Babies Born February 2006

[PrincessT]

Hi Everyone

Apologies for being a bit absentee of late - so much to do!!

We started Mothers Group last week, which was great. Most of the bubs are around Allegra's age and at least 2 mums live in walking distance to us so I suggested perhaps me and the other 2 go walking once or twice a week with respective bubs so some excercise.

Allegra is doing great - 7 weeks already. I cant believe it. She is now 3.6kgs which is also very reassuring as she was soooo tiny when she was born. Now she has a bit of meat to cuddle!

Apple - we self settle Allegra. Once a few times have I put her to sleep in my arms and only because the tresillian help line suggested I do it because she was in a bit of pain from wind. I finish feeding her have a little play (or sometimes straight to bed, we often play in between one boob and the other or before the feed) and she is fine when we put her in the bassinette when she is half asleep. Within a litlle while she is fast alseep.

Am in the midst of organising Allegras Baptism. Have asked all the godparents and they are overjoyed. We have 4 in all (normally you have 2 but I tend to be a little overboard) and we are all having lunch at a lovely restaurant in Manly afterwards (Snowy you might remember the Cove Restaurant at the Wharf) - am making invitations at the moment!

OK - well its time for me to go and organise some dinner.

Love to you all
T and A xx

[Wishful]

Hi Ladies,

Lolly - Sorry to hear about your house falling through. I can't imagine how upsetting and frustrating that must have been. Fingers crossed you find another buyer soon.

Apple - I generally try and put Brianna straight into bed after a feed, however she usually lies there awake for quite a while before she goes off to sleep. Most of the time she is happy to just lay there which at night can be quite frustrating as I can't sleep until I know she is asleep.

Does everyone else's baby go straight to sleep after a feed? I find Brianna goes to sleep on my breast but once I pick her up to wrap her she wakes straight up.

Another question: Does everyone wrap their babies? I find it really frustrating because if Brianna is very tired she goes straight off to sleep, but if she is wide awake when I put her down she wrestles and winges until she can get her arms out. I am not sure she like to be wrapped or not.

Today was my first day without DH. He went back to work today. I think today it was harder for him than me! - he missed his girls. However, Brianna must have missed him because she was hard work all day. She wanted to feed all day and after both sides she was still wanting more so I just gave her the dummy. I hope that is the best thing to do. I then just put her to bed and she just layed there sucking her dummy and only cried if the dummy fell out. She doesn't always have the dummy but for some reason today all she wanted to do was suck.

That should probably do me. Have a good night everyone - sleep baby sleep!

[Kaydee]

Lolly - I forgot to mention before that i am so sorry to hear that the buyers for your house pulled out! How frustrating. I hope you get new buyers very soon.

wishful - Ben tends to sleep after a feed most times. if not, he is (normally) more than happy to lay in his basinet and talk to himself for a while.

Apple - We put Ben down to sleep when he is awake most of the times. Normally he will sook himself to sleep... when this doesnt work, and its at night time, Dh or I will lay him on our chest to sleep, then put him in his bed when he goes to sleep. I dont want Ben to get into the habit of only sleeping after we have rocked him to sleep.

HELP! LEAKING BOOBS! I wear breast pads... sometimes 2! but i ALWAYS end up with huge wet patches on whatever im wearing (even if it is a thick jumper!). Anyone else have this embarrasing problem? Ok, i know we all must leak, but my leaking is extreme sometimes!

Ben is now 4kgs. He is growing sooo much, everyday i can see a change! Dh is always asking me "When will he talk/walk"... and "when can i start playing with him" etc... I told him not to rush him, or he will grow too fast. I cant believe Ben is only 2 weeks old, to me he looks much bigger than that.

like Teena, we too are organizing Ben's Baptism. It will be on the 8th april, because that is when my mum will be here. The other day Dh and i went to this months Baptisms at the church to spy and see how it is. We talked to the priest, who said that so far Ben is the only baby on the 8th, and he is more than happy to have a half english / half German ceremony. So we might be having a little private thing, that would be nice! Not sure if we will go out for lunch afterwards... will have to talk to Dh about that. We are having my sister and Dhs brother as godparents. I still hate the idea of BIL being a godparent, but he is Dh's only sibling, and they are quite close... But he cant even look after himself!
Well, enough about that.

Snowy - how did it go with the Nanny? I hope she is nice!

[apple]

Hi guys,

Today is my first day at home without hubby, and so far so good. We just got back from a walk to the supermarket, we were out for an hour or so, and Bonnie is still sleeping in her pram, nice!

