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

Hi all,

Just wanted to pop in and say hello. I have to hand it to you girls who are able to do all the personals, I don't seem to be able to find the time right now, but hopefully I will soon...

Ryatha, I'm glad to hear that you are healing well, it all sounds like a bit of an ordeal you poor thing.

We're doing pretty well at the moment, Ash has been sleeping really well which has made life so much easier. In the last four days we've had three nights where he has done a six hour stint between feeds. On a couple of those nights I've actually had to wake him at the six hour mark, so I'm wondering how long he could go if I didn't wake him. But we've decided to wait until we see the paediatrician at six weeks to see if he thinks it's okay to let him go longer between feeds.

His wind has also been a lot better of late. Now we are only using the Infacol at our 6pm feed, for some reason he seems to get wind at that time of day - no idea why though. Mind you he has had some this afternoon, but I think todays episode confirms my theory that he gets it bad the day after I eat cheese, so I'm going to eliminate it from my diet for the next week or so and see how we go...

Hope everyone is doing well and getting lots of sleep! x

anton is really scaring me at times with his cough at times he sounds like he is choking he has seen 2 dr who have said he is fine n healthy

Ryatha, sending you lots of healing vibes :hug: good on you for expressing after surgery! I can't imagine doing that, it must be very painful. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

SS storm we are having the same problem re sleeping - Arlea has gone from dropping off to sleep by herself to needing to be rocked & cuddled. I blame all the willing arms here lol, don't know if I am wrong or right on that one but at 3am it drives me nuts! Don't feel like a failure re the breast milk... it happened to me with DS1. Your little girl has had a great start with what you have done for her :hug:

Bekz hope MissE isn't too unwell. Have you tried breastmilk in her eye? Arlea had a bit of a gooey eye the other day, I expressed a few drops in twice & it cleared up. I must admit I was surprised at how quickly it worked. DH looked at me funny when I did it but he is now converted :lol:

Miss Excited you lucky thing! Fantastic that Ash is sleeping so well for you. Glad to hear the infacol is working also. Will be very interesting to see if cheese is the culprit!

JessC :hug: hope Anton gets better soon that sounds like a scary cough.

AFM... nothing has changed here.. I am not doing enough skin-to-skin with A, I'm worried if I don't start soon it will all go downhill & I won't be able to get her back on the breast. But there is so little time, I am spending 7-10 hours a day expressing ( & getting pretty sick of it!) so between that, and the regular baby stuff, and the other family / household stuff there is just no time for anything else, including skin time.. I'm going to have to try a bit harder next week. DH goes back to work tomorrow & I am freaking out just a little bit at how I am going to manage all that expressing when she wants to be fed or cuddled... she LOVES a cuddle ;)

Hope everyone else is well :grouphug:

jasp Anton likes being on his tummy across my knees so i have found that i can express when his like that at the same time he is happy as well. just an idea you may be able to play with

Jess, could Anton have silent reflux? Noah used to, and if you didn't realise what it was it was really scary. Looks like they're choking/ can't breathe.

LF that silent relfux sounds scary...
Jess I hope Anton is ok, may be worth checking out with more drs if you feel something isnt ok.
Miss E - interesting if cheeseis the culprit, how great if you can narrow it down. i am also thinking i need to elinimate some things.. but dont know what LOL!
Jasp good to see you and glad the swelling is improving - that must have been awful! i dont know how you manage to express and look after your other kids too.. champion! it is great she had one bf yest and hope you get some more skin to skin. ia lso need to work on that, i want J to become more cuddly. i seemt o remember Noah being more of a cuddly thing than J is - bu tmaybe i am forgetting the very very early days!
All is well here. J is still gaining weight well and doing ok. he has been prety settled at night and is starting to stretch out his first night feed - about 4 hours now.... the rest are 2 hrs apart maximum! he did a big vomit yest and then was quiet sleepy and didnt feed a lot for a few hours... then v v unsettled all night. i was worried he is unwell. he doesnt have a temp but seems to have an upset tummy. i hope he is OK.

hi all
preagainpan - that 4 hour stretch at night must be fantastic!
jasp - I'm gobsmacked at how much time you spend expressing - that's true commitment - I don't know how you manage it...
JessC - I'm sure he is ok. Babies seem to make the wierdest noises, quite frightening. Zac occasionally does this strangled sounding gasp/shriek which sounds terrifying...
MissE - doesn't that extra sleep make all the difference? Did you get a fright when he first slept that long?
Storm - dont' beat yourself up - you did amazingly well, and as long as bubs is happy and healthy (and you too, of course!) that is the most important thing.
Ryatha - OMG you poor thing. What a trooper. Hope you're feeling better now?

