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

Hi everyone

Tan - how are you and Arch doing now? How did his weigh in go?

healthychick - at his 2 week appt, L was 4.1 also... so maybe Shea will be the same at his 4 week check!

maranui - glad to hear mothers group went well. I can remember going to my 1st one with DD being exactly the same as you, but ended up having a great time. I now still catch up with 2 of the mums weekly, they both also have newborns too

shonalouise - i would ignore that advice too... feed them whenever they want I say! I also only do 1 boob per feed, I figure with the weight gains he has been having it must be ok. Also did the same with my DD. In regards to wind remedies, we have been giving Lewis Infants Friend (which you can only get at the chemist) before every feed and it seems to make a difference.

Kirley - hope your feeling better

AFM - nothing much new here, still contemplating getting an amby hammock to help with the wind problems. Been getting real smiles the last few days which are nice, and we even got a 6 hour stretch last night.

Hi to everyone else!

re: poo explosions..... on wednesday will went thru five outfits!! i caught poo in my hand twice (i saved my clothes)... it even went on the floor... then he saturated another outfit with pee and then he was wearing blue so he had to change for origin lol!!

Hey everyone, how are you all??
Me - I'm still sick... I believe that I have pertusis (whooping cough) again this year... apparently once you've had it you don't get it again....hence why the doctor said I don't need the immunisation.... however I rekon this is the third year in a row i've had it now!! On antibiotics....not guna help the thrush situation *sigh*..... had no voice at all yesterday - and every time i try to talk i have a coughing fit till i choke...and it seems every time i feed Will the same happens again... i rekon it must be the way i sit when i feed brings on a coughing fit :(....so frustrating. I just want it to go away. But going by last year it will prolly linger for about a month -- although i got the antibiotics this time within three days of the cough taking hold... last time it was about two weeks into it before they gave me the proper ones.... so fingers crossed it won't stick around that long.....and also that William doesn't get it!!

No help from daddy though it seems in terms of him feeding William so i can keep away *sigh*.... an angry conversation will be happening very soon... thankfully he is going to work tomorrow so i can maybe get Will and I into our own day routine which might help the sleeping mentioned in the next paragraph.

Having so much trouble getting William to sleep during the day... it seems the mummy cuddles are what he wants still rather than to be put in his cot.... he's had maybe an hour since 7am this morning (its now nearly 4.30) and that has been five minute intervals... every time we put him down he wakes up five minutes later.... atm we might be down for 15minutes and that is the longest all day....guna wake him up at 7 for his next feed and then hopefully he will do a five or six hour stint... he's done a few lately for the same reason cuz he is that knackered by evening cuz he won't sleep during the day. Cuz of my cough i'm not going to church tonight so hopefully i can get some sleep in there!!

Anyway hope you are all well xxx

Kirley - hope you are feeling better soon. There is nothing worse than having to look after bubs when your sick. Sorry to hear about the dh troubles too

Kirley: hope that you are feeling better soon. With you on the day sleep issue, Elliot will now sleep in his swing which is great and means I can get things done. He also wakes up as soon as he is in bassinet, we haven't found a solution to that one yet!

Hi everyone

It's gone pretty quiet here - everyone must be busy with their bundles of joy ;)

Kirley - hope you are feeling better. I do hope its not Whooping Cough.

ShonaLouise - good luck on the swing and bassinet combo. We moved Louis to his big boy bed (ie the cot!) yesterday. I was sure he would notice and protest and was feeling nervous about it. The little squirt didn't bat an eyelid. In fact, I would say he probably is sleeping better in the cot now he has a bit more room.

And room he needs. He had his immunisation today, they weighed him and he is up to 5.5kg! So another 300g in a week! He has gone from the 10th percentile to the 50th. His shots themselves werent that distressing - he screamed but calmed really quickly. However the poor little blighter was so clinging today. The only place he wanted to be was in mums arms so he slept in the baby bijorn for the afternoon and went down early tonight with a dose of panadol as his temp was up slightly. Poor wee man. But as DH says, he thinks its harder for me than Louis!

Other than that, nothing much to report. L is smiling a bit more every day which is lovely. He is still a little pensive man, staring intently all the time and looking surprisingly thoughtful with his big eyes. Yummo!

