Babies Born February 2008

[The[cookie]Doctor]

Jacki i am expressing a little bit but that's because i have too much milk already and it's uncomfortable if i don't! I know that won't help the 'too much' problem but i'm in utter agony otherwise, and he doesn't always want a 'top up' which is when he takes the second side.
When i try to introduce the bottle, i'm going to try and do it as a starter feed on the bottle and let him finish on the breast... or something like that... Don't know how it will go but it's the best i cam up with.

As for the dummies - i was going to but i'm sort of going to wait and play it out. I think dummies may have the same issue with a bottle - if you wait too long they may not take... who knows! Alex likes to suck on his hand a lot for comfort (he's managed to coordinate his thumb in there once or twice, lol) so i'm not going to offer the dummy for a while...! But i do know i had one pretty much from birth!

Oh & good luck with your trip to the shops!

[katkins]

Ash, it takes a few weeks for ur milk supply to settle in. Mine has now settled and I am not uncomfortable anymore. I did worry that that meant I was not making enough, but Bry is settling fine and sleeping well and is gainging weight so he is getting enough. Also feeds are taking less time as he gets the majority of the milk quickly so it used to take me 45 mins to feed him, it's now taking me 20-30 and he generally only needs one side unless he's unsettled or starving. I was even able to feed him last feed and express 80mls. Considering I don't express well, I think that's good.
It should all settle down soon. I hope the pain lessens for u.....

[*MinKy*]

Yep, I have lost my quick reply box too, I think I noticed it missing last week...was hoping it would be back by now!!

Anyhoo, all is well here, sore nipples are slowly getting better, which is a relief, I am not as engorged as I was two days ago which is lovely, the pain when trying to sleep was agony..lol..and now bubs can get a half decent grip, which is helping!! Still feeding roughly every 3 hours, he still sleeps alot during the day and is getting better during the night, so we are slowly getting there.

We had a visit from the HN on Monday and Noah has put on 90g since we left the hospital! Yay!! Hopefully he keeps it up, we'll go to the clinic next Wednesday to be weighed again, so will be anxious until then..lol..

Jenjams, wow 10.30-5 am! Nice! It sounds like your little girl is doing so well!!

Jackie, I was expressing up until yesterday, as my boobs were so full, today they have settled down alot , but I would like to have bottle handy in the fridge in case DH wants to feed him, so might get that happening tomorrow again. We have brought a dummy, but we havent given it to him yet, I dont think he needs it just yet, he dosent cry for long periods of time, oh except for bath time..lol.. with DD we introduced it on day 18 and she took to it well. Gosh I hope that the results from your lump come back negative! After DD was born I found two in my right bb and had scans etc but they just turned out to be Fibro-adenomas...it was still worrying though!! I hope your visit to the shops was a good one!!

Katkins, I checked out your family montage! So gorgeous and what a great idea!!!

OKay, better go! Hope you are all well and happy!!!

[prama]

yup, it's p!ssing me off that the button now takes me to another screen, it's so hard to refer to other posts. I dont like having to keep scrolling down.

A quick one cos i have to go feed bub now

jacki - hope the lump's ok. xoxoxo
A quick update which i hope answer your question:

The Early Childhood Centre put in me in touch with Family Care in Parramatta, and we had a 1.5 meeting with the LC.
It was good, she really helped with bub's attachment, our options etc. So, right now, we're bf-ing each feed, though my milk is still very little, we're topping up with formula. I'm using the nipple shield for now, as it's still sore and bub still chomps. I tried without it, it was painful and I think physically and emotionally Im not ready to try without it yet. Bub's a bit better at attaching now, so it's a little easier. He knows to open his mouth and look for the nipple but having him on the breast for almost an hr, still leaves him hungry. I'm still not making enough.
It's already getting a bit tiring as the feeds are now every 3 hrs instead of 4 hrs with formula. With formula, DH would feed him while I had a sleep.


She told me to bf and then express straight after for 5-10mins. I only had a few drops! I think i must be only feeding him 20mls cos he drank abt 50mls of formula afterwards. I had him on the breast for almost an hr. I hope my milk comes in soon. My GP has given me Motilium but that will take several days to kick in. I cant wait to get 80ml or more like you Katkins and Ash! It's so sad.....

[Jacki]

Just had a call from my Dr .... and Yeah ! lump nothing but an infection and antibiotics should clear it up. Such a relief.

Made it to the shops and back. Was out for 3 hours and my DS slept the entire time. I was all psyched up to BF in public but then didn't have to. He is 3 weeks old today and I feel as though I should have been brave enough by now - I feel like putting it off so long is making it more of a issue for when I finally have to do it !

Jen - excellent new on your little one sleeping for all that time. Must be great to get a bit of sleep !

