Feb-May 2011 Mommies

shooooo what a hectic 2 days!! I got some last minute orders (not really complaining) and was up until 2 last night icing biscuits!

Meags, glad the expressing has decreased! I agree with what Faw said.. my son also only ever drank about 70 - 90ml.. I cant even remember when he increased his feed but it was def far over a year old.. maybe even as much as 17months.. I used to always prep a 150ml of nan and then he would drink half at bedtime and I ended up throwing the rest away.. but I always hoped that he would start drinking it and he never did! And he kept drinking every 2hrs no matter what I tried to stretch him. He also only upped his milk when I started on cows milk and he now weighs almost 12kg, his growth chart finally did bigger upwards swing How has Matt's growth been the last few weeks? As long as his curve stays kinda on track.. Im going to take a pic of my sons chart and youll see it started off good and then slowly decreased. I know its soo frustrating.. hopefully the new formula mixed with the bm will do the trick.. yeah sure he is used to sweet milkies mommy's was lovely!

ooo difficult one there with hubby.. I do think most women experience what you are going thru now at some point. Many men believe its not their duty to do the baby jobs.. and those guys are really hard to swing around towards helping out. Its very annoying to want then to help and keep begging for it when you believe it should come naturally.. maybe get the nanny until Matt is a bit older and over his difficult patch.. and then involve hubby a bit more? Since he is offering to pay .. My hubby doesnt really help with R in the sense of doing the actual "baby stuff". But he will play with him a bit when I need to get something done. And then ofcourse he helps with getting the bath stuff ready etc et.. so its more of helping with other stuff than the baby. I think thats where the bf is a bit of a negative But saying this.. once they are not so "baby" anymore it becomes easier for dad to help with mealtimes, bedtime, baths etc. Ok so I guess that wasnt much help hey? Sowy

Lucy, Ill def let you know once we have decided if were are doing the Ballito trip or not. R did a poo yesterday and the day before, perfect soft and even had the grainy mustardy bits in But nothing again today.. I wonder if its more to do with their age than the jabs?? But Im def asking the clinic sister next week.

How great that your mom will help you with Tessa when you are going back to work! Super

Betty, yay for the new washing machine. I also have a LG frontloader and love it! You just need to choose the shorter cycle, then its about 1/2hr cycle. But Im sure if you are used to a toploader then the adjustment is quite big

Missesmom, I feel you on not setting the alarm or having to force yourself out of warm jammies! Bring on the weeeeeeeekend!!

Faw, I remember Firefly saying she got the study bursary and will be moving to the US.. not sure if she is on moomie anymore?

Tazzy, I believe in Meags's advice the most.. to increase milksupply you need to increase the demand for it. So express after each feed. You can take the berry elixer and the Alfalfa tonic but ultimately I believe they dont work as well as increasing demand and drinking lots of fluids. hehe.. breastpump for your birthday I would say nothing wrong there but Im sure you will get some frowns

Schatsie, wow your nanny sounds amazing

R is doing a strange nightime routine now.. I seriously hope its temporary.. Normaly he sleeps by 7 and then wakes at about 12 and again at 3 or 4 and then up at 7. Last night he was awake 4 times by 12o'clock!!! And then he wouldnt settle with his dummy and kept niggling until I fed him. When is the next growth spurt due??

Hi Ladies

BettyF what a small world!!!! Kristeen is my mom's cousin and my Godmother!!!!!!!

Tazzy did you decide about the breastpump? Why that one particularly as opposed to others?

Lucy how are you doing without your mom?

Faw - For me, I would be worried if Matt weighed 11kg at 2 years old! Only because he seems to be taking after DH in height (he's very tall and DH is 1.90m) and since he weighs over 5kg already, it would be a problem if his growth slowed that drastically. I know growth charts are not the be all and end all but I do believe the child's growth should go in an upward curve and if he only drinks 60ml, his will most likely be a straight line.

Well I went to weigh Matt out of interest to see how he gains on formula vs breastmilk. Ok BIG difference!!!!!! (although he still following the growth curve averagely)
in 12 days he gained 600g! He now weighs 5.17kg.
I was annoyed as I had called to let the paed know how the soy was going and he was to phone me back to discuss next POA. well they told me to just stay and talk to him...then I had to pay for a consultation!!!!!!
Anyway I explained he refuses to drink more than 60ml per feed, he said I need to make him drink 120ml as since I force him to drink that and its keeping on the average growth line, thats what needs to be done. So we try ANOTHER friggin formula (one for milk protein sensitivity and lactose intolerance) and if no improvement, back onto soy and add cereal (he seems to think maybe if its thicker it will help the reflux and M will drink more) and if still no improvement by Friday - he will refer us to gasto enterologist.
I asked about doing the allergy test. Here its very invasive. They do a gastroscope and X-ray...thats why he wants to rather try the formulas first before doing the tests...

So I tried the expensive formula (protein sensitivity one R180 for 5 days....) and he HATES it....
However...I am now thinking perhaps he wants it sweet...
I couldnt find lactulose syrup here to help with the constipation so I have been putting a teaspoon of brown sugar into the milk. I had slowly begun to try wean it off (so only half a teaspoon or none) and I'm wondering if thats why he now is drinking badly??
I added a full heaped teaspoon into last nights bottle and he drank 180ml!
Someone also said to give him water between feeds and he would feed better. So before last nights feed he had had some prune juice - so perhaps that made him feed better?
Gosh I dunno....but surely I cant just keep putting sugar in his milk?!
Today I am going to experiement with half formula, half BM as the BM is sweet - so maybe that will help?
I think the paed recommended I go back to the soy and add cereal as he wasnt aware I had BM in the freezer. so if necessary, I will try the BM with cereal and see if it helps.
WHAT A CHALLENGE THIS CHILD IS!!!
Added sugar into the night feeds and he took 90ml. so not quite a full feed but better than 60ml. lets see what today brings.

