Babies born December 1st-15th 2010 #1

[luna moth]

Kaz I am so pleased that your LC visit went well, and I think it's awesome that you are working so hard to achieve so much with your BFing relationship. Brewers yeast can be bought at the supermarket, in case you couldn't find it at health food shop. Or brew shops. My DH is a brewer, and has offered to grow a batch for me, but I don't think I need it, and at any rate, cannot stand the thought of the oven being on. was good to hear the suggestions. How are you doing your tummy time? Just on a mat?
We feed lying down at night, she detaches herself when she's ready. I usually stay awake for the whole feed, then go back to sleep.

MadB - erk on the mastitis. What a bummer.

Myboys- glad you're going a bit better now! The only book I am reading is a travel guide, because I can pick up and put down as required, usually when someone is asleep in my lap like right now!

Might have to finish this later. we're at the start of a screaming fit.

[onthefly]

Awwww, first smiles!!

I can't believe anyone's in jumpers at the moment - it is stinking over here. And burnoffs, at this time of year? my goodness.

DD is not keen on sleep today, unless in arms, but it's too hot child!!! Horrid, horrid horrid.

Anyway, I'm trying to feed lying down but attachment is a problem still. It's great when it works though, I can just sleep while baby feeds - best kind of multitasking for a new mum.

I've heard different thigns about those cookies. Some people swear by them, others reckon there's nothing in them to boost supply. I've heard they're delicious though. If they work for you then where's the harm right? (well, maybe to your waist)

Hi Crumpet, hope you're settling in well. Are any of those January girls actually still pregnant...?

Hope tomorrow goes alright for you Myboys (DH's first day back, right?). I'm not looking forward to that. Have to say, despite needing to feed all the time, DD is a lot less work than DS right now.

And it's hot here, did I mention that?

ETA - I've put my birth story up. I think I've probably forgotten a bunch of stuff, but never mind.

[Kazbah]

Thanks for sharing madB

well cookies are made, quite yummy. they also have choc-chips!!!guessig its the brewer's yeast - i also have to drink a coopers beer (ultra light, in the lemonae aisle of woolies) each day. And the oats - i unpacked my work box and found my porridge, so munching that for brekky. caved and bought a dummy for the boy, hopefully he will settle without my boob!!!! and for something different, i'm expressing Over the past day I've expressed 45mls so DH will give that to Will for his first feed overnight at 2ish while I express again. Now having 10 fenugreek tabs / day and it's making Will's poos stink. (TMI WARNING!!!) had a biggish bleed today, we were out shopping, had to buy new knickers & pads & wet wipes to clean myself up Thank goodness it didn't get to my trousers, would have been very embarrassing. Haven't had a bleed like that since 3 days after delivery. Seeing MCHN tomorrow, will mention it to her.

Audax - yes, sorta - Aldi had some mattress pads on special a couple of months ago, we bought one in case my waters broke, and also for when Pip TT's overnight - it's 150cm squareish, so using that.

Jules - you're doing so well! So confident!!!!

MyBoys -

Anyhows, expressing finished, time for some sleep before next feed/expressing session. (hehehe, DH is getting stuck into the cookies. Oh dear.)

[purplepixie1978]

Hi all,

Just a quick one (for once) having a hard time feeding, supply has dropped and I'm freaking out again. Going to buy fenugreek today and have 6 week checkup with ob.gyn so will ask about motilium etc. Also will try to book lactation consultant again but I suspect she's still on holidays. My left bb is so sore right now but there seems to be bugger all in there. Also Amelia won't latch onto the nipple shield so I have to perservere with the pain. DH did some reading last night and one page said that supply fluctuates, but Amelia has been permanently hungry no matter how often I feed. Poor little bub. I've got some EBM so we're comping her and I'm expressing like mad but there's not much there. I'm eating and drinking well and trying to rest. *sigh* this is bloody hard work. Will look up cookie recipe also.

