Babies born~September 16th-30th 2010 #1

Catherine - thanks for the advice! I haven't swaddled him for a few weeks now because he gates it, he is just one of those babies - he wants his arms to be free.
We had a really good night last night. We fed him at 7, then put him into his sleeping bag, then I took him into a dark and quiet room and sang a song to him. I then put him into his cradle... By then it was 8pm, he took 25mins to self-settle, but ge did it!! He then slept till dh got him up for his 11pm feed, which for the first time was a dreamfeed because he slept through it. He then slept till 2:30, had a feed and went back to sleep after taking 10mins to self settle. He woke at 5 and 6am, but was able to self settle, then woke at 6:45 in preparation for his 7am feed. I was sooo proud!! Fingers crossed this continues, but I think the problem has been overstimulation and just going into a dark room to calm down before bedtime helped.
We live in a 1 bedroom apartment, so he doesn't get much quiet/dark time.
Anyway, I am following a 4 hour routine and it's been working well for us, but I am flexible if he wakes up hungry say 30mins early.
As for his development... We don't really know what to expect, apparently he will do things closer to his adjusted age, e.g. He is 8.5 weeks old now and hasn't smiled as yet and still has that newborn cry and doesn't really follow a toy above his head with his eyes as yet. He is very strong, so has been able to hold his head up and push off his feet for quite a while now though, so it's hard to say.

Fuzzy - George is booked in for surgery on Friday morning :( I am a little scared because the doc said prem babies have a high risk of stopping breathing after anaesthetic. They will monitor him and if I'm not comfortable taking him home right away, he can stay the night.

Deana - how did you go last night?

(copied from otheer thread) hoping someone can help me with why Blake cannot sleep while im feeding him and also how to get him to sleep without feeding him?

Dory – Im having the same trouble with Blake. His sleeping pattens are all over the joint and during the day its very hard to settle him down to go to sleep. I have tried starting a routine but he doesn’t want a bar of it. Blake also gets a lot of wind which unsettles him. I have tried everything to help him but nothing seems to work.


As for the nurse saying not to let her sleep while she is feeding, how come? The only time I can settle Blake and get him to sleep is by feeding him. He falls asleep mostly all the time, I always burp him as well but he stay asleep through this. I don’t know how else to make him sleep. When we cuddle him, he is really good but still wont sleep, so I don’t know how else to make him sleep.


Also Blake has changed sleeping pattens and also wont sleep during the day, he may go down for about an hour max all day. Mummy wants a sleep to

deana - u poor thing,, an hour for the whole day!! what a very alert bub u must have! Isabella had terrible wind last night so was our first unsettled night here. God i have flashbacks of DS. It horrible hey! Hope blake gets some strong tummy muscles soon!

Connie - isabella doesnt like to be swaddled either.. cracks it till her arms are out. Tho she LOVEs sucking her hands so thats prob why lol

Had isabella weighed today, 210g !! in 5 days. the midwife goes, i would of been happy with 100g LOL so now shes back to her birth weight already.
Shes such a boobie baby! I love it LOL

Hope your all well. DS is at the 'inlaws' again so i have a wonderful quiet house. They had him tuesday too and i came home and slept for 2 1/2 hours with isabella.. was WONDERFUL!! so lucky to have there help and DS loves going there! gonna make going to all my apts with isabella MUCH easier!

Im still is SO much pain from my surgery. The tear i think is only just starting to feel a tad better, but my god i cant even sit upright/ barely on at all, a chair, and i grit my teeth climbing in and out of bed :( ohhh well.... i got isabella out of it!

Ooooh Buzzie - sorry about the pain! That sounds terrible. I didnt tear but I swear an elephant has kicked me up the behind as I struggle to sit, walk etc too. Yay for isabella being such a guzzler! Thats great

Catherine - my gosh I am so jealous that Ava sleeps from a dreamfeed right through to 7 am!! Chloe sounds more like George - she goes to bed at 7:30 then up at 10 for a feed then 2am then 5 am.. If she could drop one of those feeds that would be amazing. FX. I still cant do the dreamfeed thing. There is no way I can get her to feed in her sleep. Sure she often falls asleep and continues to feed but I cant get her to start sucking if she is already asleep!

George has been doing well, he's been waking approx 15 mins before each feed, so 11, 3 & 7. He's also getting better at self settling, so didn't wake at 5 last night! Yay!!!

We struggle to dreamfeed aswell, as soon as we get him up, he cries and wakes himself up.

The girls who had natural births - did u also feel sore after? And for how long.?
I wa kept awake so long last night cos the pain and think I've popped a couple stitches but made me wonder as fuzzy said she was sore if u do even without stitches......
Going to see my gp this morning.

