March Mamas 2012 Baby Group (Closed Group)

[waula]

Mitch - it sounds like you're doing fab hun - please don't worry about the occasional vom, Mia is doing so well with her growth, i'm just sure its her and her stomach getting used to the boob...some babies are just a bit sicky too, my nephew vom'd/spat up after nearly all his feeds and he's now on the 90th centile growth-wise and a very healthy 9mo. The HV told me that babies stomach's have a really weak valve at the top which strengthens with time but a tiny bit too much = bit of sick...

MsCrow - May for an appointment??? U are kidding right??? Surely waiting til then is somewhat pointless if there is a problem. Hope your self-help method of reclined feeding/winding etc is helping in the short term

xxx

 

[Mrs Cupcake]

evening girls,

just read your birth story FT. Im sorry it didnt go to plan but you can forget it all now forever and cuddle your adorable little boy in your arms. I am feeling hormonal and just had a little cry on your behalf.

Rupert is doing really well and and had his day 3 check today and has only lost 5% of his weight so everyone is happy.

Bad night last night with feeding every hour. Little boy was hungry! and obviously getting me ready for my milk which came in today. Nips are holding up quite well, got a few little blisters but nothing awful and they seem to go and heal between feeds and then new ones appear. I think the latch is ok because otherwise i presume i would be in agony and im not - so thats good!!

Right, off to bed girls! happy feeding xx

 

[waula]

well done mrscupcake - rupert sounds like he's doing fab and 5% is brilliant... I think all of our nips had a bit of a shock with the whole BFing thing - who knew they could stretch quit so far!!! I haven't had blisters but i've had cracks and the lansinoh massively helped with that as did changing positions...gives the area a bit of a chance to heal but sounds like you've got rapidly healing one's!!!! night night xxx

 

[MissyBlaze]

Gals I've missed you so much! How am I meant to keep up with you?

FT - your story made me cry. I'm so sorry with how things went. I've been at a few births with similar situations and I always cry when the baby finally cries. It's a horrific feeling. But so happy he's all well and happy now. Well done honey. I think some of my new cohort might have been working when you were on the ward.

BF - I feel like i'm starting all over again because of the nipple shields. I realised today (thanks to a friend) that part of my NCT stuff was BF support and so I emailed our lady today and she's sending someone out to me. I'm so chuffed. I feel like I should be where Waula is now, feeding hands free and feeling confident but i'm so not. (and i'm a flipping unicef trained advisor - I should be brilliant)

I can't remember if i mentioned this but Ted failed the hearing test on his right ear so has to be retested next week. Bit weird. His cord is all better though and my scar is improved. Today was the last day of antibiotics so hoping it will all stay away now.

ETA - forgot to say Cuppie - I LOVE the name Rupert, it's so cute, but is also quite ageless. Lush.

 

[Skadi]

We had a terrible night last night, she was fighting her burps so much. By the time I got a big one out it was 2:30 am and time to feed again! I fed her and finally put her down at 3:30 am!

We had a Drs appointment today and they checked her developmental milestones and she is developmentally on par with an actual 3 months. It was funny today though, I put her down on her tummy to sleep as I do during the day and turned around to go get her knit blanket and by the time I turned around she was looking up at me from her back! Not sure if that was just a one time thing or if she has actually figured out rolling over. We go April 12th to see the actual growth and development clinic at the hospital though so we will see what they say. Seems like Keira doesn't realise she is a preemie and should be acting newborn!

She is also now a chunky 7lbs and 12 ounces! That is 1 lb in 2 weeks!

Mitch - Mia is so adorable! Love the pic!

Missy - I've heard that newborns fail the hearing test partially pretty often because they sometimes have gunk in their ear(s) from the birth still. I'm sure the second test will go brilliantly!

Edit - I just put her down in her crib on her tummy to see what she would do. It took her about 10 seconds to get herself rolled on to her back again! So that was not a coincidence!

 

[SeaThreePeeO]

Missy as Skadi said it's very common for babies to fail their first hearing test due to gunk in the ear. The Health Visitor had trouble testing Jessica because she has a cold which is causing wax in her ears. But I was pretty sure there was nothing wrong with her hearing. At the hosital someone on the ward dropped a tray of cups and plates, Jessica nearly shot out of her cot.

Skadi, what a clever beautiful girl you have

((((hugs)))) to all the breast feeding mumma with sore boobs and nips.


