Babies Born ~ March 2012 #1

Nic good to hear the bleeding has all but ceased. I bled for 6wks with ds1 and about 4wks with ds2 so im hoping only another week or so and i might be done too!

Buffy- wow willow is doing great with her weight gains well done! its amazing how all of a sudden they look or feel heavier. i put a 0000 suit on Ryker yesterday which a few days before fit and yesterday looked a bit short in the arms and length wise was a bit of a stretch!
a mothers group may be just what you need also, worth going and checking out anyway, i found with ds1 everyone may not have had the same issues but everyone was finding something challenging. something you may have been good with someone else was at their wits end with, and i was lucky we all got along really well.
Unfortunatley we lived in melb and then moved away and i know most of them are still friends and the kids are good friends.
when i went to the clinic last week the mchn put my name down for a mothers group. something i never asked about or thought i could do cause its not my first bub. but they are run on a thursday at 10am and it would work out well because its right across the road from ds2 preschool so i could do the school then preschool drop off then mothers group. it starts thurs week so if dh is home i can go to the first one (cause still school holidays) but if not i will try the following week. if i dont feel like i fit in i wont continue but never know who you might meet and click with
ive been eating way to much chocolate,this is why i dont buy the stuff cause i just cant help myself!! i dont wanna put on any weight i was pretty stoked to find out i am already 2kg under what i started when i was pregnant! (but that wont last if i keep eating easter eggs) i havent noticed it causing Ryker any unsettleness its just the time of day each day he seems to have.

last night dh had to go into work to get a few things sorted (even though he is on holidays) so left me at 630pm! ryker wouldnt settle after his feed at 730pm, i end up cuddeling him and i woke at 12.15am when dh got home. amazing that when he is getting cuddles he keeps sleeping through a feed but in his cot he would have already have woken

Buff, 600gms in 10 days is fantastic! you must be making super milk!!!
different thing affect breast milk, have to limit my coffee intake, cabt do onion or garlic at all!
sloane, lovely to see you here gorgeous! hope you and miss K are travelling well, how does C like having a new sister?

Elocin, i purely go to the mchn for the weigh ins and usually stop about 12 months. the one i had for DD2 was an absolute mole, but this one is really really nice, so hopefully it stays that way!

DF still home from work...joy lol

Hi all

Better night last night, I can't work out if it's something I'm eating as I've stopped all the usual culprits like onion, garlic, chocolate days ago the only thing I havent cut out is dairy, I had dairy yet day and she had a good night :shrug:

The lovely lady who does family day care came and picked the big girls up today so I didn't have to race around and take Helena out too early. I do need to get some groceries but will do that in a bit. Cheeky monkey had her last feed four hours ago and doesn't look like waking up anytime soon. I'm lying in bed with her and playing around on the iPad. I've stopped bleeding for about 5 days now fx it doesn't start again as with my other girls I thought it was over with then had it start up again for another week.

Nickers sounds like Ryker is growing well, all my 0000's are packed away now :( Miss H is almost too big for some of the 000 onesies as she has such a long body they get tight at the crotch. I hope the mothers group goes well, I never went to one with dd1 and they don't seem to offer it unless its your first here.
Sloane great to see you in here :)

Buffy glad you have an appointment with your GP. Sounds like you must be doing things right 600g in 10 days is a fantastic effort!

Elocin I only ever used the drop in service with the girls and it was only really to weigh the girls. They also had a set of scales in the waiting room so sometimes I would weigh them myself and not worry about seeing the nurse. Must admit by about 6 months I didn't weight dd2 regularly as I could tell she was growing and she was meeting all her milestones. Helena seems to dislike the bath still although you're right it does help with the wind, unfortunately if I give her a bath overnight I would wake my other dd's up then I'd have three kids to settle back to bed!

Skye enjoy having your df home, it's nice to have company and to have someone help entertain the bigger girls :)

Sararose: it's a shame helena dislikes the bath, Samantha loves hers, instant asleep with her toes pointing up and floating in the water.. we love it as we are water people too, so see this having a great potential for swimming in pools etc.

Sam slept through most of the night last night, so that is improving, and she is more awake during the day.

I have the 2 week mchn visit tomorrow, other than taking her home from hospital I haven't taken Sam out in the car yet, so it should be an adventure.

Its good to hear that the rest of you are starting to slow / stop in the post partnum bleeding, mines slowing down a lot, and I will be happy to get rid of the pads :-)

Sara- i wonder if Helena might like a shower? I got dh to bring in Ryker with me the other day and he loved the shower, just layed so content in my arms.
zilly- thats great u got a good block of sam sleeping last night.
i didnt keep up the mchn weigh ins with ds2 cause clearly he was stacking on weight and i didnt have any concerns. ds1 being premmie etc i was always hanging out for the next one to check things.
tomorrow im getting the hand impressions done with the 3 boys then after that the big boys are having a sleep over at nanny and poppys. i said to dh we might go out with Mr R for dinner and enjoy the fact we can lol going out with a newborn is a lot easier than toddlers!!

