Babies Born February 2006

Hi Everyone,

I'm back online! Congratualions to all the ladies that have become mums since my last post.

As you can see from above my little bundle of joy - Brianna Leigh was born on 19 February after a long and drawn out labour. I actually ended up in hospital a few days before she was born with a bad UTI (had gone in to my kidneys) and was very painful. I was admitted on the Friday and put on antibiotics and pethadine for the pain (excruciating) and then my waters broke naturally on the Saturday night at midnight and then Brianna was born at 3pm on the Sunday afternoon via vontuse and episiotomy. I had the works!

Brianna is absolutely adorable! we had a bit of trouble with the feeding at first as she only has a very small mouth but with some assistance from the LC at the hospital we are starting to get there. She also gets really cranky and anxious when it comes to feed times which makes attachment difficult. I am going to have a bit more of a chat with the nurse about it tomorrow. She might suggest what some of you have suggested and express some before feeds as it is like there is that much milk she can just lick and suck without having to attach.

The community nurse is coming tomorrow so I will be interested to see if she is putting on weight. Like most of you Brianna also has a bit of trouble settling at night and tends to just want to stay awake sometimes. She has good nights and bad. Hopefully with time it will sort itself out.

I better go as DH is wanting to get on here to check his emails as well.

Talk to you all again soon.

Hi everyone!

Well, i finally made it... And correct me if im wrong, but was i that last feb mumma to have bubs?

I was admitted into the hospital Thursday morning, and after 3 days of induction, and on/off pretty much painless contractions, labour started at about 7pm and Ben was born at 10.47pm Saturday night. It all happened so fast! My contractions were coming one after the other with pretty much no break in between... Turned out i went from 3cms to 7cms in one hour... and then I needed to push all of a sudden. The midwife didnt believe me!! Anyway, to cut a long story short.... No drugs (i asked for an epi, but there was no time!!), small internal tear (but wasnt bad) and the doctor and midwife commented "He is coming like he is your third baby!". Anyway, I will write up the whole story when im not so tired!

I came home Tuesday morning, and have been a walking zombi ever since! Ben is just beautiful! The first day he was a real cranky bum, and breast feeding is sooooooooooo painful. Its getting better though. I have the midwife visiting everyday for a bit of help. I think Ben is just too strong.

Well, i will write more when i have more time... Goodness i feel so rushed!!

Katie- WELCOME \:D/ Ben is so adorable. He looks so cute all rugged up :)

Feeding- We are still not feeding from the breast. I am still expressing around 125-130ml every 3.5-4hrs and Kayla has 100ml per feed. We bought an electric Avent pump last night, so it is much quicker and more efficient then the hand held pump. Last night we had to give her formula because after only 1.5hrs she wanted another feed, and she had 100ml of BM the feed before. The formula worked well and she slept 4.5hrs in between feeds.

Not sure if my milk deteriorates towards the evening????? She seems to have no problems lasting during the day on BM. It's all a mystery. I might have to call a lactation consultant to come over and help sort it out. I will also attempt breast feeding again in a couple of days time. Hoping she will latch on and stay on.

Yay Katie good to see you here, ben is just gorgeous!! and Wishful wow your UTI sounds awful!!

Well we went to a settling class yesterday at the early childhood center as the lack of settling was getting really hard and i would be in tears at night while he was crying but it was great we learnt a lot, have been missing a few signs i think where we thought he had wind etc and would pick him up and stimulate him where he was really actually tired and just needed to be wrapped up tight and put to bed. Also discovered he has been using me more as a dummy as well :) i thought he needed to be on the breast for at least 20 - 30 minutes but he was always falling asleep so she said to just pull him off he isn't sucking for a reason other than to suck. But last night he slept from 10:30ish to 5:40am i woke at 2am with full and leaking boobs and didn't really sleep that well cos i had to keep checking he was ok 8-[ but he was fine prob just one of those days though i'm not expecting it regularly yet but it was a nice change anyway.

Today he hasn't been very hungry he fed this morning at 6am, then 10ish and then 3ish other than that he has been sleeping, i guess he will be crying though if he was hungry wouldn't he??

How long are others bubs actually feeding for?? Harrison feeds for anywhere from 10-25 usually, i'm only doing one boob feeds at the moment as tresillian recommended it...

I tried expressing as well just as an option to give me a break but i didn't really get much out yet, will give it another go soon when i am feeling relaxed etc.

Anyways glad everyone is well

Katie - you sound similar to me - I dilated from 3 cm to 9cm in 1.5hrs, I was saying "I need to poo and I need to push" and they were allt elling me to just keep workign through the contractions... I was on all fours grunting and pushing, I didnt care and couldnt not! I had asked for the epi too, but it was also too late!
Well done girl, it's good to see you and your little man back here. Our babies are one day apart.

