May 2012 babies - so far 8 yellow, 22 blue, 21 pink!

[anti]

Thanks Rachel!! How are you and jenson getting on??

And yazzy-thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to try stick to it. It can only get better!! latching is getting alot better ad although my nips are sore from the nipple shields, they aren't gettin worse so shes definitely latching better. It still hurts but I can bare it now. Last night my boobs were really engorged, think my milk came in properly!! But I was struggling to get her to latch so had to give her formula. She's latched this morning though so all ok. She doesn't seem to eat for as long today as well, which makes me think my milk is in better and flowing easier so she doesn't need to feed for as long. I keep having to wake her to feed her during the day coz she doesn't wake on her own. I'm presuming that's normal though. Midwife is coming today to do heel prick tests and stuff... Dreading it!!! My poor baby. Also dreading to see how much weight shes's lost. So nice to hear that breastfeeding does get easier... I just need to be determined and stick to it.

 

[bumpin2012]

Breastfeeding does get easier... thankfully. Determination is the key. Gabe and I are still struggling away, but slowly making some progress. I'm still having to use a nipple shield (which I REALLY freaking hate!), but now only needing it on the right side, or if he's really frustrated. I have the nurse coming back to see if I can improve his latch. Poor baby sucks a lot of air and is getting terrible gas pains. Yesterday he screamed for hours, and nothing seemed to help...poor baby.

Don't give up Anti, as long add she is making progress, and is gaining weight, its worth it!

 

[wavescrash]

Thanks Rachel!! How are you and jenson getting on??

And yazzy-thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to try stick to it. It can only get better!! latching is getting alot better ad although my nips are sore from the nipple shields, they aren't gettin worse so shes definitely latching better. It still hurts but I can bare it now. Last night my boobs were really engorged, think my milk came in properly!! But I was struggling to get her to latch so had to give her formula. She's latched this morning though so all ok. She doesn't seem to eat for as long today as well, which makes me think my milk is in better and flowing easier so she doesn't need to feed for as long. I keep having to wake her to feed her during the day coz she doesn't wake on her own. I'm presuming that's normal though. Midwife is coming today to do heel prick tests and stuff... Dreading it!!! My poor baby. Also dreading to see how much weight shes's lost. So nice to hear that breastfeeding does get easier... I just need to be determined and stick to it.

If you're too swollen or engorged it'll be harder for her to latch on so if they get like that again, try had-expressing before hand to make them a little softer and that should help her latch.

 

[yazzy]

Anti was just going to say the same as waves. One of the midwives said to me if baby hasn't fed for a while or your a bit engorged then hand express for a few minutes and then put baby on as they will latch on easier.

 

[frangi33]

hope the midwife check goes ok anti - I hate the idea that my baby has to have injections or a heel prick

Well another day for me and I'm still pregnant and still at work lol!

 

[kwood]

Hi anti just a quick note to say that my son had his tt snipped and he didn't even cry but it made bf so much easier so I wouldn't rule it out if offered.

 

[rjsmam]

hey all, still pregnant here! a brief me me post.......

just had a big shock..... my cat has beaten me to it! she very unexpectedly gave birth to 2 kittens today & we didn't even know she was pregnant

she is a wee teeny cat & we couldn't have been more shocked! at least it'll take my mind off being overdue!



x

 

[frangi33]

how awesome - congrats!

 

[anti]

kwood - thanks for that!! I've been so worried about it because I dont want to hurt my baby but knowing that your little boy was ok makes me feel better and I might just go ahead and get it snipped. I've been referred anyway and they say it takes about 3 weeks for the referral to go through and get an appointment and all that. Ashlynn has been feeding much better today so hopefully tonight will be easier as well! My nipples are still sore but Im hoping they will get better over the next few days!

Here's the first ever pic of my little princess.

 

[KendraNoell]

Congrats to those of you still BF-ing and sticking to it. I had to use nipple shields from the get-go but my boy is so strong he kept knocking them off me with his hands and by the time he could latch on he was so hungry that he just got frustrated. My problem was a combination of his latching issues plus the fact that I wasn't taking care of myself as I should and I think that stopped my milk production. I haven't breast fed in a few days and I did get slightly swollen for half a day but nothing anymore. I don't really feel bad about it as I thought I would because I tried and I gave him my colostrum which is most important, but he has put on so much weight and is so healthy looking that I can't blame myself for providing him the best instead of watching him struggle on my breast just because I wanted to prove myself.