Not many personals as not much to comment on! Hope you guys are all well. Tan - thinking of you and Archer hoping he is ok.

x

Hello all

sorry it's been a while, lots going on here...

re the bf discussion, i was giving shea each boob, i'd do one til he fell asleep or screamed for a nappy change then i'd changenappy & switch boob - seemed to work well however milk has massively increased in last few days & poor lil man is drowning. I'm trying to recline or have him almost on top of me but he's getting distressed. most feeds he's only managing 5-10 mins but he's still hungry & crankyb so won't sleep or not for long. the only time he's doing good feeds tends to be at night and then he sleeps for 2.5-4 hrs which is good but they days and evenings are loooong. we also think he may have oral thrush folowing my long courses of antibiotics (now stopped thankfully! wound is almost healed) so he often rejects the boob and the ebm we try in a bottle.. he's still putting on good weight though with 500g in the last week & a half, now at a mighty 4.6kg at 3.5wks :)

as for gas, we're using the brauer stuff and seems to have helped, though it could also be because ab's now stopped too. if he is windy i go with lying him on belly and rubbing back, sometimes it'll put him to sleep too :) and over the shoulder patting back pretty strongly tends to help. the legs thing is good, cycling can bring on some good farts LOL!

kirley - hope you feel better soon! i sympathise with the cough, my pre-baby cough STILL isn't gone :(

AFM - DH has said he wants a divorce and to sell house, said he'd sort both this week. this was at weekend, seems to be talking to me little more now so still got fingers crossed he'll hold off on both and we can carry on living here togethre for a while but who knows... it's all pretty crappy right now - as you guys know, i really wanted everything to work out & i'm still confused about how we got to this point as for me i could switch it all back on tomorrow if i had the chance..sigh.. but i guess now i've got to focus on the future for Shea & I. don't think i'm going to make any big decisions to move location or anything, if we sell this place, i'll see if DH will agree to help me get a mortgage on a small house locally so we don't have to rent and then just sit tight for the next 18 months. downside is i guess i'll now have to look at going back to p/t work sooner rather than later which i really didn't want to do. at least DH is a good father and completely adores Shea so little one won't lose out in that sense. While i really didn't want to end up here and as a single mum, I'll take strength from the fact many of you are, if not single, living with partners away and doing a great job.. ;)

sorry for massive lack of personals, Tan - glad to hear that Archer's weight is going up, great news! rest of you, big hugs & good luck with the ongoing breast / gas issues.. hopefully by the 12 week point it'll all have settled down and we'll all be feeling human again :)

off to try get lil one into his hammock so i can shower & brush teeth before MW arrives in 45 mins!!!

Hey, it certainly has gone quiet... everyone must be busy busy....
HC - I'm so sorry to hear about you and DH *hugs* You must be feeling terrible. I wish you were a little closer so i could help you out a little! You will be a great mum no matter what i'm sure....
As for oral thrush - ahh so i told you all that bubba had that... I was using daktarin gel and it was making a difference in terms of bubs rash and it wasn't so painful for me to feed or in-between feeds (deep breast pain)... but now that i'm on ab's for whooping cough....his rash is a million times worse and instead of just around his bottomhole (sounds nicer than bumhole lol)......it completely covers his bottom :'( and the deep pain for me has returned too.... I feel so terrible for his rash; it looks sore. Makes me feel pretty lousy!! Other than giving him nilstat there is nothing else from the chemist i can take (can't take diflucan)... so it looks like its back to the diet for me... ahh i want this to end!! To combine with my diet; i'll have to grab some more tablets off you when you have more time to think HC.

Maranui - yes i agree immunisations are prolly harder for mummies than babies... plus we remember them!!

AFM - 5.5hr + 5 last night yay for me :).... but days are shocking... he refuses to stay asleep *doh*.... andhe's soooo tired. This morning he woke up at 6 for a feed, fed him... it's now 9.35 and we have been in bed all morning and its time for another feed - in total he's had about 15minutes sleep. *sigh*
Anyway hope you all are well.

HC: so sorry it has come to divorce talk so soon after baby being born, if he's not commited to you then you are certainly better off alone as hard as it may seem now. Sending lots of hugs your way, it will get better in time. Well done with the weight gain, booby bar seems well stocked! When I was having oversupply issues Elliot would only feed for short periods and sleep less too. I believe that this is due to the vast amounts of foremilk which is quite watery and more of a thirst quencher, if they don't get through all that then they don't get to hind milk which satisfies them for much longer and is nice and creamy. When I was expressing I always did so at end of feed so that it would be mainly hind milk, if floats to the top int he fridge. I am not convinved on the Brauers but will continue even if it is working just a little.

Kirley: I have read about using cooled chamomile tea for severe nappy rash, not sure if it actually helps but is supposed to have healing properties. Hope you are feeling better soon x Well done on the good sleeps overnight!

