This thread is for parents who's baby was born December 1st ~15th 2009
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There are many issues that you will encounter as a new parent. We have put together this list of useful articles and threads in order to assist you with some common questions or issues you may have, and to provide you with bit of extra support that we all need as new parents:
Please contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) or a Lactation Consultant if you are concerned that you may have breastfeeding and/or supply problems, and before the introduction of solids.
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Hi fellow Dec 1-15 mums! Goodness, I'm the first to post - I've been keeping an eye open for this thread, so I'm pleased to see it's finally made its appearance!
Briefly, our story: DS2 Jacob Thomas was born 11/12/09, a day before his due date. He was a solid 3.6kg and 52cm long. Our birth was approx 5-6 hours and I was lucky enough to have another natural, drug-free labour using the hypnobirthing method. Our first couple of weeks have been quite calm. DS1 (now 21 months) was a placid, "easy" baby, and it seems DS2 is even more chilled out. He rarely cries and so far isn't suffering any (mild) wind pain like DS1 did. He even lets me sleep up to five hours at a stretch overnight !
I last weighed Jacob on Dec 23, and he's already 4.3kg (clothed) - not surprising given the kid is a bottomless pit ... he feeds every 3-4 hours (approx) during the day, and 4-5 hours overnight. Fortunately he's had a good "grasp" of BFing since day 1, so he's quite an efficient feeder now.
Jacob was born with a reasonably severe tongue tie, which we had snipped five days after he was born. In his case the end of his tongue was attached to the floor of his mouth - which meant he couldn't extend his tongue outward to suck as well as he might otherwise. A midwife suggested we get it snipped sooner rather than later, and after consulting the dr, it turned out the quick snip was painless (no blood supply to the piece of skin which attached his tongue to his mouth) and virtually bloodless. It was all over and done with in less than a minute. Now he attaches and feeds perfectly, and it was all done with minimum fuss and (as far as I can tell) pain.
Jacob is a delight so far. The hardest part of parenting the second time round is dealing with an active toddler who wants to cuddle, kiss and basically smother with affection his baby brother whenever he has access to him. Fortunately my parents came to stay with us a few days before Jacob was born, and they're here for another week or so. The help has been incredible, giving me time to ease into caring for two kids under two.
While I only get on BB a couple of times a week, I look forward to getting to know you all and I hope you're all enjoying your new babies. I learnt the first time around how quickly they grow up, and while we haven't ruled out another baby down the track, I'm conscious that DS2 could be our last, so I'm trying my best to stop and smell the roses and "soak up" these infant days .
Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and New Year season,
Andie
I managed to scrap into this thread my little man Jett David Formosa entered this world on 15 December weighing 3.970kg and 57cms long. I had a very quick labour of 1hr45mins.
So far Jett has been great giving me somewhere between 5 n 7hrs at night but feeding 2 to 4 hourly during the day.
We seem to have a few wind problems but that is all.
Hopefully we can all help one another through any issues we may face and be a great support to each other.
Hi girls wow we're moving it's kind of strange and a bit sad to leave our old thread.
Hope everyone's doing well and hello to any new members we might meet in here
A quick run down for anyone new...
DS3-Harry was born 8th December @ 4pm, 7lb 9oz, 48.5cm long, 33cm HC, waters broke 5.30am on the 7th, contractions started then stopped in the afternoon, started up through the night went into birth suite at about 11.30am on the 8th Harry arrived at 4pm on the dot.
Hi BellyBuddies from the old thread and all the new BabyBuddies in the new thread. For Andie and anyone else new my DD1, Matilda, arrived about 5 days early on 6 December 2009. My waters broke at 2:30am in the morning and without any contractions ever appearing, I had an elective CS at 8:27pm that night. It was a great experience and I hope I get to do it all over again. Matilda is only just over three weeks old and I already feel like she's growing to fast!
Lani and AndiE - you seemed to have been blessed with very placid babes! Wonderful to be getting all that sleep.
