Just dropping by to say I hope everyone is well!!!
I am sure we are all a bit sleep deprived......but it is worth it!!!!!

Caseys - I am trying to bf but also not sure I am loving it and might consider pumping and bottle feeding...I'll have to go back to work so will be doing that anyway....can I ask what wasn't working for you?

Congrats Dmama! Fantastic news.
Sleep deprived doesn't describe it - I'm still breastfeeding every 3 hours, and it takes an hour and half, so getting sleep in hour and half chunks. Not good. It still really painful a lot of the time, so I'm going to breastfeeding drop in session again next thursday and if still can't sort it, going to swap to formula. I find myself getting angry at them at 4am as they shred my nipples! Not good.

Hope you all ok.

Congrats dmama! Welcome to motherhood - sleepless nights and sore nipples and all. But isn't it still amazing!

I ended up with bad sore nipples the first week. Medela cooling pads helped. The two weeks later ended up with nipple blisters. Incredibly painful. Doc recommended a lactation consultant who was worth ever penny. In hindsight I should have gone to a group session or something sooner. She recommended football position and feeding 15min on each breast (I was feeding on one side and then the other at the next feeding). She also recommended Mother's love nipple cream. I also started feeding one to two bottles of breast milk at night and pumping after each feeding. The lady said pumping after each feeding will bring more milk in and it will be less suction work for the baby.

Hope this helps you ladies. I am now getting enough milk to begin freezing too to prepare for returning to work.

I am thoroughly enjoying time at home with her though the days seem to run away pretty fast. Some days I have to make an effort to get out of the PJs

Wishing all if you well. Oh and Casey's I was finally able to shave as well. Felt so good to feel semi normal.

Sorry about my lack of responses lately, I somehow killed my computer and everything had to be reinstalled. I was able to save the pics of Max at least though, phew!

I switched to pumping and bottle feeding after about a week and a half because Max and I were fighting each other and I felt it got in the way of our bonding because when I was done feeding him I didn't want to cuddle him, I just wanted to be done with him. Switching to pumping was so much less stressful for both of us and I like knowing how much he's getting - he's gained a lot of weight and my husband and I can switch off feeding him when we're both home so it's a win-win situation, though exclusively pumping is time consuming and still a lot of work as well.

I am also a cow, I pump at least 40oz a day, though I am trying to wean myself off pumping and eventually switch to formula. I don't want to have to pump at work so am now only pumping 3x a day and will see if I can drop down to 2x a day by the time I go back to work. If I have to I will self-express at work to relieve pressure, just don't trust myself to remember to always bring my pump with me as well so I think my plan will work, we'll see.

I go back to work in 3 weeks, boo! I am ready for it though, I think... I will miss Max but my husband is staying home with him for 3 weeks once I go back so it will help with the transition. He doesn't go into daycare until the day after Memorial Day.

How is everyone else doing?

Oh thank you ladies for saying what you did....

I also find myself at 4am getting upset with the baby about how long she feeds....OMG, my nipples get so sore....I am gonna see if I can get a lactation consult or go to the latch clinic....I just feel sometimes that I just can not take it...What do people in the jungle do? I am sure their nipples hurt too and they don't have formula or pumping...?
Anyway, I might try too bottle at night trick...that seems to be the worst of it for us. I was pumping a lot te first two weeks because my milk was slow to come in, so I had a lot of milk supply...I only pump additionally once a day or so now in addition to bf every 2-3 hours, but I might increase it to have some to freeze for when I go back to work...we will see...I hope not to switch to formula, but this child eats a lot and my nipps just can only take so much....I can not imagine twins!!!!!!!!!!

other than that, things are fine...she is a ppretty good baby and doesn't do too much crying...sleeps a lot during the day and then looks at me with wide open eyes at 5am!!!! If she wasn't so cute, I don't know what I would do! HA HA! I am loving it all still the same though....it is amazing how that works!

Hello ladies,

Good to hear from some of you and how things are going with the babies. The lactation consultant and feeding from bottle at night made a huge difference for me. My little one also sleeps almost 4 hrs sessions at night too which helps me to have energy for the feeding. Once I got past the sore nips I was able to handle the 4am feelings so much better. I am also Lucky to have a great hubby who will get up and burb and put her to sleep after feelings.

Caseys-wow on the amount youre pumping. That is awesome. I am now able to pump almost 6 ozs early in the morning while hubby feeds her from the bottle. And she is starting to drink almost 4 ozs. She is finally starting to get chubby

Dmama - you're right I can't I aging with twins. I have a friend who did have twins thru ivf and she is lucky and has enough milk for both and does both bf and bottle but breast milk exclusively.

Hope all of you are doing well. I am thoroughly enjoying being a mom. Life is amazing with this little girl. She gives us these beautiful big smiles that just makes all the aches and sleepless nights all worth it. Going back to work in another month for me and I am not looking forward to it but there are days when I sometimes think it will be nice to ba around adults again - is that wrong.

I am going to try to feed from the bottle at night to see what will happen, but that means pumping a bit more during the day because I also need to have a stash for when I go back to work...Hard to figure it out...I am calling lactation consultant tomorow for some help...

But Davecr033, I don't think it is wrong at all to want to be around adults....I tried to have some time with my friend today, but baby was not having it and my social time got cut short....so...I do feel like sometimes we need some time with big people...It does not mean one bit that we don't love our little ones....I am sort of looking forward to it when she can talk...but now she seems like she is recognizing more that I am at least the milk supply if not her mother, and wanting to cuddle more and more which melts my heart.....But I agree, I miss hanging out with big girls a bit...

Would it be ok if I join this thread? It looks like most of you on here have already had your babies though. I'm 37 and am at 11dp3dt and got my first ever bfp 2 days ago. This was my first IVF/ ICSI cycle. I'm over the moon! I know it could all change so easily, but I'm just going to enjoy every moment while I can.

Congratulations to you all by the way!

Welcome and congrats!! How exciting!! Yes, please join, it would be great if this thread got going again with some newbies.

Please ask us as many questions as you want/need, as we've all struggled through the process and those that got pregnant naturally just don't get it.

Yay, I am so happy for you.

Thanks so much Caseys!