The first few days at home are tough eh - getting used to night time life now!

Our MCHN came today, and made me feel like all is going ok, which is nice.
Bonnie is already over her birth weight, she ws 8lb8oz, and is now 8lb12oz! What a gutz!

Wilson, how good that your little man slept for so long, I'd love that, even just one night!
I am feeding on one side, then the other. She probably takes only about 15 mns on the first and 10 on the second. The MCHN said that's fine, as long as she's spending most of the time doing some good sucking and swallowing.

I find settling Bonnie is the biggest challenge - I always though feeding would be. Day time is fine, she's out like a light, but night time she doesnt go straight to sleep and can be up for ages.

The MCHN suggested having her in our bed through the really bad times... is anyone doing this? I am a bit scared to try!

Nadine - the electric pump must be a godsend... I hope things get better for you :)

Hope all are well - I enjoy coming in and readin gwhat everyone is up to and where you are at, even if we dont have time for personals!

Ahh, remember the days (only a week or so ago) where we could caht and chat whenever we wanted!? But then we didnt have our bubbas then!

:) em

Nadine - i was told when i was BF #1 DD your milk does deterioate towards end of day - youve been on your feet all day, your exhausted by 5pm, its been a long day, the milk that you fed bubs with at breakfast is better than milk at 6pm. I dunno if its true, but it kinda makes sense. I was often on the phone to breastfeeding assoc with my first daughter, i found them invaluable.
Sophie is feeding every 1.5-2hrs. Usually from one breast for about 10-15 mins. I really want to offer her the two, so i find if i change her nappy and sit back down and offer her boob #2 she will suck - but only for 5 mins or so. I dont mind feeding her that often. She's still trying to find her way. At night she goes 4 hrs b/w feeds, so im happy, and she's 4.2kg already, so pilling on the weight.

Apple - laughing at the urge to POO !! I actually said to DH as he was warming up the car "i have to go to the toilet to poo" - he kind of looked at me like 'oh. Okay" . I remember walking to the toilet and thinking "my god, i dont want to poo, i want to push this baby out !!!!". I was fully dilated when i got to the emergency ward too.

Community nurse said yesterday to only wrap them when time to sleep.Like Wilson, i thought Sophie had wind/tummy probs, but seems she just wanted to go to sleep, and here i am jingling her around. Only wrap when time for bed. Any other time (feeding, wake time) leave them unwrapped. I tried it today and she defn more settled.

Kaydee84 - YAY on having Ben !!! I think Sorka had her bubs late too - you both maybe running for that finishing line !!!

Talk soon........

Well we have had 4 nights in a row after 12:30 where Harry sleeps till 5:30 - 6am its amazing, makes the biggest difference to me, i'm not bawling every night now :) just every second night lol
he is still a struggle to settle once he wakes around the 7pm he just does not want to go down but we have been trying the last few nights once he gets too hysterical for the settling things and nothing else works to give him a little bit of expressed breast milk although last night was 25ml of formula (he didn't want anymore) and he dropped off immediately.

I'm finding it really hard to express much with the avent manual, not sure if i'm doing it wrong or what but i only get 40-50ml from a boob and it takes a while but we'll get there...

Lol at the need to poo thing, i had the same thing, i had hubby go ask for a bedpan and she came in and did an internal and said ok your ready to push...really must finish my birth story but don't have as much time these days, we are going to ALdi later apparently they have a lot of cheap baby things so thought we would have a look.

Yesterday we went and got those foot and hand casts done, it was a present from my parents, will be so cute when we get it back.

Good to see everyone is doing ok, hope all your beautiful bubs are doing well!!

Ok Wilson - please tell me your secret to getting him to sleep through so well?

Our little Bonnie has been really unsettled from midnight until 6am since she was born, and they are about the same age, so interested to hear what you are doing.
It's hard to work out what times to feed her to get her through the night, bath her, etc.

Last nigth she woke 2 hrly for feeds :sleeping: We cant cope with that long term! And she struggles to settle at night.

We have introduced 'play' time during the day at two feeds where she is nudey on the floor and she likes that... hopfully she will start to understand day form night.


I am so jealous Wilson!!

hi everyone

We are going ok now that Katie is on the bottle...i certainly feel more human. I am actually really jealous of you gals that can breastfeed ;) I really miss it already but I really do need to accept it and move on.