If expressing just after a feed so you just express off the breast you just fed from to completely drain the breast or do you pump both ?? Very confusing. Tomorrow I am going to a morning tea put on by the hospital I had Luke in. HOpefully they will have a LC on duty so I can run my million and one questions by her. I can't wait to be able to express and bottle feed just one feed so DH can do it - may be not every day but every now and again would be great for the extra sleep and also for DH to be a little more involved - I think he would love it!

Prama - hope the BF is starting to get just a little easier for you. You really have had a rough old time !

Minky - I hear you on the engorged breasts. Its so hard to get bubs to get a good grip on there and STAY ON !

Katkins - 20 minutes to feed - that sounds heavenly. Its taking me around an hour bythe time he feeds off one side, then burb, then a bum change and then offering other side.

[prama]

jacki - do you feed bub every 3 hrs? the LC told me today that feeding plus expressing should take max an hr. if you're doing more than an hr, you must hardly be getting any sleep. It's so hard isnt it? I just want to sleep and sleep and sleep. Every moment seems to revolve around feeding...

[cheekymonkey]

Hi girls,

I'm back after a short hospital stay (similar problems to you I think Esme) Turns out Reuben was so starving due to my lack of milk supply that his heart rate was a bit low and I finally got put on motilium and I am currently topping him up also. He is doing better and gaining weight. He still gets distressed and pulls off the breast during some feeds (which in turn distresses me) and it takes about 2 hrs from when I feed him for him to go back to sleep which only gives him an hours sleep (and me an hours break) before his next feed. Does anyone else have this trouble? Is it just a stage?

[Jacki]

Prama - sometimes feeding every 3 hours sometimes 4 hours - today managed to last to 5 hours (I was sure he was going to wake after 3 hours but managed to put himself back to sleep for another 2 hours !! - I give up trying to predict any kind of pattern !). It would be great if the 5 hourly feed was at night though wouldn't it !!!

When you feed and than express within the hour what do you do with DS ?? do you just put him back to bed whether he is ready or not or pass him to DH? I am finding that the thing that takes the most time is after the first breast its the getting him awake enough to burb, change and then offer other side before attempting to settle him back to sleep.

God I'm confused !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help Kerrie - what's the secret to getting bubs fed, burped, changed, offer other side and then finished in such a short time ???

[Ambah]

Hi again everyone...

I am going to try to get back into the swing of things in here, and would love to get to know all of you and your new babies!

Just a quick run down on us...
Eva is now 2.5 weeks old. Not sure how much she weighs (was 3.8kg at birth), but one week ago she had gained 100 gms on her birth weight, and this week I bet its heaps more because boy has she grown!!
We are slowly getting there with BF.
We have endured multiple issues from bleeding & cracked nipples, to Eva refusing to latch on my left side (because its inverted), and then her having issues with her suck - because it wasn't strong enough to stimulate my let down.
However having been through all of that, she has now been on 100% breast milk for over 1.5 weeks, although the majority of this has been expressed. I am lucky, I express really easily, these past few days have been getting 180mls in 10 mins - which is way more than what she needs to drink! So I have begun storing it. But my goal now it to get her to drink directly from my breasts for most of her feeds. Atm she is probably only taking 1/3 of her feeds from my breasts... I think maybe I am still a bit wary, and scared because of nipple hell I went through in the first week?

Other than that... she is a very peaceful baby. She is beginning to develop definite sleep/awake patterns. Although unfortunately for me, one of her widest awake times is between 9pm and midnight - usually right when I want to go to bed! She usually wakes twice per night to feed (and I have to express at those times as well), and most times will go back to sleep afterwards, although there have been a couple of unsettled nights. I have found it easier this time because I have her cot as a sidecar to our bed (with the side taken off) so I can just reach over and pat her, or pick her up... and I am a lot less anxious, knowing that she is sleeping right next to me, so that also helps me sleep better.

Ok, now I will do personals for the last day... any more than that and I will never be able to keep up! LOL

Carley - I hope you manage to get some good sleep soon hon. Ikwym about being hormonal... I have been up and down and all over the place this week too. Glad to hear that Lysander is doing great
I have tried giving Eva a dummy, but she actually doesn't like it very much at all (and have tried different types!). She will actually take it about one in every 10 times.

Jacki - great news that the lump is nothing too serious. I hope the AB's clear it up asap!
Do let me know what the LC says about expressing after a feed from one breast? As my expressing and feeding is all over the place at the moment.. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right!

Prama - good luck with the BF hon. It sounds like you are doing SO well! Its really hard to persevere with it when there are so many difficulties, so I applaud you! I hope your supply picks up really soon too. Can I ask what type of pump are you using?
Its so tiring to have them on the breast for hours isn't it... Eva wants to stay attached to me for usually up to an hour, which then makes my nipples sore again!

Ok, sorry, thats all the personals I can manage for now... Eva needs to feed, and if I don't post this now, then I never will!

Hope everyone gets some sleep tonight!