Willow - I tired elevating the mattress last night, but because its such a narrow bassinet it made her roll into the sides a bit. I might try again with a bit less padding and see how we go, because I'm pretty sure part of the reason she doesn't want to get put down is the wind. Mind you she sometimes doesn't complain if its in bed with Mum and Dad!
Kanda - I hope you had a better night last night. Let me know if eliminating things from your diet helps. I'm hoping I don't have to - a bit of decaf coffee and chocolate are some of my last indulgences!!
Hello to everyone else as they make it onto the new thread!
Well I guess if a bit of mild wind is all we have to deal with, we're not doing too badly. We took Matilda to a food festival yesterday in Hobart and she was very obliging and slept the whole time in DH's sling. I'd been a bit apprehensive but it was all very doable. Today we might brave the cinema and escape the heat. We rang Village Cinemas and apparently every session during the school holidays is considered a "cry baby session", so get to the cinema girls!!
Hi girls!!!! I've finally made it back. No point trying to catch up, so I'll just jump right in.
Tilda - I totally agree with BS, go the dummy. I vowed I wouldn't use one either, but sometimes it's all Liam wants. I try to feed him and he gets upset, and sinks into a deeply relaxed state when I give him the dummy. I'm sold.
BS - Good luck with the trainer. I'm still trying to get my butt back into pre-pregnancy gear. I started teaching yoga again last week, just the one class each week for a bit of pocket money. Tomorrow I'm off to a mums and bubs class the hospital runs, I hope I get a good workout!
Hi Alison, Suz, Lani, Willow, Carmey and everyone else!!!
AFM - Liam has his first cold. I got sick last Saturday, then he went down on Tuesday. He's snorting and snuffling and occasionally scares himself with his blocked nose, poor little guy. On the other hand, he sometimes sneezes and then smiles, like he thinks a sneeze is the funniest thing ever. Too cute.
We're off for our immunisations on Friday, I'm trying not to be nervous. Even though I know that it's riskier for him not to have them, I'm scared that he might have a reaction. I keep telling myself that millions of babies have them every day without any ill effects, but I'm still just a little anxious.
I'm like sesameseed and will just dive right back in!
How is everyone? I really miss you all!
Just one persie, sorry!
Alison - how on earth are you getting Amelia to sleep through? I am insanely jealous!!
ATM - I am beyond exhausted. Jack is back to feeding every two hours. How can that happen? We were doing so beautifully, where he would go for five hours then four hours each night but now it's just horrible. It has been five days now. Someone suggested it could be the 8 week growth spurt. My mum also said that perhaps my milk supply was going down (I've lost weight) and with his growing it was making him want to feed more often. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Carmey - OMG, that would be tough going back to 2 hourly feeds! I'd put my money on the 8 week growth spurt. I've got my for you that this will pass after a couple of days.
Sesame - You poor things I had a cold when I went into labour with Craig and gave it to him when he was born. My first week after a c-section was spent trying not to cough because it hurt my stitches. Craig is still known as 'Snorky' because of the snuffly noises he made. The snot sucker thingy (aspirator?) and saline drops is the thing for clearing their little noses. Hope you both feel better soon and good luck with the immunisations on Friday. Trust me, it's worse for the Mum than it is for the Bub.
BS - My DH used to freak out and flip Craig over everytime he was on his tummy. For ages Craig would roll over then cry to be flipped back. I asked the Community Nurse and she said to stop turning him because once they can roll, their necks are strong enough to turn their heads and they won't suffocate. Not sure if you can leave them on their tummies when they have reflux and I can't remember how old Craig was when he was doing this. Sounds like the Osteopath did the trick for Eva, they sure fixed Craig's neck (he could only turn his head to one side).
Alison - It's 3kg to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I actually need to lose more like 6-7, maybe 10 to get back to a healthy BMI. Before Craig was born I had two miscarriages and put on more than 5kg with each one. After having Craig I managed to lose all my baby weight, plus another 5kg before falling pregnant with Ryan. The older I get the harder it seems to be to lose weight, so I guess I want to get on top of it as soon as I can. There could be another baby in the near future for us so I want to be as fit and healthy as I can be before falling pregnant again. How cute that your DH was talking to Amelia about a brother or sister I'm going to talk to my GP tomorrow about contraception and any risks with another pregnancy.
