Babies born~June 1st-15th 2010 #1

[Visitor8]

Just a quick one to day

I can't believe my baby boy is 3 weeks old today! HOLY CRAP that's flown.

That's all lol better get back to dinner!

[entreat]

I have a question ladies - how long are your babies feeding for? Jack feeds anywhere from 10mins to 25 mins (but takes about an hour to get it in with burps & needing to wake him up!), with loads of wet & dirty nappies. I wish I could take away his gas pain. Poor boy. He's been really good for a couple of days & this arvo he was squarking badly, and being really fussy to feed. We ended up getting three large burps from him before I could finish & finally put him down.

I saw the MCHN today. She was lovely, but I can't see a relationship forming like MissyMoo has with hers. In fact, I gather in this town, unless you're high risk, you rarely see a MCHN. I told her about my anxiety & that it is getting better every day. She was pleased i have my Mum in town to support me. But enough of that... Jack has managed to eclipse his birth weight (by about 10 grams, I think!) & she said he looks great. His cheeks are so chubby now, he has bags under his eyes. Makes him look horribly tired! And I had her look at my C-section wound, as part of it was gaping when I had the staples taken out (held together with Steri-Strips). I then had to get an appointment with the doctor (almost impossible!!) to get a prescription for antibiotics because it's a bit red. I'm only moderately concerned about how it's gonna heal. There's a bit that kind of hangs over the other side of wound... I don't really know how to describe it. Lucky DH said he'd love me anyway.

How funny it is that when we were in the BellyBuddies thread, we would be posting so much, but nw none of us have time to post!
Hope you're all well.

[Visitor8]

you don't see your MCHN that often unless you want to. You generally have one home visit, then a 6 week visit. Look in your blue book that the hospital gave you, there are pages in there for checkups. 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 3.5 years. They also hold "open sessions" here and possibly where you are, where you can go to check bubs weight and ask any little questions you have. These appointments usually last about 15 minutes at the most. Otherwise you can ring and make an appointment MCHN's are basically there if you have any concerns about development, feeding, sleeping etc etc. They don't tend to 'cluck' over the babes, but they should be friendly. However there are always the lemons, I've had them before...

Re: feeding. Elijah only takes about 10 minutes to feed. He'll only feed from one side then fall asleep. Then I burp and leave him. He'll go about 2-3 hours most times before another feed. Sometimes less than 2 hours but not that often. I don't wake him up. I also change his nappy before a feed not after one side. I don't think babies should be woken up to feed. I wouldn't like to be woken up to eat. Of course that is my opinion

Have you tried feeding Jack on an angle. By that I mean holding him so he is kinda 'sitting' in your lap instead of laying flat sideways. Head above feet, not parallel. Might help the wind come up. This is how I hold Eli most of the time unless we are laying down to feed.

I see a lot of FB posts about unsettled bubbas at night. Hope you don't mind me telling you how I do night feeds. I did this with ashton and Elijah and both boys went straight back to sleep after a feed.
When they start to make 'hungry' noises, usually little squeeks and stuff, BEFORE they start to cry, I get them and put them to the breast. I don't turn a light on, only the telly goes on (which I mute before bed) so there is a dim glow. I don't talk to them, or stroke them or anything. Most of the time I don't change at night because Elijah is in a night nappy and doesn't poo overnight. The goal is less stimulation. The more 'awake' they get the harder for them to wind back down. Elijah will just have his 10 minute feed and fall back asleep, I will gently burp him then lay down and go back to sleep. This works well because I'm only awake for a max of 15-20 minutes 3 times a night. I also swear by his dummy. He has reflux and it helps him stop the spew fountain LOL

[entreat]

I have to feed Jack in an upright-football hold because of my large bb's, flat nipples, and that he kind of drowns a bit if he's laying down. Only twice have we successfully fed with him laying across me... and the second time was a nightmare on my nipple, and it's all been on the right bb (it's slightly smaller than the right). Actually, feeding him like I do results in him pulling a fist up to 'prop' his chin on, so he looks much like a lazy drunk leaning on the bar! He cracks me up!

Our night feeds are getting better, but I still make sure he's awake enough to feed properly, otherwise it turns into one hourly top-ups. He's much more settled at night (gets 3 to 4 hour blocks of sleep in). But I need to learn to let go after he's asleep again - I usually stay up an extra 30 to 60mins waiting for him to squark & need something. I guess it's just 1st timers anxiety. But I'm getting better.

Well, Dinner's ready & Jack's asleep, so I better get it while it's hot!

[Feueriosa]

Hi There!

Can I come and play in here? My little miss is 3 weeks old today! I was in the thread after most of you, but did a little stalking as I found out really early so played in your thread with Smamfa for a while! Gosh that seems so long ago!

Entreat - hi honey!! Thanks so much for coming to visit me is hossy! So sad we had left Perth already when your little one made his appearance! I hope your anxiety is settling down! I was very much the same when DS was born and it took me a while to realise it was just the magnitude of the change that he made in our lives that was making me feel that way. It really scared me that our comfortable life was never going to be the same again.. I dont think it went 100% till we managed a fantastic trip to Europe with him when he was 1 and I realised that life was not the same it was better with him! Hope things settle down to a nice 'normal' soon!

Klee - sounds like you are going great! So happy that everything worked out so well!

Re: feeding. Elijah only takes about 10 minutes to feed. He'll only feed from one side then fall asleep. Then I burp and leave him. He'll go about 2-3 hours most times before another feed. Sometimes less than 2 hours but not that often.

Glad to see that I am not the only one with a pretty frequent but fast feeder! My DS was really slow, but more around the 4hr mark so I was a bit worried. She has put on 750g in the 16 days since we left hospital, so figured she was getting enough, but she is also a bit of a spewer which has thrown me a little as DS never let anything out! I swear she has emptied her entire feed back over me/the bed/DH at least once a day for the last week! (you are not alone Persephone!) Broke out Baby Love and Robin assures me this is very normal and should resolve by one... sigh... I was quite happy with not being one of the covered in baby chuck mums.

[Mrs McAwesome]

Hi everyone

Just wanted to pop in and say hi. I find I get so much support from most of u ladies on FB that I am hardly ever on BB now. Also I have just realized I don't belong in this thread cos Amelia was born in the evening on the 31st May. But I have trouble getting to know new people so am a little nervous about joining the other thread.

SAK - u poor thing I am glad u are starting to recover but what a massive few weeks u have had. I hope u are taking it super easy at work. I know u run your own business so u have to be there .

Olivia - I am still in shock about everything u have been through I am so glad u are recovering well.

Well I am gonna try and get in a few hours sleep before the next feed. I have a cold and feel really rotten. I just hope Milly doesn't get it.

[entreat]

Hi Feu! It was a delight to visit you & your family. And it was great chatting with you about your experiences at Mercy before I had to face it all, even if my birth went no where near as planned! How's baby Carys?

My anxiety is lessening every day. Every night Jack has been doing so well with his sleeping & feeding, so that means I get some sleep too. It's such a relief!
I also managed to cook dinner last night! Well... it was a slow roast, so as long as I can chop vegies & throw a slab of meat on top of them, I'm set! And, here's the awesome bit: It tastes phenomenal! WOO! I'm back to my old self (I might even cook cupcakes tomorrow!).

Xx

[Visitor8]

aww hunni I am so happy you are feeling better!! It's very overwhelming coming home with a new baby!