Discovery Home & Health

Happy Easter to you all as well[]

Gemma, that angel care monitor sounds good, where did you get it from?

Kristen, we are moving Stella out this Wednesday at 4 weeks but I will definitely get that movement monitor as well as the bt one for peace of mind. Hubby has even suggested an infrared video...obsessive parents which we are.

Kay, that is a great news about weight increase for Joshua, 9 pounds after the first few weeks of worry you had. Good luck with the house selling. Talking of moves, how is your house searching going Alex, did you like that other place you went to see?

I have succumbed to the Gina ford way after we noticed that Stella was relying on us rocking her to get to sleep. We have done a couple of times of crying down for 10 mins which was heartbreaking and really hard but it worked and now she can go to sleep and soothe herself. I had to have the bt monitor on silence and watch the lights.

Anyway, best be off, I am following all you lot and trying to buy a sensible car with a large boot and more than 3 doors!

Emma xx

morning all,


i've had a very stressful two days !!!! gareth's parents have been down and i cried basically non stop all of saturday, they must of thought i was crazy ! i also hit the front of my car whilst reversing out of my drive and dented all of the front and cracked the lights.
also gareth and i are constantly getting at each other, he's going back to work on wednesday so i'm hoping some space will make things a little easier !
sebastian is lovely though, such a good baby at the moment, although he suffers which mild colic i think. and i'm not that good at helping him to bring up his wind, but i guess i'll get better at it.

emma- what sort of car's have you been looking at ?? the house hunting is sort of on hold at the moment. as not really finding the time to look much on the internet.
is dan back at work yet ?

lorraine hope you feel better soon[]

kay - how did the house viewings go ? did you like any ? also have you had much interest in your home yet ?


kristen- are you still getting on well with the routine ?

i best go as it's a lovely day and sebastian needs a bath before we go out

alex
xx

me again, what a nightmare again ! dont think i'm coping well to be honest. it took 3 hours to get sebastian ready to go out and i've he's been non-stop crying all day, i dont know what's wrong with him.
i'm mainly breast feeding him, but i dont think he's satisfied with my breast milk as he's always hungry so i've tried feeding him myself for 30- 40 mins then topping him up with formular but then he just seem's to suffer badly with wind/colic. i also really wanted just to be able to breastfeed but my boobs just dont seem able to keep up with the demand.

gareth and i are also still getting at each other all the time [V]

i dont know it just seems like you spend 9 months waiting all happy and excited for the baby to arrive,to find out it's alot harder than you ever can imagine ! and i hate the fact that i dont seem able to cope with the breastfeeding.

sorry just needed to get things of my chest

Hi Alex, only just read your posts hun, sorry, don't get stressing I know its easier said than done and I have felt exactly the same as you I promise it does get easier and I know what you mean about the 9 months looking forward to the baby and then finding it harder than you thought so you aren't the only one, just remember its early days and I still have days where I'm really down and just cry, I felt like crying this afternoon for no reason what so ever!! as for you and Gareth getting at each other, its just because you are both so tired, Rob and I have had days where we just snap at each other (well mainly me snapping and getting really really angry which I have never been like before) its normal just keep saying sorry to him and he should do the same just tell him your finding it hard and I'm sure he will understand as long as you both keep talking and telling each other how you feel you will be fine, have you spoke to the midwife or health visitor? hopefully you have a nice one and feel you can talk to them about how you feel, your doing great at the moment I promise [] what Rob and I do is like a night shift patten where Rob will look after Josh in the bedroom for 3-4 hours and I get some sleep on the sofa then at about 3ish we swap over and Rob sleeps on the sofa for the rest of the night (he doesn''t get up for work until 8.30) so we at least both get some sleep as before we did this neither of us slept, its not ideal but its made it easier for both of us not listening to every movement Joshua makes. As for the breast feeding I can't really advise you but your boobs will catch up with the demand just keep at it, I wished I could have done it but Joshuas jaundice just didn't improve enough and he wouldn't latch on, you sound as though your doing great though and if you want a chat just mail me, you will be fine I promise hun.

lots of love

Kay xxx

Hi Alex,

Just read your post, am feeling for you 100%. It could be a growth spurt that Sebastian is going through, has he reached 3 weeks yet?

