postpartum mamas, how are you?

[eewieew]

wow, what a week!
since eden was born last monday, things have been hectic! she's quite jaundiced so i've had to drive her to the ped every day since we've been home from the hossy. i've got her under a biliblanket, and have sadly had to supplement with formula because i'm just not producing enough milk to adequately hydrate her and get these bilirubins out of her system.

physically i'm great...i had a little bit of soreness for a few hours after the birth, but otherwise am pretty much back to normal. my body bounced back too...at 6 days pp, my belly is almost back to pre-preg!

emotionally i'm pretty weepy. i've been alone with the baby most of the time - none of my help came through, which really sucks but it is what it is. i'm totally overwhelmed by my husband situation and wishing he didn't abandon us, and i'm hoping that this too shall pass, since my hormones are crashing at the moment.

but i love my baby girl so immensely and at the end of the day that is all that matters right now. we're figuring each other out pretty quickly so hopefully that trend will continue!

how is everyone else doing?

[mom2tatum]

I know I'm not pp, but I had to respond.
Aww Jenny, I am sorry you're having to deal with crap you didn't expect and having the husband issues...that has got to be very hard to deal with after birth. I think you are doing amazing, though, and your little girl is getting lots of love!

I think I remember you mentioning going to la leche league meetings, so make sure you continue doing so...for not only help and support getting the formula back down and getting back to just your milk, but also for the emotional support. I'm sure you already heard this too, but take Eden out in the sun as much as you can. The bili blanket barely helped us, but when we took Tatum out in the sunlight, it changed drastically. And, don't let them freak you out too much with the jaundice...Tatum was in the high teens for the first week and then down to low teens once we got him outside a good bit and finally back to a level the ped liked by week 2. The ped probably wouldn't tell you either, but it couldn't hurt to pump and nurse to increase supply...but LLL could give you more info on those and other techniques I'm sure.

I really hope your hormones stay tame, they can be nasty pp, especially if you are feeling neglected. We are here for you, too, even though I know its not the same...

Keep your spirits up and do your best!!!

[Hollin]

3 weeks here. My tummy also bounced right back, but I still have some weight to lose. Bleeding stopped a week ago which is also very nice. I've had mastitis twice already, but I think I'm on the mend now. I just have too much milk. My body seems to think I've birthed hungry quadruplets. Baby isn't sleeping so great right now. Growth spurt I think. Hope he gets back to cheerful soon. Things are going much better with my older son. I'm starting to figure out life with 2 and get my patience back.

[squeekybuddha]

Hey Jenny! So glad to hear you are doing well physically. As for the emotional part, well it sucks and there is not much you can do to stop the crying. I went through it too. I hope that some of your help steps up in the future! Take care and remember that as long as you've got Eden, you've got a lot!

[marieangela]

Helena is jaundice, too, and using a biliblanket. Her levels have come down well and I think we'll be done with the biliblanket as of this evening. She'll be a week old in a few hours. The week has flown by. My milk came in early and strong (as it did with the boys). She only nurses for a minute or two at a time, but seems to be getting enough. We go in for a weight check tomorrow and I'm hoping she's up to birth weight (4lbs 9oz). I worry about her being so small, but so far she seems quite healthy aside from the jaundice.

I had a tiny flat tummy before this pregnancy and it definitely isn't back yet. It was such a quick and easy birth, though. If I didn't have the excess belly, I wouldn't even feel like I had given birth to a baby a week ago. She was so tiny and came out so easily, that I barely felt it at all.

The boys are doing pretty well with her. I've been trying to give them each some one on one attention when I can. I'm a bit tired of being in the house all of the time and am hoping to be able to get out and do some things after we get the all clear to get off of the biliblanket. It's really cold and she's so tiny that I tend to hesitate, though.

[ms. pacman]

Hi! I had my baby boy on the same day as you Jenny! I was getting a little annoyed at my midwife for stressing the need for rest so often. I have 2 older girls and I worry about their needs not being met. Today I decided to catch up on some homeschooling lessons, and I started to feel lightheaded and crampy again, so now I'm thinking my midwife was right after all! Sometimes it's hard to remember I had a baby only 6 days ago. I am very impatient to return to "normal life" though.

