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

fuzzy - Isaac is feeding heaps in the past few days too, I think you're right about it being because of the blocked duct. He just seems to want to feed constantly sometimes, I feel like I've hardly moved from the couch at all. So lucky mum just popped in, she rocked Isaac to sleep, watered my vegies and made me a salad while I had a shower and a break from feeding. As soon as she left though Isaac woke up for yet another feed! I don't think he can really be that hungry, he's getting lots of milk though, it dribbles out everywhere when he's done. Very tempted to get a dummy...

re blood loss, mine is very light but has also just turned a bright pinkish/red colour.

Pantha - your mcn's sound so cute! I agree its a big investment to start with but sooo much cheaper in the long run compared to disposables. I found a BBH rep here in Renmark on facebook! So excited, I can't wait to get some. I'll just start with them part time though and keep using the flats which I'm liking more and more, even though they are a bit of an effort with soaking & washing. I like that Isaacs bits are nice and comfy against natural soft cotton. The only thing though, it means he doesn't fit into his 0000 clothes now because they make his little bum so big!

Belfie - poor you with the bookkeeping. I used to do that for my XH, and couldn't imagine even thinking about it now. Hopefully its not something you have to do every day.

Quick random stupid question for you girls.. I filled out all my family assistance paperwork and send it off when Harlow was born, checked my payments yesterday and noticed my regular family benefit money was in there aswell as "A one time payment of BBY$407.23".

Now, I assume this is payment #1 of baby bonus since I divided by 13 and got that amount anyway..but I'm cuirious why it says "one off"? does anyone know why or does it say that with each payment??

I guess I'm more confused because it didn't go in with my regular payments, It went in a day after aswell as arrears for the past 2 weeks of Harlows life (In with my regular payment for Jett)..and to confuse you girls even more..It shows my NEXT fortnightly payemnt as just my regular payments for Jett & harlow combined, but NO baby bonus...BUT..I assume the following day after I get paid it would show and pay me the second Baby Bonus installment since they gave it a day AFTER my pay this week? right? have I confused you all?? Maybe one of you second time Mummys who already get FTB A& B can shed some light on this for me or something?? Google fails me.

wite - i cant believe u got urs now!
I actually rang them this morning about it and they said it usually takes 21-28 days.
Maybe the one off payment you got was an early one and the rest will come later.
Yeh they do back date it cos it starts from bubs birth.
I was told mine should come when i get my next payment which is now in 2 weeks! :( at least ill get back dated alot......
My new payments for having 2 kids also kicks in at the same time too.

hey ww- bb is paid separately to the FTB. Since it gets paid the day after your FTB and the website shows you the next payment only, then it is only showing the FTB. For example, I get my FTB on a Friday and get my BB on the other Friday, so when I check after receiving BB, it shows FTB is going to be paid, but if I check after FTB has been paid, then it says that BB is the next to be paid (are you confused as well?) :) And $407 is definately what the fortnightly payment is!

They won't back date the BB to when bubs was born. The whole point of splitting it up was to stop people getting a lump sum of money, and if they back date it, some people could get quite large payments! They will however backdate the FTB to when bubs was born, so you will get extra with that! And my bb took almost 5 weeks to come through, but then DH had stuffed up the forms which slowed it down.

I didnt get get dated with my BB, but by what kirsten said sounds right that you get your FTB different to your BB.

Sorry I thought it was BB that was back dated. The lady on the phone was pretty useless..

Buzzie- I cannot believe I got mine that quickly either..I check the Family Ass. website daily so I know if my payments changed & I was suprised to see I got paid my usual one day & then another amount the following day..It confused the hell out of me, especially since it said "one off payment of BBY" and I couldn't figure out the BBY part of it!! I got paid my normal amount for Jett one day & then the following day I got paid the B/Bonus first installment aswell as arrears for the past week & a half that harlows been around for Family Tax A&B...and they were also kind enough to pay me in arrears for rent assistance too...28cents woot!!! haha.

Thanks Kirsten, Now it makes sense..basically it IS what I assumed, I get paid my FTB one day then the B/Bonus the following day..I think I was more confused by the "one off payment", why can't they just say it as "your first installment" would make much more sense (to me) that way!!! I know they don't backdate the baby bonus, They backdated my Family Tax stuff! Boo to your partner for stuffing up your forms...5 weeks is forever to wait!!

Hi everyone!!!

I have been reading your posts everyday, but our laptop died so it's been on the iPhone... Grrr, so hard to reply properly on this thing.

