***Jan & Feb Mummy and Baby***

[BunnyN]

Our girl spent loads of time awake and very alert from her first day. We have a video of her laying on her back kicking and smiling and looking around at everything whe she was lesthan a week old. This little man is much sleepier and doesnt smile yet at 4 weeks old but he is beggining to be a bit more alert already.

 

[blondy13]

Hi ladies! Just wondering if I could join? My little girl Imogen was born on 06/02/15 at 38+3 after my hind waters popped so Labour had to be induced. She was 6lb 12.
We are currently bf and expressing as we just can't get the latch right. Not sure what to do as its not a route I want to go down long term, I have a toddler to look after too and expressing is just way too time consuming. So feeling a bit torn about that.
Oh and imogen hates her Moses basket! Any tips?! She's ended up snoozing on me for past few nights but I know its not ideal or safe.

 

[TS1982]

Thanks Nat xx aw she is gorgeous xx

Welcome Blondy congrats, have you tried warming her basket before popping her in or something with some of your milk on it as the scent helps them xx

 

[CARNAT22]

Hi blondy and welcome. Congrats on your new baby.... I adore her name.

I expressed for a week but thankfully Bee went back on the boobs when my nipples healed. Otherwise I think we'd have had to gone to ff. Having James means being attached to a pump isn't the ideal thing for us (being attached to baby isn't going down too well as he keeps telling me to out baby down lol)

As for sleeping I have no idea. I am still sleeping downstairs with baby - she is in her carrycot or baby chair as she will not go in crib.

X

 

[sorpresa_bea]

Hi all, I'm super overwhelmed. First time mum and all, and struggling seriously with the BF latch and baby Rio is not gaining enough weight.

Tinsel - mine also has tongue tie This results in very short, hassled and fussy feeds, then he's hungry again within 30 minutes or an hour. Or he keeps trying to feed and we spend like 2 hours trying to feed. It's been such a tough time for us all: baby, mum and dad. I have the help of a midwife who's specialised in lactation, and hopefully we'll get some good progress made. I have started to express and we will feed him by syringe at the end of each day.

Fingers crossed, all of us mummies get the hang of it soon! I could have never imagined how tough this is... I'm not enjoying motherhood at the moment... The last months of pregnancy were truly magical compared to this... Sigh!

 

[BunnyN]

sorpresa- sorry to hear you are having a tough time. The first weeks with a newborn are really overwhelming. It does get easier. It varies from baby to baby but things do settle down eventually. Last time it got much easier for us at about 8 weeks. After that it is still hard work but things get into some kind of routine. Constant feeding is pretty normal for newborns but it souds like you are having some extra issues with tongue tie so I hope you get some good support/help with that. Our hormones have to go through so much after pregnancy and birth too which along with no sleep doesnt help. Hugs

 

[tinselcat]

Sorpresa - sorry to hear that, my boy was doing the same with feeding and it was utterly exhausting. Have you booked an operation to deal with it? It made all the difference for me and he is now feeding for about 50 mins every 3 hours and I can tell he's actually getting milk now, he just wasn't before.

I understand how shattering your situation is and you have my massive sympathies, I hope it turns around for you soon and you then start to get time to enjoy your time with Rio. Xx

 

[ceecee22]

Nat, Bee is adorable. Her feet are cute lol.

Welcome Blondy

Sorpresa, sorry you're having a tough time. Our BF is still a bit hit and miss here, although it's definitely better than it was a couple of weeks ago. It feels like Freya doesn't go long between feeds so she's not getting much sleep as she takes a while to feed so by the time shes' fed, burped and changed, she has a quick nap and wakes again to feed. It's exhausting as I have a toddler too but I'm trying to just go with it and hope it improves over the next few weeks.

I've just ordered 2 new nursing bras as my boobs are even bigger now than they were 2 weeks ago. I'm normally a 34DD/32E but I am at least a 34F now. They are huge and not very comfortable. My current nursing bras are too tight, but it hurts to not have a bra on at all too. They're coming on Thursday and I can't wait now!!!

 

[Pip0902MJ]

Sorry to hear about you ladies struggling with BF and sleeping issues. I thought I was having tough at night time with Ruby not settling properly but looks like we are not alone! I knew I would but I regret not trying to BF, I think Ruby would have latched on really well too.

Is anyone else really emotional? The past 2 days in the evening, I've been an emotional wreck and sobbing at the littlest thing!

Xx

 

[CARNAT22]

More bfing woes here.

Who said it was easy / natural? Its been so bloody hard.

My current issue is (I suspect) blocked milk ducts. Lump in boob + painful to touch. Worried its going to lead to mastitis.

Also when Bee first gets on boob it hurts my nipples so much I grimace. It's literally first few sucks and then I can feed without any pain or discomfort. Well I could until boob started hurting this afternoon.

Worst thing is I'm in between gp's as I'm registering at new surgery.... should be complete late this week as I handed forms in Friday.

Can't go to walk in as I have appointments first thing tomorrow and Thursday (BCG tom and then repeat hearing test at hospital on Thurs). The walk in is first come first served so I will miss the appointments?

Not sure the dr can do much anyway. I'm using hot towels / massage / feeding as normal. Although my sucky, vampire baby is scaring me every feed. I literally have to hold my breath when she goes on boob... I haven't put any cream on for a while so hoping that helps.

She is feeding every 2 hours today as well.

X

 

[tinselcat]

Carnat - guess you have tried already but hot shower may help too?

