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

[Sagres]

Sagres - to answer your question I am formula feeding as well and have been since day 4 under medical advice (that is how low my supply is). I am planning on doing both for a while. If it starts to affect Ethan too much I am going to put Ella on the bottle completely. I don't want him to resent his little sister.

Oh gosh, you are having a rough time of it aren't you, I didn't realise it that low from the start. Sorry it is going this way, I think you are doing a great job and Ella is lucky to have such a great mum

[lilprecious75]

Hi All!

Well day sleeps are a disaster at the moment. For some reason he struggles to go to sleep during the day. It doesn't help that he poops constantly which wakes him up and we have to start the settling all over again. SIGH!!

How are the other babies doing with day sleeps???

[lilprecious75]

Hi again,

Well I have just spent a majority of the day trying to settle Jeremy to sleep! Finally at 4pm I got him settled and he is still asleep - the big question will be whether he can sleep beyond the one hour mark.

So far today he has only slept from 9am until 10am and from 2pm until 2:45pm!

I know part of the problem is his gut - he has had lots of wind today and has pooped more times then I can remember now. So if he can manage not to poop for a couple of hours maybe, just maybe, he will get some sleep.

Anyone else in the group having a similar sort of problem? Or is my son the exception?

I'm excited about tomorrow. The hospital where both of my boys were born holds a mothers group every Thursday morning from 10:30am until 12:30pm. I attended for the full 4 months with my first son but they don't have childcare for older children so I won't be able to go for as long this time around.

Last week I didn't attend because my parents were leaving to head back to the states and I wanted to spend every spare second that I could with them. This week and next week are the last two Thursdays my MIL is going to be here and will be able to look after my first son for me. So I'll leave James at home with her and Jeremy and I will have a day out together.

I have a Hug-a-Bub front carrier that I bought when James was about 9 months old and only used with him for a few months so I'm super excited to use it with Jeremy tomorrow. I'll have to test it out with him sometime this evening when he is awake. I am expecting tonight to be somewhat rough with Jeremy since I know that when babies get over tired they then struggle to sleep.

Anyone in this group using cloth nappies? I just used my last disposable this afternoon and I'm seriously going to try to stick to full time cloth from now on. I have a small pack of Huggies for emergency purposes only but I bought the infant size since Jeremy weighs nearly 5kg already but he has chicken legs and a scrawny butt so they don't fit him properly yet! OH well - good excuse to keep using my lovely cloth nappies.

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. My DH worked from home again for most of the day today (he just left for the office about 5 minutes ago) as our hot water tank has a serious leak and we are desperately trying to find SOMEONE who is #1: willing to fix it for us and #2: can do it for a reasonable price. So far we are not having luck with this as he has called at least a dozen people so far and no one has been able to help us.

[Fleur]

Hi everyone.. lets see how much I can type before she wakes

Sagres LOL at your DH... I think they really don't realise how much it takes it out of you when you are not just waking but fully awake & alert for some time...there's a big difference! Today ended up being my first day alone, I have had the other kids home every day so far this week... so today is the day!... I don't expect to get much done as long as I can express I'll be happy

alz, hope you are feeling better. It's no good being sick when there is so much else to deal with

lilprecious, re day sleeps... Arlea has also been a bit up & down through the day, she will go to sleep in our arms & then wakes as soon as we put her down. Having said that... this morning I can't get her to wake! She grizzled a bit an hour ago & then fell asleep again as soon as I picked her up. I think we might be in for an 'awake' day

AFM.. no progress re bfing but my expressing time has decreased. I worked it out & it has dropped to 1/2 hr - 45 min a time so more like 4-41/2 hrs a day now (still feels like heaps!) but the fluid draining from my breasts means the milk is flowing much more efficiently. Saw the LC yesterday, no more appts now, there is nothing more to do but try & get as much skin as possible & be patient
I have set my goals, of course the ideal would be to be fully bfing & continue for 18mths+ but I have plan A, B, C etc ! and at the very least I want her to have 2-3 months of breastmilk (more if I can keep it up) so at the moment I am comitted to continuing as we are for 2-3 months. That's 2-3 months I have then (at least) of trying to get her back on the breast...the LC said she has seen babies who just all of a sudden magically went on! so I am hoping for that, & she did say they were babies who got a lot of skinto skin so that's the plan.
She has been much more settled the last couple of nights, from about 9 or 9:30 to 1-1;30 and then until 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. So I have only had to get up & feed & pump once overnight, still tired but much more manageable. Both nights she has had a late bath so I am going to keep that up & see if that might be the key

Hope you are all well & getting some sleep

[alz]

Hi Girls,
Sagres - thanks for the encouragment. I needed it today. Feeling a bit low today.

