MSE Newborn to 1 year Baby Club 1

*Nutella*

Ewan has stopped working! :eek: I've tried changing the batteries, and checked and double-checked everything, but to no avail :eek:

katiechoc_2

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the waaaaaaay!

Prob my last post before the big man comes as we're off to Yorkshire tomorrow and I'm not even halfway through the wrapping! And have no idea how its all going to fit in the car.

Anyway, hope everyone has a lovely time with your bubs and everyone gets spoilt rotten! (I'm currently confined to the living room while OH wraps my pressies!)

Will be lurking while we're away but it difficult getting a minutes peace to post sometimes x



Hohoho MERRY CHRISTMAAAAAAASSSS!!!!!!!

dizziblonde

Apparently there are supply issues with size 4+ nappies in some areas - eek! Must not go to Tesco tomorrow to stock up as I don't have enough anti-anxiety medication to cope with not wanting to kill the human race if I go there!

Sammie_03

Katiechoc - have a super christmas with your family Hun and hope George has a lovely 1st Christmas. hope Santa brings you something nice

Nutella - have you fixed poor Ewan yet?
Xx

turtlemoose

Hi all :j

Nutella I hope you get your creepy sheepy fixed soon!

I'm usually a bit of a humbug but I'm actually getting excited about Christmas! Although OH nearly bought himself something I've got him today, so I had to say don't buy it, so that's one surprise ruined, silly man.

Marta how are you doing?

Fluff I think most travel cots are the same, baby cage with uncomfortable mattress. I always fold a blanket in half nd put it under the sheet to make it more comfortable. And then when he wakes up I get fed up of bending so far down and just put him in bed with me for the rest of the night

Sammie 4:30!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to tell Reuben that father Christmas doesn't bring presents until 6am (cuz he's got to get around the whole world you see) as I don't mind a slightly early wake up but could not be doing with 430 :rotfl:

As for me, I got paid my accrued holiday md bank hols yesterday on top of my SMP so I feel mega rich compared to usual! So I bought reuben some clothes, bought some reeses peanut butter cups for me, and a bottle of Bacardi (also for me) wahey :T

Sammie_03

Ooh turtlemoose yay for extra money I've just finished sorting out bills etc as it was payday Friday.

Trying my hardest to stay awake as DP hasn't taken his key and promised me a take away on the way home if I'm still awake!
Xx

martafdz

Feeling ok, thanks for asking
I forced myself out of the flat to buy my DH Christmas card ans a few presents.for the in-laws, who are coming for Christmas day. It was my first trip out after labour and I did not enjoyed! All I could think of was going back home and see how my DH and DD were doing!

Still thinking about the domperidone, I'll have to call the GP on Monday to get a prescription, not one of the best days to get an appointment!!! I hope s/he can do it over the phone. My concern, one of them, is that it says not to take if you have ulcers, I have a bowel condition that gives me ulcers and inflammation, so I'm not even sure I can have it. DH does not like the idea of me taking extra tablets but I'm torn after reading some of you had it with no issues. How long do you have to take it? Still expressing, with not much luck though. I can't do anything until Monday, so I'm still trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, I want her to keep putting on weight happily, on the other hand, I would like to provide her with as much immune protection as I can and that can only be done by breastfeeding. My condition is not hereditary but there's a genetic predisposition. Apparently breastfeeding might decrease the chances, and that is what is making me a bit obsessed. DH says I'm talking about percentages of percentages and that everything is might and might not o guarantees either way, which.is.true... but still! I'm close to giving up, though :-/ I just feel my guilt and low mood is not allowing me to enjoy her and bond with her. I was watching my DH play with her before and I thought he already has a much stronger bond with her than me, I feel as if I'm watching all this happening from outside, and I'm not really letting the whole experience sink in

I haven't wrapped anything yet, I'm looking forward to it!!!

Elelyn

Hi all,

I've not managed to post much recently as I don't seem to have found the time and like most of you I probably won't be on here much until after Christmas so I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a brilliant start to 2013.

I think we're just about ready for Christmas here. DH and I had a marathon pressie wrapping session on Thursday night and got it all done apart from Theo's which we'll do tomorrow. We've got him a jumperoo and I cannot wait to see what he makes of it! Also got him a Sophie giraffe the other day as I think he might be starting with teething already and I've heard great reviews of Sophie.

Me and DH actually went out tonight to meet some friends and left Theo with my mom. She gave him his last bottle and put him to bed and he was good as gold for her, bless him. I feel slightly put out that he didn't seem to miss me at all but I think it's a good thing that he's not too clingy. Was nice to get out as a couple too.

