SMEP success buddies

[CertainTurton]

Hi beauty, CONGRATULATIONS!! Im sorry you are having trouble with bf and I can assure you it Is very common to be Painful, in fact you are lucky if it doesn't! I would expect he isn't latching well and you are prob right about your milk just coming in. I can say that expressing is NOT an indication of ho much milk you have or he is getting, babies are very efficient! Who have you got help from? If your nips are bad you could pose use shields to help them heal (I am having to use them all the time due to flat nips) but do try to not we them as they are a faff! I really hope you can keep going but please don't feel bad if you can't, I was going to stop many times and smiley has recently. I'm only going to 6months (if I can make it!). Good luck

 

[CertainTurton]

Steph- woo well done on getting rid of the dummy, Eleanor is becoming quite attached to hers and I do have to pop it back in a few times well done on the dtd, we did the other day (1st time since new yrs eve!!) was ok for us (but of course I did have a vag delivery) but eleanor did start to wake at a crucial moment (we were in the spare room) oh well.

Smiley- eek so exciting re the house. HOpe you had fun how's the bottle feeding going? I had a milk explosion in costa the other day (shield came off, flashed etc) and I must admit I was tempted to stop again!!

Hoping- you are so strong not finding out! I'm so please it all went well

AFM- we are good. My ear infection is clearing up now, just finishing the antibiotics. Eleanor is fine now however we have a tooth coming through!!! I'm Pretty sure because she is drooling, chewing everything (although she gets frustrated coz she can hold her toys very well yet) and we can see a little bit of white peeping through!! I have been using the gel which seems to help she is also now too big for her basket so we have brought the cot into our room! The last 2 nights she has been in the basket in the cot and then tonight she is going straight in the cot! Eeek wish me luck! I find it strange not having her right next to me and also not being able to rock it! She does tend to do a longer stretch from about 8.30-9 for about 6-8hrs! Then a smaller one of about 3hrs so not too bad, but she doesn't settle well after the night feed so I often don't sleep well after 3/4am- yawn!

How are you all?

 

[smiley330]

Hi Beauty!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Pleeeaassee give us details Name, weight....

So glad he's arrived!! Enjoy every moment!!

Oh hun, it is so common for it to be painful - are you using any cream? Laninsoh is AMAZING. Seriously, just plaster it on all the time. As Certain says, it sounds like maybe his latch is not correct - it shouldn't be that painful for the whole feed, so if it is, try and get him off and on again. Do you have a midwife that will come out to see you and check how he is latching? Have you seen pics or youtube videos of how it should look? It is hardwork, but it will get easier and you will get to that point where it wont be painful! With expressing I wasn't able to get anything out until he was about 5/6 weeks - I found that really hard! If you do feel like you want to stop though, then don't feel bad at all - you have to do what is going to make you and baby happiest

x x x x

 

[smiley330]

Certain - Bottlefeeding is going well thank you, he's getting on fine with it. It's helped with his reflux as well as we're using SMA staydown milk, so I guess being able to pick a formula to suit him is one perk of formula feeding. I still would ideally like to have been bf'ing him, and it does still make me sad - but at least he's happy and hasn't cared about the switch.

Oh gosh, you are doing so well. I imagine it is a right old faff with the shields - are you finding it a lot easier now though?

Wow, can't believe Eleanor is teething! Sounds like she's not too bothered by it which is good! What gel is it you are using?

Steph - How are you? Haha, I know what you mean about having to choose between house size and area! It's a tough one

Oh - what bottles do you use? I am using MAM ones at the mo, which he gets on well with but they leak all the time and it's dirivng me mad. So I'm thinking of swithcing to Avent or Dr Browns... Any opinions on those? I used Dr Browns with F, which we fine, just like the look of the avent ones

AFM - well BBQ was lovely yesterday. Was nice to see everyone. OH's sister is pregnant, so I was just chatting to her - she's just had the 20 week scan, they found out but not telling anyone. She really wants a girl, I think it is a girl - she said that she didn't really believe them so is getting all neutral stuff just in case. I think if she'd have been told boy it would be more definite? I dunno, the suspense is killing me!

