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

Yep thats the right colour poo HC :)... lol. weird hey.... although William has a poo almost every nappy. sometimes big, sometimes small but theres pretty much always some there - could have to do with how much he eats though.
Now that William is over the first week he doesn't sleep as much as he did. He is awake for quite a few hours of the day. So don't stress about putting him back to sleep straight away (although it's heaps more convienent hehe).... but usually then they are more tired and might sleep (william is the exception) a little longer next time they go down.

As for DH, he plays all the time. whether will and I are awake or asleep. If i ask him to watch Will while i have a shower he usually plays xbox and doesnt' do much with Will. If he cries he doesnt' even really pick him up if he's playing, he just rocks the bouncer :S usually i then come and pick him up; or when he does he brings him straight to me saying 'i think he's hungry'. *sigh* And its thurs and still nothing done on my list. Two weeks to go :S

oops sorry Kellie forgot your question.. mot sure about timing, i looked at hiring but got one on ebay for $100 instead-at least you'll sell it on & make money back..

Hi guys

Well, I had my fingers crossed when people said the first 6 weeks are the hardest. Week 7 is proving to be pretty tricky with the dummy being a double edged sword. L is now addicted to settling with it, only he seems to spit it out about 6 times before he eventually sleeps. This leads to a very unsettled wee man - and a very tired mother. Day time is actually the worst. So now, I am a cold hard mother who has put him in his bedroom for daytime sleeps as well as night. You all have to remember this is a woman who wanted to cosleep and now has her little bub in a room down the hall ALL DAY! Well, except for his playtime that is...
Was a mess yesterday and DH came home from work to find me in tears on the couch with L asleep in my arms (FINALLY!).

So last night we tried to get rid of the dummy. We had 2 hours of unsettled crying with DH in charge of settling. We vowed that by 9pm we would give him the dummy. 9 pm came. Dummy went in. OUt then in, and we got 6 hours sleep. Not ideal though. So I am getting Hobart's resident sleep expert/baby whisper to come next week for some advice on what I am doing wrong (other than the plastic fantastic that is).

What do you other dummy using mothers do? Cellotape them to their mouths??? I am at the end of my tether! And to those non-dummy users - never mind nipple confusion - beware of my experience! Then again, it could just be me......

Kirley - I too subscribe to the bunch it up and shove it in school (BFing that is!) Seems to be working fine for us. The one thing I am dilgent about is breaking the feed if I have any nipple pain. I also have painful letdown which hasnt seem to go away with time - but only lasts for about 10secs. At about 5 weeks I noticed that I also feel my breasts tingle throughout the day or when he cries or I feel upset. Freak nature stuff ;0

My DH is proving to be a great dad - though he too is occasionally guilty of the "is he hungry" call. This led us to feeding every 2 hours on a grumpy day - now we are back on the 3/4 hour big feed schedule - the snacking was doing my head in given the dummy settle can take an hour. Yesterday morning L didnt settle finally from his 8am feed until close to 2pm...... not good.

HC - fab to have you here - now we are all here with some newbies too (welcome welcome). I am sticking with you guys not my age group BBuddies. One of them has a bub sleeping through the night. I felt like crying. Oh, hang on. I did.

xxxx

awww Maranui I'm sure it's just a rough couple of days... he will get better soon :).
William also isn't too fond of the taste of the dummy and spits it alot. When I know he's not hungry and just wants to comfort suck i usually hold my finger on it for about 20seconds so he can't do the repeated spit and rock him a bit or rub his tummy to calm him and it seems to work. It doesn't work when he's really really unsettled, so out comes boob until he pretty much goes to sleep.
As for BF yes i definately break it off when its hurting, especially now that I know what it feels like for it not to hurt. Still hurts a bit when he first starts to suck though.
As for the tingling at random times - yep i get that. Was coming home from the shops and I had it in both boobs at once lol i actually had to hold them cuz it was kind of painful. I was wondering if the sensation ever goes away... it seems that it probably wont.
I won the Pricillia Dunstun DVD on ebay for cheapish yay... although i'm getting good (i think) hearing the different cries without watching it. yay for me. It's really helpful actually. Especially the burp one :)

Maranui: sorry you have hit a rough patch, hope it will get better soon. We have a dummy spitter too, in out in out, we put him down about 20.30 last night and were still putting dummy back in at 23.00, sigh.... We hadn't kept him awake much during the day though due to convenience so we were to blame really. He seems to really like sucking on it and it really settles him down so I have no idea why he won't keep the damn thing in his mouth! Good luck with getting rid of it, let me know what you come up with as an alternative as I couldn't cope with being a 24 hour on call boob for pacifying as well as feeding!

