Babies Born November 2007 #2

So very tired. Jacob was awake every 2 hours last night. I think we might have more teeth coming through.

Willow - so happy that the scans came back ok :clap: although I wonder what he is doing with his feeds? Jacob has some days where he is a little fussy or easily distracted with his feeds, but then comes good again, so hopefully its something like that.

Twinsister - glad mine isn't the only poo monster then!

Suse - Jacob hates tummy time too, especially on the floor. I have found that he is much happier on his change table as I can crouch down and he can see me better. He still gets grouchy after a while, but not as quickly. I wouldn't worrry about head control. It sounds to me like he can do it, just doesn't want to do it one floor (probably nothing to sticky beak at down there!!)

Dragonbub - keep resting hun! LOL about giving up vices. I am trying not to change things too much but have dropped my coffee intake, only one a day for me!

Hoody - love the pic of the girls, they are so gorgeous. It makes it all worthwhile when you see those smiling faces doesn't it. Makes me think I should get organised and get a photo of Jacob on here too. Don't feel guilty about leaving them. Its funny they seem to know when you are out and need to get stuff done. Jacob did the same thing to DH when I went out shopping for some clothes the other day. Cracked a bit tantrum and wouldn't settle until I came home. Honestly don't worry too much about feeding in public. You will probably find most people wont' even notice and if they do just flash them a big smile :lol:

Hey Hoody - congrats on wedding anniversary! Well done girl. Don't stress too much about feeding in public. I do it all the time and just think am giving them a free peep show! LOL. DH says if he saw a women's boobies as she was breast feeding, he would not look, because he doesn't see it as a "sexual" thing, rather a nurturing thing, and therefore he respectfully looks away. Maybe take a really light muslim wrap, tuck part of it into your bra, and drape over bubs and your (.)(.) that way no-one will see, DH will be happy, and you can feed for as long as you like. Get DH to help too so you don't get too flustered. It is easier to get them latched on with no encumberances, but once they are on, you can drape the wrap over.

Hoody - Love the pic of the gals!

June78 - More teeth? You poor thing. My nephew cut his bottoms and then his tops in the same week. Oh well, hopefully after this lot he will have a bit of a break. Hope you have a better night and get a bit more sleep.

Willow - hope you are doing ok hun and are recovering from the nasty scans.

Hi to everyone else! Hope bubbas are growing strong and sleeping well (sure, and pigs are fed and ready to fly...)

As for us - rough week with foot and all, but getting better. The screaming has stopped so that is a good sign. I think he was getting over tired again, and I was missing sleep cues. Throw into the mix the teething, and you get a very unsettled baby. He is better now so fingers crossed!

Get this - my gf has the BEST baby in the world, and oneday she put her finger in his mouth and he bit her! That was it, bottom teeth done. I admit to being very jealous that he has been so perfect up to now, and teethed perfectly as well. Oh well, I shouldn't complain, but just felt like a whinge!!

Twinsis- its amazing how much they interact now isnt it as you say hitting their playgyms and talking to them all too cute.

June78- i really hope you have a better night than you did last night you must be knackered. I didnt realise how grown up Molly has got sleeping through for 5 hrs or so my gf had a baby last week and is feeding 1.5hrly - i dont miss that. I hope his teeth settle down soon.

Dragonbub- your friends baby may cope well at teething but trust me she will struggle with something that you and your DS sail with ease through jsut remember they are all diff and there is no such thing as a perfect human :) though i like to think i'm pretty close:rolleyes:

I cant believe so many bubs are teething already. My DD1 didnt cut her 1st tooth til she was 7 months so i'm not expecting molly to be much earlier either.

We had a poo-splosion in the car today omg i've never seen anything like it. It came out the top of her nappy at the back and was even in her hair. No exaggerating here either i have no idea she could keep that much inside. What a mess she need a bath the clothes had to be soaked and the capsule was a write off. I have had to pull it apart to wash all the lining etc so not an easy task- jsut hope i remeber how it all goes back together:pray: Well that all from me today we havent done much exciting :)

Just a quickie also to say hi to everyone. No teeth yet, just lots of drool, gnawing the leg off the chair, and two little teeth peering out but not game enough to show their faces just yet...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hey all!