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a mothers group may be just what you need also, worth going and checking out anyway, i found with ds1 everyone may not have had the same issues but everyone was finding something challenging. something you may have been good with someone else was at their wits end with, and i was lucky we all got along really well.

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I agree that a mothers group can be great. You tend to get differing stories about mothers groups from people (some love them, some hate them), but it all depends on the particular mums you get in the group. I'm lucky that the mums in my group (from when my son was born) are all great and we all get along really well. It's nearly been three years now and we still meet up once a week at alternating houses to let the kids have a play and for all us mums to have a bit of a chat. The biggest gripe I've heard about mothers groups is that some mums can be quite competitive, but thankfully we haven't really experienced that in our group.

I'm rather jealous of the ladies in here that have stopped their pp bleeding. I'm soooooo over it, lol. I've actually become really self conscious about it because I feel that it smells and I feel "dirty" all the time. Hopefully it's getting close to finishing because it's no longer red, just that watery yellow brown discharge. I was almost going to ring my obstetrician about it because I didn't remember it smelling like it does with my other two kids and was worried about infection, but there is no abdominal tenderness or fever, so it must be fine. I think it's a bit of a mental thing for me, and that it doesn't actually smell bad. I even got some aloe vera maternity pads thinking it would mask the smell a little, but now whenever I smell the aloe vera I associate it with the discharge and think that smells too! *sigh* Fingers crossed it's all done soon haha.

Looks like I don't get to do persies at the moment because DH has left Shayla in the swing and come in to tell me we're doing "swapsies" with who is pushing the swing, lol!

mylitta are you using cloth pads this time?
re helena being in 000, addison is still in 0000!!! henceher nickname midge

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mylitta are you using cloth pads this time?
re helena being in 000, addison is still in 0000!!! henceher nickname midge

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Nope, I initially used the exact same maternity pads as last time. Now I'm just using normal pads but even they are the same type I used last time too. It's really odd.

Arlia is moving into 000 already as well. She is still able to wear a couple of her NB and 0000 jumpsuits, but there are two I have already put away because they are too small. I am telling myself that they are just a "small make" and it's not because my baby is already growing up hehehe.

Want to hear something funny? I have a whole bunch of really cute little baby clothes that were Shayla's that I used to dress her in (like tops and leggings and little dresses), and while they are all still adorable I am finding myself more inclined to put Arlia in baby jumpsuits because some irrational part of me has decided that if I keep putting her in jumpsuits she is going to stay a baby and not grow up, lol. It was really a miracle that I got to even have another baby, so surely I should get to keep her as a baby as long as I want yeah? ;)

Mylitta, that is so cute! I'm the same... I may or may not have teared up the other day when I put a 0000 green onesie on Connor and I realised it was too small. Where has my scrawny newborn gone already?!

Nic, how was your dinner out?

Buffy & SaraRose, how was your night? I hope your girls let you sleep!

Zilly, good to hear that Sam is letting you rest!

I am fecking exhausted... This kid has decided that sleep is uncool and refuses to sleep for any stretch of time. He will wake and feed for 15-20 minutes but I can't get him to keep going. He doesn't fall asleep, he just isn't interested in anymore. If I push it and keep offering, he'll take a bit but then vomit it all up. And because he's not getting a great deal of tucker, he's awake almost ever hour...

And during the day, Mummy's arms are the only place to be... He'll sleep on me but he will wake up within 2 minutes of being in the bassinet. Oh my Lordy, my arms are going to be so buff!

skye, midge is a cute nick name, I wonder if Miss A will always be petite

mylitta, Im finding Helena is wearing bodysuits most of the time, they do look more like little bubs in the suits. I also find because Helena is so long she needs the length in the bigger sized pants but she's not big enough around the waist to hold them up! I hear you on the smell, its different to AF and I always worry about it, lots of showers here

nickers the shower sounds like a good idea, Im too nervous to do it as I find babies get too slippery in the shower but I might have to convince DH to give it a go. The hand impressions sound lovely. I hope the expressing/breastfeeding is going okay

zilly yay for sam sleeping at night, good luck with your outing!

elocin wish I had some advice for you hun, I think with your first these challenging times can feel like they will never end but it passes so quickly so make the most of the cuddles and coos and know the hard parts will be over soon, leaving you with buff arms ;). Is your DH home on the weekend to help? One more sleep if he is

we have had 2 reasonable nights in a row and im feeling much more human. Helena only fed twice overnight and settled really quickly the first time. She is now in the cot as she likes having her arms free but was waking herself up hitting the bassinet as she was getting a bit big for it. She has been sleeping better int he cot already. Think I might do the grocery shopping online today

I hope all the other mummas and bubbas are doing well

Hi girls,
This will be a super quick catch up as alone today and trying to keep my little critter occupied...
MCHN came Tues and Yves has put on 536gm in 7 days, so that was cool to know. He is still tiny, but not quite the scrawny pterodactyl we brought home from hosp! He is feeding well, but my nipples are still ridiculously sore. MCHN seemed to think it will pass... man I hope so, it makes each feed a real mental battle. I so want to keep going, but when it gets too much we do mix in a formula feed - once a day at the moment. It helps to know he will alternate between bottle and boob as needed.
The in-laws are still staying with us, but leave Sunday. They have been such a help but I am also looking forward to DF and I enjoying time with our son alone. Excitingly though, my dear friend is visiting from Sydney, so tomorrow night I have some EBM put aside and we are going out for dinner and a glass of wine :confetti: I am going to make the most of the grandies babysitting, as who knows when the next opportunity will be.
Thats all our news really - I will try and get posting more often once the visitors are gone - despite their help with Yves I seem to have less time to sit down, as I tend to use the hands-free moments tidying up after them!
Hope you are all managing well today and maybe get a few smiles, even windy ones!

