Babies Born July 2006

[Fee]

After a tough day yesterday it was a good night. I am thankful for that – Cooper is great at night. At least he has his day and night sorted. Yesterday he just wanted to feed, feed, feed. I felt like I was permanently stuck to the couch! But then last night he fed at 10.00 pm, 3.00 am and 6.30 am. And he settles down in his cot immediately after the feed. I wonder why it's different during the day?! I'd love to understand it! I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt.

After his 6.30 am feed he went straight down in his cot and then woke up 4 hours later on the dot for his 10.30 am feed. He then fed for 35 minutes! Much better than his 5-10 minute efforts of the last couple of days.

Unfortunately he grizzled and didn't want to sleep after that. He then had an hour sleep around 1.30 pm and woke up at 2.30 pm for his next feed. He is now sleeping soundly – yay! Hopefully he stays asleep until 6.30 pm.

Mark is picking up our Baby Bjorn carrier tonight. Hopefully we like using it. I think it will be handy for when Cooper won't settle. Then I can carry him around the house in it and still do other things. We are going to test it out tomorrow when we go grocery shopping. I haven't wanted to take the pram to Coles. I really miss grocery shopping with Mark!

[Fee]

Tulip – Sorry to hear about Lucas. I hope everything is okay when you take him to the doctors.

Baby~amore – You and your DH are doing a great with the boys. It must be such hard work. I definitely admire anyone with twin babies as it seems so tough with just one baby!

Baiza – Glad to hear it's working well with the bottle feeding. The only thing that seems like a pain to me is all the sterilising. Otherwise it sounds quite easy!

[boybump]

Yay for the morning!!
Ben and I got back on the boob at 7.30 this morning. What a relief! He slept really well and I struggled to pump som milk. At 2am I had success with my left boob, but none with my right. Got to sleep at 3 ,was woken at 4 by Ben for last bottle. Had another go with the pump and found if I ignored the instructions on the box and did my own thing I got a reasonable amount. I will persevere with it as I have no idea what is going to happen re the kidney thing and if I have to go to hosp again it will be handy to have a supply for Ben - but if not I know the formula is there too.
Baiza That is such good news about Bailee's weight gain. I will see the community health nurse next week - I am guessing Ben may be about 5 kilos...not sure!
Fraser Isn't great when you get a reasonable nights sleep? Ben usually goes for about 3 or 4 hours at a stretch - so if I go to bed early I can sometimes get 8 to 10 hrs which helps me feel like a member of the human race in the morning!
Fee I hope Cooper is a bit more settled for you today.
Have a good day everyone!

[Bubseykel]

Cle - yes I have an Avent Isis pump and I must be the pumping Queen as I have to pump for every one of Danielle's feeds. Which seal are you having trouble with? The one around your boob or the one in the actual pump? Here are answers to all. With the seal around your boob - I noticed that I need to press the pump surround quite hard into my boob to get a good seal around my boob. I have also found that sometimes the little White Round Valve may come down and not sit up against the Pump Funnel -just make sure that's sitting in the hole properly. Also - If the Silicone Diaphragm and Stem has a little water or air under the seal it will not suck properly - just make sure it's all dry and you've pushed any air out from under the seal. It helps if you hold the top of the funnel against your boob with one hand and pump with the other. If you see a good stream coming out it seems to help if you just keep the pump pressured and let the milk stream out instead of keep pumping. Once the top is full undo the pressure and take your boob out and let it run into the bottle. I hope this helps you. I has trouble expressing to start with. I only got a little out at a time to start with but after a while I started to get quite a bit out. I never had enough for a full feed for Danielle as I don't seem to have enough milk but keep going with it as practise makes perfect.

Baiza - yay for Bailee!! Sounds like he's doing great!!

Em - good for Charlie having 7 hours sleep. Danielle only went for 4 hours last night from 9pm to 1am. She wouldn't settle last night very easily. Then every 3 hours. I'm going to try and feed her earlier today and see what happens. She alwasy seems to wake at 1am whenever I put her down. But I still wake up before her and startle myself as she hasn't woken yet and I can't get back to sleep! Breatfeeding vs bottle feeding - I find bottle feeding a whole heap quicker - about 20 minutes vs 45mins to an hour for me but you have to clean the bottles, sterilize the bottles, make the bottle, heat them up, make sure they aren't too hot afterwards so there is quite a bit of work involved and it's probably takes the same amount of time if you breastfeed or bottle feed. I just find Danielle takes to the bottle better. I also have the added bit of expressing so that takes 20 mins too!