Not much happening with us. Went to sleep school again today and DS was really good. Being there seeing other babies makes me realise just how good he is and how much worse it could be!! Was talking to one mum today whose 6 mo little boy only sleeps for 15-20 mins at a time and wakes every 1.5-2hrs overnight :wall: Man, that would be hard work!

Spoke to our paed yesterday and the scans are all normal, just have to keep an eye on his head circ measurements over the next few months. :dance:

Hoody - LOL at the poo-splosion!! We haven't had one that bad yet luckily. He kinda goes every day or two so no time for it to build up I guess! DS is drooling and shoving everything in his mouth but no sign of teeth yet. Think it'll be a month or two for us yet. Your girls are very cute!!

Dragonbub - couldn't agree more with Hoody about your friends bub, was going to say the same thing, they might cruise through the first lot of teething but something, somewhere along the way will go pear shaped, it alllllllways does! LOL.

June78 - teething isn't fun, but just remember, it'll pass!

Hello All,
Yeah Hoody and Willow - I agree about things going pear shaped eventually! I guess as they are both our first babies, and as hers is an angel, I get the impression she thinks I must be doing something wrong. She always gives me suggestions that she has already given me before, and although I try them, sometimes they don't work. Oh well, I guess there are aspects of "mummy wars" in every group of women?

Willow - I had Caden's head circ checked out also cos it is right at the top of normal. The Paed said not to worry as his fontanel is fine and there are no signs of pressure on his skull. My DH had a HUGE head at the same age - honestly, half of him was taken up by his head! I guess it is hereditary...

Hoody - LOL about the Poosplosion! Gosh, where do you start? You try not to get their hands in it (or hair :)) and then you try to mop up the overflow, then wipe their ( )( ), and then try to wrap up the nappy. I admit to having poo on my jeans, the couch, all over bub, the change table, everywhere except the roof :D

June78 - Hope you have had a better nights sleep lately?

Twinsis and Suse - Hope you are going well also.

DH is working today and tomo :( It seems we haven't spent that much time together lately. Again I am having a whinge, but still, it has been a hard week cos of the sore toe and everything, but DH has had extra work every day, even on his day off (Friday). I had to hobble into the docs to get my toe checked over all the while carrying Caden who was very unsettled and BTW did a big green poo in the docs as well. My toe is feeling much better now though so hopefully next week will be easier.

Have a great weekend ladies!

Dragonbub- sorry to hear your DH is having to work all weekend it sucks doesnt it. My DH is out today and i dont know when he will be home :( It sometimes feels like we never get to see eachother too. Glad the toe is going ok with a bit of luck in a few days it will be as good as new :)

Willow- Glad the paed confirmed your scans were all ok:lol: must be all his brains in there. My friends DS has a HUGE head to the point i call him Mr Potato Head (in a loving way of course) his looks proportionally wrong though and he is fine. Glad to hear sleep school went well too :)

Twinsis, June78 and Suse how are you all going?

Everyone else- are you still lurking with us?

Well we went to the City Muster yesterday and it was actually alot easier than i expected with 2 kids. Molly was sooooooooooo good i couldnt have asked for her to be any better she just fed and slept all day :clap: DD1 was good but very full on - she is a runner so i was constantly chasing her and bringing her back. We took chairs and picnic blanket and our own food and drinks etc so we were pretty organised. We sat up the back so we couldnt really see the stage but at least we could see the bigscreens. Molly had 2 feeds whilst we were there and i just sat cross legged on the grass to feed her. I did get a group of young men staring and carrying out like i was doing a strip show but they got over it pretty quick and lucky too cos DH was not impressed with them. Both girls must be worn out though as DD1 is still asleep and its 8.35am and Molly fed at 11.30 then 8 and is now back asleep. Must be all the fresh air they got. Well i hope you are all enjoying whats left of your weekends.

Well we almost have the second tooth through now and it looks like he will end up with fangs. Two canine teeth through! Poor little guy keeps knawing on his fist, if only he had the coordination to get the teething rings in his mouth and keep them there. He keeps hitting himself in the nose with them at the moment :doh:. He is a little grizzly, but has been pretty good. His sleeps seem to be getting a little better too, a couple of four hourly overnight and then maybe a two hourly. So still up a couple of times a night, but much better than every hour or so.

