Babies Born May 2006 #4

[Kellee]

Yep, BURN THOSE BOOKS Ange. They just make you feel like there must be people out there who are 'SuperMums'. If you ever think you know anyone who seems like that, THEY MUST BE VERY GOOD ACTORS. No one knows it all, babies make sure of that. Just when you THINK you know what you're doing they go and change the rules as if to say, "See, you're not perfect after all. Ha ha." I promise it will all get better soon and that black cloud will lift. We'll be here for you in the meantime.

Don't worry Vic, when DH has rehearsals I take the boys and stay at Mum and Dad's so I don't have to put them both to bed on my own, so you are CERTAINLY not cheating!

Bloody hospitals, Jess - why can't you just demand feed him at home? As if someone in the hospital is going to do it better than his own mum... gggrr... I hope he's home really soon.

Took Charlie to the zoo for the first time today and now we're all stuffed! We had a great time though. Having some nice time with Toby on his own atm because DH took Charlie to get a DVD and some wine (for us, not for him!). He's been grinning away - I got my first 'proper' one yesterday and it was wonderful.

Anyway, the boys are home and I have dinner to cook. Hope you're all well and sorry to anyone I missed.

[Lea13]

Alison ~ I love Em smiling. Melts my heart every time. I can’t do enough to make him smile as well – I’m always asking for a grin LOL. Which hat – on the main page or on the second page?

Jess ~ I’m so sorry they’re playing around with you. I’m glad he’s doing better though and I hope you get him home soon!

Ange ~ Burn those books LOL. I haven’t looked at one since I started. And I’ve been really lucky to have community midwifes who are amazing. Em has been funny with his feeds as well and only gained 150g a week in the last 2 weeks. I’m going to have him weighed again tonight and I’m expecting a low weight gain because of his eratic feeds. Alison is right with the parenting helpline. They are a great source!

Vic ~ That so isn’t cheating!!! I don’t know how you do it with 4.

Kim ~ LOL @ having some one who doesn’t want you at the computer!!

Kellee ~ Congrats on getting your first ‘real’ smile – you must be thrilled.

Well I’ve had a pretty boring day today. I had a late one last night and so we slept in today. And then we’ve slowly got ready to go grocery shopping. So we’re just about to go now. Em is just finishing off a bottle and then a nappy change and we’re outta here. Will pop back in later!

[delta_blue]

Alison ~Which hat – on the main page or on the second page?

Sorry, I thought it was the same. OK, on the main page, third/last photo in the blue one piece suit and blue hat.

[Lea13]

It is just a basic Bonds one piece blue suit with the matching bonds hat. You can buy the hats seperately at Big W - over here they are only $3!!

[delta_blue]

Thanks Nat, I will look out for them.

[~Kim~]

Who's going to look after Em while you work Nat? Shame you had to go back so early (or am I being presumptive nad you want to?).

Kellee I love the zoo too! Great for little kids AND big kids. Can't wait til Darcy's a bit more alert to go. The smiling is cool. And even though I'm not that competitive shall we say, it's kinda gratifying that everyone else tries and tries to make them smile and then they just look at mummy and grin and laugh....

Not much doing this weekend. Went out for dinner last night and off to mums tonight. Darcy was so tired she slept until 8.45. We're definitley in a routine and if you stuff her around she gets a bit worn out.

Jess, hope Pat's home this weekend.

[Kellee]

Hello again all. Hope you’re having a lovely day with your bubbas. Bit quiet in here today…

Kim – hee hee hee… yes, it’s good when MUMMY gets the smiles. Hey, we’re the ones who put in the nine months of hard work and then had to go through labour. We deserve it! Did you have a nice time at dinner last night? Was it just you and DH? Hope you have a good time tonight at your mum’s.

