Hi girls,
Ella had a good night last night. Went about 5 hours between feeds and only woke up with wind pain once so that was nice. She was really unhappy this morning but is settling ok now.
Jess - my first had reflux and he was just very pucky. Great big projectile vomits and was quite unsettled. Ella doesn't projectile as much but is getting upset when she does little chucks. It's the heart burn when they regurtitate that is the reflux. Some babies have silent reflux which is when they get the heart burn but no vomiting. Other signs are wanting to be held upright a lot, frequent hicups, difficulty settling when lying down, occasional gagging when feeding and night waking. Ella doesn't have all of these, just vomiting, sometimes crying when she does, hicups, wanting to be upright, occasional gagging and being generally unsettled. Things you can do if you suspect reflux are holding bub or propping upright after feeds, elevating head of bed. Always chat to the doctor if you are worried. Some mum's don't like to medicate their bubs but I do if it means they wont be in as much pain. If your little one is having trouble gaining weight I would definately talk to gp, chn, or paed about it. Hope this helps.
Anyway better go and entertain the visitors (hubby's family) who are visiting from NZ.
I?m a first time poster and first time mum to Marea Grace who was born 27 July 2009 at 4:50am at only 5 pounds 7 ounces. Was all prepared for a vaginal birth but Marea had an erratic heart rate which showed she was in some distress so had to have an emergency caeser...a bit of a shock to say the least...
It warms my heart to hear everyone?s experiences here. I don?t feel so alone.
I have a good support network but there are just some things i am ashamed to say. Some days I am in tears all day and I don?t really know why. She is a good baby, even sleeps about 5 hours from 2am each night. My real challenge is weaning her off formula top ups with the help of the CHN. I didn?t get to start breastfeeding until the day before i came home as she was in the incubator and being tube fed until then, so she can?t settle without formula now. I breastfeed every feed, but she screams afterwards and will not settle until she gets her formula. It?s taken me two weeks to wean her off 2 formula top ups so far!
I feel like i am only just starting to get to know her and some days I miss the time i used to have alone with my husband. I miss just getting into the car and going to do what i need to do as i run my own business. I have never relied on anyone before, but now i have to ask everyone for help. I can?t drive yet which makes it hard too. I guess what it might come down to is that i was used to being in control, now i am 100% at her disposal. Very selfish i know, but it?s getting better. Only bursting into tears maybe twice a day now!
Hi Linda & welcome to BB Congratulations on the arrival of Marea!
big hugs to you the first few weeks are so hard especially after the labour you've had & feeding problems. Hang in there, it does get better I promise!
Yep have had some tears here too I think it's pretty normal to a certain extent. It is a big adjustment & rarely does everything go exactly to plan. Loss of independence is a biggie for me too.
As I said, I think it's normal to a certain extent & a few tears can be a good way to let off a bit of tension, but if it becomes overwhelming & you feel like it's all getting too much it's a good idea to find someone to talk to, GP, health nurse, counsellor...anybody ( & the girls on here are great to talk to!)
Just wanted to welcome you Will get back later to see what everyone else is doing
Welcome linda and congratulations on the arrival of your little girl. She was born just 20 minutes after my Alannah. I have had a pretty good dose of baby blues also, but it is getting better. Similar to you I feel like I shouldn't be feeling that way because my little girl is pretty cruisy and sleeps well. Some times the tears correlate with how much sleep I've had, this morning I was very close to tears just because I had only had 4 hours sleep (2x 2 hours blocks) and I was going back to bed about 40 minutes before the alarm was going to go off. But as I said it is getting better...
Linda - WELCOME! I'm glad you have found us. My DS and your bubba also share birthdays . I've been through the emerg c/s with DD (although at 31 wks) and it is a very shocking thing to happen - so I can totally understand what you may have gone through. Having bubs in an incubator is a bit daunting isn't it - the mainstream pregnancy books don't really talk much about 'what happens when things don't go to plan' section, do they? . However we can both boast we can change a nappy on a baby in an incubator eh?
I too used to be the in control 'I'm running the show around here' kinda girl, and DF and I used to be extremely close. We're still close, but time isn't our friend since DS was born lol. We're still adapting to that so 'watch this space' - we just try to make the most of the limited time we do have (when both babies are asleep!). Even if its leaving a 'love note' around the house for him to find, at least it shows you're still thinking of him!
I used to work full time and also have a second job as a fitness instructor / personal trainer - and I really miss socialising at both work places with adults! I will be going back to work late Feb (unless we win the local home lottery lol) - but even then, I'd probably still have to work in some capacity!
