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

Wow - a florrie of activity!

HC - you are right that DH is missing out. I cant quite believe his timing and the suggestion that a new mum should be having to sell her home....but a nice little place for the two of you might be the nice clean start you both need. You are being very strong. Shea is lucky to have you as his mum. If it were me I would like be turfing him out and cutting up his clothes with toenail clippers. You are obviously far more mature than I.

On wind, SL - I am hopeful that another week will buy Elliot some more maturation in his tummy. Louis' wind has improved with time as he gets more use to fast flow and processing lactose. I hear you on the Rotovirus vaccination. We had an overflowing nappy and a wet bed overnight. He was a little blighter today though - didn't sleep at mothers group or afterward so was effectively awake from 12.30 - 6. When he is extremely overtired he also refuses the breast so its a sad cycle. I was in the lounge with my friend Medela Swing expressing like crazy while DH was in Louis' bedroom feeding him with a bottle (which he will take). Sigh. It's the only time he takes a bottle......which I am only happy to do once a week.

Bella Mia - great to hear from you and that things are going well. You are lucky to have such a good daytime sleeper (and night time too by the sounds of it). I am firmly of the belief that poor Louis is suffering as DH and I are both amateurs! Hopefully the next bub will benefit from our learning on the job!

Kellie - I am hopeful that the Osteopath works. I have had friends have wonderful positive experiences with their babies and wind. So if yours is experienced with bubs it may pay off. I was initially very skeptical about osteopathy - esp cranial osteopathy which I thought was hocus pocus. However, I have had two great practitioners who knew more about physiology than any GP, physio or ortho I had been too (I had L5 back problems). Even DH (who is a Dr) managed to overcome his prejudice when my osteo gave him the only decent neuro assessment he had when he broke his neck earlier this year. My osteo showed me some massage techniques to help Louis's wind in the early days that seemed to help. But generally, as he was such a rapidly and intact delivery, he is quite a balanced wee bub so I don't take him regularly. Though I am off this week as my back is killing me.

Anyway - time for bed for me. L was so grumpy today I suspect he will have a big sleep this stretch. He hasn't been feeding to sleep after his nighttime feeds at the moment so I am really hoping thats not a phase!

xxx to you all.

Oh - PS,

Louis moved into his big boy bed on Sunday - out of the cradle and into the cot. We had no issues at all (though I worried about it excessively). In fact, I think he prefers it ;)

I am such an over-analysing dorkburger.

PPS.

Just realised I had already mentioned the cot thing. I am a double dorkburger and clearly overtired!

LOL Maranui!! Great news about easily moving Louis to the cot.. great that you're enjoying mothers group too, i'd really like to get going to one but our local one doesn't start til mid-july, i do have a couple of friends recommending local pre-school groups etc - won't be all new mums but will be some support, however have to wait to get a car first.

Kirley - glad to see on FB re the big sleeps.. i'm still on small ones but was pretty happy last night that Shea went 4 + 4 so i got about 3 & 3.5 hrs of sleep.. i've just gotta start going back to bed after the early morning 5 or 6 am feed but i find i can get stuff done at this time that i wouldn't otherwise and i'm generally coping on the 6hrs a night at the moment... would love more tho of course :)

Kellie good luck with the osteo. i love cranio-sacral therapy, really seems to be good for so many things & i know a friend doing osteo for her own gut issues & feeling much better :)

Bellamia - glad you're having such a good time with Taz and thank you so much for the support. once i have transport i'll arrange to come down and catch up for a cup of tea ;)

AFM Shea fed much better overnight and this morning, got him on both boobs and when letdown got to strong topped him up with an EBM bottle - i know they say not to use bottles too much at this age but i can't just leave him hungry and screaming & i figure if i'm having to express before feeding to make boobs more manageable for him then i'm better using it than throwing it or i'm only going to boost my milk supply beyond what he needs..

DH update - said last night he was thinking yesterday that i was right about it not being a good time to sell this house and that if he found a room in a shared house cheaply then we can sort out with c/link that we're separated - 'even if he doesn't stay at the other place much' - so it seems like he's calmed down from the weekend and is planning to stick around longer with us after all. but rather than swallow pride and say he's reconsidered he's going with the property market excuse.. i told him about my plan to buy a little place & that i'll need his help with it. didn't say much, probably surprised i'm thinking ahead now!

i have a good friend arriving from sydney tonight til sunday, she's a nanny very experienced with newborns - woohoo! and DH flies out tomorrow first thing to adelaide & sydney, coming back when friend goes so we're going to have a lovely girly few days :D Funny thing, DH has a late meeting and so he may have to pick her up from airport instead of me, bet he's not relishing being in a car with one of my friends for 30 minutes LOL!!!

Shona - sorry to hear there are still flight strikes in uk but you're right, at least you'll be on local soil. hope that the wind problems abate before you go... do try and keep in touch occasionally while you're away and let us all know how you're going :)

Majella - are you out there??

hi to everyone else xx

Shona - you have prolly already said and I missed it, but when are you going to the uk? pretty soon by the sounds of it! Good luck with packing and on the flight - I hope elliot is ok on such a long flight for you!!

HC - Lol about your DH having to sit in a car with your friend :)... im pretty lucky that most of my friends my DH is pretty good friends with too.. however i could imagine a couple of them would drive my DH bonkers! haha.

Yay for me that Will has woken up for his two morning feeds (7am and 10am) and gone straight back to sleep - he went straight back to sleep all night too without any fuss... which is great for me because i have been coughing non stop all night... had about two hours sleep cuz i've been coughing soo much.... I slept on the couch so I wouldn't wake up William (and John although he'd sleep thru anything)....not that i did much sleeping *sigh*....but he has gone back to sleep so i've been able to do work, have a shower, eat breaky, and now type on here. I really hope he is just having a growth spurt and needs sleep... and its not that he's getting sick :(.... will keep an eye on him. Have to wake him up shortly for a bath as we are going to look at his baby photos today :) yay.

