Babies Born October 1st ~ 15th 2008 #2

:rofl: boy i missed all the action today!

well it was so mean of me to post re the course and not give the juicy details... but of course I was so excited re using these new skills today... and ... ahem... well they didn't all work did they!!! Plus it's probably all stuff that you guys know anyway!

The main things that struck a cord with us was making sure we didn't "feed him to sleep", .e. making sure we always have our "play" before sleep. I felt that maybe I had been tending to keep offering him the bottle (and yes, the over-feeding comment relates more to bottle fed bubs than BF'ed bubs), because I think I'd thought if I made sure I shoved enough into him, he'd stay down for longer! Also, feeds for him (at 9 weeks) shouldn't be longer than 45 mins... I think ours often have been and there's a bit of comfort sucking going on towards the end... so don't let them just comfort suck using bottle/BB as a dummy. She also talked through a kinda hierarchy of settling & re-settling... so going in and talking to him, then hand on him, trying to "body-rock" him (hand on chest/torso) gently rocking back & forth (rather than using a bassinet which won't be an option in a month or so anyway), quick pick up & cuddle then re-settle... as you can see the intervention is getting greater with each option.

She was also talking about feeding every 3-4 hours - and stalling him if he wakes up earlier. I though feeding on demand meant exactly that... they demand it, I give it. But she said that it takes 2.5 hours for their tummies to digest the milk, so you don't want to be feeding again in less than that as it can just make them windy. And we think X has been getting windy & unsettled. So I thought, oh I've been feeding him too often, which makes him windy, so he cries, so I feed him again... vicious cycle. So today I was really good. He went down like a lamb after his 8.30am feed. 11.30am was next, that was ok, but then he got unsettled in the afternoon. I managed to stretch him to 3pm cos we went for a 45 min walk with the dog... but then tonight he's been really unsettled - had a bath & a feed and went down fine. 1 hr later... cried & cried... and seemed hungry... so I succumbed and gave him 40ml EBM more and now he's sleeping happily! So now I'm not sure if those tips were so good or not? My gut instinct was that he really wanted more food - but I guess that was "feeding him to sleep" (he did have a brief awake time before we put him down). So... there you go hey!

Oh and the other tip I liked, move the bassinet into the cot BEFORE he grows out of it (again, not something I'd thought about yet, but makes a lot of sense!).

So I've spent all week meaning to get to the shops for xmas shopping but didn't make it in the end!

Amy_o :hug: I agree re the grief of no more children, I think you are so entitled to feel that way & to be able to express it. It must be so hard when people ask you about having more! I think I'd feel really upset it if was me, so I can only imagine how you are feeling. Big big hugs.

Hollye - sounds like you're doing awesome today!

AmandaJ - oh my, you're so excited about Christmas that's awesome

SamiH - aaw poor little man after the needles and I'm so impressed about the big boy outfits. I've got some overalls I can't wait to use! Oh and big yay on 2 months. We have to go get our shots, haven't done it yet. The MHCN warned me to have children's panadol on hand...

All the pics are so gorgeous too, and i know what you mean re photographing smiles... it's soooo hard. I think X just frowns whenever the camera comes out now! My sis took the funniest pics of X posed doing some "grown-up" things - I've stuck a couple in my gallery.

I just booked a trip home for us all to my folks (in Tassie) in the New Year - I'm so excited about that, and they can't wait for their cuddles with my little man.

Hi to everyone else, I gotta stop waffling on now!

