Babies born~April 16th-30th 2010 #1

Ahhh terrible night for me!!!
Usually bub settles fine after all night feeds and goes back to sleep - not last night... After his 3am feed (well 2.45to be precise lol) he wouldn't... i was still awake at 4.45 when i finally woke DH and asked him to put him to sleep so i could get some sleep.... he did and had about an hour then woke up at 6 for another feed... to which he fell asleep for 10mins then woke up. Wasn't cranky this time though - just super cute which makes me not mad just frustrated!! lol.... Dh took him out at 8 so i could sleep a bit more and i got another hour and a half.... *sigh* so very tired today!!
I'm finding attaching bubba to the left boob is less successful than the right (even though i'm right handed).... prehaps bub is guna be a lefty?? It's quite weird cuz when they were really bad in the first week - the right one was worse :S.....Ahh i get let down at sooo many random times now in both boobs at once lol... painful!

Attempted work yesterday :S got very frustrated with Dh as he didn't really help settle bub (who refused to settle)... ended up with bub asleep on my chest while i worked :S... lol and i conned my mum into having us for tea so i didn't have to cook lol... dinner was great... not junk food and actually had vegies.....
as for TMI - Bub is over 3 weeks old now and i'm still bleeding quite a fair bit :S it's soo frustrating! i just want it to stop... i feel almost normal (aside from lack of sleep) again except for that.
and also i have a TMI question for those of you who had vaginal births..... so everything gets stretched obviously i'm aware of that..... but when it comes to #2's.... do any of you find that you teared a bit there??? It's not painful but it seems everytime after i go, when I wipe there is a bit of blood... like a wound opened again. nothing huge and its only after the first two wipes then it stops. Will mention it to doc next time i go, but was just wondering....

Tan - so sorry about Archie, hope he gets better soon!! Lucky you trusted your instinct and not the Dr's!!

HC thats so great you got some good sleep :) btw can't wait to hear your birth story when you do have time ;)

Shona I ended up winning one of those DVD's on ebay for $26.00; hopefully will gte it in the next couple of days. Although i think i'm getting good at picking up the different sounds already.... the only one i haven't heard actually is the 'tired' sound. And i very rarely hear the hungry sound cuz i usually pick up on his hunger signals.... or he cries really bad straight away with impatience lol.... i've heard all the others.

neway gota go, bub calls again :S

just a quickie as about to finally eat something..

Kirley - tired sound is 'ow' but sometimes you don't hear it, just look for an 'o' shape of the mouth.. i find that Shea does the shape more than the noise - the noise is sometimes there when he's crying (sounds catlike!) but the mouth is a giveaway..as for the hunger one i don't hear 'neh' very often but they say to look for the tongue trying to touch the top of the mouth & i do see that..

enjoy the dvd :)

Hi All

Maranui, i hope things are settling for you, sorry i dont have any dummy solutions for you. The only time i use the dummy is when i have to change Tazman as he hates getting his nappy changed or cloths changed.

Tan, how is Archie? I hope the poor wee fella is feeling better.

HC, Sounds like a plan getting DH to look after Shea for the night and good bonding for them. How is everything else going with you wee man?

Kirley, I hope you get a better night tonight.

AFM, Things are going pretty good. Tazman has been a chilled out good baby. He sleep really well at night and generally sleep about 6 hours straight (touch wood that lasts) He feeds like a trooper and in a week has put on 800g he is already 5kg. DD is not sleeping through the night anymore though.

I am still having blood pressure issue and the hospital is worried about post partum pre-eclampsia so i have been spending my weeks with visits to the hospital, stressing out as BP is still high. They have just started me on some medication which has brought the bp down but still have to keep going back for blood and urine tests, which of course is very exhausting as you end up having to wait anywhere from 3-5 hours each time and it is not fun with the 2 kids. Mum leaves tomorrow as well which leaves me on my own as DP has already gone back to work :((((( So not looking forward to that.

Hello to everyone else.

To all you ladies that have drowning babies because of too much milk, I'm super envious. I have been told by my LC that I will probably always have to top Ethan up with formula because I won't get enough milk from the huge amount of blood I lost. But that said, we finally have him feeding from the breast at every feed :clap: (previosly I was expressing and bottle feeding him that plus formula) it means i'm now getting some more sleep which can only help my milk supply.. Such a catch22..

Tan - I'm so sorry to hear that Archer isn't well, That must just break your heart
HC - There really is nothing like a break down in front of DH to get some help.. I know we all try to be super woman but having a cry really does get some results..
Gotta go lil man is stiriing
BBL

Bella, That's really horrible about the bp and the 3-5hr waits... cant they just let you go to a gp to get your bp checked? surely the wait there would be alot shorter? I hope that your 6hours at night with Tazman lasts and hopefully DD starts sleeping through again too *fingers crossed for you*

lilmisshavachat - That is great about BF.... so do you still have to top him up with formula now? I don't understand why loosing blood will affect milk over time - once you get established in a routine of breast feeding & you are feeling alot better {even if its a couple months down the track}; and feed more often; won't it still increase your milk like it's supposed to?