Fee - Danielle has those feeds every afternoon. It usually starts from 4pm and every hour she wants something but only takes about 60mls when she usually takes 120mls every 3 hours. They are such a pain during that time but if that's what they want that's what they get. I hope he settles down again. Maybe it is a growth spurt.

Baby Poo Question - has anyone had their little one do a hard poo yet? Or is everyone still getting that soft mustard poo? Don't know if I should be concerned or not but Danielle was very windy in the rear yesterday and didn't do her normal poo until 5pm just before her bath. When I took her nappy off I noticed a harder piece of poo than normal in her nappy. Is this normal or is it a sign that the formula is clogging her up? I'm going to ask the nurse on Friday but any advice would be great.

I'm getting a bit concerned - my boobs seem to be drying up. I was upset to start with that I couldn't breastfeed Danielle and she's only 5 weeks only and my boobs are drying up and I won't be able to give her expressed milk anymore. Does anyone know how to increase the milk flow again? I'm trying more frequent expressings but it doesn't seems to help.

I better go - we are off for lunch today at my aunty's new house. She's just like another Mum/friend to me. I love her to death.

Hope everyone has a great day!

[Cassie]

Hi girls

Dylan had a visit to the MCHM today and we also got a letter inviting us to our parents group starting next Monday which will be good, although the nurse today told us we wouldn't be going until he was 6-8 weeks old and he will only be four weeks old but I am going I have been looking forward to the parents group. Anyway Dylan has grown three centimeteres and is 54.5cm, weighs 9pd 1oz which is past his birth weight which was 8pd 10oz and his head is now 38 cm and was at birth 37cm, what a little fatty! I have been told not to keep any of his 000 clothes for Sunday best as he will be out of them soon, how sad cos I have sooooo many 000 clothes and in fact he is still fitting a couple of his 0000 clothes but has grown out of two of his 0000 grosuits. We have laos been told he is very alert and advanced for his age, well we knew that. He is holding his head up already and looked straight towards the music when the nurse put it on as I was dressing him. We are very proud parents. Oooooh and he is sooo cute too.

Boybump I have the Avent Isis Manual pump and find it works very well for me, you just need to make sure that you put it together properly as per the instructions it comes with as I have put the seal in incorrectly before and it doesn't work when this isn't in properly. I usually lean forward when doing it and it looks as though it is pushing my breast in but this works the best. I do 5-6 quick pumps with it to start with to form a seal and then when I have doen this I alternate between slow pumps and quick pumps. This seems to work for me. You need to be seeing your breast/nipple being sucked into the petals and if this is happening you have a good seal and it should work. Also sometimes for me lots comes out and then not much and then lots in one session, I think this is natural. Be patient and it should work for you. I hope this helps but if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask.

Fee Sometimes Dylan does that frantic clawing thing at my boob too I am sure it is normal. He does that milk drunk/trance thing also. And he sometimes has been feeding every two hours and then overnight it can be four or five I can't keep up with him.

[Fee]

Bubseykel - How do you tell if your milk is drying up?

[Baby~amore`]

Kel -you best bet is to ring ABA - or ask Fiona (BBmember & ABA counsellor) - or ECN -try drinking more water, having Danielle nearby when you pump (for letdown) and also you can get medication to increase supply too. You are doing so well to perservere - and a wonderful job so don't give up.

welcome Roya and Sarina - my boys love the hugabub too - sanity saver !

[*Efjay*]

I'm getting a bit concerned - my boobs seem to be drying up. I was upset to start with that I couldn't breastfeed Danielle and she's only 5 weeks only and my boobs are drying up and I won't be able to give her expressed milk anymore. Does anyone know how to increase the milk flow again? I'm trying more frequent expressings but it doesn't seems to help.

The best thing you can do is too increase your expressing sessions. I know you say it doesn't seem to be helping but honestly just keep doing it. Even if you only pump for a few minutes at a go. you don't need to sit there with the pump attached all day. Do your normal pumping sessions & then add some more into them inbetween. You may like to try & do a "top up" pump about 1/2 an hour after you finish.
You may even like to look into the different natural remedies available to help increase your milk supply. Fenugreek tablets taken at 3 tabs 3 to 4 times a day helps some mothers. You need to take alot for them to work. BUt you should notice a difference with in 48 hours. If you look on the ABA website & search for GALACTAGOGUES in the breatfeeding information pages you will find some info on other prescription drugs available to help with milk production. One of the is maxalon. If you go to your GP with a print out of the info from the ABA website he should give you a scrpit for it.
Breastfeeding works on supply = demand, so the more milk you can take the more you will make. Also around 3 tp 6 weeks is when many mothers feel that their supply is dropping because they no longer feel "full" but often it is just because your breasts have gotten use to their new job & have settled down to making just what is needed. Also in the early days of bfing your breasts are also "fuller" feeling because of the increase in blood flow to lthem also. This also settles down giving you that empty feeling.
Rememeber lots of stimulation is the key.
HTH's

[RoyaUK]

Hi,

I've just discovered this thread and am relieved to read that some of you are going through the same learning experience as I am!

