September 1-10 Randoms

[cwbh928]

Sept 1, 2017 9:51:19 GMT -6 jt2378 said:

Speaking of eating, the BF hunger is out of control this time.

I'm starving all.the.time

Ugh I have the opposite problem!! I definitely need to eat more. I know I am not getting enough calories.

[jt2378]

Sept 1, 2017 16:29:24 GMT -6 muscari said:

Sept 1, 2017 16:06:58 GMT -6 jt2378 said:

What foods are you wondering about? Right now I just want to eat allllllll the things 😂

Well I know the don'ts but was wondering whether there are certain things I could eat to boost supply or such . ☺

Hmmm oatmeal is supposed to be good, lactation cookies, mothers milk tea. I'll keep thinking 😊

[king26]

Ok ladies I have some questions (shocking I know).
1. I have a horrible, itchy rash on my stomach below my belly button. WTF? What is it and what can i put on it? DH thinks it's from some of the medication I was on during labor.

2. How much weight should I be losing? I feel like I'm dropping the baby weight too fast. When I came home from the hospital on Monday I was down 10 pounds and surprised that was all/ By Wednesday I was down 15 pounds and today I'm down 20 pounds. I feel like 20 pounds is a lot in one week.

3. Breastfeeding is killing me. I've asked a million questions a million places but right now I'm mostly breastfeeding but we are still supplementing with 2 formula bottles a day (one in the middle of the night and one during the day). This does 2 things: 1-it lets DH feed him 2-It helps me know he's getting enough food as I often think he's not getting enough and is hungry. What do we think about this? Am I messing up giving formula twice a day instead of strictly breastfeeding? I would give breastmilk bottles but I'm not pumping much even though I'm trying!

4. How long is your baby sleeping at night? Baby J is sleeping in like 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour increments and it's killing us. Last night he slept for 2 hours at one point and 2 1/2 hours at another and we felt like we won the lottery.

addymac, We never announced our pregnancy on social media so when J was born both DH and I just posted a random photo and some people were shocked! I think it's never too late to announce on social...use whatever photo you are comfortable with.

Happy Birthday pepperpottsj,
muscari, I haven't been hungry since the birth either. I've been super thirsty though. DH has been making me eat 3 meals a day though so I'm getting in my food intake.
pennylane, I hope Monday gets here quickly for you!

[jt2378]

king26, sorry for the struggles. Have you called your OB about the rash? I'm not sure what that could be.

As far as the weight thing, yeah I also was concerned I dropped it too quickly. I weigh less now than I did before getting pregnant 😳. I did only gain 20lbs total because I was dealing with the ass health issues the last few weeks prior to delivery and lost some weight. BF effects everyone differently and can make you lose weight quickly.

The formula thing could mess with your supply but it depends if you want to just be strictly BF or not. Most people would say to pump when he is getting the formula bottle but I loathe it so that would likely not happen for me lol. Is baby J sleeping long stretches during the day? If so, make sure your waking to feed every 3 hrs or so. He might have days and nights all mixed up too which is really common in the beginning.

Also wet and dirty diapers are the best indication that baby is getting enough to eat. Is he having the minimum a day? I forget what it should be

This is just all my 2 cents of course and I'm having plenty of wtf moments too but it does get easier. Hang in there

[Deleted]

+ whatever to always hungry. I keep snacks next to my bed and bring extra water too because I sometimes don't make it downstairs until 8 or 9 am.

[cwbh928]

Sitting in high risk L&D since last night. I went into to triage becuase my BP spiked even on meds. They decided to admit me and put me on magnesium drip. My BP was hovering 200/110 - luckily it has since gone down. All these meds are kicking my ass! Plus they raised my labetalol to 1200mg a day!

I am sad becuase I miss my boys! I am grateful that my mom and husband took care of everything. The only nice thing (I guess) is that I am getting much needed rest.

