Babies Born~July 1st-15th 2009 #1

hi everyone
so nice to hear from everyone and that aside from the usual newborn shenanigans we are all doing well. I seem to have the fatty of the group - had out 6 wk check for Jakey this morning and he is 5kg!!! 57cm... he has grown so much since he was born, i guess it is my ever abundant milk LOL!
he has the baby acne bad, and the paed seems to think he may end up with exzema so i now have a skin regime - nothing serious but just to alleviate it a bit for him. i think it is more dermatiits than just the hormonal acne.
i asked about the constant cold - and he gave me some tips so thought i would pass on in case anyone gets help from it. he said saline is great and to use as much as poss to clear the nose. he also said steam inhalation the best thing and that the hmidifiers donmt do much (i agree) so take him in the bathroom (no fan) whenevr we shower and let him breathe in as much steam as poss, even just run the hot water for a bit. he said if it is quite bad you canhirea nebuliser (one of those mask things they used ot use for asthma) and use water in it (not saline which would be dangerous) and this will clear a stuffy nose immediately. could be worth a shot if the colds get bad or interfering w feeding. anyway thought i would shareas lots of our bubns have picked up thewinter sniffles!
Bekz - J is generally pretty settled after his night feeds - but Noah used to have a little awake time in the night....
AFM - had the ultrasound on the mastitis and going backtomorrow. tink it will help clear the blockage. had an awful night, had the shakes all night, it was awful and DH was quite worried. think i am a lot better today though.
Miss E - i stoppped spotting last week (i think) so about 5 wks pp but with N i spottedtil about 9 weeks. def nothing to worry about at this stage.

Hi Mums

I have cracked nipples galore so am expressing although my right nipple seems to have healed so can feed off that one today. I haven't had this before and it hurts and freaks me out when it is oozing and bleeding eeewwww.

We had our 6 week checkup on Wednesday last week and Amelia is 5.06kg, 57cm long - same as Jacob. I had the whooping cough/tetnus booster Bek and my arm ached the next couple of days. The nurse said it would from the tetnus but the actual needle didn't hurt at all. I was worried that I might not have healed properly with my stitches as it was a little sore after the healing time but the Dr said it had healed nicely and everything else was good too. Had to have a pap while I was there. Miss E I have stopped bleeding but it was a good 4-5 weeks for me until it completely stopped. I have a prescription for the mini pill which I haven't had before. The Dr asked what I was doing for contraception and I said not have sex :lol: pretty funny. TMI but it is a little crazy with two kids so I haven't even thought of that yet. DH and I only planned to have 2 kids and it is funny this time around because he wants me to take the pill and he use protection as well so we don't accidentally make a 3rd baby. Ummm, hello, in all the 13 years we have been together we haven't had any "accidents" hahaha. Crazy.

Bek - :hug: I'm glad you are feeling better after your mini meltdown. I know the feeling. I'm back off to sleep quick smart after a night feed but usually Amelia goes back to sleep unless she is windy. Then I could be up for almost an hour. She is sleeping in the bed with me at the moment so I give her a rub on the tummy if she is grungly.

Amelia only woke up for a 4am feed last night - woohoo. That was a welcome change although her big sister started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old so the pressure was on. I'm a bit out of it today though and very forgetful.

I better scoot and do some things before my lovelies get home. Glad to hear everyone is doing pretty well. Hope the mastitis goes away P. Sounds worse than my cracked nipples.

Add us to the list please :d
Isaac was born @ 4:49am on July 1st after an approx 8 hr labor.
Was 3 weeks early (due the 19th) and weighed 3614 grams.
He now weighs about 5kgs and is in the middle of another growth spurt I think.
Is it normal for a 7 week old to only spend about an hour a day awake (if that) other than when hes feeding? Everything I read says to interact with him, but how can I do that when he sleeps all the time? I take every second I can get to do so, is this normal or should I be concerned?

Been pretty busy lately, don't get online much and am becoming a one-handed typing pro! lol.

Hopefully I'll be back online soon,
Hope everyone's doing well.
xo

Morning all...
I am typing while I express, so no personals today ...

Welcome, Heva5 :)

Good tips on colds, Pre! :clap: I thought Arlea might be coming down with a cold & sent DH to the chemist for saline drops, I used them with the others. He came back with a pack that had saline spray & a little bulb that you can use to suction their noses, very clever, I haven't seen anything like it before.
I am still spotting, don't remember spotting this long before but from what I am reading I guess it's normal!

I think I might have a blocked duct.. have had some sore spots before which I got rid of with massage but this is a big lump under my armpit, very sore. I am massaging but doesn't seem to be helping much, I'll have to get the heat packs on it....hopefully that helps or it's off to the drs.