Maranui: Good news with weight gain, he really seems to be coming along! We too are having more smiles and coos, it is lovely! Elliot had his immunisations at the weekend, I pre loaded him with Panadol and then gave it intermittently over the following day too. He was also clingy and grizzly, I also found that his wind pain was much worse after the rotavirus vaccine, got to be loving the contagious poo for the next week.....

Kellie: I have been reading that you are having wind issues on FB, it breaks my heart to see Elliot in such discomfort and we are as yet to find a solution. He has been in our bed the last few nights as he persistetly wakes up squirming and in pain it's easier to have him with me then I can try and settle him straight away. Trying all the exercises and tummy massage day and night with minimal success. Infacol did squat, its function is to turn lots of little bubbles into one large bubble which can make symptoms worse if you don't get the bubble up and it then passages into their bowel. He seems to do a good burp after feeds but still has lots of bowel wind, I assume that it is bowel wind and not stomach wind that is causing you trouble. I have read that stomach wind should not be painful just give them some mild discomfort and a feeling of fullness, but once it is working through the bowel it becomes painful. I have ordered some different medication from the UK, which will be there when we arrive home. Their research seems more promising than some but we'll see.

I have been doing a lot of reading on infant wind and one theory is that it is a failure to adequately breakdown lactose which is the main sugar in milk. Babies with their immature gut do not have the necessary enzymes in abundance and therefore the lactose is not broken down and as it travels through the bowel it ferments and produces gas. It also says that it is common in breastmilk oversupply as the foremilk has a much higher lactose content that hind milk.

When it's quiet I can actually hear the bubbles moving around Elliots bowel, I can also feel them when I have my hand on his tummy, so that theory makes sense to me as it would be impossible for him to swallow the amount of wind that comes out of the other end. The medication I am going to try is called Colief and it is made up of these enzymes, you express some milk at the beginning of a feed and add the medication to it and then give it back to them before the feed. It can therefore begin working in breaking down the lactose and allowing it to be digested rather than fermenting. I'll let you know how we go although I have heard great reports and read a research article which also was promising too. I am at a point where i'll try anything......

We have had a crap couple of nights and days with wind pain, only content when asleep! Seems a little better today, we'll see! Really fussy at the breast too, squirming and pulling away (with my nipple still in his mouth, ouch!), seems to do this when the wind is on the move and is doing some immense farts during feeds. Seems to have recovered from vaccinations, he was a brave boy and didn't cry for long at all. Not been weighed this week but has outgrown 000 and into 00 due to very long legs! He can wear vests suits that are 0000 still but if it involves legs, has to be 00 which he certainly does not get from Mummy unfortunately! Only 6 days till we go home, flight out of Sydney is running but looks like connecting flight in England is not but we can work that out. Hoping that he is a little more settled for the journey but i'm not hopeful. We are due another growth spurt at 8 weeks, hope it holds off until we are back!

Has anyone read any of the Pinky McKay books? I have bought a couple in the UK to read when I get back, her stuff gets good feedback on this site, hoping to get some useful info. Also ordered the Wonder Weeks book, a recommendation from this site which should give me info on behaviour through growth spurts and how to help him through them.

Anyway, sorry for raving on. Hello to everyone else :)

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Kirley: I have read about using cooled chamomile tea for severe nappy rash, not sure if it actually helps but is supposed to have healing properties. Hope you are feeling better soon x Well done on the good sleeps overnight!

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Unfortunately not nappy rash - its from thrush :(

quick one cos one handed with bub in arms...

kirley - i'll try remember tabs tomorrow - i'm taking double dose too to try help thrush.. we were goven some yellow liquid-he hates it & makes my nipples sticky! but i reckon his pain is diminishing already (got yesterday)

sl - thanks for reminder re fore/hond milk.. you're right if little feeds he's not getting good stuff.. am trying to express bit before feeds so boobs less full plus can top him up with bottle at end when gets narky.. wow, are you excited about trip?? bet your luggage will be huge! be keen to hear bout how uk stuff is.. yes i've got wonder weeks, is good & great reviews..

trying to stay positive about future & focus on getting ourselves a little house & settling into life just the two of us.. i'm sure in the future we'll find ourselves a lovely guy & give shea a little brother or sister - with a less stressful pregnancy next time ;) telling myself dh is the one losing out on an amazing family...