I found expressing milk even if it was 1 oz an hour after feeding brought up my supply much quicker. Nightime seems to be a more productive time to express than during the day.

It may be hard but what I recommend is trying to stretch out the non eating time so when he does eat he eats full meals and your boobies will be fully recharged. We tend to do driving or pram which seems to settle Stella for a bit before feeding.

Once you start seriously producing milk then what me and Dan do is that Friday nights I have worked up 2/3 days expressing enough for a whole nights feeds so Dan does the shift from 10pm to 6am and it's amazing what a whole nights sleep can do for your mood. I was so exhausted and this completely rejuvenated me.

Take care and keep in close contact...I am also on e-mail.

Emma

xxxxxx

Hi all,

Wooo we are now on the parenting thread!! []

Im really surprised to see a couple of people using Gina, I hope its helping. One of the NCT ladies said to me the other day are you still using the little hitlers book lol lol.

And Gemma shock horror you are using washable nappies!! [] Clemmie gets through so many that I have to wash them every day!

Alex, you poor thing, I hope things get better for you soon hun, they should. I had nightmares in the beginning with getting Clementine out in the mornings or even out the house at all but now its no sweat and you will be the same I promise. Try "Woodwards Gripe Water" for wind when Sebastian is 1 month old it is miracle stuff much better then Infacol which was what i was using in the beginning but now Clemmie is old enough she is on that and it is an absolute god saver it settles their tummies instantly.

By the sounds of things your boobs are sore as he isnt latching on right so therefore isnt feeding properly so crys all the time and seems to always want more. Emma is right with the growth spurt thing also, they have them at 3wks, 6wks and 12wks and Clemmie was feeding constantly which is why I had the nightmare the other week when I was going to meet my NCT ladies. With the expressing I actually started on the 5th day after she was born, my milk came in on the 3rd and then I started expressing on the 5th day to get my milk up. If you express It will help you much better as your boobs wont be as engorged and Sebastian will be able to latch on much better. Also get an electric one as they are much better and my doesnt hurt at all. I hope that helps hun, keep us updated []

Well I hope everyone had a good easter we had a nice weekend and I finally was able to get in the garden which I have missed so much.

Clemmie is doing really well we went for her weigh in last Thursday at my doctors surgery baby clinic and she was 10lb 11oz's!! the little guzzler she is now on her bigger size nappy covers and has outgrown lots of babygrows/sleepsuits and socks!! Everyone keeps saying she has long fingers and big feet lol. We bought her loads of cool socks from H&M at the weekend they are so cute. H&M do gorgeous baby clothes too.

Emma, Is stella really having 6oz's? I think Clemmie is having about 4-5oz's as I can express that from one boob at one expressing session lol

Michelle, how are you hun? Would love to see pictures of you little boy and hear how you are.

Oops got to go Clemmie has just woken up for her top and tailing before feeding at 10.30.

tina

Hi im back,

Kristen, yeah Clemmie has been in her cot since day one but we slept in the bedroom next door to her nursery for the first week and then moved back to our room but she is fine. We did have the added advantage that our cot is the Stokke mini cot which is as long as a moses basket but wider and round so it was small for her and we can make it into a big cot as she grows. But she is in it now sound asleep and due to wake at 2.15pm for a feed.

The movement mat thingy you were talking about a friend recommended to me as her daughter like mine liked to sleep on her front and she suggested this as a good way of making sure they are ok. I know the thing now is to lay them on there backs but my mother and dh's mother both used to lay us on our fronts as babies!! So she told me Argos do cheap ones but havent had a chance to look yet.

Rach, how are you and Megan doing?

Kay, sounds exciting that you are moving. Any ideas on what sort of propery you are looking for?

