Discovery Home & Health

Hi Everyone

Sorry for the long term absence!! Feels like I've been doing nothing but breastfeeding, changing nappies and desperately trying to get some sleep. Harrison is now 3wks and 1 day old and now a whopping 7lb 14oz. He had been waking every 3 hours for feeds but since Friday all changed. He's been really unsettled and only settling for maybe an hour at the most. Health visitor thinks he may have colic so she's suggested I try the Infacol at each feed but for me to also stop drinking cows milk for 48hrs to see if that helps. Gonna get some goats milk today so I can have a half-decent cuppa!!

Seems like we are all going through pretty similiar situations.
So glad I'm passed the sore nipple stage, I can see why so many women give it up. I'm recovering really well from the caesarean.

Anyway, must go and put some washing on before he wakes up....

Love to all, speak again soon

Paula xx

Hey All

Feeling tons better today, walked into town and back this morning and Maisy slept really well last night so feel quite refreshed.
The past few nights have been horrid though, Maisy was waking at 2.30am and not settling back down until 6 ish so I have felt absolutely shattered and silly little things have got me down. The Midwife has done her final visit and so I only have the Health Visitor calling now which is alot better as I used to have to stay in all day waiting for the Midwife.
Lost another 2lbs so my weight is going int he right direction and I finally had a Baileys with Ice last night which Ive been fancying since Christmas.

Lisa - Glad your feeling much better after your trials and tribulations of labour, I didnt breast feed as I didnt fancy it but do feel for you not even been able to give it a try.

Paula - Its nive to hear that your well and the Infacol works a treat. I didnt even have to use it every feed, just in a morning and evening and after just 2 doses it seemt to do the trick. Its definately worth the �2.50!

Rachel - Glad Rhys is feeding well, I cant beleive how Maisy has altered in jus 3 weeks and I bet your the same. Shes longer and has chubby cheeks now, Are you seeing more of Rhys personality now? Maisy seems to becoming a right little character.

Hey Jen, Katy, Nic and anyone else Ive missed. Hope you and babies are all fine and dandy

Lots of love to mums and babies

Claire and Maisy xxx

Hello all

Well I reached the tearing my hair out stage last night. Rhys had been crying non stop from 10am - 11pm, Tues and Weds. I've been using infacol, but it wasn't having any effect. This morning I tried a dummy, he's taken it, and he's now been asleep 2 hours. Yeah it's early days, and the health visitor is coming at 1pm today so I'll talk to her about it.

I keep reading that breast fed babies don't rarely suffer from colic!!!! Why are we having such problems then?? I've started to worry if it's something more serious.

Paula, it's really interesting about the cow's milk. After what you've said I'll give it up for a couple of days too, fingers crossed for us. How is Harrison now, does he seem more settled??

Clare, good to hear you are finaly on the mend. Well done on your walk too, and the weight loss. I made the mistake of weighing myself this morning, and still no change. Will take a leaf from your book and go for a walk later. Glad that you and Maisy are doing well. I've noticed that Rhys has started to make gurgling baby noises now, he's grown a few cm and put on loads of weight too. I can't stop looking at him I think he's so beautiful. I've also noticed he has chubbier cheeks too.

How's the feeding going Katy and Nic?

Hope you're feeling brighter Lisa.

Hope you are Ok Jen, guess you are very busy at the moment with Grace.

Hello everyone else

Rachel x

Hi Rachel

Sorry to hear you are also having problems getting Rhys to settle.

I gave up Cows milk from mid monday. Harrison seemed back to normal on the Tuesday night feeding 3 hourly again and didn't seem to bad yesterday but last night he was only going 2 hourly then that changed to on the hour from about 5.30 this morning. Not sure what Rhys does but Harrison just seems to screw his body up and gives out a whingey moan. I've also tried the dummy but he won't take it sometimes but will suck on my little finger quite happily!! He's been unsettled today so it might not be the cows milk. I read on another topic that Camomile granules or something like that were recommended and a friend said that they used Dentinox on their little one and it worked a treat. Will see what happens tonight and will give my HV a call to see what she suggests next, gripe water I think she said.