Well we had another bad night. Daniella was up most of the night with wind. We have elevated her basinette matress today so hoping that will help.

As far as day sleeps go - Daniella is usually not too bad during the day but nights are terrible.

Good news. Saw the paed yesterday and he is happy with Ella's progress. He wants to see her again when she is 6 weeks after having a hip ultrasound. We are all thinking she will have full blown reflux by then. Already doing plenty of projectile vomits. We also have to look out for a tummy condition (can't remember what it is called) that looks like reflux. Will this never end??????

Anyway, hope you are all doing well today.
Hang in there Mummies. It will get easier. (I have to tell myself that at least 20 times a day)

[lilprecious75]

Hi All

Didn't get to the hospital mother's group today or to see my midwife. My MIL did something to aggravate her back injury and thus she could hardly walk today. Needless to say my DH took her to the doctor first thing this morning and I didn't think she would be able to properly look after an active 3 year old so we just didn't go which was disappointing.

I spoke to my midwife on the phone and also our local chemist and the general consensus is that the antibiotics I'm taking for the mastitis are upsetting Jeremy's tummy and causing him to be so unsettled. So we'll see if things improve when I'm finished with the course.

Right now Jeremy is sleeping on my chest and I intend to leave him there.

James, Jeremy and I took a walk to the park and I carried Jeremy in my hug-a-bub and he slept soundly for two hours. Definitely going to carry him in that MUCH mom despite MIL telling me that I a, holding him too much!!

Here's hoping and praying that his sleep improves in the next couple of weeks.

[alz]

Afternoon all,
Hope you are having a great weekend with your little treasure bundles. My angel is sleeping and has been most of the arvo so I am happy about that.

Had a tough morning. Daniella has started to refuse the breast. I think there is so little there that she has given up. She sucks twice and then pulls off screaming. We have now decided to just give her the bottle. I am really upset as I wanted so much to breast feed but it just wasn't meant to be. My hubby has been trying to talk me into the bottle for a couple of days as he could see how much it was upsetting me and bub. I think I am most upset as I know what I have to do for the good of Daniella but I don't like that decision. What it comes down to is that she needs to grow and be healthy and my milk just wont do it.

On a positive note, she gained 200g this weeks which is comforting. Only 80 more grams and she will have regained her birth weight and the CHN will leave us alone to get on with life.

Catching up with my mother's group tomorrow so looking forward to that.

Sending good sleep vibes your way for tonight.

[ladybird11]

Hey Alz, you did the best you could, don't be upset with yourself. No point in starving bubs just to breastfeed. We went through the exact thing, right down to DF suggesting bottle / formula as he could also see how stressed I was, and subsequently Blake was too. Now I offer breast after a bottle, and Blake seems to go on no worries, but probably more as a comfort thing - it helps put him to sleep most of the time. Great weight gain for Daniella too . A CYFHS nurse saw Blake on Thursday and we mentioned about the projectile vomit (not that he gets it much). She mentioned to take Blake off of the S26 Gold formula and get the plain version as the fish oil upsets bubs belly..

Lilprecious - you must have jinxed going to your mothers group, you were really looking forward to that! I hope you MIL is better now and you can catch up with the group soon! You hold your little one as much as you want too - I bet shes just jealous she can't hold him as much as you can .

Jasp - hows the b/f going now? Make sure you look after your neck and shoulders while doing all that expressing, mine are so tight and tense it's been giving me headaches in the last few days.

AFM - Blake is doing great, he's a very content baby that only cries when something isn't right, so it's all just a process of elimination. He has regained his birth weight and more now, after gaining 230 grams in three days. However i'm sure he lost some of that weight after his projectile poo that shot out from his butt during a nappy change yesterday. It travelled over one metre at high speed and landed on my shirt, pants and the rest (that didn't stick to me) fell to the floor. It was funny as!!