I was definately headed for Post Natal Depression if I hadnt made the decision to bottlefeed, i was seriously a blubbering mess for days...I now feel totally normal (a little stressed with Master 2 at times cause he loves his sister sooo much) and human again

Katie is so much more settled and is sleeping reasonably well...we seem to have a bad period from the morning feed till lunchtime where she wont sleep in between....BUT like Wilson I have a night sleeper...I am getting 6 solid hours sleep now and its just bliss...its really only one night time feed....sometimes I find myself asleep and keep waking up with a start but so far still sitting up...lol

I would rather her be unsettled during the day than at night O:)

Feeds are down to 3 hourly now during the day so cant complain...thats better than 5 hours straight feeding anyday [-o<

She has been a little consitpated since starting formula so went out and bought Coloxyl drops which are helping

Apple we do the no nappy thing too and Katie loves it!!! It apparently uses up a fair amount of energy too?? Thats what my midwife told me anyway so I say go Katie go...lol

I hope all bubbies are being lil angels for you all and you guys are getting enough sleep...I think thats the worst part of the first few months (mind you DS didnt sleep through the night till 15 months...grrrr and i was still working fulltime back then...I dont know how I got through that but you just do)

Take care everyone
xx kyles

Hi all,
I think we are getting into a bit of a routine now also. The last three nights Liam has gone about 6 hrs between feeds which is good cause i love my sleep- who doesn't?!?!. However he is making up for it during the day by bringing his feeds back to no more than 3.5 hrs where as before he was sometimes up to 4.5 or even 5hrs. I still have one boob that is sore when feeding but is getting better. I would resort to feeding just from one side if i could until it healed but i just can't seem to express enough without it constantly leaking if he doesn't feed IYKWIM. I may have a chat with the LC on Tuesday when i take Liam for another check up at the health centre.

I hadn't thought about nudy/no nappy time as Liam is usually not happy unless he has a nappy and is dressed. I might try it this afternoon before his bath.

Liam also has a dummy (dodda) now as he was constantly sucking on his fingers for comfort after a feed...and he wasn't hungry as for a few days i would put him back on but after a few sucks he would stop. i guess it is more of a comfort thing for him to be sucking.

Bruky - I am glad you are feeling more human now that katie is on the bottle. As hard as it was to make your decision it sounds as though emotionally for you it was the right choice to make, and it is ok for you to miss it :hug:and i am sure you are both alot more relaxed now. Don't you just love the fact that new big brothers are soooooo affectionate! I have a 4 year old who is the same. I found the coloxyl drops took a few days to kick in with DS#1 after he changed over to formula so hopefully she should start to have its full effect soon.

Wilson - I too have found expressing with the pump manually i am not getting as much as if i hand express. It was the same with my first son, it took a few weeks in order to get up a good supply via the expressor but when it did it came on fast.

Apple - i havve put Liam in with us twice when he just wouldn't settle and he was off to sleep in no time. It scares me especially when i doze off and wake up a few hours later with him still laying on my arm. I have now put one of my shirts that i have worn in his snuuggle bed under his head as i figured it was just my smell he was after for comfort.

Hi to everyone else, need to go and get dinner organised whilst DS#1 is occupied and DS#2 is asleep, my DH's eldest bro is coming over tonight to meet Liam as he has been away with work until now. Hmmm and i should probably have a quick tidy up of the house too.

Hi ladies,

I am jealous of you ladies that have good sleeping babies. Brianna has been hard work lately. Just not getting in to a routine and not sleeping well during the day. The last few afternoons I have been breastfeeding continuously which was wearing me out. I have finally relented and given her a dummy (just then) I am hoping that might help her to settle for sleep. She must have just been comfort sucking on me. I was scared to introduce a dummy because the LC & midwives were all not in favour of them and was worried that introducing one would affect her breast feeding. But after reading that most of you are using one and it isn't affecting your feeding I feel a bit more confident in using one. We are just going to use it when she is really unsettled and wanting to suck. Fingers crossed it works.

I am also envious of those of you that are getting out and about. We have tried a couple of times and both have been diasters with both bub and mum in tears. She just doesn't like the pram. I have one of those neck supports in there and wrapped her up but she just doesn't settle. Does anyone have any advice? We are going to go for a walk around the neighbourhood for a bit of practice. I need to get confident about going out before DH goes back to work.

Wilson - I have been feeding from both sides at each feed mostly. If she falls asleep after one side I just let her sleep. I remember the LC saying that you should at least offer both sides. Sometimes I even change her nappy between sides as she is usually more settled to do it then as when she wakes up she is hungry then and there. After the nappy change she is usually keen for the other side.

Hello Feb mums,

This is my first post on Belly-belly - I look forward to chatting with you all as our little bundles grow up!

Forum Name: nic2006
State: SA
Baby's DOB: 25th Feb
Baby's Stats: Weight - 2.55kg - Length 53 cm
Gender of Baby: Boy
Baby's Name: Isaac Robert John
Baby's Website:
Health Concerns:
Notes: He was 12 due days overdue but decided to come by himself a few hours before a planned induction!

Welcome Nic and baby Isaac!!!

Well things seem to be going well for us... Allegra is 6 weeks old today!!!!

