! Just a trim (and wash, blowdry) would do me at this point. Sigh. Visions of things that can never be dance before my eyes...

Sara, how goes the doula course? Are you enjoying it, even though I imagine it's hard work? Tell us all, I'm rather curious.

Ali, congrats to your little Sarah on getting to the next swimming level! I like the idea of vanishing for a night and leaving both girls with DH. An excellent way to educate the other half of the partnership.

Well, today's been entertaining- I was up at 5.50am (curse you, inadequate curtains in Laura's room!) and fed Laura. And fed her and fed her and fed her. Seriously, that child was a bottomless pit this morning! And then, unsurprisingly, I had to change a nappy that should have been marked "Caution Toxic Waste", and we went through three nappies just waiting for her to finish pooing. Every time I thought she'd finished, she'd turn red and squeak again. The lowest point came when I was sure she was done and hoisted her up by her ankles, only to get a jet of liquid poo all down my nightie. SIGH....

But matters improved, and we made it to the library and I have many books to read to her, and she was very good in the library (once I fed her AGAIN). DH is reading nursery rhymes to her and to my amusement is singing them as though he's Elvis. Gives "Little Miss Muffet" a whole new meaning!
And we just got back from netball, where I played WA for a half, as I was feeding her (sigh) the first half, and we won 27-8. Woooooo!!!

So, how are you?

[Turkish Delight]

Hi All,
It has been ages since i have been in here. Devrim has been on school holidays for 3 weeks so i've tried to entertain him! He started school today, thank god! He never shuts up. I enjoyed the peace and quiet today and just being with Ela.

Re: the dribbles. I actually phoned the MCHN line over the w/e because i was concerned about Ela's dribbliness. The dribbles run from the conrners of both sides of her mouth and are very bubbly. She often blows raspberries! The MCHN said that it was a developmental thing and that they start to "fist" at around 3 months too, so nothing to be concerned about. I just didn't remember Devrim dribbling this much that's all and then reading here that all your bubs were all dribbly has made me feel much better.

Kim - re: the baby bjorn. I have a baby bjorn active carrier and it is the best. It's so much easier than to lug around a pram. I also have a baby bjorn nappy back pack which i wear on my back, which leaves both arms and hands free. Ela sleeps comfortably with her head on my chest. i'm so glad i brought it. The only downfall is that you can only use it until they are about 12kgs.

KirstenF- you are so funny! Re: the poo saga. Some days it takes Ela about 4-5 nappies before she stops pooing. Once when she was about 3-4 weeks and i was changing her after a poo, i bent down to grab a nappy from the shelf underneath the change table and an explosive poo jetted out all on the front of my nightie at about breast level, lucky i didn't bend down any further as i'm sure she would've gotten me in the face!

Rhianon - great to hear that Jensen is coping well after the circum. We need to get Devrim done too (for religious reasons in about 1-2 years). We have slowly started to tell him and he is frightened to death (so would i) Do the docs do a general or local anesthetic? How long was Jensen in hospital for?

Sara - great to hear that you are enjoying your course. It's great when you enjoy what you are going to do for a living! Go girl.

All girls with DH probs - you need to train men from the start! My mum has a saying ... don't let men sh*t on you, sh*t on them first. My DH never used to help out when we first got married (7.5 years ago) after a few yelling matches at the start he began to help out with all chores. He occassionally slips behind (every 2-3 months) and gets lazy when i yell at him again and he starts doing chores again. He now does every chore in the house except the ironing. He will do it at his own free will. Last week Ela and i had a long sleep in til about 11am, he had cleaned the toilets, bathroom, vaccuumed half the house, mopped the tiles and floorboards and dusted. You need to train them at the start but i guess it is never late than never.

This has been a long post again. Good night all.

[alioops]

Serha, How did u go with the mastitis? Cyh r coming to weigh em again so better go get dressed!

[kungfubecca]

HI all,

Alison, good on you for letting your hubby know how stressful it can be. and Well done to sarah and her swimming.

Kristen, you bought a smile to my face this morning. Pitty about the poo, I don't envy you there but how cute about the singing daddy. I have found that Xavier likes his songs with a bit of a swing beat to them. We too have some pitiful light blocking on Xaves room, and I hear you on the frustration.