Have a good day xxx

hi everyone

we went to the osteopath this morning, and I am crossing my fingers, but at this stage I think it has helped slightly. His first feed after we got home, he actually came off himself after about 5 minutes, so I sat him up and he did a massive burp, this happened 2 more times during the feed. Usually he'll keep drinking until he is completely full. He has now been asleep since about 4, I cant remember the last time he slept this well during the day, he usually wakes up squirming and crying in pain. She wants to see us again next week, so I'm hoping he'll be even better then.

In terms of getting his lower wind out, she suggested laying him flat, pushing his knees towards this chest and rotating the legs clockwise. Apparently this pushes the air out of the bowel, but you have to do it in a clockwise direction.
She also suggested to get burps up, to find where this rib cage finishes, and massage on it and press upwards if that makes sense, I cant explain it. She also suggested I express a little before feeds to help with flow issues, which I think one of you already suggested.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know how I went, for others in a similar position, it is probably worth giving an osteo a try. Hopefully the improvement continues.

Hi Kellie - am so glad the osteo went well for you. Fingers crossed it works. I am going to try the clockwise leg thingo on Louis.

I'm off to an Australian Breastfeeding Association thing this morning. Hopefully Louis is in a better mood than he was yesterday as he was FOUL and feeding every 2 hours. Last night he screamed (not cried) before we finally got him down - he was a very overtired strung out wee boy!

xx to the rest of you :)

Kellie: such good news on the osteo, hopefully your little man will get some relief. We had another bad night, squirmed and cried intermittently throughout the night, didn't finally pass the wind until his 6am feed :( Seems to be more of a problem at night for some reason, perhaps beacuse he is laid flat. Will be trying to do clockwise legs and see if it helps.

Maranui: I have often wondered how many of our "issues" are caused by us being new parents too, you certainly learn on the job and there are no hard and fast rules! I always seem to end up using the breast as a solution to most things and sometimes not sure whether it is the right thing to do but when we've exhausted all the other options and still have a screaming baby I don't know what else to do! Hope the ABA thing went well, I did consider going to one locally but chickened out! We are talking about number 2 as well so musn't be as bad as it sometimes seems and sure we will be much better prepared and equipped!

We are off to UK on 7th June, non stop Sydney to London but thankfully have a bassinet seat so fingers crossed we will get through 24 hours on the plane!! I am taking some formula as I have a major fear of something happening to my milk en route and him starving before we touch down again! Have to admit i'm a little unsure about 24 hours of BF in front of other people, there's not much room to move on those seats! I am still at the stage where I need to look at Elliot for successful attachment and may end up with my head stuck under a blanket! I think that my G size boobs may scare the other passengers or at least put them off their meal!! Well must go, lots of packing still to do!

Shona - ABA thing was really nice. Hosted by one of the trained counsellors at her place and it was nice to talk to some experienced mums and not feel pressure to come up with another topic (ie baby centric was totally acceptable). Anyway - a girlfriend of mine recently flew from NZ to London with a 4month old. It went really well as the white noise from the engine was like a tranquilliser - had you thought of that - I certainly hadnt but it makes sense :) When L is revolting I often put him the the laundry with the dryer on on his bouncer and it calms him right down. But she did have a tip - which is that you should remember to drink plenty of water (double what you normally would) as you need to combat dehydration for two rather than one. She also fed slightly more often to keep fluids up so kept an eye out for those non sleep related hungry signals like lip licking ;) So as soon as you are on the right side of the security barrier I would buy some big water bottles if I were you :). I am sure you will be fine. It's all about mum being confident right ....lol, this is from the woman whose son has an aversion to outings in the pram.

Wow 7th June, Shona that is sooo close!! You must be excited!! :)I'm sure everyone will love looking at boobies for 24hours :) lol.... Im also a watcher to see how William attaches... he is getting much better on the right side and pretty much does it himself... its the otherside that causes the trouble and also has a faster flow.

I had a very overtired baby by 6pm last night so he was into screaming also... worked himself into a sweaty state!! Gave him a bath to calm him down after we all had dinner and discovered he had huge rashes on both his arms around his elbow. Still there today so it mustn't have been a sweat rash... just keeping an eye on him... He seems to be ok today though which is good.
Still wakes when i put him downthough for a sleep so off i go to go an get him again. He has to be totally out of it to stay asleep when put down *doh*

maranui: thanks for the tips, all help greatly received! We have bought the formula today, just for my piece of mind. Just bought a couple of cartons of the ready made stuff, fingers crossed I won't have to use it, will make sure I drink heaps of water.

kirley: hope this evening has been better than last, overtired babies are such hard work! Tried to settle Elliot without dummy tonight, every time I put him in bassinet he would go from almost asleep to wide awake, DOH! Went for a hour and then succumbed to dummy and he has gone straight to sleep, oh well whatever works!

Our little man has been awake most of the day today and interactive which is lovely. Hoping for a good night.

Thanks Shona, he was a bit easier tonight. Was still overtired today (hadn't slept since morning!) and DH tried to put him to sleep... but mummy's got the milky ;) lol. once he had another feed (althought he'd already had three in two hours!!) he went to sleep pretty quick after. He is still sound asleep nearly three hours later.... atm doing some washing so hoping he'll wake up in about an hour and a half when the dryer is all done :) then i can feed him and go to bed!! Nothing to do tomorrow, so hopefully he will let me sleep in!! *fingers crossed*

Maranui - glad the aBA meeting was good, how did you come across that, are you an ABA member?