I had a natural birth with no stitches, and I was uncomfortable for at least a month afterwards. Getting out of bed and sitting is certain positions was just yuck! The swelling was pretty full on. The midwives at the time told it can actually sting more if you don't tear. But if you think you've popped stitches, definitely go see the doc.

I should add, the pain was never so bad I couldn't sleep.

Buzzie - how did you get on at the doctor? I had 'grazing' and 6 random stitches in different places. They sting like hell overnight especially. Other than that the pain I have is all tail-bone related and its most sore to sit, i.e. breastfeed!

Connie - good on George!! He is doing much better than Chloe then, ha ha. She was up at 9:30pm for a feed then 1am then 2:30 am than 5:30am.. I cant settle her after the 5:30am feed either. She is WIDE awake. Hoping she extends the times overnight soon. I may be expecting a bit much though.. she is only 2 and a bit weeks old he he.

DH is a teacher and has been on school hols for the last 2 weeks (timed that one well I know!). He goes back on Monday then it is just me and Chloe. I have gotten so used to calling him to bring me things, do the dishes, settle her and help me when she has a vomit/poo explosion! I dont know how those of you do it with more than one child too!

Well I haven't pulled any stitches, she gave me cream to help it heal quicker but I can't get it till Monday now. Tho (TMI) I got another pregnancy hemorrhoid. Now both pregnancies have given me one, so I stuff forthat too and I'm feeling pretty crappy about myself like I can't get a break!
Tho I've been told sitting in a salt water bath will be really good so I hope DP can handle Isabella long enough for me to do that. He's been so good but she has terrible wind and he struggles to settle her but he tries and that's what counts I guess.

Re feeding - Isabella is all over the place too.. She is up every couple hours. But settles pretty quick after - tho I've given in to co-sleeping again cos I'm just too sore to keep climbing in and out of bed ATM

Buzzie - oh no you poor thing!! Hang in there until Monday.. Have you tried Infacol or Infants friend or whatever that wind medicine stuff is called? Not sure whether it is effective but I think its pretty cheap ~$15 and you can get it at most pharmacies. If her wind is really bad it could be worth a try. Maybe also avoid eating 'windy' foods like cabbage etc

Hey everyone,

Have been reading everything but just haven't had time to post! It's been a crazy week with DH going back to work on tuesday. I've been going pretty well with both kids on my own so it's not as bad as I first thought. Even ventured out to the shops with both of them and got to buy myself some clothes (even though I couldn't try them on) hehe. Bodie was very good and held onto the pram or my hand most of the time. :)
Isla is going good, she feeds every 4 hours still on formula. Some nights she'll wake up more but usually settles. Im still so buggered during the day from getting up at night but hey that's how it is with newborns! lol

Here's hoping Wite can join us soon... I wonder if tonight is the night!

Buzzie, sorry to hear your in so much pain from the stitches. I remember mine wasn't that bad I couldn't sleep, it was mainly just really uncomfortable when I sat down. Sounds like most of the pain is from the hemorrhoid. Sounds like DP is supportive and helping you so that's good. I couldn't imagine not having anyone helping for those first couple of weeks especially when your in pain and with 2 or more kids!

Fuzzy, you'll be fine! I remember being nervous when DH went back to work when I just had DS, it's totally normal to feel like that :)

Deana, does Blake use a dummy? I feel this helps Isla alot when self settling, although it does take a while for her to actually keep it in her mouth as she tends to spit it out. Wow, 1 hour sleep during the day that must take it out of you, you must be buggered!

Connie, thinking of you & George today. Hope the surgery went well. *hugs*

Bec, hope your going well with your gorgeous chocolate bubba Isaac!

Hi to everyone else! xo

Just on our way to the beach today an thought I would pop on to say hope little George is recovering well.

Fuzzy - I tried infants friend with DS don't think it did anything for him but he could have been other issues too, I will have to see how she goes, ATM
She seems to get it out reasonably quick after getting upset.

Apes - I hear u on buying clothes and not trying them on! Hope they fit u! Nothing worse than having to take things back!

Hi girls! Good to hear everyone is doing so beautifully!! :)

Buzzie - I wasn't sore with any of my babies not even my 9+ lb bub. After each bub I've said to my husband at the end of the day that apart from the bleeding I didn't even feel like I had a baby! Wasn't sore at all (except for my coccyx bone with DD1) and I felt amazing with heaps of energy, no different really though. Mind you, I had no stitches or tearing. I'm sure you could expect to feel sore from stitches as there has obviously been damage.