At the milk spot drop in I went to once, a girl there said she'd been told that the first 60 seconds were always painful so she'd be counting 1..2..3 etc through clenched teeth. However I think she found things got better as time went on. I am still in the initial agony phase though so you have my sympathies! No one tells you before the baby arrives that it may hurt!

 

[sorpresa_bea]

Carnat - sounds familiar: the midwife who saw me found that I had some blocked ducts and milk already gone wrong inside. She said you need to catch it before it gets to mastitis, so she massaged my boobs to express by hand all that blocked up milk. It hurt like crazy and the milk was yellow. I have to keep an eye on more painful lumps now and repeat myself. She also said always massage breast before/during feeding, and under the hot shower.

My nipple also hurts a lot to start with, but it should only be the first minute or so, like others have said. Apparently after that, it shouldn't hurt at all. Else the baby is not latched on properly. So remove, and reset for a better latch...

I thought I was doing great at breastfeeding for a whole 10 days, and that the pains were just normal tenderness and it would pass soon enough, but then I went to a breastfeeding mums groups and I left all depressed because they showed me how many things I was doing wrong, and also cos my baby looked so undernourished compared to all the other healthy infants there.... sob!

Tinsel - the midwife said Rio's tongue tie was not too pronounced but could explain some of the issues we've been having. And that it could become a bit more flexible over a few days. So we are going to wait till Monday and see if the overall situation improves, and have a more experienced midwife check him again on Monday, and then decide if the operation is needed. They told me that ideally we should avoid the op, as he could end up "side-tongued".... Meh, if it's not one thing it's another.

So I've started to express and we're giving Rio a milk top up at night by syringe. Last night worked well, as he then slept almost four hours straight!

Fingers crossed this little one gains some weight and strain to thrive soon. Otherwise I'm switching to bottle, even though my midwife is discouraging me to.

Ceecee - sounds like you're having similar issues with Freya... Let's hope it improves for you soon!

Pip - yep, I'm an emotional wreck. I have been at the end of my tether many nights, and I cry at the smallest thing... It doesn't help that hubby went back to work this week and I'm on my own all day with the little "monster" (I love him really, but he makes me suffer so much at the moment). My mum and sister are coming to stay with us next week, so I'll welcome the extra help, because right now, I'm living like a hermit, and can't barely leave the house...

Sorry for long post - Stay strong ladies, I'm sure things will gradually get better for us all!

 

[CARNAT22]

I had forgotten how hard the early days are. Add a toddler to the mix and I just feel so guilty and rubbish as he has bee stuck in virtually since I had Bee (and before as I couldn't do much!). I take him to the local park - and we go shopping - at least every other day and I do loads at home with him but I feel like all I am saying to him is "wait a minute" / "let me finish with baby" / "in a little while"

Bee is feeding almost hourly today.

We are having her BCG in an hour so I need to get a wriggle on but she wants feeding again

Touch wood boob is feeling a bit better today though (hot towels and hot shower helped!!)

X

 

[ceecee22]

Well even though I feel BF has been a struggle and not overly enjoyable, Freya has put on 2lbs from her initial birth weight of 7lb 13oz and was 9lb 13oz this morning. She's 1 month old tomorrow so obviously getting enough milk even though it feels like she gets none at times.

Nat, I had that a couple of days ago and it was miserable. So yesterday evening I decided to try the lying down feed and it worked a dream! She fed and drained both boobs, not a single bit of pain on latching (normally its agony for first minute) and good decent gulps of milk. I have done every feed led down since and it's been a revelation. My boobs felt soft this morning for the first time, so much so I worried I had no milk lol.

Maybe worth a shot ladies as I'm so glad I tried it xx

 

[BunnyN]

I had blocked milk ducts last time. I would massage/sqeeze the lumpy parts while she was feeding and that would encouage the milk to come out. The MW recomended changing positions for some feeds to encourage LO to drain different parts of the breast and that helped too. Laying down, LO sitting up or under one arm (rugby hold) worked for us. Not sure how easy it is for you with latch problems though.

 

[TS1982]

Aw Nat he knows you're there for him which means a lot I feel same with Tyler too but we will all get through its only the first few weeks xx

Wow Ceecee Freya is doing well xx

We had hv today and Oisin is 9lb 2 now xx

 

[megsmeadow]

Sorry I'm being a proper lurker atm! On the breastfeeding side when we were in scbu the nurse had me Google biological nurturing and laid back breastfeeding. There's some great YouTube videos with the latter.
My little guy turned two weeks today and we're combination feeding. I'm still using the Nipple shield and can't seem to get away from it which makes public feeding very difficult. Lo also has the snuffles, and is getting a bit frustrated with his hiccups!
I'm not sure I posted a pic before, so here he is. Officially registered yesterday.

 

[TS1982]

Aw meg he is gorgeous and looks like he's doing well glad your feeding is going well hope his snuffles clear up soon xx

 

[ceecee22]

Gorgeous boy Meg

I tried proper led down co-sleeping last night with my boobs available and freya just latched herself on throughout the night so I slept really well in between feeds and was able to semi doze when she fed. I switched sides through the night too. We've got a super king bed though so wouldn't have tried it in our old double. Feel quite refreshed this morning as sleep normally evades we wile we struggle to feed through the night

 

[blondy13]

Aww gorgeous little man Meg. It must be nasty for them when they get a cold so young, I think it's only a matter of time when there's an older child around.
We are still struggling to get any sort of latch now. No pain any more she just doesn't like my boobs, will just squirm away and cry. But goes mad when she sees the bottle and wants it immediately
Ceecee sounds like co sleeping went well, I'm still too scared!