Shelbell's Baby Diary

[Purple Hugs]

Fantastic news! And that he is rooting too - description appreciated for me a novice - hope to breast feed! lol
I have seen a video of a 'rooting' baby who was left on his mums tummy and literally climbed up to her breast and latched himself on, was amazing to watch as he was literally just born.

Glad he's feeding well though. Hope the sun shines tomorrow and you can crank the heating up and strip him down to nothing for a good bit of sunshine. I had to do that with a foster baby in the spring and that was hard enough. ((hugs))

 

[shelbell]

Thats the one PH, you lay them on your tummy/chest, with a breast exposed, and they kind of find their way to it. I find it easiest leaning back in a comfy chair, not completely flat. They bob their heads up and down to find it and latch themselves on.

He has had a greedy night, fed at 9pm, 11.30pm (breast), 1am, 2.30am, 5am and 9am! He doesn't get enough out of me for a full breast feed, I try to use it for his top up which is normally around 11pm-ish. Last night was just an odd night though so possibly a bottle would have been better. Hubby took over from 2.30am as I was exhausted by then.

 

[Purple Hugs]

wow Charlie sure is feeding well! Great as that'll really help with the jaundice. - Are you keeping a chart of feeds? Just we had to do this with a foster baby at first who had jaundice of a way of tracking what she was taking in - so it kept the MW happy and the Social workers logs too - just in case. We didn't do it for long only while she had jaundice.

Glad I had the head bobbing right in my head! lol This video was on You tube but was foreign, and baby was put on mums tummy low down after birth and 'dug' his little feet in to push himself up to the breast then did the bobbing and latching. Was amazing to watch as no one laid a hand on him at all just filmed it all and was incredible to realise our babies really do have an instinct - just like animals really.

 

[shelbell]

Nope, not keeping a chart, just remember waking up each time lol. It could have been because he was on EBM all day up until his 9pm feed, so he was hungrier overnight. Alternating EBM and formula today so see how that goes.

 

[Purple Hugs]

a great balance I'm sure and your milk will do him well shell ((hugs)) EBF from what I've read can mean 1-2 hourly feeds as it's digested quicker.

 

[angie-bum]

do you have the link to the youtube video, as I would be interested in seeing that!

 

[Purple Hugs]

I'll see if I can find it again

 

[abz]

oh honey. sorry to hear about your cats. i have two and i'll have to lock them out of the same room as the baby. i really feel for you.

abz xx

 

[shelbell]

Morning all. 2lbs off for me this week, but thats to be expected as still losing the baby weight from excess blood volume and water retention etc. Plan currently is to express 4 times a day and stick to my high calorie eating unless my BMI goes below 20.

I have hired an electric pump through the NCT, we picked it up last night. Aside from making me feel like a dairy cow, it's fantastic. My joint problems were making using a manual pump tiresome and it was really putting me off expressing.

 

[Purple Hugs]

Hi Shell,
Glad you are doing well - the expressing will be worth it even in the short term for little Charlies ammune system And him being so happy to oblige feeding wise is great news!

Also glad you're keeping an eye on yourself though ((hugs)) Hope you're managing to get enough sleep - I know your DH is helpful too.

How much do NCT charge for elec pump? just out of interest.. i don't think there is a group near me so was thinking I may need to buy second hand if I want one. I have heard they're good though but lol at the dairy cow bit! lol At least you're not put into calf every year just so you produce!

 

[abz]

hee. the dairy cow thing made me laugh. glad things are going well for you honey

abz xx

 

[shelbell]

It's not cheap to hire unfortunately, but they are expensive to buy. Here you have to buy a sterile pack which is £10 and includes all the parts aside from the pump itself, so the bottle, tubes, breast cup etc. Then it's £1.20/day hire charge. You can hire the same one direct from the manufacturer at Ardo Mums Online Shop - The home of high quality breast pumps and breastfeeding accessories or through La Leche League. They charge £55 for the first 30 days which includes delivery and collection charges, sterile packs etc, and then £35 for each 30 day period afterwards.

I'm bidding on a tommee tippee one on ebay at the moment as I've found this so much easier, as I'm hoping to be able to express for a few months.

 

[Purple Hugs]

hmm will be cheaper to buy I agree - there are madela or something like that which are rated pretty highly too if you don't get the tommee tippee.
I bought a hand pump for £2.50 (tommee tippeee) new from Wilkinsons months ago now but am mindful that the elec are supposed to be much better so WHEN I get going at breast feeding will 'treat myself' lol to an elec one I think.
Still cheaper than formula eh! lol

 

[MrsDannyDyer]

Congratulations on the birth of Charlie. Hope u both are doing well.

Have u tried asking for a loan of an expressing machine from ur HV? I got a loan of one for months with Rhiannon, it was a great machine and the only one i felt really worked for me.

 

[shelbell]

Thanks Mrs DD Lovely to see you! Not met the HV yet, shes supposed to be calling this week.

 

[shelbell]

Morning all. We had a much better night last night, he fed at 6.15pm, 7.45pm, 10.30pm, 1.45am and 5am. I did all aside from the 5am one which hubby did. The dreaded 10pm-1am shift wasn't too bad! He settled just before midnight after his 10.30pm feed which for him is great.

We've changed his formula to the Aptamil Comfort, which is a lower lactose version that is slightly thicker too to prevent him taking in much wind. He has episodes were he squeals in pain and then trumps, and was struggling to bring up wind after his feeds. As I have psoriasis and lactose is a major trigger for my IBS I thought it would be worth a try. So far so good, he has burped after every feed on it and no more squealing since.

