From Assisted Conception to...Babies!!!

[CMo]

Yeah I'll be glad to get back to normal too. Going to start running again this week to shift this baby weight. It's been a year since my last run so I'll struggle!

I'm not sure if we need a new thread. We're the only ones that use it so can't see why it wouldn't be ok to just keep it going.

Do any of you have a routine yet? I'm struggling but not sure if she's still too young. She's totally turning night into day. No matter what we do she'll be awake from about 5pm straight through until half 12. I've tried feeding at different times but no matter what we do she won't settle until she's fed at half 12. Sometimes she doesn't even take a full bottle only little sips then she's sound. She'll sleep for about 5-6 hours, wake for a feed the sleep again pretty much all day. Can't really complain as we still get a good sleep and half 12 really isn't too bad but I'd love her to be more awake through the day and ideally settle a bit earlier at night.

 

[FirstTry]

That sounds good to me!

My DS hasn't slept more than 3.5-4 hours ever! Last night, it was 2 hour stretches between feedings. And with my toddler, I have to be up by 7am. And he only naps 1pm-3pm, then sleeps for the night at 8pm. So, I don't get to sleep when the baby naps during the day.

 

[CMo]

Aw first you must be exhausted! It's amazing though how we function on so little sleep.

My mission for this week is to try and get a night time routine sorted and make sure I stick to it ie bath pj's and taking her upstairs to bed at the same time each night to try and get her used to a pattern over the next few weeks. She must be so knocked off with Xmas and new year etc and having so much on and so many visitors. I'm craving normality (whatever that may be now with a baby lol)

 

[FirstTry]

Yes, that should help. But baby sleep is tough, so don't be surprised if it gets better and then worse and then better again. The good news is that at some point in the first year, they should start sleeping 10-12 hours at night

 

[beneathmywing]

Hi ladies! Just popped my head in as I was sure everyone was past their due date and wanted to congratulate everyone! What beautiful babies in here!!!! Eeeek! Hope you all are adjusting to motherhood well. Miss you all

 

[CMo]

Hi beneath!

Glad to hear you're recovering well. Good luck for the coming months, looking forward to you being back here where you belong xx

 

[beneathmywing]

Hi beneath!

Glad to hear you're recovering well. Good luck for the coming months, looking forward to you being back here where you belong xx

Thanks sweety! I'm doing good!! I can't wait to be back on this side of town for good this time!

 

[CMo]

Hi ladies how are you all?

LO had her jags yesterday! They were awfu! Never heard her scream like that. Totally heart breaking. Glad dh wad there cos I was a blubbering wreck. She's been good since, really sleepy yesterday and slept all night but very clingy and sleepy today. Poor wee scone!

 

[star25]

Hello all
Beneath, won't be long until you have your bfp we miss you here too!s

Cmo, we don't have a routine, she doesn't really sleep during the day, maybe the odd cat nap after a feed for Bit ten minutes
Sometimes she might sleep in the evenings from.6-8pm for a couple of hours but not often
Normally settles to bed about 11pm but can be later about 12
Whatever time it is she normally sleeps for about 3hrs then is awake for an hour then has another 2-3 hrs and generally then we get up as she won't settle back in her crib
We're having a bit of a struggle sometimes though as she has reflux which has been quite bad last couple days and instantly bringing up her milk and lost 3-4oz after putting on 1lb over the last 2 weeks
She's on gaviscon now though which seems to be helping though we had a projectile vomiting incident all over me at 5am this morning!
Go back to Dr's next week

She has her 8 week check and injections on 4th Feb, I'm dreading it

Apart from that were well though and spend time out and about but having a lazy day in today, too cold!

 

[FirstTry]

Star: have you tried baby probiotics? I'm a big fan of them in general, to get the gut bacteria to colonize in the baby. But especially if they have digestive issues. Ask your doctor if you can give them.

 

[3chords]

Star - I started my little guy on BioGaia probiotics at around 4 weeks old and all of his gasiness is gone. He never really had reflux, almost never spits up, isn't fussy but would really strain to pass gas and poop so we tried BioGaia and it's like a miracle. It's expensive at around $30 and only lasts us 2-3 weeks but hell it's worth it. I've kept him on since.

Henry is 11 weeks old and we are finally approaching a semblance of a routine in the last week or so. I am lucky with his sleep patterns - he will start off with a 5-6 hour stretch, feed, go down for 3-3.5 more hours, feed and then still sleep for another hour and a bit. So I am very lucky with him at night but he was always a baby that slept 3-4 hours and knew night was night. During the day now he is up for the day around 8:30 am, then he will go down for a nap typically around 10:30-11 and it is always a short one of 45-50 mins. He will generally repeat this pattern another couple of times. I can't for the life of me get him to nap longer than 45-60 mins during the day except on the odd miraculous occasion that is inexplicable. This is annoying because he is clearly overtired in the late evening but fights sleep and generally becomes fussy. On days when he naps for longer (which are very rare) he is much more manageable. I've tried it all - having him sleep in different places, with and without noise, in light and in dark, and really I see no difference, he kind of has the same quality/length of sleep no matter where I put him during the day. I don't complain too much because he's really so easy at night.

