Babies born~February 1st-15th 2010 #1

[mariahswind]

Hi, I am finally getting around to popping in here! For those who don't know me, I'm Shanan mum to DD Ondene Rose born 27 Jun 06 and DS Ioan Daniel born 3 Feb 2010 via emergency c-section following an induction at 38wks 6days. We are going good....feeding heaps.... recovering better then I expected from the c-section!

Welcome an congrats to HappyMummy, teresa, inky, Tascha and MelBel! Looking forward to getting to know you and hearing about you littlies!

Nice to see you here Natari, phynna, AliB, TTC, Bec , chamberry, catherineq and smithy!!!!!

[Frangipani]

Hi All,

How's everyone and there baby's doing? It's been rather quiet in here so I hope they are behaving for their Mummy's.

Josh is doing well. We had our check up with the health clinic last Thursday. He had put on 455gms in 8 days, so he then weighed 4.05kg. Length now 53cm (3cm longer then birth) and 35cm head circumference (was 34cm at birth). So the weight and height has moved Josh from the 25 percentile to the 50 (head still the 25). So since he did so well with weight I think I'll now do fortnightly weigh-ins (its just to challenging on a Wednesday with a toddler and dreadful to find a park (its right next to a Centrelink office).

Sleeping is our main challenge. For a couple of nights there he just wouldn't go back to sleep without a fight at the 1-2am feeding. Last night was a little better, but it wasn't as 'easy' as it was a week ago when he'd go straigt down. Oh well- we manage. Thankfully Cam (my 21month old) has a good 2 to 3 hourly sleep in the day so we can all have a lay down- which helps.

Hey I'm interested to know what everyone's day time routine is. I know times change cause of feeding, but do you do a feed, play, sleep routine? Where does baby sleep? I haven't got anything going yet. Finding hard with a toddler, but would like to get some sort of order happening soon. Will let ya know when I do.

Well better go- kids to feed. Hope your all well.

[ttcanxiety]

Bec when lauren wont go back to sleep over night i found it was lack of lactation and gave her small top up formula and she would go to sleep straight away, i have since started fenugreek to increase my milk now no night feed goes longer then about 50 minutes!!

[Frangipani]

Thanks TTC, though I don't think its a supply problem here, as I'm at my fullest in the night time, to the point that Josh usually on takes one side, I offer the other but he quite often refuses. I was thinking it might be he needs a little more wake time during the day- which is what we did the last 2 days...will see what happens, as it was a little easier last night- still a challenge, but alot quicker then the other nights.

[teresa]

bec - we were set a routine from the special care nursery with Hamish. he feeds every four hours at 10, 2, and 6 am and pm. feeds 15mins on each breast, then a top up of breastmilk and formula (50mls), then i express. he sleeps in between each feed. the last couple of nights he has been awake for a couple of hours after his 6pm feed so we put him in his swing which he loves.

[ttcanxiety]

teresa - thats wat the middies got me doing cause Lauren was so small she was tooooo slepy to wake for feeds so we had to make it easy 4 her, i have a nice stash of EBM in the freezer and with fenugreek i have almost completely cut out formula (onoy use it now as a back up whhen out and dont have 50 mins to spare , i know not the best but as i have started freezing ebm i hope to cut out formula all together)

[teresa]

ttc - what is fenugreek? is it some kind of formula or is it something to increase your breastmilk? when i express i am getting around 60mls but would love to get more if i could.

[ttcanxiety]

teresa- fenugreek is a herbal thing i use natures own brand this was like $15 fr 60 caps, its actually for relief of mucous congestions but apparently also works for improving lactation (there is some stuff on ABA's website). I take 2 tabs 3 times a day but it is meant to be 3 3 times a day...
I can get about 60 mls AFTER she has had enough to put her to sleep so about 40-60 minutes worth.
Having said that i have only ever "leaked" twice and both have been over night if she slept for 5-6 hours.

HMM she wouldnt settle upstairs, she would fall asleep on the boob then i would put her in the bassinette and with in about 3 minutes she would wake up eating her fists again! so i come down stairs so daddy can get an hour and a half unsettled b4 work, i gave her maybe 2 minutes onthe boob and now out like a light! oh well i will finish yesterdays laundry...

[littlebear]

Hi girls,

Thought I'd join in the fun! My bubs was born on 10/02/10 at 7.01am by emergency c-section. Good to see that there are others born on this day, Tascha & natari what times were your bubs born?

Well my little man is already 3 weeks old and the time has flown by too fast! He's had a few unsettled days lately but he seems alright today so fingers crossed!

