Babies Born April 16th-30th 2009 #1

[Olive]

This thread is for parents who's baby was born April 16th-30th 2009

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AJP
Nelle

There are many issues that you will encounter as a new parent. We have put together this list of useful articles and threads in order to assist you with some common questions or issues you may have, and to provide you with bit of extra support that we all need as new parents:

Feeding Support:

Breastfeeding General Chatter
Breastfeeding FAQ's
Is My Baby Hungry?
Bottlefeeding FAQ's and Useful Information
Is Feeding Your Baby Taking Too Much Time?
Bottlefeeding General Chatter
Feeding Your Baby
Lactose Intolerance
Starting Solids/Homemade Baby Food
Starting Solids - When Is My Baby Ready?
Starting Solids General Chatter

Please contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) or a Lactation Consultant if you are concerned that you may have breastfeeding and/or supply problems, and before the introduction of solids.

Sleeping Support:

Comforted Sleeping & Sleep Issues Forum
Comforting Tools to Aid Restful Sleep
Babies & Sleep
Controlled Crying/Comforting/Sleep Training
The Con of Controlled Crying
The Crying Game
15 Ways To Help Your Baby Sleep

Other Useful Information & Recommended Reading:

Baby Massage
Cuddle Me Mum
Infant-led Feeding & Weaning
Baby Wearing
Recommended Reading List

Got questions?

Post your questions in the forums mentioned above, or in the following forums where you're sure to receive many friendly responses!

General Baby & Toddler Forum
Breastfeeding, Bottlefeeding and Solids
Gentle Parenting Forum

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[berrme]

Looks like I am the first to post in this thread. Where are the other late April mums? I guess everyone is too busy enjoying their new bubs.

For those who don't know me from my belly buddies group I had my second son, Edward, on the 16th of April, 3520g, 54cm long, head circumference 35.5cm. He was a VBAC, 4 1/2 hours active labor. My first son, Byron, was an emergency c/s due to preeclampsia.

Things are going well. Edward is eating and sleeping well; he has been sleeping 8 hours straight most nights. I can't believe my luck! I was told that you only get one lovely baby, but it seems that isn't true. Both of mine have been great eaters and sleepers.

Byron alternates between being the most delightful brother ever, and being an absolute monster. I think he just wants Edward to play with him, but that doesn't help my stress levels. If anyone has any ways of making big brothers be more gentle then I am all ears!

I am looking forward to hearing from some other mums,
Melanie

[organicem]

Hi
My second daughter was born on 24th April.
What is your secret behind 8 hour sleeps?

[berrme]

Hi Organicem. I wish I knew the secret to 8 hour sleeps, I would be able to make a fortune! Just luck I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure it won't stay this good for too long. Are you not getting much sleep?

[organicem]

the longest mine have slept is 5 hours until about 6 months old am hoping the new one gets into a better routine sooner.

[Santosha]

Hey there Melanie and Organicem. My little Ivy was born on April 27th, 5 weeks prem. so I'm moving groups (as most of my belly-buddies group are just starting to have their bubs).

We've just been enjoying our first few days at home together after Ivy spent her first weeks in the Special Care Nursery. Such a relief to have her with us - was the hardest thing I've ever done, having to leave her in hospital every night. She's doing really well and getting stronger every day. We've had trouble with getting her to stay awake long enough to get her to feed well (apparently a really common issue for premmies) so so far she's really quiet, sleepy and calm and has barely ever cried. Today she had her first big yell at me sore tummy I think) and I think she's really turned the corner as far as feeding and energy levels go... bye-bye peace and quiet!!

This is my first baby and I am in awe of her, of my body for creating her and of how much love one person can feel. Just incredible... and so excited about the journey to come.

Look forward to getting to know you and other April Mummies.

[berrme]

Hi Kat. Sounds like you have had a rough start. How wonderful to have your little girl home with you! She will find her voice, that is for sure. The quiet doesn't last very long.
Even with my second I find myself just staring at him amazed that I could make him. I am not sure you really ever stop being awed by them... they change so much all the time, there is always something new to be amazed by.

Organicem, 5 hours isn't too bad. Sometimes when DS1 would get sick or was teething etc, and started waking up again, I thought it would have been better if he hadn't started sleeping through. It always seems harder to get up when you have gotten used to a full nights sleep again.
How many children do you have? Just the 2 girls?