So George had some ok nights then some terrible ones. In general, he will sleep after his 11pm feed till 2:30 and then after a feed then, till 6:30am. Our biggest issue is getting him down after his 7pm feed. He just won't sleep. We have tried everything... Bath, grobag, dark quiet room... He has no interest. It's as if he knows we're still awake so he wants to be up with us.
At the same time he is definitely sleeping less during the day... No more than 3-4 hours in total. That equals no rest for mummy! I would be ok with it if ge just sat quietly, but he doesn't know what to do with himself so he cries. Is anyone else experiencing this?

What are your bubs up to development wise? I have no idea what is 'normal' for G since he was prem.

Hi connie - chloe sounds similar to George. We struggle to get her to sleep during the 'witching hour' as well. I wake her at 6:30 and she has a bath then a feed but doesnt usually go to sleep until about 7:45 ish (if we are lucky!). Its great George goes from 2:30 - 6:30 am. Chloe wakes at about 5 am.. and then again at 7! She is also awake lots during the day - especially between 7 - 11 am. I find that to sometimes she is ok on her play matt underneath lots of hanging toys for about 15 mins tops before she cries. Otherwise I have to pop her in sling thing so that I can get things done. This usually puts her to asleep as well. Between 7am and 7pm she prob sleeps from around 6-7 hours still.

we kind of have a daily routine - feed at 7am. Dad walks her in the sling with the dog while I have a shower and get dressed etc! I then play with her and give her a top up feed before she finally goes to sleep around 9 ish. She is then up at 10 am for another feed and a quick play. Asleep until 1pm then up for a feed and quick play - asleep until 4 when I feed her and dad gets home from work. Pop her in the sling and walk her with the dog. Keep her in the sling or pop her in bassinet if she has conked out then we get her up at 6:30 to start the bedtime routine.. During the day once she wakes she is usually back to sleep at around the 1 hour mark, i.e. wakes at 1pm is back to sleep around 2. But she is an extremely fast feeder and I have a real quick letdown. She wouldnt feed for more than 20 mins total at the absolute most - usually only 15 mins.

As for developmental side of things - I can now talk Chloe into giving me a smile which is so so cute! She obviously knows my voice and turns to where I am talking to her from. Apart from generally being awake more and stacking lots of weight on (especially in her cheeks) there is not much more I can think of. Just generally more alert and definately crying more than she used to!

How about everyone else?

Connie- Have you tried popping him in a sling so that you can get stuff around the house done while "holding" him & keeping him happy during the day?? Sorry to hear heisn't giving you much of abreak during the day-Harlow does that right when I am about to sit down to eat my dinner..I swear they just KNOW when you want to relax!!

I wanted to "wear" Annika in a sling more but have found my back/hips are still recovering after all my inactivity & PG issues, so haven't been able to. We had a hell day mon, she was awake from 11am to 9pm... And I took her to get checked out by the Osteo in the middle which didnt help. Apparently she was very tight thru hip & back which wouldn't be helping wind. Add to that the fact that DH's back was really bad - ah mental day. But yesterday better so am hoping dietary & Osteo has helped. Plus I finally got the BAS & business admin done last night thank effing god!! Will post about our normal day later, but she's definitely getting more alert & responsive

Hi all,

We are starting to have fun and games during arsnic hour too. Any tiny change in the regular routine can set it off. Last night Pearl was awake from 4:20pm-9pm (normally she will go 1.5hrs max) so she was exhausted by the time she finally got off to sleep.It was my fault though because my SIL dropped around and I felt like I should be entertaining her instead of settling Pearl properly and once she had gone past the point of no return it was hopeless.

I have given up trying to get the feed and sleep times the same each day and I have noticed that latley she is awake for an hour and sleeping for an hour - different to before when she was awake for one and sleeping for two - she was like clockwork needing to be fed every three hours.

We are still doing the dreamfeeds and they seem to be getting easier (much quicker to get her on the boob) they are working out really well too it means that instead of waiting for her to wake up and feed when I want to got to bed at around 10:30pm I just feed her and she usually then has a good sleep until about 2:30(ish).

My main problem lately has been the breast thrush which I thought was let down pain for soo long - I was up for most of the night Monday night in pain and yesterday the pain reduced me to tears. I am currently getting around the house topless most of the time in an attempt to dry out my boobs and kill it. I am also bleaching all bras after each wear, changing breast pads after each feed, bleaching towels, sheets and PJ tops and running the hottest water I can tolerate onto my boobs in the shower. After a fair bit of battling and a trip to the dr I finally got some oral drugs to take (if you ever get it you need more than the single dose that you take for vag thrush - don't let them tell you otherwise) and have started taking ibeprofen for the pain at night (which I have now learned is worse at night). Also the only reason it is soo bad is because I had it for so long before treating it so if you get pain between feeds get onto it quickly. Thank god the pain relief helped last night and I had the best night's sleep I have had in weeks.

