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!!
Lani I'm very jealous of Jett's 5 and 7hr sleeps!!! That's excellent though Hope the wind settles down soon for you too.
Tilda I hope you find a good elevation for Matilda and it helps...but if you really need to sleep and you can do it safely in bed with mum and dad is ok I think, they're only little for such a short time and if the comfort helps them I say do it! I have Harry in our bed at night when he won't settle and if it means we all get a little sleep and he's safe we're all thankful for it the next day.
Enjoy the movie!
AndieE Good to hear the tongue tie was picked up and sorted out quickly and glad to hear Jacob is doing so well.
That's gorgeous that big brother loves his little brother I bet they're just so cute to watch together
This is 3rd time having a baby for me, but I don't have a toddler, I think you girls with toddlers to deal with are awesome! I don't know how I'd be coping if I had another little one to look after...I did it before, but I'm thinking my youth helped me through it because I feel so much more tired this time round...well unless I just can't remember that far back LOL
We took Harry to see the chiro yesterday, he's been having trouble bringing up wind, not that he's in pain, he just gets unsettled and is full of wind, and he was still having trouble with attachment on my right breast so I thought maybe if something wasn't aligned or was sore after the birth it could be making it hard for him to feed on that side and get his wind up. Turns out he was holding some tension at the bottom of his neck near his shoulders and the bones in the back of his head were slightly out so he doesn't want to turn his head that way. So he had some little adjustments that didn't worry him one bit, they were so gentle, and so far I think it has helped a little. He's been very relaxed, when he burps they're much bigger, and he seems to be attaching better to the right breast! So I'm hoping it's not a coincidence and it keeps up!!
I'll be propping the mattress up too because he's been a bit spewy as well hopefully that will help the wind and stop the vomiting too.
gotta go I can hear him stirring.
Hello! I am joining this thread even though my baby Eva was born on November 19th since her original due date was the 11th and I would like to stay with my belly buddies
I am off to get some friends from the airport for the holidays but I will post a bit later !
Hope you are all having great holidays and hello to the old and new buddies on here!
Just waiting to give Jacob his last feed of the night before I hit the hay - so thought I'd jump on and say hi.
Lani - wow, I thought I had a quick labour but 1hr45mins is pretty good going! Jacob is in a similar pattern to Jett - feeds more regularly during the day but can go up to approx 5 hours overnight. Makes such a difference to get approx 7 hours sleep overnight, even though I do still wake a bit bleary eyed after being up for 30-40 mins during the night to BF.
Tilda - Hey, I'm a former Taswegian of 27 years (NW Coast) ... my regards to Hobart! I can sympathise about Matilda suffering wind. DS1 used to suffer from wind pain ... I used to give him gripe water and it seemed to help. We also used to gently "cycle" and "pump" his legs when he was suffering wind pain - it settled him down and he'd generally have a good fart or two and be the better for it. It's not nice seeing your new baby suffer wind pain, but fortunately it eases after a couple of months. It looks like we're lucky with Jacob not suffering from wind so far (hope I don't jinx myself!). Hope your trip to the cinema went well.
Willow - that's great that you took Harry to see a chiro - I swore if we had any "issues" where sleep, wind or being unsettled were concerned, I'd take Jacob to see one too as I've heard such positive things about the benefits of babies undergoing chiro adjustment. Glad to hear it's already made a difference ...
Hi BrusselsSprout - look forward to getting to know you further.
AFM, well so far all's well. Jacob will have a little milk spew sometimes after BFing and he's a total poo machine. Poos after just about every BF . Today I was burping him after a feed, and I heard a "no.3" come from his nether regions, to which I replied (very off-the-cuff) "well, at least you kept it in your nappy". Hmmm. Thirty seconds later he did a bigger, better "no.3" ... and it came shooting out the side of his nap, down my cleavage and bra and onto my tummy. Yup, spoke waaaayyy too soon. At least it was warm ! Needless to say, bath time followed very quickly!
Jacob is growing like a weed and he's filling out beautifully. Unlike DS1 (I shouldn't compare, but can't seem to help it), Jacob is quite happy to have his nappy off and/or have a bath. DS1 used to howl!
Out of interest, are other states encouraging new parents to have a whooping cough booster? Apparently whooping cough is in epidemic proportions in some pockets of Qld, and as a result the state govt here has made the booster free for parents of all newborns.