TBH... I am feeling very down the last few days... all our BF attempts are going backwards. She hasn't even attempted sucking for over a week now. She just yells anytime I offer the breast. I have eased off offering it as it is so stressful for us both. I still offer it but not every feed, not if she is really hungry. Still trying to do lots of skin to skin but can't see that it's doing anything either. The LCs I have seen quoted fantastic success rates with getting babies back on the breast,... but had no further advice for me last week :wall: and now I don't know what to do cause it seems like we are getting further & further away from BFing. I am going to call them today, and the ABA... but I am starting to lose hope & have shed a few tears over the idea that we might never BF.
I really enjoyed BFing DS2 - I fed him for 14mths - didn't realise how much I had enjoyed it & wanted to repeat it - until now. I feel very depressed at the idea of not being able to BF. And there's no 'good' reason - just that stupid oedema! Its gone & we are left like this.Plus I want her to have breast milk for as long as I can even if it is EBM but I don't know how long I can keep up this expressing. She is sleeping very well at night, from about 8:30-9:30 she will wake once between 2 &3am & have about 50ml then go back to sleep until 5-6am. Last night she was back asleep in 15min- then I sat up & expressed for another 40 min :doh:
It is so time consuming - but that is ok - what is really frustrating is I am supposed to be pumping every 3 hrs but she has been a bit unsettled lately & between feeding, settling & cuddling, I end up running behind with my pumping. And forget trying to do anything else!
Wow...sorry for such a big rant... I guess i needed to vent :redface:
thanks if you made it through all that!

Sorry for the lack of personals, will try & get back later.
Hope everyone is well :hug:

welcome heather & congrats on your little man!
Jasp i hope that Arlea gets the hang of bfing soon, you must be exhausted! but even if she doesnt you have given her a fantastic start and you should be very proud of what you have done for her :)

just burping atm ( just had a milk explosion out the nose! LOL) so no persies from me either, have been a bit slack lately so thought i would jump on say hi.

Going to a funeral today...our next door neighbour, a lovely elderly man, passed away on Thursday night... so i am praying that Hayley behaves herself!! she has been a bit whingy the last few days and eating heaps so i think she is getting ready for her 6 week growth spurt!

preagainpan - don't worry about having the fatty - my little piglet was 5.8kg at his 6 week appt :redface: he put on 1.5kg in 4 weeks :o

jas - :hug: vent away! i have no idea how you're doing it. it's probably no consolation, but at least you know that if it doesn't work you have done absolutely everything you could.

heva5 - hi & welcome!

tinsel - great news on amelia's sleeping! :clap:

LF - thanks for the tip on expressing, i might give it a go. i'd love to be able to express some 'emergency' milk & it'd be great to get it under control before we get to things like solids in case i want to mix cereal or something with EBM (not that i'm thinking too far ahead or anything :lol:). good luck for your 6 week appt :)

bek - corey is a bit funny from 4 or 5 onwards - he grunts & squeals (wind?) and doesn't always sleep very well...it must be tough with miss e awake & ready for action at that time!
ss_storm - i hope hayley behaves for you :)

afm, we've had a couple of unsettled days in a row now & corey was back to feeding every 1.5-2 hrs last night & at 2 this morning i was threatening formula :lol: he's also started crying between 4-5 in the afternoon - it's like his witching hour! so weird. he'll be in the middle of a feed & then just crack it. then he'll calm down for his bath, which he seems to love. sometimes he's fine afterwards but yesterday he cried/screamed for another hour after his bath. i hope this is a very brief phase!! i don't know how anyone copes whose baby screams for hours on end. i start losing all confidence in my mothering ability & wonder what i'm doing wrong, even though i know i've fed him, changed his nappy, cuddled him, checked if he's hot/cold etc!

:

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afm, we've had a couple of unsettled days in a row now & corey was back to feeding every 1.5-2 hrs last night & at 2 this morning i was threatening formula :lol: he's also started crying between 4-5 in the afternoon - it's like his witching hour! so weird. he'll be in the middle of a feed & then just crack it. then he'll calm down for his bath, which he seems to love. sometimes he's fine afterwards but yesterday he cried/screamed for another hour after his bath. i hope this is a very brief phase!! i don't know how anyone copes whose baby screams for hours on end. i start losing all confidence in my mothering ability & wonder what i'm doing wrong, even though i know i've fed him, changed his nappy, cuddled him, checked if he's hot/cold etc!