Kirley - hope you had a good night last night..overtired bubs are SUCH hard work. I'm tempted to think turning to the boob isn't such a bad thing, fed and sleepy seems so much healthier than possibly hungry and screaming! i try to feed whenever he's hungry though i must admit to occasionally refusing too if he's fed a billion times in a few hours - it just makes you so tired!

Shona - hopefully the plane does knock him out. I know my sister always gave her little one calpol before a flight and she would be out the whole way.. mind you that was european flights not 24 hours - may be worth picking some up over there though ;)
Kellie - great news on osteo :) I'll try and remember that clockwise cycling thing too...

We've had a challenging few days - either heaps of sleep and not enough feeding or heaps of feeding and not enough sleep. There seem to be the two issues: the thrush means he can get a sore mouth during a long feed and often even if i switch breast to bottle he'll keep screaming. he's saying neh that he's hungry but he won't feed and it's really difficult. i just have to try and get him to sleep which is an issue in itself right now (like your boys he wakes up every time he goes from arms to hammock!! have just popped dummy in and thankfully that seemed to do the trick). the second issue is too forceful a letdown - the only solution has been to express milk before feeding, he then manages about 5 mins or so on each boob before it gets too strong - but then he'll scream so i'll end up giving him the bottle i expressed to finish him off.. i'm just getting concerned about him starting to prefer the bottle to the breast - wondering if he's just getting lazy at the breast mid feed and taking the bottle as an easier option. I'm thinking i may have to try and just bf for a day or so and when he starts screaming just stop feeding even if he's still hungry - the hard thing is i then have a day of screaming and holdinghim in my arms and getting nothing done & no rest (i.e. wed from 11am til 8pm it was constant and i was exhausted!)

good thing is my friend is here and she has been able to hold, bottle feed & settle him too, so we actually have managed showers, cooking & some tidying up ;) took our first trip out somewhere yesterday - went to a shopping centre and he had his first pram ride - fell asleep the whole time as he loves movement.. i felt like a proper mummy with a pram etc :D then i expressed plenty of milk & my gorgeous, gorgeous friend had shea in the lounge with her & did the two night feeds and i slept from 10pm-6am only waking once when i heard her heating up a bottle about 3am.. i feel human today :dance: we're going to try and get house all tidied this morning and then head up into the mountains for a nice lunch... really enjoying having her here and girly weekend..

seems dh is on best behaviour too as he headed away yesterday moning but i got a phonecall at the end of the working day to ask how shea was etc, been a long time since heard from him when away..

OOOOhhhh..other bit of news, i told my dad (in UK) what's going on at home with DH and he obviously got all worried about me.. he booked a flight and arrives on sunday night!! staying til thurs morning.. flying visit but be great to see him as it's been 2 years. DH won't know what's hit him.. i won't tell him til i collect from airport (he'll be tired and hungover after a sat night with big drinking buddy in sydney) and have to tell him my dad arriving in about 4 hours...ah ha ha ha ha.. means he'll stay in bed with me for a few nights which i still like ;) think he may work long hours - he was apparently very chatty with my friend on the airport journey wed but think he'll be a bit more worried about spending time with my dad in case of a 'chat'...

hope you all have a lovely sleep filled weekend with limited gas :pray:

Take two of trying to put William down for a sleep. He woke up the first time after ten minutes again *sigh*

Shona - prehaps you should take a manual breast pump onto the plane also in case the noise does make him sleep for a while!! Then you won't have super painful boobs & a fussy baby when it comes to feed time cuz it will prolly be fast flow - cuz 24hours is a long time in a confined space!! Good luck when you get there also, because i'm pretty sure Elliot will suffer Jet Lag also from the time difference. Everything he and you will have gotten used to will change!! But i'm sure you guys will adjust really quickly! :)

HC - how do you know Shea's mouth is sore from the Thrush?? I haven't noticed that William is in any pain :S.... it doesn't really seem to affect him, nor does the rash on his bottom...however I did use a Lanolin nappy cream on the rash yesterday morning and this morning and even just using it yesterday it seems to have taken a majority of it away!!I have noticed that he doesn't like the taste of it in his mouth though. He does this little 'chew' motion and pulls a disgusted look quite often.

yay! I find with William the only time he refuses (and its not total refusal - he tries and then pulls off or fusses around and stays latched but pulls my boob all sorts of ways and his hands go crazy with grabbing me!!) is when the flow is too fast; and if so he usually comes off himself and i just letdown (or hand express) into the nappy. I don't even save it. Sometimes its still really fast for him after letdown for a while. so i take just a few squeezes out and then give him another go. My left boob is funny how its faster than my right - i have this one stream of milk that seriously squirts 10cm!! He can never drink it - poor little fella and when he comes off it squirts him in the face!! lol quite funny really to see. The other time he gets like that is when he needs to burp. And usually if he hasn't attched and stayed attached first go - he will always need to burp not long into the feed. So sometimes i might have to burp him every two minutes until the flow gets enough for him to handle and he doesnt have air gulpy feeds.
When he gets tired and he's already had a feed and i know hes not hungry (cuz he will search for boob; i give it to him and then he spits milk back out everywhere again).. then i hold him like i'm feeding him and pop the dummy in. Cuz he doesn' tlike the dummy all that much it takes a couple go's but usually he will take it and then eventually go to sleep.
Even if you just try bf for the day - don't worry about doing everything.... at least its a process of elimination and you know if he does just want the bottle cuz its easier.
Yay for seeing your dad....

*doh* will is awake again *sigh* be back later!