The best advice I could offer re weaning off of formula - is take it one day at a time. Use your supports - I wish I had as many as you, you're very lucky! Its a big change adding a bubs to the family. Allow for you all to adapt to your new lives together! Embrace it - they grow up really quick!
I finally have a chance to sit down and write a quick note - though writing one handed as DS#2 is trying to settle back to sleep in my arms.
We've had a couple of very unsettled days with DS#2 barely sleeping and feeding constantly so I think he is having a bit of a growth spurt. When he would sleep it would have to be on me or next to me. His day sleeps today were ALL in the hug-a-bub as I was visiting a friend but he slept in his cradle for 30mins tonight and I'll put him back in bed when I finish writing this.
Linda: Congrats on the birtth of your daughter. I too ended up with an emergency c/section with DS#1 and it is a shock when you are expecting things to go a certain way. Adjusting to the constant needs of a newborn is hard for anyone and my first son is a high-need child who even now at 3.5 years old still rarely sleeps through the night so I was very emotional.
I think I am handling things better the 2nd time around but it is still a big change and a huge adjustment. My MIL has been staying with us since 15 July and she just went home at lunchtime yesterday. DH ended up working until 3am so I was completely on my own the entire night. It was had and both boys and myself shed tears before the night was over.
Tears are very normal as your hormones regulate. Also you are dealing with sleep deprivation which plays its part as well. Sleep when you can, eat healthy food and keep your fluids up.
I cried watching All Saints last night - so a month on my emotions are still a bit all over the place.
Okay I'm going to stop rambling and try to put my boy back to bed so I can eat some more.
Thanks Linda for bringing up how it feels to be a first time mum! Yeah, I get teary at random things too. And I'm used to knowing what I'm doing, and if I don't know, being able to look stuff up - but babies don't come with an instruction manual or translation book. It's so distressing when she cries and I can't figure out what's wrong. And even when she sleeps a whole four or five hours it's so hard to drag myself out of bed to feed her! What gets me through is repeating 'this will pass'. And her adorable little face
Hi everyone,
Welcome Linda! I'm glad you found BB. It is a great place to chat, get advice and vent when you need to. Don't be embarrassed as we have all been there.
I cried heaps with my first born. I was constantly calling friends and hubby at work because I was so upset. Hormones and sleep deprivation can do awful things to even the most well balanced of women. Hang in there, it does pass and quicker than you can imagine. When you are in the midst of it is seems like they will be little and needy for ever but when you look back time has flown. Just try and get as much rest as you can and forget about things that aren't a necessity. Housework for us goes out the window until I feel good. Make sure that if the blues are getting the better of you that you get help. A gp or chn are great places to start. As far as weaning off formula goes I can't really offer any advice. My milk supply dried up about a week and a half ago so we are fully formula feeding now. This happened with my first too.
Well we are going ok. Ella is very unsettled during the days at the moment. Ethan, hubby and I all have colds and sore throats and I think she does too. We are going to the gp just to check this afternoon. I'm certain that most of her unsettled behaviour is due to reflux but we are seeing the paed in a couple of weeks so she will get medicated then.
alz - sorry to hear your supply is totally gone At least we live in an age where formula is available.
Linda, I hope things are settling down for you now?
AFM - Bridie had a decent weight gain this week, fingers crossed it continues. She's been chucking more, but the CHN said as long as she's gaining well and doesn't seem upset by the spewing then it's not a problem. But will certainly be keeping an eye on it.
Gorgeous warm spring day in Melbourne today, so Bridie and I are having some skin on skin time. She's snoozing with her face planted into my boob, so cute!
Internet was down all weekend and I'm just getting caught up with online stuff. Looks like I didn't miss much in here though.
It is late and I just got Jeremy settled in bed so I'm headed to bed too but wanted to check on the group.
Anyone planning anything special for Father's Day with the new bubs? Particularly those in the group with first babies? I'm not sure what I'm going to try to do for hubby as funds are low at the moment, but do have some ideas in mind.
Jeremy has good days and bad days! He prefers to sleep ON me, or in my arms, or in bed with me! Tonight is the first night in three nights that I've been able to settle him in the cradle. We shall see how he goes for the rest of the night. I think he is having his 6 week growth spurt as he had a bit of a feeding frenzy last night and wanted boobie almost hourly today!
I know no one else has written since I did last night but I had to post again!
DH, DS#1, DS#2 and I were all in our local Westfield tonight so I took Jeremy to the chemist and weighed and measured him.