Hello sweeties!

Just wanted to drop in quickly to say hello. Sorry to hear about everyone's difficulties.... wind, wakfefulness, crying, changes in routines or lack of routine. We are pretty much the same here, based on what you're all saying. But for me it's so much better than it was.... Hannah bear still cries is wakeful and has wind, but it's not for hours at a time and she's not inconsolable. AND she's put on 310grams from her birth weight - not great compared to most babies... but considering that she had been losing weight, we are so happy.

Hannah has been smiling for a while now, but it's more often and more connected to what's going on around her. She is really alert and able to follow objects with her eyes. Hannah's not so good at being left alone on her mat either, and only tolerates a tiny amount of tummy time.

Thanks for the tip about checking the web site re baby bonus - I had forgotten about being able to do that.

All I can say is, if you're struggling - please hang in there. Baby and mummy hugs to you all. Not on here too much at the mo as we have visitors....

Connie – 3-4 hours of sleep during the day is excellent, I wish blake did this. He sleeps maybe 1 and a half hour max during the whole day. Blake is different, we put him down at 8pm and usually goes to sleep pretty easy, but his 2:30 feed is our killer as it takes us so long to get him back to sleep.


Just a quick one from me as little man is about to wake up, but everything is fine here. Nothing new. I did have a few questions to ask but think of any at the moment lol.


I hope everyone is doing well.

Deana - an hour and a half a day is so little, gosh you have my sympathy, I dont know how you do it. One 10hour day drove me nuts!!

Dory - so glad to hear Hannah bear is doing better (I just want to cuddle her with that name!), and great weight gain too, you must be pleased. Do you think your supply has changed on the meds?

Chuckie - Ooh ouch! You poor thing! I assume you're treating pearl for the thrush too? Are you using drops or gel? Hope that pain goes asap :hug:

Connie - I can't think of any other milestones that they're supposed to be reaching.

Wite - I think it was you enjoying 'girl-land' after having a boy first. Totally agree its soooo much fun!! I love having my pigeon pair!!!

AFM better day here. Annika is still unsettled at times but I feel like I'm getting better at reading it - and the key seems to be avoiding her getting too overtired. We don't have a set routine as such and I've stopped dreamfeding because she seems to be happy doing a last feed at about 8 or 9. She definitely has patches where she just wants to be up and just taking in the world. We're also keeping her upright for at least 10mins after every boob to try stop her spitting up as much. How much do your bubs spit up? She seems to do it more than I remember DS - there's a few every feed and then some in between.

Belfie - how long does she sleep after her at or 9pm feed?

Questions if anyone can help:
1. until what age should we be feeding every 3-4 hours during the day?
2. do some babies just refuse to do a long sleep at night? i.e. Chloe!! She gets fed every three hours during the day but still wakes every 2.5 - 3 hours at night too! Or is there something I should try..
3. Wite you may be able to answer this one - if my throid is overactive - how does this affect the baby?

I think thats it for now... THANKS IN ADVANCE!!

xx

Hi to everyone and your beautiful babies, sorry for no personals but I'm going to try and be quick. I've got a house inspection tomorrow, a bit surprised by it as I've only been living here for about a month or so. Anyway I might try and get a little bit of housework done while Isaac is asleep.

everything is going well here, the mastitis has cleared up but I still have a day to go on the antibiotics. I think they are giving Isaac diarrhea so it'll be good when I've finally finished them. Apart from that he is doing great, but has broken out in pimples on his chubby cheeks! We found something he loves doing today too, I sat on the fitball while holding him, and started bouncing slowly and gently.. wow he really loved it, he had his bath time face on :) I think it'll be a great thing for settling.. very calming fluid movements.

fuzzy - Sorry I can't help with any answers, but Isaac doesn't have a long sleep at night either. I read yesterday that it's normal, and its because babies stomach is only the size of their fist and as breast milk is so quickly digested that they need to keep having regular feeds. Every baby is probably different though, but that seemed to make sense for Isaacs feeding pattern.