Oscar is getting so big - he really is huge. I put him in an actual outfit yesterday (he's been in sleep suits only so far) and he looks MASSIVE. He's so long and so "stacked" haha! I need to get him some more clothes though, Steph - some of the 3-6 month stuff you uploaded the other day is so cute!! I need to know where you shop! Oh and Oliver is just gorgeous, seriously seriously cute!!

x x x

 

[smiley330]

Hey girls,

Oscar just had his 8 week jabs this morning. He had a 3 hour sleep then woke up bit before 3pm SCREAMING. Proper pain scream. Every time he moved his legs he screamed more. I gave him some Calpol which seems to have taken the edge off (just crying when moving legs as opposed to screaming) Took about an hour to kick in though, so he was screaming solidly until it did.

Have any of yours reacted that way? DS1 had no problems at all with any of his jabs so not sure what is normal?? I'm sure it is normal, but it seems an excessive amount of pain?!

Maybe i'll post this in baby club as well...

x x x

 

[CertainTurton]

Hi smiley - Eleanor has just had her 12 week jabs today too! With her first set she was similar to oscar in that she slept for ages then woke crying but i have to say with her the calpol worked so well we were back to smiles rather than still crying. We did have to give more in the night though. I think it is normal but i hope it improves for you!

Eleanor is pretty grizzly now and it wasnt nice at all - they nicked a blood vessel so there was blood all over her babysuit fx we both have ok nights!

 

[smiley330]

Certain - how was Eleanor? Oscar was alright in the end, the calpol must've done the trick - went to bed as usual and only woke up once for a feed. Was not expecting that!! I was however, up all night with DS1 being sick . . . was not expecting that either!

x x x

 

[steph1505]

Hey ladies!! How is everyone?

Lots of poor babies here!! How r they after their jags?

Smiley - Hows F doing now? Hope hes feelin better! Did he try anythin to eat? Poor wee lamb!! I hate it when Brandon is throwing up! They dont understand what the hell is happening to them!

Hows Oscar been after his jabs? I found Oliver was really hot to touch for a few days afterwards but apart from that he seemed ok!

Weve been using the Tommy Tippee Closer To Nature bottles! We used them with Brandon so jst stuck with wot we kno! Ive heard good things abt the Avent ones! I actually had a box of them I couldve sent u down to try them but I bloody sold them on gumtree today!!

Lol Im suprised u could make out any of the clothes in that pic...there was faaaar too many of them! Its ridiculous how many clothes he has! Its all gifts...and some of Brandons old stuff! Eek lol!! Most of my stuff is from Sainsburys or Next! But I was in Sainsburys yesterday with a £20 voucher and I seriously struggled...the clothes were rubbish! I was not impressed lol! Where do u get most of Oscars clothes from?

I seen the pic u put up of him in his 'proper' clothes!! He is ADORABLE!! Seriously cute!! How is F been with him? Brandon is still totally besotted with Oliver but he is sooooo rough with him!!

Certain - eek cant believe Eleanor is teething already!! Brandon was 6 months before he even thought about teeth haha!! Aww thats such a shame abt her wee leg! Is she ok now? Hope u managed to get the blood out her clothes!!

Beauty - Hope ur doing well!!

AFM - I just burnt my hand on the iron! Lol thats the excitment of my day! I forgot to take my anti depressant yesterday and ive been a bit of a mess today! I really dnt understand how those wee tablets can affect me so much!

Olivers doing well! Hes such a smiley wee guy! There was a thread in Baby Club abt babies being Old Souls...did uz see it? Everyone always comments to me abt how Brandon has definitely been here before! But i def think Oliver is totally brand new! He is amazed at everything! He looks at me and its as if hes thinking "wow I cant believe your my mum"... Then he'l look at the wall and give it the same "wow" look! Haha!!!

