Some news...

[bunique]

Do you take her out to change her? I should have done that. I still have flashbacks to one eventful evening when a poonami resulted in me having to take a 3am shower and strip the bed. Aaaah, motherhood!

[Katster]

Yeah we leave low light lamp on in living room all night for nighttime changes. I attempted it in the dark once but had no idea if she was properly cleaned so we decided to do it in same place as we do during the day just with less talking and more soothing. Whilst I am not completely happy living in a flat with a baby it does have some advantages - one being no stairs once you get up here

[bunique]

We lived in a flat til she was 18 months and it was great!

[midnight]

The absence of stairs is an absolute blessing until they are old enough to negotiate them safely alone. Unfortunately my flat has internal stairs. I must have spent at least 2 years of my life time trying to keep the young one away from them, or watching/accompanying him climbing up and down. Once he was ok with it he started bringing little friends home who took tumbles.

Btw, I have a school party to attend tomorrow, and in preparation I've just spent nearly 2 hours carving a T Rex profile into a pumpkin. My wrist hurts.

Edited October 22, 2014 by midnight

[Katster]

She slept in the bedroom last night apart from feeds from 7pm till 7.20am. Perfect. We did have crazy times from 2am - 4am when she wouldn't settle but it turned out to be a wee that was stopping her. Wee's are a pain cos they don't give you much clue they are there!

[atomised]

Glad you seem on the whole to be taking to motherhood really well Katster

[Katster]

We started with pampers but gone on to aldi nappies now which are just as good but at least half the price. I am not stressing myself out with reusables until I have completely cracked breast feeding. I'm getting there and it gets less painful. She's just always so eager to feed though which I know is a good thing (she weighed 8lb 8oz at midwife appointment on Wednesday - meaning she's put on 11oz since birth 12 days ago) but its difficult keeping up with her!

[Katster]

Didn't spot a wee radar on the pampers though?

[midnight]

They had no wee radar 6 years ago, but I soon managed to sniff it out when there had been a wee, even on disposables. And if you try to lift them a bit, they feel heavy. Not very high tech, I'm afarid.

[Katster]

Yeah, now I know, I know when all else fails just have one last check of nappy for wee wee...

[bunique]

They just become more efficient at getting the damn stuff out. Make sure you're eating enough too - baby will be fine either way, but you'll feel less like you've been leeched fab weight gain, she definitely seems to have got the hang of it (and you've avoided all those sly digs you can get with breastfed babies not following the curve that's written for formula fed ones!)

[Katster]

I haven't stopped eating but weigh only 9lb more than I did when I got pregnant - she's only 2 weeks old. My wobbly balloon has shrunk back down almost to nothing. Breast feeding definitely helps you bounce back into shape - I've also made sure I have had a walk every day since day two too.

The most painful part is when she initially latches on, furiously hungry, expecting the milk to come straight away. There's a toe curling few seconds and then I hear her swallow and everything is ok again. She's calmed down with the cluster feeding so that's good.

Dad is back at work tomorrow I'm nervous but hoping to attend a breast feeding support group not only for support with that but to make sure from day one I keep active and get myself out and about when daddy is at work. I don't want to go stir crazy or start feeling isolated. I'm also going to my pals on Tuesday for a coffee. Starting as I mean to go on. It has been lovely having these two weeks at home together as a family and I am gutted he has to go back to work.

[bunique]

Local library is usually good for rhyme/story time things which are also free! We loved ours, especially the cake and socialising after

[Katster]

Cool, I am across the road from local library so will check it out. I am lucky as there are three sure start centres within walking distance from where we live

[Katster]

I managed my first night alone on the job fairly stress free until 4am when for some reason she took a dislike to one boob? She's gone off to sleep again now and dad has just left for work - I have eaten my breakfast already just in case. And made myself some lunch, just in case. Wish me luck!

[bunique]

You'll be fine. I got to love our days on the sofa. I watched a lot of Gilmore Girls

[Katster]

I am going to a breast feeding support group, if she ever wakes up...

[Katster]

I went to the breast feeding clinic but there was no member of staff just a load of mums and babies. It was nice to meet some people but I wanted to ask advice on positioning and how to feed when out and about without flashing my belly and whole boob to everyone. Some of the mothers had some ideas for me but I've tried and am still struggling. I will get there though.

We had our first bad night last night. She was being sick (projectile) and having foamy poos from midnight until 3am then I got her settled but she woke up again at 4am for another feed?! Think I finally got back to sleep about 5am. Her symptoms are apparently due to getting too much watery milk and not enough gloopy stuff so I am trying to make sure she fully finishes on one boob before starting on the next.

She's gone down again now, so, night night. Lol.

[bunique]

You can also block feed from one side - so feed from the left for feeds for a period, then swap (say every feed within a three hour window will be from the same side, then swap for next three hour window).

Re: feeding out and about, I went with baggy Tshirt over a vest, with a big cardy over the top. So unclip bra strap and pull down cup, hoik Tshirt up (you're still covered at this point with the vest top), get baby into position then whip the vest down. I found with the shirt it tended to gather around the top of your boob and very little was left on show. Bump bands are also handy to keep your stomach covered until you're more comfortable. Big waterfall type cardy is good for wrapping around you both for a little extra privacy. You're still in the very early days so it's not unusual to be still feeling your way through! You eventually care less, and while I was always discreet I got less stressed as time went on about flashing some flesh - it was infinitely preferable to a screaming hungry baby!

[bunique]

I found clothes that were actually supposed to be made for feeding in totally useless! But some people have had success with them - you can get cheap second hand ones on eBay

[bunique]

Also, sounds a bit weird but you can try practising public feeding in front of a mirror, which will give you a better idea of how much is on show, it'll be much less than you expect. If I think I spot someone feeding in public I tend to have to do a double take as it's rarely obvious on first glance!

[Katster]

Thanks Bunique. To begin with i kind of have to get the full boob out and I'm no good at tucking away discreetly afterwards either! In between is fine though. Like you say its early days for us both and we will get there

[bunique]

With the vest thing, you can just pop the vest back up and worry about the proper tucking in and clipping everything back together after once she's fed and settled a bit. It does get easier, I promise!

[feral chile]

I used to always have a baby blanket/shawl with me, to make it easier to put up a screen.

[Katster]

She thrashes about and we have issues with her latching on so I still need to be able to see her clearly to begin with. Once she's on it's fine and I could cover her but eventually I'm hoping the full process will become much easier and she gets on better.