I hope everyone is going well and enjoying their bundles of joy!!

[alz]

Hi everyone,
Will make this one quick as Daniella is starting to stir.
Had a great night of sleep last night. I think stopping the breastfeeding is helping with Daniella's wind. She slept well last night which was lovely.

Had a great morning with my mother's group today and they gave me some lovely presents to celebrate Daniella's birth. Most of us are having our second (or recently had it) so we are able to catch up more regularly again which is nice. It was hard when we all went back to work part time.

Anyway little girls wants a feed.

[Jess]

Hi all!
Bridie was born on July 26th, and this is the first time I've had long enough to post on the forums... she is semi-sleeping on the boob and hubby worked out how to get my laptop reachable from the feeding chair.
I'm a first-time mum and honestly a little overwhelmed. Had a drug-free vaginal birth but then attachment issues leading to cracked nipples - now healing but it still hurts. I've been reading the BF threads and it's so encouraging to see other people have had the same issues and got through it. I think we're getting better at attaching but she's not gaining weight fast enough - has only just regained her birth weight - so I might have to start giving her formula after each feed I never thought I would have trouble breastfeeding, I joined the ABA and read the book and went to a prenatal education class and felt really prepared, but I guess there are some things you can only learn by doing. (And then there is settling and dealing with poos and all the rest - such a learning curve...)
Sympathy to all the other ladies dealing with BF issues - at least we know we are not alone!

[lilprecious75]

Hi All,

This will just be a quick post to say hello as Jeremy just woke up! DH is being a dear and doing the nappy change for me and then I will feed him again.

He had a very unsettled afternoon (awake and fussy from 2:15pm until 8:30pm) but then slept for 90 minutes so we'll see what happens from here.

I keep falling asleep in the rocking chair when I'm nursing him at night. I spent more time asleep in the chair last night then in my own bed. I may co-sleep Jeremy tonight to try to get a better night sleep.

I take my last antibiotic tonight - YEAH! But I just read something in Jeremy's blue book that says I should do a 10 day course of antibiotics and my GP only gave me a 7 day course! I hope that is enough to get rid of the mastitis.

MIL's back improved and then she messed it up again. The good news is that through a process of elimination we have discovered that it is going up and down stairs that sets her back off. The bad news is that it takes about two days for her to be functional again.

I am most DEFINITELY going to the hospital mother's group this Thursday if it kills me. I really just want to go the one time and say hello to the midwife who runs the group AND Jeremy has to have his heel ***** test done again as the first one was contaminated apparently.

Not much else to report. Our clinic nurse came to the house today for our first visit and she was happy with Jeremy's growth and development and very impressed to see how well my 3 year old has adjusted to having a sibling. He is incredibly helpful and the nurse was happy to see him so willing to help me with the baby.

Okay, though the nappy change is still taking place in the bedroom (I can hear Jeremy wailing away) I will sign off and get myself comfortable and ready for the feed!

More later...

[lilprecious75]

Hi All,

It has been VERY quiet in here since I last posted!
Is everyone okay?
I hope all of you are just busy with your precious babies and that is why no one has written anything?
Update from here...
MIL has a slipped disc and has seen DH's chiropractor three times and has another treatment session on Monday. She returns to Queensland on Tuesday and will return to Sydney somewhere around the 20th of Sept as my SIL is due with her first baby on 28th Sept.
I'm all done with my antibiotics and all pain in my right boobie is gone so that is good. Now I'm just working to make sure that Jeremy attaches properly each feed so that I know he is emptying the breasts properly. I don't think he always opens his mouth wide enough to get breast as well as nipple in his mouth.
I have started using my Hug-a-Bub carrier EVERY day and it seems the more time he spends in it the happier and more settled he is.
Anyone else in the group use them? I love it and I'm so glad I have it.
I'm co-sleeping Jeremy some each night in order to get one good chunk of sleep per night.
Not much else to report I guess...have his dedication service coming up at church on Sunday and I'm looking forward to that.
I hope everyone is well and I will look forward to seeing new posts with updates on how all the babies are going.
Anyone getting a really good chunk of sleep from their baby at night? As in 3 or more hours?

