Babies Born ~ June 16th - 30th 2011 #1

Hi Girls,

Things have been going ok here. I have been pretty sick in the last 24hrs but my DH has been fantastic. He got up to Hamish all night and brought him to me to feed and he looked after both boys this morning so I could sleep. Was fantastic. I feel much better this afternoon :D

Hamish is going pretty well. Very windy little man, I don't remember Noah being this bad, but I guess memories fade after 2 years and those first weeks are a bit of a blur now :lol: Anyway's been making sure we burp him well and he will take a dummy so that's been helping too. Hoping that it only lasts till the 2mth mark!

Hope everyone else is going well.

Oh :grouphug: hope everybody feels better soon.
Sophie is up before her brothers this morning- lazy boys lol they are enjoying school holiday sleep ins. Better go, hope I can pop in later

X X X

Hey everyone :) I've been AWOL due to crappy internet - too hard to write a decent reply on the phone!

Bskilner, how's William going with the colic? Big hugs to you hun, it's just horrible when they cry and you don't know how to help them :( I hate seeing Annabelle cry when I can't 'fix it' for her, makes me cry too :( We had the same problems with the dummy - it's not the righ shape, she wasn't used to it. But she needed to suck on something to help with her wind, and my nipples were really copping it lol. Now DH props her up in the tri-pillow, holds the dummy for her, and she sucks and stares at him til she falls asleep. He's so proud that he can do that for her :) But there are still times when she definitely doesn't want it - she cries harder or gags on it, we don't push it if that's the case.

Hope you're not getting an infection, it's not nice to be sick when you have a little person to look after! :hug:

MoT, how cute he can pull his dummy out! Now to get him putting it back in himself lol. DH and I always said we'd never use a dummy, but in the late afternoons that really is the only way to settle her. I wouldn't worry about him becoming dependant on it though, kids always grow out of them :) How does he go if you take it out once he's asleep? Our community midwife told us to use it just for settling, then take it our as soon as we can so that it's not still there when she wakes up.

Harriet, our photos were actually reasonably priced I reckon. It really sucks that we didn't get long - PixiFoto seriously rush you through, so you really only get the standard pics - they don't have time to do a massive range. We didn't get to change her - I wanted at least one of her just in her cow print nappy, but no time :( We got a free sitting (basically everyone does), a discounted black and white photo that was bigger than the others, and then 14 smaller ones (still bigger than a regular photo) for $450. It was funny, they show you all this 'fantastic editing' they've done to try to con you into buying more - as if I can blend two photos and write Annabelle over the top! Then they show you the cost for buying every photo - over $3.5k usually, but $1.7k as a "package". Shut her down pretty quickly there! So we just went through and discarded the ones we didn't like, and she said we could get 7 for $375 (of course 'discounted' from some ridiculous price). We said we weren't too happy with that, and got the 14 for $450. She made out she was doing us some special deal, but I really don't think it costs PixiFoto much to do these pics. So anyway, 16 all up, which is way cheaper than anywhere in SA I could have gone and would have had to travel further.

Tara, boo to being sick :( And to Hamish being windy, poor little guy. I found Infacol and a dummy worked wonders for Belley. Hope he gets better soon, or you find something that works for you.

As for us, we're doing well. I feel like I've really 'learnt' Annabelle, knowing what her signs are and what she needs. The other night she slept for 7 1/2 hours, I woke up sooo confused! Thought there must have been something wrong with her lol. She's gone back to having 6 hours sleep the first time, then three hours the second. After that the morning seems to be awake for an hour, sleep for an hour, till about 1, when she'll sleep for 2-3 hours, then have lots of awake time when DH gets home at 3:30.

Hope everyone's doing well, sounds like all the bubbas are growing fantastically!

Hi everyone, sorry really finding time an issue as we all are at the moment. I have been reading just not posting. DH has gone back to work and Hamish like the sounds of lots of the bubbas has had quite bad wind issues. So I find I am just getting what I have to have done around the house.

BS Hamish hates the dummy too, i have tried different shapes and sizes and he just cracks the poos even more. My other 2 loved their dummy and it did make it easier when they had pains. oh well...

william doesnt really seem to want the dummy too much so not overly fussed. started him on some colic relief and last two nights he has cried a lot less so heres hoping.

