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September 2013 Mamas - Postpartum

  1. Mrs squirreld

    nectarine / 2522 posts

    So glad to be joining this board!!! Looking forward to reading it from the start to catch up!!

    1. Eli Hawke
    2. 19th September
    3. After being admitted to hospital for high BP I was booked in for an induction. As I was already having contractions when I went in for the induction after two gels inserted into my cervix I escalated in labor very quickly and they let me go naturally. I labored in the bath, my waters broke on their own and little Eli was born in the water completely pain med free
    4. Looking at his sweet little face and having him look at us and recognize our voices. breast feeding is also very rewarding.
    5. Not being able to get up and easily move around with bub. I have a second degree tear and it hurts.
    6. How can you sleep when you are worried about bub all the time! Paranoid mummy!!

  2. jetsa

    grapefruit / 4663 posts

    Oh my goodness, my milk is in I have boulders on my chest!

  3. jetsa

    grapefruit / 4663 posts

    @Mrs squirreld: congrats on the babe! How long was your labor? Mine was 6 hours total and the nurse said that those with high BP normally have quicker labors.

  4. Mrs squirreld

    nectarine / 2522 posts

    @jetsa: yep 6 hours too!! From active labor that is. 10pm to 4am. My waters broke just as I started pushing.

  5. MamaMagpie

    persimmon / 1436 posts

    So excited to be joining this thread! Spotty wi-fi so I need to catch up but wanted to post before the signal goes away!

    1. Name of your LO: Harrison Paul

    2. Your LO's birthday: 9/15/13

    3. Abbreviated Labor Story: was in early labor starting Saturday night, went in Sunday at 11:00am, dilated only to 2 and 80% effaced. OB said bub's head was still pretty high and very large and he was concerned he wouldn't make it through my pelvis. My BP was high so we decided to break my water and see how that would go -- not long after, contractions went from being every 3 minutes to only 30-40 seconds in between. I opted for an epidural as I couldn't get relief between contractions. Ten hours and one episiotomy later, I was holding H in my arms!

    4. Best thing about being a mom so far: looking at the little miracle we made and just being so in love that I feel my heart will explode at any moment!

    5. Hardest thing about being a mom so far: breast feeding! H is a very sleepy nurser and also has a tiny mouth, so his latch is less than ideal...my nipples are so sore it's not even funny...one is even bleeding. But at his well check today, we found out he weighs exactly what he did upon discharge from the hospital Tuesday so I know he's getting enough to eat and that's all I care about for right now.

    6. What baby-related question do you wish you had the magic answer for right now? When will he poop?! He passed some meconium in utero, and had a meconium diaper on Monday night, but none since. The pediatrition said not to worry today, and that some babies go even four days before pooping. My milk just came in last night, so today was the first full day of milk, and I'm hoping it will mean poop is soon! Hahaha I never would've thought I'd be obsessing over poop!

  6. jetsa

    grapefruit / 4663 posts

    @MamaMagpie: glad to see you! have you tried earth mama angel baby nipple butter? It's the ONLY thing that has mad my nipples feel a bit better and you don't have to wash it off before nursing.

  7. jetsa

    grapefruit / 4663 posts

    Has anyone bought a co-sleeper? As pregnancy goes we swore we wouldn't so of course we are

  8. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @jetsa: We haven't bought a cosleeper, but as against letting him sleep in the bed as we were, we're letting him. Usually once or twice a night he'll fall asleep on my chest after feeding and then I've just gone ahead and let him stay there. I'm a really light sleeper and sometimes I wake up freaked out and check his breathing, but he loves it and sleeps longer there. I don't want to do it for too long though because I want him to sleep well in his crib eventually. However, I can't complain because my son already sleeps in 2-4 hour stretches. I am the luckiest mom ever in that sense.

  9. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @MamaMagpie: @jetsa: I use the earth mama angel baby nipple butter too and it does help. Nothing makes it perfect though, especially when they're cracked and bleeding. Putting the wet colostrum or milk on the nipples afterward seems to be the best for that I've found, although sometimes after J feeds I don't have anything left in there!

  10. MamaMagpie

    persimmon / 1436 posts

    @jetsa: hiya! I haven't tried that but now remember you and someone else on here mentioning it -- definitely going to go get some ASAP!
    @marionberry: I tried the breast milk and air dry trick this morning and it actually seems to have helped a tiny bit already.

    We don't have a co-sleeper but do have the rock n play set up right next to my side of the bed, and I have also let H fall asleep on my chest for a little while after nursing before swaddling him back up and putting him in the RnP.

  11. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    I need to properly join this thread but for now have a quick Q! Anyone else's LO dealing with spit up already? My milk isn't in yet so I'm worried about the amount she spits. She doesn't seem bothered by it at all. Will call the midwife today just in case.

