September / October / November mommys 2012

Hi there

the more i try to stick to a routine the more its failing. the only thing i try to do is to stretch feeds till 3 hours.
ja persistence is the key!! i try my best to give her everyday the bottle one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so she is having her last feed at +- 7 and then i feed her at 5pm again thats the plan not always successful but i try. i battle to get her down after bathtime but when she sleeps she goes till 3:30 and then she is up at 5:30 till 6.
mostly she only drinks 60 ml i do get some days where she drinks the 120 ml but thats the exception but at least she is taking the bottle. i try to have her one bottle at least everyday, but when im stressed i try with water etc if i see she not taking the bottle at all then i feed her.
dh not really helping i cant wait to have him on leave so that he can be 24/7 with her as well and help to get a routine settled.
things upside down at work as well. fx we getting bonus i really need it.
my washing machine broke tonight.
take care!!

Hey Belaiine, good to hear from you! Glad to hear you and M are doing well. Shes 3 months already! Time flies. Im also back at work on the 14th of january and im not looking forward to it at all. Ive finally got Eli to take the bottle and formulae, so i give him a bottle a day, i think persistance is key. Id offer him every day, till he finally took it. We are still not having great nights, 2li is not much of a sleeper. Even during the day. Have you started on night time routines yet? Was just checking in. Joy baby hope your lil one is better and out of the hospital.

Hi ladies

been mia for a long time!! my lg keeping me very busy and we had a really busy time!! 4 weddings and a funeral.
Back at work for halftime so far is going great taking her with and sometimes i'm just going in for a few hours mostly working from home so i end up going in and bring it home, gets more done here.

2 sets of injections done last ones, she was a bit difficult but not too bad!

Also had a struggle with M taking the bottle.. what was very confusing because she use to take the tommee tippee bottle for top up feeding in hosp and when she visits mil as well and then she refuses for a week so i ended up taking her to mil for the night.
also changed bottles she now taking the mam bottle still putting up a fight but going much better.

she also waking up at about 3:38 and then at around 6

she is now on nr 3 nappies and i use s26 formula and now on the 3-6 month clothes. i just washed it this week and packed the other clothes away or gave it away to my friend who is expecting a lg at the end of next month.

lady at dh work is pg after 19 years of trying..... she is 8 weeks.
cant believe my lg is 3 months already!! love her so much!!

Take care

im so lucky got paid my salary so no uif worries for me!! but on the bad side they are retrenching people luckily im not one of them but im moving to another farm so my workload is gonna be more just stressing that i will need to put in extra hours and then im missing time with my lg.

hugs to all of you!! will try to pop in more often now!!

Monica I'm super happy that things are going better your side!!! I was worried you were taking a lot of strain esp with the colic and breastfeeding. What formula and bottles you using?

Re pediasure - you can get the 450gram tin at dischem to test if she will drink it.
You can also sprinkle it into yogurt, mix into white sauces or into food etc for extra calories. It does not increase your appetite, but is higher in calories than full cream milk and so helps in that regard esp if they burn more energy than they consume or are fussy eaters. Dont give her the milk / any liquids close to meal times though as then she will be full and eat less and the milk will be counter productive.
You get a chocolate flavour one too, but its a bit of a gamble some kids like it others don't. You can also cook with olive oil and butter, and encourage snacks like peanut butter or nuts in general, and avo's - the healthy fats. I also give mayonnaise to dip chicken in etc which she loves.
I've been told by our clinic that iron helps the absorption of nutrients and have been recommended Chela-fer as a syrup supplement. How much does she weigh now? K is 27 months and still weighs just under 10kg's. But she is taller and feet are bigger. I am accepting that she is just small. (Compared to Rei who is over 5kgs already at a month old!)

Super jealous of those of you whose babies are practically sleeping through! (Monica and Robyn )
Rei still wakes 3 hourly at night except for one feed where she'll go from 7pm till 11 or midnight. The rest of the night its 3hourly, sometimes less. And from about 5am she starts getting a lot of cramps. She will sleep but very restlessly then eventually wakes around 7am. Will be asleep again by 8:30am but always restless with cramps till about 10am.
She does have one long nap a day which I'm so grateful for as Kay never did. Usually late afternoon from about 1 - 3:30 or 4pm.
At night she wakes for milk but the last two or three nights she'll only feed one side and then fall fast asleep again, despite nappy change.
She seems to have a bit of an infection in her nose (Infected by Kaylee) which started today, its very runny, so affecting her drinking. Using saline and suction. Really hope she doesnt get worse or re-infect Kaylee now

She doesn't like to be 'down' in a bouncy chair or on her feeding pillow. If she's awake she wants to be in your arms. If I'm chilling its okay. Other times I'm resorting to the baby sense sling which I never got right with Kay but finally got it right this time after my friend showed me how it works. Cant exactly fold washing or unpack dishwasher in it, but can do general housework, or work at the pc.

I do still struggle to get her down at night, as there is just so much chaos at night time and hubby only getting home at 7pm while his bike is in the workshop waiting on parts (going on 2 months of waiting!) and he is using the car and leaving town at 6pm to avoid traffic (hates it!) so makes it hard. Sometimes it'll take 2hours to settle her. But other days we get it right and she'll be down from 7pm and then I can focus on Kaylee and cooking etc.
But now is the time to get her used to falling asleep on her own after a bit of a cuddle. I cuddle her till drowsy with dummy in mouth, then put her down and keep my hand on her for a while, and once she's in a light sleep I'll leave the room. It works somedays and not others.