After a really bad night on Monday, I caved in and bought a dummy yesterday. I still haven't used it yet though, and I'm hoping I don't have to, I'll just keep it as a last resort. Does anyone know if it's true that babies who have dummies stop breastfeeding earlier?

I'm starting to regret booking my flights to Perth for November, when I booked it I thought Isaac would be older than he will be. He'll be 7 weeks, and I don't know how I feel about taking him to a different place for a week when he's so young, and having to share a holiday house with mum, her parner, my sister and her family. But then, it'll be great to have a break and to see my sisters and their kids. I think I'm just worried about Isaac getting sick or something being exposed to so many different people when he's so little. I think I'm worrying too much..

Fuzzy- If your Thyroid is overactive like mine..When you had Chloe the Hospital "should" have gotten hers tested by giving her a blood test the day after she was born & then on day 4,7 & 10 of her life to see if it has affected her- This is what they did for Harlow, Though I have NO idea if they tell me the results or if it is a "no news is good news" thing, I guess I wait for my 6week checkup with my GP & see if he has the answers, I'd assume if something was wrong they'd tell me sooner (right??). When you next have a check-up with your local GP, Mention it to him as some Hpspitals and Drs do it all differently but a friend of mines daughter was blood tested the same as Harlow because she had an overactive thyroid aswell. I'm not 100% sure on the affects it can have on the babies once they are born, I googled and got mixed responses and mixed symptoms for them but they DO say it is rare for any thyroid problems to pass on, I think when they check YOUR antibodies in pregnancy if they are clear or good results it HASN'T crossed to bub...Hope that makes some kind of sense to you? It sort of does to me..I guess it just depends on how your thyroid results were throughout your labour, Do you remember them checking your antibodies to see if they crossed over or were high or anything? I was on one tablet a day for mine and my levels were all fine yet they still tested Harlow..

Harlows leeping..She wakes for a feed in the morning around 8am then will sleep for almost 3 hours then wake for another feed..she is a bit up & Down during the day with sleeping, she mostly wants to be held and not be put down though I have been trying to put her down & let her cry it out a little bit before I go pick her up again..>She has an unsettled period right as I sit down to eat dinner so I am used to eating them cold now!! Once she has a last feed around 1030pm she is out for the night, sleeping about 5 hours before waking for a feed then she will smile & be all cute for half an hour before she sleeps again..I guess I am happy withhow she is doing, we don't do routine, it worked with us with Jett & we are kind of the same again but I am trying to make mroe of an effort to keep he rinher cot & not just put her in her bouncer to go to sleep during the day as we did with Jett, I am also closing her curtains when she goes down so she knows lights out means ni-ni's time..

Fuzzy - in my opinion - every baby is so different and even if they have a big sleep one night or even for a week it doesn't mean they will stay the same.
So many things change a babies night, whether it be normal newborn stuff or upset tummies, then they start teething and it changes again, general sicknesses, lovely daylight savings and then a little older as Ash has now nightmares etc.... i don't think you can really do anything as such to 'make' a baby sleep besides making sure they have a full tummy, warm enough, clean nappy maybe, all that stuff .. No matter what i did to comfort Ash it was always a battle, yet so far Isabella has been fantastic, settles quickly and has even started self settling. You can only do your best and i think if there a bad sleeper its easy to except that's maybe just they way it is rather beat yourself up thinking your doing something wrong etc. in saying that, of course there's no harm on seeking opinions or advise.. but guess im just saying don't overly stress cos what may work for some period of time, will most likely change as you baby does. - this is my more go with the flow attitude as i dont do controlled crying etc and found after trying everything under the sun to get Ash to sleep, i coped better mentally thinking its just the way he is and one day he will start sleeping.
Im sure others have different views about being stricter.. but this was last resort thinking for me that helped me.
I think chloes sleeping atm is very normal and wouldnt worry. also dont forget as the weather gets warmer they will feed more so its important to let them have that.
I demand feed but try most days to go 3 hours, but if shes unhappy i wont knock her back. Some babies will wean themselves as they get older but if your happy to feed then what ever shes wants is fine, I dont think theres anything wrong with feeding a baby as long as ur happy to physically keep doing it, especially if theres nothing else that is settling her.

ok ive rambled enough,....

hope everyones well. went out last night to DPs birthday dinner, was lovely besides Ash ran a muck! For DPs present we are going to Tassie in december on the spirit of tasmania CANT WAIT! so need a holiday!