Had a quick read of your posts - thinking of you all and will write again soon...

xox

[luna moth]

So Lady Muck's screaming fit had me in tears after not very long. We also caved and bought her a dummy, and I am stillc rying over that a little bit, it's just not what I wanted. Works a treaat though, and all of her feeds have been better since, and she still had a really good night.
Our witching hour has just been rapidly expanding, and now starts at about 9 am and goes right through until bath time. SO tempted to just have her in the bath three times a day, but very worried that it will muck up the only predictable part of her routine; the feed - bath - feed - bed - sleep for 6 hours part. It's keeping me sane, although I'm only just hanging in there.
Mum's still here. don't know what I wuld do if she wasn't, probably cry a little bit less. Or more, because the house would probably crumble around me.

[Kazbah]

PP - hun, you're doing a great job. Get your fenugreek and also get blessed thistle (from health food shop), they both work to increase supply. Get in to see your GP ASAP to get the motillium script - you will need a "private script" for 100 tabs as the BF supply dose is 8 tabs/day (but not at the beginning). Print out this fact sheet: http://www.thewomens.org.au/Domperid...eastmilksupply and take with you to the GP as they usually aren't aware of what's required for BFing - with Pip my OB gave me a prescription but only at the "nausea" doseage which does SFA. With your nipple pain, is it just at the start and is really intense? Cause you may have what I have. Call the ABA (are you a member?) and find a LC immediately - there should be one associated with the hospy you went through. It really does make a difference, get to her ASAP and don't wait, the longer you wait the worse you will feel. And hun, if your baby is putting on weight and is alert during the day, then you're doing a good job with feeding. My GP keeps telling me that - and I trust him. If Amelia is lethargic then she may need a little help to get more food - an alert bub will more enthusiastically "active suck" which is what increases your supply. Keep with it, you can do it, and you're already doing a fantastic job!!!!

Audax - Don't take anything to heart about the dummy, I gave them to Pip as well and he just rejected them - I was always secretly glad that that he did!!! But it's just a phase. My LC tells me that only the cherry shape should be used if breastfeeding - the orthodontic ones will cause the bub to pinch your nipple and flatten it, leading to lots of pain. Speaking of dummies, we got a good night's sleep for the first time, no waking to put him on the boob to get some sleep!!!!!

AFM - nothing major here, except proud to announce no disposable nappy has yet touched Will's butt. Anyone in the Melbourne area, the Dandenong Ranges mums are having a meetup on the 2nd Feb at Montrose if you're interested. Oh and this morning we woke to no power, doh. So no formula top-up or pumping happening here. Trying to source a Mandela pump as my little pigeon isn't the most efficient for my boobs, I can get more hand-expressing in the shower.

Have fun today all!!!!

[*EJ*]

PP just wanted to give you and DH some support, keep doing what you're doing and hopefully things will go back to normal for you. I'd say keep perserveering with feeding Millie and expressing and hopefully the supply will increase again for you. Good luck, relax and just do what you can xoxo

Audax hugs for you, it can be so hard and having a cry about it can sometimes make you feel a little better. Harper hasn't had a whiching hour to the extent she had the other day but she still has her moments. Last night after a 2am feed she burped was all nice and relaxed ready to go back to sleep then filled her nappy. I changed her and from then on we had an hour of a screaming. I wonder if i should have just left her with a pooey bott!!?! Neither of my boys had dummies but we offered them. Same with Harper we were offering it to her but she just won't take it. Hope things get a little easier xoxo

So DH is back at work and we're having a good day but Harper is wrapped to me. It's hard to get used to because i didn't do this with my boys but i had more time on my hands then. This morning i fell asleep with her next to me and got DH to put her in her basinette when he got up for work. She didn't settle but the minute she was back in bed with me she did and slept for another 90min. Then this morning after a feed rather than perserveer with her trying to sleep in her basinette and get overtired/stimulated i just put her in the carrier. I tried to take her out and put her in her basinette but she woke straight away.

