The surgery went really well... George is being the little trooper that he is. They had fears that he might stop breathing after the anaesthetic, due to his prematurity (they say its common), but he was fine. Having said that, we had a rough night in the hospital, the bed was way too big, and I couldnt tuck him in tight so he did a lot of wriggling waking himself (and me) up.
Needless to say, he is doing fine, and I am absolutely dead!! I just tried to have a nap, but I'm in and out of sleep and really struggling.
We are thinking about making plans to either send George to my mum's for a night or for me to go there, just to get a night's sleep. It's almost been 5 weeks since he's been home, and that long without a good night's sleep is shocking.
We are keen to get him back on his routine, and self-settling asap - for all our sakes!
Catherine - sounds like fun, enjoy!!
Buzzie - I was using Infacol for a while and it helped... I have stopped it now, and he burps well on his own, but he has been throwing more lately.
Fuzzy - it's totally fine to be nervous. Just remember that you have been doing a great job so far and it'll be no different when you're on your own. There is always someone 1 phone call away.
Thank you so much everyone for you thoughts and well wishes!!
I was wondering why there was bugger all chatter in the belly group - I thought we were all hanging there until everyone moved across so when I saw whit had gone I checked in here and everyone has been in here chatting for weeks!!! ha ha ha.
Congrats Wite and welcome little Harlow! what a lovely name.
Catherine - I agree with everyone else - please don't go! I really appreciate all the insights from everyone in here, particularly those who are not first timers! I was also thinking about the high c-section rate in our group. Before I had Pearl I was very anti c-sec and then my c-sec experience was absolutely fine - all I cared about was that she was alright so I think I have changed my tune although I am still really keen for a v-bac if I am lucky enough to get preggers again.
Connie - I hope George is alright. If it is any consolation we have a lot of hernias in my family - I had one removed as a bub, so did my sis and bro (but his was undiagnosed for months and he screamed constantly until they realised he was in pain) and we are all fine (although all of the drs assumed my hernia scar was a c-sec scar.
The nurse told me the other day that it takes 3hrs to digest breast milk so that would explain why ff babies sleep for longer between feeds. Makes me a bit confused as to why Ava is sleeping for so long between feeds though???
Apes - I have nothing to wear and would not have a clue what size to even try on so I think you are very brave buying clothes!
Fuzzy - I am with you on not being able to dream feed at this stage - although one of the books I read said to introduce dreamfeeds and cluster feeding at about 6 weeks so that is what I plan on doing maybe by then Pearl will be able to do it in her sleep.
Our routine is loosly 3hourly feeds but sometimes Pearl demands to be fed after 2hrs, sometimes longer. So far night times have been no less than 3hrs which is great.
Pearl is a month old today and I am still struggling to work out how to change my ticker to a lillypie one. I might have to just do a plain one without the pic attached.
Someone asked a while ago about how long to feed on each side - for Pearl it varies from 10min a side when she is going for gold to about 20min each side but basically she unlatches, I burp her then we try the other side. The nurse told me they get 90% of their feed in the first 5min and she has heaps of wet and dirty nappies, as well as putting on weight so I am not concerned that she is not getting enough.
Thats great news Connie! Gee he really is a little trouper isnt he! I think that is a really really nice idea spending a night elsewhere to get some sleep.
Hi chuckie - yeh we were going to just post in the other thread werent we! ha ha. Glad to hear Pearl is doing really well. And I can wait until the 6 week mark to try giving Chloe dreamfeeds. At the moment she wants food every 3 hours, sometimes less, sometimes more frequently. Sounds similar to Pearl really. Lots of pooey nappies - like 6 a day at least.
Dory - thinking pooey nappies. Chloe does have about 6 a day at least. Well I would say almost every nappy change.
Gotta run and prepare for people coming for dinner - arrrh
Chuckie - you want the bit of code that starts with [ img ]. Mine looks like this: [ img ] http: / / lb1f.lilypie.com/TikiPic.php/kbDb.jpg[/img][img]http://lb1f.lilypie.com/kbDbp10.png[ / img ] (I've put some random spaces in it so hopefully it'll show up ok and helpful for you. GL!