I took my first lot of steroids at 4pm and now 90% of the hives have already cleared. I still have them on my arms and legs. They seem to be vanishing in the order they appeared.

Jessica is more awake now and has had several periods of being awake during the day.

 

[MissyBlaze]

Thanks for the reassurance gals, it's weird. All the infections and stuff just eventually got on top of me and made me cry.

Skadi, that's amazing, clever little monkey you've got there!

See3... I don't get what hives are... is it like a rash?

 

[crowned]

So glad FT is back with us, and sounding as cheerful as ever!

See3 - I hope your hives clear up and you're good as new really soon!

Missy - Glad to see you back here, and hope things are easier from here on out. Thinking of you and Ted as he has his second test!

Ladies, where does your baby nap? People talk about putting their babies down to nap, and I don't really know what they mean. A sleeps in her cradle at night, next to my bed, but when she sleeps during the day it's either in her ring sling or on my chest. She gets fussy if I put her down to nap, but sleeps really well when she's close to me. I don't mind, as I know this newborn phase is very shortlived, and I'm trying to savour every moment of it. Where do your babies nap? Do you put them down or hold them all day long?

 

[SeaThreePeeO]

Hives is/are a rash due to an allergic reaction. They start off as little red blisters then spread to form large red patches that are extremely sore and itchy

https://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g17/seathreepeeo/003-4.jpg
My legs. The rest of my body looked pretty much the same.

 

[SeaThreePeeO]

Crowned, in the mornings at the moment (school days) Jessica sleeps in her pram in our enclosed passageway by the kitchen door as I don't see the point in disturbing her when she's sleeping after a walk to and from school.

Sometimes I will leave her to nap on her playmat or her bouncy chair, but having two rather noisy siblings knocking about the house I have started putting her in her moses basket in my room to sleep. I always make sure I put her down awake and then I leave her to it. She may squark or cry for a bit, but I check on her every 5, then 10 then 15 minutes. 9 times out of 10 she's asleep after the first 5 minutes.

 

[Skadi]

Crowned - Keira gets put down in her cradle in my bedroom during the day to nap. If she is tired it is no problem. When she is having one of her awake times I keep her in the same room with me in her bouncer to play.

I saw that Amy's Connie has come down with RSV which can be very serious in preemies. She is back in hospital being treated for it right now.

 

[waula]

Missy - you WILL get there with BFing - so glad you've got someone coming out, and please don't feel bad - you have to be doing an absolutely sterling job, i've seen pics of Ted and he looks enormous and fabulous. For me the confidence boost i need is getting Noah weighed - I get so enormously proud of myself for any weight he's put on... so glad to hear his stump is all mended and your incision is looking better... many and I think it doesn't matter how much you know/read about BFing, its a two party deal, I hadn't realised how much the LO's have to learn about it too...its only been today that Noah has properly started opening his mouth wide like all the pics tell you they do - he knows as soon as the bra is unclipped and starts smacking his lips - quite funny to watch!

Crowned -Noah sleeps in the basket at night in our room (pre-warmed with a hot water bottle...spoilt rotten!) and in the day-time he sleeps in the pram but i definitely get him into a fairly deep sleep on me first (takes 10-20mins) then transfer him - i'm with you on the whole making the most of the newborn cuddle stage!!!!

C3 - those hives look bad hun! Glad you're getting them sorted with the steroids now... must have been driving you mad! xxx

night night lads....hope its a quiet one all round... xxx

 

[Glowstar]

Sea - those hives look soooo itchy! glad they are going now

Missy - thought you'd been quiet sounds like you've had a lot to deal with I'm sure Ted's hearing test is just a blip

 

[Glowstar]

Meant to say...where did you read about Connie Skadi? Hope she's OK.

 

[emera35]

Hearing tests, Roh failed his on the left side twice, didn't get a pass until he was 3 months old. Its very early days, and gunk can hang about in their ears for ages! It took nearly 15 minutes for a pass with F too the other day on one ear, she's snuffly from her cold, so it was throwing the reading.

