New grandchild

I know how you feel Janthea, after 3 daughters and 2 granddaughters I had a grandson 10 weeks ago, its a strange feeling! i was looking forward to be able to shop from the "blue" aisle but now find myself lingering lovingly at the "pink" aisle still, how contrary can we get!

Brilliant news - whatever gender [flowers]

GoldenGran, my little GS has his own pushchair and doll he keeps here....the 'baby' is decked out in a fetching outfit from a local charity shop and is the first toy he checks on when he visits (we keep him under the stairs - doll not GS)

Congratulations janthea - I hope you get some sleep tonight.

Hurray Janthea. I had 3 girls and the first 2 gcs were boys. I found them hard to deal with at first - but they really are luvverly and there are some great boys clothes out there if you look in the right place. Bless his rather large blue cotton socks

Congratulations jan I bet you are pleased its over and done with and you can relax a little.

I can understand you being a little disappointed, you had set your mind to having another little girl, give it a few days and a few cuddles and you will soon forget that hes not a girl. When I was carrying my first I had myself convinced that it was a girl, it took me two days to stop calling him her but it was soon forgotten about

Congratulations Janthea that is lovely news, and don't forget that little boys usually give the best cuddles. My son still does and he is 38 now! xx

Congratulations Janthea brilliant news, so glad the waiting is over. Nice size baby too, just like my DGD last week, she was a big baby too. You must be over the moon, hope you get a cuddle soon.

A healthy baby and a healthy mummy - total joy! Many congratulations. I knew that our 2nd ggrandchild was going to be another boy and I was thrilled, but frankly I would have been just as thrilled the other way! Having had 3 girls, it's quite a challenge to have 2 of the other flavour, but lingering regret at packing away baby clothes is a very natural thing - you are packing away some happy memories.......so that you can experience more!!
As for the toys? Wonderful excuse to buy lots more!!

Hilda W - your DGS isn't Harry Potter is he?
gally your experience echoes mine (3 DDs then 2 grandsons)- I was a bit unsure about the nappy procedure at first but am a dab hand now. I also heartily agree about baby boys' clothes - gorgeous things in the shops!

ho ho ho gracesmum........don't think so but I think he's pretty magical!

Congratulations on a healthy baby boy Janthea how wonderful!

Fabulous news Janthea. I'm glad everyone is fine and you have all those Christmas cuddles to look forward to

Congratulations x

Congratulations*Janthea*. I have four grandaughters and one grandson.Hope all is well.

Merry Christmas everyone. I've been offline since Tobias's birth on 16 December. The C section was pretty traumatic. My daughter lost a lot of blood and passed out twice because of ultra low blood pressure. She only had Tobias with her for about 4 hours before they decided his breathing was 'off'. He then spent the next 6 days in the Neonatal unit with tubes clearing fluid from his lungs, antibiotics in case it was an infection. He had feeding tubes, catheters for the antibiotics and countless blood samples taken. He developed jaundice. Not surprising for about two days he didn't feed - just had glucose. My daughter was a wreck - hardly any sleep because she was on a ward with 8 other people. Her husband decided to pay for a private room for two nights which made such a difference to her. Cost a fortune but it was worth it. Eventually they were discharged on 23 December. The results of some of the blood tests don't come back for a couple of weeks, so still holding breath. The doctors were a little concerned as he seemed 'floppy' and sleepy. Again I'm not surprised after all he went through. Back home at last. Midwife called and he's lost over 12% of his birth weight so then she starts talking about 'topping up' if he doesn't put on more weight. Personally I think he's doing well. Not floppy any more, feeds about every two hours and apart from a little wind very content. He's put on about 80g (heaven knows what that is in real money!!). His sister has been very good throughout the whole time. She was very upset that Mummy wasn't around and Daddy was at the hospital most of the time. Thank heavens for Nana!! We had a lovely Christmas Day at my house with daughter's in-laws joining us. So watch this space. Midwife back on Friday to see if he's put on more weight. He apparently feed nearly all night, only going down around 5.00am!!!