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Same here, only ours is between 7pm & 9pm, after which she settles for the night. And yesterday morning she went from 8:30-9:30 am :o hope that was a one-off!
even thought she is number 4 for me, it is so hard to deal with when they are crying like that & nothing seems to settle them. All your instincts are to 'make it better' but nothing works & all we can do is wait it out.
:hug: Sarah, it will get better!

hi everyone just a quick note anton is much better now no more coughing yeah. anton has an appointment with the health nurse today luckey for me she's doing a house visit

yep we have the witching hour fromabout 6-9pm when he generally settles for the night. i think it is their brains processing everything from the day and i do notice it is more full on when we have had a busy day. i get through it with a sling (though Jacob isnt a v cuddly bub), feeds and trying to talk v calmly to him. i think the electric swing would be handy too - just need to get DH to set it up for me. it doesnt help that this is prime time with DS1, until about 8 - maybe that's why J is unsettled - all the toddler action... anyway it is normal and it will pass - that's the mantra that gets me through. Big hugs Sloane - i know how hard it is, but you are doing so well and i think it is just an emotional thing with them - and they cry to communicate. i find if i think of it in these ways i feel better about it all
Jasp - i dont know how you are managing it with all the expressing, have you got the double pumpsorted yet? you are doing an amazing jobw ith her. i hope she does learn to bf, it is so special. but whatever happens you really are giving it such a shot. i dont know how you cope at all with 4 (and i think i want 4 kids LOL) i find it hard with the 2 of them. i hope the blocked duct clears soon. i find the aspirator (ie snot sucker) excellent - i never got the hang of that or the saline with DS1, i think i was too soft and when he cried when i used it i stopped... butr this time around it has been fabulous! i reallynotice the difference.
Jess - glad anton is doing better.
welcome heva.
better go - all is well here. the mastitis is clearing up, having a relaxed/quietday and i think i will be feeling more myself soon.

Wow it has been a busy morning here! Great to hear from everyone!

I just wanted to pop in a say a quick hello. Welcome Heva, good to have you with us.

:hug: for you Jasp, it must be so tiring all the expressing, especially with the other kids running around. You're doing a fabulous job, so try not to let the bf get you down too much. Just a thought, have you tried using a nipple shield to introduce her to the breast, it might be a good middle step to go from the bottle to the nipple because it's a lot easier to attach to. I've been using one since Ash was about 2 weeks when my nipples had been butchered. I am planning on trying to wean him from it (just a little hesitant to start properly because I'm scared of ending up back where I was), but one of the tips I've been given is to not try and start the feed directly on the nipple, but instead start with the shield when he is really hungry and not in the mood to muck around and then after five or ten minutes try and get him to attach to the nipple. The few times I have tried doing this I have been able to get him to attach, but when I try at the beginning of the feed it's a disaster. I don't know, but I thought that maybe this tip I was given could help in going from the bottle to the breast too ...

Storm, hope Hayley is well behaved at the funeral today and you get to say goodbye to your neighbour in peace.

I feel for you Sloane, the unexplained crying is so hard, hopefully this phase will pass quickly for you.

It's good to hear Anton is better Jess, it must be such a relief for you.

Glad to hear the mastitis is clearing up preg, my blocked duct is still hanging in there, just. The lump is there before I start feeding, but after a few minutes of feeding and massaging it's gone, so I'm taking this as a sign that it's almost over and done with.

AFM, we've had a lovely morning. I decided to get dressed before DH went to work this morning (normally leave it until after I've gotten Ash back to sleep after his first feed of the day). We went for a great walk, the first one I've done for exercise, and then up to the shops to get some stuff for dinner. It's so nice to get out about early in the day and the weather here is just gorgeous today! Anyway, now that we've passed the six week mark and the OB has given me the all clear I've decided it's time to start working on getting rid of this mummy tummy, so am hoping that we can't start the day everyday with a good walk.

hi im giving away a 5 year old any takers???? only kidding she just got back from being out with her dad and is now screaming down thde house because dad went back out and took our older son who will be 4 on sunday with him. anyone would think she was the baby of the house.
very glad anton is better just hope he has put on weight this week we will find out later this afternoon when the maternal health nurse comes over. she is a great nurse she was fantasic when i was in labour as she is also the midwife that delivered anton and she is doing a house visit on her way home from work mind you i can see her house from my driveway

Hello Ladies,

Preg - Thanks for the cold tips:) Eva still has her cold and was coughing quite a bit last night. As per your request in the other thread I will pm you that recipe.It may take a me couple of day though.

Tinsel - Hugs hun, your poor nipples. I bet my doctor gives me the contraception talk too lol!! I have no idea what I want to do in regards to contraception.

Jasp - Hugs to you too. You've done such an amazing job and I can completely understand your disappointment. I had problems breastfeeding DD1 and I ended up hating bfing her with a passion and I almost started to resent her. She ended up on formula at 6 weeks old and we were heaps happier but I did carry a large amount of guilt around for ages. I thoroughly recommend using the Saline and extraction bulb too.

