parenting after loss > Gas
Carrie (and S),
First, congrats on the boys' safe arrival.
I read here a lot, but don't post much anymore (my loss was in August 2010).
However, I do have some advice. My rainbow baby is now 13 months old. When I had to start supplementing with formula, she was around 5 months old. I, too, started on the Gerber Good Start Gentle, but found that she was so unhappy on it...gassy, and you could tell it was a stomach thing (she also had an issue with reflux and the milk-based formulas made that worse). So, I switched to soy formula. Most of the babies in my family (specifically, me, my sister, my nieces and nephew) all had issues with cow's milk based formula and all used soy. Once I did that, she was a much happier baby. I ended up using Enfamil Prosobee for her up until her first birthday. We just recently switched her over to regular whole cow's milk, and she seems fine on it now.
Hope this helps some!
First, congrats on the boys' safe arrival.
I read here a lot, but don't post much anymore (my loss was in August 2010).
However, I do have some advice. My rainbow baby is now 13 months old. When I had to start supplementing with formula, she was around 5 months old. I, too, started on the Gerber Good Start Gentle, but found that she was so unhappy on it...gassy, and you could tell it was a stomach thing (she also had an issue with reflux and the milk-based formulas made that worse). So, I switched to soy formula. Most of the babies in my family (specifically, me, my sister, my nieces and nephew) all had issues with cow's milk based formula and all used soy. Once I did that, she was a much happier baby. I ended up using Enfamil Prosobee for her up until her first birthday. We just recently switched her over to regular whole cow's milk, and she seems fine on it now.
Hope this helps some!
May 1, 2014 |
MandyS
MandyS
Carrie, our Freya had HORRIBLE gas and colic for the first 3-4 months. It was really tough to balance the joy and appreciate her being here -alive and healthy- with the fact that she was incredibly fussy, cried for hours a day and had the most disgusting spit-up issues (Those cute burp cloths people give you? ha. We used bath towels. Literally. Multiple bath towels). Fussy baby(ies) + exhaustion + grief + feeling so at a loss as to what to do to help them when they're crying + beating yourself up for BF issues + not knowing what to ask for help with or how to ask + no sleep = HARD. Try to be gentle on yourselves. I wish I could go back and tell the me of 1.5 years ago to worry less, go with the flow more, snatch more sleep instead of trying to do everything, ask for help, etc.
The things that helped Freya most were the simethicone drops and pushing her legs/knees up into her belly. The simethicone doesn't get rid of or prevent the gas -- it just makes the bubbles group together into bigger chunks that are easier to burp/fart out, if that makes sense. Honestly, we had to PUSH her legs/knees into her belly. It also helped to rock her side-to-side while pushing / letting up / pushing. The cute little "bicycle" videos you see are cute, but were not effective for us. I worried sometimes that we were hurting her because we pushed so hard, but honestly, I think the gas was worse. She'd let out these enormous farts and you could just see the relief on her face.
The other thing that helped was using the Dr. Brown's bottles. (I supplemented my breastmilk with Similac Sensitive.)
Don't be afraid to experiment to figure out what works best for your kiddos, as silly as things may seem. If it works, it works!
The things that helped Freya most were the simethicone drops and pushing her legs/knees up into her belly. The simethicone doesn't get rid of or prevent the gas -- it just makes the bubbles group together into bigger chunks that are easier to burp/fart out, if that makes sense. Honestly, we had to PUSH her legs/knees into her belly. It also helped to rock her side-to-side while pushing / letting up / pushing. The cute little "bicycle" videos you see are cute, but were not effective for us. I worried sometimes that we were hurting her because we pushed so hard, but honestly, I think the gas was worse. She'd let out these enormous farts and you could just see the relief on her face.
The other thing that helped was using the Dr. Brown's bottles. (I supplemented my breastmilk with Similac Sensitive.)
Don't be afraid to experiment to figure out what works best for your kiddos, as silly as things may seem. If it works, it works!
May 1, 2014 |
Amanda
Amanda
I would also try a different formula, there are so many good ones out there, but not every one works for every baby. We have been supplementing with Enfamil Gentlease the last few months as my production has tanked recently :(.
Also have you had a lactation consultant come to the house to work with S? My hospital lac consultants were sweet, but not very helpful, the private one we hired made all the difference. There are also all kinds of things to boost milk production: mother's milk tea, fenugreek, oatmeal etc. The breastfeeding thing is SOOO Hard, you guys are doing great.