Just back from the GP. He said she's definitely colicky (duh!) and probably got reflux too - prescribed meds for it. Oh and she's got eczema :(.
My DS & DH have eczema, was really hoping she could avoid it. Plus I'd booked a photo session for this weekend, and now her face is all rashy. Plus I don't know if I should be starting her on the meds or not... am seeing my LC tomorrow so could get a second opinion (she's a midwife too) but maybe I should be starting them asap so poor little Annika would feel better. Aaah it's all just so annoying and I wish I knew the right thing to do :crying:.

*hugs belfie* Just remember that being a mum is the toughest job in the world. You are an awesome Mum. You knew something was up with little A, you've done something about it, and now you know how to treat it. It's so hard when they're all upset and you can't figure out what they need. You are doing wonderfully!

As for us, we had a shocking day yesterday, and it looks like it's headed that way again. We went for a trip to Centerlink - oh gods, I loathe that place lol. Got there at 7.45 didn't get home til about 10/10.30ish. Fed bub (who hadn't slept since her 6.30 feed) and went to use the toilet, only to discover it was backed up (as were all my sinks). Called the real estate agent to get an emergency plumber in. He didn't arrive til 12.40 (by which stage I was absolutely busting and Lottie STILL hadn't slept - only cat naps). Turns out the previous tenants had been flushing stuff down the loo. Ended up getting my Dad over because I couldn't handle the screaming, over-tired baby. He spent half an hour with her and at about 6.30/7 finally got her to sleep. She ended up sleeping through til 11.30!! The woke up for a feed. And woke again at 2.45... and then again at 6.30. And we're back to cat naps today and not sleeping. I got my brother over to watch her while I caught an hours sleep.

I just feel so useless when she's screaming and I just can't figure out what's wrong. I burp her, I feed her, I change her, I make sure she's not hot or cold, I give her her favourite dummy... arg! ATM she's napping in her rocker.

Oh, and to add to all this... DH is coming down with a case of depression. He's lethargic and moody and really down on himself. I've suggested he look into whether he can get some free counselling sessions at work and that he come with me to the GP for my 6 week check-up. Whether or not he takes me up on the suggestions is another thing.

So yes, screaming, non-sleeping baby + depressed husband = over-tired, stressed & frazzled me.
Thank gods I've got a wonderful, supportive family who live 5 minutes down the road and are more than happy to help out.

Does anyone know much about male PND? I've heard of it, but that's about it.

Hope everyone is getting lots of sleep!!

Have had an afternoon of Harlow NOT wanting to be put down..Luckily, my second babysling arrived today-a sleepywear..Oh my GOD amazing! I put her in it and she slept right away & It was so comfy I could do everything in it and she was upright and happy while she slept..was nice to be able to eat a Toblerone without having to put it down..!

Pantha- I don't know much about Male PND but I DO know it is common but most men just don't talk about it, hopefully DH can find the support needed and counselling might be a really great way to start, even looking online & finding some support groups online might be the way to go aswell?

thanks everyone for your re-assurance!

Wite - i just know my antibodies will be sky high as my finger tips are peeling - one of those weird side effects i get. That and i am losing weight while eating for australia. Already less than what i was pre-preg! Will get the GP to check me

Belfie and pantha - hugs to you both xx not sure about male PND sorry.

just remember how much our little ones love us and our DH's

Pantha - a mate of mine from work suffered from male PND after the birth of both his kids and it took him quite a while to deal with it. He is suseptable to that sort of thing and suffers from anxiety etc at the best of times. He advised me to make sure I kept an eye on DH and seek help for him if I saw any signs that he was headed down that path - get help.
As for centrelink - I live miles from the nearest office (like about 300km) and I was able to do all of my applying through the post and online - surely you can avoid the place - what a bloody nightmare with a newborn!! I have found that similar to the older kids I have looked after in the past, any change in routine is not good for Pearl and if we miss a sleep it is bad news for getting her down for her next one! Sounds like you had a real dozzy yesterday! Thank the lord you have a great family close by and can ask for help.

Belfie - it's all very well for the dr to tell you she is colicky but the problem with colic is there is nothing they can do about it - at least you got some meds for reflux. I don't know anything about eczma but have you tried putting breat milk on it - I know it sounds insane but I remember reading in a thread somewhere on herre about how it is great for all kinds of things and have been putting it on Pearl's face where the skin is really dry and flakey (and a bit yellow) and it seems to have helped in just one day - might be worth a try??

wite - I hear you on the afternoon thing - my niece cried every evening from about 5weeks to 12weeks and Pearl has been a little tricky in the arvos lately. Hopefully they will grow out of it by 12weeks.


