Feb-May 2011 Mommies

Hi girls.. sorry Ive been reading posts but havent gotten to replying.

Lucy, how did the tummy assessement go? And how has Tessa been after her jabs?

Schatsie, oh your boy has done a wonderful growth spurt He is too precious!

Joli, argh.. Im also one of those that will get annoyed with the domestic but dont know how to tell her Maybe just explain nicely that you need to be albe to work so many hrs per day otherwise you cant afford to stay home.. and that you depend on her to help you with the kids and still do the housework. Make her feel important R is also a not-so-regular pooper But shoo 2wks is hectic.. does it seem to bother him? Does he pull up his legs and look crampy, or looks like he is trying to squeeze it out? R gets extremely windy on days when he has a poop.. Ive only given him the glycerine sypostetories (sp) 3 times and each time it did wonders! But he never goes longer than maybe 6 days.

Claire, thanx for the compliment! Your little boy has the cutest little face.. and that hair!!! I just love it!! Its so long How are your boobies doing after stopping the bf and expressing?

Cath, your such a spoilt mommy for having such a good little angel that sleeps through! Im def jealous

Rakker, ahh thanks for posting an update. I cant wait for your pics And yip Im so with you on having a second *better* experience from just being chilled mommy instead of nerve-wrecked mommy!

Meags, wow that is amazing growth for Matt!! I really think he is getting more than enough. He is even gaining on our babies that is almost a month older!! R does very much the same .. he drinks a bit and then stops and refuses to go back on the boob.. I dont think he wouldve then drank more than 70ml. He gets very upset if I try put him back to boob... so I leave him. Then obviously he wont sleep long. Last night he woke up every hour!!! Still dont know why? So I think Matt is doing things that are kinda normal, just with a bit more of a show. The sucking fists at 3 or 4 months is not an indication of hunger or of teething. The bit of the brain that controls their "senses" of their mouths are "waking up" and they are starting to experience sensations by putting stuff in the mouth. Thats why at this stage they suck hands or blankies or whatever comes near the mouth.. and also along with that comes the droooling Also never good to put teejel on their gums at this point as it numbs their sensation.. and thats actually the thing thats developing now.. So thats just a bit of info I got from my previous paed.. she was the most amazing dr and would always give extra info/tips on things to help you understand your baba.

Ok so we have injection day today.. thank goodness its the last one now until the 9month measels one. Yippee!! And I got an sms from the clinic today saying I need to buy Prevenar as the state is out of stock.. If I remember correctly its the expensive one of around R700??? So, so much for going gov cheap route!

Hi girls,
my mom took abdul hakeem for his 10 week injections (he is 13 weeks today) yesterday. They got delayed cos my mom refuses to go to the government clinic so she went to dischem and paid to have the government injections done. Im waiting on my husband for the money for the rotarix injections. I doubt ill see the money..he really doesn't care about his children. Anyway. Abdul was very niggly last night and only settled when i climbed into bed and put him next to me. Nearly at work now. 1 hour taxi ride. Eish.

Betty- well done on the weight loss. My assessment went well. My tummy muscles are still separated but less than a finger which is good, apparently and will close in no time.

Missesmom- loads of dirty and wet nappies.....so I shall not worry! Thanks
I am not able to express when I in back to work so I have to train my body to bf only in the afternoon, night and morning's. Very emotional decision but there is nothing else I can do.

Cath- thanks so so so much for all the formula tips. I have a list of allergies as long as my arm so Nan HA better agree with her. Sorry W has a cry every night, you sound good at calming him though.

Schatsie, your little one is so ADORABLE! Sorry about the eina nipples, the shields are a winner to let you recover!

Rakker- lovely to hear from you. Glad your news is mostly good and that you are doing great second time around. I must be honest I already wish I could do T's first 4 weeks over. I know so much more now and feel I didn't do very well for her in the beginning. Oh well.

Claire lovely to hear from you. Have you any pics of Rowan, I am sure if has grown loads!

Meags - ah nan the battle continues. Well less than 2 weeks until the gi doctor. I wish you strength and success until then.

After 11 weeks finally got my hospital bill.
R70 000 for me for 2 nights!!
R40 000 for Matt's ICU. They charged R6500 for him to be in the nursery 30 minutes before moving to NICU!!

hi ladies

no personals - I'm just too exhausted.

(except to cath...) - the formula I know you cant mix in advance and leave standing. I know once mixed it should be used within 1 hour of them feeding from the bottle. BM can stay at room temp for 8 hours, once pumped - so I just assumed it was the same for defrosted BM - but clearly not!!

Matt still has diarrhoea and no BM for 3 days so I think its the formula. (by diarrhoea I mean 1 episode per day but seriously explosive and very very runny). So ya I have no idea.