Btw, wot size nappies are everyone in? Ive jst moved Oliver into size 3s...I dont remember Brandon changing sizes this quickly!!

Smiley, can I also ask, wot size of feet is F? Brandon is an 8 but my nephew who is 3 weeka younger than Brandon is an 11.5! And I wondered if Brandon has small feet for his age or if my nephew has huge feet lol!

Xxxxxx

 

[smiley330]

Hi Steph!

We went for dr browns in the end - again just stuck with we knew! Should've just used this to begin with! What size teats are u using?

Haha I read that thread about old souls and said about it in my journal - basically come to the same as u. F is an old, old soul and oscar is my new soul! It is funny to see the difference in them!

Yeah Oscar has been fine after his jabs. Apart from that initial screaming fit he's been no different. Luckily! F has been so poorly cant keep anything down. He managed to keep some water down before bed but finally, so hopefully he'll feel better in the morning. He's never been sick before so it's really horrible as he's so upset by it! OH had to come home from work to help as he just kept wanting a cuddle and bring sick all over me and everything! There's no way I could look after him and Oscar and watch not getting sick over the entire house!

But wow, there has been a lot of sick for such a small person!

F has size 7 feet, they are getting a bit tight now so think hell be on about same growth as Brandon! Wow 11.5 - that is huge!! I always thought his feet were big, but I guess not!

Ah hun, at least u know that they are helping and you are taking the tablets for a reason. It is amazing how just a tablet can have such an effect tho isn't it!

Oh and I meant to ask, what have your work done??
x x x

 

[steph1505]

Lol it is funny realising the differences between them! As a baby, Brandon slept all the time, as if the world was boring to him! But Oliver acts as if hes scared to miss a thing! His wee eyes are constantly looking around and seeing what else there is to look at! But Brandon always had this look of 'been there, done that!!' Haha!

Ah yeah, its always good to jst stick to what u kno! We use size 2 teats, have done since Oliver was born. My midwife told us when Brandon was born that the size 1 teats are hard for babies to use! So i just took that advice this time again lol! Wot size are uz using?

Aww poor wee F! Its amazing how much sick can come up! Hope hes doing better today! Mustve been so hard trying to look after the two of them! The last time Brandon was being sick, i ended up getting it so had look after him while I was throwing up too! Lol the joys of being a mummy!!

Ugh my work are a bunch of arseholes!! U kno OH works there...he doesnt want to but it was a safe choice after he was made reduntant and gaurantees money every month! Well basically with everything thats happened over the past two months (Olivers reflux, my depression) I guess he hasnt exactly been acting like Mr S*******ys (dnt wanna write companys name lol) becos hr has had other things on his mind! He made 1 wee error in his paperwork one day (because hes human, and humans do make mistakes!) And basically he was called into the office yday, was told he is underperforming, lazy and needs to question whether he wants to be a supervisor!! Im RAGING!! A couple of months ago he was supervising the biggest department in the shop & every so often they swap people about and they moved him to the smallest department, fruit and veg, to give him experience of that! They wanted him to gain more experience so that they could promote him...and now theyve decided hes to think abt stepping down!! They r lucky im on maternity leave because id have had the managers head on a plate! So now he is thinking he wants to step down but we cant afford that...but hes so angry he doesnt even care abt that! If he steps down, il need to go back early! So this caused me to have a panic attack last nite, ridiculous!! The managers just dont care abt anything except their store being the best! Dnt care abt staff at all!

I went in yday to do my shopping and everyone came up saying "i heard u have PND"... So it looks like someone in HR has a big mouth! Rage!!!

Lol rant over!!

Xxxxxxx

 

[smiley330]

Oh my gosh, that is ridiculous!!! I can't believe they can be so uncaring about their employees! As if you and your oh haven't had enough to deal with!! Gahhhh, I'm raging for you! Also them telling others about the pnd is completely out of order - I can see why you're furious!! Is there any kind of complaint you can make?