Third time lucky prehaps??
This is usually what happens all day - I put him to sleep, put him down in his bed and he wakes up about five or ten minutes later:wall:

On the breast as a solution topic: I always do that - i figured i'd rather him be happy and comforted (and i suppose babies would take it as a feeling of love) than be lying in a room screaming via controlled crying. *shrugs* but thats just my take on it. I think yes if there is absolutely nothing i can do and he's chucking a tantrum (which so far Will hasn't) then yes there is a place for controlled crying - but I just can't do it.
Usually he will take at least a small portion of milk from me - then if he really is full and we've tried it a couple times and he keeps spitting it out; then he will welcome a cuddle. But i know when he is overtired he always looks for breast (whether it be on me or DH) for comfort - so i figure he wants it so i'll let him.

Um there was something else i was guna type about but now i have no idea what it was!! oh well....

Oh yeh... i remember now!!
Does anyone else's bub choke alot?? Will seems to choke on milk (if he keeps too much in his mouth) or even on his dummy if he doesn't want it in and he can't spit it right out.... It's like he has a weird gag reflex and man he goes blue sooo quickly it scares the crap out of me!! I have to belt him on the back to get him to breathe. Very scary!

Maranui - Just a quick post to you about when Louis won't take the breast because he's overtired. Maybe try giving him about 10 to 15mls in the bottle to knock the top off his hunger then offer the breast. I have had to do this from day 1 cause I had such a hungry baby.. It hasn't caused any on going issues with breast confusion and you then don't have to give him whole bottles but in saying that.. i wouldn't worry too much about the bottle thing as I feed Ethan on the breast 15mins both sides then top him up with formula after that every feed and he happily does both.. Good luck..
Sorry no persies but I hope you are all well..

Helllloooooooo
Where is everyone?

For those of you with bubs with wind issues, I definitely recommend the osteo. Lewis is like a different baby! Still has wind but heaps bettr, no more inconsolable pain cries! And so many smiles now!!

kellie: we have been doing clockwise legs and it really works HUGE THANKS X

HC: have a great time with your Dad, I hope he gives your DH heaps, he definitely deserves it!

Now just a growth spurt to contend with, feeding every 2-3 hours just in time for our 24 hour flight!!

Got to go last minute packing to do x

Kellie - ditto from me.. legs = lots of farts!!

SL - dad has promised to say nothing tho wants a man chat.. dh away over wknd and got calls and textx every day even when out with boys.. go figure!! then huge row last night but shared bed cos dad here and then cuddles & dtd this morning.. no idea where his head is.. i'm not complaining about this morning tho LOL!!! good luck with growth spurt & big feeds.. so glad u guys have a bassinet seat! doing first solo flight next wk but just to sydney.. taking shea for a week and leaving dh home alone..

great wknd with friend.. like having my own wife, looked after shea, cooked and helped me tidy and clean who;e house :-)

kirley-no choking probs here. how's william doing?

Hi everyone

Good luck Shona - think you might have left already.

HC - must be interesting times at your place! Good luck in Sydney too. I am off to Melbourne in July and already thinking about it!

Kellie - not sure where everyone else is - they must be busy lol! Great to hear the osteo went well

AFM - lovely weekend with Louis and DH. It was our first wedding anniversary so first babysitter last night. He didnt even wake once thankfully! Though I got my girlfriend to babysit who is a GP and has a baby herself lol - best babysitter in the world me thinks! We had our childhealth visit on Friday. He went well though I got told MORE TUMMY TIME! His neck control is not where it should be and we are off the the physio as he has "long head" which is the opposite of flat head - that is - squashed in sides of his head rather than the back from lying too much on his sides. Go figure. How do you win?? But the answer is tummy time. Both me and DH noticed that his neck control is not where it should be. He still isnt a big fan of tummy time so I am having to come up with all sorts of cunning tricks to get him to do it. Might also head off to the osteo for him too - to look at his neck. He really just doesnt like being put on the back of his head - though it is getting better. Anyone else got issues like this?

Anyway - hope the rest of you are well. Has anyone got an update from Tan from FB?

xx

Kirley - DP's niece used to have a very strong gag reflex too; they told SIL to blow gently in her face when she gagged. This will make them take a breath. :hug: it is very scary to see them like that.

Thanks Esme; I had never heard that - he's done it four times today :( it's soo scary!

Shona - all the best
HC - enjoy time with your dad and sydney whenever you go.
maranui- William also doesn't like tummy time... i lie him a mix of side and back...not for the funny shape head, just cuz its however he lands when i put him down lol.

RE: Tan; about to check facebook, been pretty busy last couple days so havne't really checked... i'll see how she's doing. I know that Cooper has been throwing up alot. So she's prolly just very busy!!

AFM - William is still doing this no sleep during the day so we have screaming in overtiredness around the 5-6pm mark. took an hour and a half to get him to sleep today. and its a vicious circle with food and sleep. He's hungry but to tired to eat.... He's tired but he's hungry and won't sleep :S. And when he tries to drink when upset he chokes even more! I don't know why he has started this. Then he goes down for six hours which is nice, but i'd rather him sleep during the day and go back to four hours between feeds at night like he had started.
Also going to keep an eye out for sleep apnea :(... DH has it and we have both seen a few times when william is sleeping he kind of stops his loud breathing snoring and is quite for a few seconds then jumps and starts again sometimes giving a little cry... so its like he stops breathing and then starts again. I do have one of those heartbeat mats so i'm definately going to be setting it up in the next few days just to be on the safe side!

Oh and friday night my mum and sister are having william for the night and dh and i are guna cook dinner and rent out a movie and have a night to ourselves... yay for sleep!! a little nervous though because DTD is kind of expected. We haven't done anything since William was born...I'm quite nervous and worried it's going to hurt... at this stage i'm still bleeding though :S so i'm really hoping it's going to stop by friday night!!