Heva - Congrates hon. I was wondering how you've been.
Jess - Great news about Anton.
Miss E - I am taking your advice and trying to express in between feeds a couple of times per day just to get my supply up. It seems to be working, plus if Miss E is really unhappy late at night I just give her the expressed milk as a top up. Great to hear you are getting out and about. I am thinking about getting walking too, I have 3 pregnancies worth of fat to remove lol.

Miss E did her usual wide awake thing at 4 am this morning. She was happy just to be in her basinette so I just left her there, turned off the night light and she was back asleep with in minutes!!!!

Best go.. I have some much to do before picking up DD1 from kindy

Anton has put on over 300g in 7 days despit being sick he now weighs 10 pound 11 or 4.85k very happy with that.

bekz just notice all yr kids were born on the 9th how did u manage that??? lol

Its great to hear how everyone is going. I feel for you all with your witching hours. DD1 cried every afternoon from 3-7 and was totally unconsolable :( I used to either cuddle her or pop her in her rocker and sing songs to her. So far Grace is doing well and is happy with a top up from the breast and it settles her very quickly. We end up feeding from about 7-9 really really frequently but then she sleeps well til 1.30.

must go again with out personals - sorry! DD1 had her op today and is very clingy...

my god it's been busy here! I'll give some personals a go, but there's no way I'll be able to do everyone, so apologies in advance...

Jasp - have you tried the 'baby crawl'? You probably have, but it was something we tried early on with Zac - it was great fun. There's info on the ABA website. I liked the suggestion re trying the nipple shields - might be a good transition or compromise for you both? The other thing I thought of was a suggestion I heard re double pumping - use an old bra or a tight (stretchy) singlet to hold both pumps in place so that you can do it hands free.

Heva5 - hi! only an hour awake per day sounds unusual, but I really wouldn't know - my bubs isn't a big fan of sleeping during the day anyway... I would suggest asking your MCHN about it.

Sarah - Zac does the same sometimes - will be feeding and suddenly gets all sad and then goes off his nut :-) So hard to know what to do and you feel so bad don't you?

Tinsel - I feel for you re the cracked nipples - I had a horror one in the first couple of weeks and ended up getting nipple thrush as well as having vasospasm. Definitely leave trying attachment until that first feeding frenzy is over and you can both be a bit more relaxed.

LotusFlower - can I ask how you co-sleep? We co-sleep too, but I sometimes worry that we're doing it wrong, IYKWIM.

AFM - we have been working hard on reducing the amount of formula and building up my milk supply. I thought we were going really well, although Zac had been pretty grizzly for most of the last week. However, we had our visit with the MCHN on Monday and he had lost weight. Previous visit he was 4.54kg and she expected he would have been over 5kg, but he had actually lost 180g :-( DH and I feel terrible that we had been starving our boy. So, we're back to comping, and my gorgeous boy is much happier :dance: I don't really mind as long as he's happy and healthy, it's just disappointing that I can't satisfy his needs on my own, and the whole experience leaves me feeling pretty unconfident in my ability to recognise when he's hungry or just unhappy etc.

My dad has been here for the last week and a half, and it has been fantastic. He's done lots of little jobs around the house, done all the dishes every day, done laundry, walked Zac around and around the house in his pram, made cups of tea... it has been really really nice.

Had my six week check with the obst yesterday - everything's good. I'm still getting an occasional bit of spotting too. He asked about contraception too, but I said that we're happy to take our chances (it took more than four years to get pregnant with Zac, and we'd love to have more). The obs gave me a debrief on my labour and why we ended up having a c-section. I said that I was still pretty unhappy with how I badly I managed the pain during my labour and felt that I had been 'soft.' He was really surprised and told me that I had managed well :-)

oh yes, and Zac had his first real chunder yesterday :clap: - he'd previously burped up little bits of liquid, but yesterday he and I both ended up wearing curds and whey :dance:

Expressing again .... :rolleyes:

Cate :hug: don't feel bad about having to comp... there are degrees of successful BF, it's not all just babies who are BF only (don't we know that!) & he is still getting your milk at least, that is good for him no matter what, kwim? You're doing great ; )
Breast crawl... yes we've tried that & a shield also. we have a different LC coming tomorrow to see us, fingers crossed.. PS oh & congrats on the first chunder lol it's priceless isn't it!

Ryatha :hug: to DD1 hope she feels better soon.

Jess wtg on the weight gain!! glad Anton is feeling better.

Bek thats great that Miss E decided to put herself back to sleep! :D sometimes they do surprise us.

MissE, glad you had such a lovely morning! I have been thinking a walk might be what we need here too...
I have tried the shield. I had some success using them short term with ds2... but not this time :( She is more receptive to that than the nipple alone, but still doesn't quite get 'on' with the shield. I am going to kep trying it though, I agree it might be a stepping stone hopefully.