Fully clothed with a wet and dirty disposable nappy on he weighed 5.92 kgs and was 60 cms long!
He will be 6 weeks old on Saturday!!
Anyone else in the group have a HUGE baby???
He REALLY likes his food!!
He is officially wearing 00 sized clothes as of yesterday as well!
Hi everyone, sorry I have been a bit slack about posting....
Alz, hope Ella is feeling better? It's no fun when they are so little & unwell
Jess I love the image of your snoozing bub, very cute indeed! yay for the weight gain.
Lilprecious - Arlea had her last naked weigh last Monday at 4 1/2 weeks & was 5200g. But she was a big baby to start with. Her gains are right about on the 20g/day. Your Jeremy sounds like he is doing really well!
Leesa, Sagres, Linda - how are you doing?
AFM - The private LC was good, had a few different suggestions - but still no major progress towards BFing. I stopped trying for a few days as it was becoming too stressful for us both. At least I have plenty of milk - I am pumpng about 3 times as much as she needs - & I am looking at reducing the number of times I express in a day hopefully. We will keep trying for a couple of weeks longer & just might end up expressing fulltime.
She is sleeping well at night, usually 6 hours, only catch is after 3am she is up & down hourly, and during the day she doesn't sleep well at all. So I don't get much of a chance to catch up. I am hoping DH will be home from work early today & I can go off to bed for a couple of hours!
Oh & she started smiling last week. The kids were absolutely over the moon! So cute.
She is MUCh more alert now, when on the floor she turns her head to look around constantly & you can see her recognising people's faces & voices.
Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, I've been reading and keeping an eye on how everyone is going.
Alannah and I are going pretty well. I haven't weighed her recently but DH did a rough weigh in at home last week and she seemed about 4.1kgs - which isn't that much compared to some of your bubbas but she was only just over 3kgs at birth so she is putting on weight like a trooper. During the week I visited a friend who has just had a baby, her little boy is about the same size as Alannah but they are 5 weeks apart!
She is still feeding and sleeping well. Her crying has certainly picked up though, she has 1, 2 or 3 periods throughout the day which we call her crotchety times - where she is just unhappy and not enjoying life. There doesn't appear to be anything in particular wrong, but hey, some babies just do that. But even with her crotchety times I have a pretty easy baby on my hands, she doesn't ever really cry at night (just some noises when her tummy is uncomfortable) and to date she hasn't once woken at night for anything other than a feed.
She has rolled from her front to back twice , she is getting much more alert and she started smiling yesterday!
I think some one asked about cloth nappies a few pages ago? I've got Alannah in some MCNs. At the moment I have mostly Bumgenius' and Rumparooz. They are both pretty good but the channels in the Rumparooz totally rock...nothing escapes out of those suckers!
jasp - wow, sounds like you are a superstar milk producer, I hope something falls into place with BFing soon. I know Alannah is feeding better now purely because her mouth is bigger and we don't need to work quite so hard on the technique/positions/angles etc. perhaps as Arlea's mouth gets a bit bigger she will find it easier?
alz - Is Ella getting any more settled during the day? You said she might have been getting a cold, perhaps that was upsetting the apple cart? Hope you are all feeling better.
jess - ooh, I love sleepy snuggles. Night feeds are much more bearable when it ends with your little one looking so damn adorable snuggled up against you asleep.
lilprecious - sounds like Jeremy is a very snuggly one, he obviously loves being close to his mummy. Not sure what we will be doing for Fathers Day, I would have liked to have a beach picnic but the rain will probably put the brakes on that idea. I've got some presents for DH from Alannah but it seems like some stuff I ordered online won't get here in time
Leesa - had to laugh at what you said about loud burps - after Alannah gets rid of some wind (from either end) DH often asks who did it because hers are so loud they could easily have come from an adult. Awe, my little lady
Linda - hope things are continuing to improve. I think it is pretty normal to 'grieve' for the lifestyle we used to have.
Jeremy seems to be permanently attached to the boobie!! He is 6 weeks old today so perhaps the growth spurt is starting!! Anyone else have a very hungry baby these days?
I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful father's day tomorrow!!
Hi All,
Posting again even though it has been quiet in here since I posted yesterday because I have a clothing dilemma and thought I would share our interesting Father's Day!