Connie - I'm so glad to hear George's op went well. Finding a way to get a good night's sleep sounds good - sleep deprivation is awful over a long time! (or even just a short time). I remember using Infacol at about 6-8 weeks with Xander, or Infant's Friend.
Fuzzy - I was shopping on my b'day and saw this AWESOME dress. Tried it on and it could not have looked more hideous! I was sooo the wrong shape for it... . On the bright side for me, I'd gone & got some "middle" size t-shirts last time as I found I didn't fit my normal stuff, but didn't need full maternity stuff anymore either. GL with the chiro, oh my goodness I didn't realise that's what they might do in regard to the coxyx!!! I have my fingers (arms & legs) crossed that they don't have to do that for you!
Catherine - those are awesome weight gains. I'd always heard that BF bubs always have smaller weight gains, so was mentally preparing myself for smaller (even though Xander got EBM, it was by bottle so I never really counted it like a BF gain IYKWIM). Annika got 210g in 5 days and I was soooo stoked (I think that was just like Isabella actually?). You're right re the c-sections. My mother's group was like that, lots of long labours that didn't progress and went to c-section. Then there's people like me too, with the elective c-section. TBH i never expected to be one of "those" people (hahaha) but I'm still so glad i did it, such a positive experience for me.
Buzzie - I had to do salt baths with X, and I found they did help. I know it's a nuisance but do it as much as you can. I had to have an episiotomy revision with X (go back in to theatre and they re-cut and re-stitch)... so that's such a PITA, you want to avoid that if at all possible. Taking Arnica (homeopathic kinda healing stuff) and extra zinc can also help promote healing too.
Well Annika had a poorer night than usual last night too... and I was sooo tired & grumpy this morning. Those of you with babies who are regularly antsy all night, oh my gosh I'm so sorry I should have been more sympathetic . My poor DH reckoned I've been grumpy all day... and finally Xander went to bed, and I went straight for a lie down at 7pm - I've just had 90 mins nap and omg it was bliss. Then I've also just had a big icecream sundae with strawberries and leftover chocolate ganache... oh yum. Figure I'll start eating healthier tomorrow . Xander is sick at present with a cough/cold and just wanted to be on top of me ALL day (he wants to cuddle and kiss Annika when I feed), so I felt like I've spent the whole day fighting off 14kg of toddler trying to have cuddles!! Plus Annika did a poo/wee shooter on me while I was changing her!!! I jumped a mile... but the moral of the story is that it's easier for YOU to wear it (and wash your clothes/self) than it is to clean the carpet. We learned that the hard way with Xander! So I jumped but then stayed there & took it. Then this arvo she did the biggest vomit she's done yet! So I pretty much spent the day being covered in bodily fluids .
Also for those who are playing around with wrapping versus not, some bubs love doing an angel wrap (as opposed to the normal wrap) and I remember I didn't learn about these until Xander was 8 weeks. Basically you have a "hem" on the top edge that their little fists go into (with in the fabric) so they have their hands up near their faces but still wrapped... as opposed to down near their sides. My babies seem to have always preferred the angel wrap.
Question for c-section girls. My recovery has been quite good... my scar feels fine, doesn't even look red! But... I'm finding if I squish my tummy at all as I sit forward or when I'm turning or twisting, I get a really nasty "pinching" pain to the right of my bellybutton (so well above the c-section scar). Do any of you get that? It's really quite painful but I'm wondering if it's a muscular thing, as I have a 4-5cm muscle separation too... or it kinda feels like there's some uterus or something that's sitting in the wrong place and gets squished. Sometimes just sitting to feed Annika if I'm in a deep sofa, it's hard to get comfortable. Do you think that's a "go see the doc" issue or should I just wait & see? I'm only 3 weeks after, so I'm not sure if this is something that would just go of it's own accord?
Fuzzy - isabellas the same with frequent feeding and I would prob say about 6 poos too. And she does them at night so I'm always up at least once to change a night nappy.
Belfie - has the pain been there for the whole 3 weeks? I don't think I ever experienced that with DS but I know I got lots of weird pains and things just general healing. Maybe ring a midwife who will talk over the phone at ur hospital and can tell u if it's worth seeing ur doctor. If it's been hurting for a while prob worth saying something..
