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@shopaholic: Okay, half an ounce is what I got after our morning session. When do you normally do it then if not after feeding?
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@Adira: Kaitlyn sleeps pretty well in the afternoon (sometimes even close to 4 hour stretches!), so when I'm not sleepy and I feel kind of full, I'll pump!
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@shopaholic: How long into her nap do you start pumping? I worry about pumping and then having Xander wake up and want food and me being empty!
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@Adira: What I've read is that we're never really empty and baby is better at getting milk than a pump. I just kind of go with the flow and honestly go by how my boobs feel. lol. If they are feeling heavy and hurting, I'll pump. I've had one or two instances where she wakes up pretty close to when I've just pumped. One time we fed her a bottle. The other time, I just fed her from the boob because I was still so engorged, and man did that HELP! Pump & BF, my boob was finally soft again!
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@Adira: don't worry! The 3 oz was just at a random time in the afternoon while the baby was sleeping. I've never gotten that much when I have used my manual pump after a feed.
I think that we are aiming to give 1-2 bottles of breast milk a week until I go back to work (when he will need to take 3 bottles a week). I think that I am not going to really worry about pumping more than a couple times per week, at least for another week or so. I won't need to build a huge stash or anything.
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Anyone else still really hormonal and emotional? The first week was obv the worst. I cried watching Juno. I cry just thinking about how lucky I am to have Kaitlyn, and how much I love her. I cry every time I think about our fellow March momma, Katie. And now I cry for someone else's potential m/c and remembering how painful of an experience that was. I know hormones are super normal but I seriously can bawl just thinking about these things. Like DH brought up that he saw my cry watching the movie and then I started bawling again about how sad it was. Total lack of tear control these days.
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@mole: @shopaholic: So I decided to try pumping about an hour after feeding and was able to get a full ounce! So I'm a little encouraged - I think waiting to pump is probably the key.
@shopaholic: I feel like I'm JUST finally getting over being really emotional. I didn't cry at all yesterday which was probably my first day of not crying (Xander was 18 days). But if I think about anything emotional or watch anything, I'll definitely start bawling again. I can't think about Hubs going back to work or how awesome of a father he is or I'll start crying. And if I don't get enough sleep, I sob about not being able to sleep, haha.
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@shopaholic: Yes!! I started crying last night, it was 915, waiting on FIL to finish cooking dinner, R was fussy, and DH wouldn't let me take her, told me to go eat dinner, and I didn't want to eat with FIL and MIL by myself. I think today is the first day I haven't cried yet.
So we put R in a St Pattys onesie and were going to do a shoot with her tutu later. Only then she spit up on it. Then had a diaper blow out, when my grandma was holding her, and it got on her pants as well.
We rescheduled our newborn shoot for Tuesday morning.
R lost her umbilical cord this afternoon. Going to try her first bath tomorrow night.
How long does your LO eat for? Are you feeding on both sides during one feeding? R has been eating alot lately but she won't eat for very long each time. Starting to feel like a milk cow!!
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@Adira: @Smurfette: Glad to hear I'm not the only cry-baby (lol) here! Though, I haven't been crying because I'm tired or overwhelmed. Just more like sad and happy things are more amplified and I have less resistance to crying.
@Adira: Yay for getting more! It will come along. And I have read conflicting things about pumping before 6 weeks pp. Some sites say that in can cause an oversupply, but I started pumping more because I think I have extra milk.
@Smurfette: Oh man! I can relate! At our photoshoot Kaitlyn peed on me, pooped on me, peed on the photographer, and peed on one of the blanket props! lol! I felt like I was officially "a mom" at that point! lol!
K also lost her umbilical cord stump today while my MIL was bathing her. We've been bathing her at least every other day since about Day 2 or 3 home from the hospital (and they bathed her once at the hospital for us). The ped told us we could bathe her every day or should at least every other day.
