Babies born February 16th-28th 2009 #2

Hello everyone!!
Oh man, too much to catch up on as I've been away. Went to the coast and had a good time! Grace was a very good little girl while we were away. Well except for the screaming in the car on the way there and back, lol. And last night she slept from 9.30 - 3.30 and then til 7.30! Amazing!
She is still a bit fussy at feeds sometimes but good news Kaz, I think it was just a phase or something because it's getting a lot better!! I hope it gets better for you too soon!!
Hope everyone had a good weekend!!

Hi everyone,
I am around, but find it near impossible to get onto BB. It always seems to be crashing so I gave up!

E just will NOT self settle ever!! Overnight I can get her down at 8:30, and sometimes at the second feed, but sometimes she just will not go down again and I end up putting her in bed with me. During the day I resettle maybe a gazillion times.
Any advice????

Hi girls,

Shell - sorry you're so tired atm. :hug: Maybe you are iron deficient too?
AJP - Hmm....maybe it will be funny in a few months or years time? I had a freaky experience with a huntsman in the toilet in the middle of the night when pregnant so I know how the shock can get your heart racing.
SJ - Glad to hear Grace has stopped the fussing. Jacob is still fussing a bit - not every feed, some are worse than others and he is STILL biting me. What's with that? Who bites the breast that feeds them? Silly boy. I hope that is a passing phase. He only does it on the left (problem) side and somehow it is still managing to heal so that's good. Oh a trip to the coast.....I'm jealous!
Meg - We have a bubba moe sling (which I can't really wear yet) but we've found Jacob settles very quickly in it. It depends how you feel about having E 'on you' all day and it's not a good one for night time unless you feel like pacing the hallway. Other than that, we've used the bouncer with some success and a dummy. Patting and singing is not working much yet.

AFM - We've had an up and down few days here. After the dream day in my last post, Jacob had a very unsettled night and day. Fed 9 times in 24 hours (normally he only feeds 7 times). We are demand feeding so just went with it. Hopefully he is putting on more weight and having some kind of growth spurt. Was more unsettled as well but generally feeding pretty good (aside from the biting!! :o ). I'm going to be leaving him tomorrow for a couple of hours cause I need to go back into work. I've expressed a fair bit of milk. Should be interesting to see how it goes (I'm not worried about him with DP, more me being away that long).

Hope you're all travelling well.

Hi all, still having internet issues - hopefully will be fixed this week!

Meg, I have no advice sorry - I feed J to sleep day and night as she doesn't self settle either.

Kaz, also don't have any caffeine within an hour of eating your iron rich foods - it leaches the iron out too.

Ellie, glad to hear Anika is doing well on the Losec. I think J is a bit refluxy - she is a very chucky baby :( Am going to see the GP this arvo so will see what she thinks.

AFM - I had the 2 girls all day Friday by myself. I got a 1hr break on Saturday when I elected to go to the supermarket by myself (told DP I needed to get easter eggs for DD1 so I couldn't take the kids, plus I wanted to have my first drive distraction-free). Then yesterday I had them both from 10am - 8pm alone AND had to attend 2 birthday parties plus do all the bedtime stuff myself. DP was off brewing his birthday beer - SO the question is this... what should I get as compensation for yesterday? (ok the girls were soooo well behaved and went to bed like angels BUT I am so not telling DP that!)

Hey girls
still here - just busy- something different for me hey!
All good- levi bit unsettled the other days- fed from 2am Sat morning and hardly got off the boob till the 4pm the next day- he couldnt get enough- so i reckon we just had the 8 week growth spurt- the longest he was off the boob was 2 hours and the rest of the time he was booby boy full on- my poor nipples were just about bruised by that night.

I finally had a chance to express after his last feed around midnite on thurs and got 120mls- and that was after a feed- so I reckon there is plenty of milk there for him lol. I froze one lot in a specimen jar and the other bit i will freeze once i have totally filled it up.

Levi seriously then slept most of yesterday and today- must be exhausted after his feeding frenzy.
Fed last nite at 11pm,2.30am 5.30am and then 7.30am ho hum- ah its for such a short time in his life- i will get over it lol- he is good as he falls back to sleep straight after he feeds so its no biggie- i just have to stop falling asleep on the couch whilst i am feeding as well and wake up cold and with a stiff next an hour later !!!

Kaz- 9 times in 24 hours is still great- b/f babies are expected to feed between 8 and 12 times in a 24 hour period - so hang in there hon!!