Feeding is going very smoothly, she sucks so well now. Gosh I can remember the first weeks when I was so upset because feeding was not going well and I was at my wits end.

Sleeping and settling - I think I have been pretty lucky as Allegra has only had a few unsettled nights and I think most of those were caused by her having wind pain. We are using Infacol drops in warm boiled water and they seem to help. We also do baby massage on her tummy and back and do the bicycle movement with her legs and she farts it all out :)

Everyone keeps telling me that bottle fed babies sleep better at night is this true? I'm happy breastfeeding but just out of interest.

OK - Pizza just arrived. YUM

I'm officially on my diet tomorrow.. have a few more kg's to lose still :)

Hi Nic and welcome. Congratulations on the birth of Isaac \:D/

Hey ladies,

Things have settled down here... feeding is much better. Ive caught up on some sleep, and feel more comfortable with having a little one to look after.

Ben tends to feed every 3 to 4 hours for about 40-45 mins, and he sleeps longer at night. Feeding is still a bit painful, but its getting better every time. The midwife has told me i need to relax more. I am so scared of the pain, i sometimes dread feeding Ben. And i feel so guilty. So i use a heat pillow for my back, and have a nice cup of "breastfeeding tea" whilst feeding. that tends to help alot.

Wishful - If ben falls asleep at one boob and i have trouble waking him up, i also change his nappy... and then he is awake and ready for the other side.

Ben is now back up to his birth weight... Which is wonderful!

RE: dummy - we too use it, but only when he is unsettled and wants something to suck for comfort. Although I find that when we have visitors, they are always trying to shove it back in his mouth, he spits it out, and they just try to shove it back in... its so annoying!

Im really anxious about tomorrow. Dh goes back to work. In Germany the fathers only get 2 days off for bubs. and because Ben was born on the weekend, he only gets 1 day!!! So Dh had to take a week from his yearly leave. So unfair. At least my mum is here in a week. I cant wait.

I hope you all are doing well.

Just a quickie...lol thats probably what got most of us where we are hey...lol

Welcome to Nic and baby Isaac \:D/ Looking forward to getting to know you both :)

Princess - I have to say that it seems to be that way for my babies...all 3 of them slept better and longer after going on the bottle...DD#1 slept through from 5 weeks old...DS didnt tho...he was still waking @ 15 months for a feed (sometimes 2)...I am hoping that Katie follows her big sisters footsteps [-o< [-o< Katie now sleeps a solid 6 hours @ night and 4 during the day so i wont complain

I'm not sure if anyone knows but is there a time limit on boobie feeding??? I tried to feed katie again last night as my nipples have healed...its been a week yesterday that we put her on the bottle...but just wondering if its possible to pick it up again...she didnt seem to get much out but when I squeeze I still have milk???

Bruky, re: time limit, I dont think so, if you can and she's suckign and swalloing I think it's fine... but dont qupte me! You could alwyas top her up with formula if not sure.

Just a quickie from me to say we slept well last night. We have been trying the routine from the contented little baby book, and she had her last feed at 10pm, then woke at 2.30am, then 6.30am, I was VERY Happy with that. Fingers crossed it happens again.

Wishful we are trying our first outing today, and I hadnt even considered that she wouldnt like the pram, oh dear, I hope she does!! Not sure what you can do, but I may be back asking the same thing!

Welcome Nic and Isaac :) Your little man was born the day after our girl.

I dont want to be rude and start interfering in your group but your posts bring back so much memories!
Firstly,about bubs and prams.I had a 3 wheeler with bubs facing away from me as soon as she faced me she was content.I had to buy a new pram! Unfortunatley some bubs just like to be with mum so you will just have to keep having small trips in the pram until they get use to it!
When i first brought millana home from hospital i had a low milk supply and ended up having to bottle feed.She still wanted to be fed at least 3 hrly,even during the night.I then started to do last feed at 1030pm and she was alot more settled and eventually as she got older had another at 3am until she woke in the morning.
I got alot of assistance from Tizzie Hall,save our sleep.I just contacted her through her web.She sent me routines to follow and they were invaluable.I will use them for 2nd bubs too.
Anyway from the sounds of it you are all doing fantastic jobs and with my first was always on tenderhooks and hoping i was doing all the right
things.Keep perservering.The first 3-4 months are the hardest but you will come through!

Just another point, some of TH's routines maybe abit strict but what im tryinh to say is by having a routine of such that fits in your lifestyle baby may become more settled.ie) bathing,feeding rotine to settle before bed.

I was just reading an interesting article in Mother and Baby Magazine, they did a study which found 57% of mums had tried controlled crying and only 8% found it to be successful. Very interesting!

Anyone interested in TH's routines might like to read this first: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ic.php?t=21037

Thanks for mentioning Pinky Mackay,Jillian.I knew there was another person out there that could help with crying.I will go and read some of her articles for in preperation for the 2nd.