Sararose - We shower with all our kids :) We rarely use the bath lol. I'm generally the one that showers with them when they are really little because I get nervous when hubby does. I'm sure he won't drop them... but I still get nervous, hehe. At least when I hold them I know that I always have the held really securely. Arlia is starting to really enjoy the shower. She loves being held upright on my chest so the water runs down her back, but especially likes it when I let her have a breastfeed in the shower :)

lct - You are so brave!!! It took me 2.5 years to leave my DS with my parents for the first time! I have a little it of separation anxiety when it comes to the kids hehe.

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I am fecking exhausted... This kid has decided that sleep is uncool and refuses to sleep for any stretch of time. He will wake and feed for 15-20 minutes but I can't get him to keep going. He doesn't fall asleep, he just isn't interested in anymore. If I push it and keep offering, he'll take a bit but then vomit it all up. And because he's not getting a great deal of tucker, he's awake almost ever hour...

And during the day, Mummy's arms are the only place to be... He'll sleep on me but he will wake up within 2 minutes of being in the bassinet. Oh my Lordy, my arms are going to be so buff!

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Hugs hun. That sounds very much like what my son was like. Fingers crossed he becomes a better sleeper faster than my son did. He still had issues sleeping longer than one 45 minute sleep cycle when he was over a year of age. Thankfully he's a perfect little sleeper now. For over a year now I think I could count on one hand the number of times he's woken up and needed us to go to him during the night. We never did any CIO or anything like that, it just seemed that one night he slept through and then did it consistently ever since.

Speaking of smiles, anyone getting them yet? I got a big one today and swear it wasn't wind, he was responding to my faces and looking right at me!!! I thought he did it a few days ago too but I'll count today as his first smile cause I am certain of it, of course I tried to get him to do it again to show dh but he didn't!

I've been having 2 showers almost every day, I just feel I need to feel cleaner.

The boys are sleeping over night so dinner is tonight, however we thought we might do inch instead seeings the sun was out, we went to a new cafe we haven't been t before and got our drink, but waited a whole hour for our lunch and when I seen someone else's food come out that arrived after us I made dh go check, well they forgot our order.... So peeved as we were both starving when we got there, I fed ryker while we were there, anyway then we just got a meat pie from the sho next door and come home!! So we will now attempt dinner aswell and hope we get our food this time....

Nic- sounds really tough for you atm, could Connor be having a growth spurt? A few days ago ryker was wanting to feed every 2hrs but not settle in between, I'm sure he was having a growth spurt.
Lct- enjoy your dinner tomorrow night! Last week my toes were curling with pain when ryker was feeding, I couldn't stand it anymore when I pulled him off to see he was drawing blood.... Do u have some nipple cream?
Sara- I seen the pic of Helena in her cot, makes her look tiny doesn't it! Glad she is sleeping better in it. I dnt think it will be long before ryker out grows the bassinet either.
Man it's quiet in the house without the big boys and little boy sleeping :)

I took him to the clinic this morning to get his weight checked and the little pork chop put on 370g in 1 week. So he was 3.88, 80grams up on his birth weight.

lct, sounds like Yves is thriving! Bet you'll be glad to have him and DF all to yourself. Have fun with your buddy hon.

nickers, Ryker is doing so well. Very annoying about your meal, did you complain? And hooray for smiles!

sara, glad you're had a couple of good nights with Miss H. Can't believe she's outgrown the 0000s already! Willow is still in them but the Bonds Wondersuits are definitely looking a little snug.

Mylitta, hope the bleeding stops for both of us soon. Lovely that your little one enjoys the shower, I haven't been game to try it yet.

Elocin, what a draining time for you and Master C. Fingers crossed for some rest, take care of yourself.

zilly, how was your MCHN visit?

Evening everyone else.

AFM: hit the wall yesterday and called PANDSI, our local PND hotline. They were really helpful - am going to info/support session next week. Also saw GP today, took her all of five minutes to diagnose and put me on anti-d meds. I was concerned about the affect on BF but the longer term effect of not sorting things outweighed it. Hopefully it brings some relief soon.

Willow is great, sleeping like an angel during the day and grunting loudly through catnaps all night! Think she's quite windy in the evenings so will go back to propping her up. We're also on the brink of putting her in her own room so we all get some sleep. I'm pretty nervous about it, I want her close but it just ain't working. Also unsure how to keep kitty away, might buy a canopy. Will try for day sleeps with the video monitor and see how it goes :)

Wow, these bubs are certainly keeping us on our toes aren't they!