AFM - Have been trying much harder to drop down the formula. I can't really see any difference from the motilium, but I'll keep taking it. Over the weekend we were pretty much feeding every hour ... :rolleyes: ... managed to drop the amount of formula yesterday by about a third, but gosh it's hard. You ladies who are holding fast to not having formula in the house for 'just in case' - all credit to you! It's so easy when everything is going crazy to just say 'let's make him a bottle' and then we're back where we started. It's driving me a bit nuts tho as I feel like I can hardly do anything, and he takes soooooooo long on the breast that it feels like we barely stop one feed before the next starts. And he's very resistant to sleeping... yesterday I think it must have been almost 6 hours - dreadful, but he just wouldn't go to sleep! Co-sleeping seems to be the best way to get him to sleep, but I'm worried that I'm making things harder as he may learn to only sleep in my arms, and he may be learning to 'snack feed' instead of filling himself right up...

He's six weeks tomorrow, so I am hoping that the last couple of days have been partly due to the 6 week growth spurt :pray:

Other than that, my dad arrives tomorrow evening for ten days, so it will be great to introduce him to his new grandson, plus have some company in the house. He will most likely pick up a few jobs around the house too :-)

keep well everyone

happy bday to me

Jas - Wow what a champ with the expressing. I hope you get some time for the skin to skin contact. Could you have a bath or shower with her? As for me E's eye, I did try the breast milk but it didn't do much unfortunately:( She has conjuctivitis and is on drops, which have worked thankfully.
MissE - Re the food theory and wind. I have had corn chips twice and both times miss E has had really bad wind afterwards so I am eliminating corn chips.

Miss E has put on 600 grams in the last 2 weeks whoot...my milk is actually ok this time around.

Happy Birthday Jess! :happybirthday:
Hope you had a great day. Thanks for the tip re putting her over my knees - I did this at 2:30 this morning & it did help a bit :lol: plus I think it is good when she's a bit windy.

Preagainpan, hope J is ok. Arlea has the occasional big vomit, just every now & again. Hopefully it's not too much to worry about maybe just a bit of wind? I think sometimes she guzzles her feed on top of a bit of wind, then when the wind comes up so does everything else.
As for how I maange to express & look after the other kids... I am really lucky they are old enough to take care of themselves largely, I couldn't do it if they were all younger. And DH has been so much more supportive than I expected, he hasn't once questioned why I need to do this or suggested giving up for which I am very grateful. Having said that... I don't know how much longer I can keep going! Unless it gets a bit quicker... but I really want her back on the breast! :pray: that is what keeps me going atm... the thought that we can do it...

Cate, how nice to have your Dad there :D and an extra set of hands for those jobs as well! Learning to sleep in your arms...I know exactly what you mean... atm we are doing everything I said I'd never do again, can you believe it! :rolleyes: it just goes to show even when you know better, at the time it is really down to whatever gets you through. I just keep telling myself this is not forever!

Bek... 600g in 2 weeks! wow that is huge you do have some great milk! :) Good to hear the drops are working for missE's eye.

AFM... tomorrow is our first day at home without having to go out in over a week! So I plan on doing nothing much besides some skin-on-skin time. It will also be our first day home alone, (I had both boys home today as my Dad was visiting from SA) & while I'm a bit worried how I will express when she wants to be cuddled I am also looking forward to the peace & quiet & alone time.
We have borrowed a double pump from the hospital but one of the valves has a tear. So I am going to try & track down a spare parts kit on Wednesday & then hopefully double pumping will speed things up a bit, cut down the time I spend expressing.

