Babies born~July 16th-31st 2009 #1

[Sagres]

Hi there,

Congratulations to all you new mummies!

I am mum to Alannah May who was born on 27 July at 4:30am. She was 6lb 12oz and was born fairly quickly. I was induced and went from the first 'real' contraction at about 1am, waters breaking at 2am and fully dilated at 4am. The pace of it all took everyone by surprise.....I had an epidural because we thought I was about 3-4cm and I was getting to the limit of what I could handle and assumed I was still a few hours off being ready to push. Turns out I was actually 10cm and had a fresh epidural just in time for pushing

Everything is going pretty well for us so far, feeding is getting better. In the first few days after getting out of hospital my nipples were cracked and bleeding and quite uncomfortable but a post natal clinic appointment with a lactation consultant got us on the right track and it is much better now.

Alannah is proving to be a pretty good sleeper so far. Every now and then she has trouble with wind and takes awhile to get to sleep but mostly she drops off pretty quickly.

I hope you girls that are having BFing trouble see an improvement soon - it is not easy but everyone tells me it gets easier! Thinking of you.

[lilprecious75]

Hi again!

Well, DS#2 is having a feed at the moment and DS#1 is out with daddy so I have a few minutes to write again!

I just want to encourage those of you who are struggling with the b/f! I had a very rough time with DS#1 but stuck it out (had cracked, bleeding nipples due to poor attachment) and we enjoyed two years of breastfeeding! I hope everyone in here who is having a rough start sees lots of improvement very soon.

I'm starting to wonder if some of the things I am eating could be upsetting Jeremy's tummy. My MIL put some chilli in two of the meals she made recently, then my FIL bought Subway yesterday and there were jalepenos on the sandwich (I didn't realize until I ate one) and last night we went to a thai restaurant for dinner to celebrate MIL'S 70th bday. Jeremy was awake for two solid hours last night/early this morning trying to feed, grunting, groaning and finally he did two big poos and after that I settled him back to sleep by rocking him and giving him a dummy and then he slept for three hours.

What kinds of foods do people find most upsetting? I know the big culprits tend to be onions, garlic, chilli, chocolate and caffeine but are there others I may be eating and not considering?

In a totally unrelated topic... anyone else's babies starting to get very dry, flaky skin? I know it is normal... just wondering what people are using? if anything? I was thinking of putting some sorbolene on him after his bath tonight.

[ladybird11]

Yes, B has flaky skin, as you said, totally normal! Nothing to stress about - we just moisturise it after every bath, and occasionally during the day if it irks me enough lol!

Our feeding situation is what I refer to as controlled chaos he he...I still express, and actually have found this second batch of lactation cookies to have increased supply slightly. We have really cut down on the b/f as B just seems so unsettled afterwards, but when we give him a bottle of 'top up' he's fine afterwards, and attachment has improved too. So it's kind of a mixture of everything - but as long as he is gaining weight I'm happy.

I must ask...was anyone elses bubs born with teeth??? B was born with two lower ones.

B is not even two weeks old and already DF is talking about number 3 for us!!

I hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying these early days in our precious babies lives!!

Is anyone else doing birth announcement cards? Or am I over the top!

[alz]

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all doing well and are getting some sleep.

Well on the b/f front things are just getting worse. Even though I am on motilium I am slowly drying up. Have done everything the lactation consultant told me to do but nothing is working. I am supposed to be expressing an hour after each feed but have to admit I am not good at this. I have a toddler and an unsettled newborn, by the time everyone is sorted I need a rest. Anyway am doing it as often as I can. I was really upset about my supply yesterday but am feeling better today. I will b/f until I completely run out and then just full time bottle feed. For all of you who are struggling with sore nipples etc, I am feeling for you. Hang in there. It will be worth it in the end.

Dry skin - Daniella has that too. Yes perfectly normal. I am using some Johnsons naturals moisturiser. Used it with my first as well and it is nicer than sorbolene. Ella loves it when I rub her back with it. It really settles her.

I too will be doing a birth anouncement card for friends and family. Not too over the top. The birth of a bubba is so special so I want to share it with everyone.

Anyway, better go Ella is almost due a feed. Have a great night everyone.

[lilprecious75]

Good Evening Ladies!!

DS#1 is asleep and DS#2 WAS asleep!
Which brings me to my big question for tonight...

How often do all your babies poop in a given day?

Jeremy has hardly slept all day long...
total of 2hrs 45 mins in the last twelve hours

and it is mainly because he poops EVERY time he feeds.

I do remember that James pooped every feed as well and perhaps that is why James was such a bad sleeper and Jeremy is seemingly turning into a bad sleeper.

What do people think about this???

Should I alter my diet and see if anything changes? Or is his gut just seriously active? I feed him and he falls asleep but then as soon as I put him in bed, with in about 15 minutes, he wakes up crying and does his poo and sometimes a big burp as well (though only if I forget to burp him which I did tonight)!

I'm just wondering if I should do a semi-elimination diet. I know Dr Sears has a SERIOUS elimination diet (which I went on for about two weeks when James was about 14 months old) but I am not sure I want to go that strict again. When I am on that diet I can only eat turkey, rice, pears, zuchinni, and sweet potato (if I remember correctly).