[muscari]

Oh @cbwh928 I can't imagine how miserable you must be feeling, that is crazy high BP and ugh on an even higher dose of labetalol. I always felt so sucky while on betablockers ugh. And so sad that you can't be with your boys and H. But I am glad you are under good care and I really hope you will start feeling better soonest. Do they have any idea how long you will be in the hospital for? Hugs!!

[muscari]

D. is such a sweet and calm baby and really easy going. However she has her daily fussy hours (hick ups, cramps, hungry for more then my boobs currently have on offer..) ALWAYS in the middle of the night which is seriously messing with our sleep (all 3 of us heh). Wish I knew how to turn that day night thing around heh.. not possible to schedule anything baby like that LOL but one can dream right?

[muscari]

pepperpottsj How was your bday lady? Did you get the ultimate present in form of an outside baby?? 😉

[thinkchocolate05]

cwbh928 Oh no!! That is so hard to be separated from your newborn. My sympathies. I hope the blood pressure comes down quickly so that you can go home.

[cali]

cwbh928, I'm so sorry. Something similar happened to me last weekend (which is why I've been kind of MIA this week). My BP went up to 180/110 and I ended up admitted to ICU on an IV drip of meds to bring it down. It was horrible, especially being separated from my baby. But they did get it under control and after 2 days they sent me home on nifedipine which so far is keeping it in check (although it's still on the high end of normal, which is annoying). My OB said that after 6 weeks I could see a change and no longer need meds, so fx. I hope you're hanging in there. I know how much it sucks.

[jt2378]

cwbh928 and cali, I'm sorry you are both dealing with BP and hospital stays. I hope your feeling better soon ☹️

[cali]

king26, so much the same. First off, the weight loss, I have also lost 20 pounds in less than 2 weeks and I only gained 16 pounds during my pregnancy, so I weigh less now than I did when I got pregnant. For me, it has everything to do with not eating enough. I just have a hard time finding time in the day and I just forget. DH has been trying to help me remember because I know this has also impacted my bfing and is probably part of why it has been such a struggle.
In the topic of BFing, I have been doing plenty of supplementing with both formula and pumped milk, I basically supplement any time I finish BFing if she is still showing hunger signs (which happens a lot). I don't think you should feel one bit bad about doing it, the most important thing is to feed your baby! I don't feel like supplementing has affected her latch or anything. I will say when we bottle feed her we used the paced bottle feeding method (if you're not familiar check out the YouTube video that Jennifer Barton has on paced bottle feeding, it's very helpful) and I think that has helped with going back and forth from bottle to breast. BFing has really been difficult for me and has caused me so much stress, so I totally feel your pain. Is baby gaining weight ok and having a good amount of dirty diapers? My baby was sleeping for really short periods of time too however, once I started supplementing after BFing more she sleeps so much better and often for 3 hour stretches, so just something to consider as well.
Good luck. I really hope things improve for both of us and soon!!!

[muscari]

cali so Sorry to read you to are struggling with your BP and was admitted to the hospital for a couple days! Glad the new meds seem to keep things in check. I hope that for both you and cwbh928 the 6wk PP mark will make all the difference!

[pepperpottsj]

Sept 2, 2017 6:52:42 GMT -6 muscari said:

pepperpottsj How was your bday lady? Did you get the ultimate present in form of an outside baby?? 😉

Nope . Still here 😭 bday was lovely, just wish it wasn't such a nasty number which is now forbidden to be spoken in my apt

[muscari]

king26 and cali I could have written both your posts myself.