Apple good to hear you got more sleep, i'm not really sure what we are doing other than wrapping tight, making sure he isn't hungry and then once he is quiet in our arms we lay him down in the bassinette and leave him patting his shoulder or just stroking if he crys we pick up and shhhh in his ear and wait till he stops crying and then back in, we keep doing this till he just crashes it can take a while sometimes but he is learning.
it does take us a while though, he is usually very unsettled from 6ishpm to 11-12ishpm last night he woke every 3 hours but i think he was a bit tummy upset.

Of course today he has hardly slept a wink and he is struggling at the moment as well to go down but we'll get there, part of the joys i guess :)

I am getting a bit sick of all the 2 lots of info we get, today we went to get an electric breastpump from the ABA and i mentioned how my boobs seemed to have less milk than before and how he was sleeping at night for 5 or 6 hours and she said "oh no you should be waking him to feed" As if i'm going to wake my sleeping baby when i really need the sleep.
Re the boobs i am back to doing two boobs as i don't think he is getting enough now from one, its funny we rang tresillian and they told us to do the one boob thing, another of those one person says one thing another says another ](*,) we are just doing what feels right now rather than listen so much to the professionals conflicting advice :)

I have a UTI and have to be on antibiotics, i tried flushing it out with water and cranberry etc but the doctors have said its ok to keep breastfeeding but i'm not sure so have bought a cheapish electric breast pump so i might have to formula and pump and dump not sure what option yet i feel so bad i don't want my milk supply to go away as most of the time i do enjoy breastfeeding.

I'm back at my start of pregnancy weight which is great, of course my body shape isn't the same lol and i have no clothes that fit yet but its still nice.

Wishful- Not sure about going out, hope it gets better for you. i usually go out after he has had a feed and a change and just pop him in and he settles and usually falls asleep as its his sleep time, sometimes he is unsettled and we pick him up till he settles and then back in. Probably no help at all.

Take care everyone, hope everyones bubs are wondeful.

Wishful - just wanted to ask how old is bubs? 3 weeks or so? If so then remember that they are know to have growth spurts at 3 weeks and 6 weeks so it feels like you are feeding forever!

Also, please don't feel bubs have to be in a routine yet! They are only tiny things just getting used to the big wide world. Routines come much later, just enjoy them and follow their cues.

I am also someone else that loves Pinky. We were going great guns until around 8 weeks old and if I didn't, Matthew just wounldn't stop crying! If it wasn't for Pinky's '!00 ways to calm the crying' and BB, I would have gone batty I am sure!

You could be right, bubs may not like the pram yet, give them time, take your time. Maybe try a hug a bub or similar. Maybe she still wants to be close to you?

Wilson - I have never woken Matthew for a feed at all. But, I say go with your instict... you are right it is all conflciting advice as every professional thinks their way is the best way! I think you are spot on - he is learning to sleep, all babies do. Do want you guys want to do. We did the shhh ing thing too and it worked a treat!

Wilson I am sooo with you on all the different advice that is given...its bloody confusing!!!! and this is my 3rd...things seem to change greatly between each child so I am just going with the flow...lol You do what feels right...you are the only expert on your child O:)

Thanks so much for that link Jillian...I actually rang a councellor from ABA and she did give me some hints and real encouragement to give it another go...not sure if I will join their groups yet but was nice to know that they are there to talk to...now to get my supply back up [-o<

Katie seems to enjoy the pram and the car, we have had a few outings so far, the show...the shops...general walking etc and as long as she isnt hungry all is well...lol

As for routine...yep agree its just too early for most babies, they will set their routine in time and I would just love a baby like yours Jillian...sleeping @ 1 week old and those hours too...well done!!

Apple – I had the same problem with Harrison not sleeping at night but sleeping for about 5 or 6 hours during the day for the first weeks or so after I got home. I spoke to the community nurse and she said to wake him during the day after 4 hours and it should change his sleep rythems. It took about 2-3 days of this but it eventually worked and he now sleeps from about 10pm till 2:00-3:30am.

Wishfull – Try putting bub in the pram just after a feed. I had a similar problem in the early days. I am still having problems with the car seat. Harrison hates it and screams most of the time when ever I have to take him somewhere unless he is really tired and is able to sleep.

I also had trouble with feeding in the early stages in hospital and ended up in tears. The midwife spotted the dummy (Avent – newborn, orthodontic teat) and told me that this dummy wasn’t the right shape if you are trying to establish breast feeding. She recommended a brand called Happy Baby (cherry teat) which you can get from Coles for about $2.00. She said to get the large size not the small because this will go all the way back to the soft pallet in bubs mouth which is where your nipple should be when breast feeding. This way they have less chance of getting confused. I tried it and it worked for me so may be worth a try if you are still struggling with attachment.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :wave:
I'm back!!!