I'm stil trying to feed around 3hrly during the day, sometimes I need to wake her, sometimes not. At night she will go either 3hrs, or up to 4.5hrs between feeds.
There's usually one time at night that she is difficult to settle - and it drives me a bit balmy!

How much are your bubba's sleeping during the day? Yesterday Bonnie slept really well between feeds in the day time, but then struggled to go down after her bath and feed at 10pm... maybe she slept too much during the day?

Interesting that evrytone eles's babes seem to be able to self-settle somewhat... damn, I wonder what we are doing wrong?!

Hope you are all well

[Snowgirl]

Hello everyone!

Well after meeting the nanny on Sunday, she did not show up on Monday. First I was annoyed, then concerned. At 1p.m. she sent an sms saying she had fainted on the way over and was in hospital. Arrrrrrrrrg. Poor girl, but we were totally lost without help. Went online and found someone else who could start asap and she came by for an interview in the evening. She is only 20 (would have preferred someone a bit older) but she seemed lovely and friendly and Wolf instantly liked her and flirted with her.... so fingers crossed.

Zara has been very cranky recently... maybe wind... I am trying to remember how things were with Wolf but somehow my memory is totally rose tinted and in my memory he just slept the whole time... but I am sure he didn't... good thing though that you just remember the good parts he he

Katie: sorry, don't have any leakage at all... that must be awful...

Teena: are you having the baptism in Manly as well? I have never been to the Cove Restaurant.... but there are so many nice restaurants in Manly.... oooooooooh, I miss Manly... it's still snowing here... you'd think the winter would be over by now but no... arrrrrrrrg... I am so bummed we are not flying to Oz ... but I just can't with my stupid haematoma and as weak as I feel... gotta wait til November...

Routine ... hmmm.. I don't think we have one... but I don't think I had one with Wolf either at this age. That all happened after the first 6 weeks I think.

Okay, better get my kids dressed and fed!
Will let you know how our first day with the nanny went.

Snowy

[Snowgirl]

PS
Emma, don't worry. Zara does not reazlly self settle. She usually works herself up if I let her cry. Yesterday, when I was cooking and could not pick her up, she cried herself to sleep. but that hadn't happened before.

Yeah, I think they can sleep too much during the day. Zara was basically awake all day yesterday and we had a wonderful night! (only woke once at 1 a.m. and then again in the morning - great!) but if she sleeps lots during the day, the nights are difficult. So I am trying to keep her awake as much as possible in the day, especially in the afternoon, so we all get a good night's sleep.

[Wilson]

We have a basic routine but its "very" flexible. He doesn't sleep for long periods during the day, and doesn't really self settle much either but at the moment we feed every 3 hours ish depends, i don't wake him though if he goes longer but usually he wakes anyway.

He gets a boob feed at around 5:30ish pm give or take an hour and then another at around 8:30ish and then at around 9:30pm i have been going to bed and hubby gives him a formula feed at about 10pm and wraps him up finishes some more bottle and he usually crashes by 10:30pm - 11pm and then *most* of the time he sleeps through till about 4:30am which is great, i then give him a change and a boob feed and put him back down again by about 5:30 and he will sleep for and hour or two just depends and then the next day begins

Oops bubs is waking have to go, back later

[PrincessT]

Snowy: We are having the baptism in Manly Vale at our parish, St Kierans. Its special for both DH and I as we were both baptised there, I went to school there and the priest also married us.
You are right though, Manly is wonderful!!! When you come home in November we will definately have to get together and have lunch down at the wharf somewhere (you would not recognise it now - it is so different and even has a Lowenbrau pub, chinese yum cha and the Manly Wharf Hotel is gorgeous!)

Katie - my boobs dont leak as much now. But that is because they tend to settle a bit around the 6 week mark as they know how much they need to produce.

Apple - dont worry about the self settling. When I was at mothers group yesterday the nurse talked about it and if you would like to ultilise it it takes a little time to get bubba to do it. The first few times baby might cry but they often cry themselves to sleep. At first I let Allegra cry for a few minutes (I was going to leave it to a maximum of 5 minutes) and off she went. Now I feed have a little play, wrap and she dozes off. I think she now knows wrapping is a sign of sleep.

Allegra has been sleeping ok. She has been waking up a bit in the early mornings though. She feeds around 6 and then agaain around 9.30 or 10pm and she gets up for a 2am feed and sleeps until morning. But for the past few days she has been waking at 2am and then 4am wanting another feed. I think it must be a growth spurt and considering she is still so tiny I cant deny her I am hoping that the ealry morning snacking stops and i am tired today!

Wher is Nadine - she hasnt been on for a few days - hope all is well with her and little Kayla.