How did William do last night Bskilner? Hopefully the colic relief is working for you.

Jax, what are you doing for Hamish's wind? My DH has a lot of success with the dummy, and circling her legs etc, but a lot of the time when I try it's like she smells me and just wants boobs. Thankfully she's been ok while DH is at work, but if you've got tips I'd love to hear them!

Just went shopping on my own for the first time! Thankfully Annabelle was pretty happy the whole way around - a few little sooks but the dummy fixed it today. Then went and got her weighed - she's 5.62kgs! Gaining an average of 230g per week, so I know all that feeding is working at least lol. And even better, the trip wore her out so now she's sleeping and I actually managed to put away the shopping and do the dishes. Hooray!

Hope everyone's having a great day :)

Kaytee- thats awsome weight gain for Annabelle! congratulations
And YAY for the 1st sucessful solo shoppping trip.
I have always been thankful for the family rooms that most malls provide. A space you can go to feed, change or just breathe if babys not so happy and needs settling.

How was Hamish last night? is the colic relief kicking in?

nup back step again, cried until he had feed at 10.30. then went to sleep after talking to himself in the dark for a little while.

That's not good, poor little guy :( Hopefully it works soon or he grows out of it for you. On the other hand, how cute is it when the just lie there chatting away :) Annabelle's learnt some new little sounds lately, especially when she's playing in her little gym/floor mat thingy.

DT, unfortunately our grocery shopping centre thingy doesn't have their toilets finished yet, so if baby plays up there's no where to go! Luckily the CAFHS place is really close though, and they have a feeding room if you need somewhere to go

He sounds just like our lady. She cries and fusses until 10.30 then feeds and sleeps. had a couple of midnighters. We have found shes better if she is upright all night, so we lie on the couch with kness bent and have her sit on our tummy with back supported upright by knees. this way she can see us, but we can still watch tv. Only had the occasional milk fountain this way, lots of stinky farts though

Yeah I second that DT, Annabelle seems really comfy like that. We also squish together a tri-pillow and put her in the middle so it's like a little bed for her. Keeps her head raised, and she falls asleep easily in there. That way we can go to the loo when we need to - too many times I've had her fall asleep on my legs and then can't go pee lol

staying awake with him sometimes helps, but othertimes he just screams no matter what you do. and i am no super woman i still actually need sleep and i cant handle listening to him cry continuously. it actually makes me quite frustrated with him which upsets me more.

Massive hugs hun, it sounds so tough on you :hug: I wish there was some way I could actually help. Do you have family or anyone nearby who could be with him while you sleep? Even if it's during the day and you still do the night shift, it sounds like you could really do with some sleep right now

Bs I hear you on the frustration thing. I sometimes get so annoyed at Hamish when he's screaming and won't feed but won't settle even though I know it's not his fault. It's just hard when your tired. I find I need to just take a breath and try and remember it'll pass. Apparently the wind issue peaks at 6wks and starts to subside at about 8. If it's not have you got a good paediatrician you can talk to?

Oh and sometimes I lay in bed with Hamish and feed him in bed. He sometimes will settle like that and go to sleep. That way I can doze too and we can eventually both get to sleep. Or I lay in bed with him on my chest and sleep like that.

its not really the sleep that is an issue i normally get 6-7 hours a night of broken sleep. it is just the screaming which i find so hard. i just wish i knew what he wanted so i could fix it and make him better, but i dont and its so hard to hear him so upset. no i dont really have much support around to help, only the occasional visitor. all family are around 1.5 hours away and friends are further as im new to the area.

sometimes i can take a breather and it will be fine, other times it just upsets me to the point of tears or makes me want to yell. and i am so afraid that him being like this is going to lead to me having pnd which i dont want. he doesnt seem to have issues with wind, but i think he gets lots of tummy pains anyway.

sometimes i feel like a bad mum for feeling like this when others seem to be doing so well. i just cant seem to get on top of it. i think i have him figured out and then he has a growth spurt and wants to feed all the time which screws up all the work we had done.