T xx

hi everyone, i'm from the january thread, i felt exactly the same as you all, benjamin is now 14 weeks old and i'd say for the first 8 weeks, it was a nightmare, i felt guilty for wondering why so many people decided to have babies!!!! but now i'm ok and benjamin had really really bad colic and i used infacol and eventually changed his milk to omneo comfort from cow and gate, ask your hv about it, it really helped, and gripe water is great, at the moment you'll think that 3 months to get rid of colic you 'll never get there, but i promnise it comes quicker than you think.

benjamin still not sleeping through but you just do manage, my friend s baby slept through from 8 weeks, so have no fear!!! your all doing great i'm sure and if your surviving and you and baby are happy then it doesn't matter what time you get out of the house!!! as long as you do.

as for arguing me and ju argued horrendously at first, after first 2 weeks i would say till about 6 weeks, but we had a good talk and eventually sorted it out, you just need to clear the air, its hormones, even if you think its not, sleep deprivation and just speniding to much time together. don't panic, everything sorts itself out in the end.

i'm always around if any of you need to e-chat, hahahaha.

have faith it does get better.
xxx

Yup shock horror, reusable nappies [] Have to say it could be a total addiction, there are so many kinds and they are all so cute! Leo only poops once a day so i'm hoping my supply of 15 (when I finally settle on a kind heh) will mean I only have to wash every other day. Its real nappy week next week and a few places are doing good deals on real nappies so I should get some bargains [] Never thought i'd be the type after being a disposable gal with Thomas, but i've gone in for free range parenting this time, have a sling which Leo loves and i'm going to knit some wool longies to go over his nappies instead of wraps too. Cute!

Leo is in bed awake at the moment which has to be a first, he's not crying, just sort of cooing to himself for the last couple of hours. Not sure I could go in for the crying thing, still thing old Gina is the spawn of the devil [][] but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Alex, have a chat to your health visitor, its probably nothing at all, but if you feel it carrying on a bit its always best to speak to someone just in case. I concur with everything everyone else has said, the first three months are hell and then it just seems to gel, promise. And it probably is a growth spurt, leo just had his last one at 6 weeks and he was eating for england! Keep feeding and expressing and it will catch up.

Jabs on thursday, must remember to give him some calpol beforehand, I can remember how upset Thomas got bless him.

Think I may have finally stopped bleeding after nearly 8 weeks (!) have been referred to the gynacologist though so we'll see.

Kay, how goes the house hunting?

Anyone heard from Mush? Hope you are ok hun xxx

Ooooh, monitor wise, my Angelcare came from Argos, it was about 60 squid but I think its less than that now, and I can't fault it. I put Leo down on his front sometimes too just because he seems to cope with his wind better that way, not sure I'd want to do it without the monitor letting me know he's still breathing though!

Hope everyone else is good, we all seem to be doing fantastically well with our little people!

Gemma & Leo xxxx

Alex hun you are not alone. I was the same when I had Adam he is now 5. I was fine after I had chloe and coped really well, she is now 2. But this time I am struggling aswell, a third time mum and finding it all a bit much. Little things are taking me ages. The breast feeding is still making me sore even now and Kieran is 5 weeks old today! But I am still feeding and he sleeps though the night which is a big help. I am just getting over a bad case of mastitis which started last wednesday and made me so ill and even now my boob hurts when I feed on that side.

When you feed do you do one side one feed then the other on the next feed? You say he is always hungry. Try feeding on one side then top up from the other side. Thats what I was told, but Kieran is happy with one one feed and the other on the next. he feeds every 3 hours or sometimes 4 hours in the day and nothing all night. If you are struggling hun you are not alone, Your health visitor should be able to to help you out I promise you. Please hun don't get down, I too keep crying so you are not alone with that either. I cryed when I took my son to school this morning, I cry cos I am tired, I cry at something sad or happy. I am about lots hun if you need to chat.

Love Lorraine. xx

Alex also you might find if you feel tense baby senses it so that might be why he was crying lots. I have had a few days like that. I find taking him for a walk in the pram or in the car helps. Also laying him across my lap so his head hangs down and I fun his back, this sooths him aswell. Also try white noise this is things like having the washing machine going or the hoover and this seems to help aswell. All worth a try. It could also be that he has trapped wind and sometimes its an attention cry and they want cuddles. I have bought soothers as I have had times when it helps to sooth him and they do work, he spat it out as soon as he dozed off lol.

thanks for all your advice, it's really helped. gareth's gone back to work today which will hopefuly make things easier. i'll have to post later now as sebastian is crying xxxxxxx

Hello, haven't posted for a while as hada busy Easter, and then yesterday went to visit my Mum.

My cousin had a baby boy last night - unfortunately she was back-to-back (posterior) so had to have him in hospital with an epidural and then ultimately a c-section. A bit of a shame because she wanted to have her baby in a water pool at a birth centre and leave as soon as possible afterwards, feel sorry for her but apparently they are both well so that's the main thing isn't it?