Now I gained a little more weight then I had liked/anticipated while pg and I knew the kgs could drop pretty darn fast those first days/weeks so I am not too worried about that myself. That is as long as I also manage to eat regularly and well - which has been a bit of an issue the first week as I just had zero apetite (not helped by the fact it took 5 or 6 days till I had my first PP poop... sorry if that is TMI!). I am still up several kgs from my prePG weight tho so there is reserve just yet 😉

As for BFing. D. got formula from her very first feeding as she was in NICU. I did start pumping the moment I got back in my room after the CS but apart from like 2cc that first time I had zero colostrum for the next couple days. So she was fingerfed formula and we tried to get her to latch prior to each feeding and I'd pump every time as well to get things going. Unfortunately she got worse and worse trying to latch so that didn't help either and made it rather frustrating... This past Monday my PP nurse had the brilliant idea to try using a nipple shield and that was all D. needed to properly latch on and the same day my milk came in we've been BFing since. However esp on the middle of the night especially she keeps showing hunger signs and sometimes tis just too close to the last time she was on the boob so we supplement with formula then. During the day I just put her back on the boob every time she shows hunger signs but at night I am just too exhausted for that and ditto MH.

How much formula do you usually supplement each day cali? And you write you also supplement with pumped milk.. when and how long do you pump? The MW who visited us twice last week suggested I didn't pump until after this weekend but I sort of forgot her reasoning.. and well I do want to start pumping cause I worry that by supplementing with formula and all my boobs won't get the message to start producing more milk.

It is all so complicated and confusing.. we don't want D. to be hungry and MH especially is like 'ok she is hungry still I am going to make formula and supplement' while I am more like 'hm okay she s absolutely welcome to more boob but will there actually be something in there still since she just got of x minutes ago??'. This has caused some friction which really upsets me too.. This happens mostly between 2-4am so both of us are real tired at that time too which makes it worse I think. Dont get me wrong, MH is great and really does support BF but at night his exhaustion makes him rather short at me at times and like he can no longer take me and what I think/say/feel into consideration when his daughter is crying. It is like he forgets what we discussed earlier then.. he also hasn't really read up on BF so then when I try to explain it just doesn't get thru to him cause he is just got his mind set on comforting D. He promised to read up on BFing - and I read more and more about it as well but not sure it is givong us the insights we are hoping for heh.

D. has been gaining weight appropriately and also seems to have a good amount of wet and dirty diapers so I am not too concerned about how she is doing just mostly worried about fucking up my boobs milk production by supplementing or not pumping like I should or whatever. I looked into hiring a LC but omfg almost 200bucks for a first consultation, seriously!?

Once we get her settled down after her fussy time in the middle of the night she does tend to sleep for 4 or 5 hours and we end up having to wake her up for the next feeding in the morning, then sleeps another 3h orso. During the day she sleeps 2-3h stretches tho there are more and more times where she refuses to sleep after feeding unless on top of mama or papa. I also think sometimes she just wants to suckle rather than her being hungry.. cause when I offer my pink she will suck on it briefly then calm down and often dozes off or falls into a proper sleep, occasionally suckling. MH however interprets it as hunger every time which then makes him anxious cause he hates the thought of her being hungry. We prolly both have a point at different moments.

[muscari]

OopS sorry this got sooo long.... there just is so much to consider and think about etc..

[cwbh928]

Sept 2, 2017 6:47:37 GMT -6 muscari said:

Oh @cbwh928 I can't imagine how miserable you must be feeling, that is crazy high BP and ugh on an even higher dose of labetalol. I always felt so sucky while on betablockers ugh. And so sad that you can't be with your boys and H. But I am glad you are under good care and I really hope you will start feeling better soonest. Do they have any idea how long you will be in the hospital for? Hugs!!

Hopefully justvfor the round of magnesium. My boood pressures have leveled out nicely and I hope they continue that way. I feel so out of it.

[cwbh928]

Sept 2, 2017 7:08:36 GMT -6 cali said:

cwbh928, I'm so sorry. Something similar happened to me last weekend (which is why I've been kind of MIA this week). My BP went up to 180/110 and I ended up admitted to ICU on an IV drip of meds to bring it down. It was horrible, especially being separated from my baby. But they did get it under control and after 2 days they sent me home on nifedipine which so far is keeping it in check (although it's still on the high end of normal, which is annoying). My OB said that after 6 weeks I could see a change and no longer need meds, so fx. I hope you're hanging in there. I know how much it sucks.