As for feeding, I think because my foremilk comes out really fast, in the beginning K wasn't getting enough hind milk. The ped told me to try to split BF'ing on each side half & half, but K would always fall asleep in between. After reading a little more on BF'ing, I've started sticking to feeding on one side. For a whole session. Especially during this growth spurt, so she gets the higher calorie hind milk. If she feeds again really quickly after a previous session, I will continue to nurse on that side. If she is still awake after burping, then I will switch her to the other side. Several days ago, it'd be GREAT if I could get her to nurse to even 10 min. Since the growth spurt, we've been able to do 15-20 min, even 25-30 min. a couple of times! The results are that it really seems like she's grown and inch or two in length overnight!
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You ladies are making me both nervous and excited. I can't believe your babies are here and the rest of us march mamas are on the way!!
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@aprk: I know, right?!
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@Smurfette: Xander isn't consistent with how long or how much he eats, but he is usually on the boob for 15 minutes or so. I don't think he is actvely eating the whole time though. He seems to eat for 5-8 minutes a side and the comfort suck. Sometimes he'll stay on one side for 20 minutes but I know he's not eating anything after 10.
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@aprk: @Arden: We need more babies to come! Seems like there is a lull in the March baby boom at the moment.
OMG ladies! K slept for 4 hours last night! She's done that once before, but I get a little worried when she doesn't wake up around 3 hrs. But since it was the middle of the night, I just kept sleeping too! When I woke up, it was like "Oh my god! Is she ok?!" But literally within a minute of me waking she opened her eyes and was ready to eat! LOL!
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March Mommas - don't forget to update your profile that you're not "Currently Pregnant" anymore!
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@shopaholic: Yay!!! The longer stretches at night are DIVINE!!! Xander slept for four hours last night too and it was BLISS! I felt so lively when he finally woke up to eat! I even stayed up longer after he went back to sleep to pump because I was feeling so... pumped! hahaha
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@Adira: Yup! Hence why I'm actually on HB on the computer and not from my phone!
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@shopaholic: OMG, I LOVE your new photo!!!! Is that from your newborn photo shoot??? Please tell me you're posting a bunch of pictures from that somewhere!
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@Adira: I posted the 2 sneak peek pics I got here:
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/ks-newborn-photoshoot-sneak-peekShe said it would take 2-3 weeks to get the rest of them. Thanks!
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@Adira: Thanks for that reminder!
Jealous you ladies got 4 hour stretch of sleep last night. We had a rough night last night. We started trying to get her to sleep around 11, and it was 230 before we could put her down. Then she woke up 30 mins later to eat. Then it seemed by the time we got her back down, she would be up an hour and half later to eat again.
I can't believe she is a week old today! Newborn shoot at 9am tomorrow. I am so nervous for it. No clue how she is going to do since she hates being naked.
We are going to give her a bath tonight. Nervous for the naked reason, as well. Any tips for the first bath???
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@Smurfette: Happy 1 week!!! It goes fast (even though the nights are long) somehow doesn't it?!
Can't wait to hear how your shoot goes! If your photog doesn't bring a space heater, I highly recommend you use one if you have one, or turn up your house heater HOT! We had the house set at 80 degrees (per photog's instructions) AND she brought a small space heater. K loved the space heater, it would calm her down a lot.
As for the bath, my MIL did this thing with putting 2 towels on the counter next to the sink. She started with sponge bathing the baby on the towels. When DH and I bathed her ourselves, we used the Puj Flyte Tub in the sink, but I still did the 2 layers of towels for a nice padded surface to dry her off and the one underneath was dry with a hood, so kept her warm as we dressed her. Definitely enlist your DH to help. Little ones are so squirmy! Oh! And we wrapped the faucet and handles with another towel so she didn't hit her head. First time MIL held her over the sink to wash her hair, she grabbed onto the hot water handle SO TIGHT! MIL was freaking out baby would turn it and burn herself!