Pre, so good to hear the mastitis is clearing up & you are feeling better :hug:

Sarah big hugs to you I was thinking of you this evening...

SS Storm I hope Hayley was good for you today? Funerals can be a bit stressful at the best of times...

AFM... thanks to everyone for your support, sometimes it's just what you (I) need ;)
We had a much more settled day today, and NO witching hour tonight! Not sure how we managed to escape that but I'm not complaining. She has been extremely good today...I just wish I knew why! lol.
We have another LC coming in the morning, will see what she says. TBH I'm almost getting tired of trying... I can see me ending up just expressing for as long as I can manage it .... but I would much rather BF. Where's that magic pill? lol.

Hope you all are well. :grouphug:

cate - As for the cosleeping, I don't think there is a right or wrong way really. As long as you're following the safety guidelines, you're good to go I reckon.
What we do though is, Oliver goes to sleep for the night in his cradle, which is right next to the bed. Whenever he wakes up for the first time (generally around 2 or 3am) he comes into bed with us. I generally have him in a sleeping bag, and he goes ontop of our doona. Otherwise, he goes under the doona, but I kind of tuck it under him/ my arm around him, so there's no chance of it covering his face. The only thing I find bad about it at the moment is, that I tend to fall asleep while he's feeding, so he only gets one side. Then he's awake sooner wanting the other side. I find it really helpful though when he gets windy at night. Laying on his belly really seems to help him with his wind pains, and thogh I'd never put him to sleep on his belly in the cradle, I don't feel nervous having him sleep on his belly on my chest.

Bekz - Good luck with the new LC!

Oh I miss my baby buddies! How are you ladies?

AFM- Sophie has finally reached 7lbs 11 oz and 20 in. long. She sleeps six hours through the night. She has a little thrush right now that we are dealing with but other than that she is great.

Jess - It is freaky how my girls are all born on the 9th!! I don't know how I managed it though. Great weight gain for Anton.

Ryatha - :hugs: for your DD1 I hope she recovers quickly.
Jasp - How did you go with the LC?
Lovelycate - :hugs: regarding Zac's weight loss. I've been in your position and you just feel so guilty. Keep up the good work

Jess - R - Good to hear from you, I am glad Sofie is doing well.

AFM - Miss Eva slept a whole 6 hours last night and then resettled herself back to sleep yey!! I had her weighed today and she is 4.6kgs and 57cms. I think she has put on 300gm in 2 weeks. Best go..have a great weekend

Hi all,

Been reading but not posting for a while - trying to do some uni work and Blake's not always co-operating :rolleyes: and trying not get too distracted by BB.

Not even going to try and do personals - just let you all know how Blake's been going.

Blake seems to have his good days and a few not-so good nights. He finally stopped complaining all Monday mornings 2 weeks ago (scream the place down and not sleep for long at all). For some reason it just seemed to be Monday mornings, when DH came home early (that goodness he had a great boss), he'd settle down :rolleyes: usually after I was at my wits ends and ready to kill something (DS would have that really high pitched crying).
Now we seem to have unsettled evenings any time from 4 to 12 midnight with frequent feedings (BF), basically attached to me nearly the whole time or sleeping for 1/2 hour and I was a morning person not a night owl before DS birth - so I'm not really wanting to be awake. Sometimes though just to throw us off, he'll settle really well and sleep for 4 - 6 hours at a time just when we'd decide to start staying up expecting him to wake in 1/4 hour or so. :doh: (He decided Wed to go to sleep at 7pm and slept through to 1am basically even through getting in & out of the car twice during that time - so 6 hours between feeds:clap:)
Have had a couple of bouts of gunky eyes (just started another bout today). Also had a nasty nappy rash that got so red and raw, we had to visit the GP (found one for DS - mine was too far away) for antibiotics.
I'm hearing people on the wind issues - DS had days & nights where he can't sleep because of it. I've gotten a close carrier sling to help me get things done when that happens and to make things easier when going out. Had to go car shopping with/for DH the other day (he wrote his car off the other week) just as my sling arrived - DS slept the whole time (well nearly, except for 5 min when he complained just before he was going to get out anyway) - was soooooo impressed with DS. He likes the sling most of the time as well. We're also trying the infants friend drops which sometimes works. Have also tried bicycling his legs and pushing his legs up into his tummy to help get the gas out. Also tried (not often) a little bit of tummy massage on him as well. He doesn't like burping for me (will do it for DH most of the time)

Had our 6 week check up Wednesday - all good, is now 4.9kg from 3.17kg at birth (and 3.57kg at 2 weeks) so DS put on 1.33kg in 4 weeks - not bad for a BF boy!:dance: gone from the 25 percentile to the 50 percentile. (the amount he eats, I'm not surprised nor is DH)

thanks ladies for your support. I am pretty much reconciled to comping Zac now. While it is disappointing, I believe we have given it a really good go and it's obviously just not going to pan out that way. He seems much happier now, although still pretty sleep resistant during the day, but you can't win them all!!