[4cheekyboys]

Hi all! I just found my way here today. I had my bub on the 30th April. I need to get a new ticker.
So what am i up to...Lachlan only sleeps 2-3 hours at a time. I'm pretty exhausted. He's also very windy so i'm cutting out some foods to see if what i'm eating is affecting him. I've cut out whole wheat, chocolate, dairy, onions and broccoli. Breastfeeding is going good. I'm a regular jersey cow. lol

Going from 2 kids to 3 was not as hard as i thought it would be.

[nellnell]

Hello hello hello

It's a bit quiet in here.

I had my second bub on 26th April. Master K entered this world at 11.40pm after a 2 day induction with stopping, starting, contractions of my own and ones generated by the synto. Long story. Was induced as DS was not growing well and smaller than my 1st bub. He turned out to be 2.66kg (5lb 14) and 47cm long. Definately on the small side but healthy.

I was monitored externally on and off for the induction and progressed slowly. I was expecting a faster induction as my first birth only took 4.5hrs of active labour with only 45 mins of pushing. This one took 36 hours to progress to 2cm!!!!!!! and then 2.5 hours from 2 cm to birth. Man, second time round was so much more intense than 1st time.

I was determined to go drug free (which I achieved with my first) but after 36 hours of hard slog I was encouraged to use the gas even though I didn't want it. I think it was more for the midwife than me! Anyway I used it for 3 contractions and ditched it. Apart from the gas I went without any other drugs and got the birth I wanted.

So now I have a beautiful newborn boy and a 23month old girl.

We moved houses 1 week after master K was born and have only just hooked back up onto the internet. I'm now living closer to family and friends and have a great support network.

Even though this was my second birth, I am still amazed by my body and women's ability to birth babies. This time around I felt my baby's head on crowning and after the head was born and what an incredible feeling.

Feeding is going well and after an unsettled 5 days, last night was wonderful. I feel like I'm much more in touch with DS and what he needs now. It's only taken 3 weeks!!!

Anyway, looking forward to chatting about out beautiful children and the beginning of their journey through life.

[nellnell]

Hi 2 CB,

Congrats on your little boy. You say the transition from 2 to 3 kids wasn't as hard as you thought........how so. I'm trying to talk DH into having another bub (not fro a few years though) and may wait until my DD goes to school.

I'm flat out trying to cope with 2 kids and quite frankly it's ...... hard at times. Hats off to you for coping really well.

[berrme]

Hi Nell Nell and 2cb. I knew there were other late April mums out there.

Nell Nell, I have had people tell me that the transition from 1 to 2 kids is much harder than 2 to 3, and once you have 3 you can keep adding and it makes no difference. I hope it is true because I also think having a newborn and a toddler is hard at times. I still want a third though.

2cb, it doesn't sound like your diet is much fun at the moment. Has ditching chocolate made any difference?
I hope Lachlan starts sleeping a bit longer for you, at least at night. I don't know how you do it! I get cranky if I have to get up more than once between 8pm and 6am. I have obviously been spoilt!

Byron has been a bit nicer with his baby brother over the past few days. It seems to only be when he gets tired that he wants to be really rough.
Edward is still being lovely. He has worked out how to cry loudly now though, so when there is something wrong we know about it!
I had to bite the bullet and buy a couple of pairs of pants to fit my temporarily bigger bum in them today. It is really frustrating when your maternity stuff is too big but your normal clothes are too small. I managed to find some at the DFO so they were cheap. Hopefully they won't fit for very long. I had to resist the urge to buy more baby clothes. There really is no point when Edward is growing the way he is.

[4cheekyboys]

Hi 2 CB,

Congrats on your little boy. You say the transition from 2 to 3 kids wasn't as hard as you thought........how so. I'm trying to talk DH into having another bub (not fro a few years though) and may wait until my DD goes to school.

I'm flat out trying to cope with 2 kids and quite frankly it's ...... hard at times. Hats off to you for coping really well.

Going from 1 to 2 was really hard for me but now the 2 boys play with each other and i can do what i need to do with the baby. Plus my oldest is in Prep so he's not home all day. lol

Melanie - i haven't noticed much difference with my diet yet but i've only just started it. I'll give it a couple more days and if there is no difference then i'll go back to normal.

I'm utterly disgusted with my post baby body. I gained so much weight this time. My maternity stuff is too big but my regular clothes are too small. I'd say i'm a size 18 right now. Which is the biggest i've ever been. I have 9kgs to go to my pre-preg weight and then 10kg more after that. I'm actually looking forward to getting back into shape.