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@Smurfette: Xander pooped in his first bath! Don't be nervous - just make sure the water isn't too hot and remember to support her head while you're bathing her. The nurse that gave Xander his first bath in the hospital also suggested drying their face before taking them out of the bath. But Xander's such an easy-going baby - he doesn't seem to mind getting a bath. He seems confused while it's happening, but then cries when we take him out, so he must not hate it!
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So ladies, I might have jinxed myself with the 4hrs of sleep the night before. K kept me up most of the time between 12-8 am. I couldn't put her down after BF'ing and actually fell asleep on the sofa, topless, and holding her on my chest. DH actually left me there that way - can you believe that?! Oh he got scolded for that. I put her down in her bassinet, for which she slept 30 min. Then fed 3 times within an hour and half with a diaper change and a break in between. Then another feeding an hour later, where she fell asleep on my chest again.
Every time I tried to burp her or move her down from my shoulder/chest, she'd wake up. Finally I just said "forget the burping". Isn't that awful? Of course, she sleeps like an ANGEL in the daytime....
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@shopaholic: Oh yikes, that sucks!!! Perhaps she's having a growth spurt? She's almost 2 weeks now, right? So maybe she was doing her cluster feeding in the middle of the night instead of during the day? How long were her naps during the day? Maybe wake her more in the day (if she's sleeping for 2 hours) so that she'll sleep longer at night? I have no idea... And I've skipped burping before, don't feel bad! The pediatrician told me it's not as important with breastfed babies.
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@shopaholic: I am sorry you had such a rough night. Hopefully tonight will be better. I skip burping at night sometimes too.
And Reagan sleeps like an angel during the day as well! Last night we got maybe 5 hours total. We have been keeping her swaddled at night during her feedings since she falls asleep right after. So I hate to wake her back up to swaddle but I think she isn't eating at much swaddled cause she falls asleep. So tonight we are going to unswaddle, feed, reswaddle in hopes she will go at least 2 maybe 3 hours between feedings.
What do yall do with your LO's during the day to entertain them? Going to try tummy time tomorrow but what will be quick since she doesn't have much head control still. I just don't know what to do with her during the day to
DH goes back to work on Monday and I am already getting so nervous about being home with her by myself all day. Just thankful he isn't traveling yet, cause 24-7 of just Mom and Reagan time really scares me.
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@Adira: Oh she will sleep 3-4 hours, sometimes more even during the day at a time. But I will try to wake her near the 4 hr. mark. She just went through the 9-10 day growth spurt, but maybe it will continue straight through 2 weeks (tomorrow!)
@Smurfette: K's just started staying awake more after eating. We tried doing tummy time this afternoon for a minute or two, and she was NOT happy.
We've just been holding her and trying to talk to her? I need help with ideas on what to do with her too.
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@Smurfette: I have nooooo idea what to do with Xander during the day. I try to lay him on his activity mat and also do tummy time and just talk to him. Sometimes I'll just hold him and talk to him, but I don't really know what I'm doing, haha. I feel like such a poser.
@shopaholic: It's possible she's gotten her days and nights mixed up. I wouldn't let her sleep more than 2 hours during the day and hope that helps!
So Xander wasn't fussy for HOURS last night, but that meant he also didn't sleep for 4-5 hours after.
He only went 3 hours between feedings at night again, which meant I wasn't able to pump in the middle of the night. Bleh! It was nice to have a non-fussy evening, but I think I prefer the longer stretches of sleep.
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@Adira: I've read you really shouldn't wake a sleeping newborn, unless it goes past 3 hours? I do try to wake her, but she is soooo sleepy. And then what do you do with her after you've woken her up and made her upset? I can only feed so long, which usually ends up in her falling asleep on the boob again. lol
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@shopaholic: We HAD to wake Xander for feeding in the beginning because he had lost so much weight originally. Our pediatrician told us to wake him every 2 hours to feed. Now we do more on-demand, but I try not to let him sleep too much during the day so that he'll sleep at night. I'm trying to only let him sleep two hours tops and then wake him to eat. With Xander, if he falls asleep nursing, I'll try to wake him up by changing his diaper or just propping him up and talking to him. It doesn't always work though, haha. And I didn't really start doing this until recently, like when Xander was 2.5 weeks. K is still young, so it might be too early to really do anything other than feed her on demand, but waking her to eat more during the day might let you get more sleep at night.
