We're back after a whole month away at our on-site caravan and I missed you all soooooo much! I can't wait to read the thread so I can find out how you are all doing. When I've finished I'll post again with some persies.
Hey Suz! Welcome back! I was just asking about you!
Willow, I saw the pics of Harry in the swing - you'll see it is a lifesaver - and the mirror thing is great - Eva LOVES to look at herself that vain little princess
Lani, I am glad Jetts shots went well...
Kanda, way to go getting out and about. I am sorry Lila is being so difficult but I think once Sienna is older and Lila can play with her all of that will pass, then you will have to deal with them having their little secrets Thanks for telling me how diff the two were, I hope my next will be a calmy.
Sesame, I saw some pics up - finally what a cutie pie - he looks so much like you!
Hello to everyone else!!!
A quick update with some intersting things I learned at the osteopath yesterday - turns out that Eva does not have colic but rather reflux! So he explained how it all functioned and showed us how to burp her more efficiently which has been working (not to mention bringing up MASSIVE burps) and he said to NEVER put her on her back after eating or to sleep, which i never did anyway always on her side (Kanda, I lean her on a maternity pillow so kind of the same principal as what you do with sienna)...
He also mentioned that her head shape is of a dominant personlaity (no way? big surprise there - DH cracked up and goes, that's your baby!) - it is funny he mentioned two head shapes, one which is sort of bulging on top with narrow sides (like a mowhawk sort of) and on that is wider at the face and more narrow in the back (like a pear) and he said that research shows that ion the far past people with the mowhawk head shape were usually warriors and the pear were usually farmers...and that babies with the pear shape tend to be calmer, quieter, they can self entertain and stay relaxed wheras the mowhawk shape (hello Eva) are generally fidgety and very alert and need constant attention and supervision and have very strong personalities...I thought that was funny.
Anyway, turns out Eva has acid reflux and we have been trying some of his burp techniques which seem to be helping a bit...it has only been two days so I'll keep you guys posted.
She has been really great today, took a long nap in her room in her bed (she still sleeps in our room in her little travel bed...)...and is now self settlin gin her playpen in front of my desk so I hope that gives another nap. (which by the ned of this post it did - she is snoring away!)
I went to the physio yesterday who gave me the whole you should never do hard ab muscle exercise again...and I was not having it. I almost cried. I have never had a flat stomach so have always been religious about the ab exercises...She said I would have a 6 pack then pee on myself. I think she is exagerating. I will wait three months then take it easy but there is no way I am never doing strong ab exercises ever again....The appt there went horribly...of all the 7 babies, Eva started crying first for food then I had to do the whole burping system which takes forever so I ended up paying for a lesson that was 15 mmintues instead of an hour
Then I went to have lunch with a friend who had a baby three weeks after me and looks amazing already - flat tummy and huge boobs...We got to talking and she told me she had suffered from a bit of the baby blues and I told her I feel like that too...Her issues were about going out and being free to enjoy time with her husband (their relationship is suffering bad) and mine was more the weight and feeling like I can't get time for sleep or beauty or my husband. Her baby si much easier to handle though and sleeps a lot and well, so she says things are getting easier, plus she is bringing in formula feeds and is stopping her breastfeeding gradually, which should make her life easier. She kept saying how great it was to stop and how free she felt going out and feeding from a bottle (she hated feeding in public because she is really big in the chest and men would stare)...so whatever, we had a big talk and I got a few things off my chest then I came home and moped all night. I had some friends over for dinner so that was nice and I asked DH to take Eva and only bring her for food,which he did and I really nejoyed the 2 hours off. I needed it badly.
Afterwards she had a really difficult feed and was impossible to settle...she ended up sleeping again on my knees with the hot water bag for her belly. I fell asleep completely seated and DH ended up putting us both to bed. I just feel like a dishrag and had a cry about it. People tell me I look tired, I can't wear any of my nice clothes, I feel fat and DTD makes me sore...I know it is almost the end of the difficult period...I know I'll be fine, but I just need to get it out.
I started back with my trainer and am basically at zero, which makes me feel awful so on top of all the exhaustion, my muscles hurt from getting back into exercise. This will pass. This will pass...I keep telling myself.
Ok, so sorry for the negativity. I'll stop now.
Anyway girls, hope everyone is doing well and if I forgot anyone, I am thinking of you anyway!