Tan; hows Archer going? How are you going?? HOpe you're surviving :)

AFM - a much better night!! yay. woke Will up at 9 for a feed that he was going to sleep through - and then he woke up at 3hrs to feed (no earlier like he usually does).... didn't want to stay awake after feeds - even his 6am feed he lay in his bassinette for about 15miinutes just cooing to himself (very cute) then fell asleep. so i got to sleep in till 9am~ whoohoo lol
Hope everyone else is well xxx

Hey Ladies & Bubs

Still no improvement in Archer. Went to the hospital at midnight last night - he had projectile vomitted 3 times from one feed. The first directly after the feed.. the other two at hourly intervals without waking...

During the day he had only had one wet nappy, blood stained :o and had to be woken to fed. He was in energy conservation mood (so they said) and would only stay attached for a minute at a time at best *sigh*

Dr at hospital thinks it may be "pyloric stenosis" which is a narrowning of the stomach that leads to the sm intestines. He gave me the option of staying in hospital but recommended I go home - a more relaxing environment - until Monday morning when A will have an ultrasound to see if it is PS

Anyhow he is still losing weight and I am still stressing hence my supply is getting lower and lower - pumping, eating lac cookies, drinking activite shakes (I did stop this for awhile as he didn't like me having cow's milk but I figure he is going to spew anyhow so I may aswell keep drinking milk if it helps my supply) and tomorrow hope to get my hands on some fenugreek.

I am just praying for an answer, any answer. Kinda freaked out about the prospect of him having to go under the knife it is PS..... Anyhow in the mean time I have moved up to my parents - basically my mum dragged me home. At first they thought I was being over dramatic about the spewing - until they saw Archie in action and even my dad cried, never ever seen him cry in my life... anyhow I am going to go lay down while I can. Sorry about the egocentric post... :redface:

Aww Tan i'm so sorry to hear that *huge hugs* .... xxx all the best for tomorrow morning.

Oh Tan that does not sound good, I hope it all turns out to be ok. Big hugs and let us know when you can how things went with the ultrasound.

Tan- so sorry to hear about archer, hope all is ok, will be thinking of you

Tan: sorry to hear about Archer, thinking of you all and hope he gets better soon x

Kellie: thanks for info about swing but need one nearby as they are heavy and expensive to post. Hoping I will the one in Sydney which ends tonight, fingers crossed!

Oh Tan, your poor old thing. Fingers crossed for the ultrasound and lots of love to you. xxxxxxx

Tan - so sorry to hear Archer isn't well. Hope that it all goes well at hospital today love, thinking of you. Wish you had DH around but it's good to hear your parents are looking after you. Take care of you & your bub hun..

Kirley - yay for the good night sleep! Makes you feel heaps better i'm sure :)

lilmisshavachat - nice to meet you :) Hope that your milk gets better going forward. Like Kirley says, hopefully your body will kick in and start making more to demand if you keep draining each boob as often as possible..great taht you have Ethan back on the breast each feed.

Bellamia - hope the bp normalises & it isn't pre-ecl. Great about the long sleeps - we were having plenty of those too but they've disappeared last couple of days - think it's cos DH been home all weekend so our 'routine' out the window - my getting him into bed 1hr after waking doesn't fit with DH's cuddle time and photos etc & Shea gets all cranky, overtired & a cycle of constant feeds & no sleep starts..sigh... Kind of glad it's monday and we can get back into our own way again, fingers crossed for a cpl of those long sleeps again!!

AFM - well the first ten days have been a journey.. from chilled out sleepy bub to a monster cranky-pants yesterday - day 10 and the emergency dummy was pulled out by DH and our very sucky baby loved it - as i knew he would :( after hours of repeat feeds yesterday i finally popped the dummy in and led him next to me in bed at 11.30pm last night.. got 2hrs in before started grumbling.. didn't wake fully til 2.30 when i fed him and then we got 1 hr sleep before taking DH to catch his very early adelaide flight this morning - it was the only way i could have the car.. (thankfully my insurance co agreed i could drive post cs if my doc cleared me & i sweet talked him)

as for why i need the car..sigh.. my unplanned CS has been a pain in the butt - no-one checked wound while in hospital, they left the sticky plaster over it & told me take it off after 5 days - when i did it was all swollen and puffy but i figured that was normal (doh!) until friday when a hospy midwife came & thankfully took a look - told me it was infected so i went off to doc & got ab's which made Shea & i both constipated :( grumpy baby reason no 1. yest the wound getting worse not better so doc had said go to hospy if needed, so off to A&E where we all spent four hrs (thankfully they popped us in a room to wait so i could BF) so i could get IV Ab's via drip - now i have to go back EVERY DAY until it starts clearing at which stage i go back on oral ABs to really finish it off.. oh unless of course fluid builds up and then i need it surgically drained... bloody hell!! Plus the side-effect of the iv Ab's is upset tummy which hit Shea last night meaning about 20,000 nappy changes, and hit me this morning :( Grumpy baby reason no 2!