Babe, you are not a bad mum. You're doing your best, and wind/colic is not your fault.

I don't know if you saw a post of mine a while ago, but we had a night when nothing worked for Annabelle. She wouldn't settle, she wouldn't feed, she cried and scratched me and I was getting so upset - I didn't know what was wrong or how to fix it. I wound up in tears and just put her in the pram, where she suddenly stopped crying. That just made me feel like she hated me - why would she stop on her own, but cry when I tried to help her? That night was awful, and I spent most of it in tears. We still have times when she won't settle and DH and I just tag team, and there are definitely helpless moments where I feel useless, and like I'm no good to her because I can't help whatever is wrong.

It will pass in time, but in the meantime if things are bad see your GP again, to see if there's anything else that can help and to get in early if you do get PND (I really hope you don't). Would your Mum be able to make a trip for a week or so to help out? Sometimes just having someone else there to talk things through with can help. Wish I lived closer, I'd head over for a coffee break :hug:

my mum isnt well herself, she is an alcoholic and isnt looking healthy herself, so think she has enough just trying to look after herself and her memory is going too.

sorry, today is just not a good day, he has been crying on and off since 9am.

Don't be sorry, it's a tough job and your poor little guy is having a rough time. But it's nothing you are or aren't doing, and it will pass in time. We're all here to listen and support you. And you've got my number if you ever need to talk or vent.

Sorry about your Mum :hug:

I would suggest, putting baby in the pram and just walking. Get out of the house- change of scene for everybody. I use to do that with DS1. Here the air quality is bad so I cant do that and am stuck often the same as you, with a screaming baby. I have yelled - I put screaming baby down and went into the laubdry and screamed myself. Feel so helpless sometimes, then suddenly she snaps out of it. Also finding a rattle helps sometimes- or a jar of chewing gum shaken.

Hang in there hun, you doing great

much better night last night. he slept after 11pm but no screaming before so i was happy.

had drs appt yest for 6 weeks, and i still have the membrane there so he has started me on antibiotics, and another appt next week. if it hasnt cleared up by then he will do a d&c on the day. and william got to see one of the midwives who delivered him, and he was smiling for her too cute. and she said its normal for babies to cry when the sun goes down, and that it often isnt even wind pain, that sometimes babies just cry for no reason. and that it normally passes somewhere between 6-10weeks. so i just have to try and remain calm and not take it to heart. apparently she said that babies average 4hours of crying a day.

i fed him at 5.20pm, and carried him around in carrier afterwards. started dinner and did odd things around the house. dh ate his dinner and i fed william at 7.20pm, and then i handed him over to dh to hold afterwards. i had my dinner and a shower, and he slept for a long time. then he had a shower with dh. and a massage afterwards. then fed at 9.50pm until 10.45pm. then he slept until 3.15am. so am very happy with how last night went. dont care if i have to hold him as long as he doesnt scream.

oh and he did a big poo during his feed at 9.50 lol, was very loud and a lot of wind. must have made him feel better.

That sounds like a really good night.
Thanks for the extra info, its comforting to know things like what the MW told you.

I got the paddling pool out for the boys and they have been in it most of the morning. Sophie was looking a tad jealous! She loves water and has a mega tanty when bath time is over every night.
Got her in mcns and thats it. Yesterday was about 40 and 80% humidity today looks like its heading that way. Thank goodness for air con! I keep it off until we cant handle the hot more. I dont like the thought of her little lungs trying to deal with air con air too much- silly huh! If it was winter she would have to deal with freezing temps

Hope everybody is having a good day

X X X

Sounds like a great night Bskilner! Go William :) Hopefully it keeps getting better for you.

Had a laugh at feeling better after the poop :) Belley started going only every 3 days, so on the third day we kind of knew it was coming, she'd be really unsettled and then she'd do a massive one and be so happy after. So we were a little surprised yesterday, she did one Wed morning and then one last night too.

DT, where are you?? I am so jealous of that weather! We're freezing our butts off here lol. Actually today it's 17 which feels really warm compared to what we have been having. So cute that Sophie gets grumpy when bath time's over. Belley loves the bath, so we keep her in there til the water's too cold.