Kirley: so glad the BF has improved, I wish there were more lactation consultants too! It's so easy to see why people give up, it's such a hard thing to master! I had many breakdowns in the first couple of weeks where I said I just couldn't do it anymore. I'm glad I persevered, they really don't tell you that the babies need to learn as well as us. Elliot now will take the nipple and suck it to the back of his mouth gently before he starts feeding (only on the right side though, weird!) so I really don't need to attach him at all that side.

HC: my letdown only came after about a week and kend of feels like pins and needles in the boob and nipples, can be quite uncomfortable at times. Only need to talk about BF and I get letdown, embarassing when I forget to put the breastpads in! As for baby poo, we don't always get a lot and it is variable from really yellow to a bit greenish with sticky curds in that are realy hard to wipe off!

AFM I managed the cradle hold for the first time today with attachment first time and it made for a much more settled and less gulpy feed, had him at an angle so that his head was elevated and it was great, a real achievement for me. Had a nice day today with awake time much more pleasant than over recent days where he had been either asleep or crying! I too am keeping watch in the Patricia Dunstan DVD on ebay so I can work out what he wants. Trying to get hold of a fisher price open top cradle swing so that we have another option for keeping him pacified, it's hard work that either we have to be holding him or him in basinette, just keep missing them on ebay and can't afford new, grrr!

Have a great weekend everyone x

just a quickie from me, shonalouise, where abouts are you located? Another BB member had on her facebook page that she was selling a fisher price swing.. she is in QLD, but I dont know whereabouts

Maranui / ShonaLouise - we haven't had to use the dummy yet, it's been out of the cupboard a few times when he's cranky, just in case, but neither of us have used it. I appreciate hearing how you guys are going as it's helping me try stay off it, cos i'm worried about him being a spitter too. That said, Shea's a real sucker and loves his fists so we just can't wrap his arms in or he won't sleep! but when settling him & he's cranky i find my little finger generally does the job and as he settles i'll gently ease it towards front of his mouth, if he's still awake he'll resuck but if he's getting dopey i can ease it out and he just stays asleep.. don't need it every time but generally when he's cranky / overtired. what's worked last couple of feeds has been staying in the bf chair and rocking and he just nods off then i pop him in hammock.. that's been much easier than the walking, sucking etc but hey, each time still seems different at mo!

Kirley - glad that the lactation consultant helped.. you've inspired me to try find somewhere i can go as my right boob is so sore.. missing a feed last night helped but i think i'm probably attaching him wrong as it does hurt on that side, no matter how i try. i tried taking him off whenever it hurt more but the more i attached him in one feed the worse it got :( THe left is fine, and i think that's common in right handed people.. Oh and i do get the pins & needles in boobs at random times.. apparently it's an oxytocin hit that causes it.. strangely i get it as much when talking about DH as Shea..

afm - wow, i'm human again!! i hit the wall last night after a week of dh on sofa to get sleep & working late and me on call for everything all night & day - with that window when DH got home and wanted cuddles and got shea overtired..sigh... after settling him at 9pm i slumped on sofa and all DH said was are you struggling? and i lost it.. it was the first time i felt i had nothing left to give & started crying.. first time DH seen me cry (usu manage to do it all in the day LOL! and it's usually more about missing out on the DH hugs etc than baby related..). So he told me he'd look after shea for the night so i could sleep - well that was all i needed - straight to bed & i didn't even hear him come & take hammock out with shea - the two of them spent the night in the lounge & used some milk i'd expressed and i got a 3 hr, 4 hr & 2 1/2 hr chunks of sleep!!! more than the past 3 nights combined i reckon.. i did one feed at 5am but that was it.. gonna try express more today and do another night like that ;) I think i can manage the weeks if come friday / sat i can catch up - good thing is that it gives DH some bonding time without me over his shoulder which i think he really enjoys :)

Greetings from the resident stress head... WHAT A WEEK!!

Just when I thought I had re-gained power over the puking (sp?) by laying down to feed from Wednesday night onwards Archie starts vomitting with every feed AGAIN! I knew something was amiss so rang 13 health and 1800 mum2mum who both said he needs to see a dr - rang drs again to get see if I could get in any earlier but they were chockers :wall: so I headed to the ED who told me to march my butt into the docs office and demand to be seen. So that's what I did, :crying: helped I think! Got weighed and he was only 60 grams above birth weight (and seems even lighter now) so thank christ for all those HUGE gains because overall he has lost almost 1.5kg :o Dr said he was well hydrated..

OH F it.. he is awake.. quick version... he had blood in nappy Friday - back to dr - said he has a uti - on antibiotics but still throwing up so not sure if he is gettting any... COME HOME WAYNE!!!


BBL maybe...

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!