Not sure what is going on with his day sleeps now. He was just catnapping for a few weeks. Now he seems to be doing longer ones of about an 1.5hrs which is great, but over the weekend he seemed to only want to sleep twice a day. I gues if you add it up he is getting the same amount of sleep as he was before when he was having 3 or 4 catnaps. I keep wondering when a pattern will appear in his days. I will have a couple of fairly similar days but then it all changes again. Will just have to hang on for the ride I think.

Dragonbub - lol at the best baby in the world!! I had a little bit of that jealously myself this weekend. Was at a BBQ with five other babies all Jacobs age and they are all sleeping through. It normally doesn't get to me too much, because he seetles easily at night after a feed, but hearing all these others sleeping through made me a tad jealous. I hope your weekend went ok. It sucks not getting much time with DH, especially with the week you have had.

Hoody - I laughed at your poosplosion. We haven't had one quite like that yet! Jacob is still pooing a couple of times a days, so he doesn't give it a chance to build up too much. So glad to hear your day out went ok. I hope Sunday continued to be good for you, with both the girls worn out. :pray:

Willow - glad to hear sleep school is going well.

Hi Twinsis and Suse

Well quite a bit cooler here today. Saturday we had 40 degress, which knocked us around a bit, although it was nice to finally be able to get in the pool again. It was so much fun having Jacob in the pool. The first few times he was very serious and didn't move much, but over the weekend he went crazy, splashing and kicking around. God I love seeing things from his perspective when he experiences something new! We forget how things feel sometimes until you see the look on their face when they get to do something different like swim or grab for the leaves on a tree, or lean into the wind. Its pretty special really :D

Hoody - glad to hear your day went well. Lol about the young guys taking a peep. It is not the old men that you worry about, it is the teenagers that have never seen boobs before! A few hot days coming up :( Hope you stay cool.

June78 - canines huh? Def a little dracula on your hands. Day sleeps are tricky I think cos you never know if something is upsetting them, as they seem more irritable during the day. Sometimes Caden will sleep for 3 hours, sometimes just for 45 minutes. I agree, just when a pattern seems to be developing, it all changes.

Willow, Twinsis and Suse - Hope you are all going ok.

Anyone else I missed - Hope your week is good.

As for us - off down south again for a day trip tomorrow cos my big sis had a BABY GIRL! Yay! I am an aunty again. The poor darl had a 25 hour labour for her third bub, most of it without an epi. She is put off childbirth, but we shall wait and see if she gets clucky again :D

Have a great week all - WAers, stay cool!

June- I know what you mean about how special it is to watch your kids when they try something for the first time etc. Its amazing what we take for granted but for them to be discovering and learning almost consistently is pretty cool. I love to watch my DD1 when she tries new thing and experiences things she hasnt b4.

Dragonbub- Hope you enjoyed meeting your new niece how lovely for you and your DS to have a cousin so close in age

Willow, suse, twinsis- how are you all?

Well it got to 38 degrees here today so another stinking hot day. DD1 was at day care so Molly and i got to spend some one on one time together which was lovely and i was able to put her on the floor to play a bit more than usual and she rolled for me from tummy to back :clap: DD1 went back to tummy 1st though so i was surprised. She has been a little unsettled too today but i think its the heat along with the fact she's due for a poo, lol. I just hope its not as bad as last weeks effort. She has been camped out at my BB lots today but i dont mind as now i am off the Motilium i am paranoid my supply will drop too much again. I also had to take back the pump i'd hired so in my book i should just feed feed and feed some more just incase. I have bought a pump off ebay but still waiting for it to arrive :crossfingers: it will be here tomo or the next day. I do have an avent manual one but seem to have alot more luck on the electric. I have started a keep fit regime this week too so i dont want that to affect my supply. I am not on a diet as such but am watching what i eat- just cutting out the naughty stuff and replacing with fruit etc. I also have started walking around the block each night leaving the girls with DH. Its nice to feel like i am doing something for my self for a change and it a really good wind down to my days. I am going about 4km for now and will see about increasing in a week or two if i am still coping ok. For now i am full of enthusiasm. I am only 3kg heavier than my pre Molly weight but 12 above my pre DD1. In reality i was too skinny b4 DD1 so i would just like to lose 4-5kg and tone up so my winter clothes fit with ease not tight like they do now :p. Well hope you are all well would love to hear form you all :)