Sounds like some great weight gains! I had Ava weighed on Monday and she had put on 810grams in the fortnight... 405grams each week. Nothing next to the 500-600grams Ro was putting on a week! None the less I'm very proud of what a great job my boobs and Ava are doing. She was about 2.8 kgs at birth, went down to 2.4 something before we left hospital and she was almost 4kgs at 4 weeks! I'd say she is over 4kgs now because she feels really heavy the last few days and I used tp be able to put my hands around her chest and touch my fingers together, but now she WAY too thick to do that. I agree with someone from the pregnancy thread - I'm so inlove with her I can't stop kissing and staring her. You'd think you wouldn't be so consumed after you've done it a couple of times, but having a baby never gets old. I'm constantly surprised how much love a heart is capable. Just when I thought I couldn't love more, I do. Love my girls so much and I'm so grateful!

On the sleep front - I've been getting some great sleep (apart from last night as I stayed up to make Rochelle's Hoot the owl birthday invitations), but the last two nights I haven't bothered doing the dreamfeed and Ava has slept from 7pm till 2 am (7 hours) and then a bit after 6.30am (4.5 hours). Hope she keeps it up! I don't think I'll bother doing the dreamfeed if she continues as she is.

No offence intended to anyone, but we have had quite a few csections in our group haven't we? 6 csections and 5 vaginal births I think? Quite a few needing to be induced too... not meaning Wite and Bec - but because waters have broken and labour not progressed. It's all very interesting!

Better go, I have to pack to go away with the girls tomorrow. We have an engagement party next Saturday 13 hours away, so the girls and I are going to start driving tomorrow. Still not sure if Dan is going to meet us there for the engagement party, it depends on his work! Wish me luck for the drive though!!! Have a great weekend girls.

Connie - thinking of you and George - how did he go?

Buzzie - how are you holding up?

Catherine - again, so jealous of Ava's ability to sleep so long! In your opinion what is the secret to achieving it? Routine? Just an awesome baby? Bit of both? ha ha

Hi Pantha, Wite, Deana, Belfie, Apes, Bec, Chuckie and everyone I have missed!

We had a rough night last night. Chloe was up every 2 hours or less for a feed and was VERY noisy inbetween. I think wind again or an upset tummy. She wasnt crying just making a horrible shouting kind of noise. Hoping for a better night tonight. I have moved my feeding chair and changing station into her nursery and out of our bedroom so DH can get some more sleep. See how that goes.

Looking forward to going clothes shopping this week. I have nothing to wear at all! On a positive front I am back to pre-preggers weight which is kind of amazing seeings how 'squidgy' I am around the belly too. I think its because I had a lot of muscle tone before and that contributed to weight whereas now I have no muscles at all ha ha. Cant wait for my coccyx to get better so I can so some proper exercise rather than just these boring pelvic floor ones - *yawn*.

Any advice on seeing a chiro? I am booked in for Thurs and I am scared as I have heard horror stories about them. Hoping they can fix my coccyx without (TMI warning) having to insert the finger and pull it into place- cringe!

Hi Ladies!

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.

testing new signature

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 :doh:. 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 :rofl:. 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 :doh:.

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!!

Hi all,

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

testing signature

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!

aaah it's exciting to see everyone in here now .

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". :crying: 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 :dunno: and just when I think it's bothering me enuff to do something about it... it settles a bit :wall: 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.

Boo!!!

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).

HI everyone,

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!

Hi all, quiet day in here.. Hope it's cos u all got this lovely weather and making the most of it! :D

Had isabellas 2 week check today - this is what I put on her facebook - Had her 2 week health check today - grown 1cm (51cm) - head is 1cm bigger (37cm) and put on 400g (4kgs) Everything else is perfect too! :D*

Her nappy rash is so sore tho I have completely gone off wipes now and was told to treat it as thrush so got some creme for her. Feel so bad for her, tho as far as I can tell it doesn't seem to bother her a whole lot. Just need lots of warm
Weather for nappy free time!

Well better stop playing on the phone, DS is at his grandparents so I'm enjoying some quiet on the couch... Only got an hour left so time for quick nap I think.

Hope ur all well :)

We had the worst night last night - George just wouldnt settle from 9pm-12am, even when we held him.
He woke at 2:30am for a feed, and then woke again at 4:45, and from 6-7am.
I am soooo exhausted!! I havent been able to nap all day, because we are having people over for dinner tonight - bad move!
I figured I could sleep from 5-6 before they come... nope, G is going nuts again! And DH is still at work.

I'm back!! After 8 nights in hospital it's going to be so nice to be sleeping in my own bed.. I'll update you all on the marathon birth story tomorrow. Isaac is doing really well, very contented little bub despite some breastfeeding attachment problems that hopefully should be sorted out soon after a lactation consultant coming out to see me, and a bit of work. Anyway, I hope everyone and your babies are well, and I'll catch up on personals soon.

Oh and congrats Wite!!!!!!! Your profile was the first one I checked on fb haha! Your little girl is just gorgeous

Fuzzy- I LOVE YOU!!!!! The Hyrdogel breastdisks I bought today and have had them on fo ronly HALF a day and my breasts are happy again and I fed with VERY minimal pain tonight!!!!! Thankyou!!

