Hii!! My LO just hit 2 months and I’m feeling a bit in the newborn trenches. I‘d love to hear some ”it gets better” anecdotes from yall who have graduated the newborn stage! I haven't seen one of those kinds of posts in awhile and I would lift my spirits!
We’ve had our LO home for a week and I can tell the routine may get a bit monotonous. He won’t be full term for another 3 weeks, so we don’t want to take him into any crowds. This means we’re also hesitant about inviting people over. The heat index is above 90 by 9 AM so outdoor activities aren’t really an option. I mean if I managed to get out of bed earlier I could but since he will sleep in between feedings, the motivation is low. Since he mostly sleeps, I give him cuddles, nap, and read along with all of the usual care and household tasks. I usually get a few minutes of wake time each day to really interact with him. I won’t be able to do any exercise for another 3 weeks at least. Not that I’d do much anyways because waking up every 1-3 hours is exhausting even if you do sleep in between. Wondering if anyone has other suggestions to avoid going stir-crazy during this period?
I know that taking care of a newborn is hard, but I didn’t think it would be this hard. My LO was born at 33 weeks and spent 2 weeks in Nicu. During this time I was told by every nurse to pump, pump, pump. I felt very lucky in the sense that we got the hang of breastfeeding early on and the only thing he needed to work on was endurance to not fall asleep before finishing.
Well now we’re at the end of our first week at home and I’ve been increasing the times I breastfeed instead of bottle feed. My boobs get so engorged because I have drastic oversupply. I have to hand express/pump before feeding so that they’re soft enough for him to latch. My flow is too forceful for him so now he’ll only stay latched for a few minutes and then fall asleep even with the laid back position and a nipple shield. Meanwhile, I’m getting no sleep. This man screams bloody murder at night when he’s hungry. We decided to do 24 hours of bottle feeding only to give my boobs a chance to reset and regulate down some, which has its own annoyances.
I stupidly bought six Kindred Braverly bras at the advice of a friend and hate them. They hurt my sensitive nipples and are generally uncomfy. Even my Amazon nursing bralettes are uncomfy, so i wear nothing unless actively pumping and majorly leak through my tshirts. I know I should buy new bras but I spent so much money on the ones I have already. I’m tired and frustrated and overwhelmed. Anyways, I’m going to sleep. Thanks for coming to my rant.
My baby has come home from nicu and we are working on breastfeeding. I am very lucky that even at 34w he took to it relatively well. He instinctively knew how to latch and the main issue was stamina. Well now he’s almost 37w and I feel like we’ve regressed. Based on nicu recommendation we do a mix of paced bottle feeding and breastfeeding. Over the last few sessions, he’s immediately latch and fed for 5 mins. Then he’ll unlatch, I’ll try to burp him though he really doesn’t burp and then try to relatch. He’ll root like crazy but even when he gets the nipple in his mouth he rejects it. I’ll try for a bit but then use my 16mm nipple shield I was given at nicu. I really want to get him away from the shield and I don’t know if I should just cut him off cold turkey or what? Wondering if anyone else has experienced this!
My baby came home from nicu a few days ago which is amazing! He’s currently 36w. We’re doing a combination of bottle feeding and breastfeeding. I’m trying to read his cues but often I get so confused. I don’t want to deny him something he needs. Most of the time he’ll fall asleep when feeding. But when he doesn’t he’ll continue cueing that he’s hungry. When I’m breastfeeding, he’ll act like he wants to latch but then doesn’t. This is after changing his diaper, trying different positions, and even with wearing a nipple shield which will typically work when he’s being extra fussy. I’ll try to hold him to comfort but then he just starts rooting. Finally I’ll give him his binkie and put him in his bassinet. He’ll be okay for a bit and then start fussing again. I want to respond to his needs but also don’t want to be spending a ton of time trying to get him to latch when he doesnt want to or set myself up to comfort nurse 24/7. I have an appt with my midwife tomorrow but thought I’d ask this group as well! Any advice/experience is much appreciated 🥹
For context, I live in the US and have 8 weeks paid maternity leave but am planning to do the full 12 week fmla with 4 weeks being unpaid.
At the end of this week, I’ll have used up 3 weeks (1 week for being hospitalized pre-birth and 2 post-birth). I’m considering going back to work next week until LO is ready to come home from nicu. He‘s doing well - currently in the feeder/grower stage. Unfortunately I work in manufacturing so wfh is not an option for me. The hospital is 30-40 mins from my house and work. I’d love to hear some experiences of how others made working and visiting nicu work
My son has been in nicu for 10 days. I visit him for 2 care times (~6 hours) each day where I work on breastfeeding with him, pump, change diapers, etc. Then I go home and continue pumping overnight. Every day I think I can’t be more tired than I was before. Luckily it seems like he’ll have a relatively short Nicu stay - probably 2 more weeks. But when I think about those who have longer Nicu stays and/or go back to work during the Nicu stay, it blows my mind. Idk how y‘all do it because I’m barely functioning as is.
My baby was born 33w+6d and has been in nicu for the past week. He has done very well and the only thing left is having him breastfeed fully. I‘m very lucky that he’s a natural and I don’t have too much trouble getting him to latch, but currently he can only feed for about 10 mins before falling asleep or getting the hiccups.
My nicu is very pro breastfeeding, and I have a private room with a reclining chair that I can be in 24/7 should I choose. Currently, I’ve been visiting for 6 hours each day and doing two feeds. My question is would staying longer to do more feeds help him improve his stamina quicker or is it just something that will improve with growth/weight gain?
I know some people have said bottle feeding will get you out quicker - I’m not interested in going that route. The way my nicu works, is that once he shows that he’ll breastfeed fully, they’ll start bottle feeding when I’m not there.
TW: included my personal sizing for context
Hello!! Like many women, I find that I no longer fit into my usual bras. I pretty much only wear sports bras based on my work. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone shopping and it’s the worst! Nothing I find seems to fit right. My main issue is that the chest elastic always ends up feeling too tight- I think I have a wider chest than sports bras are typically designed for based on chest/bust ratio? I’m hoping someone here may have suggestions! Or if anyone else just wants to rant about how hard and expensive bra shopping is, you are more than welcome to.
Anyways, for context - ive been trying on size L & XL but they still seem to small. I prefer no clasps, just the over-the-head types but maybe that’s too much to ask for. My chest is 35” and my bust is 40”. Bonus if they will work for nursing/pumping! Super grateful for any tips or suggestions!
I’m starting to think about travel plans for next year and would love to visit a national park in the fall! We live in TX but I’m open to driving or flying. The biggest change for us is that we’ll have a one year old in tow! We’re very well-versed in hiking and planning outdoors-based trips but know having a baby will drastically change things! I would love any tips for choosing and visiting national parks with a one-year old. By this time we already will have experienced plane and and long-distance driving with him, so I’m sure we’ll learn lots from those experiences as well!