I'm still coughing and antibiotics are finished :( so over it!! Got GP appt tomorrow so will ask about it... and going to see how much the little fatty weighs now :)

Hi All

Kirely, Have you tried to try and feed Will before he shows signs of wanting a feed so he does not get to tired to eat. Unfortunately this parenting this is all about trying things and finding what works for you and bub. I hope he settles soon and i hope that he doesn't have sleep apnea.
I hope you have a nice night on Friday night hopefully all will be ok with DTD, we have not gone there yet.

HC, Wahoo for things with DH, sound like he has been on his best behavior. I hope you have a great time with your dad and in sydney. I know what you mean by having your own personal wife, my sister just left and it was so much easier when she was here. If only we were rich enough to hire someone hey :))).

Kellie, thanks for the wind solutions, i remember someone telling me about them with DD but it is amazing how much you forget. I hope things are going well.

Maranui, Congrats on your anniversary i hope that you had a great night. I hope you find some good solutions for tummy time, if you put him over one knee on his tummy would that force him to have to hold his head up. Taz does not like tummy time much but he has got really good neck control.

AFM, Taz is having some days of lots of awake and then we have a late night to go with it. I spent the day at the shopping center and i think he got a little over stimulated as he didn't sleep all day and then didn't go down till around 10pm but the next day back to normal. I have been slightly waking him up around 10pm and giving him a feed so he sleeps till around 4 or 5am. he he he just heard him wake up (it is now 10pm)

DD is having some issues at the moment, she is still not sleeping through the night and is now regressing with tiolet training. she had 3 wet knickers today which has not happened since she was 2 but i read somewhere that it can happen when you have a new baby in the house so i am not stressing about it to much.

Anyway better run as Taz wants his boobie.

Hello to everyone else.

Shona, i hope you have a good flight and a nice time back home.

Hey Bella, nice to hear from you :).... i'm glad to hear that Taz is being so good for you... hopefully Mia will settle down soon :) and get back to her old self :)... HOw's your BP going? Has it come down yet? Got mine checked today and it's pretty much back to normal now yay... was 118/70 which was great to hear.
I can usually tell when he wants a feed before he's too worked up - think it was just a once off yesterday that he couldn't do it before a sleep lol.....
I also know when he's tired during the day and i get him to sleep its just keeping him asleep that's the delemia....tried the clock thing even today - didn't work i dont think

So William did his not sleeping again today :S...i got him down for 20minutes this morning except that I was outside for more than half that time so i can't be sure he was asleep the whole time. Then in the middle of the day i got him down again; and he seemed to want to stay asleep (after rolling him on his tummy while he was half asleep after ten minutes) but i had to go to the doctor. He ended up falling asleep while holding him so he's prolly had about an hour and a bit today - still had the screaming match tonight though.
Thought i'd try my friends suggestions with going back to swaddling and leaving him in his cot to cry till he goes to sleep; just reassuring him every so often....he screamed for an hour and wriggled his way out of the swaddle several times. he hates being swaddled! and being left alone awake!....he was sooo hot and sweaty and still screaming and awake so i gave back in and gave him a bath and cuddled him to sleep. He's now asleep - out to it for his big sleep now *sigh*
I can't just let him cry/scream when i know whats wrong withhim and that if i do it a different way (cuddle him to sleep) it's so much nicer for him and me...maybe it is just my antibiotics still inhis system...because he still has stinky and different and runny (litterally like water runnY) poo's from my AB's... so maybe in a few days he'll be back to sleeping lots....*fingers crossed*
He is at 5.6kg now :) at almost 7 weeks. ithought he'd be 6kg by now cuz he's in crawler nappies which start from 6kg - but not quite that big yet... give him another week lol.



Hope everyone is well.xxx

Hi everyone, made it home in one piece! Very stressful being such a long journey but Elliot was pretty good and only really cried for feeds. Great to see everyone and for them to all meet Elliot, he unfortunately has his wind issues back and after a great start with the legs it seems to have stopped working. I am going to try his new medicine today so fingers crossed. Been following everyones posts but too much to comment on!

Kirley: Elliot also stops breathing when asleep, it's called periodic breathing and it's due to an immature respiratory system in babies. As long as they stop for less than ten seconds and restart themselves without the need for intervention and their lips do not then turn blue then all normal and resolves in time on its own as they mature. It's pretty scary to watch and the ability to not start breathing again independently has been linked with SIDS. Elliot also kick starts his own breathing with a little cry or gasp, if you're concerned always a good idea to check with a Dr. If you are going to use apnoea monitoring, have you considered learning paediatric resuscitation, so that if it does ever alert you to something untoward that you know what to do about it. In fact I would recommend it for any mums with babies and small children as the techniques are quite different than in adults. I used to be examined on it every year but thankfully never had to put in into practice and hopefully never will but I have been through it all with DH and taught him what to do if the need ever arose.

Hi just a quick drop by to let you all know we are alive and kickin!

Been super busy.. and my laptop **** itself this time it was not able to be revived!

Archer is doing well.. we have all had a tummy bug so spewing again but thank the lord not due to PS *phew* still lots of checkups to make sure he is gaining weight and his surgical wound is healing.. was a bit swollen last visit though! Still not allowed tummy time so he is a big ol bobble head baby! He had put on 500g the first week and 700g the second week after surgery!!!! Making up for lost time - sad to think how big he'd be had he not lost it all in the first place!!! No weigh this past week as he is due for his shots wednesday and to be honest I am right over docs/hospitals/surgeons/paeds don't expect big gains after being having the v&d's anyhow!!!!