Fuzzy - I don't have your questions in front of me but I agree with Buzzie's sentiments from earlier. I can also add that it takes just 1.5hrs to digest breast milk so it is not fair to expect tiny babies to go hungry for hours on end. Chloe sounds like she is doing really well from what you have said. Maybe you could ask your DH to do the overnight shift once a week or something so you can catch up with a solid night's sleep. Also I often have a nana nap uring the day if I feel tired because, particularly with breast feeding, your body needs the extra rest and even with the best babies who go straight back to sleep at night, your sleep is still interrupted and that catches up with you.

AFM - this arvo I tried a new method of feed, play, feed, sleep just for these whingy afternoons when I think she is extra hungry. It worked today so I am going to keep it up. Even though I am now on the pills my thrush does not seem to be improving much (if at all) since I am now taking ibeprofen the pain is not so bad but I just want it to go away completely. My mum comes tomorrow - she will be the first in my family to meet Pearl so that is exciting.

OMG - last feed yesterday... 8pm. Next feed... 6am!!! Wow now I feel I shouldn't complain! Interestingly I tried feeding her off just one boob last night (means I have to express the other) cos my LC said that the letdown on the new side can make them too full and can sometimes exacerbate reflux. So maybe it did help after all?? Thanks for the hugs/support. I guess the fact we went thru the whole eczema thing with Xander, plus he's got food allergies... so it just scares me that we're going down that path again - and it is a lot of work, plus of course you hate seeing your child uncomfortable. At it's worst we were doing a full body moisturise of Xander TWICE per up/feed. Not to mention the countless ways to deal with a poor itchy little baby :(. I'll just have to hope hers isn't as bad.

The breastmilk is a good idea but she's got it on her face where she already gets milk, so I don't think it would do much. Plus I tried it with Xander with no success at all. If it's bad enough you just need the medicated creams.

Pantha - I've heard of male pnd actually being much more common than ppl realuse and treatment would be same as for female pnd. Maybe start with GP & get referral to a good psych, or call something like the health nurse line. Also, look after yourself as much as possible cos it's hard on you too. Use any help you can get and try spend time with friends/family who will help keep you feeling positive , the mental stuff is so important to look after when youre dealing with the hard work of a newborn! (geez I'm reminding myself to do this lol).

Chuckie - totally agree re your comment about colic, it's a non-thing to say really!! Interestingly he also checked that I'd gone off dairy. Meh. I miss cheese lol, but small price to pay huh. That's so exciting re your mum coming!

Ok change time :)

Belfie - we have eczema in our family and I have it too. I think ash may of had a tad but I can't imagine a baby with a good dose of it poor Xander sounds horrible! Hope u find something that clears annikas up.

Pantha - I haven't heard of male pnd but my god that must be hard for u to have him with that and look after a bub. Hope he sorts it out and things get happier for u guys.

Isabella has been in a big time carry me everywhere mood. I would say it's her windy tummy so she manages to get some good sleeps if I put her on her tummy in her pram during the day.

Hope everyone has a lovely day. 28 here today! Yay

:

---

Hope everyone has a lovely day. 28 here today! Yay

---

Haha my washing is on now, thanks for telling me the forecast Buzzie!!

Wite - meant to ask, is your sling from the sleepywrap website? Am thinking I need to try one of the unstructured ones (I just have an ergo with baby insert)

Belfie - oh no poor Annika, I hope the eczema doesn't stick around. And more diet changes for you.. I don't know how you do it! I couldn't cope with no dairy or chocolate.

Chuckie - I hope your thrush has cleared up, sounds painful. How exciting your mum is finally getting to meet Pearl!

Pantha - I hope your DH is ok, I've never heard of male PND but it must be pretty hard for him, and you. hugs.

Hi to everyone else and your babies

Re: baby bonus, I got mine pretty quickly. It might depend which state you are in maybe? I wasn't expecting mine for a while, but I got my first payment on the 22nd Oct.

Oh I just got an email from the Baby BeeHinds rep here in Renmark, I've been trying to meet up with her to buy some nappies. Anyway, she emailed me back today to say that her two kids have whooping cough, and she could meet me without bringing her kids on Tuesday.. I'm scared!! Can adults pass on whooping cough if they don't have it but have been closely exposed to it? I'm terrified of Isaac getting it.