So, the alternative birth plan saga continues! Plus I still ahve this tickly cough that was causing all those painful BH before birth, now it hurts my CS wound :wall: Sorry ladies, that's my moan for the day.. I'm not seriously annoyed as I'm loving bub too much but I'm a little over it after such a healthy pregnancy.. Hoping Shea has a better avo & night tonight as DH in adelaide overnight & back tomorrow so I'm home alone.. the upside tho is rather than sit and hang out with DH in the evening, i'm planning on going straight to bed after dinner and getting in as many sleeps as possible..! I just wish i didn't have to drag little one out again today, i don't think being out in the hospy all day helped him yesterday, way too much stimulation..

Ooh re the BF stuff, glad you ladies mentioned about the fast flow - mine has sped up in past day or so - poor man was drowning in it last night.. i expressed 110ml in about 10 mins!! scary stuff.. but at least i clicked why he was suddenly gulpiing through his feeds instead of stop starting and why he pulled off a few times so thanks ladies.. still want to find somewhere to get some advice so i can get the attachment right as i went back to a nipple shield for my righty at 3 this morning as i was so terrified of putting him on due to the pain.. those of you who have got past that now, it's good to hear it can come right :)

HC - that will suck having to go to the hossy every day but at least it was picked up and you can get better....
Lol glad all our BF troubles benefited someone haha... Since you are doing a million trips to the hospital; ask someone there if there is a health clinic nearby where you can get him weighed and see someone about breast feeding. I got heaps of brochures for the one here when I got my red book for bub and also when the home midwife came out as well. So someone should be able to help out.
Hope your week is better than your weekend xxx

Good Morning..

Good luck today Tan.. I hope that they can find whats wrong with Archer and that he doesn't require surgery. I can only imagine how scary this must be for you and especially without DH there for you..

HC & Kirley.. My LC said that if my milk wasn't in fully by about the 2 week mark that it would never fully come in and that I would never produce enough to fill him up.. Having said that an ABA cousellor told me over the phone to just see what happens as she believes you can continue to make more.. we'll see..

HC.. I'm so sorry that your post birth experience is so hard.. All you want to do is enjoy your baby and so much stands in you way.. i hope that your scar gets better soon..

AFM - We are getting better at the bf'ing everyday but there is no rhyme or reason to his sleeping pattern or lack there of.. He didn't sleep between 3.30pm and 11.30pm yesterday.. He was really unsettled and cranky until he did a massive green poo.. I think that was making him whingy.. So I figured he would sleep well through the night but he was basically awake from 2.00am when I fed him until 4.30am and I had to be at a physio appt at the hospital at 9.00am.. Mummy hasn't had much sleep..
Take care Ladies..

Hey everyone

This motherhood gig certainly has its ups and downs doesn't it! I hope things have gone well for Tan today - must be super stressful without DH. She is lucky to have family around.


HC - Remember the old adage that there are stone days and there are diamond days. And that everything is really just a phase. One bad night doesn't mean that they all will be. I think once you have done everything twice then you start to realise that. I remember at about week 3 thinking I couldnt actually do the job and getting super anxious and worried about it thinking I had post natal depression and was heading straight for the mother baby unit. Then the next day he was all coos and sleeping for 3/4 hours at a stretch and I felt like a new woman again. You only need to look at my posts to see the emotional highs and lows I have been through with L being the big boy of the group (and still expect to go through). I think I found it more difficult given he surprised us by coming early and I didn't transition out of my ever-efficient work persona. Nothing like being completely out of your depth to rock your confidence! For you HC, overlay that with hormones and DH issues - its quite a combination! So remember to cut yourself heaps of slack and yes - go to bed at 6.30pm if that helps!

Lilmisshavachat - great to hear that the BFing is improving. And the cranky pants stuff must have been tiring. Take care of yourself too!

Majella - are you out there? How is your little one going? How is her weight gain. Louis now has chubby cheeks (so is looking more like his mum than his dad lol!) 6lbs seems a long time ago esp when I lift him out of his cradle for his 2am feed! I wish I had got some photos of his chicken legs before they chubbed up (again to look more like his mum's than his dads! :)

Hugs to everyone else.
xx

Hi Maranui

I love your comment about stones and diamonds.. It's so true..
I'm not sure that you get past being super efficient woman and slow down do you? I hope that feeling settles and I can be happy just nursing and playing with Ethan.. I have spent so much time up until now expressing then passing him over to DH so I can either make dinner or go to bed to sleep.. I felt he got all the play and enjoyment time but I am now getting to hold him as we feed and watch his gorgeous little face so much more now we are bf'ing every feed.. I'm supposed to still be expressing for another week but I have stopped and figured that the sleep will help more with my frame of mind and milk production and I believe that is working.. Does anyone else use a sling and what type did you go for.. I bought a hug-a-bub.. I really love it but would probably like a type of sling that will just pop over my head and carry him in a cradle hold for around the home and quick carries.. Any recomendations...

maranui: i'm with you on the ups and downs, there seems to be no pattern to it and when we have a good night I have no idea what's been different to make it so!