[nellnell]

2cb - I didnt think about the older two being able to play together. That must be handy. I just read that Lachlan was windy. Hope you work out the diet thing soon. I thought the same thing with DS only 5-6 days ago but things have settled down. DS also only sleeps 2-3 hours but I've found that if I stay positive, and don't get frustrated when I get up in the middle of the night, things go so much smoother.

berrme - yeah a third is on the agenda for me, but DH says no. I gave away all my girls clothes the other day and had a good old cry about it. DH understands my thinking, but.......maybe it will be on something we can work towards in 3-4 years or so, definately not as close together as my current 2.

I'm struggling with getting DD and DS into and out of the car, particularly when we are on a busy street or carpark. Luckily DD is willing to duck under her brothers carseat and emerge on the left hand side of the car at the moment. Any suggestions about what is working for you guys?

[berrme]

nellnell, so far I haven't had to get in and out of the car anywhere particularly busy. My DS1 is a real pain about getting in his pram at times (he thinks he can walk everywhere but it takes forever ) so I make sure I have him strapped in before I even contemplate getting bubs out. Otherwise I haven't had any real issues so far.
I can imagine that it would get to be a bit much having girl clothes and boy clothes at the same time. Seems a shame to get rid of them though, especially if you are wanting another one down the track. That is one plus of having another boy... Edward will get to be the hand me down kid.

2cb, I am not feeling too bad about my size, I am only a 14 at the moment, normally a 12, it is more that it is really annoying having nothing that fits properly. I put on over 20kg with DS1 and felt pretty ordinary after I had him. It still didn't take very long to get rid of it though. It will feel really satisfying when you get to where you want to be!

[nellnell]

berrme - I'm hoping that the girl clothes will bounce back to me later but be put to good use in the meantime. Most of our friends have girls so we would certainly be bombarded with girls clothes if we had another girl. That is if we do. I think I like the idea of 3 kids but know that for our family 2 is just perfect. Problem is I am a little obsessed about pregnancy, birth and babies that I would hate to think that I could never experience that again.

Sounds bizarre but I am in wonder of what my body can do and as much as labour and birth are painful - I just love being able to bring my children into the world in the most natural of ways. Gush gush. Sorry

[Mama2two]

Good morning everyone,
Finally have my internet connected!
Ive just had my second baby boy Oliver on 29th April, 9lb 5oz, 56 cms long, 36 cm head. I was induced 10 days over by the gel and i was in active labor for 6 hours. I also have a beautiful 3 year old Samuel. I'm currently bf but i have mastitis, a nasty graze that is still healing from when he was first born, and Oliver has oral thrush so im taking antibiotics and have nilstat for oliver(and i have about 20 coleslaws happening on my top lip atm) Im still feeding off my sore side but im not sure if my milk has gone down a bit or something because afternoon and into the night he is just so hungary and i have to offer him both sides every hour and he is totally emptying them. Then its like they dont fill up for next time and he gets upset and then so do i. So i went and got some formula to offer him.. I really wanted to bf when i was pregnant, but i now im starting to think of switching to formula. It all just seems so hard. I only lasted 3 weeks with my other son aswell due to mastitis. I just dont want to see him in pain from the formula tho. I offered it to him last night and he had about 20 mls but 5 mins later wanted a boob.

Berrme- My son is going through the same behaviours one minute he's an angel and the next im tearing my hair out. He has just stopped listening to me and i have found that he has gotton really really loud and constantly noisy especially around the baby. It makes it hard for me to stop and really enjoy Oliver sometimes because im constantly having to pull him up.

Katabella- Ivy is a beautiful name, we actually had it on our list if we had a girl.

Organicem- My first son was like that, woke every 3 hours or something until he was like 10 months old. Nearly killed me. Oliver has been quite good with his sleeping, he feeds then usually sleeps until the next feed 3-4 hours later so im quite happy with that. It gets hard when i want to bath him or something though because he is never awake long.

2cheekyboys- My baby is also quite windy. This week i started giving him that natural colic relief in the arvo into the night because thats when it all hits him and ive found its really good.