After spending several hours in the ER and going home because I was tired of waiting after finding blood in my son's spit up when we got to the Dr the next day they were almost positive the blood was from me- and his spit up was the entire amount of expressed milk I had been able to get- at that point I said, this isn't working anymore, neither of us are happy, and I switched fully to formula.

Trying to get used to the fact that he poops a LOT less on formula. Anyone else FF'ing having the same issue?

 

[bumpin2012]

Kendra: I say Kudos to you for how hard you tried! In the end Im glad you did what was best for your own sanity and Jackson health, despite the snarky comments that I saw on facebook. Jackson is sooo freaking adorable! My friend combi feeds her 3 month old, and her LO only poops twice a week...

 

[wavescrash]

After spending several hours in the ER and going home because I was tired of waiting after finding blood in my son's spit up when we got to the Dr the next day they were almost positive the blood was from me- and his spit up was the entire amount of expressed milk I had been able to get- at that point I said, this isn't working anymore, neither of us are happy, and I switched fully to formula.

Trying to get used to the fact that he poops a LOT less on formula. Anyone else FF'ing having the same issue?

Hannah spit up lots of blood when we were BF because my nipples were so scabbed and raw and sore. The first time it happened, I freaked out and yelled at the ped's answering service and burst into tears thinking my baby was dying haha. My Mom quickly told me it was likely due to my nipples.

And yes... Hannah poops far less while on formula than when she was BF. It took some getting used to but I looked it up and formula fed babies can go 2 days without a bowel movement. It takes them longer to digest the formula than it would the BM. There are some formulas that are already partially broken down (Good Start being one of them) so they'll have more frequent bowel movements on formulas like that than some of the others. The only cause for concern with less dirty diapers is if they go something like 5 days without one or when they do go if it's hard and pellet-like which means they're constipated. Hannah will have 1 dirty diaper a day now (instead of 7 or so while BF) and sometimes there's a lot but sometimes there's barely anything. She's also on a partially-broken down formula (Alimentum) so it goes through her a little faster than other formulas. And she has a lot of gas problems so sometimes she barely passes anything and sometimes the diaper is explosive haha.

 

[yazzy]

Kendra yep you will have less dirty nappies as formula is harder for the body to break down so not as many poops!

Oh my little princess has been harder work tonight. Went to bed and she fed and fed and fed. I couldn't stop her lol. Then she wouldn't sleep in her moses basket and I'm getting exhausted. Its the oh's first day back at work tomorrow so didn't want to wake him either. I'm that tired I forgot to change her nappy! Anyway all fed and changed now and I'm hoping that we now get a little sleep!

 

[KendraNoell]

Yazzy- maybe you're having a growth spurt! I think Jackson is having one right now too! He's been eating a 3 oz bottle less than every 2 hours.

Waves- he is pooping once a day, but it is a LOT of poop so I guess I shouldn't be concerned. Its those poops that as soon as you start wiping you're stimulating their bum and they just go and go and go... LOL as long as he's having one a day I think I'm ok. And I know he's not constipated since the poops are definitely nowhere near hard, and I've still been giving him one bottle with karo syrup once a day just to keep things moving, but I don't think I really need it. He has TONS of wet diapers a day so if he wasn't going at all I would be more concerned.

I am really not looking forward to shelling out money for circumcision Hubby lost his unemployment and I'm not getting any income working so we really can't afford it Luckily the Dr said that as long as he's under 12 lbs we can do it which because he was so tiny before we can wait until almost the 2 month mark to do it. I would be back to work by then so it would be easier.

 

[wavescrash]

Its those poops that as soon as you start wiping you're stimulating their bum and they just go and go and go...

Hahaha yeah, most of ours are like that. We waste so many diapers because of it.

So in "Hannah news" - On Sunday she seemed rather 'off' to me. She was spitting up A LOT more, and more each time. Twice she projectile spit up and it was at least an ounce each time. She normally has 1-2 dirty diapers a day but in one hour, I changed her 3 or 4 times and each time the diaper was overloaded with poo. It was a different consistency and color than we're used to (and she's been on the same formula over a week now.) She felt warm but our thermometer sucks so I couldn't get an accurate temp. She was out of it and just staring off into space, lazily sucking on the bottle, etc. I was worried with how much she was spitting up and pooping out that she was dehydrated (since she was rather sluggish and felt warm.) I called her pediatrician's after-hours service to see what I should do to "rehydrate" her in case she was actually dehydrated. They said that since her front soft spot was sunken in we needed to take her to the ER. We did and she was given an IV with fluids and had blood drawn. She screamed the place down and I hope to never hear those screams again. The doc said her blood work was a little "off" (high potassium that turned out to be okay) and because she's so young, all they do is eat/sleep/poop so when one of those things is off, they get concerned. They admitted us to the Children's Hospital downtown. Once we were transferred, Hannah seemed to get better. OF COURSE!