Love to all
T xxxxxxx

[narelle]

Hi girls and babes!

Aiden put on 1160gms in 2 weeks, he now weighs 4956gms (10lb 14). i can't believe he is 6 weeks on friday. since we've changed his formula his reflux is much better. i still find him in lots of pain if he is layed down flat on his back.

apple - sometimes aiden goes off to sleep on his own and other times he needs to be settle...it just depends on his wind etc...in regards to sleeping some babes sleep 8 hrs a day and some 20. ive found since aiden hit 4 wks he more awake during the day. which is easy to cope with if he's not cranky!

snowy - a nanny...i hope u don't get withdrawal symptoms.

katie - oh my god leaking through a thick jumper. ben must be loving it.

princesst - have u set a date yet? glad to hear allegra is putting on lots of weight.

lolly - sorry to read about the house situation.

haven't heard from bek...i hope u are all ok!
nadine MIA 2...i hope kayla is being good for her mummy.

take care

[Wilson]

Haven't seen Mbear for a few days either hope she is good with her 2 little girls.

We got our baby bonus yesterday yay, so that was nice and Harrisons birth cert arrived in the mail.

We are planning bubs christening at the moment as well, will be having it at home which will be nice just have to find out the dates.

Anyways my little poppet has woken from his 15 minute nap, no idea why but i can't get him to sleep long in the day...

[mbear]

Hi - im here. I swear they both know when i get on here - one plays up and the other cries !!!

Love Wednesdays- DD No.1 is at Kindy - my day to potter around in b/w feeds.

Apple - a routine - nope, dont have one and dont think we will get one for a few weeks yet. I think with Sophie its a bit unrealistic to set a routine at only 3 weeks. But we are creatrues of habit arent we, and man do we need that routine. Like snowgirl said, first 6 wks, not even thinking about one. Sophie rules the roost at the moment. But in terms of day and night we put sophie in the lounge room in her rocker most of the day - we make noise, keep blinds open and door wide open. There's no quiet time during the day at our house . She has little cat naps - 1 hour or so, but not long sleeps. She feeds every 2 hrs in the day, and is going 4-4.5 hours at night, so i figure she is making up her feeds in the day time - i dont mind. DD #1 was EXACTLY the same. At night when i feed Sophie she is only up for 20 mins, sucks me dry, then i put her back to bed.

I read somewhere babies at 4 wks have 17-18 hours sleep in a 24 hr period. I guess if they have big sleeps in the day, they obv going to be up a bit at night.

Kaydee ohhh yes, the leaking breasts are a prob. I dont wear the breast pads - i dont like them. I know, im a wuss. I would rather have wet patches on my tshirt ! But have noticed them leaking less each day.
AND yes, i totally, totally know what your saying re: the DH love rekindled thang......I totally feel like we've renewed our vows or something and are inlove all over again. Wearing off a bit now, but a baby defn brought us closer together. Makes you say all gushy stuff.

ANyone squirted their poppet in the face yet with a let down of milk?? Ohhh i have, and man it was funny.

Snowgirl - YOu lucky thing getting a nanny. How is it all going?


Wilson - yay on the mat. payment. We got ours too, havent posted the birth cert. off yet - must do that.

We found Sophie loves to be rocked, patted. Here i am at night washing the disheson one leg - the other leg rocking her rocker. Something had to be done. So bought a musical/vibrating rocker. She loves it. Try not to put her in it too much, dont want her to get used to falling asleep with a vibration, but a godsend around hell hour 6-7pm when im trying to feed 4 mouths (incl. mine) and bath DD #1.

Went to shops with my baby sling yesterday. Sophie slept the whole time. I love carrying her in it. Enables me to hold DD hand too, which she loves.

Must go, love to all.....

XXXXX

[Snowgirl]

Hello girls!

First day with the nanny was great! She was here from 9 to 4, so 1 hour after DH left and 1 hour before he returned, so only had to manage on my own for 2 hours, which was okay. Wolf really likes her and they played together so well. It almost made me jealous how well he took to her (stupid, hey?). So I only had to look after Zara and that was just so relaxing! I don't know what I would do without her as I can't pick up Wolf, so would not be able to lift him in and out of his cot for naps or in and out of the stroller for walks. It's also nice to be able to just have a shower or go the bathroom without having a 16 months old trying to join in. We went for a walk (my first walk since having Zara) and I was so knackered afterwards I almost fell asleep on the couch. I went to bed at 8:30 p.m.!! It's so frustrating to have a body that is so weak when I feel like doing so much more. I can't wait to feel fully like myself again and do some sport again etc.