LotusFlower - thanks for telling me what you do with co-sleeping. I hadn't thought of the sleeping bag arrangement. We actually feed through the night so Zac spends the night snuggled up against my BBs :lol: his dad is a bit envious ;-) I wake up quite often and turn over so try to get both sides an even go. Zac seems to like sleeping on his side, so this works quite well as he is so close to me (and my arms around him) that there is no way he can roll over on to his face. The only problem I am having at the moment is that DH has been sleeping in the other room as he wasn't sleeping well, so I don't have anyone to mind Zac if I want to go to the toilet during the night... I have gotten very good at holding on :rolleyes:

My dad flew back home this morning so I'm back on my own again - it was so awesome having him here and he seemed to have a good time.

Jasp - hope your LC visit went well - did she by any chance have a supply of those magic pills? :pray:

hope everyone has a great weekend xxx

yeah i have done yet another b'day party yesterday my older son turns 4 today we had a party yesterday and again i was left to do the clean up by myself. my friend who had come to pick her son up after everyone had left had offered to help me but i had said it was ok ill clean up later my friend also run a party for her 7 yr old but still offered not like the grandparents. over all the party went well and im still cleaning but thats ok. anton n i have our 6 week check up tomorrow then im of to r.c.h with my 2 yr old daughter for her check up

Hi everyone... about to have dinner so just a quick post from me & I will try & get back later.

BFing is still not happening. The LC that came out on Thursday was interesting, she recommended different bottles & teats to what the hospital LCs had and demonstrated how Arlea's suck was 'wrong' - that is the first thing to correct, then she will move us onto shields, then breast. That is what she says & she sounds very confident in herself, I am hoping it is with reason! Hospital LCs are free & this lady charges $60 / visit. DH raised his eyebrows but if she works it will be more than worth it!

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. I am notincing a difference too in her alertness... you can see her focusing on things much more now.
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 :doh:

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

hi everyone
Jasp - hope the LC tips work...you poor thing still having to pump when she is sleeping. though ikwym about still waking - J has done a couple of longish stretches - max 5 hrs - and i am still up watching him, wondering when he will wake and leaking LOL!! glad Miss A is more settled, I am really noticing changes in J more than i did with N - he is soo alert now, i love the smiles he gives me when I 'appear' above his moses basket!
Cate - you could prob go to the loo amd leave him there - maybe just pop him onto his back and make sure the cover arent near his face and he isnt near the edge... glad your dad had a great time, it must have been wonderful fro you to have him there too...

Hi Girls!
Hope you dont mind me joining in im only new to the forum.
I had my baby girl on the 13th of July she weighed in at 7 pound 4 now weighs 5 kilos
she was born 8 minutes after her due date

i look forward to getting to know everyone

Shan

Hi Shan - Welcome and congrates. I see you are aris girl like me

Hi Shan - welcome and congratulations! Look fwd to getting to know you...
Quick q from me - Jacob seems to have developed a flat spot on the left side of his head - any tips how to fix this? I will go ask the nurse but of course 1st hand experience from one of you guys is always better...

Pregagainpan - Sara had a left side flat spot, so much so that she almost had to wear a helment. My suggestions give more tummy time, when you put him down for a sleep switch basinette ends so he is laying on the other side. I went against SIDS guidelines and let her sleep on her tummy during day sleeps so that she was not lying on her flat spot. (I only did this when I could watch and hear her). It is good that you noticed this now as the problem can be recitfied without intervention. hth

Shan - Welcome!

Pregagainpan - go see a chiro or physio. Babies often will keep their head on one side due to a stiff neck or back from being curled up inside us. Grace is seeing a Chiro at the moment as she always curls up to her right. She loves the treatment and it is really helping. My sister put me on to this cause her DS had the same problem. His flat spot was pretty bad but now it is really improving.

AFM - Grace is still sleeping well and DD1's feet have recovered well after surgery. Now the only problem is that DH broke his thumb badly on the weekend and is now in a cast! Seriously, my family is in the wars this year! If he has surgery this month it will mean that all three of us have been under the knife this month! At least we are still laughing about it.

Welcome Shan!