Well, we're having a shocker of a day here. Had to drive 45 minutes to pick up Annabelle's pics (so cute, will try to upload to FB when I can). That was fine, she slept the whole way there. The photo place was busy when we got there, and Belley seemed hungry and tired so I changed her nappy and tried feeding her. Wouldn't have a bar of it, she scratched the hell out of my chest and cried, yawning the whole time. So I put her in the pram and she lay there awake looking at everything - the little bugger won't sleep when there's so much to look at! Tried to find a pressie for SIL's engagement party with absolutely zero luck, and the party is tomorrow. No idea what we're gonna do about that.

So, loaded her in the car for the trip home, and she cried for the first 10 minutes :( She fell asleep sucking on the arm pad thing lol. Got back to Tanunda and had to stop to pick up a beanie for her to wear to this party tomorrow, seeing as it's at night and don't want her to freeze and the ones she has aren't really warm enough. Had another look for a pressie with still no luck! Then got home and figured she'd need a feed and sleep. But she's completely past it, won't feed properly, the milk just doesn't get swallowed, she cries no matter what I do, and she's so overtired. The only that will get her to sleep is to stand, rocking her, singing Twinkly Bloody Star. I'm so over that stupid song. But it's the only one that works, if you change to something else her eyes open and she frowns at you as if to say "Hey! Get back to the star!"

That's worked three times, she's woken up three times, as soon as I put her down. She's awake now, just looking at me while I hold her on a pillow on the couch, and nothing's working :( So I can't get anything ready for this darn 3 hour trip we've got ahead of us tomorrow. Argh, why today of all days does she choose not to sleep???

Oh finally, some success! (I hope, touch wood!) She just had a good long proper feed without fussing - first one since she woke up this morning. She finally seems like she's in a proper sleep. Might actually get some stuff done! (Now wait, I'll have jinxed it and she'll wake up lol)

Kaytee - do you have a sling or carrier you could put her in while you try get things done?
Sorry to say this... But its good to hear that everyone is getting about the same amount of sleep! Its very comforting at 3am to know I'm not the only one.
DP goes back to work on Monday, and I have no idea how I am going to cope. Mum is working part time next week to come and help me out and drive me around... But I still think it will be really difficult, its so nice to be able to hand DD over when I need a rest.
I've been getting shocking back pain! Have been doing my physio exercises and it doesn't seem to be working :( I'd love to go see my chiro, but am too scared to trust anyone with my back after having an epidural and a spinal.
Hope everyone has a good night!

Hi Harriet. Just wanted to say I've been seeing my chiro since 2wks after Hamish was born. I had a spinal and have had no problems. Chiro has just been going easy until I get the all clear before she tries some more twisty positions etc.

last night had the best ever 5.5hrs between feeds followed by 3.5hrs. bloody brilliant, but not talking too soon as it probably wont happen again lol. TMI alert, but william and i have both been pooing a lot today and i think its from the antibiotics i started on thurs arvo. and he is screaming at the moment so as soon as i finish posting will try and see if a feed will fix him, but the suns gone down and thats the usual time he starts lol. and got him a play gym for the floor today and he loves it, had big smile on his face then full on lifted his head off the ground when i gave him tummy time, the best yet, almost on elbows lol. he is definately getting smilier which is lovely. oh well just quick update as i think he wants a feed. but hope everything has settled down a bit for you kaytee now. all the best with the party.

Thanks Tara! The pain is sometimes so bad I end up in tears while I'm feeding DD, so will try book in and try work something out.

bskilner - I was on ab's a few weeks ago, and was taking them after feeds. I don't know if this makes much difference (DD poos out the side of most nappies!) but it made me feel better about taking them (she ended up with oral thrush after the first round :( ).
Yay for the good sleeps! Hope it happens again tonight.

I'm hoping for a good sleep tonight. DP goes back to work in the morning... so it will be my first day on my own... FREAKING out!

I too am hoping for a good night sleep but I'm watching Angels and Demons at the moment. Both boys are asleep and hoping ds1 sleeps through tonight so I don't have to get up to him as well. Dh went back to work on Friday night so we're on our third night alone before dh starts 4 days off again tomorrow. One of the great things about him working shifts.

