oh man maybe i should use a stool softener...i am just scared, i think.
what can i take? i don't want to be like on the toilet ALL THE TIME...but i should probably poop before i talk to my midwife tomorrow. haha. she will not be impressed if i don't!
no problem :)
alright i'm officially on the other side.
and terrified to poop.
i sent derek to the store to get stool softeners..i am too scared otherwise!
I didn't have poop issues with the first time I went but susequently I've had some issues. I really tried today to up my water intake. I wasn't having issues at the end of pregnancy but I was drinking a TON of water to try and keep my amniotic fluid level up. I guess with all the nursing, I need to still continue with the 8+ cups of water per day.
my issues were all mental...i had just psyched myself out too much.
thank god for stool softeners...it was apparently just what i needed. *phew*
now the midwife won't kick my @$$.
alright, life can go on.
Hi, everyone!
The nursing is going really well for us *touch wood*. He latches well, I have had some nipple tenderness but no chapping or cracking, and we're through the engorgement now. He's also gaining weight already. He had surpassed his birth weight at our day 5 pediatrician check-up, and every day he looks plumper to me.
Our problem is that his days and nights are reversed, and I don't know how to fix that. He'll happily sleep for 3-5 hours during the day, and then he's up every 2 hours during the night. Last night he had a really good feeding at midnight, but then proceeded to fuss for the next 3.5 hours. I fed him again at 2 am out of desperation, thinking he might be hungry, but he wasn't really that hungry. He ate sort of lazily, and then continued to fuss for another 1.5 hours. We were at our wits end. Every time we stopped rocking and bouncing him, he'd break out into a full-blown wail of outrage. Out of desperation we finally put a pacifier in his mouth, and he fell asleep around 3:30 am sucking on the pacifier. I think it might have been gas, but I have no idea. This is my first child, I've only been a mom for a week+, what do I know?
But I do know if we don't start to get more sleep at night, he's going to have two parents on the verge of insanity. What can we do to get him to sleep for 3-4 hours during the night, instead of the day??
are you guys co-sleeping? tha'ts really my only advice.
nursing is going really well over here too! it helps to have done it for 4 years before i think :P
definitely a bit engorged but it is evening out and i have some amazing locally made nipple salve that is working wonders.
little miss Z is a healthy eater...she's 3 days old and has had probably 10 poops and at least 7-10 wet diapers. she's definitely going to be a chunky kid just like her brother was!
Sigh. I wish experience always trumped issues...over 5 years breastfeeding and 2 years as a LLL leader to boot, but this kiddo has me a little stumped all the same :( She is currently filling her diaper with poop for the 3rd time today, and has only had 5 ounces of pumped milk so far (and about 10 ounces total yesterday), so I am crossing my fingers that that's a good sign she's taking more from the breast...today is 2 weeks since we started pumping and finger feeding. We head back to the midwife's office tomorrow to see if she's gained since last week (she weighed a pound under birth weight, on a different scale, on day 12...after starting to regain she apparently lost again, though I'm hoping it was just a scale calibration issue).
nursing is going really well over here too! it helps to have done it for 4 years before i think :P
my issues were all mental...i had just psyched myself out too much.
thank god for stool softeners...it was apparently just what i needed. *phew*
now the midwife won't kick my @$$.
alright, life can go on.
probably due to pooping after my first.
I'm very fortunate to have a good milk supply and a good little nurser. Agent hit his first growth spurt and has been feeding every hour or less since 3am this morning. Not awesome, but I've heard that once the feeding frenzy ends he'll sleep through the night for a few days, which would be fabulous. He's only ever really fussy when he's gassy, so I've been trying a mixture of co-sleeping with him on my chest when he's going through a gassy fit and having in a camping crib at the side of the bed for the rest of the time. With the gas, he passes it much better lying on his stomach with me rubbing his back. He uses my nipple as a pacifier and then nurses half of the time, which I'm guessing stimulates his digestive system, making the gas pass faster.
He's such a little trouper though, each day he tries to work through his gas himself and only cries when he's really stuck. He sounds like a little monster grunting through his gas and wiggling around. He manages to wiggle his way out of every swaddle we've tried. He's a baby hoodini. I'm super lucky that he's fairly easy compared to a lot of babies.
Hi, everyone!
The nursing is going really well for us *touch wood*. He latches well, I have had some nipple tenderness but no chapping or cracking, and we're through the engorgement now. He's also gaining weight already. He had surpassed his birth weight at our day 5 pediatrician check-up, and every day he looks plumper to me.