Also have you had a lactation consultant come to the house to work with S? My hospital lac consultants were sweet, but not very helpful, the private one we hired made all the difference. There are also all kinds of things to boost milk production: mother's milk tea, fenugreek, oatmeal etc. The breastfeeding thing is SOOO Hard, you guys are doing great.
May 1, 2014 |
Grace's Mom
Grace's Mom
I forgot about lactation cookies! They are so yummy (my DH used to steal and eat them), and also help boost production. I can send you a recipe if you like, it would be a great gift for some friends to make since you guys don't have time to bake (you can freeze balls of dough and then bake them off fresh every few days).
May 1, 2014 |
Grace's Mom
Grace's Mom
I don't have much good advice about gas - M had lots of it, and I never sorted out what helped him most. I tried whatever I could and sometimes it helped and sometimes it didn't. I think it is helpful to remember that most often with these little newborns there is no magic solution (not that I think you were thinking there was one - just a general observation): there is so much going on with their little brand new bodies that some of it is just waiting and comforting.
What I really wanted to comment on was your comment, Carrie, about feeling bad and feeling bad for feeling bad. I hate this for babyloss parents. I think for me, my rainbow baby newborn days were made easier by the fact that I had a living baby before Anja was stillborn, so I really new what to expect in those early days. They are HARD. They are grueling. There is nothing that can prepare a new parent for those first few weeks and months. And those of us who have experienced the deaths of our babies and who have just wanted so badly to hold a newborn in our arms, take one (or two!) home with us...we don't want to complain and nobody around us wants to hear us complain (we think) because we got what we wanted and we know how bad it can be to *not* have a baby...It is such a complicated emotional time. And all of this would be compounded in your and S's case with TWO newborns. I guess I just want to say that it's ok to feel bad, to feel exhausted and tired and scared, to not feel grateful every second or even most seconds or even, some days, any seconds. We babyloss parents have all the same difficulties that non-babyloss parents have plus the enormous, huge, inconsolable 'difficulty' that is grief: we need to cut ourselves a lot of slack, I think. Sending you both big hugs.
What I really wanted to comment on was your comment, Carrie, about feeling bad and feeling bad for feeling bad. I hate this for babyloss parents. I think for me, my rainbow baby newborn days were made easier by the fact that I had a living baby before Anja was stillborn, so I really new what to expect in those early days. They are HARD. They are grueling. There is nothing that can prepare a new parent for those first few weeks and months. And those of us who have experienced the deaths of our babies and who have just wanted so badly to hold a newborn in our arms, take one (or two!) home with us...we don't want to complain and nobody around us wants to hear us complain (we think) because we got what we wanted and we know how bad it can be to *not* have a baby...It is such a complicated emotional time. And all of this would be compounded in your and S's case with TWO newborns. I guess I just want to say that it's ok to feel bad, to feel exhausted and tired and scared, to not feel grateful every second or even most seconds or even, some days, any seconds. We babyloss parents have all the same difficulties that non-babyloss parents have plus the enormous, huge, inconsolable 'difficulty' that is grief: we need to cut ourselves a lot of slack, I think. Sending you both big hugs.
May 1, 2014 |
JLD
JLD
I've not got any magic advice but I just wanted to add that I does sound like you guys are doing a great job. I found those first few rainbow baby weeks so hard and as much as I wanted to breastfeed I had to supplement quite early (my milk didn't come in for 4 days, apparently a bit of a delay is quite common after a section) but I also found I just couldnt deal with the sheer amount of time I needed to nurse to get my supply up. Emotionally I needed dh to be able to do it too so I could breathe.
I switched to formula when d was only 3 weeks and while I was sad about if for a while (understatement there) it did help me a lot and d has thrived on it.
In terms of gas Amanda's description of leg exercises is also exactly what we did when d kicked off. My lovely GP also recommended raising one end of cot/crib so it's on a 30-40 degree angle (it looks a lot, old textbooks did a good job!) and also using a small rolled up towel to prop him onto his side a little to sleep.
We did let him sleep in his swing sometimes too, if he was settled we didn't wake!
Big love to all of you, it is so tough and the grief is there to complicate everything else but one day in the coming weeks you will suddenly realise that they have calmed down and you haven't felt like throwing then out of a window!