Jenny, I hope you continue to find strength within yourself. Enjoy your babies everyone

[Carhootel]

7 days PP here. Feeling pretty good but I stupidly carried around the carseat on friday and lifted my niece yesterday and my ab muscles are pretty achey. I have been doing some belly binding with an ace bandage though and that helps the ache some and just makes me feel good in general. My belly is getting smaller by the day but I'm definitely NOT back to my pre-preg belly, I wish I was though. My husband has to go back to work in the morning and I'm nervous about spending the day at home by myself - this week has been fantastic with us all at home together getting to know our baby Q.

My bleeding has slowed down and I never used lots of the things I bought (pads, depends, etc..). Nursing is going pretty well and he's definitely gaining weight and I'm not too sore but apparently our latch is not ideal and he gets pretty sleepy on the boob and we end up cluster feeding most of the morning away and then I get achey with milk in the afternoon while he's passed out for hours. I'm SOOOO leaky! and sweaty! we've changed the sheets a bunch and I just feel so sticky all over. I haven't been wearing a top during the night so that I can nurse easily but that means that I leak everywhere! I had to change his outfit twice during the night last night because after we nursed I noticed that my other breast had leaked all over his outfit and he was soaking wet and then when I got up to get the outfit I dripped on the floor all the way to the other room and back - there are dried milk spots on our hardwood floors this morning. Oh well.

Mostly I'm just madly in love - this guy is amazing and is changing SO much and so fast. I don't want to miss a moment of it and I feel like I already am even though I haven't left his side. CDing is a lot of fun too!

[eewieew]

Originally Posted by mom2tatum

...I am sorry you're having to deal with crap you didn't expect and having the husband issues...that has got to be very hard to deal with after birth. I think you are doing amazing, though, and your little girl is getting lots of love!

I think I remember you mentioning going to la leche league meetings, so make sure you continue doing so...for not only help and support getting the formula back down and getting back to just your milk, but also for the emotional support. I'm sure you already heard this too, but take Eden out in the sun as much as you can. The bili blanket barely helped us, but when we took Tatum out in the sunlight, it changed drastically. And, don't let them freak you out too much with the jaundice...Tatum was in the high teens for the first week and then down to low teens once we got him outside a good bit and finally back to a level the ped liked by week 2. The ped probably wouldn't tell you either, but it couldn't hurt to pump and nurse to increase supply...but LLL could give you more info on those and other techniques I'm sure.

I really hope your hormones stay tame, they can be nasty pp, especially if you are feeling neglected. We are here for you, too, even though I know its not the same...

Keep your spirits up and do your best!!!

luckily my mom came to the rescue last night and i feel a lot better...even just for having someone to talk to about what i'm going through who's been there.

unfortunately here in the mid-atlantic, sunshine is not plentiful at the moment. i'm keeping her near a window as much as possibly but it's so freaking cold and today we're getting dumped on by the snow. she's looking hugely better though, and is turning into quite the little excretory factory. i just feel like our bf'ing relationship was sabotaged from the very beginning, but my supply seems to be picking up - i've been nursing her as much as i can, my boobs have stopped hurting and i've been pumping too...i think that all of this stress has really been holding me back, but she IS getting breastmilk before she gets the formula, and honestly, i'm just so happy that she's got such a big appetite and is seemingly on the mend. she already seems like a different baby.

i'm definitely not giving up on it. it's too important to me and even if she can't get everything from my breast, the time that she's there is so special and important to me, and i refuse to give that up. now that we're through the first week, i feel much more comfortable and able to get around, and i definitely intend to go to a few support groups for new moms, and LLL meetings. hoping to see marilyn (texanatheart) and her beautiful boy jackson at the next one!

but thanks for your response and i really appreciate the support. the husband came by yesterday and we had a good talk. i really need to get over the relationship but it's just been so hard between being pregnant and having this beautiful girl that is half him. i know that once i can get back to my version of normal i will feel a million times better. it's just so hard because i feel so isolated right now and i can't really do much in terms of exercise, which has always been my BEST antidepressant. it'll come though...i just need to find my patience again (and my anger!)