Sehra, Oh no seems we have an early fister here. He's been doing it for more than 2 weeks already lol. Ha Ha at training y hubby to do work. I think we need to set up Sehra husband boot camp. We'll ship them all off to you for a week and you can whip them into shape. Nah seriously it's not like mine won't clean he's just too pre-occupied in himself and what he thinks is important to realise things need doing. I was falling asleep on the couch at 8pm last night, so he went and steralised my breast pump and bottles etc ('cause I need to express before bed or I wake up at 1am overfull)

Hope everyone else is well.

[Turkish Delight]

Hi Girls,

Re: the mastitis. I'm finally over it. The lump is gone. I set my alarm clock for around 12.30-1.00am so i can express the milk. I don't mind if i make more milk at night as long as i wake up to express it. I can fall back to sleep pretty easily, so waking and expressing is no probs.

Re: hubby boot camp LOL. I am the dominant one in the house, so what i says goes! I even have an hierarchy, Me (top), 2nd- Ela, 3rd- Devrim, 4th the dogs, 5th- hubby. I love him to bits, but what it's always got to be my way or the highway! Miss bossy boots.

Bec- very thoughtful of hubby to sterilise all that stuff for you!

Are your bubs very talkative too? Ela is very cooey at the moment and she even lets us know when the music on her mobile stops she'll start cooing, when we switch it back on she stops. I let her watch the ABC kids programs, she loves them, i think its all the vibrant colours. We have a big plasma, so the pictures are very big and the colours so vibrant. I can get so much done!

[alioops]

Sehra, Have u figured out how to relieve without making more?
Em has started cooing too and today she discovered her tongue! she has been poking it in and out all day it looks so funny! when Em does it Sarah starts too!

DH has taken Em out n Sarah is asleep so I'm having a break now but i'm going on strike on saturday morning till 9:30. He can get up early n get everything ready for swimming and get the girls up, fed and dressed. I need a sleep in!

Em has gained 100g since Thursday, CYH nurse was happy with that. We have a volunteer coming to give me a hand with the girls 4 3 hours per week so I can get some housework done. Sarah loves her!

Re poo - caution tmi - I have had Em's nappy open while she is pooing and it looks like green toothpaste coming out! it's the right size n consistency. i know EWWWW!!!!!! I guess that is a pro about FF, it's not watery n powerfully expelled.

on that note, now that ive grossed u all out, must go...

[sconeonamission]

Hi all!

Sonia - What prices are the grobags online? I'm a cheapskate and when I look on eBay, they're too expensive for me! But we did go to Target and Big W and buy just ordinary baby sleeping bags and Jensen seems to like them. When he grows out of them, I'm going to make some for him! haha lets see how that goes! My health nurse is whoever is there and your scheduled to see at the appointments. My first appt I had one lady, this week I had another and next week I'll have the 3rd nurse! They all seem to be pretty good. Ask if you can see someone else.

Rebecca - Tickling Jensen's cheek to make him turn his head, he'll only do it when he's hungry. Wow, lucky you! No screaming baby at dinner ! Congrats! The me-time sounds great, but I get the guilts, coz Andrew *tries* to calm him - which really entails sitting there doing whatever he was doing before I gave Jensen to him. It hurts to hear him cry when Andrew could be doing something for him. Apparently, it makes him "uncomfortable". Really? I deal with that all day long, whats 5mins when so I can finally have a shower? I'm all for Sehra-bootcamp.

Ali - Congrats on Emma! Well done to Sarah on her swimming!

Kirsten - PJ's at 11.41? I'm in mine all day! Unless I have to go somewhere, then getting dressed is the last thing I do before we walk out the door.

Rhi - Andrew's at work all day too, and misses out, but I try and film the cute stuff so he can see! Andrew doesn't expect me to clean, but I feel terrible if the house looks like a shambles, and try my best to clean. Then I get upset at the next untidy thing. Andrew says that ppl know you have a baby and don't expect the house to be clean! There's no routine here, I just go with the flow ('cept at around 6-6.30 when we bath, feed and bed). Pff at being considerate at 4am. Andrew doesn't even hear Jensen til 6am. Sleeps right thru, even when he's in the same room.

Sara - Hope your course is going well. Is it by distance / online, or do you go to a class?