Not sure how much time I will have to post in the future... but I will try my best.
I've finally been released from hospital and am staying at my mom's place for another week before returning to London on Saturday.
The whole birth experience was horrendous and no, I did not get my VBAC. I wrote a brief summary in my Birth Announcement that Tegan did for me (HUGE thanks btw. to Tegan).

Zara is doing well. She is feeding like a champion and she sucks like a maniac. I am done breastfeeding in 5 - 10 mins... it's incredible! My right boob is not working which brought a lot of tears and pain. But I decided to focus on her and forget about my issues of being lopsided again.

Zara is quite alert and awake a lot during the day which I did not have with Wolf - he was a really sleepy baby. The nights are okay. She wakes once at 1 and once at 4 and goes straight back to sleep after the feed, so I can't complain. I go to bed before 10 p.m. nevertheless as I am just knackered by the end of the day.

We have organised an Aussie nanny for London, so I am curious to see how that works.
We have decided to not go to Australia - let's face it - it was crazy enough an idea without having lost that much blood and feeling that crap, but now as weak as I am, it's totally out of the question. My obgyn talked to my parents after I kinda mentioned it, begging them to talk me out of it. No need though, I realised after still feeling crap after 5 days that there was just no way. My bride was very understanding though, she cried after DH told her how badly I was doing and how awful things were during / after the birth.

Well, I will have to try to catch up on everyone's birth stories and stats ...

Chat later

Snowy

hello mummies and babies,

just a short one to let you know that i have posted my birth story.
Glad to see you back Snowy. Im so sorry you had such an awful experience :( . and i hope you are recovering well. Sending all my get well wishes!

Ben is due for a feed...
Will write more when i have time.

hi all,

I agree with Nelbe. I think thats the most upsetting/frustrating thing about the first 6 weeks - you dont have a routine, and unlikely will in this time. Its even harder with another little one running around - we did have a routine (she's 2 now) and even that now is thrown out the window with Sophie.
My DH said the other day, 'shouldnt she be going to sleep on her own' - i laughed and said 'babe, she is 2 weeks old, she's been on this planet for 2 whole weeks and here we are expecting her to fall into our routine'. Hang in there. They (bubs) will find there way. I found the most imp thing is to differentiate b/w day and night -wrapping her tight, keeping it quiet and drawing the blinds.

I found the first 6 wks the hardest with #1. We're nearly half way girls !!!!

Sophie usually has a big 4 hour sleep from 9pm-1am, then feeds every 2-2.5 hours. She needs a little help going to sleep in the day. But during the night she is fine. I swear she smiled at me this morning. =D>

Wilson - have you thought about a baby carrier for your to wear whilst at the shops, bubs prob wants to be near you. Ive also heard of people putting somethng near bubs that smells like them too.(!!!).

Lolly - i remember with DD#1 the LC told us about Woolies or coles dummies for a cheap price. She said no need to pay more than $2 for a dummy, these ones work. Needless to say we bought a tommee tippee one and she seems to suck on it nicely.

Snowgirl - welcome back. good to hear Zara arrived safe and sound. You take care of yourself. I know what its like to have massive blood loss - really takes it out of you......
Washing/ironing/floor mopping to do. Must go.

Hi all,

I've finally got a little bit of time to write properly in this forum, it's been non-stop visitors and guests since Isaac was born 10 days ago!

I had my sister and mum fly over for a week, as well as people dropping in every day...we try to tell DH's family to come around separately in two's or three's, but on Sunday about 8 people all came around at the same time, the stress of it was too much and Isaac had a screaming fit, DH hid in the kitchen from his family (very loud dominating women!) and they scurried out pretty quickly then, no doubt thinking he's a difficult baby and that we can't cope!

Things are going very well so far though - Isaac is breastfeeding really well, his sleep,eat, settle routine is still pretty random, we've taken him out on some trips to the shops etc and he's been fine. I'll have to work out how to put a little picture of him up.

Has anyone been expressing milk so that DH can do the late night or morning feed? I'm currently collecting enough milk to try it soon...would be good if it works so that I can get a solid stretch of sleep in.

Re: prams - After doing a lot of research while pregnant I got one which can be reversed to face me or face ahead, its been great so far.

Re: dummy's - We got some so-called newborn dummies for settling but the shape seems so wrong and he doesn't know what to do with it, the sucking motion is so different to when he's on the breast or has my finger in his mouth, so it might just have to be my finger for when he wants some 'non-nutritious' sucking time!

It's good to be able to read here that everyone is experiencing the same things as me (first time mum). Anyway he is waking up for a feed now, so I will try to keep up with the thread and keep posting!

Thought I would post while I have the chance.