Sorry ladies need to vent. Since the weekend it has been taking me longer and longer to get Jacob down for his naps during the day. I am sure I am picking up his tired signs at the first one but this morning it took me 1.5hrs to get him to sleep. I have always rocked him to sleep but had been trying to get him down while he was awake which was starting to work a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I think going away and spending all that time with family he got really used to being carried around again, so its back to rocking. But honestly 1.5hrs?? I don't understand. I have tried picking him up when he is tired and putting him in his cot but that doesn't work. He will talk and a laugh in there for awhile but then cry and cry. I have had to feed him to sleep the last couple of days because it seems to be the only way to get him down. I don't mind feeding him to sleep but when he initially gets tired he isnt' ready for one, its usually only been an hour or max two since his last feed. Also he has started sucking on my top and writhing around when I try and get him to sleep (but doesn't do this to anyone else). I lost it yesterday! Spent the whole afternoon crying, but was able to call mum who came over and took him for a while. I feel bad for getting upset about this, especially as last night he was only up once and I should be celebrating that. He is down now though so I will see if I can get a little nap in, although he may wake up after 45 mins and not want to go to sleep again, or could sleep for 2 hours like Monday.

June78 - Hugs to you hun! You must be exhausted with 1.5 hours of rocking. It sounds to me (tho I am certainly no expert) that altho he is tired, he can't "switch off" unless you rock him. And even then, he might be needing space, but not really wanting it, and therefore altho he wants to be held, he can't really fall asleep unless he is on his own (frustrating!). My DS was the same for soooo long until we got some tips from Ngala (I can give you their number if you like). Tresellian may also be able to assist you over the phone.

With Caden, the idea was to look for tired signs, then hold him for a bit - I do this so he can see his bed. I talk to him quietly and cuddle him, telling him it is time for nigh nighs. Then I put him in and he used to cry but he doesn't anymore. I would sit there with him and settle him as best I could. You tick off all the things, eg not hungry, clean nappy, comfortable clothes, etc. So you KNOW he is just tired and that is why he is crying. Once he has settled, say "good night bub" and leave the room. Then if he starts up again, wait a little bit (try for 3-4 mins or so) and then go back in and settle him again. If he gets hysterical, or wont settle, by all means give him another cuddle. At Ngala, they showed me that altho Caden was going mental in his cot, he would stop as soon as I picked him up. Therefore he could control it, and could be taught to settle himself.

I know how hard it is, I still have to stop myself going in and picking him up some days when he is crying at the end of a sleep cycle. Nine times out of ten he will settle himself, and I would have sabotaged his efforts if I had gone in.

Def get some advice hun, there are some great services out there that can listen to what you're going through, and give you some tips that suit YOUR bub.

Hoody - I have a manual avent pump that I use for expressing. I express in the morning, which I give to bubs at nite, then I express at nite when DH gives him the bottle from the morning. I now am using this milk the next day with some baby cereal, or I freeze it (I have so much stored tho :)). It is great that you are feeding heaps, hopefully things are back on track for you now. Maybe express extra each day (you probably are doing this already) so that you have the extra supply, and the extra milk frozen for days when you would like to give her a top up.

As for us - I have had a sort of flu lately, and together with toe, am also feeling quite run down. I think this also affects my milk supply, cos yesterday at nite before bed I only expressed 180 ml instead of the expected 240 ml. I hadn't drunk much all day either as we drove 5 hours round trip to see my sis. Her baby is just GORGEOUS! She was so tiny and felt like a feather in my arms compared to my hubba bubba. It is amazing how fast they grow, isn't it? He still seems quite small to me, but compared to a newborn he is positively a toddler, LOL.

Well, hot here today as well, and NO aircon! Off to the pool for a swim later.

Have a great day everyone!