Congrats to all you fantastic mums! Hope everything is going well for you all xx

[HappyMummy]

hi

bec - good to hear that josh is going well and he is gaining weight - Natasha did 400g in the last week too so our bubs are doing well. I am also going to do fortnightly checks at the clinic but I am still having home visits as I have another 3 weeks c-sec recovery until I can drive so my clinic nurse is home visiting which is a nice help. As for sleep I just bought today the "save our sleep" book from big w. A friend in my mothers group used it for her first born and I really want to get a good routine set as I have an 18 month gap between the girls and they have sample routines for a toddler and baby. It sets sleep and feed times so I am going to start giving it a go from tomorrow to see how we go - not that Tasha is bad atm but it still helps to set a routine early on esp since we ended up in Karitane with Alicia when she was 7 months old .. happy to pass on tips if you want ?!


littlebear - welcome ! hope you are recovering ok from your emergency c-sec. My first daughter was born by emergency c-sec as well and I found the recovery a bit hard but better this second time around ..

Hi to all the other ladies in here hope everyone is doing well.

We took my DD1 to playgroup yesterday and a new play centre today to get out and about which was nice. My DH is back at work on Monday which is sad cause he has had 4weeks off but life has to get back to normal sooner or later hey !!

Hope all the bubs are doing well I cannot believe my little one is 3 weeks old already seems to have flown by !! Means my older baby is 19 months on Monday too ... yikes !!!

xoxo
Mel T

[natari]

Hi all!

hope you are all doing well!

Bec - Madden is behaving on a sleep, play, feed routine.... not specific times as yet, but a generally similar routine each day - e.g bed between 11pm and 12am, wake at 4.30am for feed, sleep till 8am, feed and play, sleep again at 11am etc...


little bear - Our little guy was born 10.57pm 10/2/10 on his due date (just!)

[inky]

hi
i had another 50ml bleed so they decided not to take anymore chances and i had a c section that night.

Hi teresa, i had a C/S with placenta previa and blood loss making me so low on iron even weeks later. My doula/naturopath gave me a Metagenics iron supplement cuz my others were too low. Seems to have done the trick. How's Hamish doing? So tiny!
Hi to all mum's here!

[inky]

Hi, how's everyone going with their new darling bubs? This is my first and I think it's the hardest work I've ever done. There's times I've felt like being somewhere far away but we wouldn't change her for the world!
inky

[littlebear]

Hi, how's everyone going with their new darling bubs? This is my first and I think it's the hardest work I've ever done. There's times I've felt like being somewhere far away but we wouldn't change her for the world!
inky

So glad you said this! I have been finding it very hard and was beginning to wonder if I was the only one!

[Frangipani]

Yeah- its definitely not easy. And I don't think it gets easier- as I like to put it, just more challenging- but in different ways. Cam's heading into his 2's are he is starting to test us, but its all worth it though.

Second time around for me is a fraction easier mainly with feeding and knowing more what I'm doing (before Cam I'd only held a couple of babies, never any more then that so I had no idea what to do). But I am looking forward to the night where Josh decides to sleep through cause the lack of sleep thing is still the most challenging part. And thats where it'll be a little hard as Cam slept through from 9weeks, so I'm in for a rude surprise if Josh takes longer, and I'm thinking he probably will to- no reason just a feeling.

Hope everyone is doing well. Feed times over here so back to bed.

[mariahswind]

Hi all I thought I'd share what's been happening this last week .... Hope you are all well and getting into the routine of things!

On Monday March 1st I awoke early with some pretty strong abdominal pains. At first I thought I had some terrible trapped wind. After a couple of hours I decided it was clear I needed to see a doctor. Especially having not long had a c-section. So instead of waiting to see my GP I went to the local 'hospital' (I say that tongue n' cheek because it's not a hospital with just one Dr. on roster.) So I got to see her pretty quickly. She thought I had gall stones and sent me for an ultrasound and blood tests and to return late afternoon to follow up on those results.

During the day my pain only increased and I found myself near on vomiting several times. We returned at 5 pm to the hospital and once they got my results they decided to keep me over night and give me some anti-biotics. No gall stones and nothing else showed on this ultrasound. So they kept me and Ioan (Jeff got to stay too) over night with the possibility of going to the hospital that I delivered Ioan at to be seen to by the Obstetrics team there.

By morning my pain was just as bad but had changed location. Having started at just below my diaphragm, it was now spread down towards my belly button. They decision was then made for me to be transferred down via transport vehicle. Most painful trip of my life to date! I didn't respond to any of the pain meds given. So had spent the last 24hrs in agony.