Hang in there (difficult I know!!) Blimey - surprised we haven't all taken to alcohol to help us through []

Let's hope something works soon for us all

Take care, Paula xx

hello all,

sorry not been on for a while, just can't seem to find the time! and even now tom is making pre-feed noises so will have to be quick!

he is now 3 weeks and 2 days and is 8lbs 8, put on a pound in a week!!! he's a right guzzler!
he is still feeding loads, and for ages each time, but the last 3 nights has slept from 1-5 (for 4 hours, hooray!!), so i am praying that he will stick to that!
dh back at work this week, but have had my parents so not facing the being on my own until next week, know i have to do it soon but it's so much easier with someone else, even just to make you a sandwich for lunch or other such small tasks.

paula, i hope you find something that works for harrison. i heard that letting them stretch their legs can relieve pressure on the tummy, so try letting him lie down without a blanket or anything and have a good kick? or i saw somewhere about stretching out his legs when actually feeding, almost like a pumping action, to try and ease things? good luck hun.

rach - good luck to you too, did rhys sleep for much longer? what did the hv say? oh, another thing i thought of that a friend told me, was to hold them facing the flood, either lying on your lap or just holding them as that puts some pressure on their stomach which may let out a burp or two?!

claire - well done on the weight loss, i dropped about 8kg straight away and nothing since, boo hiss, stuck on 67kg at the mo, trying to get out and walk more, but been watching the tennis, or busy around the house, too lazy i know!

lisa - bad luck re milk not coming in, at least you missed out on the painful nipples! ouch! your labour sounds eventful, bet you're glad it's done now, hope you are recovering well.
that goes for everyone of course.

nic - tom does the same, a long feed, finally stops, then 5 mins later wants more. dh thought it might be because it's warm, they need a drink more often?

jen - how are you doing?

hope i haven't missed anyone, kt

Oh wow, peaceful baby today. He's been alseep ALL DAY just waking for a feed and nodding off again, pure bliss, although I'm sure tonight he'll be wide awake so I might try and keep him awake for a few hours this evening.

Thanks for your comments Paula and Katy. The health visitor went through all the obvious suggestions, but then added raising the head of his moses basket incase it's related to heartburn, giving him a bottle of cooled boiled water (even though he's breast fed), not eating tomatoes???

Glad you're back on the milk again Paula, fingers crossed our boys will be happier and content now forever []

Katy, it certainly sounds like Tom is making progress to longer between feeds, keeping my fingers crossed he keep it up for you now. Being woken at 1 or 4 am, somehow seems ok at this time of year. I'm sure if it was mid winter I'd not be able to sope so well with Rhys waking me at 4am. It's interesting what your friend says, during the night I always feed Rhys lying on my side in bed. Not sure I could manage to sit upright at 4am and feed him though. Might give it a go if things go pear shaped again.

TTFN

Rachel x

Wow lucky you Rachel having Rhys sleep allday, I'm soo jealous []

I like the idea of raising the head of his moses basket. I might try the same tonight and see what happens. Haven't heard the tomato theory - boy I'm paranoid about what I eat now in case it affects my breastmilk!!!

Hi Katy - well done to Tom aswell, 4 hrly - that's super []

Right I'm off for a cuppa before my little treasure wakes again, hopefully he won't for a few hours, I've been trying to settle him since 4pm and he's only just gone off and that was because he was lying on my chest bless him....!

Speak again soon, Paula x

Hello all!

Matthew is actually sleeping so I am taking the opportunity to catch up on here. It was Pauls first day back at work today and Matthew generally will not settle if you are not holding him so I just sat on the sofa with him, dashing to the kitchen to warm up feeds until Mum was free to come up to visit me at half one (bearing the gift of a ham roll which I had never been happier to see in my life)

Matthew is still sleeping for around 3 hours a time at night. Well, he will sleep from 12-3 ish then 3-6 ish but after that its generally game over and once you factor in the time it actually takes him to take his feed etc I am probably getting about 4 hours total a night...not too bad I guess!

Paula - I find Matthew will only settle properly if he is on my chest too. He really seems to prefer being in an upriight position

Rachel - All through the day all I want Matthew to do is sleep but as soon as it hits his 9pm feed and I want him to stay awake so he will sleep later the little monkey is out for the count!

