Hi again Ladies,

Entreat, the photos are fantastic! I'm so glad you got some done. We obviously didn't have any at Archie's birth because it all happened so dramatically, and apparently vacuum delivery is not so photogenic (especially accompanied by a screaming woman and third-degree tearing).

Livvielou, glad you're doing okay, although I have to say FAR OUT you've been through the wringer. Eadie is be-autiful though! I hope you're recovering well both physically and emotionally.

Mrs Hendo and Smamfa, glad you're both staying here, it wouldn't be the same without you both!

To all the Mummas doing it with more than one baby/toddler, I take my hat off to you. DH is home for another two weeks (including this week), and I'm already freaking out about how I'm going to manage everything on my own. I don't want DH to go to work every day with too little sleep, so I'm going to have to take over some of the night-time nappy changes from him.

MissyMoo, thank you so much for the advice about night-feeding and settling. DH and I have tended to chat away to each other and to Archie during the 2am feed, and I can see that he expects some eye-contact and conversation. I noticed that when I stayed really quiet and minimised the touching/rocking/eye-contact, he settled much quicker. I'm still getting used to it though - I can't help talking to him, even at 2am! We've also taken your advice about changing the nappy then feeding on one boob. One of the MWs at the hospital told me to feed on one boob, change the nappy then feed on the other boob, and when we did this Archie just became unsettled from the nappy change, and spewed up the second part of the meal. Most of the time, Archie is pretty happy with one boob only.

So...having said all that, Archie seems to be having a growth spurt and hasn't stopped cluster-feeding for the last two days. I was awake for almost 2 hours last night, by the time he'd drained both boobs and had a much-needed nappy change. It's been a crazy couple of days, made even crazier with my ILs visiting. Unlike Entreat, my ILs are not so helpful around the house with my MIL refusing to hand Archie back to me when he needed a feed and sitting on the couch all weekend waiting for cuddles. My FIL made a vague comment about me "feeding everytime he looks hungry" as if this was a bad thing to do. I think they think I'm some paranoid, naive first-time mother who needs to be told how to parent. Fair enough I probably am all those things, but they also know that DH and I have made some really well-informed decisions about parenting, and we intend on continuing to do so. It's not like demand-feeding a two-week old is a new-age thing either

My MIL also discovered that we're co-sleeping and is NOT happy, so she spent half the weekend mentioning the dangers of co-sleeping and asking us when we're going to buy a cot. I understand that co-sleeping can be a bit confronting for some people because it's not mainstream, but DH and I made a conscientious decision to do it, and it's working well for us, so I wish she'd shut up and leave us to our own parenting decisions. The ILs are coming back for a two-week visit in October so I've told DH that they have to pull their weight around the house, and can't expect to be spending every day of that with me - I will go mental after two days. It's also been a bit of an anxious time for me this past weekend because I don't like being out of control of my surrounds, and having the ILs visit makes me realise that Archie is not "mine" and I can only control so much of the interactions and relationships he has with other people. This includes some of the crap gifts we've been given for him

Mrs Hendo, I'm gonna head to MotherCare tomorrow to check out that sale! And yes, we should catch up! Is there anyone else in Melbourne that wants to catch up too?

Last night something scary happened. X sort of cluster feeds at nighttime of her own accord. We had some friends over for dinner (I know, I am CRAZY cooking for other people!) and I probably wasn't paying as much attention as to how long she was feeding for because I was feeding her and chatting at the same time. Anyway, she was fussy on the last feed and she is never fussy. She kept pulling off and crying and then latching herself back on and going to sleep and so on and so on. When she woke herself back up I got up to put her to bed and she did this weird cough thing and about 20 seconds later she did this massive spew and it came out her nose and mouth at the same time! It went EVERYWHERE, the splash sounded massive. I was so worried she couldn't breathe so just sat her up and patted her quickly. She didn't even cry, she was fine after a minute of so of coughing and spluttering. It was horrible horrible horrible and I felt so sad and upset for her. Then I didn't know whether to feed her again or not and she was wide awake. So I just sat up with her for a while and she was very placid then started making hungry looks and I fed her again, burped her and put her to bed. She slept in 2 lots of 4 hour stints so obviously was totally fine but I on the other hand am scarred by the experience!
Been there, done that, and I feel your pain! Archie has had some power spews that make a sound on impact, but he looks straight at me afterwards with an "I'm still hungry" look, then latches back on for more. It's seemingly more devastating for the Mummas than for the babies! He wasn't fussed by the vomit either. From talking to my Mum and my Doula, there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for it, although Archie did bring up an entire feed when he had some really bad hiccups. Apparently I would bring up an entire feed when I was a baby, but it only becomes a problem if it happens at every feed and/or baby isn't putting on enough weight. That said, I really hate watching him do it, and it is really awful knowing how long you've been feeding for only to watch it come back up afterwards.

We're still using sposies here, but have tried the newborn BBH a couple of times - with a few leakages unfortunately. I'm going to wait until DH is back at work before we really get into the clothies so that I can get some sort of order going with the laundry.

Oh, and can anyone tell me how they're going with the post-birth bleeding? TMI warning: I've had some variable bleeding but most days (two weeks post-birth) it's like a medium-heavy period. But the last couple of days it's been lots of clots but very little "flow." Is this normal? I haven't had any pain although the occasionaly twinge in my belly when I'm bfing.

AND...I'm back to my pre-birth weight. I was about 5-8kg overweight when I fell pregnant, and it seems I'm now 5-8kg overweight but with a little soft pot-belly. I'm quite happy that it's only taken 2 weeks to lose the kilos but will hopefully keep losing it now that I'm bfing! Glad that bfing is a natural weight-loss program!

Okay, better go. Hope everyone is doing well!