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@Adira: Man! Even though K lost over 10% birth weight before we left the hospital, I have NO WORRIES about her weight gain now. She eats a LOT! lol! Yeah, I've been doing diaper changes in between feedings when she dozes off. Walking around, bath time.
Have you noticed his feeding time getting longer the older he's gotten? K used to feed 5-10 min., but it's gotten longer and longer and longer it seems with each few days. I don't mind - we can tell she is growing a lot!
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@shopaholic: Hmm... I don't know if Xander's feeding time is longer or not. Sometimes he stays on the boob for a while, but I think he's just comfort sucking by the end of it. I'll have to pay more attention I think.
Also, note to self: pumping an hour before a feeding is a bad idea, haha. I just tried to feed Xander and I don't think he was able to get enough! He just kept wanting to continue nursing. Ooops.
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@Adira: Yeah, I always try to pump a little after she's already been fed.
Momma Milestone: I breast fed K at McD's twice today!!! It wasn't technically the first time I BF her outside the house, but the first time was at the hospital in a private lactation room. Today at McD's was because I brought a frozen bottle of pumped milk but they didn't have warm water in the restroom to thaw it out. I ended up feeding her standing up in the handicap stall!
Gross, but no choice. What's a mom to do? Later, she was still hungry, so I fed her sitting outside of McD's at a table, but I used a blanket as a shield! Definitely made me think I need to practice using a BF'ing cover ASAP so I can feed her comfortably sitting anywhere! I was also surprised about how I wasn't so worried about BF'ing out and about as I always thought I would!
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@shopaholic: Woohoo!!! Congratulations!! I attempted to feed Xander once while in the waiting room for a doctor's appointment, but he wouldn't latch at the time and then fell asleep, so I haven't really done it in public yet. Although I think I'm more self-conscious about feeding him in front of people I know - I don't think I'd mind strangers seeing my boobs as much as friends and family! I'm a weirdo.
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@shopaholic: That is great! I can't imagine feeding while standing up.
So last night I went out to dinner with some girlfriends. We have a standing monthly dinner. They picked a place close to my house so I could go. I fed R before I left, then she spit it all up. So I fed her some more. I was balling when I left cause I was worried about how she was going to be for DH. He texted me an hour later and said they were good, and I didn't need to worry. An hour later though, he was like when are coming home? We were paying so I was home within 10 mins but she was crying for 30 mins straight. Cue, more tears from me. DH said that it was fine, he was about to just give her some formula, but he was glad that I got a break.
She then spit up again last night (not the middle of the night) and this morning. I am beginning to wonder if I have an over supply and she is over eating. Or she isn't liking the dairy in my diet. I am going to do some more research today.
My breast pump has finally shipped and should be here tomorrow! Will be glad to get that started, so I can leave her with DH and not be so worried.
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I will say she was horrible to get to sleep last night but once we did, she slept great. Ped. said that we can just let her sleep as long as she wants to now at night, don't need to wake her for feedings. Can't wait till the stretches get longer. I do think we are going to move her into her crib sooner then later, girlfriend is a noisy sleeper. As cute as the squeaking noise she makes, it keeps waking me up thinking something is wrong.
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@Smurfette: Boo, sorry to hear about R having a rough time and stressing you out! That's awesome you were able to go out to dinner with your girlfriends though! I want to do that! So far I've only left the house without Xander to go to Babies R Us and pick up supplies. But now that we're doing E.A.S.Y., I am starting to think I could probably abandon him for a couple hours immediately after a feed. Though when they spit up, they're hungry sooner, so it makes it more complicated.