So now i just have a few questions for those who have used the carrier quite regularly.

*Do i just keep telling myself this is what works right now so go with it? I'm just worried about her never being able to sleep other than being strapped to me.

*Is the transition from carrier to cot (for example) possible once they are a little older? I suppose it has to be but how do you do it?

I had more questions but can't think of them now, will come back and ask them as i think of them.

I honestly do really enjoy having her so close, listening to her little noises and still being free to make lunch for the boys, hang the washing and general house stuff but am i encouraging a bad habbit?? It really does feel quite natural i just know that i'll need her to be able to sleep else where at times aswell.

Just trying to adjust to this new style of parenting to a mum who was tought to do it so differently with her other two.

Kaz i have an Avent electric pump and i love it. I only ever had a hand me down mandela hand pump for the boys. Kaz have you been able to buy the cherry like dummies?? I haven't looked since before Harper was born but there was a recall on them and i couldn't get them. I'm not sure if Harper was rejecting the dummy because of it's shape. I'd prefer the round cherry ones if i could find them. Good on you for gonig all cloth. I've been using disposable a bit but started with the cloth much earlier than i did with Charlie boy (he was 6 weeks), we're currently using majority cloth during the day but disposable at night.

Have a good day girls xox

[cathie5]

Hi

Well Charlie Boy failed his second hearing test at the hospital so he has to go into the city in a couple of weeks and see a Audiologist and they will do a heap of tests on him. I'm not worried I will wait and see what happens.

Will come back and write personals. Have a great day ladies.

Cathie xxx

[*EJ*]

Hope all goes well with the city appointment for Charlie boy Cathie. HOpe he's being a good little man for you and you are enjoying the school holidays as best you can xoxo

[onthefly]

Better see about that bleed Kaz - mine restarted last time and turned out I had a uterine infection. Hope it's nothing serious.

Pixie - hope you can get that nipple sorted soon, poor thing! Why do you think your supply is dropping? Have you had a decrease in wet nappies? Feeding all the time is as likely to be due to discomfort or unsettledness as hunger. How long does she feed? Both sides?
One thing that you can try if she's having long feeds on just one side, is to take her off the first side after about 20 minutes, burp etc, then put her on the 2nd side. Then you can repeat and put her back on the first side. Means she'll get more milk in the same time.

DD is feeding all the time too, though she does have sleep breaks every now and then. It might be an age thing, but I suppose the antibiotics are probably upsetting her tummy too.

Myboys - I think you already know the answers to your questions. Don't overthink it, just go with what you know she needs. It will all change, and possibly quite quickly. One thing I did this time was I gave myself permission to just go with what my baby needs, no worrying about habits or what other people reckon about rods for my back etc. I thought too much last time and it just made things more difficult for DS and us. Even DH has asked if it's ok to carry her all the time and sleep with her... I just ask him if he wants to be up all night trying to settle her I know I don't.
Transitions work really easy if you wait till they're ready for it.

Cathie - I hope things turn out ok for Charlie

[*EJ*]

MadB yes i think i do know the question to my answers and i am definately one for over thinking things and beating myself up about doing the right thing for my children. We have beautiful happy children so i think we've done pretty well bringing them up so far, so changing what i did for one or two and doing something so different with another is kind of a big step. But i see and feel the benifit of changing to suit NOW and the individual child. I suppose i just look for some reasurance as well. I need to have confidence in myself and i do, i know all will be good. Thank you xox

[onthefly]

Exactly Myboys, you know what you're doing
I really believe different children need different parenting.

[crumpet]

Welcome Crumpet That's great with the new bubba - congrats, she's gorgeous!!!!

thank you!!

Welcome Crumpet, look forward to muddling out way through parenthood with you. Your little lady sounds beautiful and i love her name

thanks hun! we have had a few oldies call her Sue-mar!