Buffy, I hope the AD's kick in quickly for you. Im really glad your GP was able to help you and hope that PANDA provides you with a good support network too. And, of course we're all here to lend an ear, or a shoulder, or help in whatever way we can.

Nickers, Yay for smiles! I've had a couple of 'windy' ones and am hanging out for the real thing now. I hope you and your DH have more luck at dinner tonight than you did at lunch, what a let down that would've been. I think we're going to have to take a leaf out of your book and call on Pa to babysit DS1 a bit in the coming months so that we can get out an enjoy a few meals out together, it's been a very rare thing for the last couple of years and I really miss doing that.

lct76, Yay for great weight gains! Sounds like you have a great relationship with your IL's, I struggle having mine stay with us at the best of times, let alone with a newborn in the house LOL! Enjoy your night out tomorrow, sounds like fun!

Sararose, I saw the pic of Helena on FB, sooooo cute. And even better if it helps her sleep better.

Elocin, I really hope you get a better night tonight :hug:

Mylitta, I completely understand the jumpsuit logic! I'm doing the same thing here LOL. I think we've probably got another week in 0000, if we're lucky. They're already looking a little short in the arms and legs.

Zilly, sleeping through, lucky you! Did you keep waking up regardless? How did the car trip go for you today?

:hello: to everyone else, hope you and your bubba's are doing wonderfully.

As for us, we've had a couple of good days. The MCHN came yesterday and Cooper has put on 350 grams in 5 days. He was 3.92 kg, so already 100 grams over his birth weight. Ash was very slow to gain weight to begin with, so this was a huge relief for me. I'm feeling so much more relaxed now and was able to stop waking Coop's every 3 hours overnight for feeds last night. I did a dream feed at 10pm, then he woke at 3am for a feed, and then again at 6am. I can't tell you how good it was to get that stretch of sleep.

I also had a much better day with Ash today. The last couple of days he's been pretty grumpy with me, I know that it's just his way of adjusting and the fact that I can't pick him up is really hard for him, but it still makes you really sad. But today I was able to spend some good quality time with him first thing in the morning which set us up for a good day. It was so nice to have my happy boy back. Hopefully he returns tomorrow.

Anyway, gotta run, DH is getting grumpy waiting for me to watch survivor! Sending lots of sleep vibes everyones way.

buffy so glad the GP took you seriously. FX things can get on track and you can enjoy being a mumma to your beautiful girl.

Nickers, we get smiles when i clap her hands together and make stupid sounds, although shes probably smirking going mum you're an idiot! she's also starting to try and talk,mostly to DF.

LCT, wowsers you're making super milk too!! what a fantastic gain, the little guy will be a chubba butt in no time at all the way you guys are going! hopefully the nipple pain stops soon, have you considered expressing instead of giving him formula?

Mylitta im the same DD2 was 18 months before she stayed with anyone, and that was purely because DF and i were too unwell to look after them! i dare saymiss A will be well over 2 by the time she gets babysat, i barely like anyone else holding her let alone look after her for a period of time.

Elocin, you poor chook, its so hard when theyre like that, miss A is being very very similar, im hoping she gives it up before next week, im going to be a zombie mum oging back into the school run. little monkey not being interested in his food! just keep reminding yourself, its not forever, it WILL pass i promise. might sound silly but enjoy it while it lasts,m they grow so so quickly then kisses and cuddles are just totally uncool!

Miss E, glad Ash has started to settle with things

AFM, well fun few days,thankfull DF has been home as A has rendered me useless, just wanting to feed feed feed feed feed, shes definetly going through a growth spurt, she even feels heavier! DD2 used to cluster feed then have really good night sleeps, but not this miss, im pretty sure she woke every hour and a hlaf last night.
She hasnt pooped in 4 days, fearing cleaning that up when it finally happens!
im off to bed. hope we all get some decent sleep tonight ladies xxx

LCT, babe we did the exact same thing with the formula... The middle of the night feeds were mentally the toughest for me, so it was usually then I'd get DH to give him some formula. It honestly saved my bf'ing journey... Keep doing what you need to do honey!! And yes, it does pass darling! You look fabulous in your latest FB photo too x

Nic, that sucks about your lunch! I hate it when that happens!! Fingers crossed your dinner was a success!!

Oh and yes to the smiles!! My brother got the first non-windy grin over the wkd. I got one on Monday and just scored another one just then by making vomiting noises... What else do you do to entertain a one month old at 4am?? :rofl:

Miss E, glad to hear Cooper has had a good few days! I hope things. Have settled with Ash too.

Buffster, I am so very pleased that your GP was proactive and didn't fob you off!! Do the meds affect bf'ing? Lots of love to you and Miss W... I wish I lived close enough for a coffee date ;)

Skybie, definitely sounds like Miss A is gearing up for a growth spurt! I hope you can get off the couch soon. No poo for 4 days? Connor has done 2 in the last hour :sick:

Thanks everyone for your well wishes... I feel like a new woman this morning! Connor fed on & off for 3 hours last night and then slept for 3.5 hours straight!!! Up for an hour and asleep for another 2 hours! Happy days... Mummy feels alive!