[ladybird11]

Sorry - guilty of reading and not posting

All is fairly sweet with Blake, albeit me, DD and him all have colds - he handles it like a trooper. Yes, I think I have a mum's boy on hand - he settles much better through the night with me than DF (with DD it was the other way around). Blake had the loudest, longest wind burp last night I have ever heard - you could have mistaken it for an adults burp! I have booked in Blake and myself for our 6 wk check up with the GP - thrilling life I lead huh?

Blake is feeding every 4 hrs, and usually has a three hour nap inbetween each feed, so I can't complain too much about lack of sleep - I'm sure there are some new mums that get much less sleep than that - and I take my hat off to them, I don't know how they do it.

We all went for a long walk last Wednesday. We live in a hilly area so my body felt it the next day - but I've gotta drop kg's, what with getting married in only 31 days and summer on its way!

I'm still debating whether to sit an exam for work in October this year or put it off until next year...I really can't be bothered to study, but in the same sentence I'd like to get it out of the way...decisions, decisions. Ok, I'll have a read of some material now...Blake asleep - check. DD asleep - check. DF mesmerised by AFL on TV - check.

Ciao for now!

[alz]

Hi all,
Hope everything is going ok for everyone. I too had noticed how quiet it was in here. I have been quite busy this week so that is my excuse.

lilprecious - glad to hear that you are feeling better. Hope Jeremy starts attaching well for you so you don't go through this again. Enjoy the dedication on Sunday. We were going to get Daniella baptised the following Sunday but now we are waiting till November when hubby's parents will both be visiting from NZ.

Leesa - sorry to hear that you all have colds. Get better!

AFM - Daniella has been getting more and more unsettled each day (with the exception of today). Am thinking it is reflux. She hates lying down and is quite whingy after each feed. At night time though she is pretty good. Settling fairly well and sleeping for a few hours which is nice. Anyone else noticing signs of reflux in their bubs yet? The paed said he will see what she is like at her next checkup at 7 weeks. She isn't crying with the chuck up yet which is good.

Still upset about not being able to breastfeed. I was at a group at church on Wednesday morning and my friend was breastfeeding her little girl. It took all my strength not to burst into tears. I guess I am angry more than anything. It isn't fair that this has happened to me twice. All my friends have no trouble why me again? Sorry about the rambling. Hubby is sick of me whinging to him about it. Needed to vent I suppose.

Busy day for us tomorrow. MIL and SIL arrive from NZ on Monday morning and since we live in their house while they live overseas, I want to make sure the house is nice and sparkly when they arrive. So much to do. I bet Daniella and Ethan have a bad day tomorrow so I don't get anything done.

Anyway, sweet dreams all.

[lilprecious75]

Hello!
Glad to hear that everyone has simply been busy and not had time to post.
Jeremy had a very GOOD day yesterday (spent 7 hours in the Hug-a-Bub) and thus an excellent sleep last night as well. He actually settled into his cradle after every feed and didn't come into our bed until 6am which was kind of nice. I didn't get any more than 3 hours of sleep at a stretch, but I still felt very well rested this morning.
But then Jeremy had a HORRIBLE unsettled day today. He woke for the day at 8am and wasn't able to sleep again until 7:45pm tonight! So I'm not sure what tonight holds for us so far. He woke again at 8:30pm, I fed him again, and he was back in his cradle at 9:30pm and hasn't woken yet.

While he slept before I took a quick shower, ate dinner, folded the nappies and packed the nappy bag for tomorrow so now whenever he wakes up I can devote 100% of my time and energy to helping him get back to sleep. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure he gets as much sleep as he can tonight so I will take him to bed with me tonight if need be.

James (DS1) got to bed WAY too late tonight (8:45pm) considering we all have to be up NO LATER than 7am tomorrow morning in order to get ready for church. So we'll see what shape everyone is in tomorrow morning! I think lots of friends and family will be able to attend tomorrow so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.