I switched to formula when d was only 3 weeks and while I was sad about if for a while (understatement there) it did help me a lot and d has thrived on it.
In terms of gas Amanda's description of leg exercises is also exactly what we did when d kicked off. My lovely GP also recommended raising one end of cot/crib so it's on a 30-40 degree angle (it looks a lot, old textbooks did a good job!) and also using a small rolled up towel to prop him onto his side a little to sleep.
We did let him sleep in his swing sometimes too, if he was settled we didn't wake!
Big love to all of you, it is so tough and the grief is there to complicate everything else but one day in the coming weeks you will suddenly realise that they have calmed down and you haven't felt like throwing then out of a window!
May 1, 2014 |
Katlea
Katlea
A great big YES to what JLD said, so much more eloquently than I.
And also to what Katlea said at the end of her post -- one day you'll get to the end of the day and say, "Wow! What a GREAT day we all had!" (And then you'll be on to something else, like teething.... ;))
And also to what Katlea said at the end of her post -- one day you'll get to the end of the day and say, "Wow! What a GREAT day we all had!" (And then you'll be on to something else, like teething.... ;))
May 1, 2014 |
Amanda
Amanda
Hi Carrie. I have noticed that Cecilia is also having some issues with gas. I am using Gerber colic drops, simethicone, massages and a warm cloth on her belly. They seem to help, but none actually solve the problem. I am trying to think of it like pregnancy nausea: it's bad, some things can alleviate it, but it will only go away completely with time.
It's very hard to deal with all we have to in these first weeks. All the hormones and the grief and being sleep deprived and having to care for two babies... It's too much. Don't feel bad about not breastfeeding. We give what we can. They will be fine too if you use formula. I don't know if it's something you would want to try or how you two would feel about it or the effects on the boys, but I have a friend who adopted a girl and, after two weeks and a lot of help from a lactation consultant, ended up breastfeeding her.
Anyway, don't feel bad for feeling bad. I'm sure you are both doing a great job.
Good luck with the gas remedies, hope it will be over soon.
Grace's mom- please share the recipe for lactation cookies. I'd love those
It's very hard to deal with all we have to in these first weeks. All the hormones and the grief and being sleep deprived and having to care for two babies... It's too much. Don't feel bad about not breastfeeding. We give what we can. They will be fine too if you use formula. I don't know if it's something you would want to try or how you two would feel about it or the effects on the boys, but I have a friend who adopted a girl and, after two weeks and a lot of help from a lactation consultant, ended up breastfeeding her.
Anyway, don't feel bad for feeling bad. I'm sure you are both doing a great job.
Good luck with the gas remedies, hope it will be over soon.
Grace's mom- please share the recipe for lactation cookies. I'd love those
May 1, 2014 |
Regina
Regina
Lactation Cookies:
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 and 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup natural peanut (or other nut) butter
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup flax seeds (ground)
3 Tbsp brewers yeast
1/3 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl beat peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, yeast, flax seeds and water until creamy. Mix eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time. Gradually add flour mixture to the wet mixture. Fold in nuts, chips and oats. Form balls of dough, press flat before baking. Bake 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 and 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup natural peanut (or other nut) butter
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup flax seeds (ground)
3 Tbsp brewers yeast
1/3 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl beat peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, yeast, flax seeds and water until creamy. Mix eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time. Gradually add flour mixture to the wet mixture. Fold in nuts, chips and oats. Form balls of dough, press flat before baking. Bake 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!
May 1, 2014 |
Grace's Mom
Grace's Mom
Hi Carrie, go easy on yourself - you and S are doing a great job, and the early days/weeks are tough no matter what. My son also had terrible gas and spitting up and he was breastfed. It helped when I cut out all soy and dairy from my diet, but I think all the formulas are based on one or the other. We did a lot of simethicone and leg exercises, but the main thing that helped was time passing. Can you hire a postpartum doula? There are some amazing ones in my area and I know many parents of multiples find the help so necessary. Then at least you have some nights with longer sleep. Big hugs to you all - it will get better!