  12. Mrs squirreld

    nectarine / 2522 posts

    @marionberry: I am so paranoid about him breathing... We just got home from the hospital and he's asleep like two meters from me with a breathing monitor on and I'm still going over to check on him all the time.
    @MamaMagpie: @jetsa: I'm using the earth mama nipple butter and so far so good. I had a few blisters to begin with but everything has cleared up now. I think my milk is coming in so that will be a good test.
    @illumina: yes!! Eli was spewing up mucus from birth and the midwife said it was normal. Spews a bit too after feeds -just colostrum.

    Seriously can't get over how much I love this little guy. I can't get enough of him. I worry about everything. Is he eating enough, is he sleeping too much. I think my heart is going to explode!!

  13. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    @Mrs squirreld: aww I hope Eli is ok and this sounds terrible but I'm glad to hear the spitting up is common. The midwife called me back this morning and said its normal when the milk is first coming in and it hasn't regulated yet. She suggested I split her feed in half and burp her during the middle. I hear you on the worrying, when I thought she wasn't keeping anything down I could not stop crying worrying she may dehydrate or starve Also some times when she's having her nappy changed she'll scream and seeing her face all screwed up with tears makes me cry too Pregnancy emotions had nothing on this!

  14. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    1. Name of your LO: Sophie Rose

    2. Your LO's birthday: 9/18/13

    3. Abbreviated Labor: Contractions started 5am Tuesday, admitted to hospital at 11pm at 4cm. Quickly progressed to 8cm and got the epi at 3am, waters broken at 10cm and started pushing just before 9am. S was born just after 9.30am with an immediate APGAR of 9 and 10 shortly after.

    4. Best thing about being a mom so far: Watching all her expressions! I could and do stare at her face for hours!

    5. Hardest thing about being a mom so far: Not a huge amount, maybe lack of sleep?

    6. What baby-related question do you wish you had the magic answer for right now?: Just reassurance her eating/pooping etc is all normal!



  15. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @illumina: Today is the first day I've literally felt SO exhausted! Sadly I'm still trying to refrain from normal coffee since I'm breast feeding so there's no easy answer.

    I thought you all would enjoy this - a friend asked what I was doing tomorrow. As if I could do anything at this point other than attend to baby. I'm actually trying to figure out how to go to a dentist appointment alone. Do I have the dental assistant take him out of the room when I do x-rays or try to get someone to go with me and watch him in the lobby during my appt.

  16. Joanlindsay

    grape / 98 posts

    Marionberry I took DD with me to a dentist appointment when she was about 4 months old. I asked the tech to hold her during X-rays but the rest of the time she hung out in her carseat or laid on my chest. It wasn't ideal but the hygienist was totally understanding and worked with me.

  17. Grace

    cantaloupe / 6730 posts

    @MamaMagpie: Heehee, I wondered about the poop when I first brought P home too. But she had become a crazy pooping machine and now I can't wait for ut to let up!

    @marionberry: Lol, I purposely scheduled my dentist appointment for a Sat when LO is 2 months old because I couldn't think of what I would do if I had an appointment now.

  18. .twist.

    pineapple / 12802 posts

    @illumina: she is soooooo precious!! Congratulations!

  19. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @Joanlindsay: @grace: I think I'm going to have to just take him and make the best of it. I'll just be praying JT sleeps through the whole thing.

  20. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    Anyone else finding it harder to get their LO to settle at times? We put her in the car seat and she literally cried the whole 30mins she was in it

    Her first doctors appt is tomorrow as well as her newborn photoshoot- to be honest I'm a little nervous.

  21. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @illumina: For us it all depends on timing. Once he is fed he will sleep for about 2 hours. But we had to take lo in the car seat once when he was hungry and he cried the whole hour there. When he was fed he slept the whole way back. As far as the photo shoot, the photographers will often have you stop and fees during the shoot to keep your lo calm. We did ours last Friday and it took a few hours.

  22. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    @marionberry: today it has been impossible to get her in her Moses basket. I fed her at 12pm and then started to put her down and ended up holding her all afternoon whilst she slept right through to 5pm. I then fed her again when she woke, couldn't get her down again and she's fussed pretty much continuously since with a couple of feeds and it's now 11pm. We can't get her down now either though she was almost asleep when I fed her an hour ago and is happy on our arms. I don't know how to get her to settle in her basket since last night!

    Glad your photoshoot went well

  23. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @illumina: Oh, I've heard that some babies just have to be held. Maybe yours is one of them. I'd definitely get a carrier for during the day but I'm not sure how to solve the car seat problem? Maybe she has to cry it out? At night sometimes I let lo sleep on my chest. If you're open to it, maybe that's an option instead of the Moses basket?