Sehra - Jensen found his fist last week. It's so cute. Sometimes he'll grab your finger in his fist and pull towards his mouth to eat it! With the circ, we had to apply a cream (EMLA) 2hrs before, not feed him for 2hrs before (worked well, he slept for those 2 hrs). The procedure was done - took about 10 mins - then fed him to calm him (not pain, just edgy) and that was that. It was the plastibell method, and the bell fell off 5days later. (hehe we kept it for his memory keepsakes!In a plastic zip bag of course!) If you want, Google Dr Terry Russell. Thats who we went to. He has a practice in Melbourne too, if I remember reading on his website.

Well. Much to Andrew's disapproval, Jensen has taken after his mother with him liking country music! At Nanna's we watch CMC all day, and he seems to whinge when the music stops and the ads are on! Sunday, we had it on, and he was lying on the floor kicking his feet, and he looked like he was dancing! Has anyone noticed their baby has a favourite colour? Jensen seems absolutely fascinated by white. He has a zebra that plays a tune and one on his swingamajig. Stares at curtains and basically anything white.

We saw the health nurse yesterday. We definately need the baby physio appt scheduled for next Tuesday, as he has a bad flat spot. I hope we can fix it. I discussed his feeding habits with her and I fed him while we were there. She says he's an efficient sucker and he's feeding well. However, its good (for him at least) to gain about 190g per week. He's only gained 190g in 3wks. I was told not to be too worried, but how can you not feel worried when you're told that you're baby isn't gaining any weight. He's got an emergency appt next Friday with the health nurse to re-check his weight. He's grown in length and head circ tho. He's got bad cradle cap and what looks like the same across his eyebrows. Also the only thing i eat that could be misconstrued as allergy, creating his reflux and colic, is milk. So today is day one of soy milk. Doesn't taste too bad, til the after taste. POAS today, just to make sure the reason he wasn't gaining any weight wasn't coz I'm pg. I'm not. Phew. Just never know with some things.
Tomorrow is his 2mths! and his needles.

Better go, as we're having trouble sleeping at night again. Have great day!

[kungfubecca]

Hi all,

Sehra, good to hear the mastitis is gone. I'm a bit jealous you can fall asleep so easily. Xavier has moments of being very talkative, and we are getting less cry crying and more grizzling when he wakes up. Sometimes he'll be chatting to me and suddenly become really whiny, like he's complaining. It turns out he is always hungry when this happens, so it's like he's been trying to tell me nicely that his hungry and I'm not listening, so has to start sooking at me. I think it's funny at the moment. I'm sure down the track sooking when his hungry won't be as funny

Rhiannon, it does hurt doesn't it. The guys obviously don't hear the same distressed sound that we do. What has really gotten my goat a few times is that nathan will waa back at him. Now if he's just grizzling this wouldn't bother me, but I here a noise that requires cuddles and soft words. How do you wait till the last minute to get dressed. Mr Crankypants is usually too impatient for me to do that. I have to get dressed at the first available moment, and get everything else ready so i can just scoop him up and leave.
With the switch to soy, don't expect it to fix overnight if it is the problem. it can take a little while for dairy protein to leave your system so I've heard. When I drink milk it sends Xavier's poo green, yet I don't think it's really effecting him any other way so I'm not avoiding dairy all together anymore. You might need to give it a week or 2 to see an improvement, but I hope you don't have to wait that long.

Unlike some of you xavier doesn't take my finger to his mouth when he's holding it, I think he has worked out that fingers don't taste very good, because for the first few weeks we could tell if he was hungry by offering a finger but he received another gift the other day (lol still getting gifts) and there was a toy that he has actually held onto. this is very new for us it's the first toy he has wraped his finger around.

[neuri]

Hi All,

Thanks for your encouraging words about DH-management. It's not all bad as DH has his shining moments. Like yesterday when he drilled a hole in the wall to hang a mirror for me. Only had to remind about once or twice too :P Our walls are like steel so it was a big deal.

Oh and Sehra, how much do you charge for your Hubby Training bootcamp? I'm totally willing to send him hehehe.

Been a yuck cpl of days here. I have no idea what I am sick with but been nauseous and running a low grade fever and suffering sore joints. I thought might be mastitis but my bbs aren't really that sore nor am I seeing any redness.

