*****May Bluebells 2012 ***** So far 23 Pink 17 Blue and 12 Yellow!!!

[aimee-lou]

Just a quick update from me - Eddy and I have been discahrged from the midwife. He maintained his birthweight which is apparently amazing considering he was so big lol. He's doing well, sleeping well at night too apart from his playtime seems to be 3-4.30am lol but he went from 10pm-3am, then awake for about an hour, then back down til 7.30! He's demolishing 4oz feeds so we're playing with makign 5oz's - every time we do he starts snacking again though lol.....seem to be throwing more formula away than anything lol. SMA seems to be working well though - did with Earl too so he seems to be following his brother's footsteps. He's taken 4oz's this morning and is currently asleep in his chair.

In other news Earl and hubby have a cold or something (hubby is particularly bad). I am going to stop using non-bio after todays' washing is finished. He's allergic and I'm worried Earl may be too, and this may be making both their colds worse. We only use it on Eddy's stuff, but of course he's holding Eddy all the time and his bed is in our room too.

 

[Nits]

Aimee, I'm happy that eddy is doing so great!
It sucks that your other guys hav a cold.

Amy has thrush and has been on medication since Thursday but I don't see much improvement. Any advice is welcome

 

[Boothh]

I never thought about using bigger sized bottle teats, teddy takes forever with a bottle and you have to wind him loads or he gets tummy ache, I think it might be because he sucks so much and takes a lot of air in, but at the same time I'm scared if I up his teats it might make him not want to bf anymore as obviously that's slower.
My milk seems to be drying up too, we still bf before most feeds and Inbetween too but he does what some others have described and comfort sucks quite a lot do he probably isn't getting that much milk out, I don't think we will be bf for very much longer but we have done our best and I'm glad we will have made it to a month tomorrow where he's still bf

Wow just cannot believe he will be a month old tomorrow!

 

[Boothh]

Ps nic - 9lbs seems like loads to me! Teddy was 7lbs 8 on Thursday! He is a little titchy lol, weird for me that's he a month old nearly and still over a pound less than Jesse was at birth ha x

 

[vespersonicca]

I don't think we will be bf for very much longer but we have done our best and I'm glad we will have made it to a month tomorrow where he's still bf

Wow just cannot believe he will be a month old tomorrow!

Congrats on your 1 month marker! It's hard work so a big for your efforts despite the struggle!

 

[FlowerFairy]

At 9lb she still seems so small My friends had babies weighing 10lb 3 and 11lb 6 !! James was only 7lb 11oz and i remember thinking how little he was!
Aimee, hope the boys colds get better soon and Nits, I dont really know much about thrush but I hope it clears up soon!! xx

 

[KendraNoell]

Boothh- a lot of the stuff I read says if you're still bf-ing then don't go up on the size because you want the nipples to be as much like the boob as possible and the boob is a slow flow so bottles need to be as well.

Well, since yesterday around noon I have had him on medium flow and its been fantastic. He used to only take 1-2 oz at a time, then fall asleep, wake up an hour later and finish the other 1-2, now he takes 3-4 at a time and falls asleep longer. We had a four hour stretch from 1-5 last night and then he was up til 5:30, went back down til 7 and was down again at 7:30. I think he has just a slight bit of a tummy ache but I think that's going to happen until he gets used to taking in that much more at a time. He's sleeping through it though I think if his tummy ache was really bad he wouldn't be sleeping.

 

[vespersonicca]

Well, since yesterday around noon I have had him on medium flow and its been fantastic. He used to only take 1-2 oz at a time, then fall asleep, wake up an hour later and finish the other 1-2, now he takes 3-4 at a time and falls asleep longer. We had a four hour stretch from 1-5 last night and then he was up til 5:30, went back down til 7 and was down again at 7:30. I think he has just a slight bit of a tummy ache but I think that's going to happen until he gets used to taking in that much more at a time. He's sleeping through it though I think if his tummy ache was really bad he wouldn't be sleeping.

Great news! I bet you feel better also since you're getting more consecutive hours of sleep! Makes a big difference.

 

[KendraNoell]

Yeah, last night was the first night, when I got up for the feed at 5 I was sleepy and then even more so when I got up at 7 but I feel great now. I'm hoping this is a trend. But man I wish OH would get up at night too! I hate doing it alone! And he's supposed to be getting up every morning at 8 to take over for me but yesterday he slept until noon and then asked why I didn't wake him (I had to pull him off the bed when I went into labour and was on the ground sobbing because I couldn't wake him up, so its humorous to me that he asked why I didn't try to wake him yesterday) and so far its after 8:30 and he's not up this morning either. Grr.

 

[Nits]

Wow, I knew someone like that once who wouldn't wake up no matter what you tried.
That's awesome that he's sleeping longer, Kendra

I'm seeing the lactation consultant tomorrow. I'll let you know what she says but part of me is mad, I don't believe I need to see her... Hope I'm not being stubborn.

 

[KendraNoell]

If it helps, remember its not about you, its about making sure your LO thrives and grows, and whatever you have to do to make that happen whether if its what you planned or not, that's your job as a mommy that is what I had to tell myself when things didn't work out they way I had hoped for bf'ing.

