Month of March... parents of February, and a few January babes!

[country girl]

hi gals... lost in the busyness of feeding, entertaining my mothers boredom and sleep deprivaton.

ophelia.... aaahhhh the medical system in the USA well and truely SUX.... Im so sorry you could get no help....... we have so many avenues here including free phone helplines for breastfeeding and new mothers problems.... I hope that you can get help today....

jillian...so glad that your mothers group is so great... and you are learning some great tips...pass on as many as you can to us....
enjoy the cake..sounds like a great idea.
Im glad that the breast pumping is going well... one trick the midwives told me is to put the little bit you pump in a bottle after feeds and freeze..then when you next pump add it ontop of the frozen layer and freeze...that way you have fresh frozen breast milk and a full bottle ready for defrosting.

elena.... sometimes I think online forms are more effort than they are worth. I have had issues with an online company I bought a sleep positioner off which did not come with the original order... which was placed 8 weeks ago. anyway they only are contactable by email... so Ive had 6 weeks of emailing to them with no resolution and them virtually accusing me of fraud... if I could just have spoken to a person it would have been resolved in 5 mins....very frustrating...needless to say Im not using the company again.

mum...sounds like you are learning some great tips... like the hot one...also if their tummy is cool to touch they are probably cold...
sounds like you have got the breastfeeding down pat..... I have yet to try the sideways lying position... might work on that tomorrow.....

julie.... to upload photos...go to advanced... and click on manage attachments. then in the top right is an add file/photo button... click that and browse your photos and select..when you have all the photos that you want to transfer then click upload photos. once uploaded click done and they will be on your page.,
If your files are too large they will not work and you will have to reduce the size.

thanks for your lovely comments about arabella.
She remains a great baby... she slept 1am-6am the other night... today she has been a little unsettled and clingy.. and hungry... upto 11 feeds and she usually only needs 7... and shes really gutzing the milk on both breasts.... of course the lovely high volume poos have started so lots of fun.
My mother is really driving me nuts at the moment... not sure if I will survive another 3 weeks... she just has no understanding of sleep deprived tiredness and moods....She constantly says about how she has come to help me... but spends all day playing bejeweled on the computer and does nothing...then I have to ask her to clean the kitchen or hang the washing out for me... and its often met with resentment as to why Im not doing it. I already cook her dinner every night. Ive got to the stage where it would be easier with her not here...sigh.....
today was a terrible day as we went for a walk... while she was pushing the stroller we were getting ready to cross the road...she was not looking and stepped out infront of an oncoming car... I was so terrified I could not move and I was too far away to grab her.... so I ended up only being able to scream "car car car ....stop stop...car...car.." she was so startled she stopped... and then had the bad grace to inform me she saw the car... even though she was blatently looking in the opposite direction.... so I just have this near miss horror film in my mind now and I dont trust her with the stroller at all... this is actually the second similar episode....
Its like her mind wanders... I am seriously wondering about alzheimers or dementia after all the carry on this week...my mantra seems to be " I told you dont you remember" as she asks the same question for a 3rd time....sigh..
So tonight we had a huge blow up... ending with me saying "Im going to F...king bed and ending with " get over yourself" as she was basically inferring that she had done all these things for me and I should be eternally grateful....sigh....
so I ended up in my bedroom with arabella upset and crying (which is not me at all) so score one to sleep deprivation and a difficult mother..... I need some space... she is very clingy and does not leave my side except to sleep....sigh.... I think I will go for a walk by myself tomorrow...
anyway enough of that.... got to change a nappy...

[mullinska]

Mum, Nursing in a sling... I don't think we got the hang of that until around 5-6 months!! And for using the sling, I don't think we were successful until around 5-6 weeks. I think it just takes a little extra effort when there is so little head control. I have not tried yet, but alas, we are only at one week old!

julie, when you upload your picture, there is a URL code listed at the bottom, there are 2, the one on the bottom, copy and paste it and put it in your text body and it should come up. it starts with [img]

Elena, so sorry about your insurance issues... what a pain in the rear! I hope you are feeling better and can avoid the mastitis.

Grape, I hope that your efforts are helping with the spit-up. I have found that sometimes Fiona only wants one breast at a time, after 5 minutes I have to stop her to burp. Then I put her back on the same breast and if she wants more after that one seems empty, then I put her on the second one. She only goes to the second one a few times a day. Of course, my milk came in sooner and I have much more supply since this is baby #2. I am hoping that it makes the 3 week growth spurt a little easier this time around.

Ophelia, I hope you get a call today. It sounds uncomfortable.

Jillian, you are the pumping queen!! That is great that you are getting so much milk. Also great to have the mom's group.. and free to boot!

Newbie tips: #1 When you have lots of spit up on an outfit or a diaper blow out, most onesies can be pulled down instead of over the shoulders, that way you don't need to worry about hair getting stuff on it. #2, there is a way to hold your baby belly down over your forearm when he/she is fussy with gas, Allison loved being held like this, I am sure there are pictures in your baby books to show and you can use your other hand to massage the belly.

