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@buttermilk: I haven't used any sort of schedule here! I just rock her after she eats. She usually stays awake after her first feed of the day (10-12-ish, I'm not a morning person so I keep going back to bed with her till pretty late), but other than that sleeps after most meals. But I don't pay attention to napping time, just rock her when she's acting tired. And it sounds like your DH is right. If baby gets overtired or overstimulated that's how they'll act. We took Lily to a baseball game Friday and around the 7th inning she started squalling. Didn't really stop till we got back to the hotel, swaddled her, and DH took her for a walk (she loves being outside and the white noise from the interstate right by the hotel calmed her). There was just too much to look at at the game so she didn't sleep and got too tired and then was too tired/upset to sleep.
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@buttermilk: I never scheduled my son (and I don't really with Evelyn) but what helped me was noticing their sleepy cues. I use my baby connect app to start noticing their patterns. Right now Evelyn starts getting tired (eyebrows turning red, fussing, wanting to nurse) about 40 minutes after she wakes up for the day, and then she goes back down. The rest of her awake periods are about 1-1.5 hours right now.
Look into a 2-3-4 sleep schedule (this applies to older babies). My son fell into that pattern naturally and based on what evelyn does now, I think she will too: -
Question, particularly for those of you who's babies aren't quite so brand new- how are your boobs feeling? Mine hurt at least a little all the time, and can get really painful. I'm not sure if that's something wrong, normal, or a side effect of the herbs I take (they say breast tenderness can be a side effect). I'm leaning strongly towards the latter (seems like it's worse after I take them), but I was just wondering what other's experiences are.
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@Torchwood: sometimes my nipples hurt. Like a strange sorta dull tingling ache. The same happened with my son. It went away around the 1 year mark (I nursed him for two years).
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@buttermilk: from what I've read, babies up to 6 weeks usually can't be awake for more then about 45 min to an hour. Which, when you really pay attention, is no time at all! I feed M right when he wakes up which takes about 20 min plus a diaper change...that doesn't give much time for "play"! But sure enough, if he goes longer then an hour he is way too overstimulated & over tired!
I also have that fear about my supply not being enough, especially when he's screaming during the evening. I just keep offering him the boob until he falls asleep. I'm thinking about joining a BF support group so I can do regular weighted feeds just to ease my mind.
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@Torchwood: mine hurt all the time as well. It sucks. And when I was taking fenugreek it was worse!
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Hi all- glad this thread is picking up steam again! I have been meaning to check in before now but have been following along!
Sorry to hear several of you are dealing with reflux issues- that sounds so hard. But it also sounds like you mamas are doing amazingly well handling it all!!
N is 3.5 weeks and doing fairly well. My biggest stress is feeding. I'm still EPing for now. I originally started due to latch issues/nipple damage but now N seems to have transfer issues too (weighted feed with a LC last week showed he only transferred half an ounce!) given he was a little slower to get back up to birthweight and weight gain issues I had with DD, I'm really nervous about going back to nursing and not knowing what he's getting. I just don't know if I can nurse, pump and bottle feed at every session with DD around too. It might be too much for us. I need to maintain some level of sanity! So we will see.
Pumping is proving a bit difficult to manage given N wants to be held most of the time during the day. He sleeps pretty well between feeds at night but during the day 8 times out of 10 he only wants to sleep/is happy if someone is holding him. I really need to figure out the, whole baby wearing thing! But I need something pretty idiot-proof as I'm not one who can watch a YouTube video and be good to go
Good news is DD has adjusted pretty well to having a baby brother- wants to help, constantly says she loves him, etc. so hopefully that continues!
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@OhCaptain: Yeah, this is my whole boob (especially the tops), not just the nipples. Arg.
@Portboston: Sorry you're dealing with it too, but glad I'm not alone!
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Can we sort of check in with how old all of our LO's are now? I can't remember for anyone! L is 11 weeks, 4 adjusted.
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@Torchwood: LO is 7 weeks old today!
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@Torchwood: 5 weeks today!
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@Torchwood: 1 calendar month today! Or 4 weeks and 2 days.
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@Torchwood: 5 weeks 2 days
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So far so good today! She hasn't been crying all the time like normal and we have had lots of quiet alert time in between feelings. (45 mins tops) I've been sticking to an eat, wake, sleep cycle today feeding every 3 hours.
@OhCaptain: I'm learning to watch for these sleepy cues too know. Is wanting to nurse again one of them? Bc after about an hour awake she has started to get fussy and I'm assuming it's just tired but sounds a little like she wants to nurse. I just rocked her to sleep anyway the first time and now this time I have her on the boob first for a mini session before nap time.
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@Torchwood: I'm also having boob pain often. Nipples feel fine but my boobs feel sore and achy after a feed often. If I keep popping Motrin I have no pain at all, but otherwise they feel sore and I have no idea why.
