Babies Born March 2008

Trina - thanks hun! xoxox. you all make me feel better!
Wow on summer growing so big and yummy. lol.
Im going to get Lakshman weighed this Thurs. He hasnt been weighed in a couple of weeks so it will be good to know. I know he's heavier and taller now.
his cheeks are so round and yummy, i cant help kissing him every where.
Easter! I know in 3 years, we'll be heading off to the Easter Show! $$$$$

Shell - LOL, thanks! I have a mud mask on! Ive been meaning to do it for weeks but never did. Now seeing you doing it, i have no excuse. My breakouts are due to lack of sleep, i think.
Dr Wardena asked us if we had a paed, we said no, and he told the mw to contact Dr. Shanker. He's lovely. We see him on the 28th.
Im going to talk to him about bf-ing and using a dummy. since Lakshman is on the bottle, i dont think it's a problem to use a dummy. I just want to know when and how long.
I'm going to try out the Concord Yoga and Hills Yoga and see which is better. They both more or less the same distance, Concord a bit closer but i think harder to park.
If you're going there, it will be nice to have a friend!!

Yes, my boobs are down my knees!
I was getting down too.. i need to get some new clothes or dig out some old ones. My tops which looked so nice over my preggy belly now stretch over my wobbly gut... I just felt down cos nothing looks nice.
How to bf with a sweater??

Prama - have fun at the Easter show, that will be a nice day out :) Yeah my skin just made me feel yuck, so I feel much better after putting on a mask as well. It is a good feeling hey? Yeah I was very hesitant about introducing a dummy as well, but he just spat it out after a while, once he was off to sleep, so that is a good sign. But I just don't want it to become a habit.

Yeah for sure, I am definitely going to HIlls Yoga, that is where I did the powerbirth ;) I am really looking forward to doing it.... Hopefully it will help DJ unravel his little legs which are always rolled up haha

Yeah know what you mean, the girdle thing I am wearing helps keep my tummy in as well, but I only use it when I am out for the day..... But yeah it can be a bit annoying when choosing clothes to wear. All of my pre-pregnancy stuff is bagged up....

Sweater as in jumper??? haha yeah didn't think of that..... I just take my top off completely when I am breastfeeding at home, just easier. I didn't buy any of those breastfeeding tops figured I would just lift them up or pull down etc....

Anyway, I am getting tired, think I might get some shut eye before DJ wakes for his feed. Hubby said to wake him up for his feed, but I would prefer he woke himself up, like the LC said, just demand feed. He has had plenty today so I will leave it up to him when he is hungry even if it means I will be up at early hours of the morning, at least I am not setting an alarm to express my milk ;)

shell - hehe meant easter show in 3 years... when lakshman can remember it..it's so expensive tho.. im not ready to venture out into large crowds at the mo w a tiny bub..

sorry, meant jumper/sweater, esp in winter when there's so many layers of clothing..

typing w 1 hand.. expressing while dh is feeding him.....
talk more!!

oh, what's everyone's take on circumcision?

Danni don't listen to them they were probably older women huh? I had comments about being out of hossy so soon and being out and about, i asked them what i was meant to do stay in hossy and leave my kids alone at home and get themselves to school and that shut them up. Your gonna get comments about every aspect of parenting trust me!

Prama I'd have to take out a loan to go to the Easter Show with my lot..... So expensive, probably do it in a few years. I have no clothes either some days i feel good and others i feel huge, i am going back to the gym next week I called my trainer and am getting her to do a program for me just going to go really easy to get back into it.

Shell washing my hair is my thing that makes me feel great, my skin is soooo dry at the moment and my face has broken out a little i know it's because i am not washing it as much as usual it is the last thing on the list.

Paige and Tahnie have an easter hat parade on today, got the video cam ready, so cute!!!! So bloody tired all this running around is taking its toll, another soccer training tonight then nothing until next tue WOO HOO!!!!!! DH is home for the long weekend too so looking forward to that unless he is tired and grumpy which could be the case.....

Oh yeah Prama, re circumcision people have very strong views on this and can be quite aggressive but if i had a son i think i would get it done i haven't really looked into it as haven't had the need.