Bec- I been thinking of you non stop LOL, Been wondering how you are going & checking in on your FB!!! SO excited Isaac is finally here :)

Bec- 8 nights in hospital?????? What happened? Usually they boot you out as soon as they can!

Bec - great to see you back online :hug: can't wait to hear the details. GL with the feeding, I'm glad to hear you're getting an LC. Flat nipples can be such a PITA!!

Well my DH was out all day AND evening yesterday (work do) and OMG it was foul. The day was ok and I thought I can do this 2 kid thing. But then Annika decided to feed or cry from 5.30 onwards till 9pm!! So right over the time I needed to feed Xander and get him ready for bed. So in the end I txted DH to come home asap. He cuddled her for a bit and she finally went to sleep! Crazy! Hope tomorrow is better.

Belfie, I have absolutely no idea how you do it with 2... 1 is killing me!

George seems to have gone backwards in terms of sleep - I have a feeling that while he was premature he was better, not that he is past his due date, he wont sleep for more than an hour and a half at a time. People say to co-sleep if that makes it easier, well it doesn't. Last night I tried it, and he just screamed in my face instead of from the other room.

Sorry, still haven't caught up with reading yet!

Belfie - yes they suck. It's so frustrating, but hopefully the LC helps. We had some progress last night though, I was holding Isaac walking around and he opened his mouth and started to look for the nipple himself! I took my top off just to see what he did, and without my help he found it and started sucking. I was so proud of him, but he only did it for a couple of minutes then got too frustrated.

Kirsten - yep, 8 long nights..

Here is what happened.
I went in last Monday afternoon for CGT monitoring, and stayed that night so I could be rested before being induced early Tuesday morning. Even though I'd been getting lots of contreactions I hadn't dilated any more since the Monday before (still 1cm) so got the gels to make my cervix more ready, and had contractions between 2-5 mins apart all day. By the evening I think I had dilated another 2cm so we let it go until the next day to see if labour would progress overnight. Next morning I still hadn't dilated further, so my membranes were ruptured. It's all a bit hazy but mum wrote down everything that happened so I'll read that when I find it, but I think the contractions got more intense and regular, and went on for ages. By Wednesday afternoon I'd dilated to 5cm. Only 4cm in two days. The next step was syntocinon (?) drip, which I really didn't want as I'd be stuck flat on the bed, and couldn't use all the upright positions I'd been using so far. The contractions got really intense very quickly, and as I couldn't use the active labour techniques I really wanted to, and couldn't justify being given this pain artificially with no relief so I asked for pethidine. That didn't do much at all, and the pain was getting worse every 30 minutes when the dose was increased. I still hadn't dilated further. I then asked for an epidural, which the dr said might relax everything enough to dilate further. After checking later I was still 5-6cm. Dr recommended c-section, as I'd been labouring for so long, and he said at 41+5weeks there was more risk letting me go on than there was for a c-section. So I agreed and went into theatre vomiting and shaking. Such a different birth experience than I wanted. But soon I heard little Isaac give two big screams as soon as he was out, and then mum brought him over to me and laid him on my chest while I was stitched up. He was breastfeeding within 20 minutes after being born after some lovely skin to skin in recovery. He's had feeding problems though, at first it was great but because of the c-section my milk was a day or two late coming in. Poor little Isaac wasn't getting enough, and lost over 500g. He then either wouldn't atttach at all, he would get too frustrated and start crying or he would attach and suck for ages (up to an hour and a half). So I started expressing and finger/syringe feeding. Since my milk has come in, with expressing he has thrived and is almost back to his birth weight already. Now he's searching for my nipple and attaching by himself with skin to skin time, and sucking longer each go, but not for long enough. An LC is coming around today to hopefully give me better advice than the last one I seen. Anyway as he had lost too much weight, was a bit dehydrated, had low blood sugar, and passed urates (sp?) more than once and the feeding probs, even though he has turned a corner and is thriving, the dr suggested instead of leaving on Monday (5 days after birth) I stayed in an extra day.

I think that's roughly it, I'm sure I've left something out though. So I didn't get my natural active birth experience I wanted, but I don't regret it. Afterwards the dr said Isaacs head was pointed direct to my left, and was not rotating. His head was not on my cervix hence the no dilating. Dr said I could have gone on for another 12 hours and still not have progressed, and that I was too determined and that most people would have opted for c-section earlier. Isaac was obviously overcooked, very dry skin and long fingernails. He has lanugo (sp?) the fine hairs on his face, ears, shoulders and lower back, which the African midwife said is normal in dark skinned babies (he has light skin now though, most dark skinned babies are born very light and the colour builds over time) and the tiny hairs will fall out soon. So now we are home, and I just can't stop looking at him.. I am so in love!! I can't believe he is a week old today!