 

[bumpin2012]

Ana: I hope you dont really need to see her too, but better to get on it quick, just in case...trust me, I waited too long and I really dont think im going to be able to bf Gabe much longer.

Kendra: your sooo right! I wish that bfing was easier for us, and as much as I want to do it, its just becoming too time consuming trying to feed him. I hate feeling like hes starving. I know Gabe will be happier with formula, as it will be a consistent amount of food, but Im stubborn and wont quit until he is 6 weeks old, as long as he continues to tolerate my efforts of course!

Poor baby is getting circumsized today. I feel so bad for the poor little bugger, and worse, OH couldn't get the time off work to come with, so I have to go alone!

 

[anti]

I know what you all mean about bf but kendra is right, once baby is healthy and happy that's what matters. I've got ash's tongue tie appointment on Wednesday so will see what they say. Ash hasn't latched for over two weeks now so not sure they'll even do anything. Might be too late! I'm expressing though so at least she's getting breast milk.

 

[bumpin2012]

Anti: I think with some patience and persistence, you will be able to get her to latch again. good luck!

Ana: how did your appointment go?

 

[vespersonicca]

Well, today was my first day with just the boys and me with daddy at work. All in all it went well. With my toddler's routine it made the day go by pretty quickly. Most of the time I just had a newborn attached to my boob at the same time! I even managed to paint with my toddler, go to the playground with him while baby slept in the wrap I was wearing, and get in a nap while the boys slept! Those were the highlights.

On the other hand, I really didn't enjoy the feeling of having to be unfair to one or the other quite often. For example, a friend and her toddler came to play in the afternoon and my toddler kept taking toys out of his hand. I really needed to intervene and correct his behavior by example. Just telling him that we don't snatch toys isn't enough for a child his age. He doesn't listen and needs to see I mean what I say. I did get up a few times to do just that but then there were also times when I was nursing. It seemed really unfair to the baby to have to put him down every 2 min while he was trying to eat to go intervene since I needed too hands (toddler had a fit every time I made him give back a toy of course). I couldn't do either one justice. I certainly didn't want my friend to think that I found my toddlers behavior acceptable. I did tell her out loud also but it might be more difficult at our local (larger) park with a lot of moms I don't know as well.

I could def tell my toddler was more into daddy than me too. He seems to have realized that daddy has more time for him now that I have to be with baby so much. He cried a lot when daddy left for work in the morning and was angry at me at least once during the day and called for daddy. It certainly makes me feel like I' m not enough for him anymore.

 

[Nits]

Monique, don't feel bad. I have no experience with two kids but I am sure things will work out just fine. it was only your first day without your husband at home.

Bumpin, how's Gabe feeling? How did the circumcision go?

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. My appointment with the lactation consultant went really well. She said Amy is gaining a bit on the slower side but she isn't concerned. She didn't recomment supplementing. She did put us on a more strict schedule: I have to feed her every 3 hours tops, every four once at night. She said that if I do that, she'll gain weight and my supply will go up (which is the part that I was more interested in).
And almost like on cue, Amy started asking me to feed every couple of hours, as opposed to every four hours, all by herself yesterday O_O
I have to see her again on Friday.

I mentioned to her that Amy had lost almost 10% of her birth weight at first and she told me that, throughout her career, she has noticed that c-section babies or babies born after a very long induction tend to lose a lot of weight. Her theory is that all the fluid that mother get through the IV make the baby's weight go up artificially. Apparently, there was a study released last November, backing this up.

All in all, it was a good appointment.

Also, DH, Amy and I went out to dinner and for a ride last night. I had a lot of fun. It felt "normal," we managed to talk about other stuff, not baby related. It was relaxed and fun =)

 

[Boothh]

I agree with that, teddy lost 16% of his birth weight, his weight centile is perfectly in line with his head circumference so I think that the iv may have had something to do with it x

 

[bumpin2012]

Ana: that's awesome! So glad to hear things are good.

I heard that as well. Gabe lost 10% but I wasn't induced, or a cs, but I did have an epidural, which comes with an IV infusion

Monique: 2 babies has its challenges, and I think you are doing fantastic!

Gabe is doing much better today than yesterday. We elected to get him circumcised, and I had to go on my own as oh couldn't get out of work. I have never seen a circ being done, and I think I cried more than Gabe did! They freeze the area, but it still looks like it hurts a lot. Poor baby was really swollen after and in a fair amount of pain with each diaper change. Today he was far less swollen and not as bothered by the diaper changes. God I hope the next baby is a girl!

He's finally gaining some weight! 7 lbs 10 oz! So I'm hoping it means that he is getting most from the boob juice, and that as I wean the supplement he will continue to gain. I went to a mommy group yesterday, and wad talking to a woman who had similar bfing issues as we do. He daughter is13 weeks and is now exclusively bfing. So I have so much more hope that we can do it too with a bit more persistence!

 

[bumpin2012]

Oh and Gabe's head circumference is also in line with his weight percentile...

 

[FlowerFairy]

Glad everythibg went well hun and that Gabe is gaining weight !! You'll get there with the feeding! Xxx