Janine, I feel your pain, DS was like that - wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me, was awake for hours at a time and I couldn't put him down to get anything done. I remember he would finally have a nap around 11am and I would have to pick between having a shower or breakfast that day because he would only sleep for 20 minutes if I put him down lol. My suggestion to you is to get a sling. You can get an over the shoulder ring sling for about $40. Amelia likes to be held too and some days I would get nothing done if not for the sling. She falls asleep in there within minutes and will stay asleep for a couple of hours. It gives me a chance to at least get some cleaning done, tea ready etc which really heaps with the mental health as it is a bit of a downer sitting all day holding bub, just looking at the mess but unable to do anything about it.
Taurean, I hope you can build up your milk supply, sounds like you have had a bit of a rough few days. Yay for your mum being around to help.
PB, I am jealous of you being only 4kg from your pre baby weight. I don't have any scales here, but I am sure I am a lot bigger. Last time I was back to pre baby weight by 6 weeks, but I had to lose an extra 5kg to get back to pre baby size.
Kosi, great to hear A is putting on some weight, must be a relief for you.
DH was back at work yesterday and so far I am managing to juggle DS and A. She had a good weight gain when the midwifes came to check her yesterday and she is a very settled and content little girl (as long as I am holding her lol).
I put her in her swing the other day after a big feed and when I walked back past a few minutes later her face was white with vomit lol - she must have let go during the down swing. She was looking quite bemused about the whole thing.
Art - I have a hug-a-bub, but it's been soooo hot here I don't want to overheat her by having her pressed against me. She had her head on my chest for awhile this morning but because it was so hot it was starting to get all moist and sweaty between us. I don't know how on earth you cope with 2 kids, one is handful enough! I'd like more, but right now I can't comprehend how you do it. Most days I'm not eating, drinking or having a shower until about lunchtime as she tends to have alot of awake time in the morning and has to be ON me or she screams the place down. She loves being draped over my arm getting her bum patted whilst I swing her from side to side but my arm is usually dead within 15mins.
Sangie - Thanks for the support, yay, only 1 sleep to go!!! yeah DF is fully aware he has to do some baby shifts when he gets back, he misses her like crazy though so I don't think he'll mind too much at all. He's a great help around the place too. Hope Ethan gives you a bit of a break and some rest soon!
Sanchez - i just leave the nipple shield on for the whole feed. I have tried to get him to latch a few times mid feed with no success - its like he's looking for the big bump to actually latch on to, and completely misses the nipple. He is also very impatient, so just keeps bobbing his head around hunting for it. I figured if i need to use the shield for part of the feed, then its easier just to leave it on. My Lactation Consultant said it seems once a day pumping and the shields are not making my nipples stick out more all the time so just to stay with the shields - a hassle, but worth it for a baby that feeds well. Goodluck with the holiday packing - i think keep some paper on the bench and everytime you use something in the day write it on the list to take if you think you'd need it. We are also going away for a long weekend next week, 6 hour drive - so hoping Tadhg sleeps all the way with one stop for a feed - thank goodness he likes the car.
Sangie - you are certainly not a dummy for not getting shields to stay on, they are a pain in the butt - but i can't feed T without them, so not much choice for me. It gets easier with practice, and the odd 'stop and have a deep breath then try again' its very tricky to keep 2 hands away from bub's face / your nipple and get them in the right position whilst holding the shield on!