Prama, re circumsision: While I know it's not a common practice these days, I believe it's a personal decision for the parents. If we had a son we will have him circumsised. There are a few reasons for it, some are religious, some are cosmetic "I want my boy to look like his father" type of thing.
I personally think a circumsised penis looks much nicer, that's just me though.
Ultimately it's your decision and you can decide to tell or not tell who you want about it. Just make sure you have a supportive doctor if you decide to do it, and also do heaps of research particularly into how the procedure is carried out.

trina - yeah, so expensive not to mention the show bags! Steve said when he was a kid they were free as they were promo. how things have changed!
I should try to get to the gym as well to work in my abs.
so cute, easter hat parade!! will you post piccies?

danni - yeah, some ppl are so rude. they are so easy to judge, and htey dont know each person's circumstances.

yeah, i was thinking about circumcision. we'll take to his paed next week.
it's more hygenic as well.

Prama I never had my first son circumcised and don't plan to with Patrick. Never had any probs with cleanliness etc. Figure it's there for a reason but as other girls said it's a personal choice. :)

Just had our first post natal home visit. Jazz has gained 120g since her discharge on Sat, midwife is happy with that.

I asked about the cathider thing with me. mw took a urine sample just to rule out infection. She said that the sensitivity would definately be from bruising from pushing out the balloon.

I got some tips on cutting baby nails.
1. while bathing bub see if it's possible to gently peal the nail while its soft from the water.

2. put cornflour in your hand and scrape bubs nails through cornflour so it catches between finger and nail so its easier to see where to cut.

3. wait till bub in a deep sleep and laying still and carefully trim.

Hey girls,

Had a bad night last night with DJ, nothing I was doing was making him happy, and he was poo'ing like crazy haha At 6am I thought he was hungry because he was grizzly so took him out of bedroom to feed him but he just wouldn't take much of the breast so I thought I would give him a little formula to see if that works, but he didn't even take any of that either. Just have to make sure when he is grizzly at night it could be just him dreaming not that he is hungry arghhh the things you learn hey?? Daddy is feeding him at the moment, I expressed this morning, because my nipples were too sore, we gave in last night and gave him a dummy and since then he has been chomping on my nipples so they are really sore...... I will put him back on the breast for his next feed and then express again so there is a feed for early morning. I find it so hard to wake up walking around in a daze to feed him.....

Prama re: circumsision, i discussed this with Doni and he said not to get it done, but yeah don't listen to what others tell you. We also have friends that really judge you etc but at the end of the day you are the mum and you know what is best for your baby ;)

Trina - yeah washing my hair makes me feel great too. I just realised I haven't even showered today arghhhh Think I might head off for a nap and then have a shower to wake myself up.

Hope all is well with you all.

Shell xxxx

shell - how long do you feed on eavh side? do you always express after each feed?

i expressed earlier today, only got 20ml. tho my breasts felt so full.
i told dh & he said part of it could be psychological.. i was so upset...

My mum told me that if I'm feeling stressed that will affect bub and will also affect my milk supply. I asked the midwife about this and she said it's true. I've also done some reading and it seems that our state of mind and our physical wellbeing does have a direct effect on our milk supplies. I'm now really aware of how I'm feeling, especially while feeding and try to relax all my muscles while feeding so Jazz doesn't sense that I might be tense in order that she may feed well.

I also learned today the importance of eating right. Jazz had bad wind and really smelly diarreah today and was quite unsettled for most of the afternoon. Thankfully Matt came home from work "sick" (not physically, just mentally) so I asked him to take her for a while so I could try and snooze. I didn't get the amount of sleep I wanted, but I got maybe 15mins, helped a little.

Do you think it's possible for men to get a form of post natal depression?
Matt's really, really down at the moment. He has a history of getting quite depressed although it's never been diagnosed coz he's a typical male and wont go to a doctor. Thankfully though he made himself an appointment to see the doc tomorrow. I told him to talk to the doc about how he's feeling and that there is no shame if he's diagnosed as clinically depressed because then he can go on medication to help control it. I personally kind of hope this does happen because for most of our 3 and a bit year marriage he's been what I would call "depressed" and it's not nice to live with. Although, I know that if he's diagnosed that he'd not want me talking to others about it and he'll probably tell me off for doing this but I need someone to "listen" (read).

Once again, sorry for always making posts about me and not doing personals. I was hoping to spend some time reading about how you're all doing today but it just hasn't happened.