  24. Joanlindsay

    grape / 98 posts

    @illumina are DD hated her infant car seat we switched her to a convertible pretty early and that helped some. She also was better if we were listening to her music in the car.
    She was in the carrier a lot and we used a Swaddle, white noise, humidifier combo to help her sleep at night. It was tough but she's a great sleeper now. Try to let her fuss a few minutes before picking her up. It will break your heart but it may help her develop some patience.

  25. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    @marionberry: @Joanlindsay: That's really interesting you both suggest to let her fuss a bit. Everything I've read says to pick a newborn up as soon as they cry, you can't spoil them, you can't teach patience at this stage etc etc. but my gut feeling would be to try and do it. My parents are very pro CIO and started very early with us, they had us in our own room from day 1 etc. I think (lol!) we turned out just fine and am tempted to follow their advice, but it's so hard when I hate the thought of her crying because she's upset and feeling abandoned maybe.

  26. Grace

    cantaloupe / 6730 posts

    @illumina: P has totally got a witching hour between 6 and 7 or 8 PM. The only thing that calms her is bouncing on the ball and even then we can't get her to sleep. Then once it's over, she just passes out. We had better luck today by putting her in the miracle blanket at the first sign. She still didn't sleep, but she was calmer. Although, I just had a thought - did your milk just come in? P had a horrible time settling when the milk showed up. It lasted a day, I think and then she was better.

  27. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    @Grace: it came in a couple of days ago. Prior to that she went down straight away when we tried, no fussing at all. I thought it was too good to be true, hah. I assumed it may have been the milk too and just generally adjusting to life on the outside. It's all to be expected, I'm sure, its just a process of trying everything until something works.

    I finally got her down in the basket and she has been asleep for 3.5hrs. What did I do? I tried tucking her in differently... Swaddling but with her arms free.

  28. Mrs squirreld

    nectarine / 2522 posts

    @illumina: hurray for success!! its funny how they all like different things huh.

    I must admit so far I feel pretty lucky! Eli is an amazing sleeper. He pretty much falls asleep after he in latches after a feed and we just put him down. He may stir or open his eyes but he just settles himself down. He sleeps in 2-3 hour blocks all day and night except the last few nights he seems to cluster feed from about 10pm-2am NON STOP and then back to normal. That has been rough. Last night was hard. As we'd have guests I hadn't napped during the day and was exhausted. I had to get DH to talk to me so I'd stay awake during his feeds. At about 2am last night we put on white noise and he relaxed instantly and sleep for 6 hours!!!!! Holy moly that was a good sleep. will be trying that again tonight earlier to see if it helps.
    I ended up at ED last night too as my blood pressure spiked really high and I wasn't feeling great. They were surprised they had stopped the medication when they discharged me as I need to be weaned off it about 1-2weeks after birth so that's what we are doing now. Was glad to get out of there. ED's are gross with all the drunk sick people... I just wanted them to stay away from us!!! Eli was great though. Sleeping in his pram for the first time

  29. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @Mrs squirreld: I'm so sorry you ended up in the ED. When I did, that was my concern too. I didn't want JT to catch anything. My LO sleeps pretty similar to yours so I can't complain. I rarely sleep during the day which is a killer at night. Right now we just have too many people over during the day for that to be possible.

  30. Charm54

    cantaloupe / 6885 posts

    @illumina: I totally hear you...C has a witching hour(s) every night where she just won't settle. Last night it was between 330 and 530 (yay!) it's not even that she's crying, she just stirs and can't fall back asleep in her bassinet after her feeding. She's used to bei held all day by the many many many family members who are over to love on her so I wonder if that's playing a part.

    @Mrs squirreld: I'm sorry you weren't feeling well! Glad they caught that now ...are you feeling better?

    C has been doing really well...went back to nicu yesterday to check her bili levels and they are down again. She gained 5 ounces in the 2 days since she was home with us (lol) and is now back to her birth weight which is fabulous since she had lost so much after day 2.

    I've started exclusively pumping and am so much happier. She still needs a supplement of a bottle or two of formula per day but I am so thankful to have what little milk I do have and pumping has been a much better experience for both C and I! I got 5 ounces this last session and was so pumped (ha!)! Hopefully my supply keeps building over the coming weeks.

    I'm off to take a nap- I know they say to sleep when baby sleps but I find it so hard. I keep thinking of everything that needs to be done and its a bit overwhelming!

  31. MrsStormy

    clementine / 818 posts

    1. Finley Grace

    2. 9/20/13

    3. My water broke, but was released in several small gushes so was missed, contractions started 9 hours later but were not super painful or regular. The next morning went to the hospital was 5cm dilated. Once all the paperwork was complete the anesthesiologist was in an emergency csec which they expected to be an hour, well 2 hours after check in they found I was dilated to a 9 and would not give me the epi (que the panic) shortly after we pushed for an hour and my beautiful girl was here. 3 hours active labor, 1 hour pushing, and an unplanned unmedicated natural birth.