Crumpet - Welcome!! Great to have you on board... Summah sounds just wonderful, and what a gorgeous name. Congratulations. Look forward to sharing this special time with you...another first timer here and I find this site such a lifeline...

Hope every else is doing well. We're having a good few days here, Jacob doesn't scream any more - he cries but nothing over the top, it's wonderful!! Still having a bit of trouble putting him to sleep though, he can be fast asleep on me but the minute I lay him down he opens those eyes and looks at me as if to say "hey!! what you doing!! pick me BACK UP!!!" Oh and exciting exciting news!!! last night I was changing him and mum and I were talking to him and mum was touching his face and talking and he smiled!!! We were sooooo stoked. I was thinking 'maybe it was a fluke' but this morning I was about to give him his dummy and was talking to him and he gave me the biggest smile. Made my heart melt!! It's definately easy to see the difference between a genuine smile and wind.

thanks hun!!
so much to learn as a first timer hey!!

how exciting about the smiles!!! Summah is paying a lot of attention to us when we speak to her so im hoping smiles arnt to far away!

Hi Crumpet, hope you're settling in well. Are any of those January girls actually still pregnant...?

ETA - I've put my birth story up. I think I've probably forgotten a bunch of stuff, but never mind.

thanks hun, settling in well, she is pretty placid atm, not sure where she gets that from coz it sure as hell aint from me or DH!

ummmmm yeah only about 5!! bet ur glad that thread will be over soon!!

oohh ill have a read of ur birth story when i get more than 10 mins to get on the puter....
mine is in the birth story section if anyone is interested.....

Hi

Well Charlie Boy failed his second hearing test at the hospital so he has to go into the city in a couple of weeks and see a Audiologist and they will do a heap of tests on him. I'm not worried I will wait and see what happens.

Will come back and write personals. Have a great day ladies.

Cathie xxx

cathie we have to take Summah for a hearing test becasue she was on antibiotics at 4 days old for a bacterial infection, apparently that warrants a hearing test needing to be done?? ill ask my MCHN tomorrow and her paed next week what the go is!!

good luck for charlies follow up test!

AFU: god help me i dont think im ever going to keep up in here!!
by the time i get madam sorted for the day then do whats on my to-do list in the morning its nana nap time, then DH is home and then its dinner time and then bath and bed time!!

where does time go?!?!?!??!

[Kazbah]

Myboys - yes, found them at woolies / kmart & coles. Tommee Tippee or Happy Baby brand - we got the Tommee Tippee branded ones, $4 for 3. I agree with MadB - go with the flow and guide, different strokes for different folks etc.

Cathie - for Charlie, hope its manageable.

MadB - hope you're feeling better with the mastitis

AFM - Just back from the MCHN and he's now 3800g - so has only 80g to get back to birth weight!!! YAY!!!! Also this morning was the first day that DH gave him EBM at the very early morning feed, plus formula topup. The good news is that with 40mls of EBM he still only took 70mls of formula, so that means that it's likely that's how much my (.) (.) are producing!!!

ETA:

Crumpet - I hear you on the time! By the time we BF, then express & FF top-up, there's an hour passed, then a half hour for cleaning & sterilising, that then leaves us about an hour and a half to do everthing else before the next feed. And that's not even including the time for supervised tummy time & chest bonding time and I just want to have a bath!!!!!! BUT! I did have a shower & wash my hair today!!!

[onthefly]

Yay for your boobies Kaz and for the weight gain! And for the washed hair!

They are very time consuming, aren't they? Still easier than almost-3-year-olds though

Saw our child health nurse today. DD is now 250g above birth weight and almost at DS' birth weight (he was 4290g) (up 280g in 6 days). So despite the squashed nipples (which don't really hurt now, so strange) she's getting heaps of milk. Mind you, she hasn't pooed for a coupel of days so half that weight could be accounted for by the coming squelcher. ew.
But anyway, she's a roly poly. Maybe this time I'll have a fat baby

[Kazbah]

yay for chubby bubbas MadB!