Belfie, I am glad you got lots of info out of the visit. I like what you wrote about settling and that, our baby care nurse took us through it earlier in the week and although it is tough I can see the pay off but this has given me a few more ideas to try to make it work for us. :) thanks for sharing the wisdom!!
I am sure you ladies will here more about the no more children thing...we have to tell DH's family on the weekend... My MIL hasn't come to visit once since we came home from hospital and we live less than 5 mins away. She complains all the time that when we go to see her that Bethany is always asleep and so on, She is just really unsupportive and can be hurtful when she thinks she is funny. Oh well.

oooh MIL's... don't get me started! Mine constantly says "we didn't have that that in MY day" ... so far I've had this comment about a nappy bag, sterilizer and... the plastic lid of a bottle! LIke seriously WTF?!?!? And when we were out the other day, he was hungry in the car, so she's saying (as if she's joking) "oh she's a bad mummy bringing you out when you're hungry". We had an appointment to get to! Geeeesh! and THEN she told me she's getting him a dummy for Xmas! Previously her complaint had been that she never heard him cry (amazingly he always slept when she was around). But my boy got the revenge for me - he smiled at the hairdresser heaps, but not at MIL. Tehehe. (but then the guilt strikes cos she WAS helping me by having us go to the hairdressers together... so I shouldn't be mean.. aah guilt guilt).

So yeah, totally with you on the "think they're being funny, but really it just hurts" bit.

Um.. yeah vent over now :redface:

amy - I will send my kids around for some MIL ankle-kicking :clap::clap: Bethany is asleep because - wait for it - she is a baby :o:o

Stupid MIL's .... I have stories too re the passing comments of oh what is that thing, we just did ABC - but will wait until a respectable hour.

Ok Z fed at 3.40 and is down again groaning moaning as normal (he doesn't cry much, but is still sooooo noisy grunting LOL) - back to bed for me 4.20am LOL

good morning ladies....

had a great day yesturday...until our 10pm feed.. he then turned into a monster!! did not want to go to sleep.. finally got him to sleep about 11ish.. he slept til 6.30 this morning when i woke him.. changed his bum and fed him and he went back to sleep staright away.. and is still asleep in my bed :D

we are off to see one of hubbies cousins bubs in hospital (only a newbie...2 days old) then older son is getting a haircut!!! it's a mop... and tomorrow probably santa piccies...

Morning! I had a great day yesterday until the evening. Did a feed at 7.30pm and tried to put Maya down for the night at 8.30pm. She just refused to go to sleep. :wall: Then started another feed at 10pm and finally got her to sleep at 11.30pm. She slept till 3am, to bed again at 4am and woke again at 7.30am. It took me ages to fall asleep both times! Why can't I fall asleep easily!! And so I've only gotten about 5 hours of sleep. :asleep: She's gone back to sleep now for her morning nap.

Today I've got to go vote in council elections some time today. And this afternoon we have a BBQ to go to.. not sure how Maya will go being out and about! She doesn't sleep when we leave the house. :wall:

I finally got around to looking at everyone's bub pics last night and everyone has such gorgeous babies. :)

belfie - It sounds like you got some great info from the course. I know I'm not supposed to feed Maya to sleep.. but I do sometimes do that when it's really late at night! I'd love to be able to do the hierarchy of settling, but I just don't feel like it's working for Maya. I asked my MCHN and she said that I could wait till Maya's 8 weeks old and try again.

Sami - I hope Zander is feeling better today after his injections yesterday. I have Maya's injections on Thursday and I'm really not looking forward to it. I asked my DH to stay home from work that day so he can help me if she's really unsettled and unwell!

katones - Sounds like you had a nice long sleep!! :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

not too bad here this morning..

Poor Mia is now constipated. Oh she just cant win. Ive given her a few drops of "infants friend" this morning so im hoping it will help her clean out her system.. Back to the draing board with the formula? mayb i should try a different one? hrmmmm

MIL's.. oh dont even go there.

we had a very unsettled night in the evening - he was windy and wouldn't settle... and then scratched his poor little head (cradle cap) until it bled! So it's mittens every night from now on! So eventually he exhausted himself and slept through till 6 am. DH did both feeds this morning, because he "wants to know he can do everything & settle him" - so that was nice! I'm just crossing my fingers we have a better afternoon - X just seems to get so windy & unsettled in the arvos at the moment and I don't know why - trying to drag out the feeds yesterday didn't seem to make a speck of difference. I'm thinking we should try some infant's friend or something - haven't tried them previously and I noticed Hollye you just mentioned it - have you found it good? And no good on the constipation!