Yeah, I'm definitely finding differences in them. Although it seems they both love sleeping, Oscar just always has a look of intrigue, and he's genuinely happy to see what's going on. F just always looked so unimpressed with everything!!! Not unhappy, just like nothing was new. Oscar has this one toy that dangles from his play mat that he will smile and talk to for aggges - everything seems so new to him! F is also so stuck in his ways it's unbelievable! I can only imagine what has going to be like when he actually is an old man!

Oh also, nappies - Oscar is still in size 2's. But I put a 3 on at night - that still seems quite big!

He's using size 1 teats. I tried him on size 2's but he finishes his bottle in less than 10 mins and it makes him more windy. He doesn't gag or spill milk tho so I dunno. He's ok on the 1's, just the odd bottle he gets frustrated with. F was on 2's straight away, and went up to the size 3 quite quickly as well so it seems strange to still be using the first ones!

x x x

 

[steph1505]

Lol Oliver finishes his bottles in about 7 mins!! Haha! But he doesnt get windy at all so I guess its okay! Hes now getting to the stage where he screams wen we take the bottle out his mouth! Lol greedy boy!!

I havent tried Oliver in size 3s yet...Ive got about 5 size 2s left tho and then il jst put him in the 3s!

I seen we have the same mat...wot toy is it Oscar chats to? Brandon would only speak to the orange monkey so we took it everywhere...and lost it!! So i bought Oliver a big orange monkey yesterday and he LOVES it!! Hes sat talking to it all morning and squeezing its wee foot so it squeaks lol!

How is everyone doing? Any exciting plans for the weekend? Our weather is horrible so think Im just gonna spend it doing housework! Ah fun! This has been the worst summer ever! Oliver has all these gorgeous summer clothes that hes probably never gonna get to wear!!

Xxxxxx

 

[smiley330]

Hi girls!

Well OH, me and Oscar all got hit with F's lurgy yesterday. It is such a nasty bug! MIL took F for the day and had him over night so we didn't have to worry about him. But seriously, it was like a scene out of living dead with us 3 at home. Luckily Oscar was taking small amounts of water by the afternoon and then he had his bottle at 6pm and kept it down. Before that he was just chucking it all straight back up or was not interested in feeding at all. He had the most horrendous nappies as well.

Anyway, once Oscar was in bed we crawled into bed. I woke up Oscar at 11 to give him another bottle as he'd had so little during the day, and I felt much better by then. So we're lucky it was only a 24hr thing!!

But, after giving O his bottle at 11 he slept through till 7 again!!! Yay!!! OH got up to give him a feed at 7 and he went straight back to sleep - he's still asleep now. (i cant remember the time we last had a lie in??) So I think he must still be sleeping off the bug? Either way, he's been asleep for over 15 hours - he's a sleeping machine.

Will defo be sticking to the bottle at 11pm ish though

Steph - the toy O likes off that mat is the duck! He actually loves all the little animals on there but particularly has a good relationship with the duck! He lies there working his little hands out to hit it and when he manages to touch it he is so happy!! It's so cute! Ah that's so cute Oliver loves the monkey so much! We keep losing that little one from the mat, mainly cuz F keeps pulling it off and throwing it about!

How much milk is Oliver having? I'm glad I'm not the only one with a greedy baby

Plans for today - wait for O to wake up, will prob then get up and head outside to give us all some fresh air. Tho, the weather is crappy so not sure if we'll be able to. But need to get out of the sick house!!

x x x x

 

[steph1505]

Oh no!!!!!! That sounds horrendous!!! Ur poor wee family I hate having tummy bugs!! Poor wee Oscar! Altho...yaaaay on the sleeping Thats fab! Glad the late night feed is working now

Is F feeling all better now too? Aw is ur weather horrible too? Its pants isnt it? Ive got all the windows open cos its roasting...that horrible stuffy heat! I think it needs to thunder to clear the air! Yuck!

