Babies Born January 2008 #2

[Billy Ocean]

Hey Jess! We can come in here now. WOO HOO! I was waiting for you and Jen.

Hi everyone!

[QueenMab]

HUGS to MrsR, Mel & Sazz.... sounds like we all have our issues to deal with, mostly revolving around sleep... it's just sooooooo important isn't it, to us & bubs... everything seems to turn to cr@p when the sleeping isn't going well.

Does anyone here express?? DP bought me home a manual pump last night & I've had a couple of goes but haven't managed to get much of a result... apart from the morning being the best time, when should I do it?? Before or after a feed, how many times a day etc..?? I want to be able to express enough so that DP can give her a bottle a day as well as any 'top ups' she may need as they seem to help her sleep better...?? Any advice appreciated!

Had a bit of a crummy morning here compared with the last 2 days, Miss just didn't want to go down for a few hours but I shouldn't complain as she's asleep now & that's a big improvement to being awake ALL DAY.

April, Mother's group sounds too much like school or a lecture for my liking lol, I may consider it once we've moved, would be a good way to meet new peeps I guess, but really don't know if I'd enjoy it, glad you found it 'not too bad'

Welcome you two with new bubs, hope everything is going great!

[sazzafrazz]

oh Yay Jess. So glad your BF is going really well. It is lovely isnt it? Such a nice cosy feeling (apart from being painful, of course).

mrsr, poor you with the day sleeps. You get such back pain from carting them around on one shoulder or in one arm all day! Is Chris any good at back massages? I reckon he needs to learn now! Hope you get into the day clinic really soon so you can get your groove back.

QM, I used to express exclusively but now only to drain my boobs when they get lumpy. I think if you are wanting to just make up one bottle a day while you BF, just express whatever you have left after a feed. You dont want to do it before cause that takes away the watery foremilk. Just wait till you know bubs is really finished and take what is left. Sometimes I only get 40ml but if you did it every feed you will easily get one bottle per day. I just freeze it at present.

Celeste had a bad evening but the night was good. She FINALLY went down at 10.45 and didnt wake till 4am! She was mighty hungry though. And I was only up with her for 1.5hours which is pretty good for us! She only cried, not full on screaming too so that was good. And then she slept again till 10am. Yay. I felt great when I got up. Went and got the colic stuff this morning. The only kind she could have is Brauer as she is too young for anything else. It smells SOOOO sweet though. I wont want to give it when she has teeth coming! And I think it is too sweet for her little tastebuds too as most of the first dose went down her chin. hehe. Hope it works this arvo, takes a while to get into the system I think. Fingers crossed.

Wishing everyone good sleeps and just right feeds too!

[Mads]

Hi all. Addy is sleeping so will try a quick reply!

Mrsr, I went to the shopping centre I mentioned previously today and got the facts on the parents rooms. There is two more that I didnt know about (I had relied on others info to begin with) One has one toilet, 1 cubicle and three people queuing up for it! and the other is quite large (So 2 large and 2 small parents rooms altogether.) So I had to leave one and walk to the other end of tthe centre to use a bigger room. There has been a queue for the 1 toilet each time I have been in. So its not as bad as I thought, but room for improvement given how busy the centre is. Will pm the name to you.

Jess, I am still having success with breastfeeding, it sounds similar to me, what you are going through,Addy seemed to know what to do and latched on correctly- or we could pull her off and get her to latch correctly. I got a couple of small grazes- I think from when I was nursing in the middle of the night and didnt put her on properly. That all eased up very quickly, just persevere through the graze- I put lanolin on all the time as a kind of preventative and found it excellent for my nipples. Keep up the good work!

Mel, so sorry to hear of your mastitis! Flynn will be fine, his restlessness sounds like a lot of us!

QueenMab, I express infrequently. I want to more but get worried that Addy wont have enough to drink! I try to do it first thing after a shower when the warm water helps let down etc..