DH and I have our first night alone since Eva was born tonight! We were living with the ILs then had guests non stop....so we are planning on holing up at home and getting stuff done around the apt...I am sure DH will try to get all romantic on me so I am sure DTD is in there as well It is getting better every time, so I am keeping at it. I seem to be keeping at everything lately and not enjoying much of anything except my baby laughing - so I'll try to post some pics of the finished nursery as well next week. We should get everythin gis order this WE.
Hi Suz - welcome back, we missed you! Did you have a lovely holiday/break?
Hi BS - you sound like me, very hard on yourself. You look great and like everyone is saying to me we've just had babies so we need to be less strict on ourselves, we'll get back to our pre pregnancy weight eventually, some just lose it faster than others - lucky them huh! I'm glad you've found out what's wrong with Eva and learnt some proper ways of burping, would be interested to know good ways of doing that, Amelia doesn't suffer from it as far as I'm aware but she's not much of a burper either so maybe I'm just doing it wrong? The head shape thing is very interesting too, Amelia's is more elongated at the back but not wide at the front, wonder what that means ha ha.
AFM - Amelia slept 8 hours last night although it's the one night I chose to stay up till after 11.00 pm so I didn't get 8 hours myself LOL - I'm really happy though, hope this is the beginning of longer nights although I really can't complain, Amelia sleeps on average 6 hours anyway at the moment and she's a good baby really. Of course as soon as you say these things it turns to s**t so I could be saying something different tomorrow! I think the mums and bubs swimming class yesterday tired her out. It was really good, we did half an hour with the bubs in the water and she loves the water....they sang nursery rhymes etc (have to brush up on those!) and then you put them in their prams and we got back in and did some proper exercise, she just slept the rest of the time! The only bummer is that you can't book ahead and the next 2 weeks are full so I can't get in again for 3 weeks, ridiculous!
Am off visiting a friend today, she's been travelling so hasn't seen Amelia since hospital when she was 2 days old! DH was down at our holiday house finishing off more stuff last night so I had my first night alone with Amelia (other than in the hospital). Look forward to him coming home today.
Hope everyone and their beautiful bubbas are well. xx
Hi BS You're doing the right thing telling yourself it will pass and it will get better, it really will!!
I took your advice and got Harry a swing, thank you, so far so good he seems to like it and this morning he slept in it for an hour and a half and I actually got some things done I fed him just before then when he fell asleep on the boob I put him in the swing again, he had a look around, looked at the mobile and mirror for a while and has gone to sleep!!!! It's been about 1/2hr and he went to sleep on his own. Do you have the same or similar swing? It's very cute ors is a Fisher Price my little lamb papasan cradle & swing. I hope they're ok for their posture, did you ask your osteo? I might mention it to my chiro make sure I don't have him in it too much if it can be bad for their spine or head, god I hope not I love it!
Hi Alison Well sooo jealous of Amelia's sleeps!!! That is really strange not being able to book ahead for the aqua, doesn't make it easy to get into a routine for the fitness part. If they're that popular they should run an extra class. Hope you have a good time with your friend, she'll notice a huge change in Amelia!
Well I'm off to do some more things while Harry's happily snoozing in his swing!!
I've been writing this post on and off for what seems forever. So sorry if there's a few mood swings within! And sorry if I miss anyone or get confused!
Welcome back Suz!! It must have been great to have a whole month away with the newly expanded family. Look forward to hearing more about it.
Willow - I don't think I'll be surfing belly buddies for awhile if I have anything to do with it I'll have to have a look around for a frame like yours. I don't want to spend $100 on one of those play mat gym things. Have totally chickened out on the self-settling thing where you walk out of the room and let them "protest". Have "settled" on a bit of a compromise approach instead. Decided its too much to expect an 8 week old baby to go cold turkey.
Alison - I haven't tried the pram you're looking at. I got an ultra light weight one made by Combi (4.7kg) but its not great for long walks. You could look on productreview.com.au and see what people say. I find it a really good site for advice.
Rose - I hear you!!! I have been living with an overtired cranky baby this week. Its hard to resist the smiles though. But I've found they can lull you into a false sense of security when they're over tired because they can turn in an instant. Matilda went from smiling to squealing the house down in a moment the other day.