AFM - Managed to do 3 days of Wii Fit. I can get 30 minutes in while the boys are both having an afternoon nap. We were away for so long I missed Ryan's immunisations and now I'm struggling to get an appointment for him. Hopefully we can get him in this week. Craig's first immunisation was horrible, he cried out in pain from the needle and I cried because I felt like it was me hurting him. I'm not looking forward to Ryan's needles Tomorrow is my 6 week checkup with my GP (3 weeks late!) and I expect a Pap Smear. I want to ask her about contraception and planning another baby before I'm 40 (can't believe I just wrote that, eeeek!).
Hope everyone is getting sleep and lots of smiles and cuddles from their little ones.
Last edited by *suz1*; February 1st, 2010 at 09:10 PM.
Hi Carmey - are you demand feeding? I've never done that so Amelia's been in a routine since day 1, doesn't work for some but has for us so far. Other than that don't forget she has formula feeds to fill her up which definitely helps!!!!
Hi Everyone else - sorry for selfish post, about to eat dinner.....will get back on later for persies.
I'm in shock girls, I saw the OB today, turns out the infection I had was a rare staph infection that got into my amniotic fluid and passed through to the placenta while in labour, it's so rare and so serious that they can't believe Amelia survived. He said if he hadn't done the c-section when he did the results could have been very very different. I can't believe Amelia could've died, it's a very strange feeling and every time I look at her I feel like crying now. Poor little thing. He did say that even though I would have to be extremely unlucky to have that happen again he would suggest going a c-section again next time, although if I want to try and go vaginal I can but I will be considered high risk so probably better to be safe than sorry. He also said he's happy for me to start trying again when Amelia is 8 months old, I was like, cough cough, I think we'll wait a tad longer thanks ha ha! DH wants to start trying when Amelia turns 1!!!!
All this has made me feel so much better about having the c-section and I look at Amelia now and love her even more which I didn't think was possible. I love my OB! He was so sweet, he was cuddling her and telling her how cute she was, he held her the whole time of my appointment - even when I was on the table and he was checking my tummy he was holding her with one hand and feeling my tummy with the other! He even got excited that I still have the line running down my belly, god knows why! I asked if he did lyposuction, he thought I was joking!
Hey sesame! Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!! Liam is such a cutie! I was so happy to finally see some new pics up - he looks just like you!!!! I hope we hear more from you these days although we are all posting a LOT less - Dop't worry to much for the vaccines, he will cry but it will be over fast - I wanted to cry when Eva got hers so I let DH handle her while I sat in a corner and didn't look...she fell back asleep right after so I think she just cried from the quick pain...then it was over... just make sure he isn't hungry!
Carmey, sounds like a growth spurt to me. Be careful not to lose weight too fast - you can lose but if you drop too fast then the milk can go down, maybe try a pump to see what you get out of a boob? That might be a good indicator and if the supply is not down then I would assume it is a growth spurt so just wait it out - the two month growth is a whopper - I am sure it isn't a supply problem since you had so much...it must be a growth spurt...
Suz, good for you getting on the WiiFit You are lucky to have so little to lose and I am sure you'll get it off in no time!
Alison, my god, goes to show you that everything happens for a reason - Thank god you had that C section. And no matter how much we complain about the biorth, weight gain, sleepless nights...stories like that remind us how we would not change a thing and it is worth it for out babies
To everyone else - Eva slept in her room alone last night! It was a great success! She went down at 8 after her bath, woke up at 12:30 for a feed but then was giggling in her bed for a while so I got to bed at 2AM, then up at 4:50 then up at 6:50, then up at 9:30 so I did a bit of getting out of bed, but she had no problem transitioning! I am so happy!!! I know there will be a few more nights of waking up a lot but I am making sure to feed her a lot in order to start spacing out her feeds and she loves her room so all is well. I was worried about the day I would have to move her out of our room - but I think it is harder for me since I wake up constantly to peek in on her!
I read that at around four months babies have no metabolic need for night feedings, so I hope she gets through her nights by around 4-5 months, even if a night means 12- 6am I would love a block of sleep!