Nellnell- Im hearing you on the moving. We moved when Oliver was 9 days old, and im still here surrounded by boxes and clothes (didnt know we had so many!) I never want to move ever again! Im yet to figure the car thing out, i've left the house literally twice since we moved, then the car radiator went so ill let you know when i venture out how we go. I totally agree that 2nd birth was soooo much more intense, i assumed it would be quicker and not as painfull. I was shocked. I didnt end up having any drugs but did say i wanted an epidural organised because i honestly thought i couldnt handle it anymore and i must be about 6-7 cms dilated, and the midwife did an internal and said no love your only 4 cms, i nearly fainted. Anyway it didnt end up happening cause she broke my water and Oliver was here 1.5 hrs later. I only found the pushing easier as in it felt more controlled and i remember the midwife commenting on how calm and that it was. Pushing was the part i was petrified of so it was weird having such bad contractions then a relitivly easy pushing stage.

Ok enough from me, looking forward to hearing all about you and your babies.

[berrme]

Hi Mama2two.
My toddler has settled down a bit as far as being rough with his brother and is sleeping better again. He was getting up in the middle of the night and coming into our bed... I think it was an attempt to get us to himself for a while. Thankfully it has stopped for the moment. He has been very loud! And it has been even worse the last couple of days as it has been pouring with rain here and we can't play outside.
Sorry to hear you are struggling with breastfeeding. I would recommend not giving formula at all if you want to keep him on the boob. The more your baby feeds the more milk your breasts will make.
The mastitis may have effected your milk production but it sounds like Oliver is having a growth spurt and is just trying to increase your milk production. They usually do it around 3 weeks and 6 weeks, then whenever they grow quickly. Edward did it a couple of weeks ago, just fed constantly for a couple of days and didn't seem like he was getting enough. Now he has settled down again.
I haven't had mastitis or even sore nipples either time so it is hard for me to really empathise, but if you can keep going it is worth it. Even just so you don't have to make bottles when you are up during the night.
Were you induced for your first labour? Just wondering if maybe that was why your second labour was more intense. I was hoping that if I have another baby the labour would be even shorter than it was this time. I will certainly go in for acupuncture again.

nellnell, everyone I know seems to have boys. I don't know who I would hit up for girls clothes. I guess when they are little they can wear all the same suits as the boys have... it isn't like they know they aren't in pink.

[nellnell]

Welcome Amanda - oh yeah, the moving thing with a toddler and a newborn is crazy isn't it. Luckily my DH did lots of our small stuff over the last couple of month and stored it at his parents house. We are getting there but looking for things I need in boxes is getting frustrating though. I just don't have the time!!!

I agree with Mel about the formula. Try to persist. I have had a slight case of mastitis while BF my DD and I know it hurts but it is so worth persisting. You can do it
And with the birth - congrats on not needing any drugs, empowering isn't it? Totally agree with the pushing too. My main aim for this birth was to reduce tearing as I had a painful 2nd deg tear last time and was still having pain 12 months on (as we didn't DTD for about 20 wks) sorry for tmi. Anyway, this time I chatted to the community midwife beforehand and she suggested a whole heap of things which really helped. The pushing was so much more controlled as you said and I felt like I was able to push when I wanted and hold back when I needed. Last birth was just all over the place and I was just pushing as hard as I could. I ended up with a 2nd deg tear this time too but the 1 min of stitching compared to 30mins of stitching last time was significantly different.

Mel - yeah, girls can wear anything, but boys...well just say that DS has been getting in touch with his feminine side at night. Ive beed dressing him in pink and flowers for his PJ's. He gets his boy clothes during the day of course.

I just went out with both the kids shopping to a large shopping centre. It was a success. DD stayed in the pram and didnt get cranky, and DS wanted to be fed and held at times but we actually got most things done. Yay. I'm so proud of myself.

DS has REALLY dry skin. Anyone else noticed this on their bub. I've been using sorbelene at every chance. I remember my DD had dry skin too, but it had gone by about 1 to 1.5wks old. DS is now 3.5wks old and it seems to be getting worse. Its not like dermatitis, just dry flaky skin, all over, shrivelling off his hands and face.

Oh I've also started to express some milk. I have an abundunt milk supply and it flows really well, without having to suck too much. My DD became lazy, then wouldn't take a bottle of EBM so I'm starting DS early so he can drink from a bottle and the breast - which gives me the freedom to leave him with my in laws or my DH for more than a few hours at a time. I wouldn't be doing this soon, much later on but thought I'd get onto it early as I started DD at 8wks and she refused the bottle and didn't drink significant amounts to leave her until 6 months of age.

Sorry about the waffle......

Hope everyone is having a great day and your beautiful bubbas are being little angels.