PS: To my sister who I know lurks to see how I'm going: Please don't mention this to anyone, Matt is quite proud and doesn't like people knowing really personal stuff like this.

morning girls

Danni, what a silly thing for those women to have said - are we meant to keep babies at home the whole time, i wish people like that wiuld keep thier comment to themselves!

Trina, i feel sad that noone has come to see Summer, thats awful and you are right it is their loose... stil not nice thou... i have been suprised at how few people have come over, most of my friend live the other side of melb so i guess they dont want the travel - makes you see wjo your rea friends are huh!
if we end up having loads of kids i am coming to you for lessons!!! you are amazing...

Well it is now 6pm and i started this post at 9am!

Prama - re the circumcision thing, it is a personal thing, DSS is not circumcised and was troubled with UTI's in his early life, because of this we had decided that if it was a boy, we would get him done. 2 weeks before Molly was born, we changed our mind. A couple of reasons really, it is not longer common practice and Australia and America are the countries that do it for cosmetic reasons as apposed to religious, DSS is not, DH is and by doing it to our son (if we have one) will create a difference between the two boys and i read quite a it about it and this stood out... we know now that the foreskin and the glans penis are fused at birth and meant to be. The foreskin only gradually separates. You cannot wash beneath a baby's foreskin and should not try. It may not be possible (or necessary or desirable) to wash beneath it until a little boy is four or five years old... it goes on a bit more but i thought that this was quite relevant you son doesnt need his foreskin stripped off to keep his penis clean anymore than he needs his nose slit to keep it clean
It is totally your decision and i think one that should be respected either way - i certainly will not force my opinion on you and i hope that you do not think that this is what i am doing by writing this, it is just that you asked and this is what helped with our decision.

DANNI to you again, re men getting a form of post natal depression, i believe that it is totaly possible, especially if Matt has been displaying signs for several years.
He probably is at quite a high risk ATM as he has just started a new job and this was a major change for him, coupled with the stress of having Jazz in Special Care and then bringing her home and having to adjust is enough to push many people over the edge. Hopefully he can have a chat with his GP - i dont always agree that medicating is the answer, rather seeing if the root of the cause can be found first and learning coping strategies, as even if he is medicated and hasn't done any of this, any time a stressor occurs in his life, he will be likely to rebound (also if he is a proud man, he may start to feel better and then decide that he no longer needs the meds, take himself off with or without your knowledge and then crash harder) I would suggest getting him to talk to a councilor or psychologist (not a psychiatrist) or see if there is a fathers support group for him to join... maybe if you think that he wont go to something like that, you could find a group and suggest that you both go, possibly on the pretence that you need to go.
The other thing, i am sure that you have done this, but talk to him and tell him that you have noticed a change in him and that you are worried about it, he may just need a good chat about his fears and concerns.
I hope this helps :) :hug:

Prama, i could never express any more than 20ml EVER, so it could just be that you either tense up or stress when you are expressing or are dodgy at expressing like me... hehehe but seriously some people can't express much. I had to have the baby right in front of me, lean to one side and try to relax and it just didn't work it must have looked ridiculous.

Shell ouch on the chomping, Summer does it sometimes but not too hard luckily. Hope you have a better night.

The easter hat parade was great, they both looked very cute, they did their hats mostly themselves so they were quite proud of that some of the mums look like they spent weeks on their kids hats and wouldn't let them touch them it was pretty funny. Paige won a raffle prize of a big choccy bunny, she was pretty pleased with herself.

I feel so sorry for poor little Summer, she gets so tired and grumpy some days from being moved around all over the place, lots of cuddles usually make her feel better. Just dropping off and picking up from school tomorrow so hopefully she will be happy having a day at home.

I feel so crap tonight slightly sore throat really bad headache on the verge of a migrane and my shoulders and neck are killing me, lifting the capsule around is taking it's toll on me, need to get a massage (yeah in my dreams)

Hope you all have a good night. xoxoxox

Prama - I can manage to get 60ml when I express but I have an electric breast pump. What kind of breast pump do you have? I highly recommend the Avent breastpump, far better than the other one I borrowed from a friend of ours. The Avent b/p takes me 15 mins to get 60ml. I decided to start expressing in advance for his early morning feeds where I am half asleep and now back to breastfeeding him. Just now, he fell asleep on the breast, and managed to do 10 mins on one side and 25 mins on the other side. So, just have to make sure I do more on the side he didn't take as much on next feed. And yes I have also read that if you aren't getting any milk out it is psychological, so you just need to relax and try not to stress. Maybe say or think of some affirmations while you are expressing or feeding him. That might help the milk flow. They say to visualise the baby when doing it and think of lots of milk flow or something to those lines haha I always squeeze my breasts in certain sections that feel the most full to get more out as well.

