Post partum chat - Page 2

[Kelly1101]

My toddler is sick. Some type of cold, runny nose, coughing, no high fever.

I'm so freaked out for Ozzy. I really don't want him to get sick at only 5 days old. Luckily I'm feeling a touch of it myself, hopefully I have been exposed to it enough that my breastmilk will keep him from getting it.

Worried

[pacifica]

Kelly1101, I'm sorry you have sickness in your house too. My boys are on day 3 of sickness and baby girl seems to not be catching it. Must be really hard with a toddler. My boys are older and able to lay watching a movie without needing a lot of me.

Great advice Just1More. Laurski, we co-sleep too and I feel like I get a lot more sleep as well. My baby is right by my side and I nurse her back to sleep quickly, most of the time. From experience, if baby gets overtired/overstimulated they are much more difficult to get back to sleep and they don't sleep as long....I try to think of it as a 3 hour cycle from wake til sleep again....sometimes less than 3. Wake. Nurse. Diaper change. Sit up/awake time (not very long for newborn). Nurse to sleep again. I also make sure baby is completely limp and really asleep before lying her down.

[Kelly1101]

At least Ozzy sleeps great for now. He's been napping by himself in the crib for the past hour. It is making it a lot easier to care for Em.

Forgot to add, his cord stump fell off last night! At not quite 5 days old. Seems too early, but it looks fine and healthy, so *shrug*

[CoopersMommy0308]

We are on day two and Sawyer has his days and nights completely mixed up. Dh and I are pretty exhausted since we still have Cooper during the day. Fortunately my DH has 2 weeks off of work and I have only gotten out of bed to pee really. I sleep when the baby sleeps for the most part and DH takes care of DS1.

Any tips on getting his days and nights straightened out? We've tried keeping him awake during the day, but that's pretty much impossible! just screams and screams until he's nursed and falls back asleep. Diaper changes, baths, nothing is working at keeping him awake... About 6pm he'll wake up and stay awake until about 3am and then sleeps from 3am till about 10am then 11ish until 6ish, with just waking to nurse and diaper changes... oy

[Kelly1101]

I wouldn't try to keep him awake at all-- will just make him overtired and less likely to sleep.

Try making things really boring at night-- lay in the bed, dim lights, only getting up to change a diaper.

[Laurski]

Originally Posted by Kelly1101

Forgot to add, his cord stump fell off last night! At not quite 5 days old. Seems too early, but it looks fine and healthy, so *shrug*

Ellie's fell off around day 6--I also thought it was a bit early, but it all seems ok too...

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Just1More, I really appreciate your giving me a concrete example of how to think about breaking up the day.

We have a cosleeper attached to our bed, but Ellie still doesn't like it, and I tried having her next to me on the bed this morning, but she wasn't a huge fan. I know much of this is due to her newness to the world and it will pass, but as you all know, it can be hard to think rationally on so little sleep... Also, I've been trying to learn how to nurse while lying down, but my boobs (somewhere between an I and a J cup) are a bit too unwieldy to really do so successfully...

[tribord]

DS's cord seems about to fall off too here at day 4. I think b/c it is warm he is less dressed and it gets more air than my winter DD's did.

I am having some success with side-lying nursing now which I couldn't do w/ DD until much, much later. Makes sleep much better. Also, DH is handling the toddler night wakings (my rule for DD since we night-weaned about 11 months ago is she can't nurse until 5am but she still wakes up 1-2x night) and my mom is handling the 5:30am toddler getup and morning stuff. DH and I were saying that even though the chunks of sleep are really small we are getting more sleep than before the baby came! It will be tough once my mom leaves on Tues (she is probably doing 90% of taking care of DD) and I am not letting myself think about what it will be like once DH goes back to work.

And we found out that today DS is already back to birthweight.... so that was exciting!

[Just1More]

Glad to help. That exact info sure helped me a good deal the first time I read it!