Belfie- I got mine from Nursing Angel - Specialists in Breastfeeding, Breast Pumps & Baby Carriers and was suprised at how quickly it was delivered! It was a bit confusing to get on the first time as it is a really long length of fabric & you need to wrap it over & around etc but I found a tutorial on youtube & ebay and that was far easier than the instruction booklet that they give you for it. I have been told by a friend that over time the fabric might start to stretch or sag like a Hug a Bub does though but she tends to use hers daily which might be why. I also have anurture sling I bought form the Nurture sling website which I used for Jett and t was fantastic, I'd use it this time around but Harlow prefers being upright which is why i got the sleepwrap one!

Bec – I got told with holding Blake and bouncing lightly on the gym ball that he would love it and probably fall asleep, so I might try that to.


Wow I have a lot to catch up on so ill have to catch up on personals soon, blake is crying so better go

:

---

Oh I just got an email from the Baby BeeHinds rep here in Renmark, I've been trying to meet up with her to buy some nappies. Anyway, she emailed me back today to say that her two kids have whooping cough, and she could meet me without bringing her kids on Tuesday.. I'm scared!! Can adults pass on whooping cough if they don't have it but have been closely exposed to it? I'm terrified of Isaac getting it.

---

From what I've read, IF she's not immunized she could be infectious for up to 3 weeksz
If she is immunized, I guess she'd be ok but I'm not sure. I guess you could meet her and just not let her near him at all - but tbh if it was me I don't think I'd want to see her just in case. I'm pretty paranoid about it tho. One of my GF's bubs had it (just over 2 mths so had one shot) and he was sick for 3 months poor little man.

Wite thanks for the info about the sling. Would you be able to feed in it? I like the idea of having a sling I could feed in, but have never tried it before and a gf told me it's not possible - but I'm not sure I believe that lo

Well we feel like the losec is already helping little A, dunno if it's my imagination :dunno: but she had a much better day yesterday, so will be interested to see how today goes. We're also getting some family pics taken so pls send me gorgeous vibes :D hopefully we'll get a good one for a thank you card. My friend is going to Photoshop A's eczema out (it's on her face).

thanks Belfie, I think I'll ask her if she's immunised, I doubt it though obviously her kids aren't if they've caught it. I think I know what I want to order, so I might just place an order with her and see if she can just bring that instead of spending time with her to look at the range.

Deana I hope Blake likes the bouncing! its guaranteed to calm Isaac so far so hopefully it works for you too!

Belfie- I haven't tried feeding in it but have read online that you can, maybe pop onto the sleepy wrap official website & see if they say it can be done? I think most slings these days are designed to feed i but I know a few brands dont

Bec - just quicky... about whooping cough - the reason babies are at risk from it is because they can't be vaccinated against it so rely on the adults around them to be. I would ask the lady is she's vaccinated and when she was vaccinated. Otherwise, just don't go near her... the nappies can wait.

Hi everyone else, I am catching up. Had the MIL here last week and didn't get much time to myself, surprisingly. I missed catching up with you, and now have loads to read.

Hannah is putting on weight and I have started to feed her one feed of EBM per day instead of her comp feed with formula, but forumla comps for the rest of the feeds during the day. Will have to see how it goes. She is such a contented baby now, compared to before. I just can't believe the change in her and so glad it seems to be she was just hungry. LOL poo-nami alert for us today. I wore it, and so did the carpet. And that was after already going through 3 nappies... no wonder she was unsettled beforehand with that much poo inside.

Take care and will be back soon I hope.

Pantha - I hope your days have improved since your shocker of centrelink, backed up loo, and frazzled Charlotte. Sweetie - those were the sorts of days Hannah had most days so i know just how hard it is. You did the right thing by getting someone in to help. You need sleep and a break.

With the inconsolable and endless crying/screaming? A couple of ideas - get some ear plugs - it will take the edge off and protect your hearing, put on some music and sing, it helps drown out the crying, and singing to bubs is good, go for a walk - yes it is embarrassing having a screaming baby in the pram, but getting out does help. And lastly, if there is no one else to help, it's ok to leave her alone for a short while, whilst you get some time to calm down. Even if you feel calm, listening to them cry like that is hard on you. And feeling useless is normal, but remember, sometimes it can't be solved and they just need you to sit with them, nurse them, and love them while they cry. Although being the good mumma you are, you will always try to find a reason.

Male PND is just like PND for women. Same sort of symptoms. It's best if DH gets counselling ( if it's mild) and treatment ( if more serious). It won't go away by itself. It's an illness.

Wite - just ordered my sleepy wrap woo hoo can't wait.

Dory - nice to hear from you - how is Hannah Bear?