[Mads]

QueenMab, what pump did you get. I am curious which work best. I have the medela harmony. At first -like the first 3 times I manged only about 40 ml. Now I get closer to 100ml when I do it. They say express a little first before feeding only to relieve yourself. Otherwise only express after feeding. If anyone else had advice on technique, I too will be grateful!

[Billy Ocean]

Hi Ladies,

I'm b/f, expressing and formula feeding! They have told me to express early morning after a shower and also after each feed - for about 20 minutes or so. Swapping from side to side when the milk stops flowing. I have hired an electric pump, only because I have to do it so often - very low milk supply.

Hope that helps.

Kate

[s361768]

Hi Everyone,

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing with their new babies.

I am back to uni next week, but will still check in occasionally.

Francis is doing well, although I am having some issues with him BFeeding for a couple of mins then dozing off and waking between 10 to 30 min later for another feed. I hope this settles down.

I also have one boob that produces a lot more milk than the other so he is not feeding so well from this one and I am having to express it just so I can walk upright.

Karen

[mrsr]

I've got a Tommee Tippee manual pump which works quite well...I had used the Avent with James a million years ago and that was good too.

Got Jack weighed yesterday - my little howler monkey is weighing in at a hefty 6.035kg (now 5 weeks and 3 or so days old). I also had a chat to the kiddie nurse about his day sleeps and she said he's going to be like this until about 12 weeks and to do the controlled comforting IN HIS BED until he goes to sleep and then gradually wean him off having to do it over time. I need to get a chair beside the cot then!! He's asleep in his capsule right now...has been for an hour (hopefully will stay in there for another hour or so so I can get some stuff done around the house).

[hindonly]

Yay - Everyone from the Jan Due thread have now had their bubbies!! I just left a post in Jens bth announcement thread Wow she'll be just as thrilled as we all were

Not sure who started the chat about Mums Groups but they are really good & you make such good friends from there as well. I started one in my area when my girl was 12 mths and its still going now with loads of members! We always have a gr8 laugh & get out & about too. Really good so you dont feel to isolated after having bubs. And it introduces you to other mums in the area that you can catch up with for a coffee or whatever

I'm also doing a bit of boobie feeding & bottle & I dont know why but like Sazz my bub still only prefers the left boob!! Weird,lol.

Karen- good to hear from you! It will get a little hectic for you wont it with starting Uni and all. What are you studying if you dont mind my asking

Hope everyones' bub continue to sleep well & those that arent will soon!

BBL

[Mad Scientist]

Hi ladies!

Firstly, CONGRATULATIONS JESS!! I haven't been on here much because I've been concentrating on getting Amy to feed well so welcome to little Jaylen. He looks so cute!!

Congrats to Jen too! We've all finally had our babies Yay!!!!!!!

Update on the feeding. We found out that Amy is getting half a feed from one of my boo'bs but the other isn't producing nearly enough milk. So decision is to wean off the expressing (because it was doing my head in seeing as I had to do it after every feed), keep feeding her from my breasts while she can get it and hope that she maintains the supply. But I will always have to top her up because my left boo'b just isn't functioning properly. I have to say I'm so relieved that there is nothing wrong with Amy. We saw a speech therapist yesterday to check that she wasn't favouring turning her head to one side too much and that her suck is good. everything is normal which was a relief and she's only 60g off the weight that she should be now thank goodness. So all the work is paying off. We are continuing the herbal treatment which seems to be working finally and we're going to keep trying the breast and top up combo until next tuesday. Depending on how much weight she has gained will decide on whether we continue with the plan or admit defeat and go to full time formula. At least I can say I have really tried everything (even a supply line! I really hated that. She kept getting tangled in the tube and putting milk everywhere). So I am so happy now that we know what's going on and how to address it. I'm enjoying being a mum again now. She's growing so quickly!! She's looking more like a baby than a newborn now. I can't believe we'll have reached six weeks on Monday! it's been tough but so worth it!! Can't wait until she smiles at me. Has anyone else had a proper smile yet??

well, I better go have some lunch before Amy wakes up. I will try to be on here more often now that I'm back to my old self and not wallowing in depression. Luv ya xxx Nik and Amy

[_JeSs_]

yer jen will be so glad! she is deff coming in here as well!
i think Jaylens grown since yesti, some 0000 dont fit him lol, he needs the 000 for his feet, they r huge lol, oh well i have heeeeaps of 000 as well haha
thanks nik!