As far as side-lying nursing. I couldn't get the hang of it with my first, either. She was just too little to hold herself, and I couldn't get the angle right. When she was a few days old, I let her latch on while I was sitting up. Then, still holding her, I slowly eased us down on the bed. I had to unlatch and relatch her right as we got down to the bed, but doing it that way let me see how I should hold her. We were good after that! Most of the pictures show the mom with an arm tucked under her head, and the baby lying beside her. It works better for me if I hold the baby on my arm the whole time. HTH!

[pacifica]

Oh Mamas, my baby girl got the cold my older kids have. She started coughing last night and by morning, she now has a stuffy nose and is fussy. Any advice would be wonderful. She's only 12 days old, I feel so bad/worried for her.

[Kelly1101]

Originally Posted by pacifica

Oh Mamas, my baby girl got the cold my older kids have. She started coughing last night and by morning, she now has a stuffy nose and is fussy. Any advice would be wonderful. She's only 12 days old, I feel so bad/worried for her.

I'm so sorry I don't even know what to do for such a newborn, besides nurse and nurse-- I'd try a nose aspirator. Do you have a humidifier to put near where she sleeps? That couldn't hurt. If there was any fever I'd call the doctor, just because she's so little.

We've been lucky here so far, Ozzy seems fine, hopefully it will stay that way since I caught a touch of what Em has. Em ended up running a high fever yesterday afternoon, but it broke overnight... the runny nose has slacked off a lot, too, although I think her throat is still hurting her. She's napping now...

It's been kind of tough emotionally because it's like I haven't yet figured out how it works to split my focus and attention... it's like I'm worried so much about Ozzy being sick, but I'm also really sad for my Em and want to make her feel better, and trying to deal with both is somehow mentally exhausting me, I'm not used to being scared for two little people at the same time, if that makes sense.

My mom came up last night because she's the most awesome person ever. I was just so worn down, the post partum hormones were peaking and I couldn't stop crying, Emma wouldn't sleep, etc... so she came up and spent some time snuggling Emma while I took care of Ozzy, and we all managed to get some sleep last night. Was very needed, husband and I had been up all night the night before.

In other news, my nipples are so mangled right now. I remember feeling like this about this time with Em, so I know it will pass, but it is not at all fun. I cringe just thinking about nursing. It only hurts when he first latches on for like 20 seconds or so, once he gets going it is just sore, but at first it is like knock-me-out-of-this-chair pain. I've been trying to be religious with the lanolin and carefully making sure that he latches right, hopefully this part passes soon.

[pacifica]

For nipples, I recommend real 100% lanolin (lansinoh). I was given some at the hospital (medela brand) and it wasn't real lanolin....it didn't help my breasts. I had dh go buy the real stuff and my breasts are much more comfortable now.

[Lit Chick]

I am so depressed! Tal is colicky it seems. Last night and today were have been hell. My milk is not in yet, and he won't nurse, he's pissed. The first day was great, he was nursing long and strong, but then it all just fell apart. He's been refusing the breast, and cried for nearly the entire day. Midwife told me to pump, but pumping colosturm is near fing impossible... a good amount got stuck in the phlange... wasted. I have to pump a few drops, scoop out with my finger, feed him, try again. He did nurse each breast for about 4 minutes after he got a little taste... so I feel a tiny bit better... but it's so awful. I'm so tired, he's so tired, I need my milk to come in but baby won;t help so I have to pump... I'm just so overwhelmed. And I worry that my m ilk won't come at all, or that he'll still be miserable...

If I thought it would help at all, I would give up and do formula. Having a baby scream for 12 straight hours and refuse the breast is so disheartening.

MW thinks he just needs milk and probiotics, so at least it looks like he's not sick. I thought we'd be going to the hospital earlier.

SOB.

[tribord]

Lit Chick

[Kelly1101]

*hugs* That sucks... hang in there, your milk WILL come in, and it will be so much better...

[Lit Chick]

I think we are over the hump. I took a long, hot shower, and napped, and he nursed a bit. And he's been better each time since. Today I think I heard him swallow... so maybe my milk is here. I never got engorged (ever) with my first so it's hard to tell without pumping, but I'm not going to pump if I can help it, at least right now. Having to sue it yesterday put me in a bad place (thinking too much about work, about what if I cannot get enough, blah blah).