HC: hope things get better for you soon, c-sections are major surgery it'll take a while and damn infections too you poor thing! Hope you are managing to enjoy motherhood still.

Lilmisshavachat: good news on the BF front, hope your milk keeps up.

Tan: hope all went ok with Archer today x

We managed 6 hours sleep between feeds last night, no idea why! Went to bed about 9pn them still unsettled at 11pm thought we were in for a rough night! Then didn't wake up till 3am, bliss! Up to 4kg now so all going good on the weight front despite the vomiting. Won a swing finally, yay! Hoping that he likes it and I can put him down and get some things done! Also won a BF pillow, anyone used a tortellini pillow? Hoping it will help me out on the 24hour flight back to the UK in 3 weeks.

Hello!

I'm here... reading the posts every a.m when I'm feeding Miss E, and always say that I'll post in the morning but get caught up in the day.

Tan - I hope Archer is ok. Must be very tiring for you having to manage all this with your DH away. Hope you find out what is going on soon.

HC - how are things going with DH? Hard going having to get yourself to hospital everyday, hope your scar clears up soon.

Maranui - Glad things are going so well with L! Are there lots of smiles your way now? I can't believe you are almost at 8 weeks!

AFM: Still having some issues with Miss E's feeding - she was diagnosed with reflux at her 6 week check up last week (which I suspected), so I've dropped BF all together. Feeling a little bit upset about it and miss the skin contact with her but feeding is getting easier so I've got to accept that it is the right thing to do. I've packed away all her tiny premmie clothes, she's at 3.8kg, so definately getting bigger!

I think we've also passed the worse of DD1's transition to being a big sister. She's very sweet and wants to cuddle and kiss DD2 all the time, but the novelty has worn off a bit so she's not leaning into cots or trying to pick her up. She's still a bit naughty when she wants attention, but all in all things are much better. Frees me up a little!

Hi to everyone else, it seems that everyone is coping really well!

Morning!

Majella - good to hear from you and that Miss E is going well. Sorry about the BFing but if its the way to get her growing and putting on the chub then its the right thing for you guys! My premmie clothes are also in the pile and he is filling out his 000 nicely now! We are having heaps of success with a wee merino gown I got off Pregnancy, Birth & Baby At BellyBelly. The Best Pregnancy, Birth & Baby Articles Online! too. Expensive, but he wears it every night. Helps the nighttime transistion (or so I guess!) and makes for easy sleep nap changes. L has just started decent smiles. I had half smiles (or wind last week) but yesterday I had the first directed at me full faced cheesey grin. It broke my heart! I was starting to worry that he was late (dork I know). It makes those 3am feeds worthwhile let me tell you! How are you going in the smile dept? Its a bit harder when they were a bit early me thinks....

Shona - flying to the UK. You are a legend. I am just starting to feel brave about flying to Melbourne to visit my bestfriend (and get off the Island after 9 months stuck without good coffee!). Well done!

Lilmisshavachat (can I call you lil?? he he). I have an over the shoulder one and L hates it and I can never quite get him in the right position. There was also an article recently on abc about the risk of over the shoulder slings and newborns with one brand being recalled (cant remember which one). Given L has a bit of reflux he prefers the baby bijorn. I think the slings look much cooler ;) but the Baby Bijorn is working for us. I am looking forward to my first breastfeeding assocation coffee group where all the experienced mums can put him the sling correctly for me.

Better run. L has gone down after only 40mins awake (weird) and I am going to start a yoga DVD today. I have the beginnings of a sore back (bother).

xxx to the rest of you.

weird. Thats not the link I put in for the sleepstore.....maybe google it if any of you guys are interested. Might only be good for those of us in colder clims...

Hiya from the land of puke and stress!

Waiting for the U/S report - WHY IS TIME GOING SO SLOWING? They say a watched kettle never boils well I can tell you a watched clock never ticks and a watched phone never rings!! I am in two minds about it all - I want it to be PS as than we know what is causing all this but I don't want that diagnosis as that means he goes under the knife *argh* I am sick of being strong when I talk to DF on the phone - trying my best to reassure him I am coping with it all but really I am falling to pieces. I have managed maybe 6 hours sleep since Friday night and when I do sleep I have horrid nightmares - the ones where I can't get the terrible images out of my head even when awake!

Have been instructed to feed him every hour for five minutes at a time - to try keep him hydrated - and he seems to be in better spirits, the life has come back to his eyes and I even got a smile. It was nice to cry happy tears for a change, he is a tough lil bugger! However he still his passing blood through his urine and yesterday started puking blood - vomitting so much he has torn his stomach lining!