May 2, 2014 |
Lhotse
Lhotse
You all are SO awesome. Thank you. We got an entire night of sleep last night and I feel much more human. S almost seems like herself, too. We bit the bullet and hired a post partum doula service. I was hoping we wouldn't need to, but it became much clearer before the boys were born and then very obvious afterward that we need the help. It's actually much harder to let friends and family help with the boys than I expected. I'm very territorial! Anyway...the doula came last night and we slept all night. We have another night scheduled on Sunday and again on Thursday. Then we have five more to use along with five days. We had to put it on a credit card, but I'm over that. Lol. Starting to get droopy again now...hopefully will get a nap after infant photos this afternoon. We never planned to do formal photos with Alice but now, we want to capture everything.
I will look into some of your suggestions for gas. Thanks for commiserating with me! I appreciate the understanding and empathy.
I will look into some of your suggestions for gas. Thanks for commiserating with me! I appreciate the understanding and empathy.
May 2, 2014 |
Carrie
Carrie
Good call Carrie! Hiring a postpartum doula is so smart. That's the only way for you girls to keep your sanity and your smile on, plus it'll help increase S's milk supply to get some rest I'm sure. Sorry no advice on gas from me, just the obvious, i.e. S's diet, and some nipples/bottles tend to increase gassiness.
But, I just wanted to say that feeling overwhelmed/sad due to the amount of work and sleep deprivation is totally when you have a newborn, and you guys have TWO!!! Is there some kind of parents of multiples support group? You seem to live in a big city where lots of resources are available. Not like my neck of the woods! (literally!)
Big hugs to the boys and their Mamas. Try and laugh at how crazy your life is right now! I know, easier said than done, right?
Amanda's description of her cute little girl letting out those enormous farts had me laugh out loud!
But, I just wanted to say that feeling overwhelmed/sad due to the amount of work and sleep deprivation is totally when you have a newborn, and you guys have TWO!!! Is there some kind of parents of multiples support group? You seem to live in a big city where lots of resources are available. Not like my neck of the woods! (literally!)
Big hugs to the boys and their Mamas. Try and laugh at how crazy your life is right now! I know, easier said than done, right?
Amanda's description of her cute little girl letting out those enormous farts had me laugh out loud!
May 2, 2014 |
karine
karine
Have you tried the "football carry"? Good for gas, baby workouts and cuddles. My little guy loved this so much we would rechristened it flying baby and flew him on outings until he was too big for me to safely pocket at 2 1/2.
May 3, 2014 |
smrtdrvr
smrtdrvr
Carrie! Oh my gosh! You need sleep friend!
Are you on maternity leave?
Hang in there!
One moment. One breath. One day.
...I'd check the recommendations for each swing to see if it's ok for them to sleep in it. A quick search pulled up a babycenter article that said they weren't recommended for sleep. A family friend's unfortunate experience with a sleeping baby in a swing is what prompted me to address this topic....=(
We all know you are grateful. You know you are grateful. It's ok to be overwhelmed! It doesn't mean you are any less grateful. You have twice the work of the typical new parent! It would be really odd if you weren't overwhelmed!
Are the boys nursing or only drinking from a bottle? Do you both have family in the area that can pitch in? Hahaha...sounds like I meant pitch in with the nursing...that is NOT what I meant! =)
Hang in there Mammas!
Are you on maternity leave?
Hang in there!
One moment. One breath. One day.
...I'd check the recommendations for each swing to see if it's ok for them to sleep in it. A quick search pulled up a babycenter article that said they weren't recommended for sleep. A family friend's unfortunate experience with a sleeping baby in a swing is what prompted me to address this topic....=(
We all know you are grateful. You know you are grateful. It's ok to be overwhelmed! It doesn't mean you are any less grateful. You have twice the work of the typical new parent! It would be really odd if you weren't overwhelmed!
Are the boys nursing or only drinking from a bottle? Do you both have family in the area that can pitch in? Hahaha...sounds like I meant pitch in with the nursing...that is NOT what I meant! =)
Hang in there Mammas!
May 3, 2014 |
KO
KO
Thanks, everyone! We have tried the football hold. It helps sometimes and other times it makes things worse.
KO - They are only bottle feeding right now. S just hasn't been able to get enough of a supply for a latch to work. The boys just get frustrated and scream...which doesn't help her mood and disappointment in the whole thing. Thanks for the reminder about swings as well. We don't let them sleep in the swing unless we are closely supervising. I'm SUPER paranoid about them stopping breathing... scares me so. I'm sorry to hear about your family friend. Sad.