Megiemoppit- babies at this age rarely self settle- so the fact that she is settling a couple of times by herself is a great sign- she will get there- have you tried an electric swing- levi is zzz in his at the moment? Otherwise i let levi fall asleep on me and then tranfer him to his cot- half the time this works- lol - otherwise we just start all over again. I think the record so far is 7 goes to get him zzz in his cot.

At this stage girls- its getting by with whatever works- so if it does the trick-then do it!
they are not going to be 21 and still not able to self settle- so hang in there girls.
I did the exact same techniques on both my twins and even now- DS can fall asleep in 2 secs flat at nite and DD takes ages- go figure so it not us that is the different- just all babes are different!
HANG IN THERE!!!!
mwah

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Kaz- 9 times in 24 hours is still great- b/f babies are expected to feed between 8 and 12 times in a 24 hour period - so hang in there hon!!

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Hey Det - For how long do they feed 8-12 times? Jacob has generally fed 7 times a day the past few weeks (it was more frequent in the first week in hossy). I've been told by MCHNs that 6-8 feeds in a day is normal? They've said his 7 is "fine" (although 8 would be better, I am feeding on demand once it has been two hours since the start of the last feed). Given that his feeds take between 40 and 70 mins (including burping and changing and keeping him upright for 5-10 mins at the end, I don't think I'm restricting his feeds but I'm happy for feedback from anyone if it sounds like I am. There are times I've put him back on within 40 or 50 mins of winding up the last feed.

Yesterday he fed at 12:15am, 2:30am, 5:15am (but was 4:15am with daylight savings); 6:45am, 9:30am, 11:50am, 2:30pm, 4:45pm, and 9pm.

So far today he has fed at 1am, 5:30am, 9am, 11:15am, 1:45pm, and 4pm. He will probably have another 2 this evening making 8 feeds today.

Kaz- i am feeding about the same as you (8 times). I try not to feed less than 3 hours apart.

bbl

Hi all, going ok here, not feeling so tired today, we just had few bad nights if not Emily then Ash was crying in the night!

Kaz- Em prolly has approx 8 feeds in the 24hrs, she is getting quite fast at drinking now except for the odd occasion when she'll come on anf off, usually 30mins at max to feed, burp, change.

Det- wow 120mls after a feed is very impressive!

Nai- You sound like you deserve time off or maybe buy yourself something nice, anything you've had your eye on?

Meg- At night Em usually settles fairly well after a feed, as she is next to me anyway I just pat/ rub her back or sort of gentle shake her while she is lying down. During the day we do whatever works, bouncer, electric swing, cuddles, hugabub, alottimes I will cuddle her til she falls asleep then put her down on her side and rub her back as soon as she cries to get her to drift off again, dummy also helps at times. Won't worry bout self settling just yet, maybe at 3 months I'll see where we are at.

Heaven- Glad you had great time away. I would love to get away somewhere, the coast sounds good but bit cold here.

AJP- Oh god, i seriously would have dumped the baby and sprayed the hell outta it!

Ellie- Thats great things have improved with the losec, you must be feeling so much better also.

Ali- we sort of co-sleep, Em sleeps on Dfs side bed (Df is out in spare room) and we have our own seperate blankets and all, just alot easier at night to feed and settle.

Last night I gave Em half bottle the breast and she went 5hrs til next feed and oh my god my boobs were gonna bust, then cause so big she only needed one side so I'm hand expressing the other into a cloth nappy but must have had such forceful spray that it missed and went half way across my bed cause my sheets were all wet! Think next time I give bedtime bottle I will express what she doesn't drink from boobs!

Shell- that is basically what I am doing. Even though we have a king sized bed I have shifted DP out to the spare room and put DD on his side for the last week and she is sleeping so much better and it is just easier for me as I am not as tired having to get out of bed in the middle of the night. DP doesnt care either because then he gets a good night sleep.

Ali - definitely love co-sleeping when DS is restless.

AJP - loved the spider story - like Kaz I had a similar one when I was pregnant, but it was with the dead body of a huntsman!

Det - is there an 8 week growth phase? I was just hoping that A had gone through his clingy phase last week. Spent 5 hours today with him literally on the boob.

Kazz- the length of a feed depends on bubs age- At the moment as he is older its about 10 mins on one side- up for a burp and then 5-10 back on the same side or swap sides if i can be bothered lol. When he was smaller it was closer to double these times, so the times that you are feeding him and the length are great!!! You are doing all the right things!!!

