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

[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!

[starangelk]

Hi all

Hope you have had a nice week and have got a restful weekend planned!

Livvielou - I got Missymoo's link to be your facebook friend and oh my, what a gorgeous little girl you have. I can NOT begin to comprehend what you have been through but woweeee - look what you got. She is simply divine.

Entreat - my scar has a strange bit too! In most parts it is really good, I had glue on my skin, not stitches but there is stitch coming through!! I saw the Ob on Wednesday as the MCHN got a bit panicky when she saw me as I still looked/felt sick and he said that the stitch will dissolve soon enough and it will heal properly. Hmmmm, I am assuming he is right but seriously - why can't it just be dissolved now and how on earth is it sticking through?

Feueriosa - great to have you in here! I also have the baby love book and we seem to be referring to it quite a lot. Interesting though - one of the midwives totally scoffed at the book when we mentioned it in the hospital but on the whole, we think it is pretty awesome and everyone seems to rave about it. My little one was born on June 1st so our girls are only a few days apart. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Mrs Hendo - I keep up to date with your facebook posts but don't forget about us in here, we miss you

I am desperately trying to stay low key and rest as much as possible. X is sleeping well, last night we put her down about 9:15 and she was up again 1am then slept until 5:30am and back down again until 8:30am. I figure this is pretty good? I feel like we were only really up once at 1am because at 5:30am it's basically morning time anyway. I have nothing to compare to but I had a friend here today and she was saying her first baby only slept in 40 minute cycles. Workwise, I am only doing about 3 hours a day in the office and about 1 hour a day from home. I feel REALLY bad as my senior staff member who is handling everything for me was telling me today she seriously has NO TIME to do anything at the moment. I just laughed her off saying that it was good that she realises what I do now and doesn't think I just hang out in my office doing nothing. She took that pretty well really but it made me realise that I need to take some of the pressure off her or she is going to crack. I'm doing the best I can - I just need to make sure I am being the best mummy I can be. Luckily, DH is awesome and totally capable.

On the upside, my milk supply FINALLY seems to be calming down. I held a sterile bottle to the breast she wasn't feeding off today and only got 30mls. A week ago I was getting 60mls from leakage during a feed so I am counting that as a win. I can also wear bras again now - I wasn't able to when I had the mastitis!! I am finding this whole feeding thing a bit hilarious really. When X tries to latch on, half of the time I am already spitting milk and it seriously hits her in the head and goes everywhere. I can only laugh or I would probably cry.

I am also feeling MUCH better about her birth and feel less guilty about not being able to take proper care of her in those first couple of days. I know my DH did a wonderful job with her and she is such a settled and happy baby, I am just grateful for all our health and feel so blessed we have her in our lives.

Have a fab weekend all. Xx

[Visitor8]

hehe SAK I have to giggle at the milk hitting X in the head! When I let down Eli always pulls off and cops it in the eye