I spoke with the private m/w yesterday who confirmed growth spurt and that it was all completely normal... It doesn't make it any less exhausting, but is reassuring to know he's doing what he needs to do.

Babe has fallen asleep on my chest so I'm going to enjoy these cuddles... Thank you for putting that into perspective for me too. I was so worried about the fact he wouldn't transfer into the bassinet, I wasn't enjoying having my wee man in my arms :heartbeat:

buffy- im glad you seen your gp and it sounds like she is helping you in the right direction, i hope the meds make a big difference and help things along.
Skye- i hope you got some sleep last night, it does sound like Addison is upping your supply with a growth spurt.
Nic - good to hear you got a nice block of sleep, its amazing how much bettter it makes you feel even when your still not really getting loads of sleep but a good block atleast. yay to smiles!! as they react and smile more it makes all those sleepless nights and tears worth it
lct- its great that Yves can alernate between bottle and boob, he needs to have a chat to my boy :) when i seen the mchn yesterday she asked me how the feeding was going. i told her i change my thoughts every 2min whether i can keep persisting with bf when he still takes an hour, is super fussy and then i still need to ebm top up then express. she suggested trying a feed in the day where i dont top him up afterwards and then seeing if the following feed he sucks more efficently if he is more hungry.... we were out a lot of yesterday so i didnt try it, might give it a go today but if not i think im becoming accepting of the fact i can keep giving him breast milk but by ebm. when school goes back and dh is back at work its going to be full on.
Miss E- Cooper is getting the super juice and doing lots of growing! it takes a bit for siblings to adjust doesnt it, ive even found ds1 who is almost 6, loves his lil bro but has been having super attitude and getting all huffy & puffy at the drop of a hat.
the bonds wondersuits are definatley a bit smaller in comparison to other suits.

we did have a nice dinner, we wernt out for very long though 1.5hr turn around and i was nakkered when we arrived home (it was all of 730pm lol) then Ryker had his usual unsettled period but ten fold, he cried for pretty much 2hours... i was glad we didnt have others to put to bed etc and dh and i kept taking it in turns to settle hiim down. he would just start setteling in our arms and then get real upset again. It was this time of night whilst pregnant that he used to be real active too so i usually am not looking forward to that time of night. But i guess its better to be going through it at that time and not later in the middle of the night or wee morning hours.
oh and yes totally peeved about not getting any lunch, especially when i was hungry half an hour before we even got there and then waited an hour and then to still not get food, i could have eaten my arm off!

Rykers face has gone all pimply, the mhcn said its just hormones, i remember ds2 getting them too and they passed, poor chook looks like he has a teenage case of acne!

morning ladies

Our photos are up, Im really happy with them especially the group shots and ones of the girls. If anyone wants a peek the site is appleseedphotography . com. au and in the client log in section the password is Helena. Now I need to order the disc then get some canvas prints arranged

Had a crappy night last night between a mozzie in the room and Helena having Hiccups and reflux I got less than 2 hours sleep. DD1 is having a school friend over to play this morning for the first time so she is super excited. I better go and organise something for morning tea, I think fruit and fairy bread sounds easy enough to manage

Nickers glad you got your dinner out and your little man waited until you got home to get his cranky pants on. Great news on the weight gain too

Elocin its amazing what a little sleep can do. Im jealous of your getting smiles from Connor, Helana is still only giving windy smiles so far

Skye good luck with poosplosion hope it doesnt go too far. DD2 managed to do a massive one after 5 days when I was changing her, got it in her sisters hair (she was watching me change DD2) on the wall and in the built in robe! Sounds like your midge is about to get a bit bigger

Miss E hope things are going well with your boys, it takes everyone a bit of time to get used to the new routine. Sounds like Cooper is growing well, well done!

Lct hope you enjoyed your night out, sounds lovely. Im looking forward to Helena getting predictable with her feeds in a few months and being able to have a glass of wine just after a feed occassionaly

buffy well done for reaching out, glad your GP didnt muck about and hopefully the antid's will kick in soon and you can continue to enjoy your little girl

Miss A must have heard me *****ing about her lack of sleepies, woke up with two very very very full boobies today! clever poppet slept from 1-9, now if we can make that 11-7 i'llbe a very very happy mumma!!!
Im still ****ckgkgkdkdkdkdkdkddking bleeding, so voer it!!! that week off was such a tease, it goes from a real pink colour to that sludgy brown crap, not looking like finishing up anytime soon

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Our photos are up, Im really happy with them especially the group shots and ones of the girls. If anyone wants a peek the site is appleseed . com. au and in the client log in section the password is Helena. Now I need to order the disc then get some canvas prints arranged

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The photos are gorgeous! I especially love the black and white one of your three girls where the big girls are looking at each other. I also melt a little bit when I look at the pics of Daddy with his girls ♥

Oh, and I think the website has "photography" in the webaddress because I had to google it to find the right site ;)

Thanks Mylitta, and I've fixed it up to include photography, what sleep deprivation will do. I love the ones of my DH and the girls too

Sararose, I'm another one who looooves your pics! I've been thinking that we should look into getting some professional shots done because we have hardly any good photos of DH and I with DS (one of us is always taking the photo), you've just given me the inspiration to get off my butt and organise it - thankyou!