DF got home on Wednesday - not that he has been any help.. Archer looks well so he has been fishing everyday but seems karma bit him in the arse cause right now he is layed up in bed with temp of 38.5 and has the v&d's too!!!!! He knocked over a bag of ebm in the freezer this morning getting bait out and I swore I was going to kick him in the nuts when he got home but the world works in wonderful ways and now he is getting his own back!!

Maranui you can always jump over to the dark side that is facebook.. hehehe I update on there regularly from my mobile!

Must head, just dropped DS's cake off at my parents so it can be safely transported up the tablelands tomorrow. We are celebrating his 2nd birthday a week early so Wayne can be involved.. (if he manages to kick the bug before than) Going to have breakfast with the beasts - which involves a yummy hot buffet breakfast surrounded by lions!! DS is a lion freak!!!! He has been running around roaring all day - may have something to do with the copious amounts of icing he has eaten while I was feeding Archer though - nothing like a sugar rush in an almost 2 year old!!

Hi everyone
Just a quick post to say hello!!

And happy birthday to Cooper!

Hi everyone....not too much to say
cept we have had two nights here where William has only woken up once between the hours of 6pm and 7am!! yay...lets see if it keeps going....he is still however not sleeping during the day which would have alot to do with his sleepiness at night. He had about 15minutes in five minute intervals over the course of 8am - 5pm today! Can't be good surely!!
I also am unsure now as to whether i have nipple thrush or the LC suggested vasospasm....got a number of a microbiologist trained lady who specializes in thrush...so planning on a trip to see her soonish so i can see what i can do!!

William slept at mums on Friday night - (the first time he only woke up once too!! i was quite jealous)...was soo nice to have a break and some time with hubby and.......*wait for it*.....a sleep in till 10am!!! only to be woken by DH cooking me pancakes with ice-cream for breakfast!! Couldve slept all day but i did miss my boy and it was my dad's bday so had togo for lunch.

Tan - your cake looks very cool for Coop! What did you decide on for a present for him...

neway off to empty out my boobies because he sleeps so long my boobs are ready to explode at night!! Hope you all are well....
Mary/Apayai - Love your tat btw...very beautiful!

Kirley - would u be willing to see an osteopath to help with your sleep issues? When we went the other day I asked her what types of things she treats in babies and that is one of them. Might be worth a try? I figure you can't lose anything!

Yeh i would look into anything if it continues....*fingers crossed* that it's not going to though.... he is asleep atm and it is day time!! Been down for half an hour so far yay!!
Had another night where he slept nearly the whole way through. Went to sleep at 5pm woke up at 11.30 for food; woke up at 6.30 for food....yay!! then he went back to sleep and slept till 10am so i got a sleep in which was great. And now at 12pm he is back asleep. So prehaps this week is going to be better - I hope!!
The only thing is that the last three mornings (coinciding with the only waking once) - he has been stirring and grunting alot between 4-5pm because he is cold....i pick him up and put him in our bed (and mum did on the friday night with her) and he settles straight back down and continues sleeping. I don't really know what to do because i'm dressing him warm - and layering clothes if they are only thin....last night i lined his bassinette with a fleecy/microfibre blanket and also put that over him because it is huge....i also wrapped him. Then i had one of those celluar blankets (like in hospitals) that is folded so it's x4 and then another blanket over him also folded x4. And he had a beanie on. :S....so unless it's a comfort thing?? rather than a cold issue - but it has been alot colder here the past few nights than i think it has since he was born...so i'm not really sure.

Aaarrrrgggghhhhh it seems it's my turn for a baby that doesn't like to have day sleeps! Lucky we had a relatively good night or I'd be pulling my hair out!!

On the topic of hair, have any of you noticed your hair falling out. I remember it coming out in clumps with DD, but this time around I haven't noticed any at all!

Hopefully its just a today thing for you kellie *fingers crossed*...nope havent' noticed anything with my hair...actually it's been pretty good; straightening when i want it to; pulling back nicely...its better than pre-pregnancy and pregnancy.

How did your day finish kirley? I read on fb that you are against controlled crying, I am too and have found pinky mckays adviceto be useful, might be worth checking out her web site.
We had a decent night so hoping that follows on today! Doubt it though, got a busy day, dancing lessons for DD and then mothers group at my place this afternoon

Hey Kel,
The day wasn't unbearable - but was long....
He woke at 7am for food went back to sleep at 8 (by rocking bassinette not on me yay); woke up at 10.
Went back to sleep (on me this time) at 11.30 till 1.30.
Tried to put him down at 2.30 onwards but no luck! he was onto this daytime napping thing lol. We went shopping at 4.30 and i thought he might sleep in the pram as he usually does but he didnt :(
Went to inlaws for dinner & origin (go Qld!!) - tried to feed but was fussy cuz he was overtrired...so this went on until 8.30 *sigh* he kept falling asleep on me; i put him down and he'd wake straight up - so i just left him on me till we left and he was out of it by the time we put him in the car and stayed asleep till 3.30am!! yay
he woke up at 7.30 again but is now down for another sleep. *fingers crossed * for another 'good' day!

I will have a look at her website thanks kellie....yeh i'm not a fan of controlled crying - i can understand in some babies (ie. with reflux etc) where there is nothing you can do to eliminate pain or discomfort and they just cry; then you kind of have to just put up with it....but in the instance of William when I know what he wants i.e hungry, tired...then i'd rather give that to him....especially tiredness. i'd rather him cuddle me and go to sleep in 10minutes than have him screaming in the cot for an hour working himself up. Which he does; he gets really hot and sweaty and chokes alot!! To me the cuddling option is alot less stressful for the both of us (and even DH when hes there)....i know i'd rather go to sleep cuddling my mum than screaming myself to sleep.

Did Lewis end up sleeping?