Quick introduction : I gave birth to our new baby daughter, Sarina, on 7 July 2006 so she's 4.5 weeks old and every day is different with her! She had a tough entry into the world - being induced, having a 14 hour difficult labour and then emergency caesarean.

Yesterday, she was screaming on and off and I couldn't work out why. It would happen from a resting state or whilst she was dozing then suddenly a piercing scream would happen.

But today, she's been happy, relaxed and not struggled too hard to get to sleep.

I tried the hug-a-bub with her for the first time today and she fell asleep within 5 mins!

I've not really been doing a strict routine with her just feeding and playing and sleeping when she wants but was thinking of starting nightly baths with DH tonight.

What sort of routine did you have at 4.5 weeks - what worked best for you?

[Fraser]

welcome Roya - our routine is that we don't have a routine...... well we sort of do, but Charlie decides what he wants to do - at night we have a late evening feed (9pm or 10pm) and then an early morning feed (1am or 2am) and then morning feed (5am or 6am) - he doesn't vary much from those times for feeds - but the amount of time taken to settle him varies every night, sometimes only 10 minutes, sometimes hours. During the day he varies between 2 hour and 4 hour feeds depending on how settled he was the night before. So I guess that is a routine to a degree!

Bubs - I was a bit worried my milk was drying up my BBs seem very floppy and I don't seem to lactate everywhere before a feed anymore - but I think Charlie has had a growth spurt - he still seems to be getting milk, I know this because when I give a squeezy cuddle and kiss some milk oozes out of him..... perhaps I shouldn't squeeze so hard...

Fee - cute pic of Cooper in your ticker! he's so sweet looking!

Flooring is in, shelving is in - roofers just have to do final work around skylights and then we're finished - yaaaayyyyy - we can move furniture in on the weekend and that means we get the study back and perhaps we can live in a normal house again - without so much dust!

fingers crossed everyone has a good night tonight!

Em

[boybump]

Thanks for the pump advice everyone. I will try it all.
Bubs - The breastfeeding association has a website which has heaps of useful info on it as well as contact numbers for counsellors in each state.
Ben is still constipated from his day on formula yesterday - poor little chook is very windy and in a fair bit of pain from time to time.His last bowel movement was yesterday at 11am.He is only producing tiny skid marks every few hours now. I am hoping being back on the breast milk will help move it through as he is usually extremely regular (with very soft wet poos sometimes twice a feed). I do have some cooled boiled water in the fridge but Im not sure if I should give it to him .
Welcome Roya - I think the rule is there are no rules with newborns! Just go with the flow and relax and bubs will let you know what to do!

[Bubseykel]

FionaJill - I started taking Fenugreek tablets yesterday and drinking heaps of water and seeing a slight improvement already. I'm managing to get 60mls per over night session (every 3-4 hours) instead of 20-40mls. She's just taking so much - this morning she wanted 180mls so I gave her the 60mls I had and had to give her 120mls of formula. I would rather swap it to the other way around. I found that a bit of massage helped. I'm going to stick with the naturals for a few days and see what happens. If I don't get any joy I'll make an appointment with the doctor (I'm going next week anyway for my 6 week checkup). Thanks for you advice Fiona and to Trish and Cle.

Cle - I think Danielle might be a bit constipated too. That's another reason I want to give her more breast milk. She's grizzly and windy and I haven't seen a decent poo since late Tuesday night. Hopefully there's one for me now.

Hi Roya - we don't have a routine. Once I think we've got one she changes it on me. The only one we really have is at night where I bath her around 5ish and feed her almost continuously (well it feels like it - every hour) until 8-9 then she goes to bed and hopefully stays there.

Cassie - Dylan is going great guns!! You must be very proud of him. For some reason everyone bought Danielle 00's so she's got heaps of clothes to grow into but she's got enough 000's to last - Mum (me) can't help buying things!!