Katy - 4 hours? Wow! I really hope that continues...the world isnt such a bad place when you get some sleep is it!!!

Oh, Matthew was weighed 2 days ago and was 10 lbs 3 ozs...what a chunky monkey...I'm hoping the big babies sleep through the night quicker thing that I heard is true!!

Anyway, best be off or Matthew will wake up and I wont be ready!

I'm sending lots of sleep long vibes to all our bundles!
Speak soon

Lisa xx

Hi everyone Thomas isn't very well at the moment firstly he has eczema and we have to cover his body in cream for that, he has oral thrush so has medication and also has a chest infection so he is on antibiotics i am worried about him overheating and having fits as he is not well so have just got a bodysuit on him and a loose sheet which he keeps kicking off i keep checking on him constantly and im absolutely shattered mother in law is helping out a lot but sometimes she really gets on my nerves as im so tired and she is 65 yrs and very old fashioned in her ways she does help but its frustrating sometimes

kelsx

hi all, grabbing a quick moments peace before tom stirs again!
he's still mostly on 2 hourly feeds,(the 4 hour bits were just a wind up i think!) sometimes more often and def is having little drinks with this heat.
given up on clothes for the moment too, just wearing a nappy - by the time the heatwave passes, he'll have grown out of loads i'm sure!!!

kels, big (((hugs))) to poor thomas, hope he is getting better. i'm not even bothering with a blanket/sheet/anything at the mo as he only kicks it off. and if i think about me, i kick off the duvet and am comfortable sleeping with nothing on top of me...
don't let the MIL get you down, i know how it is but take the help and ignore the advice!

lisa - sounds like matthew is doing well, great weight! how are you finding it without paul? today is my first official day without dh, so far so good, tho i only had breakfast at 11.30!

hello to everyone else, i know it's hard to find the time to post, but let us know how you're doing, even if it's just a quick word ( or a long oan about sleep deprivation! i'm with anyone on that!!).

keep well, kt

Hello all
Wow it hot hot hot

Poor you Kels, like Katy says, take the help of MIL and ignore her advice. I hope things get better for Thomas and you soon [:X]

Paula, how is Harrison now? Things any better??

Lisa, I think we should follow your lead with sleeping through. If your baby is the biggest hopefully he'll be the first to go through the night, fingers crossed that should be really soon for you.

Katy, shame about the 2 hour feeds, fingers crossed the 4 hour ones resume again soon. Rhys has already grown out of a lot of his newborn body suits, he's not even 4 weeks old [:0]

Rhys is doing better now, seems his unsettled period is over, although he does cluster feed in the evenings, I think it's a comfort thing rather than hunger.

I went into town at the weekend and got my hair cut, so I'm feeling much better, still can't get into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, and I resent buying anything which might not fit me in a few weeks.

Has anyone resumed bedroom activities yet??? We've bought the condoms, but have not progressed further. DB is getting a bit frustrated now, and I'm having plenty of naughty dreams, but I'm so scared of doing anything in case it hurts me.

I'm going to attempt a trip to Tesco and Homebase on my own later, blimey that is sooooo scary!!!

TTFN

Rachel x

afternoon all,

rach - how was the shopping trip? i'm with you re clothes, i got my pre-pg clothes out of the loft but none of them even nearly fit. plus now none of my tops fit cos my bbs are bigger! wanted bigger bbs for ages now they're here i don't want them! and they're only a C cup, sympathies to all ladies with even bigger!

we haven't resumed in the bedroom yet either, going to wait for the 6 week check unless i feel strongly about it beforehand. all is well down below but any spare time in bed is kept for sleep right now!!

tom is growing out of clothes really fast too, luckily we have stacks from friends of bigger sizes.
he's still feeding loads, and i'm finding night times difficult, luckily my brain seems to kick in with positive hormones every morning so i'm not too down!

how are we all doing?look forward to hearing from you all & pictures on the msn site too!
kt

Howdy all!