[Mads]

Hi everyone

Nik, thanks for keeping us updated on your bfeeding saga, you do sound much more positive now. What a relief to know that Amy has put on so much weight and is doing well from all your efforts. Whatever is decided next week, good luck you have done so well.

We havent had a proper smile yet- cant wait to be rewarded by a smile for all our efforts hey?? Glad to hear you are feeling better in yourself too.

Jess I have moved onto a couple of 000 for Addy this week. Some of them are still huge, but a lot of her 0000 are toosmall!

[JCE0810]

Im sad that our belly buddies thread has been closed. Until next time ladies ya'll come back now ya hear .

I'm exclusively expressing using a manual avent breast pump which works quite well, my nipples are a little sore but got some cream from the chemist today, i'm getting roughly 60mls from each side each time i express which Maz suggested doing 30mins before each feed and an hour after each feed to boost my milk supply.

Sophie is 3weeks old today OMG. Took her down to the health care nurse this morning and since i got her weighed 2 weeks ago shes put on 200g & shes put on 130g on top of her birth weight (3500g) and shes grown from 50cm at birth to 51.5cm and when we left the hospital she was 3320g so my BB juices are doing the trick. The lady suggested i go there weekly but i think i'll leave it and go fortnightly to get her checked over.

Im off to feed Sophie will be back later to read posts properly.

[_JeSs_]

just a question, when does everyone bath their babies, i have no idea when to bath him, ive read not to do it after a feed, b4 a feed, ah i have no idea lol

[Billy Ocean]

Hey girlies and bubs,

I miss our thread too, Jo. I even messaged Yael to ask if we could keep it. She said no...

Tiff, I'm in East Kew. Not too far. We'll definitely have to get out shopping. Jen too!

OK, today was cr*p. I haven't even been out of bed really. I got up, fed Billy and then he wouldn't settle. So, I finally got him to go down and went back to bed - with him on my chest. I got up again to feed him then went back to bed again and cried. I'm meant to be putting him on the breast, then giving him the formula, then expressing. Well, now that he's going on at every feed, it's hurting me to express. To add to that, I stored up a whole day's worth of expressed milk (as I was told to do) - it was only 90ml! I gave it to him to settle him down as I thought he was hungry and he had about 10ml and gave it the as*! What a waste. He woke at 5pm or so again and fed at 6pm. Now he's still awake!

The poor little thing was screaming during the day because his poo is so hard from the formula. I can get drops from the chemist, which I'll have to do tomorrow.

I can't keep all this up. I can't keep expressing. I feel disgusting doing it and I'm getting nothing. After medication and doing everything they say, still f*ck all is coming out. But if I stop doing that and he has 99% formula (apart from what he'll get if I put him on my bb at every feed) then he's going to constipated and god knows what else. I feel like a failure and feel like sh*t and I can't stop crying.

I put my anti depressants up after he was born but I feel WORSE! Maybe it's the milk producing drugs? Maybe it's bf? I just want to go to bed and stick my head under the doona and not come out. And then I feel terrible because I love him so much and it's not his fault. I'm not even angry at him, just with everything, and nothing.

To add to that, Billy's dad usually visits on a Tuesday and Thursday. Well, last weekend he told me that he probably couldn't come tonight as he was going to Sydney for work. I asked if he wanted to see him another day and he said he couldn't. Whatever. Then Tuesday he says he's probably not going but will let me know. So, I text him this morning and asked if he was going away. He says he's not but that he can't visit. He wouldn't say why so I called. Turns out it's more important for him to go out for dinner for Valentine's Day with his girlfriend than to visit his son! I mean, couldn't they have a later dinner? He leaves here at 6pm anyway! I was so furious and upset and EVERYTHING.