Hey, who was it who asked about the one indispensable baby item that we have? Well, mine is decaffeinated coffee! I used to be a coffee addict before I became pg with Charlie, and I still would be, but I drink decaf as a placebo – it seems to help me feel more awake even though it’s not really doing anything. We’re coffee snobs here – we grind the beans ourselves and make it in espresso machines on the stove. Lucky DH gets to have the real deal, but if I have some we’ll never get any sleep!

I hate the weather here. When I decide that I’m going to laze around like an oaf and do nothing we have a drought and as soon as I make up my mind to exercise like a demon and lose this weight it rains! Not that I’m not appreciative of the rain, but you know what I mean. Luckily we missed the rain on our walk this morning but I bet it will rain for the next 11 weeks and I won’t be able to fit into my bridesmaid’s dress! We were supposed to go to the Roma St Parklands for a family reunion today (MIL’s extended family) but they had to cancel it because of the rain unfortunately. It would have been nice to show Toby off and Charlie would have had such a great time, but I’m sure it will be rescheduled. We went over to MIL’s for lunch anyway, which was nice, and she didn’t do anything with Charlie that annoyed me either which was a bonus! We’re going to try and take it easy for the next week as it’s DH’s last week of holidays. I’ve got my six week check up on Tuesday and Charlie will have his (belated) 18 month jabs. I’ve got a rehearsal on Friday and gig on Saturday night, then DH is having one of his pieces performed by a latin band in the Spiegeltent as part of the Brisbane Festival and then his holidays are over! So I suppose it’s fairly busy after all despite our best intentions. I’ll miss him when he goes back.

Toby had a shocker last night – he woke up around 12 with terrible wind pain, we settled him for half an hour, then he slept another hour and was in pain again. We didn’t think it was fair for him to have to go through the pain on his own so we popped him in with us but he was so restless for the whole night that none of us got any sleep anyway. The poor little guy. He self-settles so well when he’s not in pain – I wish that there was something we could do to help him. I have been avoiding green veggies (a couple of bad nights happened to be nights that I ate quite a few of them) and all the usual stuff, and we give him Infant’s Friend regularly, which has some effect, but for the most part all we can do is rock him on our knees, with him lying on his tummy, until it passes. I’m sure he’ll grow out of it – it’s not the lack of sleep that I mind so much, it’s that there’s not much I can do for him. Toby’s really started to develop a personality over the last few days and we’ve been getting heaps of smiles and some fabulous happy noises. I forgot how cute this stage was! He’s outgrown his 000 Bonds suits too because he’s quite long (his dad is 6”).

Gosh, sorry, I’m really rambling today! Sorry about that. I won’t be offended if you didn’t read the whole thing! Just passing the time on the downstairs computer until one of my three loads of washing finishes. Better get back to it – hope you all have a lovely weekend.

[Baby_Crazy05]

Can someone remind me what sleep is? I missed out on most of mine last night. Not happy!

Took us until 11:30 to get Jovi to have her last bottle then she decided that she was too sore and had tummy pains to go to sleep. I chucked a major wobbily after her screaming for half an hour, getting her to sleep and putting her in her bed only to have her wake up screaming straight away again. Had to palm her straight off to DH before I lost it.

Ended up dragging the spare mattress to the loungeroom, got her to sleep there and just lied her down with me gently and hugged her. She woke me up a few more times during the night and we got up at 7:30. I think I got about 2-3 hours sleep ... grrrr ...

She's been a little whingy today, not as bad, but this teething business is hopeless!

We took her to the Dr's this morning as I thought she's been a bit more snuffly that usual and couldn't tell if she was just wheezy in the nose or also in the chest. She's fine ...

The Dr reckoned we should give her anything for her teething! OMG! I would die if we didn't give her panodol when she gets really bad ... will be good when she's old enough to have bonjella etc.