We went and registered Matthew today..he's actually an official person now! We have to re-register him next year after we get married, I am quite glad about that fact as I was always a bit upset that Matthew would have a different name to mine on the birth certificate but never had a clue it was a legal requirement!

Kels, I hope Thomas is doing better now. I dont know if it is the same where you live but the weather has gone back to cold here today so hopefully the overheating at night wont be such an issue for a while.

Matthew has been getting quite sweaty in this heat and like alot of you, I have only had him in a nappy or sometimes a vest but have not had him covered over in his basket at all. We bought a fan as it has just been so hot but it is really noisy so we ended up not really using it anyway. Cant believe I am saying this but I hoope this cold weather that has turned up today continues...its not like I can really get out anyway!

Blimey, talk of bedroom antics! With my stitches such activities are way off in the future for me. I am still not sure if I will have to go back to hospital to be re-stitched. When the midwife came yesterday she said there is no sign of them starting to heal yet, they are still very open and raw looking (nice). I have the doctors tomorrow so hopefully she might make a decision then. I really wish I would hurry up and heal, I just want to be able to get on with things properly now...getting around is still a real struggle but at least I dont have to wee in the shower anymore, that really grossed me out but was the only way of doing things!!

Right, enough rambling, I am off to post some pictures of Matthew on the group page thing so go and have a peek if you get the time.

Big hugs to all your little ones

Lisa and Matthew xx

Hi girls

Sorry if it seems as if I have fell off the face of the earth.

My ME has returned unfortunately and I haven't been able to cope as well as I had hoped but this week has been a bit easier as Stephen is now at work and I am not having to do as much.

Grace is doing really well at the moment although she went into hospital at the weekend as I was watching her in her moses basket and one minute she was happily sleeping and then the next she had a fit, it looked like she was having an epileptic fit but her head stayed still and her eyes were still shut.

I called the Doctor straight away and he came out and told us to go straight to the hospital so that they could check her.

The pediatrition was absolutely brilliant and she didn't have anymore fits through the night.

They let me watch a DVD showing a 10 week old baby having a fit and I confirmed it was identical to that and they said it was just Benign Neonatal Sleep Myoclonus, which happens when babies are in a deep sleep and is completely harmless, thank god.

Grace has finally started to gain weight, which has been a massive struggle and had to top her off with formula as she wasn't getting enough from my milk but has made her really sicky and now projectile vomits.

A new pic of Grace in her little dress, she was only a few days old and looked sooo tiny then.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i204/jen__photos/Photo-0063.jpg

Love Jen x [:X]

hey jen, the fit sounds terrifying, glad it wasn't serious in the end. good that she's putting on weight now. cute pic!
stephen being at home shd be less work not the other way round surely?! but i know what you mean, once dh went back the days are quieter and i feel less like i have to do anything! like having him home at night tho!
bad news about the ME, is there anything you can do about it? or just battle on?
loved the cat email, v funny & cute! can't imagine that my 2 boys were that small once!! speaking of cats, dead bird in bedroom this morning, nice.

lisa - that's reassuring for you that matthew can bre re-reg'ed next year. how are the stitches? what did the doc say? best of luck, they sound pretty awful.
saw the pics, lovely, awwww! aren't all our babies georgeous!!

i have a dilemma, went to see health visitor earlier and she gave me some advice that i found contradictory with b-feeding 'rules':

1) she said to not feed him at one-ish at night, just at 11ish, then 3ish. but i said i thought demand feeding meant i fed him when he demanded it? she said no!!!! and said think logically, we don't need a cup of tea at 11, then 1, then 3etc. so he shouldn't need a feed at 1! what to make of this??? so i said what if he screams for feeding at 1? she said well i can only tell you, it's up to you what you do but he doesn't need it at 1!!!

2) she recommended boiled water maybe at the 1o'clock if i think he's 'dry'???
and boiled water to help ease wind. i said i thought i wasn't meant to give water when b-feeding, she said well you can give him infacol which is drugs or water (making it clear which she thought was better).

i dunno, i was clear that breastmilk was all he needed and i shd feed him when he asked for it, now i'm confused. i must admit that i don't warm to her so maybe i'm resisting her advice on principle...

any tips?
kt