Fee - I'm very upset with myself that it looks like drying up. I was very hard on myself that after breastfeeding her heaps that she wasn't getting enough and I had to express and now that I don't seems to get much out expressing either, I'm being very hard on myself again. I was very up beat and bubbly about everything - now I feel so upset and a bit depressed because of it all. Most of the ladies in my family had the problem so I knew I have it too but I so wanted to do it the right way but I can't. I'm trying to look on the bright side that at least she's getting enough now and growing but I still feel bad that I have to give her formula.

I have to go - she's grizzly again. I'll try and check back in later.

[Baby~amore`]

Kel - remember you are doing a great job and it is good your supply has improved, around 5-6 wks babies have a growth spurt too.So they demand more. Don't be upset -be proud of yourself. It doesn't matter she is getting some formula as you are giving her BM too.She is doing fine.

Thanks Fiona- I was trying to remember what those medicatiosn/Fenugreek were.

Fraser - great your renos are nearing the finish line.

Cassie - Dylan is doing well ... I agree don't save any clothes for best - they grow so quickly at this stage.

We don't have a routine either - they cry we change / feed / cuddle / play / hugabub (not necessarily in that order) and then they go back down ... and it starts again LOL. I don't know where the hours in day go.

[*Efjay*]

FionaJill - I started taking Fenugreek tablets yesterday and drinking heaps of water and seeing a slight improvement already.

ABA recomends that you just drink to thirst. It has been shown that drinking too much can also have a bad effect on your milk supply. Personally I think its one of those things that would be different for everyone, but don't force your self to drink more then a normal healthy amount.

[boybump]

Good morning all,
Ben had some huge sleeps yesterday - from 11 -til 4pm yesterday and then last night from 9.30 til 3.30am. It will be nice if he decides to keep it up but I have a feeling its just a one off!

Bubs Try not to be too hard on yourself darl, know that you are doing the best you can. Being stressed and worrying won't help your milk supply either so try and relax ( I know it's easier said than done!). FionaJill's advice about increasing your expressing times sounds like a good idea. I hope you have a better day today and little Danielle has a poo soon - Ben has gone back to regularly filling his nappy to the brim. Seems to have developed a liking for his dummy too.
Have a good day everyone

[Bubseykel]

FionaJill - I'm drinking more than I normally would as I ignore my thirst. I normally only drink 2 glasses a day but I do find myself more thirsty and just ignore it. We'll keep with it and see what happens.

Cle - Danielle had a poo this morning!! I'm so happy (it's funny to be happy when you see poo!). I have Danielle her dummy yesterday afternoon and she took it for about 10 mins and after that she spat it out. I tried it again last night when we were trying to eat dinner but she didn't take it at all. He had some good sleeps yesterday. Danielle had one when we went to the bank in her baby carrier and in the car. She's awake now but quietly playing (tummy time) on her play mat.

Trish - thanks for your kind words but I still feel upset. DH can see somethings wrong with me but I can't tell him. He's normally very understanding and I'm sure he'll be about this too but I know if I start to tell him I'll burst into tears like I am now. Luckily you can see me!!

[*Efjay*]

FionaJill - I'm drinking more than I normally would as I ignore my thirst. I normally only drink 2 glasses a day but I do find myself more thirsty and just ignore it. We'll keep with it and see what happens.

I am the same. I don't drink any where the amount of fluids I should.
All I mean though is there is no need to exceed the recomended 8 glasses a day.

[Boisey]

Hey Gorgeous Girls!

Kel- Big to you sweetheart! Man this motherhood thing is such an emotional roller coaster ride...I had a few issues with my breat milk drying up and my lactation nurse said...'express, express, express' so about 30mins after each feed..I express on the same breast I fed on and that really worked for me, plus I drink hepas of water....I now wake up with massive hooters every morning!Just know that we are all here for you Kel....and Im thinking of you babe! Have a chat to DH tonight ...Im sure it will make you feel better!

Roya- welcome! This is a great group of girls...Im sure you get alot about of it!

Em- hi sweet! Glad that those renos are almost done! I hope at the very least that the tradies are cute and that they massge your feet!

Cle- glad to hear that thinks are getting better!

Trish- your amazing...I often wonder how on earth I would manage with twins ...when Jensen seems to more than I can handle at times!! You must be so organised! Do you get much sleep?

Cass- how are ya honey? Hows things with DH? Is he still at home?

Things for us are great! Jensen is feeding well...and is settling a bit easier now at night...Ive been giving him a few drops of wind tonic at night and that seems to really help...plus I burp him alot more too...so when hes happy Im happy!

Quick question....Ive been washing all of Jensens clothes in Lux flakes which cost about $7.50 for a small box...b/c I was told that I shouldnt use normal laundry powder...what are you guys using??

love Cyn