Hey everyone!

Kirley and Kellie - looks like you guys are holding up the chat for the group ;)

I suppose we are doing a form of "comforted crying" with Louis. Or at least we were - but now he seems to go to sleep just by babbling to himself as long as I get him within his tired signs window (jerky arms, yawns, grizzling, vacant stares). His daytime sleeps are down to an hour, maybe an hour and a half at a time. However, he is still only up for an hour so we do lots of settles during the course of one day. We did the let him grizzle for 5 minutes only if he was pausing. If he was going full tilt then we would rock or pat him. Now we have the opposite problem of you Kirley - he wont sleep anywhere except his bed! I also find that if he doesnt get settled by about 3.30 I can write off the afternoon as one long witching hour(s)! Lately I have been using this time to go for a walk. While he doesnt sleep in the buggy, he doesnt cry either ;)

We went away for the long weekend which was really nice. He slept well and was a happy wee boy except he got a bit cold one night. I am not surprised as those portacots are yucky and low to the ground! He looked so small in it - even smaller than he did in his bigboy cot which he is now in!

Tan - I am so glad that Archer is feeling better. You have had a rough ride of it - hopefully it all goes smoothly from now.

Bella Mia - our night out was lovely - I was very relaxed and Louis slept through the babysitting.

AFM - We have been sent to a physio for Louis lack of neck control. First appointment was 19 July!! But we have made HUGE progress in the last week and he is now arching his back up and his neck is considerably stronger. We also had to get one of those special pillows as he was getting flattening of his head on the sides rather than the back - which is apparently quite common in bubs that were premmie. It's funny - I dont think of him as premmie but all the Drs/Nurses etc do. I am really looking forward to this weekend as some close friends are coming from Melbourne to stay. One of them is a early childhood teacher who runs a rhymes and dance programme for tots! He is going to be fantastic with Louis and can barely wait to meet him! Hopefully Louis keeps up his every increasing smiles! I have stopped my nerdy panics that he might be autistic now that he smiles at the littlest things. He really was a slow starter in the smiles department. Luckily he is such a snuggly muffin!

Nothing wrong with weight gain at our end. Our little chubster has busted through 6kgs which seems a long way from the 2.76 when he was born. Majella - how is your little girl travelling? I always thing of them as BB twinies!

Hope everyone is well.

Hello everyone, glad to see everyone seems to be plodding along ok without too many major dramas.

We are going pretty good in the UK, Elliot has lost all routine as it is impossible to keep with so many people wanting to spend time with us. He has had a couple of long sleeps, one for 8 and one 9 hours between feeds although unfortunately we are having late nights so we are still getting little sleep!

The Colief drops seem to be going well, only a couple of days into them so we'll see. Appears to be that it is only the wind waking him and then I end up feeding him as don't know what else to do. The 2 nights that we have gotten rid of wind he has slept through.

Weighing in at 4.9kg now, gain has slowed down but still within range. We now seem to have ingrown big toenails which are a bit of a worry, gettng all swollen but I am hoping that with some persuasion they will grow ok.

Got our welcome home party Sunday, 70 people coming to meet Elliot, can't wait. Hope he is a good boy!

Hey Everyone,
Hope you all are well....since there's not really anything to reply to atm......just all about me lol!!
So I went to a private LC remmonded by the ones at the public health clinic....and....she was FANTASTIC....she has studied all sorts of things over the last 20years including microbiology....so she knows alot about the whole Thrush issue.
She has three hour appt.s which is soo worth the little money i paid for that time. First she completely went through breast feeding and technique...which i still didn't have completely correct; so she just helped me perfect it (which will help with the vasospasam issue) and also how i can hold him as he gets bigger cuz i have little wrists and am already finding it hard to support his head.
Then she looked at his poop....(she used to work in a lab where she examined it so she knows things from that gross side of the fence!!)....and apparently for an 8 week old baby his poo isn't correct...it's the right colour (mustard colour) but it should be semi-formed like the consistancy of toothpaste.....whereas his is still completely runny and he does huge crackers (as my nephews call farts lol) still which he apparently shouldnt be doing either...the rash thing on his bottom is also from his poo being too acidic it's basically burning his skin when it's sitting in his nappy :(...so everyone look at your babies poos!!!
So already he has a gut problem.....which like my thrush....and his which he does also have (also contributing to my vasospasam *sigh*)....which all comes back to my diet....so as of monday i'm starting my diet thing again....this time i can at least have wheat...but i have to cut out everything else the same plus some extra. i.e fruit (can only have apples and pears), can't have egg, any form of piggy is gone except ham off the bone (oh how i will miss bacon!!), i can't even have goats milk this time cuz although it might be ok for me - for him it wont be :(....and no startchy foods ie. rice (not even brown) or corn or potatoes :( all my favourites too!!
so off to the shops today to go and by some more food i can eat and guna go make some meals up at my mum's tomorrow....because i'm flat out finding time to make just one meal for tea let alone two now cuz john won't eat all the stuff i will have to.
but....i have to do it!!!
She said that once his gut settles down and goes back to normal then he should sleep better during the day ; so it also explains his lack of day time sleeps!!

So mum's with babies withconstant wind problems....or even unsettling with no apparent wind....it's probably your diet. You wouldn't have to have as strict a one as me; my strict one is partly cuz of me and the thrush side of things and part for William...but also cuz my mum has a million different food allergies.... and this is how it's being passed on; just in a different form. It was really great to talk to her!

Alas on the daytime sleep problem though - she had one of those awesome amby hammocks that HC has for Shea....they are truely awesome. He was really squirmy and grumbly and unsettled on my lap after a feed so Robyn put him in it and he lay there happy as larry for about ten minutes then slowly drifted off...he loves the bouncing...hence why he loves being held and not flat in his bed...so i bought one on ebay last night - figured it was worth the money to keep my sanity and his too!! I can't wait for it to arrive!!