Not long till I go back to work FULLTIME ... back on the 1st August. Lots of petty crap going on there at the moment apparently between some of the so called senior members and the ones that actual do the work down in the lower rungs. From what I hear it basically boils down to harrassment. They better be prepared for a sleep deprived mother who has more things to worry about ... I might be venting on here a bit soon. LOL

[delta_blue]

Can someone recommend anything for constipation in babies? Cooper is doing a poo only every 2 or 3 days and when he does it is hard. He screams in pain when he is trying to go, and cant always go. I feel so sad for him. I dont know what to give him or if there is even anything he can have.

[Lea13]

Alison ~ Apparently brown sugar in warm boiled water does the trick Alison. Also Vic suggested something a few pages back that you can buy from the chemist as well. I will try and find it for you and let you know what it is called.

Kim ~ I don't really want to go back to work but it will be nice for the extra money. Because I'm casual at this position I could only take 3 months off so to keep the job I need to go back. I really want to keep the job as I'm hoping to go back to studying next year rather then working full time. And it will be a good job to have whilst I study. Glad to hear that Darcy has settled into a routine. Em's shots really messed him about and he's still all over the place!

Kellee ~ Your new avatar looks great!!! And you are going to be fine for the wedding I promise!!! You'll look hot LOL!! I hope you enjoy DH's last week of holidays. I hope Toby gets over that pain soon. Its hard when you can't help them isn't it? I love the smiles and happy noises - they are just adorable!!

Beck ~ OMG @ going back full time so soon. How are you feeling about it? One of the girls in our mothers group went back to work a few days a week because she couldn't handle it at home. Damn about the bad night as well. The other day Em slept for 3 hrs in the day and then stayed awake for alot of the night - which was not fun LOL!!

I need a little advice ladies... Em has never been a big drinker or a fast one either... he barely has 720mls a day when according to the tin he should now be having 900mls. Should I be worried? I demand feed but I'm wondering whether I should try and set 4 hourly feeds and establish a routine with him? Is it too early for this? Any ides/suggestions... I'm going to get him weighed again tomorrow to see what his weight gain is like. I'm quite happy to go on the way we are I'm just a little worried thats all.

We had a great day today! I went shopping in the sales and got 4 new tops, a necklace and a Playskool Tummytime Gym for $80. And I finally got my new monitor!! The one I'm using now is a 17" flat screen that I borrowed - my new one is 19" and I got it nice and cheap too and well under my budget so I'm very excited lol. The only 'problem' as such is that all my stuff is black and this screen is silver...but I think its silver and black and the keyboard and mouse are silver and black so it may match in??? Now I just have to set it up!!!So you can guess what I'll de doing at some stage tonight!! Hmmm not much else to report. I'll go and try to find that name now Alison!

ETA ~ Alison they are called coloxyl drops and you apparently put them in their bottle. I can't remember if you are BF or FF... but Vic also said that the formula could be the reason for the constipation. HTH's!

[~shazz~]

Lea ~ definately get Em weighed and i'm sure that will put your mind at ease if he is not crying and totally unsettled then he must be taking what he needs
Alison ~ yep coloxyl drops my first 2 kids had to have them in every bottle just about s 26 played havox witht their little bowels hope it settles for you both soon
Beck ~ full time i don't know if i could pull that off with out a live in nanny atm good on you
Kellee ~ i to have a wedding in september maybe we can motivate each other ( i need some tuff love ) i wanted to lose 10-12 kgs 12 i would be over the moon

Kim ` Ryan is the same if you muck with his routine you certainly know about it .
well i'm off to bed i finished my ebay listings early tonight so i'm going to crash talk to you all later

[delta_blue]

Thanks Nat. You are sooo helpful I will look into them now.Oh, and I bought Cooper two of those cute hats today, a blue one and a white one. Havent seen it on him yet as I got him to sleep when I got home and he has been there since...waiting waiting waiting!!! I left him with Tony for 3 hours! And of course came home to one very tired baby who hadnt been to bed.Men!!!

[MUMMY4LIFE]

Hi Girls,
Wow so many posts to catch up on since my last post...please forgive me if I miss anyone.