Just a quickone from me...have a little monkey sleeping on my chest who needs to be put in her cot! She is changing so much...bought her a play gym a few days ago and boy has it speeded up her development, or at least I think it has! She has started to try and swat at the dangling toys, and tries to stick her thumb in her mouth. When she has her head on my shoulder she can lift it up and wriggles around lots. When she is lying down or on her tummy she can turn it from side to side and sometimes lifts it up a little when she is on her tummy. She has started "talking" and the noises she makes are so cute!! Is smiling lots too, but can never seem to get one of her big ones on camera!

She is sleeping really well at night too...usually put her to bed at about 9pm and she'll wake at 1 or 2 in the morning (sometimes 3!) for a feed then goes back down until 6 or 7. Although she woke up at 5am a few mornings ago..but gave her a feed and put her in bed with us and she slept until 9. The sleep in was nice! Daytime sleeps are a bit difficult...she doesn't seem to sleep much at all. Will sleep for a bit in her pram when we take the dog for a walk, and after feeds she'll nap for a bit if I'm holding her but will wake up in no time if I put her in her bassinette. She has been having one big sleep (3-4 hours) in the afternoon which is good, but I don't know if she is getting enough sleep during the day or not? She definitely doesn't conform to the "back to bed within 1 - 1 1/2 hours" rule but if I put her down she just wakes up again.

hi shan, welcome!

ryatha - hopefully that is your 'quota' for the year, if not for longer!

ryatha and storm - I have heard good things about chiro for babies. Also supposed to be really good if bubs has problems settling and sleeping as possibly they could be all out of alignment - and we all know how uncomfortable that is!

Storm - isn't it lovely when you can see them learning and growing like that? I have a little rocker/bouncer thing for Zac and he does a bit of 'boxing' with the toys dangling off the bar - very cute! Congrats on getting some good sleeps, but I hear ya on the daytime sleeping. We have some days where he will almost 'obey the rules', but generally he is up for at least 2 hours, sometimes much more :rolleyes: during the day...they're all completely different little people aren't they?

AFM - we've got the 8 week check up with MCHN this arvo. Hoping we will have some good news on the weight today as Zac has been very pleased to be getting more formula on top of BFs and seems to be much happier.

Spending some time with my sister in law as she has just started her maternity leave, so looking forward to some time with her before her life turns completely upside down :clap::clap:

shan - hi & welcome!

cate - good luck today, i had zac has had a good weight gain for you

preagainpan - corey had a flat spot when he was born & it was on one side so the nurse suggested turning his head to the other side during his daytime naps - i did this & it took no time at all to go.

ryatha - i agree with cate - you've definitely had your quoto for quite a long time!

jas - great news on arlea being more settled! i was just reading about wonder weeks. have you seen the LC again? i hope she's able to offer lots of help.

leckert - good to hear from you! sounds like blake is doing really well with some great weight gains! :dance:

bek - how's miss e going? is she still having some good sleeps & self settling?

afm, we had our 8 week MCHN appt on monday - the weight gain had slowed this time & it was only 500g in the 2 weeks :rolleyes: corey also had his needles yesterday morning. he was really good - he guzzled the oral vaccine (no surprises there!) & only a whimper for the needles. he went 6 hours between feeds in the evening & slept for 5 but i think that's just a side effect of the needles!

i've been trying to work on sleep here because i was reading the 'no cry sleep solution' book & realised that he's possibly not getting enough sleep - mostly during the day. he had some great naps on tues & i think that helped him not be so grizly between 4-6 but then he had more feeds than usual overnight. argh! so i'm not sure whether to keep going to consciously get him to sleep more during the day?

Hi everyone, thought I'd get a post in while I pump ;)

H iShan, welcome & congrats on your little girl!

Pre sounds like the others have given good advice, hope that flat spot disappears without too much fuss!

Ryatha.. oh boy you have all been in it! Hope your DH makes a speedy recovery & doesn't need surgery.

Storm... it is lovely to see them developing, so rewarding to get those smiles isn't it! Great to hear she is sleeping well at night. Arlea doesn't always sleep well during the day either, I wonder if it might be that we can have one or the other, but not both?

Cate GL with the appt this afternoon. Good to hear Zac is happy & doing well :)

Sloane - I definitely notice a difference when Arlea hasn't had much sleep,she is much crankier. I guess it depends what you cope with better? Cranky baby or lots of night feeds? Hard choice and i'm not sure which is the right one, hope you find a solution! :hug:

AFM ... appt with the LC on Monday went well, she pronounced Arlea's suck much improved & we tried her on a shield. A wasn't too impressed but did have a few sucks, enough to draw some milk down & LC said this was encouraging, to keep trying for at least 5 days & then again at 6 weeks if it's still not happening. Whether we keep trying in between is up to us.
The next day she had one feed of about 5 minutes on the shield & on Wednesday one feed about 10 minutes! - so I was getting all excited & then the last 2 days we have gone backwards again & she doesn't wwant to know about it :rolleyes: - but now I know what I'm looking for & I can see her suck has gone backwards also. So we keep trying.
:pray:

Apart from that she is still sleeping well at night, in her own kind of routine, she sleeps from about 9 - 9:30 till 2:30 -3am. Her last 'good' feed in the evening is at around 6:30, after that she jsut fusses. I have tried & tried to get her to have a later feed, also tried a dreamfeed - I wonder if she sleeps so well now how long would she go if she had that later feed? But she won't do it, I think she might be too tired - & she IS a lazy feeder! ;) so we might have to wait till she's a bit older.