Mitch - F is sick after most feeds, sometimes projectile! I was a bit worried to start with, but watching her feed i think she just guzzles and sucks in air, and also doesn't stop until she's over flowing! Most babies are sick a bit, some a bit more often than others, its really nothing to worry about unless its seriously massive amounts. If you worry she's sicking up alot, then measure out an ounce of milk and then tip it onto the kitchen surface, it looks loads once its spilt!
One of the frustrating things about BF is not knowing how much milk they are drinking! I think i worry alot less as i've already successfully fed one child, but i remember stressing alot last time round. Basically, if you demand feed, let them take as much as they want, they are satisfied after a feed and settle in between then you can be pretty certain they are getting enough. Also a generally steady weight gain is reassuring. I'd say steady, but babies do tend to gain in fits and starts, so they won't necessarily gain consistantly. Its why they don't recommend weighing them more than once a month (after the initial checks) unless there are issues, as weekly weight checks can be misleading.

Decided to try F with the milk i expressed and she wasn't that excited about the bottle, but had 2oz of it, so its a success of sorts. I think if she was hungry, she'd go for it. Gave the rest of the milk i expressed to Roh! seemed a shame to waste it, i wasn't sure if he'd go for it as he's not had it for a year, but stuck it in his cup and he happily drank it. I figure its good for him anyway, so at least i know i won't have any wasted milk if F won't take it! (was quietly pleased it got an "mmmm nice" from Roh! )

 

[Joannaxoxo]

Evening ladies,

Been a busy day getting things done around the house.

Mitch/Emera - thanks for the advice on the reusable/disposable breast pads. I find the reusable ones are more absorbent but I only have a few pairs, so I go through them all in 1 day! But the disposable ones are great for just a few hours if I need to go out.

Mitch - I'm still bleeding too... some days its light and almost brownish, other days it gets heavy again. I was told in hospital that if I start to bleed more heavily then it could be that I've been doing too much and that its my bodies way of telling me to take it easy. I find if I sit down for a bit the flow gets a little better. Glad to know that I'm not the only one who was wondering how long this bleeding lasts.

FT - your birth story sounds so scary, I'm sorry it was so traumatic. Glad that your both doing fine though!

Well I should go, the baby's been asleep for about an hour now and I should make some dinner before he wakes up and wants to feed.

 

[Skadi]

Meant to say...where did you read about Connie Skadi? Hope she's OK.

She posted about it in the preemie section.

 

[wondertwins]

Missy, good to hear from you. I'm sure you'll have BF sorted soon. My boys are just now self-latching and it still hurts when they do because they want to treat my nipple like a straw. I think it will be better when their mouths are bigger.

Skadi- WOW! Such a clever girl! I remember reading your post when your waters broke. It's truly amazing how far she's come and how fast!

Waula- my boys have started to understand that unhooking the bra means mealtime too. However, they still sometimes forget which direction to turn their heads to get to the nipple. It's pretty funnyto watch them peck frantically in the direction of my arm pit.

AFM... I'm feeling the evening blues that Mitch described. I'm nervous about what the night may hold. It could go either way. Fx.

 

[kymied]

WT - even my more than full term baby looks tiny in his crib. I didn't realize how big cribs are until we set it up. Right now we'll put him in it to nap but at night he's sleeping with me. I tried putting him in the co-sleeper but he'll only sleep for an hour in there. Next to me he'll sleep about 4 hours.

He's figured out how to turn on his side. I thought it was just a fluke but he does it every time we put him down.

Last night was hard. His stump is starting to fall off and it looks a little sore and he wouldn't settle for hours. I put a little breast milk on it and sure enough an hour later the redness was gone and he was sleeping soundly. This stuff really is magic!

The funny thing was I was trying to get him to nurse on the left as it was engorged and ready to go, but he wouldn't. So I stripped us both down for some skin to skin. He immediately went to the breast and started nursing. On the right one. Poor lefty was so full that it started pouring out, filling up my burp cloth.
Then I went to bed with my nightgown and no bra so I could get him skin to skin faster. I'll never do that again. I got up in the night and the bed was wet and I went to change him and his crying had me pouring out on both sides. So instead of changing little breast pads I have to do a whole load of laundry.

I was brave enough to step on the scale today and was pleasantly surprised. I put on 28lbs and now I'm only up 6! I dropped 22lbs in a week! I still look giant and squishy but at least there's not a lot of extra pounds.

During the day I've been trying to put Elliott down to sleep. He sleeps better being held but I figure at some point he needs to learn to sleep alone. I have a pack and play in the living room if I'm downstairs and his crib if I'm upstairs.

 

[Skadi]

Here is one of her smiles!

In her bouncer watching her friend the snail... it's hard to believe she was ever just a tiny fragile 3 lbs looking at her now!

I also finally made her name blocks, I still need to put up the wall shelf to display it on but I am really happy with how it turned out.