Originally Posted by Hollin

3 weeks here. My tummy also bounced right back, but I still have some weight to lose. Bleeding stopped a week ago which is also very nice. I've had mastitis twice already, but I think I'm on the mend now. I just have too much milk. My body seems to think I've birthed hungry quadruplets. Baby isn't sleeping so great right now. Growth spurt I think. Hope he gets back to cheerful soon. Things are going much better with my older son. I'm starting to figure out life with 2 and get my patience back.

god, i wish i had too much milk! glad to hear everything is going well for you!

Originally Posted by marieangela

Helena is jaundice, too, and using a biliblanket. Her levels have come down well and I think we'll be done with the biliblanket as of this evening. She'll be a week old in a few hours. The week has flown by. My milk came in early and strong (as it did with the boys). She only nurses for a minute or two at a time, but seems to be getting enough. We go in for a weight check tomorrow and I'm hoping she's up to birth weight (4lbs 9oz). I worry about her being so small, but so far she seems quite healthy aside from the jaundice.

I had a tiny flat tummy before this pregnancy and it definitely isn't back yet. It was such a quick and easy birth, though. If I didn't have the excess belly, I wouldn't even feel like I had given birth to a baby a week ago. She was so tiny and came out so easily, that I barely felt it at all.

The boys are doing pretty well with her. I've been trying to give them each some one on one attention when I can. I'm a bit tired of being in the house all of the time and am hoping to be able to get out and do some things after we get the all clear to get off of the biliblanket. It's really cold and she's so tiny that I tend to hesitate, though.

wow, she was tiny!! eden was 7lbs 4.4oz at birth...the night before we left the hospital, she was 6lbs 11oz...2 days later she was 6 13 and the day after that she was 7 again. i'm super excited to see where she is now because she is a gluttonous little beast!

i feel the same way re the biliblanket. it's so trapping, and i feel tethered. the weather just isn't nice enough to get outside at the moment. we're supposed to get up into the 50's this week though...and i intend to take a nice walk with my baby the second it happens.

Originally Posted by Carhootel

7 days PP here. Feeling pretty good but I stupidly carried around the carseat on friday and lifted my niece yesterday and my ab muscles are pretty achey. I have been doing some belly binding with an ace bandage though and that helps the ache some and just makes me feel good in general. My belly is getting smaller by the day but I'm definitely NOT back to my pre-preg belly, I wish I was though. My husband has to go back to work in the morning and I'm nervous about spending the day at home by myself - this week has been fantastic with us all at home together getting to know our baby Q.

My bleeding has slowed down and I never used lots of the things I bought (pads, depends, etc..). Nursing is going pretty well and he's definitely gaining weight and I'm not too sore but apparently our latch is not ideal and he gets pretty sleepy on the boob and we end up cluster feeding most of the morning away and then I get achey with milk in the afternoon while he's passed out for hours. I'm SOOOO leaky! and sweaty! we've changed the sheets a bunch and I just feel so sticky all over. I haven't been wearing a top during the night so that I can nurse easily but that means that I leak everywhere! I had to change his outfit twice during the night last night because after we nursed I noticed that my other breast had leaked all over his outfit and he was soaking wet and then when I got up to get the outfit I dripped on the floor all the way to the other room and back - there are dried milk spots on our hardwood floors this morning. Oh well.

Mostly I'm just madly in love - this guy is amazing and is changing SO much and so fast. I don't want to miss a moment of it and I feel like I already am even though I haven't left his side. CDing is a lot of fun too!

i'm so jealous of you leaky mamas! i can't stress that enough. hopefully with my mom being here to take care of me for the next few days, i'll be able to get things on track and get off this damn formula!


thanks to everyone for responding...glad to know that i'm not alone here! definitely hope everyone continues to feel better.

[DanelleB]

I am sooo jealous of you girls with tiny tummies! Mine is huge and floppy. I'm sure it wasn't pretty after my other two deliveries, but I guess I was really good at being in denial. This time I have to inspect my incision to make sure it's not infected, and that's forced me take a close look at it. I'm actually supposed to have someone else look at it, but I can't bear to let hubby see it.

Darn hormones! Anyhoo...everything else is going well. Nursing is going suprisingly well. As far as I can tell, everyone is getting what they need. I feel like I constantly have a baby at my breast, but that's to be expected with newborn twins, right?

