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@MamaB: I am not breastfeeding, but am doing a combination of EBF and supplementing with formula. DS spits up as well. I read that spit up is normal as the valves in their esophagus are not fully developed so it can't hold all the food down. Does your LO still seem hungry after she spits up? Maybe only do one side or split up the time between each breast equally if you know she eats for about 30 minutes.

Today is my first day home with both littles and so far it's going well. My bottom is still SO SORE but I'm pushing through.

G has only been getting up to nurse 1x/night but she's been nursing every 2hrs during the day.

@MamaB: try to switch sides after 15 minutes

We are doing well, other than big brother's fever. Compared to big brother, this guy is a champion sleeper! Probably because he's a pound and a half heavier. But breastfeeding is also going much better, for two main reasons: 1) I know what I'm doing/how to latch, so other than some early trauma due to a 22-hour nurse-fest when all I had was colostrum and that was clearly not enough, it's not very painful, and 2) I had a huge oversupply with DS1, so I took measures early (namely, feeding on only one side for at least an hour) to get that under control, which means we don't have hindmilk/foremilk imbalance, and while I'm often engorged, it's not quite as awful.

As for night time, little one generally goes down with me at 9, and then wakes twice or so before 6:30/7, when big brother gets up anyway. He's only had a few nights, though, so it's hard to establish a pattern yet. But WAY better than big brother And much better than the end of pregnancy, when I was getting about 3 hours a night.

Naps are awesome. We held big brother through his naps, which, while sweet and awesome, is clearly not practical with a toddler. So we're using a swing, and I think it's teaching him to sleep a bit more independently. I hope that pays off in the long run!

@MrsBrewer: Yes, for now. Over time, I'll slow it down and then eventually put him in it not moving, then switch to the crib. I did the same with big brother, but didn't start until he was 3-ish months, so it wasn't quite as magical (I started using it to extend cat naps). The swing is (for now) in our living room, and I generally won't leave him without checking on him for more than 5-10 minutes, but it is a lay-flat swing.

@MrsBrewer: I wouldn't worry about her getting too used to it at this age. I mean, they were constantly moving for 9 months...to expect them to stop cold turkey is pretty rough (although awesome if the LO can do it). I'll probably start slowing the swing around 3ish months. I'll probably also start trying for occasionally crib naps around then, just to see how they go, and he also sleeps in a co-sleeper at night (or at least, that's the goal. For now, he's more often in the bed with me), so his sleep isn't always moving. I also sneak a cuddle nap in whenever possible, but it's tricky with a toddler.

I started DS1 in the swing around 3 months, and I think he was a consistent crib sleeper by 7 months or so (and night sleep was in his crib in the other room by 4 months).

DS had his 2 week appointment today. I thought things were going well but the doctor was not satisfied with the weight gain. He was born 7lbs5oz and today he was 7lbs10oz. She made me an LC appointment for tomorrow. I've been meaning to do that for my own comfort anyway. My boobs have been the biggest post partum challenge. Daily clogged ducts and sore nipples plus latch issues.

LO1 has been handling the big sister transition well. She loves "her baby". I hope she stays healthy because it is going to be hard to separate her and DS when she gets sick.

@Corduroy: sorry that the feeding has been difficult. The first week LO wasn't gaining proper weight and I ended up switching to EBF and then realized I needed to supplement as well since I wasn't producing enough. FX that it turns around for you and that everyone stays healthy!!

In terms of baby and newborn hood, it's going well overall. Last night, he slept like a rock star, but wouldn't nap at all today. I got desperate, put him in the Tula, and walked around the neighborhood for an hour. He slept in the Tula happily until he didn't. Our peds told us to let him nap 2-3 hour naps during the day and longer ones at night. We're sticking close to that.

@Corduroy: That sounds like a reasonable gain to me. My ped said they just want them back at their birth weight by 2 weeks old. That's good you are seeing the LC though for your own comfort and you can see what she says about LO's weight gain.

Things are going pretty well here. The first 10 days or so I was in a world of hurt due to my tears/episiotomy/hematoma. I also had super sore boobs due to latch issues. While I still have the boob pain, my bottom is feeling mostly better. Fortunately, my parents were here when I was in the most pain and they provided great emotional support and help with my 2 yo.

My LO is a great eater (I think she weighs over 10 lbs now!), but for the life of me, I can not get comfortable nursing her. I've had LCs look at the latch and they say it's okay though not the widest/greatest, but it is pretty painful. She might be clamping down or doing something else weird. I had mastitis around the 2 week mark... that is finally better thanks to antibiotics, but now I am having some other issues. I think I am going to take baby to an ENT to see what they say about her lip tie and slight posterior tongue tie.