Ramona is 3 weeks, 2 days today.
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@buttermilk: I should try Motrin. This is getting old. And there's chemicals in breast milk that make baby sleepy, so nursing before a nap makes sense. L does the same thing, except with the bottle. She'll want to eat long before mealtime and pass out after 1/2 an ounce.
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Does amyone else feel like a walking stereotype? All feelings of how I can't believe how much I love her, worrying/obsessing over every little thing, sitting with DH just staring at her and talking about how cute she is, all of it. It's amusing to me how true it all is.
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@Torchwood: Um yes and I totally can't help it!
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@buttermilk: I guess I just default to seeing if baby wants to latch whenever they are fussy. The feeding before sleep is never very much.
My son was always on a eat, play, eat, sleep cycle. -
@buttermilk: I always try the boob if M's being fussy even if it's only been 45 min since he ate. I think sometimes they just want the comfort of nursing. And if it calms him down & puts him to sleep, I'll try it!
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@Portboston: @OhCaptain: overall this experiment has gone rly well! She was a much less fussy baby overall today. But of course she has been wanting to cluster feed every hour since 4pm now. Oh well!
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P is 5 weeks, 3 days!
Still having green poop with bloody mucous today. But it is more orange this afternoon, so I am hoping it goes back to normal, and we can dodge this mspi thing! She is still a happy baby, no discomfort.
@Torchwood: I constantly watch her and worry, and love on her. What a perfect little miracle!
My boobs feel way more engorged when I take my fenugreek.
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Matthew is 2 weeks 1 day today! We've had an awful day - barely any naps, screaming the rest of the time, arching his back - I know a lot of it is from the reflux. It breaks my heart he's so uncomfortable.
We are seeing the pediatric GI tomorrow. He's on Zantac but it's clearly not cutting it and neither are our regular ped's other suggestions (spacing out feedings). I am going to be very assertive in getting him on stronger meds. I don't want my baby to take unnecessary meds but I don't want him to suffer either! My mom is flying home on Thursday so DH and I will be on our own! I know we are so lucky to have the help - she has been cooking every night, gets up in the night to help with the baby after I nurse so I can get some sleep, take a shower, etc. It has been WONDERFUL. Well, I guess we will manage!
My oversupply is ridiculous. It's hard to get good advice about how to manage it - the ped, LC, etc. all have different ideas and nothing is really working. M would loooove to comfort nurse all the time but I can't let him. As it is he usually spits up like 3-4x after a feeding (and it is a TON of spit up). And I still have to pump a little a few times a day to relieve my engorgement, which is so painful - I try to minimize the pumping but I get so much milk in like 3 minutes of pumping (like easily 6+ oz) that it's probably making it worse. Ugggh. It is sort of comical though when I'm just sitting around and the milk starts just running out down my body!
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@MrsADS: maybe this is obvious, but have you tried things purposefully decrease your supply, as opposed to manage it? Ice packs, tight sports bras, peppermint tea? Maybe things that dry other women up will just decrease your supply to a comfortable level?
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Ugh, Lil is suddenly not feeling good. She fussed for over an hour, and now that she's calm she still won't sleep. She's running a slight fever (100.1). She has an appointment tomorrow already, so if no change I guess we'll ask then. It just sucks. I hate seeing her not feeling good. And I feel like if she'd just nurse like a normal baby she'd really like to comfort nurse (she keeps taking the bottle for a minute then spitting it out). And I feel guilty that it's our fault for taking her on a plane.
I hope she feels better soon.
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@Torchwood: poor L!
L is 5 weeks old today!
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@Torchwood: Poor peanut!! It's not your fault! Hope she gets better.
S is 4 weeks today!
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Weight check today. R only gained 3.5 ounces in 8 days
I am so bummed. LC/Ped says she thinks I probably make 75% of the milk she needs and was encouraging me to just accept that we probably need to supplement with formula a bottle or two each day. R is 3.5 weeks old and I really don't want to throw in the towel just yet. Dammit what am I doing wrong here and why isn't my supply where it should be!? I just don't understand.
I decided to rent a hospital grade pump tomorrow and go back to nursing, pumping and supplementing 2 oz breast milk/formula after each feed. She said to cut the baby off after 20 mins (nursing is usually 35-40) since she probably isn't swallowing a lot and the pump may be more effective at that point. So here we go. Last ditch effort I suppose.
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@buttermilk: Ugh, I'm sorry mama! Are you already trying fenugreek/blessed thistle?
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@buttermilk so sorry mama! Just remember you're doing a great job giving her even 75 percent of her food as BM. That's providing her with so many benefits that many babies don't get!
Went to the ped GI this morning with M. Loooove the new GI! He's taking the reflux really seriously and we have some new meds and things to try.... although he is a bit concerned M may be developing milk allergy.