We stayed just one night and in the morning they concluded it was likely just a gastrointestinal virus that worked it's way out as well as her suffering from reflux (like I thought she did... saw her ped about it a week ago.) We went to a CPR course, a reflux course and were discharged. Her fever was down and back to normal, no more loose stools, a lot less spitting up, wide-eyed and smiley. We see her doctor on Friday for a follow-up and will probably get meds for her reflux (her doc said she'd prescribe them if she didn't improve after adjusting to her new formula after a week.) Today has been really rough though. She's SUPER gassy so that on top of her reflux and her going through the 3 week growth spurt, we've had a long and tiring day. She's barely napped, she's screamed most of the day and it's been hard figuring out which ailment is causing the discomfort. She's back to spitting up a lot, eating more often (we're trying to give her less each feeding to help with the reflux/spitting up but she starts going insane because she's still hungry.) Both OH & I are near our breaking points today. Everyone keeps saying "Oh it gets easier!!!" But not soon enough.

I also hate that she's so calm and "normal" when anyone else is around but when it's just me and OH, she's a terror haha. Nobody believes us that she's as bad as she is. They just think we're being dramatic because we're tired and whatnot but she really is a handful. On the plus side, my Mom is putting in her two-weeks notice at work tomorrow so she'll have a ton of free time to come help out or babysit and give us a break more often.

Well OH is getting too frustrated with her for my comfort so I'm off to take over and have some words with him.

 

[zephyr]

Had my babies weighed today. Max gained another 300 grams in the past 5 days. Aria gained 200 grams but still has not gained back to her birth weight so now my midwife wants me to go see my gp asap and get referred to a pediatrician She said her heel prick test came back fine but its possible they missed something there worst case scenario, best case is she just has a really senstive stomach.

The thickened formula is the only reason she gained those 200 grams but of course we cant have her on it for long as her poos have started hardening up, so today we switched back to a standard one but shes back to vomiting again This is so frustrating! The thickened formula is only meant to be short term to give her tummy a rest cos shes still too little to use it.
I expressed yesterday and she threw up the whole lot. Tried the normal formula again today and we thought we were in the clear but she vomited it all back up on me again just before.
This sucks, but will ring my gp in the morning and hopefully see him tomorrow afternoon.

Hope everyone else and their babies are well!

 

[yazzy]

Zephyr have they looked into s dairy intolerance or something similar for Aria.

I've been out with my mum visiting friends today and Lola was pretty chilled the whole day. The health visitor came round today and was lovely. Gave me loads of useful advice and was really pleased with Lola. She had her hearing test and all results clear and she was weighed again and is now 7lb 1oz...so she's piling on the weight!

I hope everyone else is doing well and settling in with their babies. I could have ranted at the oh who seemed to think I should have had dinner ready tonight...ummm its not gonna happen whilst I'm settling with baby.

 

[rjsmam]

had a sweep at the mw's this afternoon - she said i was already 2-3cms and thin/soft/effaced so all those tightenings i was having have been doing something....... currently bleeding quite heavily & think am having contractions........ am trying not to get too excited as i seem to have had so many false starts


x

 

[zephyr]

Good luck rjsmam!!

Yazzy. Im not sure. If it was would she still vomit breastmilk?
Waiting for the doctors office to bopen so i can book in hopefully they dont take too long finding out whats wrong.

 

[wavescrash]

Good luck rjsmam!!

Yazzy. Im not sure. If it was would she still vomit breastmilk?
Waiting for the doctors office to bopen so i can book in hopefully they dont take too long finding out whats wrong.

If you're eating anything with dairy in it, she would vomit breast milk. One way to tell if your bf baby has a milk or soy intolerance is to cut both out of your diet for a few days and see how baby reacts after feeds. Hannah spit up breast milk and is on a hypoallergenic formula (not milk or soy based.)