Ok, so I know it was a fluke, but we had a 6 hour stretch last night!!! Oh my god, I feel human this morning! Of course I leaked all over my nightshirt, but it was so worth it. I had to pump off the 2nd breast since I was leaking and Fiona only wanted the one very full breast anyway. Then she slept another 3 hours after that. I can handle that schedule... but I am sure it was a one night only thing! So the breast pads go in! I am waiting for fussy aby to start up soon... So far, nothing.

We went to the library yesterday for storytime. Their storytime is fairly small... only around 8 kids, so I thought it was a good place for a first outing. It was so great to sit on the floor with Allison while she listened and she kept pulling my arm around her, so I know it meant a LOT to her. Fiona slept through it all and my hubby came and graded his lab reports in case I needed help. Fiona woke up for a snack when it was all over and all the kids had left, great timing.

So I guess that is it. Allison is back in school this week and I am enjoying a little quiet time While Fiona naps, it feels a bit strange MIL arrives on Sat night and will be here for 5 days and then my dad will come at some point after that and then hopefully I will be at a point where I can easily get Allison off to school in the mornings. I am going to have to start putting Fiona in the car seat for naps when it comes close to pick up time at school.

Allison is also being a bit more affectionate this week. She is also feeling better, so we will see how it all goes. One day at a time!

[mullinska]

Country, we overlapped in posts, so sorry to hear about your mother, there are some similarities with mine. This time she was more helpful, but last time I was making breakfast for her and whatnot... it was so tiring. She wanted to go out shopping and such, it was really not fun. At least this time she could drag Allison around with her.

I hope things settle soon... Sometimes a big blow out it needed to clear the air. I know my mom constantly talks about how she had 4 kids blah blah blah.. and I have to remind her that she was also 28 when she had me and 28 and 38 are a bit different in recovery from childbirth!

So sorry about the car scare as well! I can't even imagine what it is like!

[jenmom2myboys]

Grape, I was told t use Lotrimin on my nips whe I thought I had the yeast infetion and it immediately helped.

e, That sucks about your Insurance.

Last night was better, back to his old self so I made it through the night without Scot. e, I think you are right I feel more tired and irritable than I did on the beginning, don't know why.

[jenmom2myboys]

country, I feel fo ypu. I am still not speaking to my Mother after her visit of nonhelpfulness, lol. I think she is also losing it. I had to repeat things a million times. She left the car in drive and tried to get out of it at Talon's daycare and used some overthe counter meds onTalon without asking me, argghhhh!

[Grapecrush]

Jen -

Grape, I was told t use Lotrimin on my nips whe I thought I had the yeast infetion and it immediately helped.

Which type?

[jenmom2myboys]

Lotrimin AF cream in the tube.

[MumInWaiting]

Country - Ugh, sorry to hear about your mum, and that is really scary about crossing the road. I remember you saying you have a sibling and your parents helped a lot when your nieces or nephews were born. Does your sibling have any advice as to how to take your mom's "help" and make it more useful? Maybe channel her towards tasks that she will do that actually help you out??

Mull - Story time sounds divine! Oh wow, I'm jealous of your 6 hour stretch. I'd be happy to wake up SWIMMING in breast milk if I was able to get a stretch like that! Of course, if/when it does happen, I'm sure I'll panic and think Toby stopped breathing or something...

Jen - Glad last night was better.


AFM, so last night was horrible. I am so tired I can't even remember how the night played out, but it was definitely broken up into very short intervals of sleep. So, this morning right after the morning feed I pulled out the pump and was excited to set it up. I had that special bra all ready, hooked it up, started it, and then...NOTHING. After 5 minutes, I had maybe 2 drops of milk. I think Toby had run me dry. It was the most disappointing experience ever. Of course, as a result I really don't want to pump any time before a feeding since he clearly needs everything he can get with his round-the-clock eating. But, now I don't know how on earth I'll be able to get some milk to have on hand.

Any suggestions??

[jillian15]

Mum - that was a MAJOR concern in my moms's group yesterday, especially for those moms getting ready to go back to work. The nurse/midwife who runs thr group suggested two things. One isn't something I think you'd want to do any time soon - which is giving one feeding with formula and then pumping during that feeding. This was her suggestion to a mom who will be going out of town for work for a FULL week her second week she is back to work. The second thing was just to pump after feeding to get what you can get, possibly if one breast isn't completely emptied. Do you use a double pump? Did you have the setting on low? It took me a while, but after a few days I was able to crank the suction up and that was the only way I could get my breasts to empty (I could feel some really hard spots toward the very bottom and very top of my breast.).

[jillian15]

poop question - So, Ada's poop has been consistently yellow mustard seed... starting last night it turned to green and mucusy... now it is sort of mustard seed, but more a green color? Any idea why.