Popped on the scales this morning and another 3lb has magically disappeared since Tuesday! Thats 1 stone since Charlie was born, which is to be expected. I would expect another 4-7lbs to come off over the next week as my blood volume gets back to normal and the rest of the fluid retention disappears. BMI still in the middle of healthy so not too concerned.

We're off out shopping today with my mother, so that should be interesting. Need to get some vari-flow teats as the new formula, being thicker, is a bit much for him through a slow-flow teat. He really has to work to get it out!

 

[shelbell]

Time for confession. I am struggling to cope. I feel completely overwhelmed by Charlie and the changes he has brought with him. Don't get me wrong, I love him to peices, this isn't about bonding etc. I am just so overwhelmed by it all and can't stop crying. Have been teary for the last week and it's affecting hubby now too. I just keep telling him it's hormones but I'm starting to be scared that it's more than that and the start of PND or something. I'm tired and in so much pain and with all the expressing and the night feeds and everything its just all too much for me and the idea of this carrying on for the foreseeable future is feeling like way too much to contemplate. Hubbys going back to work on Wednesday and I am dreading it. I'm panicking over going to the in-laws at Christmas and how we're going to cope with expressing and milk storing and sterilising etc. I'm panicking over going back to work in February and how I'm going to cope physically with that.

Right now, hubbs has gone to bed cos he's tired, and I'm just sat here in tears waiting for Charlie to wake up and dreading it cos I know he will be awake until about 1am and I'm already exhausted.

My health visitor is coming on Monday and I will talk to her about how I feel but first I've got to get through the weekend

 

[loulou526]

Awww, Shell...don't stress you're 100% normal to be feeling the way you are feeling and I've felt the same after all 3 of my pregnancies! Give yourself time to adjust, it hasn't been that long since you had him and you're body, mind and soul will take time to properly adjust. I've had THE most stressful pregnancy so far and now I'm worrying more and more about how I will be feeling when bubs actually arrives, it's been a long old road with this pregnancy and my anxiety has been building and building up, so who knows what or how I'll be feeling after the birth. What I do know is, that in your case, you're a new mum again and things will work themselves out eventually. You're hormones are all over the place and it's natural for you to be tearful and exhausted.

Give yourself time x

 

[Purple Hugs]

Aww shell what you are feeling and how it's demonstrating itself (tears etc) is completely normal hun! ((Hugs))
the dip in hormones, the strain of child birth, added to sleepless nights and demand feeding - you are doing SO well but it is bound to affect you. We will all be the same when our time comes.
Also Charlie will have been bound to make a HUGE difference in your lives, as your DS is nearly as old as my eldest - I remember only too well how I felt when we had our first foster baby who was 2 days old when she arrived - my eldest was 5 at the time. And a 5 year age gap was massive enough. ((hugs))

Be gentle on yourself, let the housework wait etc, and get DH to do as much as you can. Be sure to rest in bed when Charlie allows it - even if you don't sleep just being still and relaxing will help I'm sure. ((Hugs))

Are you 'into' anything like relaxation music or yoga etc? perhaps that would help?

But truly just allow yourself time to do nothing but be mum and sleep when you can.

Is there any chance of you going to exclusive formula feeding yet? I know calorie wise you can't BF indefinately. When were you hoping to reach with Charlie - did you have an age in mind? At least it would be less to cope with in one way.

When you go away - on the formula front, could you look at ready made cartons so no need to 'make' feed up? Also take a steriliser with you? Steam or microwave?

If it's all too much going away for xmas, then could you look at staying home just the 4 of you?

Nothing is ever set in stone and I'm sure your in laws would understand give that they had your DH! lol

((Hugs)) x x

 

[shelbell]

Morning all. Sorry for disappearing for a few days, needed some time to sort my head out and we've been having problems with Charlie's wind again.

The other night I ended up emailing hubbs while he was asleep and telling him most of how I was feeling and that his mood swings had to stop as I couldn't deal with them. He's given up smoking last week so I was bearing the brunt of that and with everything else it was too much. He has been an absolute angel ever since and has made a huge effort to make things easier for me.

Charlie is really going through it at the moment. I mentioned last week that we'd swapped him over to Aptamil Comfort because he was crying in pain and trumping. It all came back over the weekend and he had a couple of truly awful nights and painful days. Yesterday morning was the worst and he was waking up between feeds regularly to scream and trump, and was so obviously in pain. So I made an appointment with the doctors, and discussed it with the health visitor before we went. She said that they would probably want to do a stool test to check for lactose intolerance. We saw the doc and she offered two options, gaviscon or lactose free formula. We're trying the gaviscon for a week but so far no improvement, and he's still in pain and trumping today. It's heartbreaking to watch. He had diarroeah overnight and absolutely filled his nappy but luckily it was on one of hubbys feeds

We took him to baby clinic yesterday too, and since day 5 he's put on 1lb 3oz and now weighs 7lbs 4oz, which is reassuring as he's obviously eating and digesting enough food to thrive.

While the health visitor was here yesterday I talked to her about how I was feeling, and she is planning on coming back in 2 weeks instead of the usual 4 weeks to check on me. She says its probably hormones and we talked about ways to lighten the load. Consequently I've stopped expressing now and have got stronger painkillers for my back and anti-spasmodics for my IBS which has gone crazy over the last few days. I'm hoping that will take the pressure off and the meds will make life more bearable. Fingers crossed!