Well I have had an eventful couple of days....firstly my DH injured himself at work, he has his arm in a sling so is pretty useless at the moment....although tonight he managed to make home made pizzas with one hand. He has to get clearance from the doctor before he can return to work. He says he can't wait to go back to work, God He CAN'T WAIT....nor can I (lol) Then last night I had Phoebe up at Emergency at the hospital. Her voice had become quite croaky and it sounded like she was coming down with something. She was really unsettled, would only sleep little cat naps and only in my arms...I would put her in her rocker and she would wake in minutes. Her feeding became quite erratic and she started to become frustrated and cry and then start to scream. By about 7.30pm I just didn't know what to do for her. She seemed to have a slight weeze and had a blueish tinge around her mouth. My DH stayed home with our son and I took off to the hospital. Half way there and not a house insight the car started die, it dropped from 100 to 80km/h in seconds...I couldn't believe it and of course I started to panic, I had left without my mobile, someone must have been watching over us as the car managed to get us there (thank god). Well I won't go into much detail, but Phoebe is fine now, no need for a stay in hospital. I have had a virus and unfortunately she has got it. I couldn't believe it, once we arrived at the hospital and the nurse started checking her over she was laying on the bed smiling, very happy and content. She was making a liar out of me.(LOL) The doctor said it was better to be safe than sorry, especially with all the viruses going around atm and having a baby so young it is better to have it checked out.

Lea ~ as long as Em is gaining weight don't panic too much. The table on the formula can is there as a guide only...babies will take as much as they want no matter how big or small. Em just might benefit from spacing his feeds to every 4 hours. I had to do that with Phoebe because she became fussy and unsettled when she didn't have a nice big feed. By the time the next feed came along (I was nice and full) she was hungry and would always be content and satisfied afterwards.

Scrappy ~ Phoebe is the same, she likes routine, a nice predictable pattern...makes her a much happier and content baby and I think that by her having a good daytime pattern, this is why she is such a good night time sleeper. (9-11 hrs staight)

Delta ~ unfortunately I can't recommend anything for you go give Cooper, but I found my son only go constipated when he went from BF to FF. When he was having trouble I would lay him on his back on his change table and rock his knees back and forth. Up to his chest and down again, and when he really began to push, I would push his knees towards his chest and hold them there. I have also heard, but never tried was massaging the pressure point on their feet. Rubbing and pushing your thumb into the arch part of their foot. There are too types of formula, I will get some more details and post it for everyone who doesn't know have a read....There is Whey dominant and Casin dominant formulas (i think that is how they are spelt) Casin dominant formula uses a heavier curd and so it takes longer to digest, I have also heard that it is good for larger weight gains (where needed), but increases constipation. The whey dominant formula (which is the one that I used for my son by Karicare) uses a lighter curd and doesn't sit as long in their little tummys and there is less chance of constipation with this one. Please don't quote me on this, I will get some more info.

Baby Crazy ~ When my son was teething, I was told by a doctor that he didn't believe that teething was painful for babies WTF??? My son would ALWAYS have a temperature, runny nose and runny poos when ever he was cutting a tooth and the doctor said that it was a virus, that teething doesn't cause symptoms like that. He doesn't have any children, so I don't think that he knows what he is talking about.

Kellee ~ good luck with your gig tonight....hope it goes well for you.

God I'm finally finished, did it all with one hand....I now have cramp. I bet a heap of posts from you guys will come up once I have put this one in seeing as it has taken so long for me to do.