I know what you mean about the noisy sleepers! Hubs has been staying up with Xander sleeping in the living room in the evening so I can go to bed early and not hear all the noises he makes. And sometimes in the middle of the night, I go sleep on the couch so I can't hear him. Every time he makes a little whimper, I'm WIDE AWAKE and it takes me forever to fall asleep.
So Xander did a couple nights in a row where he was fussy in the evening and cluster feeding, but then slept for 4-5 hours, which was AWESOME, but the last couple days he's not doing it. Booo. One night he wasn't fussy at all, but then wanted to be fed every 3 hours, and last night he wasn't fussy though he was awake for 3 hours, but still didn't sleep any longer. Tonight I think I'm going to try to have Hubs feed him a bottle for his late night feed (around 10-11) and let me sleep - then I'll be able to pump when he wakes up later.
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Last night was awful! We started to get her to go down at like 8. She would fall asleep and as soon as we put her down she would wake up screaming. She spit up every time she ate and then got the hiccups. Gave her gribe water and that helped her. Finally at like 4 we got her down for an hour. When she woke up DH just kept her on his chest all night and she slept great. But I am worried that is going to train her to sleep that way.
She was so cute this morning though, alert and looking around. Almost makes you forget about the lack of sleep. I have to figure out what to do with her during the day to keep her up more. Going to try tummy time this afternoon. It is too cold today for a walk:(
Why do I have to have the fussy child??
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@Smurfette: How much spit up is she spitting up? Isn't that a somewhat normal thing, possibly from drinking too fast or getting too much air? Kaitlyn spits up once in awhile, but I haven't been concerned about it.
Nice for you to have your night out, but it will be a lot easier once you can pump so DH can feed her also! I still get so nervous taking her out with me, I can't think of leaving her for dinner yet.
I admit I let her sleep on my chest for a little bit at some point every day. I really love that snuggle time with her, but I also worry about her getting used to sleeping like that.
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So today I wanted to get out of the house so we went with my ILs to the nearby outdoor mall. I fed & changed her right before we went and only expected to be out for an hour and half max.
First lesson learned on this outing, make sure we bring the car seat adaptor for the stroller! Argh! Thankfully I brought the Baby K'tan!But of course, my MIL wanted to shop. And check out a bunch of stores. And then they wanted to eat Happy Hour at Yard House. So YUP, we took sleeping baby to Yard House and kept her out for 4 hours! OMG, was I STRESSING the last hour and half! She was easy enough though and slept the whole time until we were in the car driving home. Then the crying was sooo sad, I don't know who was more upset - me or baby. I couldn't get home soon enough to feed her. I treat each outing as experience gained and lessons learned, but man. it can be a little stressful...
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@shopaholic: Sometimes it is a little spit up sometimes it seems like it is all she just ate but she doesn't get upset about it. I think she is eating too fast. We tried a bottle for the first time yesterday and she only drank an oz and then wanted the boob. I think the bottle might have been to cold. Going to try again today.
She was much more alert yesterday and slept great in her crib for naps. Last night she wouldn't go to sleep again. Took us 4 hours to get her settled and to the point we could put her down. But she wouldn't go in the crib. She slept better after then. I would feed her and she would go back to sleep.
I just can't seem to get her to eat more during the day. Only like 10-15 mins at a time.
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@shopaholic: wow!! Impressive 4 hours. I can't imagine taking her out for that long yet
We've just been holding her and trying to talk to her? I need help with ideas on what to do with her too.
Gross, but no choice. What's a mom to do? Later, she was still hungry, so I fed her sitting outside of McD's at a table, but I used a blanket as a shield! Definitely made me think I need to practice using a BF'ing cover ASAP so I can feed her comfortably sitting anywhere! I was also surprised about how I wasn't so worried about BF'ing out and about as I always thought I would!
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