Danni - Matt has just gone through a huge change in his life, I don't think he would need medication, it is just an adjustment period. Every new dad will respond to a new baby differently. I agree with SJ, see if there is a fathers support group, it is probably what he needs so he can talk to other new dad's who are probably feeling the same way.

SJ - isn't it funny how long it can take to post these days especially with bub. I always take alot longer to post, compared to when I was pregnant. How is your scar going? I am going to peel off the steri strips tomorrow, ob said I could do it on the 7th day, and DJ is 1 week old tomorrow yipeeeee Hurts when I laugh, cough or sneeze arghhhh The UTI has calmed down a bit today as well, thank god. Just been drinking heaps of water.

Trina - it isn't too bad now, I told hubby not to give him the dummy unless we really need to.... I think that is why he was chomping. Found it far more comfortable in the feed tonight, so I think that helped... Awwww how cute on the easter hat parade and I bet Paige was smiling big time winning the choc bunny :) Have a nice day at home tomorrow, make sure you get some rest as well, especially if you feel like you are coming down with something, you are doing so much. Do you have a wheat bag, put that on your shoudlers and neck to give you some relief. Hope you feel better sweets.

Well girls, hope you all have a good night.

Shell xxx

thanks SJ - that info on circumcision was really helpful. dont feel like you were telling me what to decide, of cos not! i really appreciate what you said and that you took the trouble to research. xoxoxx
DH and my brother were both circumcised so it seems natural to me to go that way but of cos i dont understand the pros and cons of it, totally. i will do more research before i talk to the paed next week

trina - i thot you could express as much as bub gets out of you. (impression i got fr those LCs). he stays on for so long, almost an hr and still seems hungry and so it seems like there's not enough. and formula fills him up quickly. i'll try to ring the nice LC and see what she says. Feeding takes so long and its exhausting. i cant listen to what the other LC said and express/feed every 2 hrs.
hehe, your girls are sooooo cute xoxoxoxxo. it's great when they put the effort and feel a sense of accomplishment. they must be so proud of their work and themselves. and you too. Some mothers are so over the top.. what the point of making it for your kid and they cant enjoy it.. it's for show!!
hope you can have a nice hot bath and relax.

Shell - im using a medela mini electric pump. it's not bad. i try to be positive when im feeding him too, i dont think about not having enough milk tho i am tired. i dunno if that effects my milk. it's hard to be happy and chirpy, and yippie yai yay all the time. Bf-ing is exhausting. often im watching tv or talking to Lakshman or my mum so my mind is off not having enough.
maybe i have brought this upon myself.....
Bron - how are you??? where are you???? hope all is well. xoxoxo

Hi Girls,

We had our visit from the health nurse today and little jake has put on 260g in the first week (above average weight gain), grown 2.5cm and his head is another cm bigger :D

She said I am doing a perfect job and to continue with the expressing if that's working for me.

The GP also checked him over and he has a confirmed tounge tie, small mouth and he is also a "lazy" feeder. So for now we are expressing and bottle feeding as that works for us!

Cheers
Lisa

Prama - I was going to buy that one, and then ended up with the Avent one..... You need to get more rest Prama, that is what helps with your milk supply as well. Are you on that motilium? I have been on it for one day so far and I think that is what is helping my milk supply.... I haven't gone to get that fenugreek tabs yet, but was thinking of getting them to keep up the milk supply but I think the meds seem to be doing what I need.. I agree breastfeeding is very exhausting, but also good for losing weight, I have noticed my body is getting back into shape already.... Yeah I watch tv or have a cuppa while breastfeeding, with some nice comfy pillows behind me. I am finally getting used to it. Normally my back would be sore but I finally think I have found the niche. Don't put yourself down Prama, you are doing such a great job ;)

Lisa - that is great news that Jake has put on 260g. I mix up breastfeeding with expressing/bottle feeding - just easier and less time consuming as well ;)