Anyones bubs getting nappy rash? I change her all the time and went thru so much with DS when he was little - trying different wipes and nappies, ended up just using water for his first yr, seems she is getting it alot to. I'm always putting on sudocreme but feel bad for her poor bottom. might try aldi nappies now....
Well I can't believe if there's one great thing happening ATM for me - DS is finally sleeping through the night!! Can't belies he does as a new baby comes home! But touch wood he keeps it up.
Isabella was up at 2am and took me an hour to get her back to sleep cos her windy belly I think. Just couldn't settle, then was wide awake from 6am!... Oh well she's out like a light now - of course. Lol
Hope u guys are enjoying the weekend ... Sunny and 25 today! Woot!!
Catherine - am going to take a leaf out of your book and try to get Pearl onto a routine that involves the same times every day to try to help me remember when it is feed time - so far today she has woken up about half hour before the scheduled time hungry (eg 9:30am) so I feed her and am stretching the feed out so it runs over 10am but again she wakes up hungry at 12:30pm instead of 1pm (either that or she is asleep by the time the next feed is due because I have fed her early). Any tips on getting them to top up when they are sleepy? I am also interested in how you feed Ava her cluster feeds (do you wake her if she is asleep etc).
Belfie - thanks for the ticker help - I will have another go
Chuckie - if G wakes up before his feed, I just try to stretch him out by holding him and giving him a dummy. Sometimes that relaxes him enough to fall asleep and I have to wake him for his feed.
Maybe I'm just really tired, but I'm feeling a bit guilty today about the fact that I can't be bothered talking to george or playing with him when he's awake..
woot hoo - thanks to buzzy i found my way here. You know there is some real truth to my bb name - "dory". I think we should all stay irrespective of the dates our bubs actually arrived - I don't want to lose touch with any of you.
Connie - glad G's surgery went well. you must have been beside yourself.
I will spend some time now catching up on what's been going on...
We are going out to dinner tonight - just to a relo's. At least Hannah has had some sleep today, she woke at 3 - and was asleep again by 4pm. On the recommendation from a friend expecting twins I took a peek at the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD excerpts and put them into pratice this arvo after the feed. Seemed to work, and working once is a bonus. I still nursed Hannah for a good 15 mins to make sure she was settled and her eye's wouldn't fly open as soon as a put her in her bassinette, but that's down from 20 mins of nursing. So will keep you posted on how we go.. the biggest change to what we had been doing is laying her on her side/belly in our arms, whilst wrapped. Everything else we'd been doing. Ahh so much for that... a big cream just came bellowing from our princess. Oh well Rome wasn't built in a day.
Chuckie - Isabella is terrible for falling asleep after not feeding long enough so I always have to change her nappy to get her to wake up and eat more - dunno if that's what you mean.
Dory - ur welcome glad u found us. Enjoy your dinner out, we are going out too for dinner.. First time with 2 kids.. Praying DS behaves!
Well just a teensy boo hoo from me. My mum & dad went home (to Tassie) today, so now we're back to being just us. Mixed feelings about that, and then tonight when putting Xander to bed he said "kiss mummy? (I kissed him) kiss daddy? (Daddy kissed him) kiss nanna?... sorry darling Nanna's gone home". made me miss her even more, wish she lived close enough to just pop in! And the sad thing is that she's driven me nuts at times, but she's been amazingly helpful, and I don't think I said everything I wanted to say before she left cos it's been so busy and everyone's been sick. Oh well. I've been so lucky to have her here so much this year.
As for babies falling asleep mid feed... omg yes! Annika is doing it all the time too, if it wasn't for nappy changes, I'd be stuffed.
Buzzie - the pain hasn't been there the whole time, just more in the last week or so and just when I think it's bothering me enuff to do something about it... it settles a bit so I'm not sure. Guess I'll just wait & see for a bit.
Chuckie - ticker is looking good! Think you've got some text at the end "/url" that you can delete, but otherwise, nice!!
Ladies, the sleeping when feeding thing gets better. G always fell asleep at the start, now he may close his eyes but he wakes as soon as we sit him up to burp, so we do that every 10 minutes.
Harlow Sidney Jean-Born 8th October at 9.24pm, weighing 8lbs, 7ozs, 52cm long -2 hour labour, Induced but drug free!