However, I am having issues with expressing. MIL minded Willa yesterday (good timing as I didn't know I was going to fall ill...) and so I expressed to relieve some of the pressure. I don't really suffer from over-full breasts when I miss feeds but I thought what the hey, might as well start to build up a freezer supply. Didn't over-express, as Ali has suggested B4, i just pumped till i was comfy. Few hours later, they were ENORMOUS and rock hard. I could have cracked an egg on them! It was scary stuff and they hurt like heck.

To make matters worse, Willa picked last night of all nights to sleep 8 hours (7pm to 3am) straight for the first time EVER. I didn't get to do a happy dance because of fear of exploding boobies. When she woke up, I gave her both breasts. The poor kid must have been super hungry becos she drank and drank and then threw up all of it - over me, her, the lounge, floor and a bit on the cat who was unfortunately sleeping at my feet.

So the moral of the story is that I think I have bbs that are easily overstimulated. What will this mean when I am back at work and will theoretically need to express twice to make up for the missed feeds? Maybe I shld just leave 'em to get used to the missed feeds naturally? Might ring up ABA to ask this...

sonia

[alioops]

it is not uncommon 4 babies 2 like contrast, which is y kids shows r so bright n colourful.

Scone, Em has the same on her forehead. her hair is growing back now so there is less on top of her head.

MIL came over yesterday n did sum chores 4 me like dishes, but rather than ask where things belong, she makes a new place for them. I could not find half of my bottles @ 5 this morning, grrrrr. It's her bday 2day so I cant really say anything while we r @ their place 2nite, im not looking forward to it! she just wants to control everything and never uses a stern tone when telling Sarah off, so Sarah gets away with blue murder when they babysit. Have told DH that she never listens to me when i tell her how i want things done but he doesn't get how annoying it gets. She had the same gap btw him n his brother n didn't cope well so she assumes i'm not coping, which i am. sorry, needed 2 vent about my useless mil. I don't mind if she wants to help but she has to do it my way or it's not helping.

told DH bout me going on strike this Saturday morning n he had a litte whinge so i just said it's either i sleep in n b nice or no one sleeps in n i have a short temper. so he reluctantly agreed. i guess he will prob say the same thing next weekend. but next sat is his bday so he will get up early 4 brekkie in bed.

Em is getting into 00 now coz the 000 when she stretches is being stretched around her feet, which is not good 4 foot development.

We r about 2 try Em on Karicare HA AR coz when she has a spill she looks like it really hurts, will let u know how she goes with it.

[kungfubecca]

Hi,

Sonia, sorry to hear your not well. I hope it's nothing too serious. Perhaps you should go to the doctor. Sorry but I had to laugh when you said the cat got spewed on too.

Sara, we have no such routine here. I wish we had some normality, But we also have the staying on boob all afternoon till bedtime. I think he is starting earlier and earlier each day. I've decided this week it's baby rules in our house, after all it seems that every time I give up trying to have some routine he makes up his own so fingers crossed.

[mistyeiz]

Wow!! I havent been in here for ages but am so glad to see you ladies doing fine albeit some hiccups here n there. To be totally honest, I havent finished reading all your posts so no personals for now. Just an update on Ella....

I've been waiting for Ella to sleep for 8 straight hours but when she hits the 6 hour marks I start getting fidgetty! Lol....but the minute that happens, she wakes up. I have this fear that if I let her sleep on longer than 6 hours, she might get a tummy ache coz there's just so much BM that she takes in at every feed. I'm glad that I dont have many issues with her sleeping patterns. Seems like she fell into her own routine....she feeds quite fast though - we're done feeding on both sides and a nappy change in 30mins to 45min max. Is that normal?? Sometimes I feel that her fast feeds may be the cause she cant sleep longer during the day BUT I'm not complaining coz she has at least one long sleep that so far that's the 8pm to 2am or 3am stretch so I get enough sleep per se.

But the bit I'm struggling a little is that once she wakes up for that say 2am feed then she wakes up again at 5am for the next feed and after abt 1 hr she wakes up n cries....thing is she takes only 1 side during that 5am feed and she's out like a light at the boob and even changing her nappy doesnt wake her up. So after an hour or so, she up and I give her the other side...but once that happens the whole routine is shaken up. Meaning to say that after the 5am feed, then it's down for 1.5hrs then feed again then down again for maybe 1hour then I keep her up for awhile since she doesnt whine or anything like that and only after that does she return to her 3hourly feeds.