Take care...enjoy the rest of the weekend. X

[Baby_Crazy05]

Alison - I agree about the brown sugar. You can either put it in water, or in milk (expressed or formula). Only a little is needed. Jovi was constipated once when I was bf'ing and I just expressed a little, mixed in a bit of brown sugar and a couple of hours later ... PRESTO! Infant's Friend (available at the chemist) is also really good for constipation (and teething and wind etc)

Lea - I'm actually looking forward to going back to work ... bit more contact with people I think (no matter how unpleasant it may be with a few of them!). I will certainly miss being with Jovi all the time, however at the most, I will only be away from her about 3.5 hours at a time and being in the public service we have flexible working hours. For the most part, she SHOULD be sleeping while I'm at work anyway. But at least I finish work at 4:30 and it's only a 5 minute drive home so I will still get lots of time with her. Plus we need the money! lol

Regarding worrying about if Em is getting enough ... just look at what Jovi has put on and she's usually drinking between 600-750mL a day. The tin is really a guideline. Em will tell you if he's hungry and wants more and as long as he continues to put on weight then he will be fine. Jovi generally has a feed every 3-4 hours and has been like this since I put her on the bottle. Sometimes I have to start feeding her when she's asleep, but if she doesn't stick to her schedule, then she puts us out, particularly late at night (when you might want to go to bed at 10:30 and if she goes too long between feeds we end up with a bottle closer to 12 ... no thanks!). He's certainly not too little to get into a feeding schedule.

Shazz - I have a live in nanny ... my DH! lol

Mummy - Yeah, the dr we saw today basically said the same thing about no pain ... ummm, well then why do they scream and cry about it! (wasn't our usual dr, just the one on call). Jovi has the ear pulling, rubbing eyes, lots of dribble, profuse chewing of hands and just generally unhappy and lots of screaming and crying when its bad. She decided that she would try chewing my finger tonight ... she liked it for about 3 seconds then changed her mind and screamed for half and hour ... not fun and the panodol is almost gone!

[Jodie259]

hi Girls... hope you're all having a great weekend.
I mentioned before that I had been selected by A current Affair for the story on sleepless babies - but I had to cancel as I was in hospital with Shaun. But they phoned me when we got out of hospital to see if I was still intersted in doing the story - of course I was !!!
So for the last two nights (and again tonight) we have had a night vision camera in our bedroom (because shaun sleeps in a basinette in our room). And Shaun has been putting on an acadamy award performance. How small do they make tuxedos??... as I'm sure he will get nominated for an oscar or at least a logie for best dramatic performance!!!

Has anyones kids discovered their hands lately? Shaun has been sucking on his fingers all the time. It looks like he's hungry... but he' not. He does it straight after feeds, in between feeds... it gets very confusing, as we confuse it for his hunger sign and heat up a bottle - then he's not interested in it. He's just found his fingers and thinks its fun to put them in his mouth.

Another thing we found indespensible was the bath seat that we put into the baby bath. It fits in & is moulded, so we don't have to hold him in the water. He sits in it, and uses his legs to push against the end of the bath and push himself up the seat (so cute). It leaves our hands free to wash his hair and play with him. Last night he discovered that if he kicks his legs really hard he can splash daddy with the bath water!

Went shopping at Kmart today, and the clothes are so cheap! I got lots of tops and a two pair of jeans - as I'm sick of wearing maternity pants (still) and I definately don't fit into my pre-pregnancy pants. I put on a LOT of weight with this pregnancy. It's a shame as I had lost quite a bit of weight prior to getting pregnant. Oh well, I'll just have to get back onto the weight loss wagon again and work my butt off. But I'm not too fussed, and hubby doesn't seem bothered either. I bought a boxing bag & gloves today (real cheap at Kmart). It was a small bag, and when I got home hubby said I should buy the big bag. I thought he would be annoyed that I bought it at all (yet another piece of gym equipment that will gather dust!).... so I was surprised that he suggested the bigger bag! I love boxing. And I have all the other bits of gym equipment I need.... better put them to use. Maybe next week....???

[delta_blue]

Thanks for all the replies about constipation. I am going to get either coloxyl or infants friend and give that a go. When I changed Coopers nappy during his feed tonight, I gave him some nappy free time and while I was waiting, I massaged his feet and tummy and he pooped. YAY!!! It was still hard but I felt relieved for him. He didnt strain or cry or anything, so that was a plus. Hopefully I will be able to give him some relief soon. They are so little and innocent, I hate not being able to help him.