Another crap day yesterday for us, she was awake nearly whole time from 11am to 9pm and only sleep was in baby carrier on me. Reflux isn't impacting her feeding tho - weight is now 5kg at 6 weeks, gained 800g in 3 weeks which is apparently at the "boy" rate lol, so that's the good bit.

Belfie - thanks for asking after baby bear. Hannah is having a sleepy day today but had a similar sort of day to Annika yesterday! And then when she finally went to sleep at 10.30- I couldn't and was wide awake until her 1.30am feed. Wow was I tired today, but snuck in a nap earlier today. Glad the reflux hasn't stopped A's weight gain. Those are pretty impressive stats! Are you expressing? When is the best time to express after a feed? Immediately or a little while? I try immediately but seems not much comes out, but if I wait, and usually there is faffing about the getting the comp feed arranged, settling etc anyway, there is more BM. But then I worry if I wait too long it will affect the levels for the next feed. At least though then I will have EBM to give her.

Why did you EBM with Xander?

Hi girls,

Just a quick one from me in between toilet stops (Gastro - i am in hell). Had 6 wk checkup today which I crawled to. Chloe is now 5.02 kg - thats a whopping 2 kg added in 6 weeks! Guess the breastmilk is doing the trick! ha ha. Got a jab in my bum to stop me vomiting while there. Doesnt seem to have worked yet. Just pray that whatever it is - Chloe doesnt get it. Also tried to get her passport photo done and the photo shop. Not successful. Will have to try again tomorrow if I am feeling up to it.

Looks like we are all in struggle town a little at the moment!
x

fuzzy - oh dear.. I hope your gastro goes away very quickly. Wow Chloe is growing great! Can babies catch gastro from breastmilk? I suppose all the good antibodies they get from the milk might protect them from it? Hehe how cute getting passport photos done, when do you go to Bali? I'm jealous, and really thinking about starting to plan a trip somewhere next winter.. I think I'm getting the travel bug back again.

Belfie & Wite - I checked out the sleepy wrap, looks so comfy! and it looks like bubs will sleep so well in one, I couldn't help but order one too :) I got mine from the US website though, and took advantage of the great exchange rates and saved about $20 compared to the Aus sites. I hope it doesn't take too long to get here though. So much cheaper than Hug a Bubs and look the same.

dory - thanks I decided not to meet the nappy lady. It's not worth the risk to Isaac as I haven't been vaccinated against whooping cough yet. Glad to hear Hannah is having a sleepy day, did you try to rest while she slept? I know its hard to do that most of the time though. About expressing, Belfie is probably the best person to ask but just thought I'd add that a midwife told me that milk starts to be produced about 20 minutes after a feed. I don't envy you having to express, I had to do it for a couple of weeks because of the problems we had and it was so exhausting. I've been expressing bits every now and then to freeze, but sometimes I just can't be bothered, and Isaac feeds so frequently I just want to rest my boobs in between feeds. It sounds like you've got the feeding pretty much all sorted now, well done :)

Belfie - yay for the weight gain! Oh and I've been meaning to say I have huge respect for you being able to express for 12 months.. That really is an achievement, the couple of weeks I did it for really exhausted me.

I can't wait until tomorrow! My mum is coming for the afternoon to take Isaac for a walk and look after him while I SLEEP! She is even going to feed him for me with some of the EBM I've frozen.

I don't know if I've said this in another post already, but David (Isaacs father) has disappeared of facebook! Aargghh. I really want to tell him that he has a son, even if he doesn't want anything to do with him I just want him to know. I want to tell him that Isaac has his eyes and nose, and beautiful black curly hair. He probably has his mouth too, he looks nothing like me. Anyway, I have no idea how to contact him without getting anyone else involved. I don't even have his phone number. I keep thinking about what I'm going to tell Isaac when he's older, it's really upsetting me that I can't even tell him that his father even knows about him. I do have a couple of friends in common with David but it just feels so weird to ask them to pass on a message for me but it looks like that might be what I'll have to do.

Isaac is having longer awake times during the day now, and is waking up every 3 or 4 hours at night, and seems to be around the same times which is great, he seems to be falling into a bit of a pattern. Oh and he cried his first tear today! It was a bit heartbreaking, but there was only one little tear and I kissed it away and cuddled him and he stopped crying after a minute or two. I think he's had a bellyache, lots of squirming and face pulling. He's been lifting his head up a lot more too when he's on his tummy, and I'm sure I've seen a couple of smiles that aren't wind smiles.. so beautiful, but I don't want him to grow and change too quickly. I feel like this time is going to fly.