Last night went better but this morning was hard. Poor Rhys was inconsolable. I was almost in tears as it was during my time to be awake. The rest of the day has been better, though, and we even went out to a restaurant with my folks tonight. Starting to feel more and more "normal". Now, tonight we are watching TV and will head to bed soon to start our shifts. Tomorrow, we have a doula coming. THANK the heavens!
They are so so wonderful. I love them so and am so grateful. I go back to work on Monday. Wish us luck...especially S.
By the way, we had formal photos taken yesterday. Usually, I find pictures of naked babies together kind of cheesy, but these ones of my kids make me want to bawl. Miracles.
KO - They are only bottle feeding right now. S just hasn't been able to get enough of a supply for a latch to work. The boys just get frustrated and scream...which doesn't help her mood and disappointment in the whole thing. Thanks for the reminder about swings as well. We don't let them sleep in the swing unless we are closely supervising. I'm SUPER paranoid about them stopping breathing... scares me so. I'm sorry to hear about your family friend. Sad.
Last night went better but this morning was hard. Poor Rhys was inconsolable. I was almost in tears as it was during my time to be awake. The rest of the day has been better, though, and we even went out to a restaurant with my folks tonight. Starting to feel more and more "normal". Now, tonight we are watching TV and will head to bed soon to start our shifts. Tomorrow, we have a doula coming. THANK the heavens!
They are so so wonderful. I love them so and am so grateful. I go back to work on Monday. Wish us luck...especially S.
By the way, we had formal photos taken yesterday. Usually, I find pictures of naked babies together kind of cheesy, but these ones of my kids make me want to bawl. Miracles.
May 3, 2014 |
Carrie
Carrie
Carrie, I haven't been on here in ages, since you first started on the prego thread coming from the fertility thread probably. Our baby girl, Elise is now 8 months and I know I've only been on here a handful of times since then. I came to this section and seeing your post brought the biggest smile to me!!!! I meant to keep up with everyone but it was just too hard. I needed some time away from talking about all the grief. Now reading about your gassy boys just makes me so freaking happy. Congratulations and big hugs!!! I'll go through old posts and find out when they were born and all of that. Maybe it's in the posts above, I just don't have time to read them all right now. I was going to post something about me, but now I"m not even feeling like I need to. Reading your good news (or difficulties with your good news :) helped me so much. If no one above suggested it, Soothe by Gerber is supposed to be helpful. There's actually some studies on it that showed real results according to our pediatrician. We never used it enough to tell you if it helped, but I thought I'd pass that along. My hubby and I are still sleeping in shifts - but now it's one night on, one night off. She's just not a good sleeper so this way only one of us gets woken up. Even if no one goes in to pick her up, we realized both of us getting woken up all night long was wearing us down. Good luck. I'll read up on all that's happened when i can. It's good to be back here :)
May 5, 2014 |
Jessica
Jessica
Hi Carrie,
I remember when my daughter was born and I was so so grateful for her and in love with her, those first few weeks were just so HARD! I can't believe how hard they were. In some ways, the hardest weeks of my life (excluding of course the Jamie weeks). I loved her so much but newborns are so needy, and in such emotionally and physically draining ways! I have a couple of thoughts. Branwen had gas, but she also had reflux. I realized it was reflux when she would become hysterical when we tried to lie her down flat; she needed to be nearly upright to be comfortable. She got started on a reflux med by her pediatrician (can't recall the name now) and it was like a miracle. I don't know if one or both of the boys might have reflux in addition to gas, but that can lead to severely cranky babies. Also, I know it is not always safe to let babies sleep in swings, etc, but would you consider a movement monitor like the snuza that might give you some peace of mind if they are sleeping in a swing? Sometimes you just need to let sleeping babies sleep! Branwen literally could not sleep on her back because of the reflux, so for the first 3 months she slept in her car seat. Seriously.
I hope that it all calms down for you both soon. For me the 6 week mark was a magic turnaround moment. I know 6 weeks feels far away, but then it will be here and the time will have flown by.