Itsme - good luck with your outings, sounds like a busy day.

SamiH - oooh 4.20am post that's impressive. your Z groaning could have a noise-off with my X snorting... such noisy bubbas lol

Katones - oooh new baby cuddles in hossie sounds nice and hope your little man is a charm today for you.

I've realised I'm kinda... procrastinating. The idea was that we're EBM'ing primarily due to attachment/mouth breathing/nipple shield/non-efficient feeding issues.. and that I was gonna attach him 1-2 times a day (plus give him some boobie "play" time for bonding). Well it's been a week - admittedly a stressful one with the pump not working - but I've realised I've only BF'ed him (briefly) once, and that if I'm honest with myself, I'm not feeling hugely motivated to do it. He doesn't feed efficiently at all, so it's really almost like part of his play time... but then there's the question of when in the feed to fit it in. It's easy when i know it's a pure EBM feed and i have the right amount in the bottle... it's all just kinda simpler. So it's interesting to realise that I'm not that keen to put him back on the breast - I guess I've still got negative feelings about it after battling away at it for ages. I don't know what this means for me, and how i overcome it (and indeed, should I/can I over come it?) but anyway, interesting to explore the thought.

Happy Saturday to all :dance: hope your bubbas all behave themselves, and remember, you're all brilliant mummies!

EDIT: thanks SamiH, I think I'll be heading to the pharmacy today!

Belfie!!! - super quick - need to eat - I have had Zander on Infacol for 3 weeks and it has really helped - only given it to himfor the afternoon and middle of the night feed to help get wind up and out before he goes back to bed - seems to have helped - no tears due to wind for a while, just the moaning and groaning whilst he farts himself to sleep :rolleyes: but happily. I tried infants friends and it just made him a bit more chucky ..

More later ...

Good morning all!! DH did the wonderful taking her for the night last night so I feel rested and better able to cope again....Gee I love that man!! :loveshower:

Ok so we see the in laws tomorrow for lunch and some hang out time, first time since Bethany came home I might mention, MIL has been too busy with moving house, setting up new garden, blah blah blah... FIL is in the navy and has been at sea, is back this weekend. BIL is 20 and well is a typically 20yr old still living with mummy and daddy having everything done for him, read CLUELESS!!

Here are my fav moments since Bethany's arrival so you have the background and can understand the mega vent that I am sure will come soon after we get home tomorrow!!
1) they came to visit me in hospital, this was the friday and she was born 11:44pm thrus, I hadn't slept in 3 days. Now I still hadn't seen or really held her, she was in SCN and I was well tied to a bed with tubes!! The SCN staff suggested that until I could get to her or she come to me that we only let Andrew hold her that way I wouldn't feel so cut off. Anyway they came to my room and then asked where the baby was. Andrew took them to SCN and explained on the way that there would be no cuddles and that when they came back to me could they just say that she was beautiful and leave it at that. The more they went on about seeing her the worse I would feel. Well they came back and she went on and on about how much she looked like Andrew and that she did this and that...and they touched her... you get the picture. So FIL (who is awesome!!) suggested a subject change...next words out of MIL's mouth...well you dragged that out as long as you could, were you trying to keep us in suspense?? :wall: yeah I held out for 2 days to bug you woman!

Please send all children for ankle kicking and house destroying, They need to arrive in Cairns around midday and I will send them back I promise!!!

I could go in to the whole croppping me out of all the photos she sent out that but is another story and Bethany is awake and wanting a bottle!!


itsme~~ Bethany is having her injections thrusday too!!

Belfie: Don't beat yourself up. The fact that you're expressing and giving him boob milk is really impressive. He's getting the goods, so I don't see any reason why you should make things harder on yourself by perservering with the boob when neither you nor he has any interest. You don't have to be super mum! Let it go and feel good about yourself.

Katones: Feeding at 10 and asleep by 11, sleeping through til 6.30am sounds like a complete and total DREAM to me. If that was bad for you ............ wow, you're lucky!