Baby is pretty good in general... mostly very easy to soothe, though sometimes she will only calm down if I am holding her (which is fine, just makes it hard to get anything done)!

She went through a period where she was projectile vomiting 1-2x per day... it is still happening, but not quite daily anymore. Like today, she spit up once or twice, but no major vomiting. I have been trying to position her so that she is nursing uphill/against gravity because I think my milk comes out fast... I've also been stopping to burp her a lot, and taking a break before offering a second side to see if she's really hungry.

Her sleep is decent... she usually wakes around 8, 11, 1:30, 4:30, and 6:30 or 7. Usually she nurses for 20-45 min and goes back to sleep easily, but there have been 2 nights where she just would not go back to sleep and was up for 3 hrs+. It made getting my 2 yo to school rough!

J is doing really well so far as a big sister. So far she hasn't been jealous at all. Here are some pics of the two of them from H's newborn session.

J got to feed H a bottle of pumped milk for the first time today, and she was so cute... I heard her tell H, "Good job, baby sistah! Drink all your milk. You are going to grow big and strong, just like me!"

I will say that it is taxing to care for two kiddos though! My husband hasn't been doing well lately, so I have been doing 90% of the caregiving/100% of taking care of the house. It's okay now, since I am off from work, I just hope he will be doing better by the time I go back.

@78h2o: glad to hear that things are overall getting worked out! Definitely sounds tough caring for both while DH is sick. It's interesting to hear about the projectile vomiting. W started vomiting about a week ago and over the past 24 hours we are trying not to burp him to see if it helps, which so far has! Feels almost counterintuitive not to burp but W actually farts A LOT so I figure he's getting the gas out that way.

@Mrs.KMM: sorry to hear about your supply but glad to hear your recovery is going so well! Have you tried taking anything yet to increase it? I'm just starting to try a couple things myself.

@Mrs.KMM: if continuing to give pumped milk is something you want to do, there are some things you can try to boost your supply. Power pumping, mothers milk tea, lactation cookies, oatmeal, drinking plenty of water and eating plenty of calories. I'm sure other mamas have more tips...

@Eko: and @Ash: I've tried power pumping and hydrating but I'm not interested in taking supplements and such. I'd rather just give formula at that point.

@Mrs.KMM:

The second time around has been much easier. She is a pretty easy going baby. She only cries when it's taking too long for me to get ready to nurse she's nursing for 10-15 minutes every hour and a half to two hours with some longer stretches in between.

The repeat c-section was way easier than my first. I was able to go out with both kids a week after. I still have my bottle of painkillers because I never felt I needed it! i do have some nerve pain in my back where I got the epidural but I'm hoping that will go away

@mrsbrewer thank you for starting this board. I feel like I have been really up and down in my pp experience. Recovery from my c section was really hard and took two full weeks to feel more or less normal. I still get sore easily but it's a lot better now. Baby blues was rough, especially when my dh went back to work and C started cluster feeding. She still only sleeps 2-3 hrs at a time with occasional 4 hr stretches. Today it's been less than 2 hr between feeds (bf) which means I'm totally exhausted. On the plus side I lost all 30 lbs of my pregnancy weight by 3 weeks pp.

@MrsBrewer: I was overweight before getting pregnant too, so I have a long way to go before I'm happy with my total weight loss. Right now I' just relieved not to be stuck 30 lbs heavier than I started, but still a long way to go.

@dcyogabee, that sounds really rough! Have you talked to a lactation consultant about managing the oversupply? I've heard cold compresses can be helpful, and expressing gradually less and less before a feeding. Feeding in a more upright position is also supposed to help the baby have more control if you have overactive letdown. Wishing you luck with the colic, I can only imagine how difficult that is given how frustrated I get with her crying for even a few minutes.

@MrsBrewer: no, I think that's fine. However, that does give you the opportunity to pump and freeze the other side if you want.

I am jealous of everyone's awesome weight loss! I am still up about 25 pounds! ugh! (I ended up gaining 45). That puts me about 35 lbs above my happy weight, as I just barely had a normal BMI before I got pregnant. I have my work cut out for me. I work at a weight management center, so I definitely feel pressure to come back at a reasonable weight. Too bad breastfeeding and lack of sleep make me starving! I'm trying to make good choices, but need to do better.