Anyway, enough from me - about time I wake Jacob up for his feed so I can go to bed.
Hope you all have a lovely New Year with your bubs - catch you in 2010!
Hi Girls - my baby was born 30 November but I was in the December thread as my original due date was 2 December so will stay with this one as well as the November born bubs if you don't mind! I know all the December girls too well, we're like family!
Anyway, I have to run to feed but I will check back in tomorrow, been away for 2 days so haven't been on. Amelia is now 4 weeks old and started to smile heaps and try to grab things, it's so exciting!
I'm joining this thread even though Amelia was born on Nov 30. My EDD was Dec 10 and I can't bear to leave my belly buddies - as Alison said, we're like family. I look forward to meeting any new baby buddies.
willow - MIL suggested last night that we look into chiro for Amelia as she has had some pretty unsettled nights. Things have improved since she figured out the difference between night and day, but I had a 4 hour crying marathon from 7-11pm Tuesday night. Time for me to do some research I think.
Hi Hannah I think chiro is pretty good for lots of things, but I would be careful who I took a baby to, or who I would see for that matter. There are different types of chiropractic methods so if you're thinking of taking Amelia these are the methods that my chiro practices, they're very gentle and seem to be effective for me and so far for Harry.
The methods are called ACTIVATOR METHODS/TORQUE RELEASE TECHNIQUE
My chiro also does a method called NEUROLINK which is non manipulative.
If you like I can ask my chiro if he could recommend any good chiros in your area? I would trust his judgement specially when it comes to a newborn.
Hi to everyone else thought I'd have a little more time, but no Harry's awake again, he fed hourly last night and looks like it won't be much different today! Another growth spurt maybe??
I've been reading this thread (and the baby buddies thread) but haven't had the time and energy to post.
Quick summary - Liam Jack was born after a fairly traumatic induction on December 2nd (he just turned 4 weeks old, which I can't believe!), 8 pound 15 ounces, 51.5cm.
I had some major issues recovering from the birth - complete loss of appetite and almost constant nausea, amongst other symptoms, which worsened when my milk came in. I got super engorged, which was extremely painful, and to make things worse, Liam had a lot of problems with feeding at first, so it wasn't easily relieved. We eventually got him feeding him in hospital with the use of a nipple shield.
The first few weeks back at home were really difficult for me. I was severely sleep deprived, still suffering from nausea and a lack of appetite and just generally a wreck. Liam still wasn't feeding well, and was fussing about 95% of the time he was awake and not sleeping well at night at all.
Things came to a head and, after several visits to the GP, I was diagnosed with postnatal depression and started on antidepressants and a very low dose of a sleeping pill (for the record, I've suffered from depression for a good many years and came off antidepressants to get pregnant). Liam was also tentatively diagnosed with silent reflux and started on medication.
As I type now, things are much improved. Liam's far more settled, and generally sleeps much better at night, waking every 2-3 hours to feed and generally settling down quickly afterwards. He doesn't always sleep well during the day, but he spends far less time fussing now while awake. He's also feeding much better now - he rejected the nipple shields a few weeks ago, and latches on without too much fuss now. Him feeding properly makes everything a lot easier. Our next challenge is to get him to accept a bottle of expressed milk from time to time from DH, which he's so far rejected.
I'm doing a lot better, too. Getting a bit of decent sleep makes a huge difference to everything. The antidepressants are starting to kick in, and everything feels far more manageable. DH has been home for the last few weeks, too, which has been a huge help.
And now I've written a short novel Hope you're all doing well and enjoying your little ones.
Hi Rose - it's lovely to hear from you, I wondered where you've been. I'm sorry to hear you've had a hard time, I didn't realise it was so tough for you, sounds like you've been through the ringer a bit the last few weeks but very glad to hear you're feeling much better. What caused the nausea do they know? Bad enough having it in the first trimester, let alone after bubs is born huh! You sound like you've got things under control now so you'll start to enjoy being a mum more and more. Don't worry, we all struggle with having a new baby, it certainly would help if they came with instructions huh! I'm only just getting used to the sleep deprivation now after 4.5 weeks, in fact, oddly enough I feel more exhausted/tired at the 6.00 am mark now so have been getting DH to do a FF bottle feed unless I've got expressed milk but we've been out and about so much lately I haven't had much time to express much! I hate using formula even though it shouldn't matter but I've found I'm less stressed using it because it helps so much, Amelia can't go hungry and if she does she won't settle so it's best for all of us at times. I don't have to use it a lot but I have no issue doing so now, I'm past the whole issue of it not being good.......it's only because it's drummed into us to BF. I was formula fed and I think I'm fine.....although some would argue. LOL.