He also had his needles on Friday....i was humming and harring over delaying the immunisations till he was 2....now i'm regreting giving them to him and wished i hadve waited....i suppose the gp influenced my original decision greatly...and now wish i didn't give in....so guna investigate whether there is any effect if i delay from now on.....he was soooo unsettled after them and didnt' sleep much of the night and was soo tired poor little boy. When he cried he seemed to be in alot of pain...even with panadol :( and i'm even more mad cuz after talking to Robyn yesterday....i specifically asked my gp if there was any egg proteins in any of the immunisations because my mum is allergic (like she can die just from it being in her mouth and not even swallowing allergic) and so there is a good chance he could be allergic....she told me only the flu vaccine has egg proteins....Robyn yesterday told me that no; nearly all the vaccinations have it! Very very annoyed at the gp.

anyway enough rambling from me - should go do some washing while William is asleep...but it is soo cold i do just want to go back to bed!! Hubby did midnight feed for me last night though so i got a decent sleep...William did 6 + 6 and is now back asleep for the morning after a very short play...yay *fingers crossed* he stays asleep and does a semi routine today!!

Shona - hope you are having a grand ole time in the UK...enjoy your party
HC - hope Sydney is great also and not too cold! Will send you through some money for probiotics shortly! I haven't forgotten i promise!

Hi everyone! Golly, it has been a long time since I posted. Somewhere in the past few weeks I just got incredibly busy and haven't kept up with things. I've read a few posts, but not all of them so apologies if I overlook anything major.

Eme is 12 weeks today! Can't believe it myself.... She's doing pretty well, probably not as strong as her sister was at the same age, but that's the premmie thing (Maranui, I hear you!). And she is absolutely gorgeous - a smiley ginger-haired bub who just loves being around people. Sleep/feeding doing much better than last time but she's still feeding 9pm, 3am, 6am at night. The reflux is much better thanks to the wonder-drug-the-price-of-gold! I stupidly started back with my uni work a few weeks ago and ended up crash and burning last week with a mammoth super-flu, despite having the vaccine in April. Slowly making my way back to a functioning adult and will try to take things a little easier now (easy to say... DH is on day 1 of a 14 day stint in the NT).

Maranui - you make me laugh! I also had moments of wondering if everything was ok with my half of the premmie twins when I couldn't get a smile on demand. Eme is around 5kg now, so doing well but not as chubbalicious as Louis yet. She has good neck/head control but I think she's probably a little behind in that area as well. It has been a bit hard to give her the floor time she needs as her big sister gets a little out of control sometimes. I haven't been brave enough to put her in the big cot yet, with the reflux I've been paranoid that she'll choke so she's still in the bassinette near our bed. Ah, parenthood, hey?

HC - Oh no, that man of yours. Last I read your Dad was here, but DH wanted a divorce? Doesn't he know I've been hoping for a Hollywood ending? Any update?

Kirley - good luck with the diet, I'm sympathetic to how difficult it will be when you are sleep deprived and already so busy. I hope it works for both of you!

Tan - Don't know how you cope with your DH away so often. How was your DS's 2nd? DD's is next month and I'm trying to think of something fun but low-labour to do. How is DS going with toilet training? DD started off well but we are now having a few accidents each day and I'm not sure if I'm expecting too much from her at this age. Hope your little man is doing well after his op.

Hi Bella, Shona and Ayapi!

Hey Majella, nice to hear from you ;)
Glad to hear all is well with you and Eme!! wow 12weeks has gone quick...i suppose william is 9 this week also....I cannot believe how fast time goes once they are here!!
William is getting baptised on July 4th... when we first organised it we had six weeks - now i'm realising it's like less than two weeks away!! and all i've done is buy his outfit and send out invites...eek!

Ahh yes my diet will be soo hard!! Missing my milk and sugar for my cuppas - can't quite get the taste of black tea yet :S just tastes like weird water lol!!
Have gone 24hours on it so far...lol and i wanted ice-cream last night cuz John and I have started a ritual while watching Good News Weeks :(...thankfully he didn't have any either!!
It helps that my cousin is also on this diet but stricter...because he has actual food allergies to most things (he's exactly like my mum only worse)....so my auntie and I are swapping any receipes we do have so that we might get something different.

Yesterday was such a long day!! I was soo tired last night...William is doing great at night - usually asleep by 6ish, wakes up anywhere between 1-2 for a feed then goes back to sleep till 6. then he went back to sleep yesterday about 7.30 till ten and went back down for a sleep at 11.30. I thought great today is going to be good....nope he had other ideas! He only slept for an hour and then wouldn' tgo back to sleep and didn't just want to lie by himself anywhere either....
then because hed had some sleep he didn't go to bed until 8pm!!! *sigh* and in that time DH was out at boxing training and indoor soccer so i had a screaming baby and trying to make dinner. He wouldn't drink cuz he had a tummy ache and wouldn't sleep cuz he was hungry....eventually he did a poop then he felt much better and had some food then finally went to sleep!!
Then cuz he was sooo tired...yay for me he slept until 6am!! 10HOURS SLEEP FOR US!! whoohoo. he was restless for dummy and bassinette rocking from 4am, though so not quite a sleep through, but he didn't actually wake till 6.
So far today he went back to sleep at 7.30 again and is still asleep at 9...so hoping i still have another hour....it seems we have this sleep down pat which is great!!

Anyway going to go and prehaps tidy up a little while he's still sleeping.
Hope everyone is well.
HC hope you had a good flight back from Sydney!!