Aww sorry you had to deal with that. I know it is not fun! I hope you BP does go down!

That's pretty much what happened to me! The mag drip is going on now and they raised my meds. My BP is on the low end, but I am also sitting sowing nothing. I am sure it will come up a little. My OB said the samething in regards to the 6 week mark. I hope it is true! I hate having to worry about my blood pressure and pre e.

[jexxa]

king26 I had horrible itching below my belly button too in the first week PP. I don't know that it was actually a rash though, I just assumed it was from my belly shrinking (similar to how it got itchy when it was expanding). If it's actually a rash I would get in touch with your OB.

In terms of weight loss, it's normal to lose that much that quickly. 7-10lbs is baby, plus the fluids, plus the placenta...it adds up pretty quickly.

If you haven't already, I would highly recommend meeting with an LC for a weighted feed. That will allow you to see how much baby is taking in at the breast which should help you determine whether you really need to be supplementing with formula. Keep in mind that at this stage in the game, it is fairly normal for baby to want to nurse constantly. Their bellies are tiny and BM is digested quickly.

Does J give you longer stretches of sleep during the day? If so, I would agree with PP and say it sounds like he may have days and nights mixed up, which is normal.

Hang in there momma! You're doing great, I promise.

[jexxa]

cwbh928 ugh you can't catch a break! Your BP needs to get its act together so you can get home and snuggle your baby!

[jexxa]

So H is giving DS a haircut in our kitchen right now. H buzzes his own head and apparently he thinks that makes him qualified to give DS a haircut. He's been at it for an hour now. We'll see how this turns out.

[king26]

jt2378, Haven't called my doctor about it. DH did call his friend who is a skin doctor and he told me what I can put on it and still breastfeed so that's something at least. Baby J has no sleep pattern yet...sometimes he sleeps 2-3 hours during the day sometimes he sleeps 30 minutes at a time during the day. I'm having a hard time figuring it out. I have been pumping when H
feeds him a bottle. I don't love pumping but I don't hate it.

Yikes cwbh928, I hope today is better for you! That is a scary high BP.
I'm glad D is such a sweet baby muscari, and I'm with you that I wish babies could be on a schedule. J being up all night is making all 3 of us seriously cranky all day long.
That's so scary that you had to go to the ICU cali, and be separated from your baby. I'm glad to hear your thoughts on supplementing with formula. I feel like most people tell me it's a bad move, especially this early on but if I wasn't he would be on my boob about 20 hours a day and I still don't think he'd get enough. When do you end up pumping? When she is fed a bottle? I can only pump about twice a day and don't get much output from it. How much formula do you supplement with on average? I'm trying to find a happy medium here with formula and breastfeeding but I don't think it's going too well.
muscari, Glad you are on the formula and breastmilk train too. My H is very similiar during the nighttime feeds and just wants to give formula, How much formula do you give nightly? My poor guy doesnt sleep more than like an hour at a time at night maybe he needs more formula.

[muscari]

king26 currently we supplement with 30cc formula at night - though a cple nights ago we gave her 30cc at 10pm and another 20 or 30cc at 2-3am...and once I think we gave 50cc at 3am. But we are really just winging it..... I don't want to over-supplement but it does have to be enough to satisfy her for a while or else whats the use.. kwim?

I pumped for the first time since Monday today, she had had both boobs 3x in a 3h time period and I managed to get like 15cc lol which isnt a lot I guess BUT I pumped right after her last feeding so I guess she had gotten the most of what was in my boobs already (as is the idea lol). So i hope that this way my boobs get the msg to produce a lil more so D. can get more nom and supplementing won't negatively influence my supply??

[muscari]

Oh and king26 we really noticed a difference when we started supplementing at night in her sleep.. she now sleeps rather then fusses.. eventually that is cause we do try and make sure tis noy a wet daiper, cramps or such that keep her awake and I also offer her more boob before supplementing. All that does cost time heh.