Skybie, wow you must have felt like a new woman after that stretch of sleep! Fingers crossed it's the new norm.

Nickers, I'm so glad you guys got to enjoy a nice dinner out.

Elocin, there's nothing better than those sleepy cuddles is there? They're so precious and you miss so much when they're older.

AFM... I can't believe it, Cooper has officially outgrown newborn nappies at 12 days old :cry: This morning we had to succumb and try the infant ones on for size because every poo for the last two days has leaked. Sure enough they were a much better fit. I know it sounds really silly, but it makes me feel a bit sad, it just confirms how quickly they grow up... My milk supply has also increased 10-fold. Coop is only having one side a feed now and by the end of the day I'm ridiculously engorged, he just can't drink enough! Last night I expressed before bed which was such a relief, but they're back to being huge again now... I had planned to express regularly like I did with DS1, but TBH now that Coops is here I just can't see how I'm going to manage to fit it in on top of feeding. So, while I'm longing for the relief of empty boobs, I guess I'm going to have to wait this one out, but on the same token I'm worried about mastitis... Anyway, I'm rambling now. Hope everyone is enjoying a lovely weekend with their bubs and getting lots of extra sleep.

Just a quick question girls - How long do you breastfeed for?
With my DD it used to take about an hour and even at 6 months it was still about 40mins. I am just finding it hard sitting for so long (or trying to walk around feeding while tending to DS).
At the moment DS is taking 40mins to an hour.

DD is taking about 20ish minutes on average I think. Both my girls have been fast feeders, whereas DS took about 45 mins. I wonder if the girls have been faster because I've breastfeed all through the pregnancies and been tandem/triandem feeding and therefore my supply is a lot greater so they get more faster...

10-15 mins, she lurrrrves her food

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hello, newly combined group!!

:hello:

Hi peanutter! yay new group

Razz Helena takes about 30 minutes to feed. It can be challenging when you have a little one cdemanding attention. I had 2 years between dd1 and dd2 and became very skilled at walking about while breast feeding. Hopefully your ds will get quicker the older he gets.

Miss E Helena could do with the next size up in nappies but I'm trying to use up all the newborns. Hope your engorgement settles, I expressed at least once a day with my older girls to build up a freezer stockpile but I haven't had the time this time round apart from the 1L I hot when my milk came n

We are having a good night so far,must admit going to bed at 8.30 allowed me to catch up on some sleep. I feel like a bit of a nana lol

Baby Buddies

Skybie: Addison Jane, 28 February
peanutter: Judah Samuel, 7 March
Elocin: Connor Neil, 12 March
me-lisa: Alicia Cate, 17 March
sararose: Helena Kate, 17 March
nickers: Ryker Thomas, 24 March
buffy1: Willow Dona, 25 March
Mylitta: Arlia Feyt, 26 March
Razzberry: Oliver Noah, 27 March
zilly: Samantha Alice, 28 March
Nel.B: Lachlan Anthony Michael, 29 March
m+w=peanut: Addison Ava, 30 March
sloane: Keely Paige, 31 March
lct76: Yves William, 1 April
Miss E: Cooper Robarts 2 April

New list for our combined group :)

feeding - Judah feeds really well! Takes between 20 and 40 minutes - a huge improvement from DS1's usual 45-90 minute marathons ... DS2 doesn't unlatch while feeding, rarely perks, and if he falls asleep while feeding, it's because he's done and dusted, and no amount of rousing, unwrapping, tickling, blowing on his face, etc will get him to take any more ... he however has no real routine with feeds yet ... I'm really praying that a routine comes soon - I go back to work in a couple of weeks and I will be pumping to a routine, and wanting to bf before and after work, which will obviously be tricky if he's not going to want to feed on my timetable ... !

sleep - Judah is still pretty mercurial ... one night he'll sleep 7 hours, net night he'll want boobies every 2 hours ...

nappies - DS2 is still fitting newborns ok, but we have him in cloth basically 24/7. The nappies we bought for DS1 are still working great, and we just picked up some more before DS2 arrived, as DS1 is still in nappies too ...

photos - no plans for professional ones of the 4 of us yet, but my dad's 60th is coming up, so we've recently had a playdate in the park with the whole family, and we took a bunch of photos - many of which turned out pretty well, so we'll get a couple of them framed :D Our theory was essentially that if you take 100+ photos, you'll have 2 or 3 nice ones ... and you're unlikely to have more than that on your wall anyway, so why pay $500?

bleeding - all gone ... don't even need pantyliners anymore ...