My mat doesnt have a duck!! I feel robbed haha!! Thats so cute though! They must get such a sense of achievement when they hit something!

Oliver is still on 6oz bottles but he has started draining some bottles so I think it probably wont be long til hes on 7oz! That scares me for some reason! The most we ever gave Brandon was 8oz bottles and he stayed on them til his 1st bday...how the heck is Oliver nearly on 7oz at 11 weeks old? Haha!! He'l be on abt 15oz by the time hes weaned haha!! Thank god I get his milk on prescription...he'd cost me a fortune!! What is Oscar taking?

Xxxxx

 

[smiley330]

Yeah F is all better now, apparently he was telling everyone 'mummy sick, daddy sick, Oscar sick, I'm not sick outside any more' - haha. One of the times he was being sick I picked him up and rushed him outside to do it! Bless him!

Oh no, no duck!! Haha, u should feel robbed! It is a good mat tho isn't it, I only got it for Oscar as my friend had one and F used to love it. So I searched one out 2nd hand this time

O is having 5oz bottles, I occasionally give him 6 but his reflux doesn't cope well and he looks really uncomfortable afterwards. So haven't put him up yet. F was on 6/7oz bottles at this point tho, but he never went above 7/8 - I think they'll get to a point and just settle on that amount? I used to think id end up having to fill 2 bottles for F at one point!! Haha! Luckily he slowed down. We get O's milk on prescription now as well, nice little perk!

Yeah, the weather is that horrible muggy kind. Big black clouds all over the place, def need a good thunderstorm!

x x x

 

[steph1505]

Aaaw bless wee F!! Haha hes so cute!! Glad uz are all feeling better! Does Oscar seem better (im assuming hes up now )

Yeah the mats fab! Glad I kept it from Brandon! Weve got the rainforest jumperoo and highchair too! Lol i went a bit crazy haha!

I worry that Olivers reflux would resurface if i move him up! I think im gonna keep him on 6oz for a wee while jst now! He'll still happily go 4 hours between feeds so hes not starving lol!

I tried Oliver in his bumbo seat today but his wee head kept going right back! Lol hes got head control, jst not good enough yet lol! I held his head tho and he seemed to like it!

Thats so good u get Oscars milk on prescription too! What kind is he on?

Xxxxxx

 

[smiley330]

Haha, we've got the rainforest jumperoo too and the rainforest swing - didn't purposely go crazy for the rainforest stuff, just kind of happened

Ahh I can't wait to get the bumbo used again. F was only in his for a short time as his legs were too fat haha! Ah I bet Oliver looked very cute in it!

Oh yeah, if he's still going ok between feeds then he prob doesn't need putting up yet - it's hard to make the call tho isn't it. If they'll take more I feel like I should give him it.

We are using SMA staydown for his reflux. It def helps, but we still have to be careful not to lay him flat. If he's on his mat or nappy changes he has to lie on a pillow. Otherwise he just looks very uncomfortable and will def puke up which doesnt bother him but he also will get hiccups - which annoys him a lot!! He also hates his carseat, so we can't put him in that for long. Ah well, as long as he's not screaming in pain from the acid I will happily be careful on these few things!

x x x

 

[steph1505]

Hey ladies!!

Smiley - we still need to be careful with Oliver too wen lying him down etc! Defo worth the extra caution if it means hes happy!!

Certain - hows u and Eleanor doin?

Hoping - hows u and bumpy?

Beauty - hows u and ur beautiful family?

AFM - dont really have much to say except Oliver laughed today! It was such a beautiful sound!! I cried!! Hes just such a bundle of joy!!

Xxxxx

 

[smiley330]

Awww Steph, that's so lovely!!! I can't wait for Oscar to laugh, I don't think he's going to do it for ages though x x x

 

[steph1505]

Aww he'll prob suprise u!! I totally wasnt expecting Oliver to laugh when he did! Ive spent the whole afternoon trying to get it on video to send to OH at work lol! Xxxxx