I remember when my daughter was born and I was so so grateful for her and in love with her, those first few weeks were just so HARD! I can't believe how hard they were. In some ways, the hardest weeks of my life (excluding of course the Jamie weeks). I loved her so much but newborns are so needy, and in such emotionally and physically draining ways! I have a couple of thoughts. Branwen had gas, but she also had reflux. I realized it was reflux when she would become hysterical when we tried to lie her down flat; she needed to be nearly upright to be comfortable. She got started on a reflux med by her pediatrician (can't recall the name now) and it was like a miracle. I don't know if one or both of the boys might have reflux in addition to gas, but that can lead to severely cranky babies. Also, I know it is not always safe to let babies sleep in swings, etc, but would you consider a movement monitor like the snuza that might give you some peace of mind if they are sleeping in a swing? Sometimes you just need to let sleeping babies sleep! Branwen literally could not sleep on her back because of the reflux, so for the first 3 months she slept in her car seat. Seriously.
I hope that it all calms down for you both soon. For me the 6 week mark was a magic turnaround moment. I know 6 weeks feels far away, but then it will be here and the time will have flown by.
May 6, 2014 |
Irene
Irene
Thanks, Irene! We have considered whether its reflux, but had ruled it out since he never spits up (Rhys has a bigger problem with gas than Theo...I think Theo's issues are "normal"). We will ask the pediatrician about that if it doesn't improve.
As for sleeping, Rhys hasn't actually tried the swing yet because he's too little. If we find he sleeps well there, then we will definitely try it during the day when we can check on him easily. Unfortunately, the Snuzas don't really work in the swing because the swing is always moving so the movement monitor can't tell whether its a breath or a swing movement. We do use those in the cribs at night, though, and they have been great tools to help us get some sleep! My mom is totally fluxomed by them, but ah well...
Thanks again all. Its been a brutal couple of weeks but its getting better and I think we see lights at the ends/sides of the tunnels. I know we'll get to an easier point sometime. Just this week, we are allowed to feed "on demand" at night instead of waking every three hours. That will help immensely.
So grateful for Glow!
As for sleeping, Rhys hasn't actually tried the swing yet because he's too little. If we find he sleeps well there, then we will definitely try it during the day when we can check on him easily. Unfortunately, the Snuzas don't really work in the swing because the swing is always moving so the movement monitor can't tell whether its a breath or a swing movement. We do use those in the cribs at night, though, and they have been great tools to help us get some sleep! My mom is totally fluxomed by them, but ah well...
Thanks again all. Its been a brutal couple of weeks but its getting better and I think we see lights at the ends/sides of the tunnels. I know we'll get to an easier point sometime. Just this week, we are allowed to feed "on demand" at night instead of waking every three hours. That will help immensely.
So grateful for Glow!
May 6, 2014 |
Carrie
Carrie
Know it's a late response. My daughter had horrible has. We tried several different types of formula. I wasnt able to breastfeed either. She is lactose intolerant but still had gas with different types of soy. Finally settled on gerber goodstart soy. It was the only one she wasn't constipated with. Anyway the only gas drops that would work were the pediasure brand and I could only find them at cvs.
http://www.pediacare.com/products/pediacare-infant-gas-relief-drops.aspx
http://www.pediacare.com/products/pediacare-infant-gas-relief-drops.aspx
May 14, 2014 |
Kayla
Kayla
Have any of you found something that helps with gassy babies? We are having to formula feed because S's milk supply is very low. She's pumping enough to get one bottle a day each right now but at 8 feedings per day, they are mostly formula (side note, the breast feeding struggle has been so so hard on S. I feel just horrible bc I can't help.). The boys are currently getting Gerber Good Start Gentle as recommended by a lactation consultant. Has anyone found something else better for gas?
This last week at home has been brutal, and both of us feel bad for feeling bad. We want to be only elated and joy-filled and not down but we are exhausted and sad. We almost always have someone awake or stirring/fussing. This has made the nights really hard. We haven't slept in the same bed all week and get about 4-5 hours of sleep a night in 1-2 hour chunks. The boys are very gassy, Our MD says this is normal, but it's so so hard to see them in distress. The simetihicone drops seem to help a bit but not entirely. We also do leg exercises. Anyone found anything else that helps? Our poor bugs. Thankfully, they are both asleep now. Theo loves the swing so that's a good option during the day.
Thanks everyone. I appreciate it. It's so hard to feel sad and run down and to "complain" when I would do anything to have had a gassy Alice, but it's still true that right now these boys and this experience is hard hard hard....no sense trying to pretend its easy just bc we are grateful and in love.