On a nice note, Billy (Mum ) bought me a bunch of red roses and a beautiful card for Valentine's Day. That was lovely.

I'm so rambling and I'm sorry for cr*pping on and on but I feel like sh*t and I can't even blame fatigue because I've been in bed all day.

I have to go to Geelong tomorrow for the day - getting my car serviced and visiting work. Can't really be bothered but it has to be done. So, I hope everyone has a good night and a good day tomorrow. Sorry again for all my complaining.

Love to you all.

Kate
x

[Billy Ocean]

ps. Jess, I've been bathing him in the morning - after I feed him and have a shower.

[sazzafrazz]

Hi mums and bubs!
Jess, I bathe Celeste late evening because that is when she is really, horribly unsettled usually and she loves a bath. I use a relaxing lavender baby bath and then do a massage after. She loves it and goes to sleep after a top up feed really well! I love watching her face when she realises she is in there and how great it feels... too cute.

Hawksey, We have had quite a few smiles here but they are fleeting! The dr tried telling me they were just a response, whatever that means but I know they were real cause she was looking right at me and cooing/talking to me at the time. Makes my heart melt

I have the Avent manual pump and love it. It is a million times better than the crappy ones they use in hospital which need two hands and you use like pulling on a trombone! They gave me terrible back ache but this is so easy to use. And I like the massage thingy that goes over the breast, much more gentle than just the tube type. When I was starting, before I had any milk at all, the midwife had me doing it for at least 10mins each side. Even though nothing came out at all for the first time or two. Just the stimulation is all that is required apparently. Each day though the supply doubled so she must have been right!

Nik, I used a supply line when we went back to hospital for BF help. It was awful, messy, tricky and at the time Celeste was screaming herself blue so I dont have fond memories of it either. So glad you are feeling better about the whole feeding thing. It is nice to see a resolution just around the corner, no more limbo... yay! Now you can just get on with enjoying your time together. Cant believe Amy is 6weeks already!!!!!

Joanne, it is so satisfying to know that bubs has been gaining weight isnt it? Makes you feel like you have been doing a good job. We are going weekly for weigh ins as Celeste is small and gaining just enough. Its to check while we get the feeding sorted out properly... who would have thought it would take this long????

Celeste had a weigh in today and she has finally cracked the 7lb mark!!! Hehehe she is nearly a month old and almost up to average birth weight!!!! She has gained 160g in 9days which isn't spectacular but is ok apparently. I think we have finally figured out what is going on with her feeding/colic dramas. My milk has increased so much since she is finally bf properly that she doesnt drain a boob before finishing a side, I was then burping her and giving the second side... she was only getting foremilk which explains the frothy atomic poos, and terrible wind and small weight gains. So now I just have to put her back on the same side till it is completely empty before starting the second side. Sounds simple, why didnt I figure that out? That should help slow the milk back down again as I am getting engorged now. It should take a few days or more to sort out and I am really, really looking forward to the end of the horrible screaming windy baby!!! I want my happy Celeste back!

[sazzafrazz]

Aww Kate, poor chicken!
It totally sucks that you feel so miserable. I can really understand it though with all the feeding and expressing after each feed plus mixing formula etc. I did the feeding/expressing thing for only 11 days and that was doing my head in so I can imagine how sick of it you are!!! It feels like that is all you get to do all day and clean and sterilise the pump too. It sucks. I so hope things improve for you quick hun. You deserve it!!!!
How nice of Billy to get you the Valentines gift!! He is such a thoughtful boy.
As for his Dad PFFFTTT! Sounds like a very selfish decision to me. I hope he works out his priorities soon.
Please feel better soon, it makes me worried to hear you are so upset!!! Hope tomorrow is a good day!