First things first - anyone in the group from the Sydney area? I am debating what to do for Jeremy for pj's! I have been putting him in a Bonds Wondersuit every night for bed. Now that he is in 00 clothing he is in a size 0 Bonds wondersuit and I only have one in that size. My question is this - is it worth going out and buying 2-3 more Bonds Wondersuits in size 0 for him to wear? Or is it likely to get warm enough that he isn't going to be wearing them to bed for much longer? What are other Sydney mums putting on your babies for bed at night?
Father's Day!!
My plan was for us to go to church, then pick up Subway for lunch and head to Centennial park to feed the birds and play the afternoon away. I also wanted to take a really nice photo of hubby with DS#1 so I could finish off my Father's Day gifts for DH. But the day really didn't turn out that way. After church we had to come home as the plumber wasn't able to finish installing our new hot water system yesterday so he returned today to finish.
Well, there was a problem just as he was finishing and water leaked into the attic and down into the light in the lounge room which shut down the entire electrical system in the house.
Needless to say we didn't get to the park and we ate dinner by candlelight and put the boys to bed with the help of two torches. Eventually Sydney Electricity sent out an emergency guy who fixed it up for us so now we can use the lights and such but I'm sorry too because DH and I were going to play Scrabble by candlelight!
Okay, I'm falling asleep trying to type so I guess that means I should go to bed! More tomorrow...
It has been extremely quiet in here - is everyone ok? How was father's day for everyone?
We are doing well though things have been interesting! DH and DS#1 both are on antibiotics for chest infections and both boys had conjunctivitis as well.
Jeremy has slept 5 hours straight a couple of times only to then doing two nights in a row of not sleeping and feeding constantly instead. Tonight seems to be going a bit better as he just woke for the first time and re-settled easily which is a good sign after last night and the night before.
I should seriously think about going to bed soon but I think I'm hungry and I'm not sure what I want (maybe toast and a milo) and I am not 100% sure that Jeremy is going to stay settled in bed as he woke a bit just now when I put him in bed.
Not much else to report! I JUST got the paperwork done for Jeremy's birth certificate (can't believe I left it so long) and next week we have my 6 week check, DS#1 3 year check at the early childhood centre and DS#2 6-8 week check at the same time! My mother-in-law also comes back down (from Brisbane) as my sister-in-law is due to have her first baby on the 28th! MIL will be staying with them eventually but may stay the first night or two with us!
Oh, that reminds me... HOW COULD I FORGET??? I am officially an auntie by blood for the first time! My sister gave birth to a baby girl on 10 Sept (16 days early)! She had a 6.5 hour labour from very start to very finish and didn't tear or anything! Her daughter is a tiny 6lbs 7oz (about 2.8 kgs) which is amazing when you compare it to Jeremy's birth weight of 9lbs 5oz (4.2 kgs)!! While he never wore 0000 clothes Ella is sort of swimming in them! I just wish my sister and I lived closer to each other (she is in Calgary) - it would be a hoot to lay the babies on the floor next to each other and take a picture!!
Okay, off to get a snack and then head to bed! I hope everyone is well and just hasn't been in here because they are busy enjoying their babies!!
Reply With QuoteSome days I am in tears all day and I don?t really know why. She is a good baby, even sleeps about 5 hours from 2am each night. My real challenge is weaning her off formula top ups with the help of the CHN. I didn?t get to start breastfeeding until the day before i came home as she was in the incubator and being tube fed until then, so she can?t settle without formula now. I breastfeed every feed, but she screams afterwards and will not settle until she gets her formula. It?s taken me two weeks to wean her off 2 formula top ups so far!
Congratulations on the arrival of Marea!
the first few weeks are so hard especially after the labour you've had & feeding problems. Hang in there, it does get better I promise! 
. I've been through the emerg c/s with DD (although at 31 wks) and it is a very shocking thing to happen - so I can totally understand what you may have gone through. Having bubs in an incubator is a bit daunting isn't it - the mainstream pregnancy books don't really talk much about 'what happens when things don't go to plan' section, do they? 
. However we can both boast we can change a nappy on a baby in an incubator eh?
At least we live in an age where formula is available.
, she is getting much more alert and she started smiling yesterday!
My sister gave birth to a baby girl on 10 Sept (16 days early)! She had a 6.5 hour labour from very start to very finish and didn't tear or anything! Her daughter is a tiny 6lbs 7oz (about 2.8 kgs) which is amazing when you compare it to Jeremy's birth weight of 9lbs 5oz (4.2 kgs)!! While he never wore 0000 clothes Ella is sort of swimming in them! I just wish my sister and I lived closer to each other (she is in Calgary) - it would be a hoot to lay the babies on the floor next to each other and take a picture!!
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