Well the reason Molly was camped out on the boob yesterday is cos i have next to no milk AGAIN she was obviously trying to up it i'm sick of my supply dropping and dont know why. I feed her on demand and last night she fed every hr and half to 2 hrs and was still starving my BB's felt so soft. I went to see my MCHN/LC this mo and we weighed her in 6 days she has lost 15g so not even a little gain. I am so over BFing but dont want to give up. I went back to GP and am back on the Motilium again but it will take a few days to kick in so i have had to use formula today to top her up as she is sooooo fussy at the breast and screaming with hunger. I have been trying to express with manual pump but cant get anything worth measuring not even 10ml :( I have nothing against FF but really dont want to as i FF DD1 and felt so guilty about it and was determined to make it work this time, why when i want to BF so bad is it so darn hard to keep my milk up there? I do eat enough, i drink plenty, feed on demand and offer her BB all the time. The Dr seems to think that in order to continue to feed i will have to stay on Motilium full time which i dont really want to iykwim :( DD1 has also been a big PITA today so i am feeling really cr@ppy at the moment. I am waiting for it to cool down a bit so i can go for a nice walk to calm down.

June- I'm so sorry to hear you are having a tough time too it really can be so hard and emotionally draining. Molly didnt sleep at all today from 8am-5pm but i think its cos she is starving. Makes us feel like lousy mums when it feels so hard. BUT we arent, we are GOOD mums just going through the normal challenges of having babies. You are lucky you had your mum to call and very brave asking for help when you needed it so well done hun. Well done on the good night too you can celebrate when you are feeling better. :hug: to you

Dragonbub- i am so envious of you been able to express 240ml WTG i wish my BB where capable of that. Even when i was on the Motilium b4 the most i could get was 40-50ml from one side so never more than a 100ml in a sitting. My new pump arrived today so will try it out when i am feeling more relaxed :) I find it so hard to get a let down when i do express esp if DD1 is around as she has a fascination with the pump and always wants a go or she has a tanty :(

Hoody - *hugs*. It must be so frustrating, I mean, why do the women that don't even want to give BFing a go have the best supply, and those of us who want to feed have all the troubles? Don't stress too much about how much you express. Apparently the baby does a much better job of getting the milk out than the pump does. In fact, if I have lumps (which I get maybe once a week) only Caden can get them out, the pump is useless. I can feel the milk in there, but the pump just runs dry. I had a gf who breast fed for 14 months or so, 6 exclusively, and she could never express more than 20mls.

Having said that, if bub has lost weight, then even she is having difficulty getting the milk out, which then dwindles the supply, then she can't get any out, etc etc. I am sure you have already tried everything, but have you tried all the herbal stuff? I have even heard Guiness being recommended! (why couldn't red wine do the same thing??). I guess at some stage you might consider supplementing, and just expressing when you give her a top up? I know you don't want FF to be pushed on to you, and I can understand you want all the support you can get. REally, I SO take my hat off to you cos I know how hard it is always worrying about supply, weight gain and so on. I guess only a lactation consultant can talk to you about the impact it would have on your remaining milk. I know a gal who still does this at 7 months - she expresses twice a day and gives this to her bub and FF the other times, but I know another gal too who has always supplemented due to a lack of supply, and eventually her supply just dried up. So I guess it might be feed as often as you can, and supplement when she is upset? I am sorry you are going through this, with everything else on your mind as well. I only hope it gets better for you soon hun.

PS - when I express I have a picture of Caden nearby, and I focus on it and remember what it feels like to have him feed off me. It really helps with the let down and also the flow as I pump. I can do it just watching TV or something, but it is much faster if I concentrate on him. Sometimes I even get some clothing of his and smell that (it is quite lovely, his own personal little scent :)).

Well, the week has been good so far. My only prob is, Caden doesnt like tummy time! The other bubs in my mothers group that like tummy time are fully up on their tums, and even up on their knees for a bit. Ok, Caden is the youngest, but still, he seems quite behind in this respect. There are some other bubs who don't like tummy time and they are in the same boat as him. I have tried everything, mirrors, rolled up towel, putting him on the couch and sitting in front of him. I even tried putting the telly on so he could watch it! He will put up with the carpet for the longest, and can lift his chest off the floor, but just starts to grumble after about 3 minutes.

Oh well, just a whinge. I am sure he will get the hang of it eventually!

Have a good (hot) week everyone,

Just a quick one girls but Hoody, wanted to give you a big :hug: It sounds like unfortunately you just might have an ongoing low supply? Totally sucks but there's so much you can do to keep it up and keep feeding. Lots of girls I know on BB have taken Motilium full time to keep feeding, not ideal, but for them better than giving up. Once Molly is on solids your supply won't have to be so high and maybe then you could look at weaning off the Motilium?