She is smiling now & all the other kids are absolutely delighted by it it's very sweet to see.
I have my mum down this week helping out which is great...much needed...what will I do when she goes home?

Hope everyone else is well :)

Hi Jas - good to hear that you've made some great progress! I reckon it's often one step forwards and then one backwards, but how wonderful to know now that it can happen and what you need to look for! You will love having your mum there - my dad was here for ten days and I felt quite lost when he went home again!

Sarah - would you recommend the 'no cry sleep solution' then? I have problems getting Zac to sleep during the day without intervention (walks, drives, etc), especially towards the end of the day... as if 'arsenic hour' needs any help!

AFM - had our MCHN today. Zac has put on 280gms over ten days, so we're definitely heading down the right track now. So he is now 4.64kg, 59.2 cm long!! So I feel good about what we're doing :dance:

jas - i think i'd prefer the less cranky baby!! :lol: i figure that the night feeds will settle down at some point - whether in the short term or slightly longer term but a cranky baby will stay just that as long as they're not getting sleep! well, that's what i'm thinking today :p that's great news about arlea doing some feeds with the shield...i guess it's often a case of steps forward & then back before going forward again. you're doing an amazing job though - i hope it all just falls into place very soon.

cate - it has some interesting info & suggestions in there. i thought it was too early for any of that sort of thing for DS but there is a section for babies under 3 months. apparently there is also a no cry nap solution book as well that might be good? i'd say that it might not be for everyone but it's def worth a look - maybe even borrow it from the library first?

boy i cant beleive my little boy is almost 7 weeks he has grown out of 000 and is now in 00. i think my milk is ruuning out i was and still am hoping to feed him a little longer. am happy that today im getting my 8 seater wagon on the rd yeah for no more sharing a 5 seater car with the kids dad

so annoyed took my car to vic roads to get it registate find out that the r.w.c had the wrong year of manufactuered n 1 number wrong on the vin n engine number get the numbers all sorted to then find out i now have to get it registed in ballarat as the engine is classed as a ride off which is something we were not told when we brought the car. i still have to use kids dads car until monday now

Hi Everyone,
I haven't written for a while but just saw lots of comments on sleeping during the day! Sam has always not slept that well during the day but sleeps really well at night. A lady from the Breastfeeding association said to me to at least get him to sleep even if it is 20 minutes before his next feed as otherwise he will be be restless and not sleep well after the next feed either. It seems to keep making it worse as the day goes on. Some days he goes to sleep well - with intervention from me, but other days just doesn't want to drop off. I leave him to grizzle but if he starts crying then I get him and help him to relax again.
Sam had two days of being all over the place with his feeding and sleeping, I think it was the 6 week growth spurt? He was very grizzly as well but this morning seems much happier.
Well have had Sam down for an hour and he is grizzling again, wonder if he will get himself back to sleep?? Probably not!! Sometimes he does and other times he takes ages!!

anton's getting teeth already

hi everyone
jess - i cant believe he is teething already! that is crazy!!! our babies are growing way too fast!!
i just took Jacob to the MACH nurse for a weigh in - he is 5.4kg... so i wont worry about his super fast feeding i guess...
i was alittle concerned re a flat spot developing on his head and she confirmed it - so i need to keep him off his back as much as poss when he isnt asleep. he sleeps more than DS1 so this isnt easy!!! anyway he is in a bouncer now... she will check again in 2 wks. i mught take him to a physio too in case he has some stiffness in his neck. donmt know if i mentioned to you all that he has a small fontanelle? anyway she checked this and his head is still growing but it is a bit of a concern so she will measure every 2 wks also. app they have to make sure it doesnt fuse too early... aaah the worries of being a parent! the good news is his dermatitis is looking great (she didnt notice he had it so that has to be a good sign). she recommended i work a bit to get rid of the cradle cap scales - interesting as everything else says not to worry about it. i think this is bc he has a lot of hair so she said i may not be able to get to it after a while and it may spread to his forehead - yuk!
anyway sorry for the selfish post - i will try to keep up with personals from now on.