I have finally decrease my pumping to 5x/day and as it is I am still getting like 35-40 oz that way so I just have a lot of milk. I was pumping 7x/day before Christmas and was producing 50% more milk but it was really driving me nuts. So Henry still gets exclusively milk, I also have like 10 litres frozen for the future for him. I am going reduce pumping to 4x per day in February, that will make my life easy and given my supply I'll likely still have more than enough for him. Plus I have the freezer stash. There have been many times where I've wanted to give up, believe me. I will start supplementing him with formula probably when he is 4-5 months old as we will start traveling and I don't want to be tied to a pump more than 2-3x per day.

 

[star25]

Thank you for the advice ladies, she's definitely doesn't have trouble pooping though it is a bit firmer now she's on the gaviscon

Madeleine is starting to sleep a bit longer at night
Always had 3 hrs then up for an hour then had another 2-3, she's now having 4-5 hours then up for an hour then having another 2-3 with random cat naps through the day
She feeds a lot, about 8 times during the day and twice in the hour were awake for, sometimes. More during the day
When I express ready to freeze I leave it in the fridge in case need it before freezing as she has the gaviscon in a bottle and took to it really well
So dh can give her the bottle if I'm busy and it's such a relief not to have to everything in such a rush because I'll know she will want feeding again!
Only thing is I can only express 2-3oz a time from 1 boob once a day as the rest of the time she is feeding but I really want to have more of a supply in the fridge and freezer, any tips? Since not bring ing so much milk back up she is feeding maybe a bit less

Hope you're all well xx

 

[star25]

I also want a good freezer stash for her as was going to stop bf when she's about 3 months then give her breast milk in bottles til I run out as want to be looking into a fet after the summer and clinic said I need to have 2 periods before doing that and they could take ages to return, with my track record who knows as used to take provera when doing my fresh cycle due to long cycles
We've booked a holiday to crete Greece for the start of may ( that was fun trying to get madeleine s passport photo! But she has her own passport now, so cute) anyway I was debating what would be easier for holiday breastfeeding or bottles
If bottle s would have to be formula as won't go through the hassle of taking frozen breast milk! That means I would still be breastfeeding at 5 months and would also take pump and bottles so I don't spend the whole holiday breastfeeding lol
Breastfeeding is definitely harder than I imagined and always a dilemma with something!

 

[Mrs W 11]

Hi all,

I hope you don't me popping over to join you all?! Star sent me a message to ask me to come and join you all, got my bfp in December after our third go at IVF! Am only 9 weeks so still keeping my fingers and toes crossed that all will be ok, still feeling very cautious at the moment.

Congratulations to everyone on the arrival of all of the babies last year, I went back a few pages on the thread and saw some pictures, they are adorable!!!

I think I've seen that Mobaby is a,so pregnant in her first tri so will have to see if she wants to join us too.

Looking forward to catching up with you all!! Xx

 

[Mrs W 11]

Star - I found bf my dd really hard in the early days, I had so much pain, we had latch issues, thrush, it was never easy. But it did become so so easy, I can't remember how long it took but once she grew enough for the pain to stop it was amazing. I fed until she was 15 months in the end, slowly cutting down and then shopping her morning and evening feed to cows milk in a sippee cup. My af never came back until I stopped completely and when I did it came back within a week of stopping! Don't know if that helps at all but it will get easier x

 

[star25]

Good to see you here mrs w and definitely have to ask mobaby too, so pleased for you both
That does help, I had pain at first when she latched on, it was agony so used nipple Shields for a couple weeks and now it's fine

When breast milk is defrosted I read it can be kept for 12 hours in the fridge but what if she drinks some and stops do I then throw it away and can it not be left at room temperature like it can if its just been refrigerated?

 

[CMo]

Hi Mrs W, congratulations on your BFP! Looking forward to sharing the journey with you!

Star that's good your thinking about FET. We have one frozen but think we'll wait a few years before we use it. Think we get free storage for 3 years so LO will be just over 2 so might be a good time to try then.

We're getting a nice wee routine at night. She'll normally take her bottle about half 9/10ish then be awake for about an hour lying between us in bed. I put her in her Moses basket about 11 when she looks sleepy and she sleeps right through until anytime between 6am & 9am so really can't complain at all!

 

[star25]

Wow that's a great night routine cmo!
I have started rocking madeleine to sleep in the nursing chair as that works well then sneak her into her crib once she's asleep, she just wants to be held all the time!

 

[CMo]

Yeah I really can't complain at all as we're both getting an excellent sleep. She's a bit of a monkey through the day though and will only sleep when she's being held. The minute you put her down her eyes ping open! Again I'm not complaining, just enjoying the cuddles and catching up with daytime TV at the same time lol

 

[star25]

Madeleine is exactly the same, rarely sleeps during the day unless she is held and even then it isn't for long