Alexander is doing fine, has put on two and a half pounds now (he is 5 weeks old). Unfortunately he has spots on his face - HV says it's a "milk rash" or poss just my hormones still there. He looks like a spotty teenager poor thing, not such a handsome baby boy at the moment but I still love him []

The evil Gina Ford routine is still going fairly well - he sleeps about 7-8 hours at night now (10 hours on Monday night) but last night only 5 hours, DH says he thinks he didn't give him enough before he put him down. So I had to get up at 3am to feed him and he just wouldn't settle afterwards, really annoying!!! And then at 7am he wanted feeding again, aarrrgghhh!!

Alexander is still quite grizzy in the mornings and it does drive me mad but now I have just learnt to ignore him - I just get on and do what I need to do (i.e. have my breakfast, have a bath myself) and ignore him. God knows what the neighbours must think with him crying for so long!!!

I do find it easier when DH is NOT here, does anyone else feel like that? When I am on my own although everything is down to me if I want to leave him to cry if I need to do something else then I just do that - if DH is home I feel that he thinks that we should be doing something, and it seems to stress him out if Alexander won't settle. So he DH is stressed then I get stressed too. Does that make sense at all???

Still using Infacol but now he is over a month maybe I will give Gripe water a try.

DH and I went out for the first time alone without Alexander on Monday - went to a football match (we are season ticket holders but obviously haven't been to matches in the last couple of months - lent our tickets to some friends). My sister and her partner babysat and loved it. It was very strange, must have thought about him about 100 times!!

Hope everyone is well. I think it is always going to be difficult but we have to enjoy the good times and know that there is light at the end of the tunnel! [8D]

K
x

hi everyone-glad new thread's been started[]
oliver will be 7weeks on friday.....how time fly's when you're having fun eh????[]
I must be the odd one out as oliver loves his infacol[:0]
He's doing really well,only up once at night but must admit he loves to sneak into our bed in the early hours.And yes i too have gave in and gave him a dummy when he needs it,but i agree with lorraine he only uses it to settle and then spits it out.
Sorry ive not been on for ages,but its been really hectic and to top it all ive taken shingles in my face[][][]
Will have to go,hubby and i are escaping for a walk in the woods-where we live in pitlochry,the woods are right in front of our house.
Love to you all xxx

Hi All

Hope everyone is ok and hope your feeling better Alex, Lorraine hun keep your chin up and hope it all gets better for you soon, sending you both lots of big hugs.

Yvonne, Joshua is also 7 weeks on friday hehe, it is funny how they share the same birthday [] hope your shingles heal up soon and you feel better quickly.

Mush hope your ok and your little one is well, hopefully you will be able to post soon.

Rach how are things with you?

Is my baby the only one who wakes several times in the night for a feed!!!! what am I doing wrong????

Gemma, hope your ok and little Leo is well, I'm dreading the injections with Joshua as I don't think I will be able to watch and I didn't know about the calpol is it normal for babies to get a bit ill after their injections?

Well I have fell in love with two houses and off to see another one tomorrow and I can't wait, mine goes on the net this week, will post the link when it does so you can all have a nose [] these are two of the houses I like:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-10917818.rsp?pa_n=4&tr_t=buy
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-8108174.rsp?pa_n=5&tr_t=buy
I'm in love with the 3 storey hehe.

Anyway on a totally different thing Joshua was back in hospital yesterday and has been diagnosed with reflux and is now on infant gaviscon, I was ok with this and getting on with mixing it with his milk and stuff and then today the doctor from the hospital rang me and said not to worry but there was an abnormality with one of Joshuas blood tests they did last week (can't believe its taken them over a week to find this out!!!) and he is on the borderline for having something wrong with his thyroid she said it was nothing to worry about but they need to do another blood test but not till June!!!! I was in a bit of a state and just agreed to it but now I'm worried its something serious so going to see doctors at my surgery on Friday (had my doctor since I was born so I trust him) and going to get him to find out more for me. I'm sure Joshua is fine as he is gaining weight and getting more and more active everyday but I am a little worried. Will report more info on Friday after appointment []

Lots of Love Kay xxx