Kanda - Its fantastic that you scored a great second baby. Must make it much easier with a toddler. I read a good tip while searching for advice on my "issues" - keeping a bag of special toys that comes out at feed time. But maybe that's a bit like indian giving????
BS - Good on your DH for giving you a bit of time off with your friend. And vent away on the bad days. I think it helps to feel like there are people out there listening. Its fantastic that the osteopath was so helpful. I had a friend who's osteopath figured out that their baby who absolutely never slept and cried non-stop had issue with the plates of the skull being jammed or something from the birth. It was life changing once fixed.
Hannah - great that you're feeling better about things. I guess some babies take a bit longer to figure out the night and day thing but I'm sure it will happen.
AFM - it really has been a full on week. I can't remember when I posted properly last. Matilda has had another couple of hysterical episodes when all she's done is cat napped on top of me and snacked all day. I ummed and ahhh'd over whether to start "self settling" but I can't bring myself to do it. But then we had an amazing day yesterday. We decided to do a day trip down south of hobart hunting for berries and good food in general. And Matilda got decent sleeps all through the day in the car and fed properly in between. It was so lovely to be out as a family (until she did an explosive poo at a swish water side restaurant which went all down her back and my front!!! And it never occurred to me to pack spare clothing for me). Anyway, I've basically come to the conclusion that I can't let her snack and I've got to put her down in her cot to settle with help from me patting and singing). I think that theory of they need to go to sleep where they're going to wake up really applies to Matilda. And OMG when we got home it worked!!! Its been a bit sketchy today. I've been pretty disciplined about continually waking her until she's had a decent feed and trying to settle her in the cot as much as possible. But it does drive me spare a bit. Oh god, there she is. Only lasted 20 minutes! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I think I'm going to have a hysterical baby tonight. Do you think I should persevere with this strategy??? Gotta go.
Ha! Willow, I told you! Since I got that swing I get some stuff done and she loves it! The osteo said leaving her in her car seat for over three hours is bad but otherwise swings etc are fine, just not all day obviously. He explained that babies have rounded spines and so the are more comfortable in a cradle hammock position but just not to leave them in there for hours on end since they also have to learn to develop their muscles. I think an hour here and there is no problem. I also have a fisher price but mine is Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium Cradle Swing - it has a light up mobile thing and is really great - the one you got looks so much more comfy though - it has that big cushy seat But seriously Eva LOVES it - as soon as she is in it she starts smiling, even before I start the music. And when we try to settle her down for a long time and her belly hurts she calms down in there with the swinging motion...I don't know how our grandparents did it without all this technology!
Tilda, the osteo also mentioned that it is very important to avoid snacking (you know I have one of those too - less now but still sometimes in the miorning) - he explained that their systems are always full of food therefor overworked and they always feel hungry - he explained that at the age Eva is at (I know Matilda is a bit younger) she should have 3.5-4 hours between each feed! I am going at 2-2.5! I dream iof four hour breaks! Thats exercise and grocery shopping and preparing dinner while she stays with a sitter! So he explained this burp technique and I found that Eva has been finishing two ful breasts now! Ok, so this is how it goes (for alison as well) - you feed her and once you see the baby sort of fidgeting (I am not sure if you guys have that issue but Eva gets very fidgety because the reflux bothers her) to pick her up the hold her on your forearm and SLOWLY lean her back until she is horizontal the back up, the do the same to the right side (your right, her left since it releases the air from the tummy air pocket) - you can repeat this three times (just the side thing - you only go backwards once....so back, side and back up, side and back up, side and back up. The up on the shoulder which puts pressure on the belly, for a burp. I have been getting some massive burps like this and find that she feels better and goes back to eating with desire, so I have been having two breasts drained at every sitting the past few days...you should try that and let me know how it goes. He explained that the problem with not getting a good burp is that the belly is full of air, so they think they are full, then they either go to sleep and are woken up by hunger or gas from previously digested air, which is what happened with Eva - she would squirm in her sleep until she woke up! Then the gas you deal with later is awful...and of course be sure she drains at least one breast completely because the hindmilk is very very important for her to sleep. Let me know how it goes