Had a fight with DH. please no one throw stones - please just tell me how I can express myself to DH to make him see my point of view in a way that wont cause another fight!!
firstly he said his mom could look after M in france so we can go out. This is a nice idea. but his mom has no experience with him and is almost 70 years old (although I have to admit she is still very good with the other grandkids). I'm worried she wont cope since he is difficult. the other babies she could sit on the couch and watch TV while holding them. M is not like that. you have to constantly walk around or bounce him and she's too old for that.
I also just dont know that I want to leave him alone with her!!! I dont think she'd know how to calm him...
then the second arguement was DH said his mom can do the 9am feed so we can sleep late and I said no thats not right...that he should just step up and do his duties. and he said why would he when he can take advantage of his mom (I agree to a certain degree but not EVERY day). so I said so and he told me "well dont rely on me to help with those feeds when my mom could be helping"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE is the friggin father!!!!!
He also expects he'll get lots of nice sleep on holiday. ok so WHY do I have to continue doing night feeds alone??????? why cant he help?????? when I brought that up he was shocked that I would expect him to start doing night feeds. he says its not fair as I'm getting a months holiday and he's only getting 9 days. I asked him who he thinks is doing all the feeds for that full month...not exactly a holiday for me!!!! not like I'm getting lots of rest!!!
he says he cant understand why I dont get a nanny. he says he is telling me he cannot help with night feeds and is in turn offering to get a nanny to help me during the week so I have time to catch up on rest. I think thats sweet of him - but I also think he is just diverting his responsibility onto someone else! I want HIM to be a father!!!! he cant choose to only be involved on a sunday after noon!
M is asleep every night by the time he gets home from work so he only sees him saturday late afternoon after work and sunday.
yes he does the 7am feed...but then he puts the swing in the room and goes back to sleep and if M doesnt settle or wakes shortly afterwards, I am stuck caring for him - so I get no rest so I may as well do that feed myself! when I care for M I go downstairs and if he sleeps, I sleep on the couch so DH is not disturbed!!!!
Please tell me how to approach all this without making a fight. I tried talking calmly but it never works. What can I say to make him realise he needs to step up and get more involved without it sounding like attacking him? because once it sounds like that - the conversation is pointless and turns nasty

Cath - thanks! I replied to your message oh I hope W isn't getting sick! Shame Amelias nose gets so stuffy at night too. I'm sure its the cold air, our house is freezing at night.

Schatsie - holding thumbs for your results. You'll see how quickly A will gain weight from 6 weeks. They gain about 150grams a week!

Tazzy I have a lansinoh electric breast pump that I used literally once before I hired the medela that I had used at the hospital. I'll send you a pm on facebook with the details maybe you want to buy it? i can send you the link I bought it from on amazon so you can see exactly what's what I am going to get to the post office today with the storage bags like Schatsie says WHERE does the time go!

Tazzy 6 kilos is AWESOME that's what william is (also according to the same approach to weighing you did lol great minds think alike!! ) I am taking him today for the 3 month rota virus and will have him officially weighed then. shame today he has been sneezing and coughing and has very rosy cheeks so I hope he's not getting a bit sicky Such a superstar fed at 11pm then up at 6h30 _ i can live with that!~ Can't believe glorious maternity leave coming to an end soon!

hi everyone must run!
xxx

Phew, 5 days since my last post and I can't really say what I've been up to! Okay my ADSL was being difficult and I couldn't read Moomie for 2 days - funny how Moomie never wants to show when it is slow, although everything else does load, just slowly.

The kiddies party on Saturday was lovely! I took lots of notes for Arno's party next year! Arno even got his own little bucket with special baby goodies to take home. Too cute!

Our nanny/housekeeper started full time today. So far she is absolutely lovely! She just works a bit too hard - does washing and changes towels, etc. every day - you'll swear we're living in a hotel now.

Meags and others who asked, I'm not sure when I'm getting my lab results. I saw my medical aid put through a lab claim for it today, so I should probably get the results soon. If not I'll phone the dr's office on Friday. Surely a week should be enough!

One month of maternity leave left for me today! I was hoping to take 4 months or even 3 and a half, but my boss told me last week that she is counting the minutes until my return, so I guess 1 July it is. Being a contractor I guess I must feel lucky that I have a boss who loves me so much and that seemingly they don't like my temp, so I can't take chances with my job.

Tazzy 6kg???!!! WOW that seems REALLY big! Arno was only 4.15 kgs a week and a half ago, so I'm sure he hasn't reached 5 kgs yet. He's still wearing all his newborn clothes, the 0 to 3 month clothes are still WAY too big. So much for this really huge baby my gynae predicted!

Thanks Lucy - that sounds about right then, because she is usually happily awake for an hour then I rock her to sleep.
I have been drinking loads of water today so I'll see what tomorrow brings
I did some reading up on internet and apparently oats are good for increasing too. Guess what we'll be having for breakfast tomorrow morning!

When do you go back to work? Will you be pumping during work hrs for Tessa?

Tazzy - Baby sense says awake time for 6 -16 weeks is 45 to 80 minutes. I am using the Lansinoh electric pump and it seems very good but can only compare to a nuk manual one!!
Once you strat expressing after a few days your body should know to make more milk. Also up your fluids especially water to get more milk. Good luck!!