Janine - i was going to suggest a sling or front pack too - but that does sound tricky with being so hot You are doing a fantastic job, but you need to look after yourself and eat & shower or you wont be able to keep it up. I'm sure it will feel horrible but Em isn't going to hurt herself by having a cry for 15 mins while you shower and eat. Goodluck x
AFU - i feel a bit bad to say i have the opposite issue to many of you, with having too much milk and a very sucky baby. You can almost hear him drowning as he latches on and does these massive 'glug, glug glug's so he only takes 10-15 minutes to finish a feed, but then about 20 minutes to burp and often still can't be put down on his back cos of the wind! We are trying infacol now and working hard on our burping techniques - and so far doing much better (in 24 hours). Tadhg is attached to his dummy, not surprising when he only gets 15 mins sucking time from a feed i guess. Our little bottomless pit will finish off 100ml EBM at a feed and be hungry 2-3 hours later - no wonder he is growing. He fed at 7:30pm, 12:30pm and 5am last night which seemed pretty good to me. Today's goal is to move the last feed to 9pm and aim for a slightly later wake-up call!
Hugs to the bubs.
Kelly
Kelly - your boy is exactly like mine! Ethan will have 120ml EBM and be hungry 2.5-3 hours later. Last night he had 120ml at 8.30pm, 11.30pm, 2.30am, 6am. He also guzzles it and gets very windy. I bought some brauers colic relief and we are going to try that this evening. I'm over the shields, I just can't get the hang of it so I'm just expressing and feeding EBM. I'm going to keep trying with the breastfeeding without the shields and see how we go.
Kelly - Emily was like that as well, but i've found my supply has settled down a bit the last week or so, not feeling so uncomfortably full which is good, as she doesn't have to struggle with the flow as much as she was. I use Infants Friend for wind which I've found helps alot, very similar to Infacol.
I just had another hour on the fitball again, my legs are about to drop off... ooh I hope I can get this swing this afternoon! Munchkin is asleep again so I best go do washing and dishes whilst I can.
Oh girls, I've missed out on hearing about so much!!!
Congratulations to everyone on their brand new arrivals - what a wonderful, full-on, exhausting time it is!!!We have a brand new baby girl, born 2 weeks early on 28th August (no time now to give all of the birth details but in short, completely happy with our c-section, great recovery, ecstatic with our hospital and all of the staff - and have a beautiful little bubba as well!) Our eldest daughter is a wonderful big sister - helpful and protective! No signs of jealousy thank goodness!
Kellynz - just thought I would let you know that I used a nipple shield for the entire 6 months I breastfed our eldest daughter and am doing the same thing this time around. Found a supportive midwife who just encouraged me to continue doing whatever worked and it was the only way I could get our DD's to attach. Both started BF well but once my milk came in my nipple flattened out and they couldn't get a good mouthful to get attached (no matter how much the midwives squished my nipples or encouraged me to hand-express!!!! They tried every trick in the book and the only thing that worked was the shield!).
All the best girls - will post more details etc soon!Lily
Last edited by Lily J; September 24th, 2009 at 02:34 PM.
Will write more later but just had app with LC - Lottie put on 240grams in 3 days!! The LC was very happy for us as she said that's usually a weeks worth of gain. She also said it was great to see a smile on my face
Sangie - I pump about 5 times a day for 20 mins. It's not bothering me at all anymore as I just sit there having a cuppa watching TV. Quite nice time out actually!
Will be back soon, I've got a mate of my brothers coming over to finally put our clothesline up. lol!
Indigo feeds every 3-4hrs over a 24hr cycle..Im pumping every 4 or so hours but have stopped overnight because Im too tired to sit up pumping. So Indigo gets approx 2 bottles of EBM a day the rest is NAN HA Formula. I get about 50ml at each pump and she drinks approx 100ml at each feed. Not sure how long I will continue expressing for but with Zander I did it for 8wks.
Anyway for those that are having problems with milk supply and are worried about not having enough milk - the best thing you can get is a prescription from your doctor for "Domperidone" or "Motilium" - it increases milk supply, if you take approx 3 tablets a day and pump your supply will double. It should only be a last resort and used after attachment issues etc have been sorted.
You are doing a fantastic job, but you need to look after yourself and eat & shower or you wont be able to keep it up. I'm sure it will feel horrible but Em isn't going to hurt herself by having a cry for 15 mins while you shower and eat. Goodluck x 
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