Our problem is that his days and nights are reversed, and I don't know how to fix that. He'll happily sleep for 3-5 hours during the day, and then he's up every 2 hours during the night. Last night he had a really good feeding at midnight, but then proceeded to fuss for the next 3.5 hours. I fed him again at 2 am out of desperation, thinking he might be hungry, but he wasn't really that hungry. He ate sort of lazily, and then continued to fuss for another 1.5 hours. We were at our wits end. Every time we stopped rocking and bouncing him, he'd break out into a full-blown wail of outrage. Out of desperation we finally put a pacifier in his mouth, and he fell asleep around 3:30 am sucking on the pacifier. I think it might have been gas, but I have no idea. This is my first child, I've only been a mom for a week+, what do I know?
But I do know if we don't start to get more sleep at night, he's going to have two parents on the verge of insanity. What can we do to get him to sleep for 3-4 hours during the night, instead of the day??
Are you burping him? I realize in retrospect I didnt burp my first enough. Sometimes Ill burp my LO midfeed this time. We are dealing with oversupply issues tho. Are you switching breasts during a feed? If so, he could be getting too much foremilk. Try leaving him on the same breast, if he seems hungry again an hour later, give him the breast he just fed on. If you think it's gas try the simethicone/ mylicon drops. They are very safe. Have you tried swaddling?
PS.. nothing at all wrong with using a paci if he likes it. Ive bought 5 different kinds and DD2 wont take one. My first wouldnt either.
Try to keep him up for a couple hours before bed. Get him naked, turn all the lights on, give him a sponge bath.. etc During the day, open all the blinds/curtains.. dont tiptoe around being quiet when he is sleeping...
Goodluck.. nothing prepares you for the level of sleep deprivation you experience with your first, IMO. The only solace is it does pass. ((hug))
bluepetals, are you sure babe doesnt have a posterior tongue tie? Much harder to dx.. but sounds alot like what we experienced w/ DD1.
afm,
Doing good, babe is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night the last few nights.. last night we got one 5 hr, but then a 2 hr ;).. Im dealing with oversupply.. at first I thought it might be lactose intolerance, because I was already block feeding in 3-4 hour increments, but now that ive upped it to 12 hrs (holy oversupply!!!) there is such a huge difference in her gassiness and fussing, she is also doing moderate poops instead of lots of explosive watery ones.. they have always stayed yellow and curdy though, no mucus or green. I have to pump off 3ish oz when I switch breasts and Im hoping I can start cutting that soon so we can address the root issue. Im debating on taking antihistimines at night to try and bring it down. With DD1 it took 5 weeks to get her to the breast, 3 with the sns, syringe feeding and bottles, then 2 with a nipple sheild. I pumped atleast double what she ate.. massive oversupply. Hope this time it is easier to tame.. it took us till amost 4 months to regulate last time.
panic / I forgot about burping!!! I forgot about everything!!! Aughhhh, what am I doing???I'm not prepared to do this again!!! \panic
Ha! I feel the SAME way, Evergreen! Burping, and block feeding, and fore milk/hind milk, and sleeping, and swaddling, and...and...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe THAT'S why the baby hasn't been born yet--he/she knows I totally have no idea what I'm doing.
MamaChef- sounds like your oversupply issues are even more killer than my own. I am block feeding for about 2 hours and probably need to up that but then I would have to pump a lot and my body is super sensitive to the pump and just goes into overdrive. I also have a very forceful/overactive letdown so that just contributes to the issue. DD1 had vicious "oversupply colic" and it took me so long to resolve it. With DD2, I had done enough reading and started off with not overpumping, block feeding and nursing her in a mostly reclined position- spraying the first let down into a burp cloth. Both DD1 and DD2 suffered a lot of reflux type symptoms because of my oversupply so I'm hoping to avoid that this time. Arya seems to stop when he is full and with DD2 she just loved to comfort nurse so much that she would nurse and nurse until she pretty much threw up. So... it's one day at a time as I try and tame my supply. I just had to pump because Arya decided to take a long nap and I am in pain from the swelling.
Officially joining the other side! It feels so great to be here! We're home and enjoying the newborn lovies! I am loving my older kids' response to him too!
I'll probably be more active after the holiday weekend. DH is home and we are thoroughly enjoying our family time as a family of 5!!
Congratulations Becca! We are now a family of 5 as well and couldn't be happier. Congrats on your VBAC!! My two daughters are so enamored with their baby brother it's unreal. My 6.5 yr old bounces out of bed at 6am to come snuggle with him. Today she was up at 5am. I think he is going to be smothered by his two older sisters- LOL
bluepetals, are you sure babe doesnt have a posterior tongue tie? Much harder to dx.. but sounds alot like what we experienced w/ DD1.
afm,
Doing good, babe is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night the last few nights.. last night we got one 5 hr, but then a 2 hr ;).. Im dealing with oversupply.. at first I thought it might be lactose intolerance, because I was already block feeding in 3-4 hour increments, but now that ive upped it to 12 hrs (holy oversupply!!!) there is such a huge difference in her gassiness and fussing, she is also doing moderate poops instead of lots of explosive watery ones.. they have always stayed yellow and curdy though, no mucus or green. I have to pump off 3ish oz when I switch breasts and Im hoping I can start cutting that soon so we can address the root issue. Im debating on taking antihistimines at night to try and bring it down. With DD1 it took 5 weeks to get her to the breast, 3 with the sns, syringe feeding and bottles, then 2 with a nipple sheild. I pumped atleast double what she ate.. massive oversupply. Hope this time it is easier to tame.. it took us till amost 4 months to regulate last time.