I'm getting the feeling that Itsme and I are the only two left whose babies still wake in the middle of the night. :( Damn our synchronised babies.

Hollye: Are you sure she's constipated? Jude has stopped pooping 5 times a day and now does a stupendously horrific liquid poo every 2 or 3 days, but according to the books that's normal. But who knows, maybe he's constipated. He is fussing and crying more these days.

Itsme: Busy busy day. Sounds hectic. I am going shoe shopping, not sure if I should take Jude or leave him at home with my husband who's home sick with gastro. What a choice!

Amy: Your MIL is a b!tch!!

Kuraiza dont worry Bethany it still awake at midnight, and the other night she decided to lie in her cot and play at 2am through till 3...loudly!! Atleast she wasn't crying I guess.

The photo cropping story is good too, she still does it, if she thinks that the photo will look better with out me she crops me out!!! She says it is so people can see Bethany better, well I am sorry but at 7 weeks old she doesn't take many photos on her own she usually needs to be held! The major birth annoucment one she sent to everyone was one pic of Andrew and Bethany, the other was this amazing photo of the first time I got to hold Bethany for real and we are just gazing at each other, I have it framed, it is just one of those wonderful moments anyway she totally cropped me out!! When my gallery opens I will post both so you can see! We also had some first photos of the 3 of us that day and they are lovely but apparently weren't good enough to use. So you can see why the prospect of spending tomorrow there is thrilling me to bits.
At least I can come home and vent here!!!
Also she wasn't able to have children after Andrews bro so I can hear her saying "whats the big deal?" It is a big deal to me.


On to the topic of poo, just had one that needed a clothes change and a bed change and who knows where else it is!! WHOA where did she hide it all?? Incredible. Will have to bath her later thats for sure.

Kuraiza~ mmm I guess if Jude is going to get gastro he will wether you leave him with your DH or not so leave him and have a break!

Belfie~~ Just do what makes you and X happy. A happy mamma is a happy bubba, I have had to learn that one!!

:leap::leap::leap::leap:

I have a gallery now and PM's!!!!!!

kuraiza - he tummy is really hard and when she does poo its like one big hard clump and its really dark. Not the norm for her. Ive changed her back to Karicare anyway, we didnt have this problem on karicare before. Shes a regular (2-3 day) pooer and its normally quite explosive IYKWIM lol..

:hiding:

Why is Hollye in hiding??

Gee I think I am coming down with a cold, all snuffly, been blowing my nose all day. :( have cold tablets though and will defeat it.

Belfie - You are doing so well with the EBM. I know how u feel.. ive lost interest (if thats the way to put it) in putting Mia to the breast. I put her to the breast yesterday and she had a few sucks and then pulled off, screwed up her face as if to say "mummy what is that ****?" lol If u still want X to have some bobbie time, just put him on for 1-2 minutes each sides before a feed. Im suggesting this coz when they are hungry they suck harder so in turn ur body will produce more milk so then more for u to express if u catch my drift. Also there is NO problem with expressing fulltime.. as there is no problem FF full time.

What is it with mother in laws and their sons. My MIL has a huge problem in letting DP live his life. She treats him like hes 2. Its pathetic. We even went through a stage where she was like "oh hes my boy and if i told him to break up with u, he would". She can be good but she can also be so evil and shes always butting in. Pain in the ass i say! Hence why we are moving away!! whahahahaha!

i hear yas on the MIL front...my MIL is a biatch!!!! every time we visit (which i try to only make once a week ) :D she takes Jack off me straight away, and now has started wanting to feed him if we are there at feed time.. well it ain't happening!!! i let her once reluctantly :( but god i couldn't give hime the boob any more don't think you are getting in our way of bottle time woman!!! (my thoughts) and changing his nappy.... she is overbearing!!! and she shiats me!! and she rings me during the week asking stupid questions which she already knows the answer to.. to see if she can weasle a visit in...ummm NOPE HE IS ASLEEP is ALWAYS my excuse :D