As for self settling - been two days in a row I put Eva doan (but this only works on her belly) in bed and she dozes off alone. Yesterday I got two three hour sleeps! Today she fell asleep in the same way as yesterday in her own room so let's see if this works I think you should keep on with the self settling but Eva also does not settle down the first shot, what might be good to do is to try to put her down and if she is really fidgety to pick her up burp her (this is usually the culprit in eva's case) or rock her or change her or settle her in your arms (but not until she falls asleep) then put her down but hang out in the room. Sometimes she needs to cry in order to get to sleep, so I just stay near by to be the dummy pusher when it falls out and she settles n her own most of the time now. Again, this worked for me, not sure if it will work, but worth a try - and give it time - it does not always work the first time! I have been really insisting on self settling because she is almost at three months and I really want to try to get her into some kind of rythm and into her own room...so I hope one day she'll sleep and if she wakes up at 6, hang out looking at her mobile for an hour to let me sleep! (we can dream right? )
Does she take a dummy? One more thing the osteo said (he examined her palate shape etc..) is that a dummy is indeispensable...that it releases the pressue in the head from the birth, produces saliva which in evas case is important for reflux, works all the muscles in the head and that the most impoartant this is that it is a huge pleasure for them and settles them in a way nothing else except for food can! I changed dummy 3 times and he told me to try to buy what is called a cherry dummy, which is just a simple ball shape. He said that by the shape of her palate he can tell it would probably be more comfortable for her and that she would like it more...so DH went out to get one today for a try. Willow, you might want to try that shape for Harry...I could not live without my swing and dummy. Seriously the two most important things for a fussy baby
Alison, maybe if you get a few other mums together you guys can request an extra class? I mean if they will earn more money for it, they should try to program another one...I should look into that here, But it is so damn cold! We have a pool in our complex so I cabn't wait until summer when I can start her swim lessons (FIL and BIL are serious swimmers and former lifeguards, so they are looking forward to taking her for a dip!) - So cool to have a builder DH, I am sure the house looks amazing - I am sure that is his way of "crying" - I am going to look online about the head shape thing and if I find something interesting, I'll post it - fascinating, isn't it all that stuff?
AFM, last night another baby sleeping on the knees on a hot water bag night. My back is killing me since I fell asleep seated again and DH fell asleep too after walking around with her for an hour. so I woke up at 2 am to put her to bed and get some sleep. We had another snowstrom last night so my trainer canceled my class (I am happy since everything hurts so today will be an eliptical machine day)...She seems to be doing better and fell asleep on her own in her bed again - I am getting her used to it in order to lmake the big move to her room easier.
Anyway, I really need to go get some stuff done and try to cook a bit so I have stuff to eat easily (I make soups and stuff to warm up easily in case I have a bad day )
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!! Been wondering how you were going.
Thanks for telling me how diff the two were, I hope my next will be a calmy.
Of course as soon as you say these things it turns to s**t so I could be saying something different tomorrow! I think the mums and bubs swimming class yesterday tired her out. It was really good, we did half an hour with the bubs in the water and she loves the water....they sang nursery rhymes etc (have to brush up on those!) and then you put them in their prams and we got back in and did some proper exercise, she just slept the rest of the time! The only bummer is that you can't book ahead and the next 2 weeks are full so I can't get in again for 3 weeks, ridiculous!
You're doing the right thing telling yourself it will pass and it will get better, it really will!!
I fed him just before then when he fell asleep on the boob I put him in the swing again, he had a look around, looked at the mobile and mirror for a while and has gone to sleep!!!! It's been about 1/2hr and he went to sleep on his own. Do you have the same or similar swing? It's very cute ors is a Fisher Price my little lamb papasan cradle & swing. I hope they're ok for their posture, did you ask your osteo? I might mention it to my chiro make sure I don't have him in it too much if it can be bad for their spine or head, god I hope not I love it!
I'll have to have a look around for a frame like yours. I don't want to spend $100 on one of those play mat gym things. Have totally chickened out on the self-settling thing where you walk out of the room and let them "protest". Have "settled" on a bit of a compromise approach instead. Decided its too much to expect an 8 week old baby to go cold turkey.
Its been a bit sketchy today. I've been pretty disciplined about continually waking her until she's had a decent feed and trying to settle her in the cot as much as possible. But it does drive me spare a bit. Oh god, there she is. Only lasted 20 minutes! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I think I'm going to have a hysterical baby tonight. Do you think I should persevere with this strategy??? Gotta go.
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