Tarkine- every 4 weeks i would find that bubs would have a growth spurt and be unsettled for a day or so- also as they start to do things for the first time, i would find that the days leading up to that, would be unsettled as well. Levi has been unsettled for the past couple of days, but has started with more eye contact, trying to roll and putting his fist in his mouth more and more. He is also getting more chatty and smiling heaps more. Its like the switch to these skills is turned on overnite! So although it grrr as he is unsettled, he is also starting to do more and more at the moment!
Also be aware that at around 8-12 weeks - bubs go through a ucky stage again where they can be grumpy, unsettled and hard to handle. Heaps of developmental milestone occur and its the basics such as feeding and sleeping that tend to downwards spiral! You know soon figure them out, than they change on us again!

Hence why Levi is awake at the moment, laying on the floor watching Masterchef with us. I thought he was starting to get sick before as he was really unsettled and pulling at his ears heaps- like he was in pain. So much that i took him to the local clinic which is open late to get his ears checked- all good thank god! We came home, he had a feed, did a crap and he is heaps happier now. But has been clingy and grumpy most of the day! Ah well.

Tommorow DH has a stack of paperwork to do- kids are home for hols so i am going to disappear with the 3 kids for the day- not sure what to do- its raining here so all outdoor activities are out- grr. Wonder how the twins feel about shopping for 6 hours- not likely.


OP- wont be at MG this week- its too hard for DH to look after the other two- he has too much paperwork to do and it puts him behind too much- so looks like i am out till they are back at school.

mwah to everyone

mwah to everyone

Hi all

Typing one handed, unsettled bubs in other. Feeling tired and frustrated. Bubs just won't go to sleep... she's been great during the day but now is grizzly and over tired.

Had words with DH too... so he's gone to bed in a huff...

Be back tomorrow for personals...

thanks for the comments girls xx

Kaz - hope you are getting some sleep! all that feeding does sound like a growth spurt!! work already??? wow amazing!

Ali - how are things with you? sounds like you have the sleeping thing under control and have found what works best for you!! you are doing so well!

AJP - liver and black pudding?? yuk makes me cringe just thinking about it lol as for SPIDERS i hate them too and would have done the same thing, argh spiders they make me cringe too lol how are both of your girls going??

Ellie - Hi!! good to hear that you saw the paed and got that all worked out! it must be hard for you if DH is getting home so late!!

Shell - did u end up trying the wind drops? they are fabulous! lol i know what you mean about spraying i used to do it to bella all the time!!! my mum and sister thought it was hilarious.

Heaven - thats fantastic about the sleep!!! not so good about screaming in the car though!!

Meg- i cant really get bella to self settle! so i cant really give you much advice sorry! although once i have settled her she doesnt really wake up much...

Nai - i think it was you that sent me a msg?? if it was thankyou!! I have the 2 kids everday by myself but i think im just used to it now! it does feel good to get out by yourself every now and then even if it is only to the supermarket!! you should get.... a night off to be able to relax (have a nice long hot bath, go to bed early, etc)

det - oh your poor BBs lol you must be full of the good stuff and levi is making the most of it!!! glad to hear everything is ok!

a big hello to everyone i have missed!!!!

AFM - well where do i start? its been so long since i posted in here!! umm Bella is now fully FF and you know what? im so jelous of everyone who is still BF everyrime i have a bath with bella she tries to 'have a feed' but i have nothing there to give her. I honestly think i made a mistake by putting her on formula!! is it possible to get my milk back??
She has been pretty good over the last week or so she is finally into the day/night routine where she feeds 3-4 hours during the day then at night she will have a bottle around 9 or 10 and have a bath and go to sleep till roughly 5am. Its great to finally be getting some decent sleep!!!
I have just applied for the sunday management position at my work (best and less) and if i am successful i will start next month!!!
ummm dont think i have much more to write... oh i have just started the Biggest loser shakes, they are so yummy!!!
xx


its getting late and i really should be going to bed

Laura- I am pretty sure I saw a thread about getting your supply back after switching to forula but I think you might need to do soemthing quickly, it might involve medication from doctor. Dont feel bad though, you are doing whatever works. I still ahvent had a bath with Ashlyn but I must do that... would be so nice!