Sending happy healthy sleepy vibes to all the babies ;) :grouphug:

hi everyone
just a quick post from me as i am about to head out. having a lazy day today but want to get to the supermarlet and do some proper cooking before I pick Noah up from creche.
Jasp - i hope the double pump helps, will that halve the time? what is the plan to get her on the breast? that will make it easier for you... hope you are enjoying lots of cuddles today, sounds like a great day.
Cate - hope you enjoy having your dad around... i know what yo umean re learning to sleep in yoru arms, we ended up rocking DS1 to sleep til a few months ago - yes he was 12 kg and i was rocking him... so this time we are trying to avoid it and putting J down drowsy (but not letting him cry) to avoid that.. wonder how it will go though. i agree you just do what you have to to get through it all. and if it makes yo ufeel better DS1 is now in a bed and we just read to him and sit there while he goes to sleep... i do think they are often unsettled around the growth spurts so that could be it.
happy bday jess
Ryatha - hope you are doing well.. and feeling ok. i have been thinking of you.
Bekz - wtg on the weight gain, thats fabulous!
as for us, no more big vomits - he was unsettled again last night but i thin kthat was wind. poor little guy... i am not too worried though. i think he has a bit of a cold (prob bc of all the kisses he gets from DS1 with his snotty noses!!) but i have been using saline and i guess that and feeding is all i can do...

thanks for the bday wishes. anton has is 4 week check up today

Just a quick one, breastfeeding on both bb now! still using a nippleshield but at least I don't have to express anymore. Grace slept in her cot last night from 8.30 to 8am - two feeds - one at 12.30 and one at 5.15. So feeling pretty good today!

Got a few more tests that I need done but I should have the results by friday so :crossfingers: I hope they are ok.

Will try to do personals next time I'm on

Good luck with your test Ryatha, hope they all go well for you. And Jess I hope you had a good birthday.

Well this has probably been the most difficult week I have had since we came home. After getting the routine 'perfected' and having Ash self settling, he decided on Saturday that he didn't want to sleep during the day (thankfully he has kept up his long sleep at night though, but fingers crossed that lasts). So after a battle of wills over the weekend, this week I have focussed on doing whatever it takes to get him to sleep during the day, even if that means sleeping on me. We are getting there and he is having some sleeps in his cot, so it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel and at least his night sleeps haven't been affected. But today I have discovered I have got what I think is a blocked duct. It's not too painful at the moment, but I am really worried about it turning into mastitis so am trying really hard to get rid of it by tomorrow, otherwise I think I will be making a trip to the doctor. Any tips or advice you ladies have on blocked ducts would be great...

Anyway, hope you are all doing really well, sorry I still haven't done proper personals yet, I am thinking of you all and sending you all lots of sleepy vibes xoxo

boy what a day anton has just got back to his birth weight but has only put on 80grams in 2 weeks i do how his health nurse a load of thanks she saw a unwell baby and got him in to see my dr straight away as i have had trouble getting anton in to see him there is usally 2 or more weeks wait. anton has broncites back to see the dr friday

Preagainpan, hope your little guys cold clears up soon. I still haven't got around to finding the spare parts kit! so not double pumping yet. But I will try & get to it today. I don't think it will halve the time, I will still have to stop after a while & use one hand to massage my breasts but it should cut it by about a third :crossfingers:

Ryatha yay for bfing on both sides! That's great that you don't have to express anymore. And what a huge sleep Grace had! Hope your test results come back good for you.

MissExcited, sorry to hear you've had an unsettled week. Re blocked ducts - try heat, a warm compress or facewasher over the area before & during feeding, also massaging the area before & during to encourage the milk to move out. If you have a pump you could try expressing after a feed to make sure that it is drained completely. HTH & that Ash starts sleeping beter through the day for you.

Jess sorry to hear Anton has bronchitis, lucky the nurse was able to get you into the Drs. Hope he gets better soon :hug:

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 :pray:
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 everyone else is doing well :hug:

hi all
Jacob still has an awful cold - poor little guy is all blocked up... we are using the saline and this helps. I am wondering when i need to take him to the dr. he doesnt have a temp and is feeding ok so i am just watching.
Miss E - for the blocked duct i agree with Jasps suggestions. you can also try to unblock it through feeding, chg position to point his chin towads the blockage if that makes sense? this helps drain that area. if it gets v sore or red around the area and if you have any flu symptoms got ot he dr straight away - mastisis is soooo nasty and can come on quickly.
Jasp - sounds like things are going well. hope you continue to get goodnights out of A. It makes a lot of difference doesnt it. I am sooo tired at the moment, i hope i can catch up a little soon - though weekends are worse here as I have Noah at home too.
Ryatha - figers crossed for good test results
Jess - hope Anton imrpoves soon... glad the nurse was able to help you.

had a very bad night last night anton had very shellow breathing which kept me awake. took in back to dr today had a chest xray done and been put on antibotics was very chesty at dr's he has had to big vomits tonight so took him up to hospital all is good and chest is now all clear also got results to xray which was all good