Also, added some photos of the nursery on facebook - I have to add a few more once I get the light fixture, but the basic ones are up!
I'm off to shower while Eva sleeps in her room, where she fell asleep all alone!
hugs and kisses to mums and bubs and glad to see some of our girls that were gone for a bit are back in action!
I'm so excited - Jack slept for 4 hours then 3 last night! Wooohooo! Makes such a difference. I really don't know why he was doing it. Alison, to answer your question, I've always had Jack in a routine (as much as you can for a newborn) from about three weeks. It was going beautifully until just recently. Hopefully he's over it though. And BS, I expressed last night to see how much I had, and I got 100ml out of one boob, so it seems I was down a bit. I would usually fill the bottle and have more after that. But, it was also late at night and I was tired. Apparently resting can help increase your supply. Who knows?!
Suz - Good work on the Wii. All you need is 30 minutes each day and you feel so much better. Go girl!
BS - Good girl, Eva! That's great she slept well in her room. Will jump on FB in a sec to see the new pics.
Alison - Thank god for your OB. That's pretty full on. And good you have a great relationship with him for next time round. Did you get 8 hours last night??
Sesameseed - I understand your worry over the immunisation. I was worried, too. But Jack was such a good boy and settled very easily afterwards. They tend to sleep straight away and then Jack was grizzly for about 10 hours. We gave him baby Pandadol after the nurses' instruction. It seemed to help. Good luck and hope that nasty cold goes!
ATM - Feeling great after some decent sleep last night. I'm going to try and get the little man weighed today as I'm dying to see how much he's put on. I know he is bigger just by picking him up. I think he has to be close to 7kg now.
I'm feeling better about my weight. DH and I have been on a bit of a health kick, where we've cut out the junk we were eating every day. We'd eat ice-cream and chocolate like it was going out of fashion. Plus, DH has stopped training since Jack was born (he's into triathlons and was training 23 hours a week) and he's also porked it on. It's easier when you can both do it. Plus, I'm now doing some sort of exercise for an hour every day, no matter what. I run about four times a week and can now run (slowly) for 7km. Getting there! And, I've lost 2kg over two weeks. Just 6kg to go!
Other than that things are good. Jack is a very happy boy and rarely cries these days. We reckon if you added up his crying it would be 5 mins a day, tops. So very pleased about that!
BS - Your burping technique is great! I just sway Liam from side to side and he brings up the biggest burps! It doesn't really seem to help him feed for longer though, he still only feeds for about 10 mins, then starts to fidget and pull on my nipples, not fun. He seems happy enough though, and to be honest I get bored quickly, so I'm happy to feed him every couple of hours for a few minutes. At night we get about 6 hrs straight, so all's well.
I love the photos of Eva on facebook! She's so Eurochic.
Carmey - You're my hero! Running 7kms, you're fantastic! The weight will drop off before you know it. We've been eating way too much too, I'm determined to get back into a routine, maybe even go back to Weight Watchers to get myself back on track.
That's so great about Jack's crying. The community health nurse gave me a flyer the other day that says it's normal for an 8 week old to cry for up to 1 3/4 hours a day.
Liam would come in at around 20 mins max I reckon.
AFM - We just got home from the Mother and Baby fitness class at the hospital. It was great! One of the mums from my antenatal class was there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. The class was fantastic, just the right level of workout for me. They have two classes a week, and we can go for free until Liam is 6 months! The only catch is that it's about a 20 minute drive from home, and the parking is dicey. There's street parking which is 2 hours for free, if you can find one, otherwise you have to pay for the secure parking, which is about $20 for two hours. I'm thinking about catching the bus, it's a ten minute walk from my house and the bus drops us at the door of the hospital. We'll see how we go.
Carmey, funny about DH putting on weight! Mine is too and is not happy about it But since our last guests left I cleaned out the fridge completely...So no more dairy, sugar, flour, white bread etc...webasically avoid all white! My issue right now is that I can't have acidic fruits and veggies, so I jeep trying new salad recipes and that seems to be all we're eating at the moment...I miss tomatoes and Oranges But once Eva's reflux settles, I'll introduce them back in slowly...Good for you on the 7K! Youll be back to yourself in no time. Eva is starting to settle for longer naps now so I might start running (in the snow - It is my favorite way to run anyway - I hate running in the heat!).