back - my back is *not* liking being on the couch breastfeeding and pumping so many hours a day. My pelvis was all out of whack from the last birth, and that was mostly fixed up with chiro work - but my sacrum is still pretty grumpy. I've had it worked on a couple of times since DS2's birth and hopefully now I will be able to be on my feed for more than 5 minutes without pain ... ! Time will tell :)

expressing - I've been expressing like a banshee, and I have a fabulous stockpile of about 15 liters in the freezer. I might have to start pumping a little less, as I will only be able to pump twice a day when I go back to work, and I'll explode ... it will be difficult as I have a full working day plus an hour commuting each way ... but I did it last time - with a hell of a lot more issues physically - so I can do it this time ...

older bubbas? - DS1 is beyond infatuated ... it's beautiful to see. I haven't yet had them both at home though - with the trauma and the c-section and everything, we've just kept DS1 in daycare for the time being ... DH is stopping work in 2 weeks, and when he's at home full time, we'll be dropping DS1 down to 1 or 2 days a week in care ... haven't decided whether to go one or two days yet ... DH is studying, so he'll want one day a week with only DS2 to make sure he gets his study done ... but we're tossing up having a second day of DS1 in care, for DH to have a dedicated housework day ... but very undecided. The cost of daycare is similar to the cost of a cleaner ... would it be better for DH to let the cleaner in, take the boys to the pool and the park and come home to a clean house ... or to drop DS1 at daycare and do the cleaning himself, and have a relaxy afternoon while DS2 naps, before picking DS1 up from care ... don't know ... and I think it needs to be DH's choice, as it will primarily impact him ...

housework - it's actually ok. DH is helping craploads ... I do the basics during the day (dishes, laundry, milk, paperwork, some shopping, tidying, etc) and then tell him what needs doing when he's at home, and mostly, he does anything I can't do or don't get done (washing the dogs, vacuuming, taking the bins out ...). the house is pretty far from what my ideal is, but it's heaps better than I would have expected this soon after having a baby!

office work - yup, so I'm back in a little over two weeks! it has come up like nobody's business ... I don't know where the past 9 weeks have gone ... I'm not ready, but I hopefully will be by the time I return. I've been doing some work from home - a bit here and a bit there, answering questions and checking emails and writing a few papers ... but not a patch on what my normal day is!

other? not sure what else ... It's 4am, so I should probably finish expressing and go to bed ...

i think its a great idea all of the month is merged!
peanutter- wow thats some stock pile you have going there! i had a freezer full with both ds1 and ds2, havent got there yet though only got 5 x 100ml stashes in the freezer. And this time i finaslly have a deep freezer so could store for a lot longer. how many days will you be going back to work for?
i like the sound of a cleaner.. i guess you could trial it, as long as she was getting everything done and in the way you wanted it the same as if dh was home doing it, it would be nice for him to be able to go out and about and have quality time with the kids.

Razz- ds3 was taking 1hour plus to feed (im expressing now and giving him ebm) on/ off the breast a LOT and then after that was still having to top him up then express all within a 3hour cycle. when you have other children is really tough. ds1 was still really little when we brought him home (2.65kg) and would always fall asleep on me, take over an hour, but i had the time to persist with it and i did. as horrible as it sounds now i have 3 children i need to attend to so i have decided to just keep expressing and feeding that way. Ive been feeling very guilty that i havent spent more time with the big boys these school holidays.
Miss E- i hope yo dont get mastitis thats horrible. mayeb try not expressing to empy the entire breast as the more times it gets emptied the more it will keep filling.
Sara- i feel you on the nana lol i have been going to bed neally every night, i hate doing it but i need the sleep, i am missing a lot of shows i like and my "me" time
Ive got about 60 more newborn nappies then we'll be moving onto the infant ones. i need to buy some aldi too and trial them, i used them with both the boys after newborn size and they were great.
for those on FB i added a pic of Ryker thismorning, his acne had gotten so horrible :( a few pimples on thursday has turned into a full face of pimples the clinic nurse on thursday said it was a hormone rash and normal. dh rekons it was all the chocolate i ate..... not sure about that but good excuse to stop rading the kids chocolate pile anyway..... im thinking i may take him tot he doctor tomorrow if its still so red and horrible. I only booked professional pics to be done a few days ago and thats next Friday, i dont really want to be getting pics done though with his poor face looking so bad. ive put egoderm cream on it which hasnt helped any, ive read hydrozol can help but can only use it for a few days, i know i have some but cant find where i put it.

thanks, nickers!

I'll be back full time.

DH and I have tentatively decided to have DS1 in daycare on Thursdays and Fridays, with Thursdays being "uni day" and Friday being "housework day" ... we'll see how it goes!

Happy Sunday ladies!

Hi Peanutter!!! What a stockpile of EBM you have... How awesome. I really want to get organised and start pumping, just to have some in the freezer but never feel like I can get enough out... Do you pump before or after you bf?

Miss E, fingers crossed that mastitis doesn't show up hun. I can't believe Cooper is out of newborn nappies already! These babies are growing too quickly!

SaraRose, those photos are just divine!! Such gorgeous girls you have.

Skye, I am freaking jealous you got so much sleep out of Miss A! That is great!