My milk supply is back up.. those lac cookies do wonders but geez they are full of sugar - a cup of white and a cup of brown :o still pumping. I went into panic mood (happening alot lately) a bought a $300 electric pump thinking it would work better than the hand one I already have well it doesn't.. waste of bloomin money! Back to getting a full bottle in under 10 minutes, hooray for small victories!

Must go and do yet another load of washing...

Thanks for the well wishes girls xx

Tan - really thinking of you love & Archer, hope that you get all the answers from the hospital so he can start mending.. good to hear milk supply back up. if you're interested in the tea i'm drinking (i swear it works - boobs are fuller the days i drink more!) it's lactation tea & website is called embracingmotherhood.

lil / majella - re slings, i have a baba sling - made on sunshine coast i think and Shea seems to love falling asleep in it.. it was passed on by a friend who loved it with her kids too.. website is babaslings

Maranui - yay on starting the yoga, go girl! i'm still trying to remind self to pull pelvic floor up & tummy in when standing trying to settle Shea but i keep forgetting cos wound is so damn sore. I can't believe you're nearly at 8 wks either when i'm not even at 2 and we had same due date LOL!! Shea did little smiles at a nurse yesterday but none at me yet.. i know they say 8 weeks but apparently they can do it from 10 days.. nurse reckons it was a smile though i'm not convinced - he does practise doing gorgeous smiles when he's in active sleep though ;)

shona great news on the sleep, fingers crossed for that long flight!!

Majella - DH is really trying on the 'support' front but no difference re relationship. He had a big chat with my midwife when i was in having my CS, she just said talk to me and apparently he just talked & talked, about his family & parents & how it was growing up with them not getting on & then splitting and not talking for years etc. she asked about us two & commented how amazing a team we'd been through labour and he told her we're 'separated' but that he loves me to bits etc etc. apparently he just kept saying he loves me & then he said to her that he knows i think there's someone else but there isn't, just got a couple of barmaids he's friends with etc.. It stopped me stressing a bit on the girl front when she told me this (though i still think flirting by text message & phone with someone is more than 'friends' but i'm not letting it consume me now) but I hate the 'separated' thing. Like you all said, living as 'friends' is not a long-term solution & i'l have to address it sometime but for now i need him here. last night was really tough with him away and after shea being on the boob almost constantly from 5pm til 8.30 (every time i stopped feeding him he screamed) i called a friend who came over and helped til he & i settled in bed around 11.. So, i'm not planning on rocking the boat here for a while yet.. he's fabulous with Shea, loves him to bits & apart from the emotional / physical side he actually couldn't be a better husband right now either... How frustrating that the guy comes good after he decides he doesn't want to be married anymore. But he's 'not going anywhere' and seems to still think we can live together as we are for the next year or more... Men!!!!

Oops, huge update, you prob shouldn't have asked LOL! am loving my mothers day present of an iphone though so some things are worthwhile ;)

little man calling, think it's boob time.. BBL!

Lilmisshavachat: we have hug a bub and the little man loves it, settles into a deep sleep every time he's in it. Unfortunately can't use it for BF as would prob smother him with boobies!

Tan: good luck with paed, hope you get some answers, glad he seems to be picking up a little must be awful for you all x

HC: sure it will all work out with DH and you will come to an arrangement that works whether together or apart, seems that you both have Sheas wellbeing before everything which is such a great place to start.

Majella: sorry to hear about the reflux. must be horrible. I have had friends who have used hug a bub after feeding in reflux babies and as child is upright they have found it a godsend in getting babies settled. As for feeding, just keep doing what works best for you all x

AFM: five hours between feeds last night, down at 7pm up at midnight and 5am then again at 9.15am, hooray. Still not counting my chickens as we are due another growth spurt next week! 4kg now so putting on weight nicely and seems to be a reasonably settled baby after a rather shaky start!

Well the U/S suggests it is not pyloric stenosis *phew* but that means the cause still remains a mystery. I have rung and got his 6 week check at the peads pushed forward to tomorrow - perhaps she will have some idea :pray:

It is nigh on impossible to get the antibiotics for the UTI into him today and thus he is back in drifty land.. my no personality baby has returned :cry: scary how in a few hours such big changes can happen, if only they changed for the better!

Healthychick will look up that tea, cheers for that! I do wonder to myself if these things work more as a placebo effect "oh I am eating lactaction cookies that increase my supply so now I will relax and not think about it so much and boom - milk is in" ??? I only say that as they can't find anything scientific to prove why they work - almost every site regarding Fenugreek states that - but hey even if that is the case I am gunna keep on keeping on!