Anyway, hope everyone has as fabulous New Year's! It's DH's birthday so we're just going to his parents for an early dinner. We'll be in bed well before midnight sadly, have to get our couple of hours in before Amelia wakes for her 1.30 am ish feed!
Hi Rose Great to hear from you again! I'm sorry you've had such a hard time was the nausea related to the depression or to your milk coming in? Or do they not know??... Geez nosey aren't I
Very good to hear things are picking up for you now, like Alison said it's hard enough with a new baby without having to deal with the added stress of nausea, not feeding properly and then depression on top!
You know we're here for you if you ever need to have a big vent or just need some support
Alison Aahhh...you were formula fed...that explains a lot!...LOL Just kidding
Happy B'day to DH!
AndiE We were told that whooping cough is about in Canberra too and they offered the vax to me in hospital. So I guess it's pretty standard at the moment.
Hi BS Glad you found the thread.
Took Harry for a weigh today and he's over his birth weight now woohoo!
Hope everyone has a great new year
And all the best for a fantastic 2010
I didn't make midnight but was up at 1.30 am feeding, does that count? hee hee
We had a quiet night, dinner at the in-laws for DH's birthday and came home about 10.30 pm. I did lose my nipple shield at their house though so not happy, managed to feed ok through the night without it but Amelia definitely feeds better with them cause she's used to them now, woops. Will have to go see if I can find another one, assuming the chemists sell them.....I got my other one in the hospital!
Hi Willow - hee hee, yeah maybe that explains why I'm so mad Great news re Harry's weight, good job! I jumped on the scales at home yesterday (scary) and then again with Amelia in my arms to get an idea of her weight and it's telling me she's put on 1 kg in 2 weeks, does that sound right? I've got mothers group next week so will weigh her properly then hee hee.
Hope you all had lovely New Years! Can't believe we have to now say our babies were born "last year"!
Hi Alison Amelia could have put on 1kg in 2 weeks that would be a good gain! Hope you can get a hold of another nipple shield, or your other one could turn up.
I haven't weighed myself yet I should do that.
I missed midnight too but Harry woke at 12.20 so I only just missed it
I just posted this in our old thread but thought I should probably start using this one now. So, here it is again!
Happy New Year girls! What did everyone get up to??
I have to be really quick but wanted to log in and say I'm thinking of you all.
BS and everyone else who is facing the wind dilemma - we were recommended Infant's Friend, a natural liquid formula that you give them before feeds. It's our godsend! Honestly, it has made him sleep better because he was waking at night in pain. BS, I'm not sure if you'll be able to get it over there but it's similar to gripe water, but tastes nice so they love it.
I'll try and get online later to catch up on everyone's news.
So strange moving! When are we all doing it?
ATM - doing really well now. I was in such a fog earlier and felt quite dreadful over Christmas. Now we've used the Infant's Friend he sleeps so much better which really helps DH and I and our energy levels.
OMG, I have to mention this. After BS said she gives Eva tummy time we started doing it. And guess what? Last week, at three weeks, he started to roll from his tummy to his back. I didn't think anyone would believe me so I just had my parents and DH witness it and he did it twice for us. I really have to watch him now because I was cooking the other day with him on the mat on the floor and he started to scream - he had rolled UNDER our coffee table.
Anyway, I hope you're all doing well and can't wait to hear about your news.
Babies born~December 1st-15th 2009 #1
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Hope the wind settles down soon for you too.
. Today I was burping him after a feed, and I heard a "no.3" come from his nether regions, to which I replied (very off-the-cuff) "well, at least you kept it in your nappy". Hmmm. Thirty seconds later he did a bigger, better "no.3" ... and it came shooting out the side of his nap, down my cleavage and bra and onto my tummy. Yup, spoke waaaayyy too soon. At least it was warm 
Just kidding
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