As for supply - I find that when I sleep more I have more. When I do get in a RARE nap I wake up in the afternoon completely engorged! So I am sure there is something to that, and usually we have less milk at night - maybe to get us ready for when they sleep through!
I am glad to hear Jack is settling a bit - I am sure it was a growth spurt. PS do you know I read that a breastfeeding woman needs 2700 calories a day! That is huge! That's why I'm so hungry all the time...and I sometimes crave sweet stuff which is so not my thing...! So blame the ice cream on that, and for DH, I guess he can call it sympathy eating
Sesame, aren't the burps that come out of them huge!? I could not believe Eva had the capability of burping with so much force! lol. It is funny because she is a cute little girl then all of a sudden Brrrraaaahhhhhh! lol. As for the nipple pulling thing, Eva does that when she is out of milk on one side - do you feed him both sides? I was told to try to give her both since at this age they should be eating more with more space between meals...so try giving him the secodn boob if he has not had it. He might be ready to up his portions The nurse told me that to have little meals all day is not so good for their digestion since they are constantly working instead of having full/hungry messages clearly in their belly. I don' t know how tru ethat is, I am feeding more for the breaks in between feedings!
Alison, I saw a pic of you and Amelia with your friend and her baby! She has grown so much! She is starting to really resemble a little person, not just a baby! What a cutie!
As for everyone else, HELLO!
Eva slept in her room again last night! woohoo! Had a sort of dodgy wake up at 230 - she ate then got me out of bed two more times for her pacifier, and then up at 6:30, so getting better...She went down at 6pm then up for a bath at 9 then back to bed at 10...so I might have to try to put her down a bit later since it makes less waking at night possible.
Today I have workers in the house finishing up last minute stuff so I reckon she won't get much sleep with the noise (although she seems to be sleeping through it now - guess she remembers the noise from in utero since I spent the whole end of my pregnancy with the house under construction!).
xoxo
Last edited by BrusselsSprout; February 2nd, 2010 at 05:32 PM.
hi BS just a quick one because I have matilda asleep on me. Wanted to let you know the burping worked magnificently! No hysterical crying today from awful pain. Thank you!!!!!
YAY! I am so happy! Sounds like we have the same baby Great, keep me posted! You should consider seeing and osteopath too then - Since we went with Eva she has been a dream - seriously napping all day and sleeping well at night and no crying...I hope this keeps up for you Tilda!
Finally I have some time to myself today. Craig didn't sleep and Ryan was cluster feeding this afternoon so there was no Wii Fit time. I'm so tired I think I'll post this and go to bed. At least it's not hot tonight.
Tilda - I love how our little group can teach us something new. That's awesome that BS's burping tip worked for you
BS - Your nursery is gorgeous and very stylish. Eva's a lucky girl! The burps, farts and poo noises that come out of Ryan are unbelievable for such a small person! It must be even funnier with a girl, for some reason we expect baby girls to be delicate little flowers. Are you using a baby monitor with Eva in her room? I've had Ryan (and Craig too) in his own room from Day 1 and never used one.
Sesame - Now that BS mentioned it I realised that Ryan does the nipple pulling thing too. That's usually when I burp him and offer the other boob. Ryan's feeds have come down from over 40 minutes to 10, so I don't think your feeds are too short. I did a Mum & Bub class with Craig that was free at our hospital and it was great (but you could only go until bub started crawling). That parking situation sounds awful, I hope you can make the bus work.
Carmey - My DH has also put on the sympathy weight. He needs to lose 20 or 30kg! We're both fairly sporty people, so I have no doubt that he can lose it. That's great that Jack's back to sleeping again.
Alison - Geez girl, that's bad news, but good in a way because it justifies the c-section. Are you OK? That would have been awful to hear. I hope you don't mind me asking, did your OB say that you're at risk of having the same infection again? Did he say why it would be too risky for you to have a VBAC?