Mum & bub doing well, Mums nipples are shockingly painful & breastfeeding has become a challenge tonight because of the pain...Trying to persevere with it...I got out of Hospital today but bit overwhelmed for a full update for you all, Hope once the week settles I can give you a birth story
just a quick one for wite - if you can get a LC to watch you attach Harlow to the breast you will prob find your attachment could be improved and this will help with the pain (worked for me anyway!) also nipples only take 24hrs to heal (or so they say) so you can give one nipple a break and express out of that boob for a while to help it heal (as long as you have adequate supplies in the other one).
Wite- grab some hydrogel disks from Coles/Woolworths baby section. Keep them in your fridge and each day put a fresh pair on your nipples. My nipples healed so quickly when I used them and they feel really good on!
Connie - I think the full gammet of emotions is quite normal!
Belfie - The rough nights are very tiring hey? Not last night but the night before was our worst yet. She woke every 90 mins for a feed and would not settle easily at all.
Buzzie - Chloe had a mild nappy rash about 4 days ago. We used sudocrem on her too (layer it on everywhere!) and it cleared up in about 2 days flat. We just use cotton wool and water to clean her not wipes - unless we are out and about, then I use wipes.
Off to get her hearing tested again now. Last time she passed in her left ear but got a referral in her right thus we are back there today. Our appt is right when she is due to wake up so it should be interesting trying to keep the little sticky pad things on her if she is hungry and squirmy
Thanks Chuckie! Harlow is attatching fine now, was just that one night of demand feeding in the Hospital that I struggled with, In the end I think I was so overwhelmed that it was my own fault for just letting her on the breast any old way so she would stop crying..The Hospital was so boiling hot it was making me feel sick & I just wanted to close my eyes..there was the rudest midwife on nightshift who was taking everyone elses babies to watch them in the parenting room but because I was a second time mum apparently I didn't need a break!
Thanks Fuzzy-I will remember to get them gel pads, i remember reading them on our old thread (haha, "old thread")...I bought nipple shields but they were useless...!
Harlow has to have blood tests done to check her thyroid levels this week...She has to go to the Hospital for 3 lots which is going to be a pain, the poor things heels have been *****ed so much the past few days..first her immunisations, then the newborn screenings, then a thyroid test & three more to go this & next week..Will be glad when that is all over-fingers crossed for good results back!
Fuzzy - hope the hearing test went well. Isabella had hers today but only cos we were to busy with special care to do it in hospital. She passed. But know what u mean when they get too alert!
Wite - there's always one horrid midwife! I almost pita complaint in about one I had but later found out she was a temp!
. On the bright side for me, I'd gone & got some "middle" size t-shirts last time as I found I didn't fit my normal stuff, but didn't need full maternity stuff anymore either. GL with the chiro, oh my goodness I didn't realise that's what they might do in regard to the coxyx!!! I have my fingers (arms & legs) crossed that they don't have to do that for you!
. My poor DH reckoned I've been grumpy all day... and finally Xander went to bed, and I went straight for a lie down at 7pm - I've just had 90 mins nap and omg it was bliss. Then I've also just had a big icecream sundae with strawberries and leftover chocolate ganache... oh yum. Figure I'll start eating healthier tomorrow 
. Xander is sick at present with a cough/cold and just wanted to be on top of me ALL day (he wants to cuddle and kiss Annika when I feed), so I felt like I've spent the whole day fighting off 14kg of toddler trying to have cuddles!! Plus Annika did a poo/wee shooter on me while I was changing her!!! I jumped a mile... but the moral of the story is that it's easier for YOU to wear it (and wash your clothes/self) than it is to clean the carpet. We learned that the hard way with Xander! So I jumped but then stayed there & took it. Then this arvo she did the biggest vomit she's done yet! So I pretty much spent the day being covered in bodily fluids 
glad u found us. Enjoy your dinner out, we are going out too for dinner.. First time with 2 kids.. Praying DS behaves!
made me miss her even more, wish she lived close enough to just pop in! And the sad thing is that she's driven me nuts at times, but she's been amazingly helpful, and I don't think I said everything I wanted to say before she left cos it's been so busy and everyone's been sick. Oh well. I've been so lucky to have her here so much this year. 
and just when I think it's bothering me enuff to do something about it... it settles a bit 
so I'm not sure. Guess I'll just wait & see for a bit.
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