I ended up in Delivery suite to be assessed. The first thoughts from the obstetrics drs was that my pain was not related to my c-section but rather just really bad constipation. Which baffled me because I had been regular up until the previous day! I have never had constipation cause much pain let alone agony. But these are drs. they are supposed to know what they are on about. So they sent me for a abdominal x-ray and set me up in a bed on the ward. Meanwhile my temp was starting to go beyond normal. So over the next few days we were supposedly looking at impacted bowel and a uterine infection.... but no definatives on these, just assumption. Lots of bloods taken to try to find the source of that temp which would spike.... even getting up to 39.9C (104F) They were also trying several anti-biotics. Nothing was knocking this thing on it's head! My pain had subsided significantly but I was very tender and sore on my right side along with my right leg starting to hurt to lift it.

I spent tues and wed nights in the hospital caring for Ioan by myself, but on wed night they moved me to the largest single room on the ward which meant Jeff could stay. So I asked him to come in and stay with my on Thurs as it was just too hard to care for Ioan and deal with the spikes in my temps etc. And I so desperately wanted him to stay with me so I could continue breastfeeding him. So I was quite fortunate to have had this room given to us.

Friday came and I was taken down for another ultrasound. My gut told me during this to get the sonographer to look really deeply at my tender spots on my right side. The u/s was only for looking at my wound from the ceasarian but I alread knew I didn't have collection of fluid there from the previous ultrasound. Well this led to my diagnosis! Later that afternoon after I had a bit of emotional breakdown and came good again with some positive thinking, a midwife comes running in to halt my eating as I was to be sent for a CT scan.... What was this to loook for? An Appendicitis! Which believe it or not would explain absolutely everything including a sluggish bowel, the pain the fevers !!!! Well I spent the next few hours hoping and praying that we found the diagnosis! So about 8pm or so a surgical dr came and asked me a few questions before looking at the CT scan results. He didn't seem too hopeful that I was presenting enough pain but with all those anti-biotics I was being partially treated and that may be why.... so off he goes .... seems like forever.... but I told myself that means those scans are showing something! He comes back and confirms an appendicitis!

This was great but scarey news with my appendix being ignored for 5 days meant I was facing a burst one which would not be good as most people realize. They didn't want to rush me to emergency surgery for two reasons, my previous intubation issues and the fact I had eaten. So the plan was surgery in the morning. Welll that's what happened and fortunately the surgeon was able to do it through laproscopy (key hole) so I have two little incisions on my tummmy including a third in my belly button. It was pretty bad though so they left a drain in for a couple of days to make sure any excess puss etc would drain away.

I am sore, tired and totally amazed that I have had a second major drama.... this time my life really was threatened (the c-section issues are nothing compared to facing a burst appendix!) Even though I am really disgusted that something like this could take so long to diagnose, I am pleased with the care I did receive, along with having the best room in the house, keeping my baby with me and having Jeff there to help. It's the end result that counts and I am very happy to still be alive!

[Frangipani]

Wow Mariahswind- you know as soon as you started describing what was happening, the 1st thing I thought of was appendix! I kept reading ahead to see when it would be mentioned...and i've never had that issue, but my DH has as well as my brother. My brother actually burst though, got very nasty with him. Glad they ended up figuring it out and i'm glad your ok. Sorry you had to go through so much pain though.

How's everyone else? Very quiet in here.

All good here. Josh is sleeping well at night, with only 1 wake up the last 2 nights. He's been sleeping 5.5-6hrs til 2am'ish, then back down til 6.15-7am'ish. Going to weigh him tomorrow, but i can tell he has put on weight- his newborn nappies i'm trying to use up barely fit (i've been using the disposables at night, cloth during day).

Well feeds over. Back to bed.

Hope you are all doing well.

[littlebear]

Wow mariahswind, glad you are ok! I think the worst part about pain is not knowing what it is. Hope you're recovery well from another major operation, I had a c-section too and that was not nice to recover from so if having your appendix out is worse I don't want to even imagine!

Not doing so well over here, we took our bubs to the dr last night, as an emergency appointment so not our usual dr, but he's been diagnosed with reflux! poor little guy has been in a lot of pain for about a week, last wednesday it started and we thought he was just having an off day being really grizzly, we're first time parents so how would we know? Thursday he was fine, friday he screamed all day and only slept for an hour the whole day in total. I could tell he was exhausted but he just wouldn't settle. Still thought he was just having off days etc growth spurt maybe? Because he was feeding fine & still sleeping well at night. Saturday, sunday & monday he was not as bad as friday but then yesterday he was inconsolable. I just couldn't stand it anymore. We'd tried infacol wind drops and gripe water, while they helped they didn't make it go away. He's been prescribed Losec, which should make it go away. Had his first tablet last night, but was in pain this morning so being a month old (just today! wow) I gave him some baby panadol. Really didn't want to but I'm glad I did, he's sleeping without being in my arms for the first time during the day in a week and seems much happier!

Sorry that was quite long!

Hope everyone else is doing well!