Nope, I'm not sure she doesn't have a posterior tie. Definitely she is displaying pretty much every symptom, so this possibility has been foremost in our minds the last week or so. My midwife is of the opinion that she will grow into things (as she has been - we have made great strides in the last week, but we're not there yet!), that she might have a little or this or that, but overall there are no giant red flag challenges so give it time and things will continue to improve. I saw our regional professional liaison person with LLL today and she thinks A's frenulum is a bit tight and what can it hurt to clip it and see if it helps (she also says she feels a slight bubble palate, which isn't helping things either...also, A's lower jaw is maybe a little receded. So possibly we are dealing with a trifecta of challenges to holding on to a nice deep latch!). I am leaning toward getting it clipped, at least then we can say we tried. On the bright side, A gained 12 ounces since last Wednesday! So she is getting lots of milk, and we'll keep doing what we're doing (and maybe do the clip, too) and hopefully things will get better and better *fingers crossed*
Your story about the pumping and resulting oversupply has me worried - in addition to what Aibhlinn gets at breast (NO idea how much, but she's taking less pumped milk lately so I'm guessing a decent amount), I am pumping around 30 ounces a day (27.5 yesterday, a good nursing day :P), more if it's a bad nursing day. I probably should cut back but given her lousy latch, I am worried that without the pump, we might not stimulate such great production. But eek, FOUR months to regulate? Crap. Ah well, if that happens i will console myself by making someone else very happy with a giant milk donation :P
Thanks for sharing your experience, MamaChef. It's incredibly encouraging to hear about people who've been through the same thing and were still nursing after all was said and done. The "what if she never nurses" thing has haunted me, though that little voice in my head is getting quieter every day :)
Loving hearing how everyone is doing! Hang in there to those with challenges, we'll get there :)
panic / I forgot about burping!!! I forgot about everything!!! Aughhhh, what am I doing???I'm not prepared to do this again!!! \panic
Ha! I feel the SAME way, Evergreen! Burping, and block feeding, and fore milk/hind milk, and sleeping, and swaddling, and...and...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe THAT'S why the baby hasn't been born yet--he/she knows I totally have no idea what I'm doing.
Right?? Think maybe you just tipped me off to my subconscious block! "Oh yeah... I'm freaking CLUELESS!!"
I keep telling myself it could not be any crazier than it was with my dd - not just that she was our firstborn, but in retrospect I think she had some chiro issues and at the time I had never gone to a chiro and I had no idea they also worked with children. She had raging latch/positional issues with breastfeeding, didn't like to cuddle, only had weekly bowel movements (despite being breastfed and gaining just enough weight) that clearly were more related to tension than anything - she wasn't at all constipated, screamed for roughly 6-12 hours starting around 3 pm (and I mean *screamed* - no mere newborn outrage here) and I was beyond clueless, with the added bonus of having a doctor that didn't know natural living from his ass. He just kept telling me it was all normal and I was the weirdo, basically. She wouldn't co-sleep either - I think also due to her positional pain situation. I didn't realize any of this at the time... just felt like a failure who had given birth to an alien! And oh yeah, at the time, dh thought breastfeeding was ridiculous. No support. Sigh....
I may BE freaking clueless, but just typing all that out reminds we're both totally different people now, surrounded by support and resources. AND dd came rather beautifully through it all, despite what felt like (and really was, I just didn't even know enough to know that then!) my raging ineptness so..
Deep breaths... lots of slow deep breaths... :)
Hey everyone! Is anyone else experiencing a painful letdown? I feel like sharp stabbing pains in my nipple everytime I have a letdown, I think it's just a forceful letdown, but its much more painful than I remember with my son. I don't feel like there's mastitis, or clogged ducts or anything, just very forceful, painful letdown. DD keeps up with it though, so that's good. DD is sleeping in 5-6 hour stretches at night and goes every 2-4 hours for nursing during the day. She is also not too keen on comfort nursing yet, and prefers the paci (soothie brand, only!) for comfort..I tried to comfort nurse her but she'd eat too much and throw up. We'll see if anything changes. DS was a big comfort nurser and was never into the paci from the beginning, so this is an adjustment for me, not nursing nearly as much as I did with DS.
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