Anyway, off to bed for some sleep...thanks again, the support and information here is fantastic. I knew I could count on you girls. hehe

[Lea13]

Alison ~ No probs sweety. I hope it helps. LOL about coming home to a tired baby! How did you feel leaving him for that long? DP has had Em for 3 or 4 hours as well and I normally cope fine. Though I remember one time just sitting and waiting for him to bring Em home (as he had gone out) and I was at the car door before he even stopped the car LOL. You will have to load up a pic with Cooper in his hat - I am terrible I have about 15 or so different hats LOL... Its so cold here atm so Em wears them all the time. I have ones to match all his different outfits LOL!

Jodie ~ Sounds like you had a great time in Kmart. The boxing gear sounds fabulous as well - someone is going to be exercising hard soon... LOL! That is great that you still get to do the story. I can't wait to watch it - it'll be fantastic LOL I can brag to all my friends hehe! More importantly you will get some help which I remember you saying that you wanted. You've got me thinking about the bath seat thing. Em is about to graduate into the big bath which is going to be painful on my back to hold him the whole time. Where did you get yours from and do you use it in a normal bath? Its sounds sooo much easier then holding him the whole time. I have a seat for when he is able to sit but not anything for now.

Mummy ~ I'm so sorry to hear about Phoebe being unwell - it is better to be safe then sorry re going to emergency though. EEEK @ your car - that would have freaked me out! I hope your DH gets better soon too the poor thing! Though his pizzas sound nice hehe! LOL @ TWOH (typing with one hand) - I for once have 2 as Em is asleep (Where I should be LOL)

Baby_Crazy05 ~ Glad to hear that the brown sugar and water worked for you! I almost didn't believe it when the midwife told me! It sounds as though you've got a great situation to go back to work in (despite the petty stuff going on!) and I'm sure DH will be a great SAHD!! The extra money will be great for me as well when I go back next Sunday.

Thanks so much for the advice guys. I think I'm just going to have him weighed regularly and try to structure his feeding a bit more and see how he goes. His night feed and morning feed work in really well with 4 hourly feeds during the day - but he's just not doing them so I will start trying this week and will possibly be a little MIA as I think he might be a bit put out at first! I might be joining the gym as well - depends on how much it costs and whether I'll be able to make enough visits to make it worth it. Its exciting though! I should be in bed... I'm just having so much fun staring at my new 19" monitor hehe - its so pretty LOL... hrmmmm I think its time for bed!! Night ladies!

[~Kim~]

Nat, Darcy's been on four hourly feeds since the word go. She always seems to get herself back on the right times. I feed her when she cries and that if she's happy to go longer, I don't worry too much. She always drinks all that I have.

Poor Pheobe! Hope she's sorted herself. She's usually so content isn't she?

Jodie, you'll have to let us know when it's on! Hope you wore nice jammies! LOL

Kellee, dinner was great and have the added bonus of being able to put Darcy in a cot at mums so able to relax myself (once I told the big boys off for being too noisy).

I'm a fan of coloxyl too. It's part of every nurses kit and it works a treat.

Speaking of pooing. Darcy has been (until this week) still doing 2-3 poos a day. All of a sudden she hasn't been and her farts absolutley reek. I mean worse than DH and that's saying something. Do you think I should be worried? She doesn't seem upset, her poos are still runny when she does them either once day or every couple of days. I know they do go down to one a day, but she was so regular and then it just stopped for a couple of days. It did sorta coinside with the food poisoning, but not really.

Who asked about hands? Darcy had discovered hers too and most stuff goes in her mouth. She even discovered that they can work to pick stuff up! Her newest discovery is her feet and she spends ages staring at her toes! Oh the wonder of exploration!