Janthea I do feel for you - we had a similar experience with breathing problems and GD being in the unit. Although you'd never wish things to go this way, your DD has at least had a few days 'breathing space' after the Csection. Now that they are home he'll thrive! Your DD will up the milk production quite naturally and probably won't need the top-up. Good too that big sis coped so well (with your help). Our wee one is now a fit (but tiny) 17months and has had no subsequent problems at all. Best wishes to all.

Good morning Janthea, we have had a very similar experience over the last few weeks with my daughter's premature twin girls, who are now at home. One just before Christmas and the other yesterday. Very scary experience, especially when you see them testing blood, urine, heart rate, breathing, aspirate etc., and pumping them full of anti-fungals, anti-virals, anti-biotics, vitamins, minerals and any other medicine that they might need. Some treatments were given 'just in case' because of the length of time in receiving tests back. Many tests came back showing no concern at all. That's how highly effective neo-natal units operate.

You sound like you've got a grasp of how Tobias is doing, and feeding every two hours is increasing his supply (assume he's breast feeding). My grandaughters have been putting on about 3 to 6 ozs each week or 80 to 170 grams. Some weeks they put on a lot and others the mimimum. They only weight around 5 lbs at the moment, so every ounce counts. They are bottle fed with prem baby milk, as their mother's breast-feeding attempts were thwarted for so many reasons, including the presription for increasing her supply not being provided when she requested it. The babies had supplementary donated breast milk for the last three weeks prior to discharge.

If the midwife is talking about topping up, is she implying that the baby is not feeding sufficiently or not getting enough milk? Your daughter could express milk early morning after a good rest, when the supply is more plentiful, and top the baby up with this milk later in the day. It does sound as if she is providing more than enough opportunities for him to feed.

I had a midwife and health visitor pressuring me when my own twin girls were slow to put on weight in the first couple of weeks after birth. It's upsetting enough, without them imposing their own milestones, and they put on weight in their own good time.

Let's hear more about how your lovely grandosn is doing. You can be there to cheer on your daughter when the professionals have toddled off - I hope they are remembering to tell her what a great job she's doing after all they have been through!

Janthea - a trying time for all of you, but good grounds for rejoicing at Tobias's progress (I like his name very much). Sounds like he knows what's good for him too. So glad that your GD had you there while all this was going on.
Midwives do not necessarily know best! Mine said that DS1 was 'failing to thrive' and told me to supplement breast milk with formula which it turned out he wouldn't touch (sensible child!). He was not a demanding baby so I force fed him every three hours. The midwife was flabbergasted at the spectacular weight gain!
GS2 was rushed off after 24 hours to the SCBU as he was vomiting bile. They had neither milk bank nor mum's rooms and they didn't let me see him until he was almost ready to be discharged after 9 days. I refused an injection to stop my milk and expressed it regularly until he came back to me.

janthea what a nightmare for you all, but it does sound as if Tobias (Toby??) is more than holding his own and I hope your D can make a full recovery. Having had 4 C-sections, they can be a lot harder than some people think esppecially when you have another little one or have complications and your own mobility is restricted. Sleepiness can sometimes be connected with Mum's pain relief or anaesthetic and the fact that the baby has had a very traumatic and sudden arrival into the world. I do hope that once your D is rested and relaxed, that feeding will naturally pick up. Our "own" Tobias, known as Toby (6 weeks) is still sleeping and feeding badly at night and has D up about every 2 hours some nights. Other times he can go through for 4 hours, but as we all know it is an exhausting time for all concerned - I am sure she must be very grateful for all your help.
PS congratulations on Tobias!!

What a time you've all had janthea. I know what you mean about no rest in hospital, my DD couldn't wait to get home after her c section as she had no sleep at all because of the noise.

Thinking of you all

All well with you and yours, Libradi? How is Caitlin doing?

Yes fine thanks Annobel Caitlin is doing well and I've had lots of cuddles over the Christmas

Libradi . What a lovely Christmas gift for you and your family.

Good to hear about these little people (and their mums) I know you will all be rejoicing in them.