HC what is yellow liquid called??

hi everyone

healthychick - so sorry to hear about you and your DH. You are definitely right in saying he is the one missing out on a beautiful family

kirley - you sound like your having similar sleep issues to me... generally not bad at night but shocking during the day. I actually got a 7.5 hour stretch from lewis on Sunday night... thought I was going to explode, I had to express a bit just so he could latch on! In regards your rash issue, I read on here somewhere that someone rubbed some EBM onto nappy rash and it really helped, even though yours is caused by thrush it maybe worth giving it a try? With my DD and also with Lewis, I've used EBM on gunky eyes, infected belly buttons and blocked noses and it always works.... they dont call it liquid gold for nothing!

shonalouise - thanks for all that info on wind issues, it does really make sense when you think about it. If I come across any solutions I'll let you know ASAP! I have two pinky mckay books, one on sleep and the other one is toddler tactics. I even went to see a seminar she did on toddler tactics. I think she is great, her methodologies are exactly what I agree with

AFM - if you've been on FB you've probably seen that I am having a horrible time with wind problems. I was in tears last night cause I couldnt stand hearing the pain cry and not being able to fix it. Spoke to my GP and she reckons he is constipated (even though he poos every feed) and that he just needs to grow out of it. I didnt like that advice, so I've made an appt with an osteopath that specialises in bubs tomorrow so hopefully that helps. I figure it cant hurt and if it helps then I'll be a very happy mumma!

Hi to everyone else!

Hello All

Sorry it has been awhile but it has been busy, i have had non stop house guests since Taz was born and a demanding toddler.

Tan, How is Archer doing? Glad that his op went well and that he is recovering and putting on weight, that must be such a relief.

Maranui, Glad to hear things went well with you mothers group meeting, you can make some really great friends. Our mothers group from when DD was 5 weeks old is still going but there is only 3 of us left now, but probably wouldn't of made it through some crappy days without them.

Kirley, Wahooo on the good night sleeps, i hope he starts to settle a bit more during the day for you. Hope you are feeling better and that your cough is going away.

HC, Crappy to hear about things with DH, you are so right that it will be his loss. You are a strong women and we are all here to support you. Let me know if you ever need anything as i am not that far away from you.

Shona, thanks for the info on the wind issue, it makes sense. I hope things have been getting better and you are getting some more sleep.

AFM, Taz is doing great still, he is being a dream baby so far (touch wood) he is sleeping really well at nights and does about 3-4 hours during the day. He is sleeping with us and most of his day sleeps are in the bouncer or in his capsule as we seem to be out and about most days. He is so much easier than what DD was not sure if that is because we are more relaxed this time and he doesn't seem to have the issues that DD had.

As for the wind issue i think there was a chemist in Perth (i think it was in Padbury) that was making up this stuff for babies with colic that had alot of people giving it great reviews and they would post it to you. I think i found it on a thread here.

Hope all babies are behaving and start sleeping better

Hello to everyone i missed.

Kirley: it will not eradicate fungus, that needs anti fungal but should help to sooth and heal broken skin, just a thought that may help. Manuka honey also has great healing properties although again not anti fungal. The yellow stuff is called nilstat or nystatin. Having lots of nappy off time also helps to air and dry skin but not particularly convenient. Fungus just love warmth and moisture to thrive so nappy covered bottoms are perfect breeding grounds. hope it clears up soon.

Kellie: good luck with osteopath, fingers crossed it will help. shame on gp, that's why i haven't consulted one. do they understand what constipation is?! i have been told that they will grow out of it though so I suppose that's one small mercy but not much help now. I have been giving occassional Panadol which whilst doesn't strictly help it allows him to relax and he passes more poo and wind. Heat packs have also been helping in that regard too. Eliminating gas producing veggies from your diet can also help, I had been advised to try and eliminate dairy but not gone that far just yet.

Bella Mia: well done on dream baby, long may it continue!!

HC: very excited although have to find alternative domestic flight due to strike but at least we will be in the country! Thankfully Elliot has full 23kg baggage allowance plus hand luggage so should be ok!! You are so right that DH is the one who will miss out on your beautiful family and I am sure that you will in time find a lovely guy who will be so much more deserving of your love x

Kellie - yeh i've heard that EBM works wonders for all sorts of things - i'm not game to put it on his rash though because the Thrush is already in my milk ducts therefore in my milk so it will just make it worse i rekon. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Shona - Yet to try Nilstat... going to wait till i finish the round of antibiotics... figured it wasn't worth spending the money and time just yet when they are going to counteract anything.
Bella - nice to hear from you - Glad your bub is giving you an easy time :)

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.