Anyone experiencing this? As for the dribble...nothing too bad at the moment but I'm keeping the bibs at hand. And for the vaccinations, poor thing got her jabs at about 6 weeks and omg, she was a champion!!! She took the meds given by the doc [I forget what it was but it was in liquid form and doc squirted it into her mouth and she swallowed all of it] then one jab on the left thigh which she screamed....and immediately the second jab on the right leg which she screamed even louder. She turned so red and eyes watered that I nearly cried myself!!!! (((( DH couldn't even look, he had his eyes closed all the time - literally. After that, we gave her lots of cuddles but the day was hard. She was cranky n all but a bit of baby panadol helped settle her. I was so afraid of holding her wrongly coz I knew she was sore so bf that day was really tough but she's doing very good and doc said she dealt with it really well so I'm very proud of her.

I think I've just written a novel!!!!

[kungfubecca]

Hi all,

early huh? I wasn't allowed to sleep in this morning.

Misty, Glad to hear your still around, and that ella is doing well. feeding in just 30 mins is perfectly normal. the older bubs gets, the more efficient they get, and some older bubs manage to get down to 15 mins. but they all have their own pace.

Xavier is now up to 9 hour sleeps at night, so don't stress too much if ella decides she wants to sleep longer, it's fantastic. I now put Xave to bed about 8ish, and check on him before I go to bed and sleep soundly until around 5 - 5.30 when he wakes me up. once or twice he has slept past and I have woken up, checked on him only to then have to sneak out of his room so i don't accidentally wake him. After that feed sometimes he will sleep for a few more hours, and like today, sometimes not. Apart from that we don't get a huge amount of sleep during the day, and the later the day progresses the closer together the feeds become, and sometimes too close together.

[mistyeiz]

that's good to know, becca. do your boobs get engorged when xavier doesnt feed for long? mine does when ella has her long sleep n one time i had to wake up to pump it out but i dont normally keep the milk since i still have more than enough to give her at every feed. i dont even keep any bm in the fridge....am i the only one?

[alioops]

Evening all,

Em goes up to 8 hours at night these days, from about 8:30 - 9 ish till 3 - 4 ish.

Bec, sounds like xavier is snacking. I know it's hard but try to hold him out to a minimum of 2 hours from the beginning of the last feed n u will get sum normality in life. it take a week for a routine to establish. any less than 2 hours and a) u won't have time to fill up properly and b) u won't have time to do anything else, like go to the loo, which is kind of essential. Dummis are great for stretching them out to a routine.

Em is now on the AR formula n seems to spill less and pull less faces. have decided to just add thickener to her normal formula in future as it works out cheaper. Glad we figured that 1 out as she is even more settled than ever. we rarely hear Em cry.

Misty, it's a good idea to have some in the freezer in case u go out on ur own n are out longer than expected. rule of thumb @ least 3 feeds in the freezer @ all times. try not to completely empty urself if u know it's normal to not feed @ that time.

All this BF knowledge n I don't even get to use it!!! I did tons of research while i was pg and learned some of it by experience with Sarah.

Sonia, when supressing, it is normal to b rock hard again within a few hours, just express till comfy again. hope that made sense!

Think thats it, have a good sleep every1!

[mistyeiz]

Evening all,

Misty, it's a good idea to have some in the freezer in case u go out on ur own n are out longer than expected. rule of thumb @ least 3 feeds in the freezer @ all times. try not to completely empty urself if u know it's normal to not feed @ that time.

thanks alisando. but when n if i do go out, i normally make fm coz i still feel shy abt feeding in public. but so far, we've planned in such a way that she either feeds b4 we go out or we return b4 her next feed. so far, so good. it's just that i feel a bit icky giving her frozen milk when i have full boobs, u know? i did it once, expressed then put it in the freezer n then i expressed another time n topped it up n there was 2 layers....i thought it looked wrong so i threw it out. if i put it in the fridge, n dont use it within 12 hrs, i throw it out....sometimes i feel it's so wasteful but i just cant make myself give her the frozen milk....is that weird of me?