    4. Just staring at my beautiful daughter, and getting to love and snuggle her!

    5. Breast feeding. My nipples are raw, cracked and bleeding, I'm pretty shocked we are still going, pretty sure breast feeding is more painful than labor!

    6. Are my nipples healing? Is our latch actually better like the nurses said, and if they are why does it hurt past just latching on? When will this get better?

  32. MrsStormy

    clementine / 818 posts

    Loved reading about all of our journeys so far! Glad it seems like everyone is doing well, and I'm so frustrated for you ladies who have had some issues and had to go back in for one reason or another.

  33. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    @Mrs squirreld: tell me about it! In the end she slept from 1am to 6.30am! I'm glad you're now getting the medication you need My blood pressure & pulse have been high since labour but they are just monitoring it at the moment without meds.

    @MrsStormy: My goodness you must have been so brave- I dread to think how I would have coped if I couldn't have got the epi! My nipples hurt for a short while past latching for a couple of days and now the blisters are healing it's getting a lot more comfortable. Hang in there- I'm only 5 days pp and it's improving so much now.

    @char54: glad C is doing well mama! I'm struggling with sleep when baby sleeps also- she slept so well last night but I couldn't fall asleep again after getting up to nurse at 1am, just had so much going on in my head. DH is my rock at the moment, he totally keeps me sane when I feel like im drowning in overwhelmed-ness he takes over and demands I take a break whilst he does all of the outstanding chores.

    AFM, we had our 5 day doctors appt this morning. S is down 7oz to 6lbs 5oz which sounded scary to me but apparently is pretty good at this point. Also our newborn photoshoot was this afternoon. We had an hour drive each way to the photographers house and I was seriously stressing out about today knowing we would be out of the house from 9am-5pm I'd have to feed/change her on the move etc. Anyway she was a superstar and didn't give us any trouble!

    Also, I want to find out more info about pumping- I wasn't planning on doing this at least for a few months but I feel I'm ready to consider it now. I just need to understand the risks associated, I,e confusion over bottle and breast and not being able to do both. I don't think DH is overly keen and wants me to talk to the midwife about it on Friday to get her opinion... At the moment I feel so, what's the word, overwhelmed? That I can't just pop out on my own for a short while without taking her and it would be great if DH could help out with night feeds so I can sleep without feeling like shes going to wake up and second demanding a feed. Do I sound like a terrible mother? The pressure that I might have to feed out and about is really stressful if I don't know the place I'm going to and how easy it will be to BF there.

  34. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @char54: that's fabulous about her weight and her bilirubin levels! We're waiting on our pump to get here from insurance (supposedly wed) but I'm dying to start pumping. I often wake up engorged if JT sleeps too well. You saying you love it has me wondering if I might switch to pumping more when I can.
    @mrsstormy: congratulations again! I still have all the same breast feeding pain but it has gotten better and the pain doesn't last quite as long. I wonder if it just takes time?
    @illumina: I think we're all thinking the same thing. Pumping seems so much easier but I also worry about the confusion as well. I agree that allowing DH to take a feeding and then switching off would be great. I never sleep when he sleeps either.

  35. Charm54

    cantaloupe / 6885 posts

    @MrsStormy: congratulations!!! I love her name!!

    @illumina: @marionberry: I have had to use the shield since day 1 and while she was in the nicu I gave her a wubbanub to soothe so lots of artificial nipples here already, lol. If we were EBF I'd be more wary of giving the bottle too but it just wasn't for us. It is so nice to have DH and others feed her throughout the day. Also nice when we are out and about to have a bottle in the diaper bag as a back up. For us it's much easier, but I know many moms who hate pumping and find it a lot of work. Right now I'm setting goals for myself : hoping we can make it to 4 weeks first!

    I had a nap this afternoon...DH said I slept walked into the living room and asked him if we had to bring the baby back to the hospital today to have her bottle because if not I would keep napping...hahah, I must be losing it as I don't remember any of this !

  36. marionberry

    pomelo / 5041 posts

    @char54: You poor thing! Keep rested. That's funny but you probably don't want that happening often.

  37. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    We got 2 preview photos back already! Had to share!





  38. Mrs squirreld

    nectarine / 2522 posts

    @illumina: naaaaw!! Beautiful! I'm doing ours today ( I'm a photographer ) and then next week we are getting another photographer to do some of the three of us.

  39. Charm54

    cantaloupe / 6885 posts

    @illumina: adorable!!!! What a sweet beautiful girl!!

  40. illumina

    pomelo / 5469 posts

    @Mrs squirreld: @char54: Thank you!

    @Mrs squirreld: Oh yes, your pics will turn out amazing! Make sure you share as soon as they're ready!

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