So what do you all think? Any thoughts, comments, ideas would be greatly appreciated! I would love to write more but Jeremy is still crying (DH is doing the nappy change) so I need to go see if everything is okay.

[Fleur]

Hi everyone... wow, it got busy here! Congratulations to you all on the arrival of your little ones.

alz, sorry to hear of your supply problems. I had supply issues with DS1, he was fully ff after 8 weeks. DS2 I fed for 14 months. I don't have any supply issues atm but I do worry about it. I think the best you can do is all you can do to... we are giving them a great start As for wind, I think pretty much what you mentioned, cabbage... I have some Brauers colic relief, I haven't used it yet but am thinking about trying it soon!

lilprecious, we had the same thing with Arleas clothes! We had to sort through what fit her & get rid of a bit. Thankfully we had an idea she would be bigg-ish, so we didn't have too much 0000 stuff. Dry skin.. I am using the Gaia products. Arlea had very dry skin due to being so overcooked, she is still peeling. I think the best cure is time, in the meantime a bathoil or moisturiser. Poos... I think for BF babies anything goes really. A doesn't do it much, she doesn't have any problems like constipation, just doesn't need to. I do think anywhere from 3-5 a day is normal. A usually has one every 24-30 hours though. That diet does sound very strict! Is it to identify what gives bub wind?

Sagres glad to hear the BF & sleeping is going well for you! Those LCs are great aren't they... I had serious attachment issues with DD1 & it totally killed BF for us. It's so good to get it sorted early.

Leesa i can't believe your bub was born with teeth! In answer...nope none of mine ever were. I imagine this is fairly rare? Lol at your DF talking about number 3 already! Nice that he's obviously enjoying it Birth announcement cards... I am planning on it. I had already started designing them before she arrived, thinking a headstart would be good. So far I have done nothing more - there is just no time! But yes I am planning on it. I am going to make it a combination announcement / thankyou card.

AFM...still expressing, I have plenty of milk, the freezer is filling up. I am being very careful as I am so worried about my supply (having lost it with DS1) - BUT I am spending about 7-10 hours a day expressing I am sick to death of it! Can't wait to get her back on the breast. I am determined to stick with it though... I know from past experience a bit of effort now does pay off in the long run .. it does get easier.. but OHH it's so hard right now!
My fluid has all gone I think, I lost 12kg in a week and I feel pretty good - apart from sleep deprived! The time spent expressing when I could be sleeping and she is getting harder & harder to settle to sleep too.
Dh goes back to work tomorrow & I'm a bit worried how I will manage all the expressing without another set of hands to help feed & settle her. I need to be doing more skin-to-skin but there's just no time! Well, we will see how we go I guess.

Wishing you all a good night & some sleep!

[lilprecious75]

UGH!
I have the beginnings of mastitis in my right BB and I'm NOT happy! Who knew that my champion feeder would be the one I would have this problem with?? Both the GP and the chemist assured me that there is no way to know what caused it. I could have picked up something during the few days when my nipples were grazed, or it could be due to the fact that I'm co-sleeping and sleeping almost exclusively on my right side (though I do alternate breasts for feeds), or it could be that Jeremy isn't emptying the right BB enough when he feeds. Who knows...

So I have a prescription for antibiotics which I will fill at lunchtime tomorrow if I'm still running the fever. Both the GP and the chemist wanted to give it 24 hours to see if it will resolve itself as it is minor at this point.

I hate having fevers - so far this one is only giving me the chills and I hate feeling cold all the time. I just gave Jeremy a BIG feed while we got James ready for bed and tucked in and I think he did a good job of emptying the right BB because I really had to work to wake him so he could take the left BB which was quite full as with my trip to the GP (which is thankfully around the corner from our house) he went 4.5 hours between feeds which is VERY long for him.

So DS#1, DS#2 and DH are all asleep in the bedroom (we all four still sleep in one room) and I just took a long, VERY hot bath and put a hot, wet cloth on my right BB. I also tried to hand express both BB's and I could get milk out of the left BB and nothing from the right BB so I hope that means he drained it well.

I certainly hope no one else in the group ends up with mastitis because it isn't fun. I would go to bed right now (there is never anything good on TV on a Monday night anyway) except for the fact that I'm starving even though I just ate dinner two hours ago. So I'm off to fix myself something to eat (have no idea what yet) and then if Jeremy is still asleep I might catch some shut eye. Oh, except I should stay up until 10pm for my next dose of Panadol so I guess I will go to bed after the next feed.

In other news, the elimination diet I mentioned in my previous post is one that Dr Sears developed to help parents determine if foods are creating the sleep problems. The foods on the list are the blandest and least allergenic foods known to man. But I forgot to add that you can have olive oil as well for fat. I think I mentioned I went on the diet for two weeks with DS#1 when he was about 14 months old and I actually liked it even though it was so strict. He continued to wake the same number of times though even at the end of two weeks so we stopped. Turns out he finally started sleeping almost all the way through the night (he occassionally wakes for a drink or to have the covers put back over him) when he turned THREE! I'm really hoping Jeremy doesn't follow in his footsteps!

I hope everyone is well, babies are thriving, and some of us are getting at least a little bit of sleep. I'll check back later...