Also - go to the supermarket and get some Aktivite. I don't have a problem with my supply that I know of, but I'm getting some of this stuff on the weekend after reading how good it is for your milk supply. It's like milo apparently, I have at least one big glass of milo a day anyway so figured I may as well switch if it's good for my milk. I'm sure you've probably already read about it but thought I'd mention it anyway (if not, I think there's mention of it in the 'how to increase your supply' sticky in the B/feeding forum).

BBL

Awww Hoody - I feel for you - big big :hug:. You are putting everything you've got into this, you deserve to have it work for you. Re: the aktavite - yep, it's good. I've been having two big glasses a day for the last four days and have noticed an increase in supply. Only problem for me is that I think Euan's tummy is reacting to the cocoa - can't be coincidence that he was screaming in pain from wind today and yesterday - for the first time in ages.

Dragonbub - Euan hates tummy time too and is hopeless at lifting his head when on his tummy, but can hold his head fully unsupported when upright. My MCHN said not to worry, that the normal age for lifting their chests is 4-5 months. I think it is just so heavily pushed these days because babies sleep on their backs, but in the past babies would have slept on their backs too and not had so much tummy time. So I've decided not to worry about it too much...

June78 - wow, 1.5 hours rocking - that's full-on! It takes Euan about that to go to sleep at night, but a lot of it is just us lying with him until he falls asleep. He seems to like an audience... Then we can put him in his cot.

Willow, Twinsis - how are you?

Well the big E is 3 months today! I can't believe it! To celebrate I bought him cool stuff to decorate his room with - finally it will look like a baby's room rather than a spare room with a cot in it. Because we live in the tropics everything is jungle themed, although no cassowaries unfortunately. That's OK 'cos he'll see those in real life when he goes to his grandpa's place... (*gulp*)

Apart from that nothing startling has happened, he just gets more and more beautiful every day.

Suse, Dragonbub and Willow - Thankyou all for your posts they have made me feel a little better at least you ladies have some idea of how i must be feeling everyone around me thinks i'm bonkers for still trying to BF- maybe i am :rolleyes: but oh well thats life. I am still having problems with Molly today refusing me due to my low supply but i have not topped her up with formula i have just tried to feed her as often as i can even if she only sucks for a minute i figure its stimulation. I havent had chance to express today as we had a playdate for dd1 early this morning then visitors all arvo and the weather has been disgusting- 41degrees today so both girls grumpy bums. She does not look dehydrated and is still been sick after her feeds so she is obviously getting something. All i wanted in the early days was for my BB to stop leaking now all i want is for them to leak again i cant win :wall: On a brighter note Molly actually had her first proper chuckle today of course she has been smiling and cooing a little while but this was her 1st proper laugh and it melted my heart she even did it again for DH. Well the little monkey is crying again so off quicker than i thought. will do personals soon.

Hi Ladies thanks so much for the support. The last week or so has been really difficult, but I think we are getting there. Dragonbub I took your advice and contacted Tresilian. I didn't call them (talking to anyone just made me cry I was so tired), but they do an online chat which was fabulous. The nurse was with me for an hour. So we are now putting him in his cot awake but going back to basics like wrapping him. I leave him now until he starts his constant cry, pick him up and resettle him then put him back down. Yesterday afternoon it only took 10 mins for him to go to sleep that way. Last night it took longer and I ended up using a dummy as well as he has a strong sucking reflex. Its funny, he wouldn't take a dummy before! I know its not completely over but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. After a week of rocking him for 1-2 hours and still being up twice a night with him (we will work on that later!) I was just so exhausted.

:hug: For you Hoody. You are doing such a great job. You are right you know, we are GOOD mums, in fact we are FABULOUS mums, doing the best we damn well can. Oh and I agree with Willow, try the Aktavite. Some of the mums in my mothers group use it and swear by it. You just never know! So happy you got a chuckle.

Suse - Happy birthday to Euan!! I love the idea of the jungle theme! I assume with the cassowaries you live fairly close to mission beach then?

Hopefully I can get some good sleep in this weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks again for being there!