[MacKinnon]

I'm here, on the other side! We're home and on day #2, doing pretty good. Ellery is just starting to get an opinion, she's spend her first 47 hours of life snuggling, nursing and sleeping. However, she's hungry and a bit grumpy now. My milk is starting to come in, I'm feeling that tingly let down, and her poop tonight was clearly mixed mec. and milk poo. She slept well last night, waking about every two hours to sleep, and didn't need changing as my milk wasn't in! We're onto much longer nursing sessions now. I didn't nap today and slept a grand total of 6 hours, with three wakings last night. Just had a fight with DH, who has been next to useless with baby. He IS helping with DD and DS, but that leaves me alone with baby, and sometimes, I just need a hand! Like to pee, or something... DD, my older, she's 6, has been a real pill. She's obsessed with the baby and wants her to herself ALL-THE-TIME. She cried because I had to nurse baby... DD started school today, and I'm SO hoping that will help with the baby obsession. I'm getting baby-blusey and grumpy. Placenta incapsulated- it comes with the midwives three day home visit on Thursday, thank goodness! In the mean time, I've got to chill and rest. Like really...

[JTA Mom]

LitChick. Ds had colic. It was NOT fun. If it turns into true colic, not just hunger grumpiness, the elimination diet helps wonders. Turned out ds is incredibly sensitive to corn--gives him the worst tummyaches and nightmares to this day. I'd just cut out grains, dairy, eggs and soy. Eat lots of veggies and meats and fruits an d don't be afraid to pour on the oil. Then, in a couple weeks, reintroduce one 'allergen' at a time.

As for sidelying nursing, I found that a rolled up receiving blanket helped me position ds a LOT in the early days. I also have big boobs (H or I depending). What I would do is roll it up tight in to a long tube, roll ds onto his side, lay his head on the top edge of the rolled up blanket, and then put the rest of the roll tightly against his back. This way his head would be tilted up and he'd be able to lay on his side. Then all I needed to do was line up my nipple and let him latch on. Similar to how those wrap around maternity pillows work, except nothing between his knees.

Hoping Ozzie stays healthy, Kelly.

Hope no one minds me crashing in.

Ami

[Kelly1101]

Ozzy is getting sick like Em was So far just the stuffed up nose, he doesn't seem too miserable, but I'm worried he'll get a fever like she did... just keeping an eye on things for now

[sere234]

So glad there's a postpartum thread now! I missed being a regular part of the Sep. DDC after I gave birth!!!

Baby Caden is 2 1/2 weeks old today and we're doing great!! Last night he slept from 10:00-4:30 (YAY!!!) then ate at 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 before staying awake. We keep the lights in the house dim and things quiet from about 9:00 PM on and I usually don't change his diaper at night since he just pees. He sleeps with me and poor DH sleeps on the couch We weren't planning to cosleep since DH is a crazy sleeper and our bed isn't big enough to comfortably fit 3 but Caden let us know he needs to!

During the day, Caden sleeps wherever around the house, mostly in his rocker/bouncer chair and we keep things bright and noise level normal for daytime. Yesterday he had a fussy time all afternoon long but usually he just sleeps, eats, looks around, and repeats all day long

He's a champion eater and gained 10 ounces in one week! Day one he wouldn't eat for 15 hours straight (eek!) and was VERY sleepy but since then he's made up for the eating! We really like the doc we picked, especially when she told us we should skip a few vaccines and gave us natural remedies for baby problems. She seemed perfectly fine with the homebirth too!!


Kelly- hope Ozzy is doing okay!! Poor little guy

Litchick- glad breastfeeding seems to be going better!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their babies!!

[MaerynPearl]

Dont belong here yet... but..

If yall could go over the arrivals thread and make sure I have added you and any/all info is correct? Thanks!

Also, if I only have partial info and you would like to fill us in on the rest just let me know!