Maranui 8 weeks :o I agree on the dressing gowns for bed, so easy to do nappy changes (not that Archer has many if any wet/dirty nappies lately *sigh*) although we have the el cheapo bonds cotton ones - no need for heavy duty warmth in this part of the country. I have GF from here holidaying in Tassie atm so if you see a tall brunette girl who's turned blue, quite possibly walking around with 50 layers of clothing on give her a hug to warm the poor petal up HAHA

Majella question for you re: Emi's reflux... is it silent reflux? Even though they are dismissing Archer as having it I do wonder! Sorry to hear about that too, but what's best for bub right! I found it hard to let go of BFing Cooper at the same age so I know how your feeling! What formula do you have her on? Anything speicalised or just ordinary? Coop's really reverted behaviour wise since Archer fell ill - to be expected I suppose but dang he is hard work! Sometimes he is legitamately trying to help ie: like putting blankets on him etc but than he does sneaky little things like goes and pulls his ears or toes *sigh* and you can see the lil bit of cheekiness (evil) in his eye whilst he is doing it!

Shonalouise we have a tortellini pillow and a milkbar pillow - both were gifts and to be honest I have never really used either of them but I reckon it would come in handy for your long haul flight! Any more news on the BA strike? Good work on the ebay win!

Sorry run out of time everyone else.. feeling a wee bit human now I have done some personals YAY xx

Tan - Bugger. As bad as having PS diagnosed, it would be just as frustrating to not have a diagnoses. Very worrying indeed. You are a true trooper for doing this on your own. If you lived closed I'd do yer washin fer ya and give you a hand!

Re REflux: My Paed didn't differentiate between silent reflux and reflux - I just did a quick search and can't see any difference in the presenting symptoms, so I'm really not sure of the difference. Her main symptoms were the slow weight gain, fussy feeding, arching & pulling off when feeding, hiccups, the vile projectile-ish vomits, irritability and crying after feeding. I'm using the standard S26 formula as I used it to top-up DD1 and she had bad colic so I feel I know it (stupid statement I know, it's formula, it comes in a tin... but I've grown to know the tin), and the Paed has prescribed Omeprazole. There were only 4 chemists in Brisbane I could buy it from for the princely sum of $55 for a small bottle. The pharmacy told me that if you live in regional areas it isn't available and you have to use a tablet version (??? how to get a tablet into a weeny baby??) - not sure why I remember that but perhaps ask your paed about it if reflux is discussed. We've been on it for 5 days now and some feeds are better than others. I'll run this tin of S26 out and if she hasn't improved a bit more I might switch to a reflux version. Oh, one more thing... my Paed said that there is a genetic factor to reflux, so if Coop had it then there is a chance that A could have it? Good luck with your appointment, I really hope you can get further explanations for poor A.

Shona - Thanks for that info re the hug-a-bub. I'd noticed she was better when I fed her in a bouncinette, so I will try the sling next feed.

HC - what Shona said!!

Maranui - Oh, smiles, so cute. I'm still hunting a big full on grin, but we are getting those little half smiles and lots of bemused looks. Yay for Yoga! Funny you mentioned your back playing up, as the pain I had during pregnancy has also started to make a little appearance! I'm heading off to baby yoga with my ginger nut next week. Stay warm!

Gotta go and get dinner ready for the masses.

Re: Reflux/colic... was talking to my friend today who had two babies that she thought had reflux and colic.... had most those symptoms you said majella (projectile vomits, irritablity, crying after feeding and hiccups)... her second baby is now 7 months and its not quite so bad now... but she was looking into it and both her kids were quick feeders - like 5-10minute feeds. And apparently there is a thing that happens with quick feeders that their tummy doesn't get time to settle/digest the food properly cuz its so quick (more to do with mum's flow being quick more so than the child sucking quickly).... i dont know much about it, but prehaps its worth a bit of research for you and tan??!! So it could be that they didn't have colic or reflux but instead flow being so quick thats what causing it? worth the investigation anyway.....

no time for personals... going to bed... hope you are all well.
tan good luck at paed tomoro!

Went to health clinic this morning.... so apparently they like babies to put on about 150g a week.... lol Wiliam put on 550g in a week! gota love a chubba bubba!

Hi guys

Quick post from me. I had the sleep consultant in this morning and have just had my first settle without the dummy! Wahhooo! Anyway, more about that later, but a great thing she told me was about tummy time. L hates tummy times (screams and rolls onto his back - which he has been doing since 4 weeks!). Simple solution. Put a rolled up cotton nap under his chest to relieve pressure on his tum! He just had his first tummy time and he even smiled! Miraculous!!!!!! Some of you guys may already be on to this but it was a remarkable transformation!

Tan - hope your day is going well and that Archer is having a good day/some diagnosis in sight.

xxx to the rest of you. Will be back later - just had to share that tip!

Maranui: thanks for the tip, Elliot hates tummy time too, great! You'll have to let me know about the sleep consultant, we are now 100% reliant on dummy for settling both during the day and at night although he does go the occassional night without it when he chooses. If there is an alternative out there i'm all ears!

Kirley: Go the booby bar, yours must be continual happy hour with those weight gains!! We are averaging 250 g per week which is also above average but less than half of Williams!