Kayla is doing well. She is generally a good baby, only gets upset if she has tummy pain or is hungry. Luckily she can burp and let off gas really well, so we don't have a problem there.

Feeding: I am still expressing BM. Kayla doesn't seem to latch on well, and when she does she only sucks for 5min and not strong enough to empty a boob or get enough. I keep trying though so she doesn't loose the feel for the boob, but I always have to top her up.

I am going to have to arrange an appointment with the LC I had in hospital. I don't want to give up on brestfeeding just yet. In the mornings when my breasts are at their fullest I can express anywhere from 180-220ml. Towards the evening it gets less and I get around 110ml.

We weighed Kayla yesterday at the chemist. Her discharge weight was 3615g (not clothed), and she now weighs 4070g (not clothed). So she has put on 455g in 9 days. So she is definately getting enough to eat. We give her around 110-120ml of expressed milk per feed.

She generally feeds every 4-4.5 hrs during the day and night, but she may have times when she will want a one off feed after 2 or 3 hrs.

Prams: Kayla loves her pram and going for walks. She also loves her car seat and so far has always fallen asleep in it. So I can't help with issues there.

Dummy's: We were also told by our LC that the "happy baby" dummies are the best to use for breastfeeding babies. Their teat are more like your nipple, so are less likely to cause confusion. They are the cheapest dummy around, so that suits me :)

Advice: I was told to take on whatever advice you want, and try it out if you wish. If it works that's great and if it doesn't, well throw it out the window. Every baby is an individual and different things will work for every baby. So it's really just trial and error in the first weeks/months until you find what works best for your baby!

The important thing is to stay relaxed. Baby senses how you are feeling, and if you are stressed and upset, the baby will sense this and react the same way.

Snowy: Sorry to hear about your awful experience. Sending you lots of recovery vibes sweety :)

Katie: I will go and read your birth story after my post. How are you going, now that DH is at work? I am sure you are doing fine :)

Ok will do more personals later. I have to have a shower while Kayla is sleeping.

Hi girls

It's very helpful to read all of your tips now that this is going to be a reality for us on the weekend. I think I'll go and try some of those Happy Baby dummies when I'm out of hospital, I was holding off to see what kind of advice I'd get on that.

There's noboby in the March baby buddies thread yet, they all came in Feb or were prem and aren't out of hospital yet! I might pop in and try to get some chatter started when I get home from hospital next week - but if I get desperate would you guys mind if I called by a couple of times?!

Hope you are all going well and I look forward to joining you all in baby-land!

Hi everyone,

Ive had a really rough couple of days. I woke up yesterday morning, unable to get out of bed, high fever and pains in my stomach. I called Dh and told him to come home from work asap. I was feeling sick and sore that night, but didnt really think anything of it.

After a visit from the midwife, visit to our GP, and then finally a trip to the Obs, we found that i have an infection in my uterus. Its not contracting properly (or at all). My midwife said that its very rare for that to happen to someone who is breastfeeding. So i am now on antibiotics, Oxytocin nose spray and paracetemol. I just came back from a check -up and the obs said that i was lucky... and that the infection is clearing up nicely. I feel much better now, thank god.

Dh is staying home with me this week, and hopefully next week. My mum arrives on Wednesday, so that is great!

We are staying with Dhs parents for a couple of days and Ben has been an angel!

Well, should go. i hope all mumma and babies are doing well.

Katie - sorry to hear you've not been well. Glad to hear thought that they figured out what it is.

Dummy: tried it for the first time today. It stops her from crying, but she loses interest after a while. It does not put her to sleep... but maybe it will just take time. I am not too keen to overuse the dummy ....

Pram: we have not been for a walk yet... the pram is in London so will try that next week.

Feeding: Zara feeds about 8 times a day, sometimes more. She feeds about every 2 hours in the day time and just twice at night (very nice). She is basically in the routine that Wolf was in after a few weeks... I guess I am being stricter with her than I was with Wolf, who was still on like 12 feeds at this stage.

I am seeing my obgyn tomorrow for a check up. I guess he wants to see what the haematoma is doing.

I will have to try to post some photos when I'm back in London. The plan is to leave on Saturday. Not looking forward to the drive but looking forward to picking up my life again and being our little family of 4!!

Snowy

ohh Katie...I hope you are feeling better now...lucky they found out what was wrong in time...sounds like it could have got nasty?

\:D/ Katie Jayne is 3 weeks old today \:D/

That has just flown!!! I cant believe how fast its gone to tell the truth, it feels like yesterday I was in here whinging about being overdue...lol

Hope you are all well and babies are being good for their mummies :lol:

Has anyone been brave and DTD yet? Sorry if thats too personal but we did this morning...was ok...not great just ok

Katie i am glad you are feeling better now and that your DH will spend a time at home with you until you are back on your feet, and or until your mum comes to visit.