Teena / oh yes, they did an amazing job with the wharf, didn't they. I did not know of the lowenbrau pub, but have been to the wharf hotel (terrible accoustics though, sounds like a beehive in there on a buzy night). My favourite places in Manly are The Barking Frog (great coffee & great breakie), Jellyfish (close to us ) and Blue Water Cafe (great breakie). Since we live towards Queenscliff end, we tend to hang out more in North Steyne area (i.e. Jellyfish, Ash's Table and Honolulu Grill / if those are still there.... they have changed ownership in the past years a bit)
Oooooooooh, just talking about it makes me homesick!! We will definitely have to meet up when I am back (hopefully should be there for 3 months)

Narelle, wow, that's some serious weight gain in 2 weeks!! Woohoo! I won't have Zara weighed until she is 6 weeks old... I wonder how much she will weigh then... but I can tell she is chubbing up nicely. More and more fat rolls on the legs by the day and the face is filling out nicely.

Well, I better get dressed (sitting here with my towel wrapped around me, fresh out of the shower).

Snowy

[PrincessT]

Snowy - you would be happy to know that Bluewater has opened up another restuaurant where Rimini used to be and its called Whitewater (I'm sure it would have been opened when you left) and its really gorgeous and upmarket.. its all shades of white inside and the food was really nice when we went.

Ahhhhhh

OK - got to go have a shower. Going shopping today YAY!!

[Nadine]

I am still here

Have got Mastistis Woke up with aches and pains and a fever and a really sore boob on Tuesday. I have been really careful and have made sure I empty each boob properly, but Kayla went for 7 hrs without a feed (an I didn't express to empty) the other day and I think my boobs just got too full and the right one blocked up. I can't think of any other reason why I got it. Anyway, I went to the doctor and I am on antibiotics. I have to watch Kayla for signs of an allergic reaction. So far all is good. He said if we didn't treat it, it could turn into and absess and need surgical drainage. It feels heaps better now though and the lumps are going.

Kayla has been feeding quite well off the breast now. The last couple of days she has, besides one bottle a day, has only been breast fed (I have three more bottles of breastmilk in the fridge that she has to finish up. Don't really want to waste it).

Kayla has a little awake time after feeds, and then we wrap her and put her down. She then generally winges for the dummy after a minute or so. The dummy she spits out herself when she is asleep and does not ask for it again, which is good.

She was a bit unsettled last night with wind pain. But she eventually got out the gas and we went to sleep at 12:15am.

She is pretty much still feeding every 4-4.5hrs. Not last night but the night before she slept 7 hrs and then another 5 hrs which was bliss. It's amazing how much better you feel

We weighed her at the chemist yesterday and she now weighs 4.36kg. Her discharge weight was 3.6kgs, so she is doing well.

Re: formula/breastfeed: I have not tried giving her a formula feed at night. I am too worried to let myself go for that long without emptying my boobs. I think that is a reason why I got mastitis, because she had a long period during feeds and I didn't express, and they just got too full (if that makes sense).

Re: breastpumps: I use the Avent one and personnaly find it great. I did have the manual one, but my hand started getting sore from pumping, so we bought the electric one (it is new and has just come out this year). It is much quicker and at good times I have gotten 240ml out.

Everyone is different though and everyones breast is different, so one pump may be great for one person but not for the other.

Re: wrapping: Yes we wrap Kayla. She use to go off without being wrapped but I think because of her jaundice she was too exhausted to fuss about it. Now if we put her down without being wrapped she generally startles herself with her arms (she loves flinging them about), so she LOVES being wrapped to go to sleep. Makes her feel secure.

Routine: No we haven't got a routine yet. I think it may take another few weeks before we get into one. I have just been concentrating on the breastfeeding. Once my boobs have adjusted to how much Kayla needs, I think it will be easier to get into a routine.

I will be back later for personnals. Have to go through and read everyones posts again. Oh...so much to catch up on.

[nic2006]

Hi everyone

Hope you and your bubs are having a good day. This is my first full week of DH being at work, its been okay though I have to get out the house sometime each day or I go balmy.

Routine - Isaac seems to have one good day, where he sleeps and eats well and then one miserable day where he doesn't sleep more than a hour or so at a time, gets a lot of wind and screams all the time. Today is his 'nice' day, yesterday was a killer

Settling - Nup, Isaac can't do it by himself yet, though not yet three weeks old so he is a bit young, sometimes it takes hours though just to do a feed, burp and settle, it takes so much time out of the day!