[Campari]

Hi everyone,
Long time no type! I have been flat out with a rather grumpy Milla lately, and also quite a few visitors and outings - we've joined two mothers groups, and I've also been in to work a few times just to catch up with people and show Milla around. I think she has been getting over-stimulated - she gets so cranky once we're home and just wont sleep. Her morning sleeps are perfect! I notice her tired signs and put her straight to bed and she falls asleep all by herself. If I'm home in the afternoon I can do the same, but if I go out, then the whole afternoon / evening is a write off! And I am certainly not going to sit at home all day every day - I would go crazier than I am now!

I have read all your messages, but I think I will need a good couple of hours if I were to write personal messages to everyone!! - I will try later, promise!! Right now I just wanted to say that I will definitely be sending my DH to bootcamp too... although he really isn't as bad as what I probably made it sound! He does all the shopping, and he cooks a lot, and I love him to bits. He is just a product of his upbringing I guess, and he has a mum who does everything, and a dad who wouldn't know how to cook toast.... I have really done quite well training DH to cook - we were cooking 3 course dinners for each other once a month or so before Milla arrived.

Milla is going really well apart from not sleeping through the night! I am perfectly happy to feed her when she wakes up at 1am and 4am, but what is driving me crazy is that after 4 she makes these little grunty noises - like she is trying to fart Its very cute, but it goes on forever and she wont go back to sleep. I don't think she is pain, but her tummy tenses up, she grunts, and nothing comes out! Eventually I just put her on my tummy and she falls asleep... She has been doing these MASSIVE poos - exploding out of the nappy and all over her clothes (and mine)... She does one each day and now I am scared when I take her out that I will get plastered. I have a spare top for me in her nappy bag too Maybe its just her digestive system changing at the moment. Have any of your babies gone through a grunty stage???!

She is also dribbling quite a bit, and chewing her fist, and smiling a lot more... I haven't taken her for a check-up for a bit, but we are booked in next week for measurements etc. I guess she is about 5kg now - she is certainly giving my arms a work-out.

Gotta run now, but hope you and your babies are all well

Rhi

[neuri]

Hi Guys,

Ok I'm feeling super stressed this morning (even missed my mothers group darn it!! ) and was after any suggestions. I rang the ABA for advice and also left a message with my MCHN (though not sure how much help she might be) about my feeding issues.

For any ladies who are formula feeding or expressed milk bottle feeding, can u give me an idea of what your feeds are like and how much your bubs are taking?


Willa is 9 weeks old today and up until two weeks ago, has been feeding like a champ. I was always happy with my supply and cld tell it was a good supply as I could feel the milk in my breasts.

Then I went and got sick. And just b4 I got sick i noticed Willa fighting the breast at almost every feed. I figured maybe she was bigger and eating more and didn't like having to work to get more milk out. She went from 45 minute solid feeds to 15 minutes fussy feeds.

Now my stomach bug or whatever is almost gone and feeding is worse. I've had to comp feed with formula but she likes to ignore the teat. Sometimes she takes it easily, other times it takes 2 hrs to feed her cos she's cooing and gah-ing and playing and not taking the teat seriously, or she's in a rage and won't take it at all.

That being said she's been at her grandma's twice so far and she takes her bottle with no problems at all....so eh??

So i have no idea if she's having enough of breastmilk (probably not) and def. not a full formula feed either (abt 60 - 80mls after a struggle). I don't formula feed at night as BB supply is better at night and WiIlla is calmer and not as distracted.

I expressed that one time overnight and then got engorged painful bbs which made me fearful of expressing again. But now I'm having supply issues?! Go figure... ABA counselor said getting sick can diminish or even wipe out ur supply in certain situations so must offer baby the breast to encourage more supply and pump in between.

This is really stressing me as I am returning to work in 3 weeks and I want to feel confident that (a) she will take the bottle in my absence and (b) I will still have enough breastmilk to feed her when I am at home. I'm eating and drinking plenty and trying all sorts of teats and bottles to experiment.

Any input wld be greatly appreciated!!!

thanks,
sonia

p.s - sorry Scone, I missed ur question earlier abt the grobag. It just arrived I have to wash it and try it out. It cost about 50 something dollars. Almost 60 dollars if I recall correctly. U can def. buy cheaper if different brand.