Tan: Glad that you now have a diagnosis, I know it must be scary but at least once you have it you can start to work out a plan of how to fix it. Elliot still has some vomiting issues and sometimes they are huge and projectile but at the moment he is happy and gaining weight. Thinking of you all x

Well we are now going 5 hours at night between feeds, it's great but making my boobs engorged between feeds which should settle within a few days. We are trying to keep him awake for several hours before bedtime and it seems to tire him out enough for bedtime to be reasonably easy. He has been unsettled with wind pains today and I have switched onto Bauers colic relief, we'll see how it works. Child Health said that Infacol turns small bubbles into large single bubble and can make bub more uncomfortable as they try and pass a big lump of gas, the recommend Bauers or Infants Friend as better alternatives.

BA strike called off for now so fingers crossed we will make it home, only the volcano to contend with now and we will be set! I am so hoping that Elliot will take to the airplane bassinet, if not we may be in for a hard time!

Hey Shona - hope the new tummy time trick works for you. We just had our second lot for the day - catch up time! L still doesnt lift his head that well so we are on to it now. He grizzled a bit but nothing like the crying he use to do.

The baby whisper kinda just cemented what I knew. We really focussed on sleep cues, and as I suspected through weeks 4-6 I kept L up for far too long. He really is a little boy who only likes to be awake an hour including his feed. This was particularly true in the evening when I had become really fixated on a 7pm bedtime routine so would tend to either string him out (so he would be overtired) or hurry him up (so he would be not ready). She said that you can only really start to target that kind of 7pm ritual when they are about 4 months. Which of course I knew - but the 7pm thing was giving me a sense of control- even though he often cried for a good hour before he hit the hay! Oh dear. So tonight I put him down when he shows the signs rather than a deadline in my own mind. Dad home from work or not! Maybe it will encourage DH to leave earlier - he has been drifting later and later over the last week or two.

So she said we were doing lots of things right. Still swaddling (til about 15 weeks she thought), music, warm dark room at night, bathtime. Loud voices during the day, none at night. She also gave the thumbs up to the gown at night and suggested I could probably skip a nap change if he is in huggies (he is) and doesnt tend to do a big poo at night (he doesnt). And during the day music was a good distraction for other noises.. We talked about two different Louis - the one who is drowsy (who should self settle with comfort offered every 5 minutes) vs the overtired Louis who may need more assistance to get to sleep (like rocking or a dummy). She wasnt totally anti the dummy - just try and limit it to teach self settling. I realise I have had the overtired Louis up until about a week ago when things started to come right with his daytime sleeps.

So today he has gone down twice without the dummy and with only 1 return to his room and a cuddle each time. So far so good. Touchwood. On nighttiimes - we are now doing 5+4+5 (or have for the last 5 nights) which is great and nothing to complain about at all! Our problem was daytime, esp if I am out and about. She says its strange he doesnt like settling in his pram and a bit of a curse, but she also said its only a month or so more and he should be more settled and that when I should feel more confident about getting out and about and being able to manage his overtiredness. Which is kinda what I thought anyway. She said that getting out and about is really impt for my sanity (true!!!!!) but that given he wont settle in the pram I might just have to deal with a wee overtired man, but he should come right after a full feed, play, sleep cycle. So now I have that in my head I feel a bit more confident and not that I am throwing him completely off the rails by going to yoga or a drs apt!

So, all and all. A whole lot of common sense and a set of recommendations that take the best bits from the various books and websites I have vowed never to look at again ;) Sometimes I think we over think things! Oh, and she also gave me a plan for the next 18 months! One day at a time is all I am on at the moment!

So there you go :)

Maranui: Thanks for the info, it's nice to get reassurance that we are doing things right! We seem to be travelling pretty good but I would like to decrease our reliance on the dummy and encourage some more self settling.

I have found a really good website with some great info on all aspects of babies feeding, crying and illness. Someone had mentioned about what silent reflux was and I was reading that it is silent when the baby regurgitates some of their feed but swallows it again before it comes out of their mouth. With reflux they vomit or spit up alongside prolonged periods of inconsolable crying and failure to gain weight. Not a very in depth explanation but seems to cover it I think.

Have been reading about sleep cues and crying and soothing methods, has made me realise that we have a great baby and perhaps my expectations were a little high!

That's great Shona. I am getting a little better on the cues too - though the 5-7pm period has me all over the show as his cry is always "neh" which I understand from Dunstan is hunger (though I havent seen the DVD myself). For hunger I tend to go more on time and mouthing. What's the website?

On the new technique. It was a mixed night. He went down first at 6, then work at 7 hungry. Took until 8.20 to settle eventually with the dummy (which the baby whisper was ok about after 30mins of attemting to settle. I was exhausted HOWEVER he than slept until 2am, quick big feed and out until 6.30. It was my first single night feed. My boobs were like cement - I was up for 1.5hr with the expressing I had to do LOL.

Sorry to everyone else. Hope you are all well.
xx

PS. Ayapi, havent heard from you in a while. Hope things are going well for you guys.