Ooh, Yay! I think Ella just poohed! We've been waiting for this for two days! LOL I have more hormonal complaining to do, I'll just have to wait until later.

[eewieew]

Originally Posted by DanelleB

I am sooo jealous of you girls with tiny tummies! Mine is huge and floppy. I'm sure it wasn't pretty after my other two deliveries, but I guess I was really good at being in denial. This time I have to inspect my incision to make sure it's not infected, and that's forced me take a close look at it. I'm actually supposed to have someone else look at it, but I can't bear to let hubby see it.

Darn hormones! Anyhoo...everything else is going well. Nursing is going suprisingly well. As far as I can tell, everyone is getting what they need. I feel like I constantly have a baby at my breast, but that's to be expected with newborn twins, right?

Ooh, Yay! I think Ella just poohed! We've been waiting for this for two days! LOL I have more hormonal complaining to do, I'll just have to wait until later.

honey, my belly is not tiny...just back to normal
i weighed 235 when i delivered, no idea where i am now. and you've got double the love, which makes for a handy excuse imho.

congrats on your babes...i must have missed your announcement, so consumed with my own labor and what not!

[DanelleB]

I've been a bad girl and haven't had a chance to announce. I'm hoping that once we get things somewhat back to normal, I'll post an official announcement. But for now, I just have a few minutes here and there to pop on so I post when I can.

It sounds like we're about the same size, then. I'd love for my tummy to just go back to before, but I guess it'll happen in good time--it did get pretty stretched out. I just hate having to look at it, kwim?

Oh, and Ella didn't do the doo. The child is on day 3 with no pooh. Luckily she's still wetting often, so I've convinced myself not to worry yet.

[marieangela]

Glad to hear that your mom came, jdubbelewe. My mil is coming tomorrow evening and I'm not looking forward to that!

Congrats, DanelleB! My previously tiny tummy is currently still looking about 4months pregnant. I forget how long it took to get back to normal with the boys. Nursing helped a lot with the weight for me. Hoping it works this time, too.

Helena had a weight check today and was up to 4lbs 10oz. Yay! She is above her birth weight after just a little bit over a week. I'm hoping we had our last heel prick today and can send the biliblanket back.

I leak all over the place, too, Carhootel. I knew it would happen since it was the same with the boys. I've been using the prefolds that won't fit little Helena for quite some time to catch the milk when she nurses. I need one for the opposite side and one to stop from spraying her in the face when she starts to choke on my stong letdown and pulls off. She rarely nurses for long, but it seems that she is getting enough as she has gained weight well and poops a lot.

[GoddessJ]

Jenny...have you tried Fennel for your milk supply? I have heard that the essential oil of Fennel is best if you can find a really pure source to ingest and rub on your breasts.

Good luck!

[Xiaguan]

We are doing pretty good. Now that the colds seem to be over! We had 2 kids on antibiotics before Seth was a week old I am still trying to take it easy since I notice when I do too much I ache in my pelvis something wicked! I could not walk last night after I my normal Sun am routine(1st time since Seth arrived). Plus I notice when I do too much I start bleeding again My IL's were here the first week & my mom is spending 2 weeks with us~ So after this weekend I will be on my own with 6 kids all day Should be interesting!

Storm loves her brother almost too much She wants to kiss & love on him all the time! I have to keep an eye on her lovings

Melissa

[texanatheart]

Things are going well here. Jenny, I'm so sorry that it was a rough beginning for you and Eden. I'm completely confident in you that you can wean the formula away, and get your supply where it needs to be for her. www.kellymom.com is a FANTASTIC resource. I used it the first couple days with Jackson, due to a small glitch with his latch. They have a few videos from Jack Newman that show correct latch, etc. They also have some very interesting links to jaundice info, like that bili actually had a protective effect on newborns. I know you didn't mention what her bili levels were, but just fyi, Dr Sears (the AP guru) doesn't treat for it until it's 20!!! Jackson was looking yellow, so we had mw do a test, and his was at 12.9. Our mw doesn't treat until 15, so we just spent a few days last week with him in the window in the mornings.

I'm really glad to hear that your mom has been helpful to you. I wish I could come by to help out (if you'd want me to), and I would if I weren't babymooning. Feel free to call me if you need to, or PM me if you don't have my number. I know how hard it can be to reach out when feeling weepy like that, but I'd be happy to talk to you. I couldn't even return a couple calls from some very close friends over the weekend, because I was feeling so bad. Did you get your placenta done?