And now we're waiting at the regular ped bc I think his umbilical cord stump is infected. It's bleeding and smells nasty and when he touches it he screams.
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@getjazzy: I've been taking motherlove more milk plus and also malunggay. Running out now so I'm gonna grab some straight up fenugreek at CVS this afternoon. I never noticed a huge increase anyway with that stuff. I mean yes my pumping output increased from like 3ml to 15ml but still not huge.
@MrsADS: thanks!
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Seriously I am going to melt down. The ped removed M's cord stump (it was just barely hanging on) and cleaned it really well - it was super bloody and pussy (sorry - gross) and she said "I really don't like how this smells." She cauterized it with silver nitrate. She THINKS that will help it, but is concerned it's trying to get infected.
She says if by tomorrow morning it is still red, or seems to hurt him, he probably has cellulitis and would need to be admitted to the hospital for 3-5 days of IV antibiotics
It sounds like that's pretty unlikely, but still... OMG. I am going to seriously have a nervous breakdown if he is hospitalized again.
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@MrsADS: hugs!
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We survived baby's first shot! She squalled, but only for a minute. And I didn't cry! Almost did when they weighed her though; for some reason that made her SCREAM. Isn't it great how they come up with new, sadder cries all the time? But baby girl is up to 9lb13oz, and doing great! (And when we got home she did her best nursing session yet. Still don't think she transferred much, but I'm fine with comfort nursing! That's what I'm here for
@Mrs. J: @getjazzy: Thanks. She seems all better today. The ped was completely unconcerned, so I guess it was nothing? Kind of confused really.
@MrsADS: Oh no! I really hope it's all fine. You have just had a lot of crap to deal with, haven't you?
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Also, they're having us keep fortifying her milk with a little formula (still just a teaspoon per 6oz, so not much), but she's gone up plenty on her growth. She went from off the chart to 5th percentile. Which doesn't sound like much, but they're comparing her to normal 2 month olds and she's only a month adjusted. I'm really confused that they're concerned. I asked, but they blew me off.
(And picture cause I can- she's so worn out after her big day!)
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One more thing. Lil has sort of discovered her tongue. She's started sticking it out a lot and licking everything. It's freaking adorable
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@MrsADS: I hope it's not cellulitis, thinking of you!
@torchwood: hooray for good nursing! The tongue poking out sounds super cute. C makes facial expressions in his sleep and I can't wait for him to make purposeful expressions when he is awake, in reponse to things we do.
Last night C slept in his cot for the first time! I decided to do an earlier bedtime, massage him with some oil after a wipe down and add an extra blanket. He didn't sleep for the first little bit but he was quiet and calm so DH and I had a cup of tea and a chat, then when we went upstairs he was ready for a last feed, change and sleep! He woke almost exactly every 3 hours for a feed and then went back to sleep with only a little fussing. I'm so glad because I haven't had naps of my own during the day so it was great to have a better night sleep, even if it doesn't last.
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@buttermilk: so, how much is she supposed to b gaining? .5 ounces a day? I'm not a doctor, or an LC, but is it possible she's just small? I'll admit, I'm just so skeptical of formula supplementation because its so hard to stop and for many women results in the loss of supply all together:
I'm a little nervous about E's weight gain myself. She was one ounce under birth weight at 6 days, so my Ped said I didn't have to come I again until her two month appointment. With my son we also had a one month appointment if I remember correctly. What is everyone else's well baby schedule? Anyway; she doesn't seem to be chunking up like I assumed she would.
And a photo, cause it's fun! -
@buttermilk: Have you tried power pumping? I'm currently doing it boot camp style since C doesn't nurse and I'm eager to see if it helps.
@MrsADS: Hopefully the cauterization helps. Hang in there!
@OhCaptain: My next well baby is at 6 weeks, which they call one month. Two months sounds really late.
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@MrsADS: oh no! You all can't seem to catch a break! I hope they don't need to hospitalize him!
@buttermilk: I was also going to suggest power pumping to see if maybe that will help? Is the concern with R that she isn't gaining enough per day (per OhCaptain's question) or she isn't staying on her growth curve? We had weight gain issues with my DD who was only 6 lbs 9 oz at birth and the drs were only concerned if she didn't stay on or exceed her growth curve. When she fell off it, that's when we had to supplement.
@OhCaptain: 2 months is our next appointment as well. I may bring N in sometime before for a weight check though as I am a little paranoid given experience with DD!
Cute pictures!
We are seeing the pediatric GI tomorrow. He's on Zantac but it's clearly not cutting it and neither are our regular ped's other suggestions (spacing out feedings). I am going to be very assertive in getting him on stronger meds. I don't want my baby to take unnecessary meds but I don't want him to suffer either! 
I am so bummed. 
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