Katie- Sorry to hear that you haven't been that well. Make sure you get lots of rest and I am sending you lots of recovery vibes.

Bruky- Yes, time does fly. It only seems like yesterday to me too that I was waiting for Kayla to arrive. Kayla is so alert when awake she does not seem like a 2 week old baby, more like a 6 or 8 week old baby.

DTD: Nope have not tried that one yet. Not that game to either. I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to that sort of thing. Would rather wait till after my 6 week checkup before considering it :)

Bruky - you go girl ;) So not going there for a while - more for not having time or energy!! We'll wait a while yet me thinks.

KAtie - you poor thing, that is the last thing you need. That is on eof my fears, getting sickl while Bonnie is so young.

Snowy - madness for you, but wishing you all the best on your trip back home to London, it will be nice to get home.

ME - all is well, Bonnie is settling much better at night, goes striaght down after her feeds which is a lovely change. We try and feed and bath her around 10-10.30, then she wakes again around 2.30am , then again between 5-7am... I'm happy with this. Her awake and 'needy' time is now in the afternoon/evening, but that is much better than midnight-6am!!

She was weighed today and is 9lb 2oz (birth weight 8lb 8oz) so not bad for 2 weeks work! She has grown 2 cm too :)

We are starting to enjoy things much more now we are getting some nighttime sleep!

Bruky - wow... no... not even thinking about DTD. Last time it took me 6 months to get back "on the horse" and that's when I fell p/g ...lol ... I said 2 years of total absitence this time - not taking any risks... ha ha.. well, we will see. Not feeling too attractive with one E-cup and one A-cup boob so don't see it happening for a while... (and then only in the dark I think... )

Zara turned 2 weeks yesterday. We went out for lunch and she slept the whole time! Yeah! Also went to the registry to get her passport (it was a bit of mini-drama since I am not registered here but in London and they refused to give me one, so I just said "fine, I will register here then" and we registered the whole family ... if they want to be bureaucratic, I can play their game). And then I went to the obgyn for a check up. I asked him how big the haematoma is and he said 7cm!!!! Holy cow. That's big. He also took some blood to check my iron levels. He just called and my iron levels are recovering nicely but he said he is concerned about the haematoma not shrinking. He'd prefer for me to stay in Germany... but I just really want to go home to London. He said to see a doc asap if I have a fever or abdominal pain as the thing can rupture... joy oh joy.
I will have to come back for a check up in 4 weeks and he said that if it hasn't shrunk by then that he will probably have to open up the stomach again and remove it.... aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggg. Nooooooo. Had a little cry about that statement as I really don't want to be back in hospital!!!! :(
please send some shrinking vibes to my haematoma, girls...

Nadine - I can relate - Zara is also really alert for a 2 week old! She is awake so much... Wolf was just sleeping all the time. Funny how kids can be so different! She also hates to be bathed unlike Wolf who loved baths....

Emma, yeah on the weight gain! (how much is that in gramms??). Zara was weighed yesterday and she has gained 250gr from her birth weight. Bonnie's routine sounds much like Zara's. She also wakes around 2 and then again around 4. She is awake a lot during the day and very needy then... but better than night time waking like you said.

Well, I better go and have a shower. It's 10:30 and we'll have some baby visitors around lunch time.

Snowy

Snowy - Im sending you some shrinking vibes! I was so scared i would have to go back into hospital a few days ago aswell, as my gyno said that if my fever hadnt dissapeared by that evening, than i would have to go to the emergency room.. and that freaked me out! Luckily it did go away though.

Its now nearly 11am, and Ben is STILL sleeping. He was a sooky bum until 3am, but luckily he sleeps very long in the morning. Yesterday he slept from 1am unitl 9am. And today its 3am until, well, 11am. lets hope he keeps that up.

the midwife visited me yesterday and she is happy with my progress. We are still at the in-laws... Mainly just because Dh isnt comfortable with being home just yet. I on the other hand, would love to be back home again... Im so afraid that Ben will get used to the surroundings here, and become unsettled as soon as we go home. But Dh wants me to fully recover, and he wants to feel a bit more comfortable first. which is fair enough i suppose. So it looks like we will be here until tomorrow, or Sunday.

We gave Ben a bath yesterday and he loved it! He has a bit of a rash on his bum at the moment, my medication is giving him the runs poor thing... So we dry his bum with the hairdryer, and he LOVES it! It really calms him down. And he looks so cute lying there naked on his belly with his bum in the air.

We had to change his brand of nappies too, he kept leaking all over his clothes, and we had to change him fully every nappy change.
Snowy, what brand are you using? We were using Pampers, then changed to Fixies.... now we are back to Pampers again. I think we will stick to Pampers from now on.