I guess that is all the news from here. My local early childhood clinic holds a breastfeeding group on Monday mornings so I'm going to try go this coming Monday as my MIL will still be here to look after DS1. Perhaps they will be able to tell me if indeed Jeremy is latching on properly or not. I certainly don't want to have mastitis again and I want to make sure he is getting as much milk as possible each feed as perhaps that is part of the reason why he is unsettled. Who knows...

Okay, I have some more work to do tonight and should think about trying to get some sleep as well so I'll sign off and wait to read more updates from everyone.

[Jess]

alz, how do you tell if your baby has reflux? Bridie spews after feeds quite often, doesn't seem to matter if she's lying down or sitting up against me. Not usually huge amounts, but I do worry that maybe that's why she's gaining weight so slowly....
It is unfair that you can't breastfeed It's supposed to be so easy and natural, but it's really not! I hope your breastfeeding friend(s) are understanding and supportive rather than judgemental and superior, that's not what you need.

lilprecious, hope you had a good night last night and your church service went well today. Your question about whether anyone's baby was sleeping for more than 3 hours at night made me feel better - Bridie usually feeds often during the day, and goes 4-5 hours at night between feeds. But last night she just refused to go back to sleep after her 1am feed... DH got up at 6.30 and took her to the living room so at least I could sleep. Really hope she doesn't do this too often!

[Fleur]

Hi everyone... Dh is dishing up dinner so just a quick post from me & I will try & get back later.

BFing is still not happening. We have a private LC coming out tomorrow, we had one visit on Thursday & will see what she says tomorrow. I am so hoping she can help us. The only consolation is I still have plenty of milk.

Arlea is much more settled than last week, I am thinking maybe she has had her first wonder week... she just settled all of a sudden, no more crying fits between 7 & 9, thank goodness! So that has made things easier.

She is sleeping well at night, she had 6 hours the other night. I didn't... I got up twice in that time to pump, the rest of the time I kept waking up wondering when she was going to wake up

ALZ - I feel for you. I hadn't realised how much I wanted to BF until I was faced with not being able to do it. You have given your girl a good start & we can only do what we can.

Sorry for lack of personals, will try & get back later hope you are all doing great

[lilprecious75]

Hi All,
We had an excellent dedication service for Jeremy today! Friends and family gathered and with our regular congregation it was a wonderful way to celebrate the gift we all feel that Jeremy is to us.
After the service most everyone gathered at the golf club near our church to share lunch and some fellowship together. It was really a wonderful day and to top it off many people gave us some beautiful gifts (mainly clothes) for Jeremy. I'm glad he has some special outfits just for him and won't wear ONLY hand-me-downs from James!

Sleep last night was okay. I took Jeremy into bed with me at 1:30am and he fed a couple of times between then and 6:30am, but because he was in bed with me it wasn't as disruptive as it would have been if I had got up and spent an hour or more in the rocking chair nursing him and re-settling him.

He slept much of the day today so is having a good night so far tonight. He was asleep and in bed by 8:30pm and just slept through James waking and crying from a nightmare (both boys are still in our bedroom due to some dramas with the spare room in our house)! So that is a good sign.

How awesome to hear that a couple of the babies are doing long stretches of sleep at night. It gives me hope that I might be there someday soon! It is super frustrating when you wake even when the baby sleeps. James started only waking once a night just before his 3rd birthday (he has always been a shocking sleeper) and since I was pregnant with Jeremy by then I was waking frequently for a variety of reasons! I've been sleep deprived for nearly 4 years now!!

So sorry to hear about those of you who are struggling with the breastfeeding. I can only imagine how tough it must be for you. I, too, struggled some with feeding with both boys (cracked, bleeding nipples with James and the mastitis with Jeremy) but I have been able to successfully continue to breastfeed and for that I am eternally thankful. Try not to beat yourselves up or be to negative towards yourselves about it. You have done everything you can and have given your babies a great start no matter how long you were (or are) able to feed them. Hang in there and know that I am thinking about you and hoping you will have success.

Not much else to report. I am tired and should go to bed but my best friend was going to email me the photos she took from today so I'm sort of waiting for those and I'm still hungry - just trying to figure out what I want to eat!

I hope everyone else has enjoyed a wonderful weekend.

Who in this group lives in the Sydney area? How wonderful has the weather been?