OP- thats no good hun, my mchn told me bubs will have a t least one really unsettled day a week so hopefully this is yours and its out of the way for the week.

Det- I had to laugh at you! (in a nice way though) I was reading a thread about when people DTD after giving birth and I came to your response and it said the next day at the hospital in the shower!!!! :ROFL: cracked me up you naughty things!!! Good on you though. I would really like to DTD with DP but some of my stitches are still there :(

I got some great news tonight! My mum has a meeting in Sydney for work on thurs so she is going to stay until Sat with me and bubs! Big woohoo here! Also had such a nice weekend with DP and DD and the fur babies and had a few outings today which was nice.

Anyway must go to bed. I would love bubs to wake up now for a feed before I go to bed but looks like I will be up in a couple of hours! Oh well...such is life! :)

Night girls!

LOL- Ali
that was with my twins, this time around a bit different.
We gave it a go at around the 4 week mark and managed to re-open one of my tears- ouch- so we then decided that we should perhaps wait till our 6 week check up like we were suppose to.
grr about your stitches being there. I have had cases where by dissovable stitches havent dissolved so might be worth asking OB about it. My stitches fell out after only a couple of days- but I only had 2 up top and 2 the bottom- only little tears.

I should go to bed as well. Levi finally asleep on DH- so now have to try and put them both to bed- lol
Laura- speak to your doc- you should be able to at least give re-lactating a go- perhaps get bub to suck when she wants as the sucking motion will eventually get your milk going again.
mwah

Meg- Same here, DD will not self settle. But she's pretty good at night if I feed her lying down in bed, she will often just fall back asleep on the boob. No luck during the day.
Kaz- Good news that he's not fussing so much, but the biting, OUCH! Sounds like a growth spurt to me. Good luck leaving him today! I left DD for only an hr once and got all teary, lol, hormones! DD feeds about 7 times in 24hrs too.
Nai- lol, what did you end up getting for compensation?
Det- rofl, that's what it's like here, DD falls asleep on me and I try and put her in her bassinette and cross my fingers it works but more than likely I have to repeat the process 100 times!
shell- rofl at spraying milk across the bed. I keep on squirting DD in the face or up the nose accidentally, pmsl, poor girl.
Ali- Oh, I couldn't kick DH out of the bed, it would be harder coz he's always the one that gets up when she cries and brings her to me, lol, lucky me. Oh yay, it will be good to have ur mum around!!
OP- :hug: Hope you got some sleep!
laura- You sure can relactate, I would just let her suck when she wants to. Or everytime she's due for a feed offer the breast first and then give her the bottle after she's had a good suck. Her sucking will stimulate your BBs to make milk. You probably do have a bit of milk there even if you can't get any out. You can also get medications or herbal supplements to help with milk supply. Do a search on here and there'll be some threads with some good tips for you!! I reckon you can definately do it if you want to!!
tarkine- seems like DD is having a growth spurt too, she wouldn't sleep for long suring the day yesterday even in the HAB, kept waking up wanting a feed. Great, she's probably making more milk again and I'm going to have rock hard BBs tonight! lol.

AFM- Not much to report. DD is smiling heaps now, it's so cute. But the cheeky little bugger won't let me get it on camera!!

Thanks Shell, Ali, SJ and Odette - Jacob fed 9 times yesterday (one was only for 10 mins though) and it is reassuring to know that 7-8 times is ok and normal. I think I saw the number 12 and freaked out a bit as that is another 5 feeds over what he was doing LOL!!!

Laura - I agree with the others hun, definitely search the forums here, see your doc and let Bella suck whenever she wants to. It's probably not too late to get going again - it might take a little while.

Gotta go - not returning to work - just going in to 'visit' and finalise something for a couple of hours.

Hi everyone else!

OP - I think we have the same baby! DD1 did the sleep allday thing the other day too and since then has been unsettled. I think it is a growth spurt.

SJ - no compensation yet. Am keeping it up my sleeve for when I want to do something special :D Babies are sneaky like that - they never let you get them doing things on camera!

Ali - yay on your mum coming down. I co-slept for the first few weeks and do now when DD unsettles. It's so nice!

Laura - no problems sweetie. I think it is possible to re-lactate. Maybe ask Barb as I'm sure she will have experience with that!

Tarkine - we are sending DP back for the retest after the snip to make sure 100% that there are no swimmers left behind - I don't want any accidents!

Det - good luck finding something to do today... movies?

Kaz - love the new avatar!