AFM - I took Ryan to our local Maternal and Child Health clinic today. He's 62cm, weighed 6.375kg and his head was 39cm. The little guy's weight has gone from the 75th percentile, to the 50th and now up to the 90th! He was losing weight before I started using the nipple shield, but seems to be fine now that I've stopped using it. I missed his 8 week immunisation because we were on holiday and didn't know when we were coming back. I couldn't get an immunisation appointment with either my GP's surgery or the Maternal and Child Health nurses, but when I told the clinic nurse today she squeezed me in on Friday at one of the other clinics. Phew! Only 2 weeks late My postnatal checkup went well and it was pretty funny that my GP raised the contraception issue first. She's given me a prescription for the mini-pill. DH isn't sure that I need it because my period didn't return for over 9 months with Craig (but we didn't care if I fell pregnant straight away). With 2 kids already I don't want to fall pregnant too soon, so I think I'll fill the prescription. Any one else on the mini-pill?
Hi to everyone else!
Last edited by *suz1*; February 2nd, 2010 at 09:22 PM.
Hi Girls - thanks for all your lovely comments about my news from the OB, was a massive shock!
Hi Suz - thanks mate, yes, does justify the c-section! He said I would have to be very unlucky for it to happen again as it was rare to have happened in the first place, but because it DID happen it puts me in a high risk category for my next labour so would be watched like a hawk. He said if everything was going ok he would allow me to try for VBAC if I wanted but his professional opinion would be to do a c-section just in case. I mean, at the end of the day, I think I'd be worried and the fact that he said it was so serious and that she really could have died and even the pathologist couldn't believe it as he'd never seen a baby survive it before has got me thinking maybe I shouldn't risk it. But I will wait and see how I go when I'm in that situation again. Pretty full on information to take in. As for the mini pill, my OB gave it to me too but I've decided not to bother, because I half BF half FF I'm not sure it will work properly and I sometimes miss a BF if I haven't got enough so I think that lowers the coverage of the mini pill, it's only safe if you take it at exactly the same time etc - too risky for me. I'll wait and see how long I can BF for.....besides, we are really thinking of trying again when Amelia is 12 months so I think we can grin and bear the condoms until then.....of course I could change my mind before then and go back on the pill!!!! Oh and talking of periods, I got mine today...is that because I'm not breastfeeding properly as in exclusively????? How does that work?
Hi Carmey - my DH has put on weight too, how funny!!!! At least we have an excuse! My OB gave me the red light to start the ab exercises so I'm on a mission to tone up the flabby guts and thunder thighs!
Hi BS - yay for Eva sleeping in her cot again, Amelia managed 6.5 hours in hers last night and 1 hour in it this morning - was out the rest of the day!
Hi Sesame - your fitness class sounds fantastic, I should look into that given the swimming one is a bit off and on - you can't get in every week which sux!
Well everyone I went to look for another pram today, I really like the Steelcraft Strider Plus as it takes a toddler seat, I prefer thee Steelcraft Strider 4 but it doesn't take a toddler seat - I prefer it as it's a little smaller and over $200 cheaper......just don't know what I'd do if I have another bub in 18 months/2 years without a toddler seat. Any suggestions, should I get one that you can or does it not really matter? DH likes the 3 wheeler Phil & Teds that has a toddler seat at the back but it's only forward facing, you can't have it facing you as well and I want that right now.
Babies born~December 1st-15th 2009 #1
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I got sick last Saturday, then he went down on Tuesday. He's snorting and snuffling and occasionally scares himself with his blocked nose, poor little guy. On the other hand, he sometimes sneezes and then smiles, like he thinks a sneeze is the funniest thing ever. Too cute. 
OMG, that would be tough going back to 2 hourly feeds! I'd put my money on the 8 week growth spurt. I've got my 
for you that this will pass after a couple of days.
It must be even funnier with a girl, for some reason we expect baby girls to be delicate little flowers. Are you using a baby monitor with Eva in her room? I've had Ryan (and Craig too) in his own room from Day 1 and never used one.
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