Apart from that Hamish is going well. I sat with him on my chest tonight just patting him for a while and he bought up heaps of wind so I'm hoping he's good now.

sending out loves to PZ, shes having a real hard time of it.

We love you hun :grouphug:

Hariet - good luck with your first solo day, i remember how nervous i was, but somehow we manage. and hope you got a good sleep last night.

yeh i think the poo gave him an unsettled tummy and he was feeding every 2.5hrs last night. my poor little man, you feel so bad when you cant take their pain away.

Sending my thoughts to PZ.

We had our 1st green bath.
Sophie is a once a week pooper but when she does Oh Boy!
So, 2 nights ago she was enjoying her bath so much I thought we'd stay in a bit longer then normal. She got a strange look on her face and when I went to wet the sponge again the water was all thick and green/yellow. Had to call DH to come and we hosed her off in the shower. When I emptied the baby bath there was so mcuh poop, I couldnt believe that baby could hold that much :lol:

lol that is hilarious, im guessing she was enjoying that bath and very comfortable.

she spent yesterday dream feeding and is trying the same today lol but its not a habbit I want to encourage nor can I do it with 2 other kids at home at the moment. She is due a vacination today poor thing, I hate doing them and they get so many here- dam 3rd world countries! :lol:

Hehe DT, Annabelle is the same! She poops every three days, so we're calling the third day "Poop Day" and we basically just wait for it. You can tell when it's coming, she really concentrates on it lol. And it's always big! Thank god she hasn't done one in the bath yet, I can imagine the mess that would make :rofl:

How's your first solo day going Harriet? I hope Ellen is being very nice to you :) And hopefully your DP will help out a bit when he gets home.

Bskilner, hooray for William's big sleep! And 3.5 hours after 5.5 hours is great! But yeah, all that pooping would have really emptied his stomach, no wonder he went back to 2.5 hours. Hopefully he settles back into some longer sleeps for you again soon.

PZ, I hope things are going ok over there. My thoughts are with you :hug:

AFM, I won't bore you with all the details of my weekend - that's getting it's own vent thread lol. Basically, Annabelle travelled really well, and was fantastic for the entire party. She's a very popular baby hehe.

We went to our first Rattle & Rhyme time today - so cute! She's a little young for it right now but she loves the songs. The youngest after Annabelle was 6 months old, and I kept thinking "Wow, I can't wait until she can interact with us like that!" But then I also was thinking I can't believe she's going to be that big so soon, it's already going too fast!

Is anyone joining a Mother's Group or anything? Ours starts off with 5 sessions at the Child & Youth Health Centre, we start next Tuesday. I'm so excited to meet other people with babies Belley's age!

Hope everyone's doing well :)

Hey girls. Things went pretty well here. We survived our first lot of three night shifts with DH's first lot of day shift to come starting Friday. It will be the days that will be the hardest but we'll just keep busy and I'm sure we'll survive.

We go to a mothers group at the army base where DH works. It's always nice to be able to chat to other mums :D and to let DS1 interact with other kids.

Also, just wondered if any of you want to add me on facebook PM me and I'll give you my name :D Would be nice to see some of the bubbas :D

PZ thoughts are always with you. If you need anything holler.

Well, the big weekend and morning must have really tired out Belley! Last night she slept for almost 8 hours in a row (:o) and now she's been asleep around 3 1/2!

Tara, I'll PM you :) I can imagine night shift wouldn't be so bad - you'll just be sleeping & feeding anyway. Good luck with the first day shift on Friday!

kaytee - my mg started 2 weeks ago, 3rd is today, same thing with 5 at local centre. it has really been good to meet other local mothers with kids around the same age.

and congrats on the long sleep.

finished the last lot of antibiotics yest, so hopefully things will be getting better here soon. have just moved william into 00, as his feet werent fitting into the others anymore. kept have scrunched up toes and imprint in heel from seams. he is so long. so the 00 are a bit big in middle but fit him length wise. he is growing too fast. had to go and buy some 0 yesterday as i dont have many and thought it would be a while before he needs them. but at this rate it wont be long.