Hi lovely mummy's,

Sorry it's been a while, but I have been busy with a toddler and bubs. Finding it hard to keep up with everything (housework, washing, cooking etc)... but we are getting there. DD2 is doing really well a little unsettled but they do say they have growth spurts at 4,6 & 8 weeks. Milly is doing really well now that she is being BF, she put on 610g in 2 weeks which I was really happy about cause when I was BF she was only putting on max of 80g.

Sounds like you are all doing well with your little ones! I have been reading up on all the entries just haven't had time to post.

Tan - I hope little Archer is doing well, we are thinking of you sweet.

Shona - I envy you for taking your little bubs to UK, I hope you're able to get there. Isn't it great getting a baby their first passport, I got one for my DD1 as we went to NZ when she was 3 months old and I did it all on my own (travelling to NZ) as DH was in China. I'm sure he will be fine and take well to the bassinet.

HC - I can't believe they didn't look at your scar when you were in hospital. How are you recovering now? I'm much better still have a little pain every now and then but it's getting better I've been driving since 3 weeks.

A BIG :hello: to everyone else.

maranui, how do you fold the nappy/cloth so that it sits?? so it's really high or just so its folded once? William also hates being on his tummy, unless he is across my knees then he doesn't mind it so much :S weird...
for those of you without facebook Tan had an update on there - Archer did have that thing wrong with his stomach (muscle grows across opening to small intestine); so he is in hossy and has to have an operation. Thinking of you and archer tan xxx
Hope everyone else is well....
Ayapai nice to have you back for a bit ;)

Maranui: sorry your night was a little mixed, I don't think that I can post websites in here so will PM you. Sure that with perseverence you will get there, good news on the single night feed but know what you mean about the rock hard boobs as we have been having similar issues! I am trying to stick it out to allow my supply to settle but if it gets too uncomfortable i'll be expressing too.

Ayapi: good you are travelling well and that bubs is gaining good amounts of weight. You were brave travelling with bubs on your own, not sure I could manage that!

We had another good night after a feral evening, think Elliot was overtired and then refused to settle and spent an hour screaming the place down! Ended up giving him a bath which didn't help so tried colic relief and still no joy so ended up giving Panadol and wrapping him and putting him down with baby music on. He settled pretty quick so no idea what if anything worked or whether he had just tired himself out! Slept from 9pm till 3am then not up again at 6.15 so from really long break between feed to pretty short one but still only up twice which is great. Has been going 5 hours between feeds today but has been quite unsettled, not sure what's going on with him :( Been awake most of the day and not going down and grizzling even when held which is unusual although will hopefully set us up for a long night sleep....Fingers crossed!

Hi Kirley - quick reply. Sorry not to be clear, roll the nappy like a long snake and put it under their chest and raised arms ;) Goodluck.

Hi All

Tan, i hope all is getting with Archer after his op and that he is recovering well. Thinking of you.

Shona, i hope Elliot is a bit more settled for you today. Can you also PM the useful website. thanks

Ayapi, good to hear from you and that you lil one is gaining weight.

Maranui, how are things going after the baby wisper has been?

HC, how is scar going?

AFM, things are going well, we have survived our first week on our own and have managed to get out the house most day. Taz is such a good baby he sleeps for 4 hours blocks during the day and 5 hours blocks at nights. It is a nice change from what DD was like. DD is coping with the change better and she slept through last night. She is madly in love with Taz sometime a little to much.

Taz has his GP check up yesterday and all is fine he is now 4.9kg (that is how much DD weight at 2 months).
My BP has stabilized and i will be seeing the doctor next week about a plan to reduce the dose and then take me off them all together finger crossed, but that means no more long visits to the hospital and waiting hours and hours for results.

Hello to everyone else that i have missed and i hope all the bubba's are behaving.

Bella Mia: glad all is going well, definitely sounds like you have a very settled baby, well done!

Tan: hope Archer is recovering well x

Our settled child has vanished and we have been left with a grizzly and unsettled one. Two hours of screaming with short periods of being settled but as soon as we tried to put him to bed he would be wide awake and screaming again....sigh. Slept well once he finally did go down and went back to sleep after feeds but grizzly again today, either asleep, feeding or crying, pleasant awake time has gone. Have been reading about "wonder weeks" which are weeks where children go through major developmental stages and there is one around 6 weeks, maybe that is it. Hopefully he will grow out of it, soon!

Hi to everyone else, have a great weekend.

Hey Shona - Louis was a nightmare child at 6 weeks which was when I called in the baby whisper and starting to have him have his day sleeps in his bedroom (rather than the lounge). Dont worry - your settled bub will come back! She says as she goes to comfort a very unsettled Louis!! ;)

Maranui: thanks for that, maybe i'll not give up all hope just yet!

I called child health nurse just to be sure all was ok and she said all normal for 6 week mark and probably growth spurt. I'm going to try feeding him a little more as he has decreased to 4 hourly during the day today and with 5 hour gaps during the night, not sure he will get enough. I worry i'm feeding too much then too little, it's a bit of a whirlwind this motherhood thing!