Pip just decorated Quoll's room with posters of animals

Question - how do you manage daily baths for the bubbas let alone older kids? We never had a bathtub for Pip and never got into a routine of bathtime :blush:

[purplepixie1978]

So, I found a recipe online for the lactation cookies. It suggested choc chips but DH is more of a chocolate hound than I am (seriously, his cousin brought him 1.5kg of his favourite chocs from Germany and her ate them in about 4 days), so I put in sultanas instead. He grabbed one hot off the tray, ate it in two bites, said “needs chocolate” then took another one anyway! He’s asked me to make the next batch with choc chips!!

MadB, glad the mastitis is settling down for you. A friend of mine was hospitalized for 48 hours with it! She was in a really bad way. Amelia feeds both sides for about 20 minutes each – a little less on the left as she loses interest – a little more on the right as it is comfortable so I let her go as long as she’s awake and sucking well. I’m feeding on the left first at the moment as she has a more enthusiastic suck when she’s hungry.

Welcome Crumpet! Summah is a cutie, well done

Kaz, I had a crack at feeding lying down a couple of nights ago – Amelia took to it pretty well, but I drifted off, she nipped me, I woke up with a yelp and she ended up so hysterical I haven’t been game to try it again. *sigh* Sounds like between the cookie raids, the computer and the washing, our DHs would be a match made in heaven!
Sooooo… ten Fenugreek tablets, eh? What strength are you taking? Thanks for the other feedback, I will look for blessed thistle tomorrow. Um, yeah, the pain is worst at attachment, to the point of tears at times. I will contact the LC ASAP.
Re: bathing, it’s hard when you’re comp feeding, expressing etc, we found ourselves only bathing Amelia every second day when she first came home, which was okay as it was SO stressful, she yelled her way through baths for the first few weeks. Now we try to bathe her of an early evening, generally when DH comes home from work. I do the eyes, face, hair etc over the basin while DH fills the tub, then he bathes her. He loves it, plays games with her etc and seeing them make eye contact and bond is just beautiful.

Myboys, my groove has gone! No worries on the name spelling, I was talking to a friend the other day and used her DD’s name when talking about mine! We’re all pretty tired I think Doesn’t it drive you mad when they’re all settled and then *pfffffft* nappy filled. In the hospital they said not to change at night but I really hate the idea of leaving her in a poopy nappy. Apparently I hated being dirty as a bub, perhaps the start of my OCD!!!!!

Jules, Amelia does exactly the same thing – she’s kind of the reverse of those creepy dolls that close their eyes when you lay them down – her eyes pop open instead!

Audax, hang in there, I hope you have had a better day today.

Cathie, I hope Charlie’s hearing tests out okay at the specialist.

So, obviously I bought fenugreek and made the cookies as well… ob/gyn a bit dubious about motilium so I will see how I go with the natural remedies – and I’m going to try the beer – so weird that I craved it during pregnancy and actually had a bottle of no-alcohol beer the night before Amelia was born! I KNOW I need to stay calm and stop freaking out as it can’t be helping any. But she was getting a little listless and her nappies weren’t as full as they had been and she WOULD NOT sleep until we comped her the other night. It took so long to establish exclusive bf that it just rattles me when something seems to go wrong. I bought a different type of nipple shield – the Tommy Tippee rather than the Avent – and she was able to latch better this afternoon. Sweet relief! Much thinner too so hopefully this one won’t stop her from feeding effectively.

Speaking of which – I hear her customary chicken squawk, which means I have about 3 minutes before she progresses to Pterodactyl screech

[Babyluv]

Pp: that's so funny you mention the pterydactyl squawk, we were calling Dd that for the first week & now we call her birdy & chicken because we thought it sounds nicer hehe! It's a bizarre sound!