I was getting pretty weepy a couple days ago. My mom came to help out, and went back to Texas yesterday morning. When dh and ds1 took her to the airport, I got some laundry going and did a bit of straightening around the house, and I hardly cried at all yesterday. As ms. pacman said, it's tough for me to sit and relax too much. I certainly put stock into resting, but I have to have a bit of balance with just doing some minor chores around the house, to keep me from thinking to much.

Bleeding is definitely tapering, but still around, too. I had a pretty tiny tummy before ds1, but I never got it back to tight after him...smaller, but still 'loose'. It's a bit flabby right now, and it will depend on whether I get back into exercising/training like pre-mama days or not to see if it ever gets super flat again. I will say that nursing stripped the excess weight off with ds1. A year after he was born, I was 7 pounds lighter than prepregnancy!!!

Nursing is going fantastically with ds2. I had a really rough start with ds1, and I think I learned more than I realized with that experience. Birthing at home and being so relaxed from the beginning helped, too, I'm sure. I planned to tandem nurse, and that part's going okay. DS1 was mildly sick with a yellow/green runny nose when ds2 was born, so he wasn't able to touch baby, and I had to turn down requests to nurse. Once his runny nose was clear, I decided to nurse him in the mornings, which I decided would be his 'special nummies time.' Whenever he asks now, I remind him he can nurse in the morning. I must say how crazy-freaky it is to nurse this tiny 11-day-old baby, then nurse my 27 month old 'baby.' (Not to mention that ds1's head has always been in the 95th percentile for his age, so he seems like a monster now )

Let's all remember to take good care of ourselves, mamas!!!

[baileyandmikey]

Well, we are officially at 10 days pp. Wow, is he getting old fast, lol. I feel weepy that he is over a week old, sad I know. Other than that, we are doing great. Jacob is off the biliblanket, which is such a relief, it is so hard to cosleep, and what not with that stupid blanket on. He is a great nurser, and sleeper, although I leak a ton, thank goodness for breastpads! I go thru those more than anything else. I am not sure how much he weighs, somewhere around 7 pds, I would assume. WE have a follow up apt on Friday with the pediatriction.

We are both happy, no signs of ppd, thank goodness. And I was lucky enough to fit back into three pairs of my prepregnancy jeans right away. My belly is shrunken, but still funky.... I was not a skinny girl before, so I think we are doing good. I can't wait to be able to exercise and get back into my other pairs of jeans, but I figure that will happen soon enough, I am glad not to be wearing my maternity clothes still, which I had to do after the last two pregnancies. So I feel lucky this time around.

My husband has returned to work, so its just me and the kids during the day. This is an adjustment, trying to make sure I wake up in time to get the oldest dressed and on the school bus, I have a hard time keeping an alarm clock on..... seems everytime the baby cries, I wake up and turn the darn thing off

I have healed amazingly this time My birth was great, and I didn't tear or have to be cut, and wow.... I didn't even feel like I had given birth, so I was pleased in that area. I did have some major bleeding issues after the birth, which sucked. I refused when they wanted to give me blood, but recovered quickly despite that. The bleeding let up alot after we left the hospital, and I *think* its almost done, so we'll see. Otherwise I feel great, and am dying to get back into the swing of things. Unfortunaelty no one is well around here, so I have been refusing visitors and haven't taken the baby out. My kids had the flu, then recovered, but both woke up with a cold this am, so they are again not allowed to touch the baby.

Hope everyone else is doing well. I am suprised that so many of us have had our babies already.... sure there are alot more to come!

[ms. pacman]

Baileyandmikey, I totally know what you mean about feeling weepy over the passing days. I feel like the days are rushing us away from such a special special day. I think part of the reason women get weepy is because it's seems so lonely, how there's no way to possibly acknowledge how special of a time it is, how no one else will truly ever know the miraculous bond and the feelings that surround a mother and the birth of the child. It is, like pregnancy, something the mother and baby are almost alone with. And then once the baby comes out, it's almost like, ok, go on with our lives. But it's hard to let the special thing get farther in the past. Just rambling here....