Nic, I don't know what you can do about R's wee pimples because they are caused by your estrogen... Good luck at the GP though, I hope they can give you something that will help.

Buffster, how you doin lovely lady? Sending you and Willow lots of love x

Razz, Connor usually feeds for about 20-30 minutes with a 10-15 minute top up within the next half hour.

I hope everyone else is doing well!

We had a **** of a day on Friday... Crying baby & Mumma most of the day :( I have cut dairy out of my diet and it's made the world of difference... Totally different kid!

He is sleeping great until about 2am hits... Then we are up, feed for 10 minutes and there is nothing I can do to keep him interested in the boob. Wrap him and he falls asleep quiet quickly (5-15 minutes), back to bed BUT he's usually then awake about an hour later to repeat the process.

DH has a theory that he's close to sleeping through as he doesn't *really* need the milk... I don't know, but I'm really hoping so!

Speaking of sleeping, Connor is snoozing on DH's chest so I'm going for a nap xo

elocin: after, always after, to make sure DS2 gets all he needs first, and also because he stimulates supply and let down a lot better than the pump does! But I think my body just responds really well to my pump now, as they became firm friends when DS1 was bf :) and it's really variable - sometimes I'll only get 20ml, then other times I get 350ml which is nuts, because DS2 wouldn't be drinking anywhere near that in a feed yet, he's only 5 weeks old!! But for now, I'm just pumping and storing all I can ... I already have business trips on the horizon, and I will only really be able to pump twice a day at work (though I'm considering pumping once before work too ... I normally get to work before 8am, so there is time... will see how it goes when I'm there...) On average, I am currently pumping about 100ml after every normal feed, and 200ml after the overnight feeds (which makes sense, because apparently that's your peak production time).

sorry to hear you had a crummy day last week - but sounding really promising re the dairy! With the overnight feed, I've heard a few people saying that the best way to check is to give them water (boiled and cooled water) and if they are more wanting the snuggles than the milk, they'll stop waking if they know they're only going to get water, and so will just sleep through ... but some people would find that to be non gentle, or would want to offer the cuddles anyway :) With DS though, he just went from waking for a 3am feed to not waking until his 7am feed ... it was so dramatically sudden that the first morning I woke up at 6am, saw that it wasn't 3am and DS1 wasn't crying, my instant reaction was that he was dead, and I fled to his room before calling an ambulance - only to find him happily asleep, warm, pink, and breathing perfectly well ... then he woke up for his 7am feed, and just continued sleeping through!


office work - I'm going to have to be really hard on myself, and just shut down the computer and leave at 5pm ... with two kids now, plus with baby weight to lose (and therefore a gym to attend) plus counselling and Bible study, I just can't be working long hours any more. There's three of us at my firm who are generally the last to leave, and there's one (yes, one) person who leaves at 5pm every day. He has never been penalised for it - and everyone else kind of just knows that if they need him for anything, they need to get him before 5pm, because after that, you won't see him for dust - he's on a train heading home to his family ... and I just need to do that. It will be hard! DH and I have historically had an understanding: he will not say a word against me working long hours (and I mean long: I've been at work until 4am, and back on a train at 6am before, and I've lost count of how many times work has sent me home in a taxi because I've missed the last train at 12.05am...) provided that I never bring work home. This way, if I'm at home, I'm at home ... but we might have to have some flexibility there, if I cam no longer going to stay back to finish things off ... it will be a new day!

six week checkups - mine is coming up this week, but it's in the city ... that's an hour driving both ways, or driving and then train and tram trip there and back, either of which would be a fair effort for me on my own ... so I'm wondering whether I can organise to do it with a local GP instead of going in ... I'm also supposed to see the psychiatrist and the dietician too though, so maybe I should just suck it up and go ... I don't fancy doing the tram with a pram though ... and as much as I like the chest carrier, I don't fancy relying solely on that for what will end up being a 5-6 hour day trip all up ... and will also mean I'm carrying nappy bag and handbag as well as DS2 ...

Hi lovely ladies, nice to meet our new March buddies! *waving*

Elocin, sorry you had a rough day on Friday. I hope you managed to catch up on sleep x

Nickers, it sounds like you're doing an amazing job with the EBM. I saw Ryker's pic, it doesn't look too bad - what did doc say?

Evening to the other ladies, sorry for crap personals. Willow is well, starting to smile and generally being adorable. She's cluster feeding in the AM and having longer naps in the arvo. Have had some trouble settling after feeds, especially during the night, but not too bad.

Still in a very rough patch mentally, and still too anxious to sleep when she does dagnabit. Heading to PND support group tomorrow and waiting for meds to do their thing. DH is an angel, taking her while I try to nap, researching how to express (really!) and doing all the cooking. Am so lucky he's home for a bit longer. I keep telling myself things will get easier. Sorry to be a downer.

Oi Buffy you silly moo, don't apologise - WE ALL LURV YOU! :hug:

buffster id give anything to come give you a biiiig old squishy hug right now xxxxx

What LCT and Skye said hon!!!!

Feel the love baby... There's plenty of it coming your way :heartbeat:

We are here when you're ready xo