Marta, I gave up on breastfeeding after trying really, really hard as it was just proving too stressful. Perhaps if I had perservered just a bit more I could have made it work but I was about to have a breakdown it was stressing me out so much. My LO is doing absolutely brilliantly on formula and although I felt guilty for a long while I know it was absolutely the right decision for us. Whatever road you go down I hope you can comfortably come to the right decision for you and please don't feel guilty whatever you decide. As others have said - happy mommy = happy baby.

Gillyx

Marta - I think it's really hard to say, I didn't feel an instant love for my baby either. I know of women who have breast fed and haven't had that instant "bond" either and I don't think whether you chose to breast or bottle feed you are guaranteed to get that feeling, so don't beat yourself up about it.

If you generally feel you'd be happier, more relaxed and able to enjoy your baby with formula feeding, go for it. If you feel you'd regret giving up without giving the domperidone a try, give it a go. Keep offering the breast as often as you can, and as much skin to skin as possible, while you're deciding as it will keep your supply up as much as possible. What you can express is definitely no indication on the amount baby is receiving.

I formula feed and my boy is developing brilliantly, he's happy, thriving, and very rarely ill, he has his 3rd cold since being born atm, with being a winter baby I'm happy with that. This is also the only cold I've felt has caused him any discomfort. Pretty soon (although I know it doesn't feel it right now) she'l be off milk for the majority of the time, and be getting all his nutrients from his meals and food, we're almost there now and it seems such a short time ago that he was on a complete milk diet.

In saying all that it is such a short time in there lives and you need to savour it, so do what makes you happiest and most content.

I hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas xxx

turtlemoose

Marta if I am honest, I did not enjoy breastfeeding until my son was 8 weeks old. I was feeding him one day when I suddenly realised "hey! This isn't hard any more!". But before then, I will confess I was at the point where I resented him when he woke for a feed - but for me, those feelings did pass as BFing got easier.

They, whoever 'they' are, say it usually takes around 6 weeks for BFing to get sorted out. I exclusively expressed for the first ten days, then from the breast from that point on. So while my boy was 8 weeks before I felt better about it, it was actually only 6 weeks of actual breastfeeding - so I do think it's a bit of a magic number

He is now 28 weeks (29 weeks on Monday, wow!), and I LOVE BFing, I'm so glad I didn't stop, im so grateful for the support of other mums (on here and in real life), and he's my little boob monster it's a piece of cake now, soooooo easy.

Expressing, can I give you some tips? Stres inhibits milk production. So the more stressed you are, the less milk you make. And you don't make much milk, so you get stressed.....and so on, see the problem there?! So, you have to break the stress cycle, and I was given some great advice ref expressing in the early days (I did it for 10 days straight, every 3 hrs, sometimes every 2 hrs). It worked for me, so I will share and hope that it helps you too.

BFing is more than just baby sucking your nipple, like the pump. Your gorgeous squishy wonderful baby makes your body create oxytocin. This is a "feel good" hormone - you know when you have a cuddle and you feel all warm and fuzzy? That's oxytocin. Your baby makes your body make this, and also another hormone called prolactin, which is the "make milk now" signal. The pump doesn't make these hormones, therefore to get the most out of expressing, especially early days, you need to trick your body in to making these hormones.

So, no stress and fuzzy hormones....how to do it. Firstly, take your time. I used to get a jug of hot water and put a flannel in it, and then lay the warm hot flannel on my breasts and just relax. You can massage your breasts, to help you relax and to stimulate them - do whatever feels nice, but always massage towards the nipple. Then, you need to get soppy. Look at your baby if you are with them, or if you are not with them, look at photos etc. anything to get you both thinking about your baby, and feeling all lovey dovey too. I used to look at the first picture of my OH and baby a lot, makes me go weak at the knees

THEN express. Don't expect miracles, but honestly it is worth putting in the 5 mins or so "prep" time, as it can improve your output massively.

How are you pumping? I was told to pump 5 min left, 5 min right, 5 min left, 5 min right and stop. I stuck to this rigidly to begin with, but soon realised what worked for me. The 5-5-5-5 pattern is good to start with in terms of getting the nipple stimulation going etc, however if you are at the point where you are actually getting milk out, then if you are in the middle of a letdown at 5 mins, carry on until it's finished, rather than cut off mid stream etc. if you continue to express, you will learn what is a good timing for you.

Also, while expressing, you can do something called deep breast compressions. If you want to google them, dr jack newman talks about them a lot i can't find a video for you as on the iPad and loads of videos don't work, but you should find it pretty easily.

If you want to ask anything, feel free to do so on here or you can pm me. I didn't have much support at the very start of my BFing journey, and perhaps I wouldn't have had so many problems if I had been given the right support from the start. It's something I feel really strongly about, and so I'm happy to help as much as you would like.

Did you go to the BFing group that you mentioned? I'm guessing not as you said it was your first time out in your post above. If you don't feel up to going to them, RING THEM and ask if someone will come to you.