I have managed to loose 6.5kgs of my pre-pregnancy weight, so 13,5 kgs lost in total as picked up 7 with the pregnancy. Very proud of myself as I never lost all my pregnancy weight with Kay, and now I'm 3kgs away from being where I was when I conceived Kay. But it's cos I havent touched a single sweet or chip or biscuit since I left the hospital excepting for one day in October.
Dont think I'll be able to keep that up but will definitely be watching portions and start weight watchers again on 1st December. Aiming to loose another 12 by end of Jan, so 6kgs a month.

Kaylee is in hospital with viral pneumonia at the moment. Tested positive for Adenovirus and another one. We have had her at physio for 2 weeks, 1 week then she got better for a few days and then she picked up another virus and 4 days later we were back at physio. After 2 sessions they decided with doc that we need more intensive treatment and to admit her. This was on Thursday. She is much better now, but still some phlegm that she struggles to cough up and out. But physio recons perhaps doc will let her home after her 2nd neb after lunch tomorrow if she stays well tonight and tomorrow morning.
Its been very hard for me as I havent been able to stay there all the time with Kaylee, and only 'visit' for a few hours a day. She's in a private room but still there are too many bugs around which Rei is exposed to so I cant run around after Kaylee in general ward and leave Rei alone in the private room.
So I am missing her incredibly. Will go down around 10am tomorrow once doc has been and we know if we're going home. And will have to keep her home this coming week to help build her immune system.
But now Rei seems to have caught it from her, as I said above she has started with the runny nose. I just hope and pray that it doesnt get into her airways, her immune system cant fight it. So happy I'm breastfeeding but hope it's enough Will talk to paed about it tomorrow. Find out if I can get Rei on a multivit to help.
We have Kay's cardiology appointment next Monday 3rd December which will tell us if she needs another surgery urgently or whether it is stable. We are trusting for a miracle but my flesh still tries to prepare for the worst.
Rei's 6 week check up is on 4th Dec, and tomorrow I need to phone around to find government stock of the 6week immunisations for next week.
Gynae didnt say I must come back for a check up, just to come in Jan for annual pap as I didn't have one this year.

Anyways, its bed time for me! Long day ahead!

Hey girls!

Robyn I am trying to do the sleep routine your way now. It doesnt work really if they dont take a dummy as they want comfort from sucking and Kaylee soothed on the boob till a year as she didnt take a dummy which made it hard once she weaned.
But I am still worried of using dummy too often to keep her content when some comfort from mommy is what she needs. Kaylee is extremely loving and I'm sure some of it comes from all the cuddles she got as a baby.
So trying to get the best of both worlds

Sweet on the concert! Did you take pics?
Let us know how the check up and weigh in goes! The jabs are awful
Lol youre brave to get back to normal! I struggled with tightness after K was born for the first 4 months so hoping I dont have a repeat of that. Are you on contraceptives? I have a script for microvil but havent filled it yet. Guess I should...

BettsF its cos he can smell your milk. Have you tried having someone else giving it to him maybe once hubby home to help initially and once they latch you can do it? Took Rei about 4 weeks to 'learn' to take dummy, so I guess they have to learn to latch the bottle too, its gonna take perseverance.
And you may have to try different bottles. Kaylee refused nuk but took pigeon. I think its a more natural teat. Also Dr Browns good for breastfed babies and anti colic too.
I hear you on the rocking to sleep - We did it for 18 months with Kaylee. Does he take a dummy? It'll be a good comforter and Robyn's advice is spot on. You'll have to persevere though they don't all get it, and some just want mommy close by so find what works for you? Also some white noise or soft music. We have a sleep sheep works really well, still use for K now they share it.
Have you read the baby sense or sleep sense books? Gives a lot of insight, although I take what I need from it, am more of a 'loving' mom, I think they are still tiny there is no harm in showing extra hugs and kisses and comfort.

Zoecat shew early for teething! Hopefully it's not too bad though. K has an amber teething necklace I think it worked like a charm so will be giving it to Rei in a couple months time.
Re formula feeding, the breastfeeding clinic told me to drop 1 week per feed and replace with formula. So if you feed at 9am, 12pm and 3pm, replace the 9am feed with formula for a week and carry on breastfeeding the other two, then drop the 12pm feed for formula for a week and carry on breastfeeding 3pm, and then drop 3pm feed for a week. This way your body can adjust to the milk supply and not end up with infections. This example is assuming you'll breastfeed before work (6am) and after work (6pm). So if you start 1st Feb, perhaps start weaning on 1st Jan to be sure??
I intend on doing this myself from 1st Jan, however still trying to decide whether I'd be able to express at work or not. I'd really like to, just not sure how it will work as we have lots of men in our office and no private space except a bathroom, and the breastpump is very noisy!

Betts-try putting Eli down before he is tired (yawning, closing eyes etc)
If his tummy is full, bum clean, no winds etc, then put him down.
I put McK on her tummy as she sleeps best that way, with a dummy and she goes to sleep on her own within a few mins

AFM-had D's first school concert today-tooooooo cute!!!! (Had tears in my eyes )

Taking McK next week for her first jabs and first paed check on Wed
Also my 6wk checkup on Wed (will get all clear from gynae to get 'back to normal' -DH can't wait!)
Then Fri is Noddy's Christmas Party -first time we're going, so very excited

Hey girls! I'm having a real issue with getting Eli to take the bottle and formulae, I've been trying for a week now and he refuses point blank, I've even changed the bottles. My last resort is to express milk and give him to get himm accustomed to the bottle but really I am not trying to do that when I go back to work. Also he refuses to sleep unless I rock him to sleep, what are your sleeping routines like, I did that with my first born and had to till he was well over a year. I'm not trying to go down that route again. He's currently on nan, should I change the formulae?