[happyfeet9]

king26 in regards to the weight loss, it seems like a lot but it's pretty normal. I asked my OB about it bc I have lost 50lbs in about 3 weeks and he said it's not unusual for twin moms.

I am concerned about it affecting my supply since I am EPing with the twins, so I just snack all day every day. It's hard to get a sit down meal with two so I keep a few snacks around the house with a huge water bottle. So far my supply has kept up in spite the weight loss.

BFing - I think you're doing everything you can. Pumping after feeding may help increase your production, but you shouldn't stress about it. When I was bf'ing and pumping initially, I found pumping (for about 10 min) after about an hour to be the right time. I would then offer whatever I pumped after the next bfing session.

Sleep - D sleeps longer stretches than E since she still feeds about every 2 - 2.5 hours. It's tough but I do think supplementing after nighttime feeds may help a bit.

[muscari]

Sept 2, 2017 12:50:22 GMT -6 happyfeet9 said:

Snip

BFing - I think you're doing everything you can. Pumping after feeding may help increase your production, but you shouldn't stress about it. When I was bf'ing and pumping initially, I found pumping (for about 10 min) after about an hour to be the right time. I would then offer whatever I pumped after the next bfing session.

So i started pumping again today (after not having pumped but just solely BF + 1x formula supplementing a day since Monday when my milk came in and she and I mastered the latching thing) in hopes it helps with my supply since it is lacking a bit. I do it right away after feeding. Is that to early? Waiting an hour wouldn't work here as often she is back on the boob by then... so I figured right after feeding would at least empty my boobs and make them believe baby did this and wants then to make moar milk.

[happyfeet9]

Sept 2, 2017 14:04:37 GMT -6 muscari said:

Sept 2, 2017 12:50:22 GMT -6 happyfeet9 said:

Snip

BFing - I think you're doing everything you can. Pumping after feeding may help increase your production, but you shouldn't stress about it. When I was bf'ing and pumping initially, I found pumping (for about 10 min) after about an hour to be the right time. I would then offer whatever I pumped after the next bfing session.

So i started pumping again today (after not having pumped but just solely BF + 1x formula supplementing a day since Monday when my milk came in and she and I mastered the latching thing) in hopes it helps with my supply since it is lacking a bit. I do it right away after feeding. Is that to early? Waiting an hour wouldn't work here as often she is back on the boob by then... so I figured right after feeding would at least empty my boobs and make them believe baby did this and wants then to make moar milk.

I don't think it's too early, esp if your goal is to increase your supply while still breastfeeding. Does she feed on both sides each feeding or just on one?

[thinkchocolate05]

Omg muscari, I could have written what you wrote about your dh and breastfeeding. Mine is always wanting to supplement with formula bc he thinks I don't make enough milk because I didn't with DS1 and DS2 is cluster feeding like crazy and not seeming satisfied. I get upset bc I worry about further reducing my supply and it can get very tense. These early days of breastfeeding are tough!

[muscari]

Sept 2, 2017 14:17:56 GMT -6 happyfeet9 said:

I don't think it's too early, esp if your goal is to increase your supply while still breastfeeding. Does she feed on both sides each feeding or just on one?

It depends. Sometimes she will feed on just one side for a good while and then dozes off and when I try latch her on the other side she refuses - or just feeds for like 5-6 mins max. If she refuses I will start on that side next time. If she just feeds briefly we call it the dessert boob and also start on that side next time. I try to keep an eye on the time and on whether she still actively drinks or just suckles better and switch sides in attempt to have her drink both sides. However then I am not sure whether she empties them enough?

Is there a particular order that is better/best? I worry that if I do it wrong somehow I will end up with one boob getting much bigger then the other lol! Tho hopefully now that I pump after feeding (I plan on doing that most daytime/evening feedings tho not in the middle of the night) it will even things out on both sides and all.