His sleeping is worse and worse every night. I am dead.
the last 2 days he has been finishing all his bottles (120ml). first drinks 60ml then cries and cries. I leave the bottle by his mouth. eventually when he stops crying he gobbles down the last 60ml - you can see he is still hungry after the first 60ml...
I think he was going through a growth spurt though as today we are back to fighting the bottle...

he is getting that high pitched scream again during feeds and since the 'diarrhoea' is still there I have decided to change the formula yet again...giving each formula a week or so and seeing what he agrees most with. would be so much easier if they just did the friggin allergy tests here.
so now I bought soy again, but a different brand. he drank a full bottle tonight without even stopping for a break (but no need to get excited...he did this with the previous soy too for the first few days...)

I am honestly at my wits end with this feeding problem. his feed at 4pm you could see he was soooo hungry. he drank the 60ml. then had a rest and was sucking on his hands so much so I out the bottle back near his mouth - he was leaning forward with his mouth wide open desperate to get the bottle. after a couple of sips he begins screaming. so yes...he is hungry and does want to drink...but seems like he really just cant handle it?! (hence trying a different formula AGAIN)

last night was the first time I've made it to bed by 9pm. I was so excited as Matt only wakes after midnight so I thought it is so great to finally get 3 hours full sleep!!! Well...I swear this child is trying to torture me...he woke for a 10pm feed which he has not done in about 5 weeks...I was beyond depressed...(but again I think he was having a growth spurt). - I did try just give the dummy but after 20 minutes of no success decided to just feed him.
But what frustrates me to no end is that he drinks 30ml and is then FAST ASLEEP. even changing his nappy doesnt waken him?! So back to bed by 11. Then he woke at 1am. Now I was so tired and annoyed. Again only drank like 45ml or something. So I brought him to bed with me (around 1:45) thinking MAYBE he'll sleep better....well he didnt. he was so restless that I hardly slept!!! I kept patting him, giving the dummy etc to make him last. eventually at 4:15 I fed him since it had been almost 3 hours...(hoping he'd now take a full feed).
well no luck. again 50ml. well now I was totally pissed off because I had only slept about 2 hours in total by this stage. and I couldnt bear the thought of having to wake again in an hour to feed!!! So I put the milk in a cup and poured it down his throat while he cried. Yes bad bad mommy...but I really dont know what else to do?? he is hungry yet cant drink?! so how else do I help him to not be hungry???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then he slept 2 and a half hours. and the whole of today has fought the milk. (except for the soy bottle tonight)

so I havent been around because I monday we went to a friend and swam (matt was not convinced by liked it after a while). tuesday I slept every time he slept to try make myself sane again. and today I had people over for lunch so I had to cook and clean etc etc. Now I am pooped.

claire I did get your email thanks - just didnt have a chance to reply. I really dont know if its the milk or reflux upsetting him...because he is only totally upset while drinking. once he is finished drinking he is not upset at all. so doing all those things like keeping him upright, lifting the head of the bed etc etc arent really necessary as he is fine?! just dont know how to make the drinking easier for him.

well I have an appointment with the GI doctor on 20 June. just have to try remain sane until then. according to my scale he weighs about 5.6 or something so thats a 400g weight gain in 1 week. just hate force feeding him. but also cant just sit there watching him sucking his fists to death, smacking his lips and rooting for food!!

Schatsie wrote:

Pic of our little angel

Schatsie, whose lips did your LB get? I can't stop looking at his lips. My LG has such thin lips, thanks to me. But I think she has the cutest lips, of course .

Quick one as I really need to get to bed. Cherise has only really been sleeping from about 5 minutes ago.

Nice to read about everyone's joys and (let's call it) challenges. It seems all of us have our "happy hour" everyday or at least some days. Mine is early evening and can go up to 12 now and then. At least my happy hour is not non-stop crying, but rather the loss of my one arm as I need to hold her all the time. She will fall asleep in my arms, but as soon as I put her in her cot she wakes up and cries for me.

No personals. You should be glad I post anything at all, LOL.

Cherise went for her 6 week (at 6 weeks and 5 days actually) vaccinations on Monday. No side effects really. A bit more niggly, but not enough to be sure it had anything to do with the vaccinations. She gained 1.5kg in the almost 7 weeks since her birth. Deffinitely nothing wrong with my breast milk...

She is starting to "interact" now. Cooing (is that the right word?) and I think she smiled at me on Monday. I enjoy every moment with her and I'm amazed how different things feel the second time. It's like everything comes more naturally. I almost wish I can go through the whole thing with my son again.

My JOLI pics are ready, but I haven't collected the CD yet, so no pics to share for now. I will have to make a plan for sure.

OK, off to bed, or rather bath and then bed.