Milk supply - mine has been down a bit, I don't I've been drinking enough water. I usually express some each day which we give him at night to help put him to sleep on a full tummy. Its great for when we're out during the day too and I don't want to breastfeed in public every time, I feel a bit uncomfortable about it in these early days.

Nadine - sorry to hear about the mastitis, sounds painful I don't think I will have that problem at this stage, I seem to be only just making enough to satisfy him

Kaydee - I also agree with you about the bubs bringing us closer together, its been a really nice, special time O

Hey has anyone's baby's genuinely smiled yet?? I'm really looking forward to it as I feel quite unappreciated some days when all I get in return for my caring and nurturing is a heart-breaking cry! According to 'Baby Love' book they can genuinely smile from 10 days.

Well he is stirring now, gotta go
Nic

[apple]

Hey guys,

Routine - Isaac seems to have one good day, where he sleeps and eats well and then one miserable day where he doesn't sleep more than a hour or so at a time, gets a lot of wind and screams all the time. Today is his 'nice' day, yesterday was a killer

Settling - Nup, Isaac can't do it by himself yet, though not yet three weeks old so he is a bit young, sometimes it takes hours though just to do a feed, burp and settle, it takes so much time out of the day!

Nic - I hear ya!! Bonnie seems to have a bad day and night, where she doesnt settle and I end up in tears then the next day (like today) she sleeps beautifully and is happy when awake, and settles well at night. I am hoping she will do it again tonight.

I agree about settling, that's what gets to me, I really have no problem getting up to feed, but no one ever told me you would get up to feed then possibly spend another 1-2 hours trying to settle her to sleep. That is by far the hardest bit for us so far.

Smiling - I think Bonnie is not far off it, she makes some smiley type faces, but not a grin at me as such yet - I cant wait, and I agree, it will make the hard times so much more bearable.

Nadine, so sorry to hear about the mastitis, you poor thing you - look after yourseld.
We too have some gas problems.... my let down is really fast, so poor Bonnie gulps to get it all down, so by the end of the day she has lots of wind she cant get up. I rang the ABA, as she was screaming on my boob the day before yesterday and they said to try feeding from one boob per feed to make sure she gets the hind milk, adn to express a little before feeding (20mls or so) so when she latches on, the let down isnt so focreful.
I am also trying Infacol - so far so good, last night was a dream ,but the real test is if she can repeat the good night tonight!!

WRapping - yep, we wrap Bonnie - when she's ready to sleep. At night, I wrap her before giving her the last side, so she is all wrapped up ready for bed, this has been really useful.

[narelle]

girls if you are having trouble with "wind" try INFACOL you buy it from the chemist, it's harmless but does wonders with bringing up wind. also be aware is bubs is screaming after milk, curling legs up, arching back, and sometimes vomiting it could be reflux. all the things about having 1 good day and 1 bad sounded like aiden was 3 weeks ago. once i changed his formula to an "AR - anti-reflux" he's a much happier/settled bub! speak to your maternal health nurse or doctor.

nadine - so sorry to hear about the mastitis. i had it with zara and god it hurt. try heat packs on your boobs i found it to be a great help.

settling - i let aiden go off to sleep 90% of the time on his own and only half settle him other times but i always put him down before he is completly asleep. i don't want him to need me to sleep!

wrapping - don't do it. aiden is such a hot bod! he hates his arms being restricted so i use sleeveless sleeping bags.

smiling - heaps of smiles from about 5 weeks. he's soooo cute when he's smiling =D>

snowy - yeah he's getting chubby legs on him. and has fat little arms and fat cheeks....just love to squeeze em!

aiden is having his 6 week checkup 2morow! no big deal just routine. but they are giving me some medication for his reflux...just to help him sleep on his back.

take care

[Nadine]

We are lucky with Kayla in that she burbs and lets off gas quite well. She doesn't seem to have any problems there. She just winges and squeals sometimes before she lets off gas, poor bubba, but she gets it out herself. If she looks like she is having trouble then I gently push her legs to her chest and this always works, but generally my help isn't needed. Touch wood!!!!

Narelle- Yes the mastitis is not fun, but my boob is feeling alot better. I have been using gel packs heated up before a feed, and also give my boob(s) a gentle massage. The lumps seem to be going.

Smiles- yep can't wait till Kayla smiles at us. She smiles when she dreams and she looks so cute. The smiles just keep getting bigger and the other day she even giggled when she smiled....BUT...once again..all while she is dreaming. DH says that she must be dreaming about a field of boobs LOL

Apple- I have also heard that leaning back a bit at the beginning of a feed helps too in slowing down the flow. I haven't tried it yet as I don't have that problem, so I am just forwarding what I have been told by others.